Author Archives: Danielle Keister

Video: Billing by the Hour Is Killing Your Business and Here’s Why

April 15, 2011 – 10:00 am

Take a look at this quick, 3-minute video. It explains exactly why billing by the hour is keeping you broke. Let me know what you think. Are you having any “aha!” moments? I’d love to hear your thoughts and questions so please do comment or email me privately.

Posted in Business Savvy, Cool Stuff, Don't-Miss-It Events, Pricing and Getting Paid, Virtual Assistant/Virtual Assistance | Comments (3)

Dear Gritty VA: Is It Possible to Start this Business Part Time?

April 13, 2011 – 10:00 am

Dear Gritty VA: Is it possible to start a business like this nights and weekends if you are totally self-supporting and work Monday through Friday, 9-5? Thanks for your advice! –JN Well, anything is possible. It’s just that there are some practical things as well as some caveats to consider. First, you want to get [...]

Posted in Business Savvy, Dear Gritty VA, Virtual Assistant/Virtual Assistance | Comments (7)

Video Testimonial from Annette Pedersen

April 12, 2011 – 10:00 am

I was so thrilled to receive a video testimonial from Annette Pedersen. I had put a video challenge out to my members on Facebook and Annette stepped right up to the plate.  I can’t thank you enough, Annette, for your heartfelt words. This really means a lot to me, and I am so happy to [...]

Posted in Cool Stuff, Rant & Raves, Tootin' My Own Horn, Virtual Assistant/Virtual Assistance | Tagged , , | Comments (2)

Dear Gritty VA: Should I Pay for Advertising?

April 6, 2011 – 10:00 am

Sometimes great questions come to my attention via Google Alerts, which was the case recently. A new Virtual Assistant asked: “I am just starting out and doing lots of research. I was wondering if anyone has tried using classified and Yellow Pages for advertising. Also, if anyone could let me know other forms of low [...]

Posted in Business Savvy, Dear Gritty VA, Marketing, Virtual Assistant/Virtual Assistance | Comments (0)

Are Virtual Assistants Employees or Independent Contractors?

March 31, 2011 – 10:00 am

That’s the topic of a recent article on the USA Tax Aid blog here: Are Virtual Assistants Employees or Independent Contractors? It reinforces something I’ve been telling folks all along about those team/multi VA businesses: ICs are not legally part of team/business and they shouldn’t be listed as such on your website. What they don’t [...]

Posted in Business Savvy, Marketing, Pricing and Getting Paid, Virtual Assistant/Virtual Assistance | Comments (3)

How Do We Work Together Virtually?

March 28, 2011 – 10:00 am

This is a common question from clients who are new to working with Administrative Consultants (Virtual Assistants). The word “virtual” throws them for a loop and makes it sound as if it’s some mysterious new mode of operation. In reality, they’ve been working virtually all along with businesses of all kinds and just never realized [...]

Posted in Business Savvy, Marketing, Virtual Assistant/Virtual Assistance | Tagged , , , | Comments (1)

Is It Any Wonder Clients Balk at Your Fees?

March 25, 2011 – 11:30 am

I hear from Administrative Consultants (Virtual Assistants) all the time complaining about seeming to only hear from clients who balk at their fees and only want to pay $10-15 an hour. Well, if this is you, I’m here to tell you that almost every bit of this difficulty stems from what YOU are talking about [...]

Posted in Business Savvy, Marketing, Pricing and Getting Paid, Virtual Assistant/Virtual Assistance | Comments (4)

POLL: Do You Prefer Live Teleclasses or DIY eProducts?

March 21, 2011 – 9:21 am

So I have a new question for you… when it comes to paying for business/marketing learning and you can only do one or the other, which do you prefer:  live teleclasses or self-paced do-it-yourself e-products (e.g., ebooks, videos, audio recordings)? Also, what is the reason for your preference? Curious minds want to know! Please do [...]

Posted in Business Savvy, Cool Stuff, Fab Ideas, Virtual Assistant/Virtual Assistance | Comments (8)

My Heart Goes Out to Japan

March 14, 2011 – 3:51 pm

The thing that’s been foremost on my mind since over this weekend is the earthquake in Japan. First an earth-shattering quake, then devastating tsunamis, nerve-wracking aftershocks and nuclear plant explosion one after the other. God only knows what the after-effects of that last thing will be–for all of us. The death tolls are nearing the [...]

Posted in Personal Musings | Tagged | Comments (6)

You Can Now Earn Commissions By Promoting the Virtual Assistant Industry Survey

March 10, 2011 – 10:00 am

Exciting news! I just set up a special affiliate code so that you can also earn commissions by displaying your Virtual Assistant Industry Survey participation badge. What that means is that by displaying the badge on your site, you will earn 25% commissions on all purchases if someone clicks on your badge and ends up [...]

Posted in Business Savvy, Cool Stuff, Don't-Miss-It Events, Fab Ideas, Great News, Virtual Assistant/Virtual Assistance | Tagged , , , | Comments (0)