October – 2006 – The Gritty Virtual Assistant Blog

Monthly Archives: October 2006

October 28, 2006 – 2:19 pm

What is Wastefulness Really Costing Your Business?

When it comes to outsourcing, here’s a common theme I hear from small business owners: “Wouldn’t it just be easier or cheaper for me to do things myself?”

What I like to get business owners to do is put some math to that.

What do you consider your hourly rate as a business owner and entrepreneur? Multiply that by the number of hours you spend on non revenue-generating work such as administrative tasks. That’s the number of hours you are NOT making money for your business, and the total you get after multiplying those two figures is the amount of money that’s been expended on that work.

The questions to ask yourself, then, are:

Is this a sensible, profitable and strategic use of my company finances?
Could someone else do that work more quickly, more efficiently and more cheaply than me doing it myself?
Would that freed time be more beneficially spent by me growing my business?
How much would my profits increase if I allowed myself to focus my efforts there instead?

Yes, some things can be just as easily handled yourself. But as the idea person and profit-maker in your business, is that the best use of your time and attention?

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By Danielle Keister | Posted in Business Savvy, Virtual Assistant/Virtual Assistance | Comments (0)

October 25, 2006 – 10:13 am

You Know What You Get When You Worry Too Much About Making the Average Person Happy?

Average results!

This is the advice RJon Robins of HowToMakeItRain.com gave recently on a listserv we’re both on. I thought his post was excellent, and he gave me permission to share…

Best Formula For Long-Term Financial Success and Happiness at the Practice of Law

1. Find an area of the law or a group of clients that you genuinely give a crap about.

Forget about going into any practice area(s) you don’t know or care about, just because someone says you can make money at it. You can make a ton of money in any area of the law if you know anything about marketing and how to manage a law firm.

2. Run your law firm like a business, not a hobby or a higher calling.

Take an honest inventory of the skills you find yourself lacking in.

If you’re struggling to get the work in, you need to learn more about marketing.

If you’re struggling to keep up with the work you already have, you need to learn more about practice management.

If you’re struggling with A/R, unpaid client bills or unpredictable cash flow, you need to learn more about financial management.

A law firm is a relatively simple business to run profitably. And there are plenty of cost-effective resources to help you, including a bunch created by me. Don’t just sit around waiting for things to happen for you, like a houseplant waiting to be watered. DO SOMETHING ABOUT IT!

3. Ignore 99% of your critics.

If you’re doing things that are extraordinary and above-average, most of the other lawyers in your market will hate you for it. That’s just a sad fact of life. If you have no critics you’re not doing enough to push the envelope for the benefit of the only people who matter. . . paying clients, productive referral sources, and YOURSELF!

4. Laugh all the way to the bank.

Attend every school play for your kids. Make it home in time for dinner most nights. Turn-down clients you don’t like. Celebrate milestones with your staff. And, get control of your law firm business so it doesn’t control you!

RJon Robins, www.HowToMakeItRain.com
Helping Lawyers In Small Firms Make ALOT More Money.

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By Danielle Keister | Posted in Business Savvy | Comments (0)

October 21, 2006 – 5:26 pm

Promoting the Passion and Profession of Virtual Assistance

I was recently interviewed by Pat Lynch, editor in chief of Women’s Radio and thought I would share my press release with you…

Promoting the Passion and Profession of Virtual Assistance

Virtual Assistance Chamber of Commerce founder talks with Pat Lynch, Editor in Chief of WomensRadio.com

TACOMA, WASHINGTON, October 14, 2006–Virtual Assistance is becoming more and more well-known, but business owners seeking the services of a professional Virtual Assistant are increasingly having a difficult time wading through the vast Internet wilderness to separate the truly qualified, professional Virtual Assistants from those who have little to no experience or only entry-level skill sets.

The Virtual Assistance Chamber of Commerce is working hard to help business owners become more informed consumers of Virtual Assistant services, and providing them with the tools and resources to find highly skilled, professional Virtual Assistants to support them. Its founder, Danielle Keister, recently sat down with Pat Lynch, Editor in Chief of Women’s Radio.

"We at the Virtual Assistance Chamber of Commerce are on a mission to help business owners become more aware of Virtual Assistance. We want them to know that ours is a skilled profession of administrative experts that exists to provide strategic, cost-effective administrative support to the small business owner who doesn’t have the time, space or budget for in-house staff. The industries we currently serve are only a fraction of those we could be helping to achieve greater levels of business success," declares Keister.

To serve the mainstream business community, the Virtual Assistance Chamber of Commerce only accepts Virtual Assistant members who meet a certain standard of qualification. Its website has a wealth of information for business owners wanting to find out more about Virtual Assistants, including the definitive guide "How to Hire a Virtual Assistant: Your 10-Step Guide to Finding the Perfect Fit."

Business owners can use the Request for Partnership page to submit information and have qualified Virtual Assistants respond to them directly. Alternatively, there is a Professional Virtual Assistant Directory where business owners can search for Virtual Assistants by geographic area, business name, and even specific services needed.

All of this is provided free as a service to business owners.

Listen to the full interview on WomensRadio.com Assistance Chamber of Commerce is a professional association of Virtual Assistants worldwide to promote shared business interests, opportunities and advancement of the Virtual Assistance profession. It is dedicated to bringing the worlds of mainstream business and Virtual Assistance together. Its resources an programs help Virtual Assistants and their clients run better businesses.

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By Danielle Keister | Posted in Virtual Assistant/Virtual Assistance | Comments (0)

October 20, 2006 – 5:09 pm

Does Anyone Use a Virtual Assistant?

"Does anyone use a Virtual Assistant? For what? How does a VA handle bookkeeping? Isn’t it just as easy for me to do things myself?"

This was a question posed on a listserv I belong to. I love when the word is getting out enough that people start becoming curious, and I’m always happy to jump in and help them understand what it is I do in my profession as a Virtual Assistant.

Below is the answer I provided, which I obviously realized would also make a great blog post.

*****

Virtual Assistants are administrative experts.

Virtual Assistants primarily take care of anything administrative in your business that can be delegated. That can take the form of word processing, transcription, drafting correspondence, inputting data, managing electronic records, scheduling appointments, and even managing your client relationships.

The best thing to remember is that you are working in ongoing collaborative partnership with a Virtual Assistant, just as you would with an onsite assistant (although Virtual Assistants are self-employed and not employees). The evolution is that they get to know you, your business and the work very well, and your efficiency in working together eventually becomes a finely-tuned system.

It is important to understand that Virtual Assistants are not bookkeepers or web designers, although you may find a few who do have those skills. However, expect to be charged separately for those services as they require different knowledge, skills and processes.

Whether you work with a Virtual Assistant or a bookkeeper, how this works virtually is by mailing and/or faxing records to them. Depending on the workload, that may be on a weekly basis, or it may be at the end of the month. They might have you send every bit of paper records, or just the monthly bank statements, check register and invoices. It all depends on what your business needs are.

Outsourcing (where work is done offsite by an independent contractor) is nothing new, and there is a mind-boggling amount of technology that has been supporting this way of working for years. Remote access, shared desktops, Intranets, online collaborative software, etc., are just a few ways Virtual Assistants use technology to work virtually with their clients.

Of course, much work doesn’t even require that level of complexity or interaction, and simply faxing or emailing to each other is all that is required.

If you are interested in outsourcing your administrative work, your best bet is to schedule a consultation with a few Virtual Assistants. I wrote a guide on How to Hire a Virtual Assistant that helps clients know what to look for in a VA and questions to ask, which you can read here:
http://www.virtualassistantnetworking.com/how-to-choose-a-virtual-assistant.
htm

Yes, some things are just as easy for you to handle yourself. But is that the best use of your time and attention as the idea person and profit-maker in your business?

Your thoughts? Post a comment!

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By Danielle Keister | Posted in Business Savvy, Virtual Assistant/Virtual Assistance | Comments (0)

October 8, 2006 – 11:40 am

Free Teleclass: The Seven-Steps to Fearless Marketing

My Virtual Assistant association, the Virtual Assistance Chamber of Commerce hosts a continuing series of free webinars and teleclasses with a different expert each month.

In October, our guest speaker is Robert Middleton of Action Plan Marketing. If you are a Virtual Assistant or small business owner/independent professional, I invite you to attend. Did I mention that it is free? Yup, it is–FREE biz advice from one of the top marketing experts. You can beat that with a stick.

The Seven-Steps to Fearless Marketing

with Robert Middleton, Action Plan Marketing

Date: Thursday, October 19, 2006 Time: 5pm PST / 6pm MST / 7pm CST / 8pm EST Length: 90 minutes (call in 10 minutes early to secure your spot) Cost: FREE!

“Fearless Marketing” is an approach to marketing for Independent Professionals that cuts through the fear, confusion and avoidance that are so common when attempting to attract clients to your business.

If you avoid marketing, are afraid of possible rejection, are worried about doing marketing wrong and don’t know where to start or what to do, this teleclass is for you.

When you understand these steps, you’ll be well on the way to marketing that is both fearless and effective. Here’s what we’ll cover in this information-packed teleclass.

The Seven-Steps to Fearless Marketing

Marketing Stance – Why your mindset about marketing is sabotaging your efforts to market yourself and what you can do to develop a new stance.
Marketing Ball – How marketing is a game where you need to know the rules before you can expect to win. You’ll learn the fundamentals of “Marketing Ball.”
Marketing Language – Before you start marketing, you need to know the language of marketing. That is, you need to know exactly what gets attention and interest.
Marketing Message – And then you need to develop your own unique marketing message that powerfully communicates why your services are valuable.
Marketing Currency – Then to get beyond attention and interest, you must get prospects involved in how your services can help them. You need to manufacture “marketing currency” to do this.
Marketing Tactics – You not only have to implement various marketing tactics, more importantly, you need to know exactly when and where to apply them in the marketing ball game.
Marketing Action Plans – Finally, you must develop specific marketing action plans for each tactic, designed to move prospects who are strangers, into prospects who are ready to do business with you.

That’s a lot of information to cover, but in 90 minutes you’ll have a whole new picture of how marketing works and how you can make it work for you. If you want to be a fearless marketer who attracts all the business you can handle, this recorded teleclass is your first step.

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