March – 2009 – The Gritty Virtual Assistant

Monthly Archives: March 2009

March 25, 2009 – 8:01 am

Dear Gritty VA: Should I Specialize?

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Dear Gritty VA:

I am in the process of starting my Virtual Assistant business. I have over 10 years of experience in various high-level administrative support roles. I feel like I know many things about many things . Everything from marketing, bookkeeping, customer service, general administration, etc. Do you recommend that a new Virtual Assistant choose specific areas or services to specialize in? Or should I just offer the whole shabang at this time and then specialize as I get established? If you think specialization is a good idea, can you advise as to a few niche areas that might be most productive and lucrative to pursue? –MR

Here’s the thing that a lot of new Virtual Assistants don’t understand: Virtual Assistance is already a specialty in and of itself. It’s the specialty of providing ongoing, right-hand administrative support to clients you work with in continuous, collaborative partnership.

You’re going to hear lots of conflicting messages about that, but I’m here to tell you that that is the *real* brand of Virtual Assistance.

This is Marketing 101 (and if you don’t believe me, ask any marketing expert): Anyone who specializes in doing one particular thing (where that is the primary expertise and focus of the business) ceases to be a Virtual Assistant and instead becomes whatever that specialty is.

So if someone specializes in bookkeeping, they are a bookkeeper, not a Virtual Assistant. If someone specializes in copywriting, they are a copywriter. If someone specializes in web design, they are a web designer/developer. If someone specializes in writing, they are a writer.

And so on and so forth.

Virtual Assistance is the term used to denote someone who specializes in ongoing, right-hand administrative support. Virtual Assistants are administrative experts—this is what they focus on and it is the primary offering of the business. They are in business to work with clients in a continuous relationship.

And that’s because what they are “selling” isn’t line-item, piece-meal project work. What they are in business to offer is a solution that is focused on the ongoing relationship, not on occasional/sporadic transactional projects.

Why is this important to understand? Because it’s going to make all the difference in how you market, how you are able to really relate and articulate your solution to just those clients you want.

So the question becomes: Do you want piecemeal projects where you always have to chase down new work, in which case the business model and the title (secretarial services) is completely different?

Or do you want clients who pay you a fee every month in order to work together continuously and where you are able to then deliver an entirely different solution to clients, one where you are involved in their business at a more intimate and impactful level?

Now, what is going to be really important to you as a Virtual Assistant is not specializing (ongoing, collaborative, right-hand administrative support is already a specialty ), but rather finding a target market to focus your efforts on.

This is what is going to give you the direction you need to hone your message and know where to find those people more quickly, more easily and with less expenditure of time, money and energy.

The folks who don’t have a target market have a much harder time in business and it takes longer for them to find clients. That is because they are trying to be everything to all people and talk to everyone in the world. That doesn’t create a compelling message and those folks are the ones you’ll typically see with websites saying the exact same thing as every other Virtual Assistant.

You don’t want that in your business. You need to be able to differentiate yourself. Determining a target market and then studying and really, really getting to know that market is going to make all the difference in the world for you.

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By Danielle Keister | Posted in Business Savvy, Dear Gritty VA, Virtual Assistant/Virtual Assistance | Tagged Virtual Assistance, Virtual Assistant, Virtual Assistants | Comments (0)

March 23, 2009 – 10:00 am

Does Location Matter?

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Had some correspondence recently with a new Virtual Assistant who was asking some great questions (I LOVE thinking people!). One of the things we discussed was location.

She felt that since our business is virtual and has nothing to do with proximity to clients, we as an industry should be conveying that in every way possible. As an example, she stated that she would prefer to see our Virtual Assistant Directory categorized by country only and not list the state at all.

She’s absolutely correct—we have no borders or boundaries when it comes to delivering our services. I definitely share her sentiment that we should continue to educate clients about how easy it is to work together virtually, how much more efficient it can be and how much their business can benefit from the greater flexibility and reduced overhead.

Providing a location doesn’t take away anything from that effort. Providing a location has more to do with giving clients comfort and instilling trust.

Being completely transparent about where you operate from isn’t a matter of whether you can work with a client or not. It has to do with providing all the information possible to give clients the most ease and trust that they are dealing with a serious, legitimate, committed business and not some fly-by-night who may take their money and run.

In many respects, it falls into the realm of marketing. Marketing often isn’t based on the rational or what should matter. It’s often about the irrational, about what does matter to clients for more emotional reasons, regardless of whether it makes sense or not.

Some Virtual Assistants argue that they don’t need to provide a business address, that it’s a new virtual business world and totally irrelevant to their ability to deliver their services to clients. They get so caught up in petulantly insisting that they are business owners and they don’t need to answer to anyone, they forget that business is about relationships.

Well, I hate to burst your bubble if you’re one of those Virtual Assistants, but it does matter. A virtual business is still a business and all the rules still apply. In fact, because we are virtual, it’s even more important for us to be as trustworthy and transparent as possible.

Because that’s what matters to people–and clients are people. They want to know who they’re dealing with. In healthy, two-way relationships, you make sure you provide the information and do all that you can to let the other party know that you are credible, you are legitimate and you can be trusted because you have nothing to hide.

And that means you provide a business address of some kind, even if it’s just a post office box.

It might not be something that should matter. It might not matter in reality one way or another (because a business can still be good or bad either way). Nonetheless, it is something that does matter to your site visitors and prospective clients.

So if you want to make it as easy as possible to instill trust and credibility, and put potential clients at ease and comfort, make sure your business address and contact information is visible or easily found on your website.

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

March 17, 2009 – 10:00 am

On This Get-a-Free-Hour Virtual Assistant Nonsense

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There is an effort going on this week where a small group of Virtual Assistants is trying to educate clients about Virtual Assistance by giving away a free hour of time.

This effort doesn’t do anything to better educate people about Virtual Assistance. In fact, it doesn’t help our industry at all and it’s a really poor business example.

Anyone who asks you to work for free is exploiting you–be that a client or a fellow Virtual Assistant. And if you’ve been in business for years and are supposedly established, why then are you still thinking you need to give it away for free? Hmmm, doesn’t sound so successful to me.

Giving away free work doesn’t educate clients in any way. And the people it attracts–they’re just there to get something for free.

“Yeah, thanks, when I’m ready to hire a Virtual Assistant, I’m totally gonna call you!” Right.

I call this dangling carrot syndrome. Don’t fall for that. It’s a misguided effort and all you’ll be doing is frittering away your time, energy, hopefulness and resources focusing on entirely the wrong-minded people.

You don’t need to give away your value to educate clients. Giving away your value does nothing to attract clients who are serious about their business and your services.

Further, giving away one simple hour of tasks doesn’t in any way show clients the value of working in ongoing partnership with an administrative expert. And that’s because the value isn’t in the tasks, it’s in the equity of knowledge, quality, understanding and forward-moving synergy that is only grown within the dynamic of an ongoing, collaborative relationship.

In fact, the conversation doesn’t even need to be about money. Virtual Assistants make it about money because they don’t know how to have any better communication about their value. And that of course is when they then feel they have to resort to bribery and enticement.

Now a smart Virtual Assistant, one who has done her homework, studied her target market and clearly knows exactly what her value is to that group of clients, she never has to give it away or bribe people with freebies and discounts to try it out.

That Virtual Assistant gains the knowledge, direction and focus in order to have a different, more effective conversation with clients, one that attracts instead of bribes. She knows the difference between a commodity and a professional service.

Don’t train clients to devalue you from the get-go. They’re going to expect you to bargain with yourself forever more from that point forward.

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By Danielle Keister | Posted in Virtual Assistant/Virtual Assistance | Tagged Free Virtual Assistant, Virtual Assistance, Virtual Assistant, Virtual Assistants | Comments (8)

March 13, 2009 – 8:33 am

Virtual Assistant Trade Name Infringement

(1 votes, average: 5.00 out of 5)

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The other day, I had a new member register for our free Virtual Assistant Networking Club. Unfortunately, we had a dilemma because this was a new Virtual Assistant who was operating under the same name as one of our members. I thought the situation was an opportunity to remind Virtual Assistants about trade name infringement.

In the Virtual Assistant industry, we have no geographical boundaries from each other, which makes having a unique business name even more important. I don’t know how other Virtual Assistant associations handle it, but at the VACOC, we think it’s important for us to support our members as well as established Virtual Assistants. We do that by not condoning or enabling the practice of trade name infringement.

Outside of laws, we operate on the premise of doing the right thing. When starting a Virtual Assistant business, regardless of treading on a fellow Virtual Assistant’s toes, here is why it’s important to you to have a unique business name:

You don’t want to get sued. A Virtual Assistant with legal rights and established use of an existing trade name can sue you for infringement. It costs a lot of money and energy to defend yourself. If you lose (which you can by either default or because the Court finds in the plaintiff’s favor), it will cost even more. It’s just not a ball of wax you want to even potentially put yourself in. And you should always expect that anyone who takes their business seriously is going to also protect their business interests just as seriously.
It’s not a great way to be welcomed into the community. The Virtual Assistant world is a very small, tight-knit community. People will know you are infringing on one of their comrades. Think about it. If it were you, how would you feel if someone new came into the industry and started using your business name, the one you’ve been using for X years, the one you spent blood, sweat and tears (not to mention money!) building, and around which all your identity and marketing has been based? You are going to create ill will and negative energy for yourself by stepping on an established colleague’s toes.
You don’t want to be confused with another Virtual Assistant. It’s going to be really important to differentiate yourself from other Virtual Assistants, and that includes having a unique business name and identity. It doesn’t do you any good to be using another Virtual Assistant’s established business name if traffic and name recognition is going to be diverted to that Virtual Assistant who was using it first.
You don’t want to have to redo everything (e.g., web site, marketing materials, etc.). If you are caught infringing, it’s going to be a lot of work and more money to start all over again.

So, what do you do? A bit of homework is in order. To make sure you come up with a unique name and do not infringe on the established trade name rights of any of your Virtual Assistant colleagues, there are steps you can and should take:

Search Virtual Assistant directories. Make sure no one else is using the name already or anything close to it.
Conduct a search for the name (or the predominant unique identifying part of it) in several different search engines. I suggest Google, MSN, Yahoo and any others you might think of. Better to be thorough now than sorry later.
Search the uspto.gov database. Make sure no one else in the Virtual Assistant industry is already using that tradename or any form of it. Changing a letter or word is not going to help you if the name can be considered to be substantially the same and would still create confusion.

What does all this that mean? It means it doesn’t matter if you are using “(Same Name) Business Solutions” and they are using “(Same Name) Administrative Support.” You are in the same industry and it’s the novel, identifying part of the name that matters.

Also, your domain or domain name availability has nothing to do with things. If you infringe on someone’s name rights (and I’m not talking about generic search engine terms), you can be compelled to relinquish the domain.

Once you find a name that is unique and that in no way can be confused with another Virtual Assistant’s existing, established identity, you’re home free.

If you think you were the first to use the name, contact the other Virtual Assistant and see if you can work things out. The good will and positive energy you create by engaging in honorable, ethical business practices will serve you well.

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By Danielle Keister | Posted in Business Savvy, Virtual Assistant/Virtual Assistance | Tagged Virtual Assistance, Virtual Assistant, Virtual Assistant Associations, Virtual Assistant Trade Name Infringement, Virtual Assistants | Comments (0)

March 11, 2009 – 9:00 am

Whose Contract?

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Dear Gritty VA:

I have obtained a new client and was about to send them my standard Virtual Assistant contract when they sent me their independent contractor agreement! Do Virtual Assistants use their own agreement or the client’s? Help! –TS

Great question and I’m glad you’ve asked because there are a lot of different aspects here I’d like to discuss.

First to answer your main question… No, you do not sign a client’s contract. You aren’t hiring them; they are hiring you. Your business, your contract.

A contract is not only a legally binding document, but it also serves to make sure everyone knows what the expectations and obligations both parties have to each other, as well as what happens when those agreements are not kept. For example, late or non-payment on the part of the client may result in immediate work stoppage on the part of the Virtual Assistant.

Your written contract also helps everyone remember what they’ve agreed to. People tend to “forget” things when it’s convenient or self-serving. A written contract helps keep everyone honest and their “memory” intact.

Your question also brings up the red flag that this client may not understand the nature of your relationship. I think the term “independent contractor” has a lot to do with this continuing misunderstanding.

(By the way, I’ve put that term on my X list and no longer use it in any way, shape or form when I’m educating people about Virtual Assistance.)

There are only two classifications in this world (at least in the U.S. and those countries with similar laws). You’re either a business or an employee. There is no third classification. Independent contractor is just another word for business owner–one who happens to be a self-employed professional service provider.

And a business is a business, regardless of whether you’re a big corporation or a self-employed solopreneur.

So it’s going to be really important for you to have a conversation with this client and make sure they understand that they aren’t hiring an employee or telecommuter.

As a business, it’s your place to provide the contacts. It’s you who has more at stake in the relationship if things don’t go well. A client can always take their business elsewhere. But you have much more liability involved and interests that need to be protected. So your business, your contract.

That’s just standard business procedure. Don’t be afraid to educate them about this. And make sure they understand they are hiring a professional, not an employee. You don’t want to work with the client who doesn’t get those things.

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By Danielle Keister | Posted in Business Savvy, Dear Gritty VA, Virtual Assistant/Virtual Assistance | Tagged Virtual Assistance, Virtual Assistant, Virtual Assistant Contract, Virtual Assistants | Comments (0)

March 6, 2009 – 10:00 am

Team DoubleClick Has It Wrong, Wrong, Wrong

(1 votes, average: 5.00 out of 5)

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What is with these virtual staffing agencies calling what they do Virtual Assistance?

What they do is farm out workers to companies and individuals who are their clients, not the worker’s. That isn’t Virtual Assistance in any way, shape or form.

And they’ve got these people completely snowed. Hello, people! They aren’t your clients if they belong to someone else, if you’re punching someone else’s time clock, and you are reporting to and being supervised by someone else.

Sorry, but a Virtual Assistant is NOT a virtual employee. Virtual employees are telecommuters and they are subject to the same laws of the land as any other kind of employee (and which are pretty consistent throughout the U.S. and Canada to the U.K. and Australia). You cannot employ workers without complying with employment laws and taxation. At least not legally. It’s called illegal misclassification of employees.

Not only that, but I think this company is totally full of shit. I think the numbers they purport to have are a big fat lie, and they change their story constantly. One minute its 10,000; in the very next breath its 50,000.

They are a staffing agency, just like any brick and mortar staffing agency. And those who work for staffing and temp agencies are employees of those agenices–not independent contractors or subcontractors. The IRS catches up with employers who misclassify workers sooner or later.

Many of their former workers have realized this as well. Some posts of interest:

http://www.measuredup.com/review/Contractor-vs.-Employee-2246

http://www.measuredup.com/review/Not-a-Team-Player-2256

http://www.measuredup.com/review/Team-Double-Click-Feedback-1962

http://www.measuredup.com/review/do-not-waste-your-time-2224?source=widget

(You’ll notice that as soon as the poor feedback started coming in, they’d send in their stooges to post ”glowing reviews” in an attempt to refute the complaints.)

On top of that, they say they have a stringent Virtual Assistant interview process. That’s really scary… Take a look at the comments on this thread and you tell me if these people come across as competent, skilled and articulate. Most them can’t spell, punctuate properly or form a coherent sentence.

These are the people they are professing to be the best of the best in the Virtual Assistant industry? Not even close! And that’s the thing that bothers me the most.

They do not represent Virtual Assistance; they don’t know what Virtual Assistance is. Call yourself what you are (a virtual staffing agency) and stop confusing our marketplace. You are NOT a Virtual Assistant firm.

In the U.S., if you feel you’ve been misclassified as an independent contractor and have been required to submit to supervision and other employer governances, but been deprived of usual and rightful employment benefits, including social security, medicare and other legally required employer contributions, all you have to do is complete and mail an IRS Form SS-8.

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By Danielle Keister | Posted in Virtual Assistant/Virtual Assistance | Tagged Virtual Assistance, Virtual Assistant, Virtual Assistants, virtual staffing | Comments (10)

March 4, 2009 – 10:00 am

Is Virtual Assistant Certification Necessary?

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Dear Gritty VA:

Do many Virtual Assistants feel that professional certifications such as PMP, MOS or others like it help in landing new clients? –SM

As someone who has been in this business for 12 years and never once been asked by a client about certifications, I don’t feel they are necessary.

Some food for thought…

1) Our industry designations don’t mean a whole lot to clients. They have no way of differentiating. The terms and acronyms we use are industry jargon to them, which means you may as well be speaking Greek.

(Heck, I don’t even know what those designations are that you mentioned!).

2) Unfortunately, the impact of the good, reputable certification programs in our industry is diminished by the fact that there are untold numbers of opportunists and exploiters these days who create “certification” programs as personal sales vehicles to earn money and will “certify” anyone who can pay.

Client’s don’t know how to tell the difference. Shoot, for all they amount to, you could create your own “certification” graphic and slap it on your site and it would have about the same effect.

3) No piece of paper or seal is going to ensure competence. The absolute, very best credential you can show clients is that competence that you demonstrate in everything you do, every presentation/image of your business, and every interaction you have with potential clients.

That demonstration is the one thing that will engage both the rational and emotional senses in clients that make them feel safe and confident in a particular provider. That demonstration is the proof in the pudding, so to speak.

My advice… save your money.

You went into this business, presumably, because you have a body of administrative experience, know-how and masterful skills that you paid your dues to earn and didn’t come overnight. You don’t need to purchase some silly seal of approval to prove that.

Prove it by demonstrating your skill and qualification on your website, in your communications, in your marketing collateral, and in your participation and interactions with your market. That’s what will “seal the deal” and show prospective clients you really are and can do what you say.

You might be interested in a few of my other blog posts along this topic:

http://www.grittyva.com/2008/05/11/are-you-trying-too-hard/

http://www.grittyva.com/2008/01/08/demonstrate-your-competence/

http://www.grittyva.com/2007/10/10/what-can-you-tell-me-about-credentialing/

Got a Virtual Assistant business question for the Gritty Virtual Assistant? I’d love to help!

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By Danielle Keister | Posted in Dear Gritty VA, Virtual Assistant/Virtual Assistance | Tagged Virtual Assistance, virtual assistant certification, Virtual Assistants | Comments (0)

March 2, 2009 – 10:00 am

How to Turn Business Slow-Down into Opportunity

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Here’s an article published today in “The Portable Business™.” If you’d like to subscribe, go here…

sunrise If business has slowed for you due to effects from the recession, don’t panic. A slow-down is actually a wonderful opportunity to improve your business and make it stronger and more purposeful and financially successful than ever before. Following are just some of the actions you can take to leverage the gift of extra time you’ve been given.

Processes & Policies

Systemize your processes. For each process in your business, map out the details step-by-step. Besides being a great start on that SOP (Standard Operating Procedures) manual you’ve been meaning to get done forever, the act of diagramming things will ferret out any gaps or inefficiencies that you can then correct or improve upon.
Automate repetitive steps. What actions or steps are always the same in a process or workflow? What questions do you answer over and over? What software can be used to manage and deliver certain functions? The idea is to formalize in writing and consolidate with tools so you aren’t starting from scratch or reinventing the wheel every time. Creating an FAQ (frequently asked questions) that you can email to clients in PDF format or direct them to on your website is an example of automation. Using an autoresponder service to grow your mailing list and deliver sequential messages automatically is another example.
Switch to upfront payments. You don’t do yourself or anyone else any favors by allowing clients to be in debt to you. By moving to advance fees, your cashflow will be immediately improved, administration will go down (because you won’t be dealing with payment terms, collection hassles and chasing down monies due) and clients will know what to expect and can budget much more easily.
Stop billing by the hour. Focus on value instead. Update all your offerings around packages of bundled value, not hours. This way, when you’re delivering results and expertise for clients, you aren’t cheating yourself out of being paid for that value just because it doesn’t take you as long.

Clients

Get rid of bad clients. Complainers, nit-pickers, late-payers, non-payers, clients who just don’t get it, anyone you dread hearing from or working with… These kinds of clients are unprofitable and cost your business far more than you realize. You have to let go of poor-fitting clients in order to make room and have more time and energy for right-fitting ones.
Get feedback from your clients. Make a point of soliciting feedback from all your clients on their opinions and experiences working with you. Create a tool to collect the information. Not only is this a great way to capture testimonials, but you’ll glean invaluable information about what clients want and where you can improve. Moving forward, be sure to incorporate your feedback plan into your client relations as an automatic part of your process.
Get to know your target market better. Invite someone from your target market to lunch and pick their brain. Find some folks in your target market to interview over the phone. Devise online surveys for your website. The point is to always keep learning as much as you can about your target market, what they want, and what their common interests, goals and obstacles are so that you can hone your solutions to better fit their needs and speak their language.
Explore a new target market. If your current target market is being hit by the recession or is otherwise not turning out to be a profitable avenue, you might want to look into others. Just remember that a profitable target market has to have a solid need for what you offer, be able to afford you, and be easily found so that you can find, market and interact with them.

Offerings & Marketing

Innovate for your best, current clients. It’s a well-established fact that catering to existing clients costs 11x less than it does to drum up new ones. So ask yourself… are your current clients aware of the other services you offer? Do you see a consistent need within your current client-base and market that you can create new offerings around? How can you hone your current offerings to create even more value?
Write at least one awesome white paper. Create a report that deals with one specific common problem your target market shares and allow it to be disseminated freely around the Internet. It’s called viral-marketing and it’s a fabulous way to get the word out and demonstrate your expertise, understanding and know-how. The trick is to make it super relevent and high value.
Create new and/or passive income streams. You know your target market. What information can you bundle up for them? What simple, stand-alone services can you offer them separately? What DIY instructions or training can you create for those you can’t work with directly or who otherwise aren’t ready to commit to your premium one-on-one fees?
Devise a simple marketing plan. Consistency is key. Focus on just two or three activities and then commit to taking action, following up and tracking results.

Invest in Yourself

Brush up or learn something new. Now is a great time to take that class you’ve been putting off. Increasing your knowledge, updating your skills and learning new ones is always smart business.
It’s a no brainer—hire a Virtual Assistant! A Virtual Assistant can take on much of your back-end administrative work and help you implement all of the ideas on this list. You’ll then have more time to do more marketing, strategizing, working with clients and all of those other things that you do best.

RESOURCE: One of the best ways to become indispensable to clients is to not only know your target market inside out, but also understand what you are really providing to them. “Understanding Your Value: How to Craft Your Own Unique Value Proposition and Cash-In on Value Billing Methodologies” is a workbook and study guide designed to help professional service providers gain that deeper understanding and communicate their value in ways that resonate more attractively and meaningfully to clients. It also covers steps for profiling your ideal client, identifying your target market, defining your value and then putting it all together.

About the Author: Danielle Keister is a business advisor, innovator and thought leader in the Virtual Assistance profession. A veteran Virtual Assistant of 12+ years, her logical, no-nonsense approach to business development has gained her recognition as one of the leaders in the field. She loves what she does and is passionate about sharing her knowledge and know-how with the world. She’s all about inspiring others to reach for their highest excellence. When not taking care of clients in her own Virtual Assistant practice, The Relief Virtual Assistance, she is busy leading the Virtual Assistance Chamber of Commerce.

© Copyright 2009, The Portable Business™. All U.S. and International rights reserved. You are granted permission to republish this article only if used in its entirety with this copyright notice, title, article content, resource, author’s bio and links left intact.

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