Category Archives: Dear Gritty VA

December 29, 2010 – 10:00 am

Dear Gritty VA: How Do Referrals Work?

Dear Gritty VA:

How exactly do referrals work?  Does the client recommend their colleague and I call them?  Do they contact their colleague and send them my way or what?  Thank you so much for your anticipated response. –TA

Well, basically, they work any way you’d like them to work.

Referrals come from lots of different places and come in many different forms.

Sometimes colleagues will refer clients to you. According to our annual surveys, the overwhelming majority of Virtual Assistants and Administrative Consultants follow the “what goes around, comes around” philosophy and don’t charge for referrals.  Others do charge referral fees or will want a percentage of any earnings from a client for a certain time period. You’ll want to get clear with the referring colleague as to what their expectations or requirements are.

You can also formally ask clients for referrals. For example, you could make it a standard question as part of your feedback process to ask clients for the names of folks they think would benefit from your support.

Your networking becomes a sort of referral source as well in that it helps you develop your word-of-mouth recognition. As you contribute and people read your posts, you become someone they come to know, like and trust. This leads to folks referring and recommending you to others.

You might have some sort of formal referral program that rewards people for referring prospects to you. Although personally, I really don’t recommend this for a professional service practice. There’s really no need and keep in mind, you would just be adding yet another burden to your administration and management workload.

Those who genuinely know your work and feel it’s worth recommending to other will do so of their own accord. Your evangelists aren’t looking to be paid–they simply believe in what you do and they want to be a resource for their own audience. Those who do end up giving great referrals to you, you can thank by sending referrals their way as well and maybe once in awhile sending a little gift.

As you become established with a happy roster of clients, they tend naturally to refer you to others when they get a chance. This is another form of word-of-mouth advertising that leads to referrals. But I would definitely recommend being proactive as well in specifically asking clients periodically for the names of folks they think could use or would be interested in your services.

Another thing I would recommend you get conscious about is your calls-to-action. In your signature lines and in your “About the Author” text (such as when you publish articles you’ve written), include a line that says something about welcoming referrals. This puts the conscious thought in people’s head and tells them that you are actively seeking clients.

Be clear as well about who makes an ideal client for you so folks know who to refer to you. “Any warm body” is not an ideal client. Just because folks refer people to you doesn’t mean those prospects are going to be the right fit. So you have to tell people who is the right fit for you.  “I’m looking for solo practice attorneys who would like to leverage some skilled administrative support in their business.”

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Virtual Assistant Business Contracts Templates Forms Guides
By Danielle Keister | Also posted in Business Savvy, Marketing, Virtual Assistant/Virtual Assistance | Tagged , , , | Comments (0)
December 2, 2010 – 10:00 am

Dear Gritty VA: What Software Do I Need to Be a Virtual Assistant?

Dear Gritty VA:

I am just starting out as a Virtual Assistant. What software do I need? –JD

I get some form of this question three or four times a month–at least. And sometimes it’s the simplest questions that are the hardest to answer.

Long, exhaustive lists really aren’t helpful. Because one person’s preferences in software are not necessarily going to be the same as the next person’s.

It also matters what kind of business you will be in. For example, someone in the administrative support business (which is what we talk about here) is definitely going to need all the usual office types of software. That should be common sense, right? But someone who does design work and creative services will have more of an emphasis on that kind of software and probably more of it. You see?

Also, you don’t have to have every kind of software in the world to start out. The kind of work you support your clients with is going to dictate what software tools you’ll need. But beyond the basic office software, you won’t necessarily know what you need until you start working with clients. That’s when you start picking up additional software and tools–as you go along and determine you need them. So relax–you can stop stressing about this. :)

What I can give you isn’t a comprehensive list of what everyone in the industry “needs,” but rather a list of the software tools I use in my practice.

Basic Office Software

  • Microsoft Office Suite:  Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Access, Publisher, OneNote. Honestly, I would just get all of these if you can. They will all serve you well throughout the life of your business. And they are the group of software that is most used throughout the world for business. You need to work with the programs that are predominately used by your clients and the rest of the world and these are them. ;)
  • Open Office (free). This is a great backup to the Microsoft line of products. I especially love the Draw component for diagramming. But there are still enough quirks that make it an unsuitable suite to rely on entirely. For example, I have all kinds of problems in OpenOffice when I’m dealing with any kind of legal pleading. For that reason, I can’t use it at all for my work with attorneys.

Email

  • Microsoft Outlook. This is usually part of any Microsoft Office suite you purchase, but I wanted to list it under it’s own heading. There are other email clients out there that folks will recommend, but I absolutely love the ol’ tried and true Outlook. It’s versatility and functionality is beyond compare–most people only know of and use a fraction of what it’s capable of. I use it for everything.

Remote Access

  • LogMeIn. Oh, I can’t forget this one! I seriously could not live without this. With this software service, where I have Internet access, I can log in remotely to my main home office computer and work as if I was sitting right there. This is how I continue working with my clients and taking care of my business when we go on road trips or when we’re in Germany. I don’t have to lug around thumb drives or external hard drives that can get lost or stolen, and I never have to worry about syncing computers because I’m always working on the one main computer–I just might not be actually sitting right there, LOL. Of all the remote access services out there (and I’ve tried several), this one to me is the easiest to install and use. I even get my clients set up with their own accounts and have frequently use this to log onto their computers to install something for them or troubleshoot.

Telephony

  • Vonage. I absolutely LOVE Vonage. It’s a VoIP service, meaning it uses the Internet to deliver the phone service. Of course, that means if your cable or broadband is down or your computer is off, you won’t have service. But if you can overlook those two trade-offs, it’s truly fantastic. Not only does it give me a dedicated business line, but I can bring that line with me on my laptop anywhere I go–including Germany where we also live–and make and receive calls at no extra charge just as if I was still at my home office. There is no long distance or roaming in your service area (which is huge), and you can’t beat the fact that all the features you have to pay extra for with regular land line phone companies, come standard in Vonage. And you pay one set fee each month–you are never surprised with unexpected bills or constant nickel and dime charges. I will NEVER go with any of the big name, land line phone companies ever again.
  • RingCentral. LOVE this service. I have two separate toll free numbers and my fax line through them. And what’s even more fantastic is that I can record custom greetings for each number and set controls to play certain greetings at certain times of day (like one during the day and one for after business hours). I can also set the controls to keep those lines from ringing on days that I am closed or after business hours. Fantastic!
  • FreeConferenceCall (free). With an account, I get a set bridgeline with its own dedicated phone number. I use this when I do teleseminars or as a quick, easy way to have a conference call with two or more people at the same time.

Browsers

  • Internet Explorer 8 (free). I really hate Internet Explorer and haven’t liked it since IE6. But I don’t like how any of the other browsers store/organize Favorites so I keep it around for that. Plus, if you do any kind of web design work, you need to test your sites on all the main browsers (of which, IE is still the leader) to make sure they render properly and are cross-browser compatible.
  • FireFox (free). I really don’t care for FireFox that much either. I know. Everyone else loves it. Me, not to so much. But it’s the lesser of all the other evils so I use it.
  • Google Chrome (free). This one is okay. It’s just a good, basic browser without any frills. Let’s put it this way, I don’t hate it. My programmer says it’s best for viewing videos, but it does sometimes crash when I use it for that. Not often, just sometimes. I sort of alternate between all three of these browsers to meet various needs. Too bad there isn’t just one good one out there that does everything well.

Media Players

  • Real Player (free). This one is my favorite because it plays just about all audio and video formats.
  • Windows Media Player (free). I think this comes automatically with Microsoft systems these days. All I know is I’ve had it on my computer from day one, but I really don’t use it at all.
  • Quicktime (free). Same thing–I just keep it around for GPs. It’s sort of like browsers–each one serves a different purpose and it doesn’t hurt to have them all on hand in case you need’em. Although, the pro version apparently has some nifty video editing tools that I plan to explore (some day, LOL).

Computer System Maintenance

  • AVG (free). I actually use the pro version which only costs the ridiculously low price of something like $60 for two years. However, if you are bootstrapping it, they have a free version that will keep you as protected as the Pro version. Norton and MacAfee are notorious resource hogs and definitely not worth the price. I’ve never once had a virus in my entire business life using AVG. Not once!!! (Knock on wood, LOL) But I’ve known plenty of people who got computer infections while running on the cumbersome Norton and MacAfee programs. Why those programs are even still in existence, much less that anyone uses them, is beyond me. Get the light, nimble and infinitely superior AVG–you won’t be sorry.
  • CCCleaner (free). Love this. I don’t use it very often, but it’s a great tool for cleaning up those old, unneeded registry files that often get left behind and sometimes gum things up.
  • Adaware (free). This gets rid of stuff that your built-in cleaners miss and that slow your system down. I couldn’t live without this. Definitely a must-have!
  • Windows Defender (free). On my  main desktop computer, I’m still on Windows XP so this has been on there a long time. Not sure if it’s still the program Microsoft uses to automatically alert you to updates and downloads if you are on one of the newer operating systems. I’m pretty sure it’s different because on our various laptops that are running on the latest versions, I could swear it’s called something else, but don’t quote me on that. I think it’s even automatically installed so you don’t even have to sign up for it if you are on newer systems. But if you don’t have it for some reason, follow the link and you can download it.
  • Belarc Advisor (free). This program is awesome! What it does is scan your system (when you tell it to) and it comes back with a full report of your systems and all the various software you have installed. Very handy when you are moving over to a new computer and need to make sure you’ve installed all the software you own and need.

Virtual Office Collaboration/File Sharing/Project Management

  • HyperOffice. NONE of those other services out there offers the real time, actual document editing/saving/sharing that HyperOffice’s Hyperdrive does. Not Basecamp, not Central Desktop, none. The only thing you can do with those as far as docs go is download them to your computer, open and edit, then reupload them back to the service. That’s just SUPER ridiculously slow if you are dealing with lots of document work throughout the day. With HyperOffice, I can open documents, edit, then save them–all as if they were right there on my computer. No tedious, annoying uploading or downloading involved whatsoever. Badda bing, badda boom.
  • Airset (free with a very nominal monthly fee if you need more space). You could use this for everything, but I only use this with my clients expressly for the calendar feature because you can set a series of reminders that will send automatic emails. I sure wish HyperOffice would do this, but it doesn’t unfortunately. Also, I haven’t been able to figure out a way to create subgroups in Airset like you can in HyperOffice. Yet another reason why HyperOffice offers the superior solution.
  • DropBox (free). AWESOME program with far too many uses and capabilities to list. Just get it. Seriously.

Electronic Signatures

  • Echosign (free). I only just signed up for an account and haven’t quite learned how to use it yet, but it looks like a real nifty tool to have just in case.

Bookkeeping

  • Quickbooks Pro. Hands down, this is one of the best investments you can make in your business. This does everything and keeps it all in one, integrated place: bookkeeping, billing, customer management, tracking, reporting… the list goes on. I honestly don’t understand how anyone can use any of those other piecemeal services out there for billing and stuff like that. And yes, I specifically mean the “Pro” version. That will give you the highest and most functionality and reporting capabilities.

Time Tracking

  • Various Time Tracking Tools (free). I don’t bill by time anymore whatsoever, but sometimes it is useful to know how much time you did actually spend on something, if only for business analysis. This is a list of all kinds of free time tracking tools you can use. Heck, even Outlook has a little timer in it.

Payment Processing

  • PayPal. I have not needed a formal merchant account in nearly 14 years of business. PayPal does everything I need. Some folks say that a true merchant account is cheaper, but the difference amounts to pennies–something I’m not concerned about in the least. To me, versatility and ease of use is the name of the game and PayPal has it in spades, on top of being trusted the world over. And really, any fees you pay are so nominal as to be laughable. They’re a business expense write-off anyway so what are all those whiners out there complaining about?
  • e-Junkie. I adore e-Junkie. If you sell any kind of info products, this is seriously one of the best tools you can use. It will even provide you with a built-in affiliate program.

PDF Tools

  • PDF Converter Pro. This program is so easy to use with lots of robust functionality. One thing it doesn’t have is the ability to create editable form fields (although, to be fair, I don’t know about the latest version; I’m still on a version or two older). Also, another huge drawback is their customer service. There were a lot of glitches when I first installed this program, and I had to be on the phone with them several times which was not fun–foreign customer service people where English was not their first language, long wait times, etc. Now they charge for support! It’s like, hey, if I spend a bunch of money on your software and I need help installing it because YOU made it with glitches, I’m not gonna feel very kindly toward you for charging me for support when you are the one who forced me to call in the first place. You know what I mean? Such a horrible, customer-hating policy. If you are spending that much time dealing with support calls, it might be time to take a look at the software that is causing them. Eh? Anyway, this program serves my purposes for now, but when it’s time to upgrade (which is soon), I’m going to be purchasing Nitro PDF instead.
  • Adobe Acrobat. I have this only because it came as part of a suite of software, but I really never use it. I prefer my PDF Converter Pro.
  • Adobe Acrobat Reader (free). It’s free, but I prefer my Foxit Reader much better (see below).
  • Foxit Reader (free). Quick, easy and free PDF reader. I have it set as my default viewer and like it very much.

Audio Tools

  • Audacity (free). Fantastic program for editing audio tracks. For example, if you work with teleseminar recordings, you can edit out ums and ahs, you can add intro music and sound effects, you can add additional track overlays… there’s just no end to what this program can do!
  • Switch (free). Nifty little program for converting audio files to different audio formats. I use this all the time for quickly converting various audios to .mp3 format.

Transcription

  • Express Scribe (free). Another fantastically robust program that I can’t believe is offered for free.

Web Work & Design

  • Dreamweaver. I use this for soooo many things both for my own business and in the design work I do for clients. I not only design websites with it, it also helps in writing and reading code. I also work up my email and autoresponder templates with this program.
  • CoreFTP Lite (free). I use this to upload files and pages up to the various websites I work with or design, both mine and my clients’. There are lots of different ways to do that and lots of different programs out there that do it, both paid and free, but I’ve used this one for years and never really had a need to explore others. I’m used to it, it does the job, has an intuitive interface, and it’s just been very trusty.
  • EditPad Lite (free). This is a handy little program for stripping hidden code from text, working with plain text, and also when working with basic HTML and other coding.

Design/Creative Work

  • Photoshop. This is professional design standard software (now owned by Adobe and that comes in their Creative Suite packages) that I use to work with photos and graphics.
  • Illustrator. This is professional design standard software (now owned by Adobe and is another part of their Creative Suite packages) that I use to design and work with vector-based graphics.
  • Pixie Color Picker (free). This is a way nifty tool that allows you to “pick” colors from samples using a virtual eyedropper. Seriously, I could not live without this tool.
  • The Font Thing. This is a tool that allows me to easily scroll through all the fonts on my computer system. I use it when I’m doing design work and trying to find the best font for a particular project.
  • SnagIt. This is a fantastic screen capture program that does oh-so-much-more. Yet another must-have!
  • Screenhunter 5.1 (free). This is a little freebie screenhunter that does a great job for grabbing those quick and easy screenshots.

Video Editing

  • Camtasia. Once I get some other things out of the way, I will be doing more video work. In the meantime, I purchased Camtasia and have gotten pretty fluent with it. It is so much easier and intuitive to use than some of the other professional video editing software out there, and less costly as well. LOVE this program!

Video Streaming

  • YouTube (free). I opened accounts with many of the different services out there, but in the end am now sticking with YouTube (at least for videos that are under 10 minutes, which is the YouTube limit). It’s established, widely used and is great for SEO. I also like how you can customize the theme and display of your channel.
  • Viddler (free for personal use). One of the features that I really liked is that you have more flexible customizing options for players and you can embed your logo with an active link on your videos. They have a free account for personal use, but they recently started charging for commercial use. I really do like Viddler and if I was doing more video right now, I would definitely consider paying for the service. But since I’m not, it’s a little too costly to justify given the little I use it.
  • Vimeo (free). I have an account with this one and it’s decent. It doesn’t offer as much customization as Viddler as far as the player goes, but for the amount that I do video, the price is right–free.
  • Ustream (free). I don’t actually have an account (yet), but if I was wanting to do some live video shows, this would be the service I would use.

Audio Streaming

  • Audio Acrobat. A wonderfully versatile program that will stream both audio and video. Not only is it great for your own business and marketing purposes, it’s very widely used so knowing how it works will be a benefit to your clients as well.

All-In-One List Management/Email Distribution/Autoresponder Service

  • Aweber. Honestly, why people bother with free services that don’t scale as their business grows is beyond me. All the time and work they invested in growing their list puts them back in square one when they have to move to a paid service–which they should have just started with in the first place. Don’t be penny-wise and pound foolish! When it comes to purchasing software and services, think with a mind towards what is going to facilitate the growth and success of your business. That’s why this program is an absolute MUST-HAVE as it will help you grow, nurture and keep in touch with your audience and keep those prospective client pipelines moving and shaking.
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Virtual Assistant Business Contracts Templates Forms Guides
By Danielle Keister | Also posted in Business Savvy, Virtual Assistant/Virtual Assistance | Tagged | Comments (5)
October 20, 2010 – 10:00 am

Dear Gritty Virtual Assistant: How Do You Keep Work Synced Between Computers?

Dear Gritty VA:

How do you keep your files and information synced between computers and how do you protect your clients’ work or database getting lost in case of some kind of disaster (lost or stolen laptop, fire, computer meltdown, etc.)? –AL

Great question! This actually falls into two topics: systems and backup.

BACKUP

It’s always a good idea to have a backup system in place. There are a couple of ways you can go, which all boil down to personal choice: external hard drive or an online backup service. Personally, I use an external hard drive and do my own backups once a week or more. I just don’t like the idea of having all my personal business information on an outside party’s systems. I think any time you trust an outside third-party with potentially sensitive, confidential client/business info, you increase your liability if their systems become exploited or fail for some reason.

But like I say, it’s a personal choice. If you want to go the online service route, I’ve heard good things about Mozy and it is a lot easier to do daily backups when someone else is doing them automatically. My only caution would be to make sure you know and understand what is being backed up. Are they backing up your entire system (including system files and programs) or just certain kinds of regular documents and files? How easy it is to find and restore files should you need to do so? What are the storage limitations? Are you notified of fee increases for overages in advance? What is the customer service like? Can you quickly and easily get help when you need it or do they abdicate that to forums (where you could wait days for someone to respond)?

As far as backing up clients’ data for them (if that’s what you’re asking), that’s a bad idea. You’re not a storage facility. Don’t take on responsibilities and liabilities that aren’t yours to bear. Clients need to be responsible for their own businesses; it’s not your job to manage their businesses. You have your own to deal with. Their databases should be on their own computers and systems, not yours.

SYSTEMS

As far as keeping your files synced between computers, my best advice is to avoid duplication at all costs. Otherwise, you only invite confusion, mistakes, rework and inefficiency (which in itself creates more work). A business that does not run well also does not earn well. What I recommend is that you get an online virtual office and a remote access service.

I work from several different computers and laptops, but I don’t keep work in all these various places. All my files, my entire business, sits on my main office desktop computer. When I need to access files, I simply login remotely to my home office computer using LogMeIn. I could not live without this service. I can be sitting in our condo in Germany and working at my home computer in the U.S. as if I was sitting right there. No more dinking around and keeping track of portable/thumb drives that are easily lost or broken. It is simply brilliant!

My other best friend is my virtual office collaboration service, HyperOffice. This is a web-based service that allows you to organize clients, share calendars, project managements, documents, etc. and keep everything in a single online location that you both have access to. There is no moving files around or backing up between computers necessary whatsoever. This will not only simplify your work life immensely, it’s a convenience and benefit for clients working with you.

A new best friend that I can’t say enough good things about is DropBox. For those occasions when you do need to quickly and simply move, transfer or sync files between computers or with clients, DropBox is your go-to tool. It’s crazy how versatile it is and I’m constantly finding new uses for it. Super, super easy to install and use.

With these three tools, things are kept organized and not spread out all over the place and I never have to waste time and energy syncing stuff up. It’s a non-issue!

Virtual Assistant Business Contracts Templates Forms Guides

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Virtual Assistant Business Contracts Templates Forms Guides
By Danielle Keister | Also posted in Business Savvy, Virtual Assistant/Virtual Assistance | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | Comments (0)
October 6, 2010 – 10:41 am

Dear Gritty Virtual Assistant: I’ve Got a Bunch of Questions!

Dear Gritty VA:

Thank you so much for all of your offerings through the Virtual Assistant Business Store! Getting my company planned and put together has been much easier thanks to you than it might have been.  I just need some clarification:

  1. How exactly do referrals work?  I am giving a two-hour free referral bonus to any client that refers another paying client.  What do you think of that idea?
  2. What marketing tools have you found the most effective?  I am on unemployment which is not enough to make ends meet, and I have had to get things for my business by raiding my grocery money (maxed out credit).  I am trying to get a micro-business loan, but have not done so yet.  Are online directories and search engines the way to go?
  3. How did you find your industries small prospects for sales calls?  Do we have to worry about “Do Not Call” lists if someone uses one phone number for everything?  How much “cold calling” did you do to get started?
  4. About your website screening intake form:  I could not find your business website, only the Gritty VA, nor could I find anything in the store about an intake form.  Is there another resource or should I just pull together my own and tweak it through experience?
  5. If a client asks for a particularly dicey project that I am not sure I can handle, how do I address that without looking incompetent, undersupplied technologically, or setting myself up to fail?


I apologize if you have already addressed these issues.  Thanks for your help! –AJ

Whew! I’ll do my best to answer these, keeping ‘em short and sweet…

1. I’ve written a couple things on the topic of referral recently:  “Dear Gritty Virtual Assistant: How do I Advertise for Referral Partners?” and “10 Tips for Harnessing the Power of Referrals.” Those should cover your questions on this topic (particularly the part about paying for referrals–not the best thing to do and unnecessary).

2. It’s helpful to be in directories, if only for the added SEO, but in our industry, hands down the most effective marketing strategy is networking. Not ads. Not cold calling. Not direct mail. The great thing is that networking doesn’t cost anything but your time. And the reason it’s so effective is because people look to work with those they have established some kind of relationship with, that they feel some kind of rapport with and have come to know, like and trust because of it. Every opportunity you glean that let’s a group of people get to know, like and trust you is going to make it that much easier for you to attract clients.

3. How did I find my industry’s small prospects for sales calls? I didn’t look. ;) I never did cold calling. People don’t like to be sold to; it’s completely the wrong strategy. Professional services are a bigger ticket item and require more relationship building that that. And I can just about guarantee you, you don’t have the kind of money and energy to ever make cold calling a worthwhile ROI. Even if you get one project, it isn’t going to come close to covering all the time, energy and effort you put into getting it. And think about it–you really think you can keep putting in that kind of work just to get one or two measly nickel-and-dime projects? There are MUCH quicker, more effective means to getting clients and that’s by deciding on a target market to focus on and then getting involved with that group in any ways you can (online forums, business groups, events, etc.). The more you interact, the more they get to know, like and trust you.

4.  My own site is undergoing an overhaul (although to be honest, I haven’t had time to deal with it lately), but I think you are referring to the online form to request a consultation. If that’s the case, I’m not sure specifically what your question is on this, but I use this form on my site to help screen and pre-qualify prospects. I can’t work with everyone and as a Administrative Support Consultant, I’m not looking to work with anyone and everyone.  I want to make sure they understand what I’m in business to help people with, that they belong to the industry/profession I focus on and whether they are ready to find a support partner (or only looking) and can afford it. These are the kind of things that inform me as to what my next action with them will be. That is, if someone is only “browsing,” you don’t want to waste time and effort on a consultation. It’s the wrong approach at the wrong time and you want to reserve those things only for those who are ready. Instead, you’d want to refer folks in that category to a white paper or video perhaps and then ask them to contact you again when they’re more seriously interested in working together. You could also invite them to subscribe to your ezine or mailing list so that you can keep them in your pipeline. The fact is that most clients are not ready to work with us immediately. It’s all a process. But you can read more about the consult form and pre-qualifying clients here: “One Way to Sort the Ideal from the Unideal.” Oh, and I would HIGHLY recommend you get my Client Consultation Process as it walks you through ALL of these things and gives you a system from start to finish for targeting clients, prequalifying them, going through the consultation and all the kinds of questions to ask and how to follow up afterward.

5. Well, first you have to distinguish what kind of business you are in. Are you in the secretarial business where you’re simply doing one-off, transactional, piecemeal project work? Or are you in the business of administrative support? Because the two are entirely different things and once you answer that question, it will help answer subsequent questions about what kind of client needs that work, what work is entailed and so forth. When you know what you do and who you do it for, this kind of thing isn’t as much of an issue. However, let’s say you are in the administrative support business and the client asks if you do X. Honesty is always best so tell them if that isn’t something you know how to do. However, you can always let them know (that is, if you are even interested) that you are willing to learn how to do it. Otherwise, you might look at the thing and realize, you know, this really doesn’t fall under administrative support at all and they really need to be working with an “X” expert. In that case, you might offer to help them locate that kind of expert who is in business specifically to do that thing. Or, you might have a separate division in your practice that does “X” in which case you could charge them separately for that project work. You have to always remember, Virtual Assistance is not a catchall term for “anything and everything.” Just because a client asks doesn’t mean anything. YOU have to decide what administrative support consists of in your business and what it doesn’t. When you have that clear idea yourself, you shouldn’t have any qualms about letting clients know when something doesn’t fall under that umbrella, that you don’t do it because of that, or that you are willing to learn (and maybe charge separately) for it. Always be honest about what’s what; you’re not going to look bad at all about not doing or knowing how to do something if that’s not the business you’re in in the first place. I mean, if you’re a plumber and someone asks you to fix their car, they’re the ones not making sense and you would naturally explain to them that you are a plumber, not a mechanic.

Virtual Assistant Business Contracts Templates Forms Guides

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Virtual Assistant Business Contracts Templates Forms Guides
By Danielle Keister | Also posted in Business Savvy, Marketing, Virtual Assistant/Virtual Assistance | Tagged , , , , , , | Comments (0)
September 29, 2010 – 10:00 am

Dear Gritty VA: How Do I Advertise for Referral Partners?

Dear Gritty VA:

I am new at publishing e-newletters and blogs, however, I know these are great tools to get the word out about my company and to attract new clients.  I plan to create a monthly e-newsletter and I want to be able to add great news about my referral partners. However, I want to know what is the best way to get the word out that I am looking for referral partners. Should I add it to my website or make a note in my e-newsletters.  I have already signed up to become an affiliate with VACOC and will be adding the link to my website and newsletter etc.  Thanks for your advice.  –GD

I think that’s a terrific idea–to spotlight your referral partners in your blog and ezine! Because if you’re going to be referral partners with someone, it’s the “partner-y” thing to do to actively promote them in the same way you hope they are doing for you.

So often we see folks becoming referral “partners” and it becomes a one-way street with one person doing all the referring and the other person not making an equal effort. That’s not cool, and if that’s the case, they don’t deserve to be referral partners with you. What they fail to understand is that one of the best ways to get referrals is to give them.

For those who don’t know what we’re talking about, a referral partner is someone in the same or similar business or complementary field that you refer business to. There a lot of reasons you would refer business to someone else. It could be because your practice is full. It could be because the client just isn’t your cup of tea, but might be perfect for that other person. It might be because the client is seeking a service that you don’t offer. Or it might be because you like to be a resource to your current clients whenever they seek services that aren’t related to what you are in business to do.

Printshops offer a good example of the complementary referral relationship. They always know of several designers and photographers they can refer their customers to. They are all in different kinds of businesses, but the work is related and they all serve the same sort of market. So they complement each other in that way. It makes perfect sense to refer to each other, and being a resource who can refer others and make qualified recommendations is HUGE help to clients and customers.

Referral partnering is an informal, but intentional, relationship where one business owner approaches another and says, “Hey, I think you’re awesome and you do great work. If you feel the same about me, let’s refer clients to each other when those opportunities arise. Maybe we can even meet once a month or so to brainstorm ideas on how we can promote and refer business to each other.”

Now while I think it’s absolutely wonderful to promote your referral partners whenever you have the chance, I do have a few thoughts about the rest of your question. First, I don’t know that I would necessarily advertise for referral partners. That is, if I advertised for referral partners, do I really want to receive what might be tons of emails to wade through and create for myself the extra work and burden of basically interviewing people?

And second, how substantive and authentic would it be for me to refer to folks I really don’t know much about or have actual experience with? I would prefer to find and nurture those relationships more organically, and selectively choose or approach potential referral partners based on the fact that I’ve developed a relationship and gotten to know them to some good extent over a period of time. I don’t want to just have people I can refer to. I want to refer to people whose talents, work and reputation I have absolute confidence in and will be a good reflection on the recommendations I give. I want my word to mean something. A disingenuous, unsubstantive referral is not helpful.

One last thought, while you are helping give back to your referral buddies, think about also devoting a separate space or blurb about what makes an ideal client referral for you. Those who are reading your blog and ezine might not be ready to work with you, but they might know of someone who is. So make it really clear about who you are specifically looking to work with (your target market and ideal client) and you’ll get many more referrals because you’d made it easy for them to do so.

Virtual Assistant Business Contracts Templates Forms Guides

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Virtual Assistant Business Contracts Templates Forms Guides
By Danielle Keister | Also posted in Business Savvy, Marketing, Virtual Assistant/Virtual Assistance | Tagged , , , , , , | Comments (2)
September 22, 2010 – 10:00 am

Dear Gritty VA: What does the waiver mean?

Dear Gritty VA:

As you may remember, I purchased a set of your awesome Virtual Assistant business forms. Question. Can you clarify the waiver? “Any waiver by either party of a breach or violation of provision of this Agreement by the other party shall not operate or be construed as a waiver of any subsequent breach by either party. No waiver shall be binding unless executed in writing.” –TG

Great to see you reading so thoroughly! First, I need to make clear that I’m not an attorney (obviously) so this isn’t to be construed as legal advice. But as business owners, we do need to have at least a basic working knowledge about contracts and such, what certain terms mean and why you have them in your contracts (or understand them when you are signing contracts). So this is a really smart question for you to be asking. :)

What this clause basically means is that if one party breaches (violates) a part of the contract and that breach is waived (allowed or “forgiven”) by the other party, that doesn’t mean that if they breach another part of the contract, that second breach will also automatically be waived or forgiven. It means that each breach is handled independently, and if a waiver is given (you decide to let it slide), it won’t be binding or enforceable unless it’s put in writing. It also means that just because you waive a breach, you don’t have to waive it again or allow it to continue if it’s an ongoing breach.

The reason you have these in your contracts is like anything else in business–because it helps make sure everyone is operating under the same understandings. It’s putting into writing and clearly spelling out expectations for doing business together, and what happens when those expectations and obligations to each other are not met. Without these kind of terms committed to writing, it’s much more difficult to enforce them legally should that become necessary. Ultimately it’s all about keeping things fair and honorable and creating the best circumstances for playing nicely with one another.

As with all things legal, always, always consult a lawyer for the last word in these matters.

Your thoughts? Post a comment!
Virtual Assistant Business Contracts Templates Forms Guides
By Danielle Keister | Also posted in Business Savvy, Virtual Assistant/Virtual Assistance | Tagged , , , , | Comments (0)
September 15, 2010 – 10:00 am

Dear Gritty VA: Do I Need an Address on My Website?

Dear Gritty VA:

There’s a conversation going on in another forum regarding addresses. Some people think it’s important to have one on your site and others think it’s unnecessary. What’s your opinion? –KH

Oh, I’ve talked about this before on more than one occasion. Let me take the slightly longer road in answering because it’s important you understand the psychology behind this.

One of the reasons we talk so much about standards and serving ourselves first in business is because the Virtual Assistant industry continues to really, really struggle in this area. I think a big part of the problem is the term “Virtual Assistant.” When you keep calling yourself an assistant, it’s hard to look upon yourself as a business owner. And many people in this industry literally don’t understand that they are business owners. They really do think they are simply assistants only working virtually. And like good little assistants, they let clients tell them what to do in their own businesses. They think it’s all about the client and whatever the clients want and need. <Give that good little girl who knows how to follow orders a pat on the head.>

And that just doesn’t help anybody. It certainly doesn’t help those Virtual Assistants grow successful businesses. And whether they understand or realize it or not, it doesn’t help clients who much prefer not to have to shoulder the burden of leading everything in the relationship. Um, that’s what they come to professionals for. But if they aren’t looking at you like a professional, they’re looking at you like a trained monkey. And we’re back to square one.

You don’t have a business if you aren’t leading it and aren’t making any money.

And so we talk constantly about getting over employee mindset, remembering that you are a business owner, having standards and making sure the business meets your needs first and that you get to say how it all works and how it doesn’t. You’ve heard the saying, “You can’t care for others unless you first care for yourself.” That’s exactly what all that is about.

But then there are some folks who get carried away with all that to the point that all they think about is themselves in business. They think (and we’ll use the topic of the question here), “Well, I don’t want to put an address on my website. I don’t need to–I’m virtual!” To that I say, what on earth does being virtual have to do with anything? A business is a business.

They forget that being in business is about being in a relationship with clients. And a relationship is a two-way street. It’s not all about you and what you want and what works for you. Me, me, me, me, me.

Sure, you get to say how things work in your business. And you get to have high standards around the kind of work you do, the kind of clients you work with, and the kind of money you charge. You can not truly  and superbly help clients without those things.

At the same time, there are some considerations you must be willing to extend to clients–because you don’t have a business with them.

So having an address on your site isn’t about what’s important to you. It’s about what’s important to the clients visiting your site. It’s about helping them view you as credible and legitimate. It’s about trust and and helping them feel safe about potentially doing business with you. It’s not for you that an address should be on your site, it’s for your would-be clients.

Long story short–yes, it’s absolutely vital to have an address on your website. It doesn’t have to be a physical address–and if you run a home-based business, I would absolutely tell you NOT to use that one. It’s unsafe, and you do not want clients or anyone you don’t know showing up on your doorstep one day out of the blue.

Get a post office box instead. My PO box costs me $36 every six months. And I can format the address to the physical location instead of using “PO Box X.” If a post office isn’t close to you, businesses like Mailboxes Etc. come to mind. Alternatively, you can get a mailing address with a service like Earth Class Mail (which is a phenomenal service, by the way).

I would add that besides an address and phone number, put some kind of photo of yourself on your site, in your email signatures, in your forum profiles. Get a gravatar so that when you post comments to blogs, people see your smiling face. Being able to “see” who they are talking with goes a LONG way in establishing rapport and facilitating conversation. It helps folks see you as a person–not a nameless, faceless entity–and they’ll remember you much better when they have a face to go with the name.

3 Comments
Virtual Assistant Business Contracts Templates Forms Guides
By Danielle Keister | Also posted in Business Savvy, Marketing, Virtual Assistant/Virtual Assistance | Tagged , , , , , | Comments (3)
September 8, 2010 – 10:00 am

Dear Gritty VA: How Do I Know Who To Refer To?

Dear Gritty VA:

Love your blog. Just one question: In terms of finding other administrative consultants to refer clients to that I cannot or will not serve, how do I know who is good or not? Is there a way around shooting in the dark? –TJ

Great question! Here are a few thoughts and ideas for ya:

1. Don’t feel like you have to refer to actual colleagues if you don’t know anyone yet. If you are new to the industry, it will simply take time to get to know others well enough to decide who you’d be comfortable referring prospective clients to. As you recognize, your reputation is sort of tied to the referrals you make, too, so you want to make sure you only refer to those who are competent and professional. You never want to make a recommendation willy nilly.

2. Getting involved in industry organizations, forums and listservs is really the only way to get to know colleagues. As you interact with others, you’ll begin to notice those folks who really stand out in terms of demonstrating their competence, professionalism and knowledge.

3. Taking that a step further, make a point of establishing relationships with those folks and become referral partners for each other.

4. Another way to help those clients out that you can’t or don’t want to work with, when you don’t have a specific person to refer them to, is to simply provide them with a link to an industry directory or two. That’s a perfectly helpful gesture as well.

Your thoughts? Post a comment!
Virtual Assistant Business Contracts Templates Forms Guides
By Danielle Keister | Also posted in Business Savvy, Virtual Assistant/Virtual Assistance | Tagged , , , | Comments (0)
September 1, 2010 – 10:00 am

Dear Gritty VA: How Do I Find Virtual Assistant Jobs?

Dear Gritty VA:

How do I find Virtual Assistant jobs? –SH

From your question, I’m thinking you might not be understanding what Virtual Assistance is. Virtual Assistance is a not a job, it’s a business. As a Virtual Assistant, you don’t look for “jobs,” you look for clients. And you do that like any business does–by marketing and networking. To be sure, this is no small task. It’s a process and area of ongoing learning. But that’s where everyone has to start once they decide to go into business for themselves.

Your question may also indicate that you really haven’t done much or enough reading and research yet on your own. So where I would recommend you start is by reading everything you can about Virtual Assistance, including the back posts on my blog here. Once you do that, it should become clear where you need to adjust your understandings.

Of course, you may actually be talking about work-at-home jobs. If that’s the case, what you are talking about is telecommuting, not Virtual Assistance. Two completely different things.

Using the proper terminology is very important, as you can see, because if you don’t, you won’t be understood, you’ll ask the wrong people the wrong questions and you won’t find the right answers. Which is the situation here since my blog is specifically focused on helping Virtual Assistants/administrative experts grow stronger, more financially successful businesses. I can’t help with you with telecommuting since that’s not what I discuss here.

Virtual Assistant Business Contracts Templates Forms Guides

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Virtual Assistant Business Contracts Templates Forms Guides
By Danielle Keister | Also posted in Business Savvy, Virtual Assistant/Virtual Assistance | Tagged , , , , , , | Comments (2)
July 14, 2010 – 1:43 pm

Dear Gritty VA: Why Can’t I Find Income Tax Info All in One Place?

Dear Gritty VA:

I submit final draft of my business plan to my mentor soon (I can’t thank you enough for the Virtual Assistant Business Plan template you have included in your packages). My question is for the financial aspect of the business plan… calculating the income taxes. There are so many websites out there and not one that offers suggestions of what a Virtual Assistant/ home-based business could file. I mean, you have state, federal, etc. Is it just the same when you are taking an owner’s withdrawal vs. salary? I really want to check all of my resources before I pay an accountant for the same thing I can find myself. –MK

I love to see how you are doing your actual homework! I can’t stress enough to new business owners the importance of not being penny wise and pound foolish. What I mean by that is I think every business owner should do this homework to make sure they have a good grasp of these things. That way, when they do talk with an accountant and/or business attorney, the information makes more sense; they understand it at a more cellular level. But even after doing your own homework, it is more than wise to still consult with an accountant and/or business attorney.

The reason you can’t find all this info spelled out for you is because… it all depends. Your business formation will be relevant. If you are in the U.S., besides federal obligations, different states and localities will have their own varying requirements. Every person’s situation and circumstances are different. Therefore, there’s just no way around simply going to all the pertinent agencies in your own location, talking to them and getting the low-down on exactly what your particular tax, licensing and reporting obligations are. And don’t expect one agency to know the particulars of another. It’s not their place and relying on wrong info they might give can cost you. You need to talk with each one.

As far as figures go, you can figure on 15.3% right off the bat to Uncle Sam. Technically, it’s 12.4% for Social Security up to $106,800 and 2.9% for Medicare. After $106,800, you only have to pay for the Medicare portion of the self-employment taxes. However, things can get more confusing depending on individual circumstances, like for example, if you have a job in addition to running a business. Personally, I don’t worry about cut-offs and just keep setting the same amounts aside. Anything extra can go into the fund for future payments or turned over to savings. (And realistically, it’s not likely that you would even hit the $100,000 mark, if at all, until several years in business. Not that’s it’s not possible; it’s just that most VAs don’t know how to work with clients or run their businesses in a way that allows them to reach that potential.)

But 15.3% isn’t all that you want to set aside for taxes from your business income…

As far as your state goes, you want to find out if there is an income tax or not (some states have one while others don’t). How much is it? When do you need to pay it? Does your state require a business license? How much is that? How often must it be renewed? What are your reporting obligations?

Your city, even your county, may also have their own business licensing and tax requirements as well. You’ll need to find all of this out.

As you can see, there’s no one-size fits all answer. It all depends. And this is exactly why it is always in your best interests to work with an accountant and/or business attorney. Even if you think you understand things or have covered all your bases. Because unless you are an accountant or attorney, you simply don’t always know what you don’t know. And they can literally save your butt from making potentially costly errors, giving you the right advise based on your own particular set of circumstances and business formation and saving you all kinds of time, energy and money trying to figure all that stuff out on your own.

PS: No, an owner’s draw is not the same thing as a salary. Just one of the myriad bits of knowledge you must know about in order to do your own bookkeeping.

2 Comments
Virtual Assistant Business Contracts Templates Forms Guides
By Danielle Keister | Also posted in Business Savvy, Virtual Assistant/Virtual Assistance | Tagged , , , , | Comments (2)