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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.

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By Danielle Keister | Also posted in Business Savvy, Marketing, Virtual Assistant/Virtual Assistance | Tagged Danielle Keister, Gritty VA, referral marketing, Referral Partners, Virtual Assistance, Virtual Assistant, Virtual Assistants | 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.

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By Danielle Keister | Also posted in Business Savvy, Virtual Assistant/Virtual Assistance | Tagged Breaches of Contract, Contract Terms, Virtual Assistant, Virtual Assistants, Waivers | 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.

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By Danielle Keister | Also posted in Business Savvy, Marketing, Virtual Assistant/Virtual Assistance | Tagged Danielle Keister, Do I need an address on my website, Gritty VA, Virtual Assistance, Virtual Assistant, Virtual Assistants | 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.

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By Danielle Keister | Also posted in Business Savvy, Virtual Assistant/Virtual Assistance | Tagged Danielle Keister, Dear Gritty VA, How to Make Referrals, Referral Partners | 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.

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By Danielle Keister | Also posted in Business Savvy, Virtual Assistant/Virtual Assistance | Tagged Danielle Keister, Gritty VA, telecommuting, Virtual Assistance, Virtual Assistant, Virtual Assistant Jobs, Virtual Assistants | Comments (2)

August 18, 2010 – 10:00 am

Dear Gritty VA: Should I Sign a Client’s Confidentiality Agreement?

Dear Gritty VA:

I finally have a new client (who has signed the Virtual Assistance Retainer Agreement I ordered from you and customized for my business–thank you!). However, the client emailed me wanting me to sign a confidentiality/non-disclosure agreement which the owner forgot to give me at our meeting. Would that be necessary to do? –ST

Having a client ask you to sign a confidentiality agreement is a normal, reasonable request. And here’s why:

When working with clients, especially in our line of work, we are often privy and have access to their intellectual property and other proprietary knowledge, processes and information. Naturally, they wouldn’t want you to be taking their intellectual capital and proprietary information and using it for your own benefit, making derivative use of it in your own business, or in any way sharing or disclosing it to others. So the idea behind a confidentiality/non-disclosure agreement is that you’re basically making a legal promise that you won’t do that and if you breach that promise, they can seek injunctive relief and damages against you.

The reverse can also be true. You might have intellectual property and proprietary processes and information that clients become privy to that you wouldn’t want them sharing with others or repurposing for their own benefit. If you have any intellectual capital or proprietary information you want to protect, you might have clients sign your own confidentiality/non-disclosure agreement before working together.

But, as with any kind of legally binding contract, you want to be sure you know what you are signing and not signing away any reasonable right or recourse or be held to any unreasonable standard or liability. One thing in particular you want to look out for is any language that talks about you not working for anyone else doing the work you do. This is usually associated with terms like “non-competition.” (You’ll see this kind of language especially if they are using a generic agreement like you get at OfficeDepot or something—very, very bad idea as those things are fraught with terrible legal languaging and loopholes that expose both sides to liability.) If that kind of language is in there, you want to ask them to take it out before you sign anything. You’re a business and no one has the right to expect you to not work with other clients doing the very thing you are in business to do.

Another thing I want to mention that I see all the time in the VA world is this silliness about automatically providing clients with a confidentiality agreement. This is not your responsibility. That would be like a tenant providing the lease agreement to the landlord. Or a policyholder providing the insurance policy to the insurance company. The party with the confidential information at stake is the one who writes the instrument protecting and explaining the relationship, not the other way around. So, if a client has IP they want to protect, it’s up to them to hire their own attorney and provide you with their own agreement. It’s not your job to do that for them and you could be creating more liability for yourself than is necessary.

And as the saying goes, I am not an attorney. This is not to be construed with legal advice, just my knowledge based on 14 years in business. I hope it helps, but when it comes to legal matters, you should always, always seek the advice and guidance of an attorney.

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By Danielle Keister | Also posted in Business Savvy, Virtual Assistant/Virtual Assistance | Tagged Confidentiality Non Disclosure Agreement, Danielle Keister, Gritty VA | Comments (0)

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.

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By Danielle Keister | Also posted in Business Savvy, Virtual Assistant/Virtual Assistance | Tagged Danielle Keister, Gritty VA, self-employment taxes, Virtual Assistant Business Plan, Virtual Assistants | Comments (2)

July 7, 2010 – 10:00 am

Dear Gritty VA: “I” or “We” in My Business Plan?

Dear Gritty VA:

On the business plan template, I am having a hard time coming up with the replacement word for “we” and “our” since it is only “I” who will be doing all the work for now. My mentor stated it is not acceptable to put “I” in its place, that I need to put my business name; however, that is so redundant! Any ideas? –MK

I have to disagree with your mentor on this one. The fact is most of us in boutique firms and solo practices are not completing business plans for the purpose of getting loans or attracting investors. We’re just not that big.

First and foremost, the point of going through the business planning process is to gain clarity and consciousness about our objectives for our businesses and how to best achieve them. The value of a business plan is not the formatting, it’s the process, or the journey of the process, if you will. It’s what we learn and gain insight from by going through the process that is the important thing. The process forces you to get conscious about things and specifically address them that you might not have otherwise. Therefore, it matters not a whit whether you use “we” or “us” or “I.” In fact, if you are an “I’ and specifically not a “we” and your business plan is for your purposes, not for loans or investors, I would say use “I” to speak to yourself and make it more personal.

Of course, if your business plan is doubling as something you would be formally presenting, then by all means use whatever form is accepted and expected. And don’t forget, there’s no law preventing you from directly asking about what they’d like to see, how they’d like it presented and what will help you get what you’re looking for.

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By Danielle Keister | Also posted in Business Savvy, Virtual Assistant/Virtual Assistance | Tagged business plans, Danielle Keister, Gritty VA | Comments (2)

June 30, 2010 – 10:00 am

Dear Gritty VA: Is It Possible to Start a Virtual Assistant Biz in Japan

Dear Gritty VA:

I have 30 years of diverse administrative experience. My husband is transferring to Japan and civilian employment is very difficult to come by where we’re being stationed. Is it possible/feasible to start up a Virtual Assistant business from overseas? I have a modern, complete home office set-up. Any advice or assistance you can provide is greatly appreciated. –KF

Absolutely, it’s possible! You’ve got the experience. You’ve got your home office set-up. Perfect. As with any new business, there is always a learning curve when it comes to running and managing a business successfully and profitably. And you’ll need to get your foundations in place. But everyone goes through those stages, so that’s nothing out of the ordinary. And most importantly, you aren’t restricted to your local area as far as finding clients. That’s the beauty of the kind of work we do–it can be done virtually.

You don’t mention whether you are intending to seek local clients in Japan. I’m not sure what the market is like there or how receptive they are to this kind of working so naturally, as you would with any market, you’ll need to do your research.

I would advise you to steer clear of the term “Virtual Assistant.” Anymore, it’s associated with cheap gopher labor and not skilled, professional expertise. Plus, people have never understood what it meant in the first place. Instead use terms like “administrative support” and “administrative consulting” or “administrative support consultant.” This makes it much clearer to people what we are and what kind of work we do.

And consider this, accountants don’t go to their clients’ office to do their work. People don’t expect their attorneys to come to their offices to conduct their work. With a few exceptions, no professional service provider does their work on any clients’ premises. They might make courtesy visits for client relations purposes. They might conduct consultations face-to-face. But their actual work is done in their own offices or places of business.

What we do is no different. If you learn to put things in the right light, avoid the word “assistant” at all costs, and compare yourself to any other service provider they might hire, clients won’t expect that you are going to be coming to their offices to work. They will see you as any other professional with a particular area of expertise (administrative support) they hire to provide a service.

Which is why geography isn’t a barrier for doing what we do. We can pretty much work with anyone, anywhere. So if you find that the market in Japan is difficult or less receptive, you have the entire rest of the world, including your own native country, in which to find clients.

At the same time, while geography isn’t a barrier and we often never meet our clients face-to-face (especially if they are in completely different states or countries from us), this makes establishing trust, rapport, credibility and confidence even more important. Your business website, your social media accounts, your blog, your marketing materials, all of those become the visible, tangible representations and demonstrations of your competence and legitimacy as a business. So, you’ll want to put top priority and care into how they look as they will become your “face” to prospective clients. They’ll either feel safe or suspicious based on what they see.

It’s an emotional comfort thing. An attorney might not work at the client’s office, but the client at least knows where the office is. Just knowing the attorney is in town or nearby gives the client comfort. So it’s the same thing for us. Logical or not, we have to make up in credibility what we lack in face-to-face availability. Your location becomes less relevant the better you are able to do that.

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By Danielle Keister | Also posted in Business Savvy, Marketing, Virtual Assistant/Virtual Assistance | Tagged Virtua Assistant Overseas | Comments (1)

June 10, 2010 – 10:59 am

Dear Gritty VA: Can I Collect Unemployment While Starting My Virtual Assistant Business?

I am new to the Virtual Assistant world. I have been laid off so many times in the past 11 years that I have just lost faith in employers. I was given this idea back in 2003 to start a Virtual Assistant business, but was too scared. I was laid off again in September 2009 and my idea came back, but this time stronger, so I decided to pursue it and start my business. I am currently on unemployment and would like some advice on how to run a business while on assistance. My state’s Department of Licensing is no help to me and I am hearing that I have to be very careful having a business while getting benefits. As you all probably know, while on unemployment insurance, you must do job searches and this takes all day. Looking for a job IS a job in itself and is very time consuming. I am single and I have no other income so I need my benefits. –GA

This is a great question and I’ll bet there are lots of folks in the same boat so hopefully my answer will help guide them as well.

Unless they are from your state or local Employment Insurance office, it would be irresponsible for anyone to give you any advice regarding your unemployment benefits. Your state’s Department of Licensing is naturally not going to be any help because it’s not their place. You have to direct those questions to your local/state unemployment agency. Only they can tell you what the rules and guidelines are when it comes to collecting unemployment insurance benefits. Find out whether you are allowed to work on starting a business while collecting benefits. You should also ask how it works if you do happen to get a client and they pay monies to you. Are you expected to report that income? Will it affect your benefit amounts?

Many years ago, I had a friend who started a hair salon after getting laid off. She was able to collect unemployment benefits while still running the business and receiving payments from customers. This was because she was not personally collecting a paycheck and put everything back into the business. This was allowable under our state’s employment insurance rules at that time.

Who knows. Your state agency might have similar allowances. But again, I want to emphasize that you MUST talk with your own UI agency to get the facts pertinent to your state and your particular situation since different states may have different rules.

Starting a business in any circumstance is going to have daunting aspects. At the same time, someone who starts her business under more optimal conditions (like having savings and capital set aside or some other source of income to live on and run the business until money starts coming in) is naturally going to have an easier time of things than someone who just lost her job and has no other money to live on. It can be done, but it’s going to be a more difficult road.

If you get clearance from your UI agency, this will be a great time to really work on setting up your Virtual Assistant business foundations (policies, contracts, going through the business planning process, writing your marketing message, getting your website up, etc.). You’ll of course always be honing, tweaking and improving upon things as you go along, but getting the basics in place now will instill greater chances of success for your business once you are ready to start accepting clients. Once you know from your UI agency how to report client monies should you receive any and how that affects your benefits, that will help you decide how to proceed from there.

Either way, you’ll still need to comply with whatever job seeking requirements they have for you, but as they say, “One day at a time.” Plus, with today’s technology, people can also hunt for work electronically instead of wasting gas and literally spending hours beating the pavement. Find out what qualifies as job-seeking. How many contacts are you required to have each week? Do phone calls to employers and emailing resumes count? And who knows, depending on what you find out from your UI agency, they may allow your business start-up work to meet some of your job-seeking obligations. They may even have some further resources and programs to help you in that effort.

One last thought… I do want to tell folks to keep in mind that while employer paid, unemployment insurance is a benefit you earned by working. It’s not welfare so never feel ashamed about that. I mention this only because I know there are lots of folks who think unemployment is a handout. Those who didn’t work for a living are not eligible for UI, which means those who get it, get it because they were contributing members of society in the workforce. Plus, the goal of UI agencies is to get people back to work. I’m sure there are some backwards agencies out there with their heads up their bureaucratic butts, but I know there are just as many that offer a great deal of assistance and programs to help you in your business starting efforts, not hold you back. I know it might be a lot of work, but keep fighting to get the info and help you need. Good luck!

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By Danielle Keister | Also posted in Business Savvy, Virtual Assistant/Virtual Assistance | Tagged Danielle Keister, Gritty VA, Unemployment Insurance, Virtual Assistance, Virtual Assistant, Virtual Assistants | Comments (3)

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The Gritty Virtual Assistant Blog

Category Archives: Dear Gritty VA

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

Dear Gritty VA: What does the waiver mean?

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

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

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

Dear Gritty VA: Should I Sign a Client’s Confidentiality Agreement?

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