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April 28, 2010 – 10:00 am

Dear Gritty VA: Do I Have Enough Experience to Be a Virtual Assistant?

Dear Gritty VA:

I only have 2 years experience as an Executive Assistant and 6 years as a Receptionist/Data Entry Clerk. Could I still be a Virtual Assistant? Any suggestions are helpful. –BT

Well, it’s not really for me to say. It’s what the marketplace has to say.

What I mean is, yes, the Virtual Assistant/Administrative Support Consultant profession definitely has ideas, opinions and expectations about what the qualifications should be of those who want to enter its ranks. The Virtual Assistant community generally wants to protect the reputation and credibility of the profession in the interests of clients and VAs alike. But ultimately, this is an unregulated industry so no one can tell you that you can’t open a Virtual Assistant business if that’s what you want to do.

That said, clients have very demanding expectations. So the better question might be, do you have enough experience that you will be professionally qualified enough to meet those demands? Business savvy also plays a critical role here because if you don’t know how to run and manage business well, that also will directly impact your service to clients and their satisfaction. If you don’t have a sufficient level of these things, are you prepared to deal with the extra difficulty and rejection you might face? Do you have the stamina, perseverance and tenacity to keep working on whatever you need to work on to get to a level that is marketable? The less skill and experience you have, the much more difficult a path you face. It will be much harder for you to command the kind of fees that will earn you a real living and it may take you much longer to get established. You can be the most likable person on the planet and have no problem developing rapport with prospective clients, but when it comes right down to it, the proof is in the pudding. Clients get frustrated (and do not work long) with VAs who don’t have a business level of skill and ability.

What I might personally recommend is that it might be a good idea to stay in the workforce a few more years. Grab every opportunity to grow in your administrative and support skills and at the same time become a student of business (and I don’t mean enrolling in an MBA program–simply start reading business books). Use this time now to start thinking about a target market and studying what kind of administrative needs and challenges that market has and how you can support those needs and solve those challenges. Lay the foundation of your business now so that when the time is right and you’ve got enough business knowledge and marketable expertise under your belt, you will be more prepared for success.

Then again, maybe you feel you’ve already got what it takes. If so, go for it.

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By Danielle Keister | Also posted in Cool Stuff, Virtual Assistant/Virtual Assistance | Tagged Danielle Keister, Gritty VA, Virtual Assistant, Virtual Assistants | Comments (4)

April 21, 2010 – 10:00 am

Dear Gritty VA: Should I Point Out Errors on Other Virtual Assistant Sites?

Dear Gritty VA:

I can’t tell you the number of times that I have looked at another Virtual Assistant’s website, taken a deep breath, sighed, and just continued reading. But 5, 10, even 15 minutes later I will still be struggling with whether or not I should have emailed the VA and told them about the error. You see, I am an administrative professional who has been in the business for 20 years and am now starting my VA business. One of my special talents is proofreading. So I think…this person is NOT going to appreciate me, the newbie in town, emailing them to point out the spelling error, grammatical error or formatting problem on their VA website. Yet…it bothers me. This is our profession and our website represents who we are and the work that we do. I learned the hard way to review, review, and once again review. I worked in the actuarial field for the last 5 years and let me tell you…those folks are very difficult to communicate with and they demand perfection the first time that you return a document to them. I refused to make mistakes and be caught. So I walk away wondering if I should contact the VA and take a chance that they think that I am being rude by pointing out the errors or do I disregard it? I know that my work is NOT always perfect but if these websites had been reviewed these errors would have been caught because they are obvious errors. I prefer to do what I think is the right thing, take screen shots and send the VA the info. I have found three websites with errors in the last two weeks and the Virtual Assistants all appear to be well spoken and high level (some of these websites were created by Virtual Assistants who are members listed in the VACOC Directory – I found some of these errors while doing research for my own company). Personally, I think that these Virtual Assistants should hire me to proofread their websites (totally tongue in cheek there but I just had to say it). So…what do you think? Do I contact them, or not? By the way…I proofread this email several times before sending it (and pasted it in Word and performed a spellcheck on it). Yes, I am a perfectionist but my name is on this email after all. –KG

The first question that pops into my head is why are you spending so much time on other Virtual Assistant sites? The people and sites and businesses you should be studying and getting to know are those of your core target market.

What will be helpful in this situation is getting really honest and clear about the underlying intention. The danger here, as you suspect, is that your approach may engender resentment, rather than appreciation. And the reason it could is because there’s a different feeling and tone between a) randomly reading someone’s site, finding a typo and shooting off a quick, friendly email to let them know, and b) going out of your way to find every error, spending an inexplicable amount of time and energy taking screenshots, and doing what really amounts to free work for people who aren’t even your clients. All that effort and energy would be more productively focused on developing your own business and clients.

As you mention, no one is perfect. One of my mentors is a multi-millionaire consultant renowned the world over who takes great pride in his vocabulary and command of the language. He can be quite pedantic when it comes to grammar and even he has typos and misspellings on his websites and blog posts now and then. It doesn’t bother me. It’s certainly always the goal to “dress the part” as much as possible, but a few occasional typos here and there do not diminish his standing and wisdom nor detract from the message. Those are cosmetic things that are quickly and easily corrected.

Personally, I always appreciate someone who takes a moment of their valuable time to let me know of little innocuous errors (which can happen even when you have your own proofreaders) as long as it is done in the spirit of helpfulness. Yes, it is true that there are always a few people calling themselves Virtual Assistants who have very poor grammar and communication skills. But it’s probably safe to say that the last thing you’d want is to be viewed as a busy-body. There can be a very fine line between being helpful and being presumptuous. It’s one thing to discuss standards and expectations in an industry, entirely another to barge into someone’s house, so to speak, via an email pointing out their personal gaffs and shortcomings (which is what that might feel like to the recipient). Ultimately, their business is their responsibility.

If you have impeccable grammar and proofreading skills, emphasize those attributes to your own prospective clients. If you come across a typo on someone’s site, let them know about it as a friendly favor if you are so inclined. Beyond that? Let it go. It’s not your kettle of fish to fry. Save your energy and focus for your own business.

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By Danielle Keister | Also posted in Business Savvy, Virtual Assistant/Virtual Assistance | Tagged Administrative Consultant, Danielle Keister, Gritty VA, Virtual Assistance, Virtual Assistant, Virtual Assistants | Comments (4)

March 24, 2010 – 10:00 am

Dear Gritty VA: How Can I Target Churches?

Dear Gritty VA:

What strategy would you recommend using for targeting churches with the Virtual Assistant business? I know a lot of churches depend on volunteers for help, but they might not have the right skills. And while some may have administrators, most do not. I think there is a huge market. –BP

What does your intended market say?

Whether it is churches or any other business, industry or profession, what you really have to do to answer this question is a bit of market research. Job #1 for every business owner is to get out from behind the computer and get on the phone and actually talk to those in the market you’d like to work with. Is there interest? Is there need? Can they afford professional fees? Does the research support your belief that there is a huge market? Because nothing else matters unless the intended target market has a need for what you are in business to offer and the willingness and ability to pay for it.

There are all kinds of ways you can collect information for this market research. Call around to churches and conduct telephone market research interviews with the people who would be in the position of making those decisions. Invite a few out to lunch (one at a time) to pick their brain. Set up an online survey and invite church leaders/administrators to give their feedback. Can you find out enough about their administrative work that you can create more attractive, compelling messages and packages that might influence their interest? What are their objections and how might you resolve those? You may find that there are certain denominations of churches that have more need and interest than others. You may find certain churches are in a better position to pay–what are their characteristics and is there a large enough group of these churches that you’d easily be able to fill your practice with them as clients? This is the kind of data that can emerge with research, which you can then use to narrow your focus, refine your questions and determine the best methods for reaching the right people.

Good luck!

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

March 17, 2010 – 10:00 am

Dear Gritty VA: What Am I?

Dear Gritty VA:

I am starting out my business and I am not sure what my focus should be and how to market myself. I have several skills/abilities that are not exactly in line with each other. 1. I worked as an executive assistant through college for high ranking military officials so I know that I can do great administrative work. 2. I graduated with an MBA and my emphasis was on project management. 3. I currently work as an education project manager (since 2006). I design training curriculum and online classrooms for a hospital. I am also involved in employee development (an additional duty as assigned) so I personally train most of the hospital staff too. 4. I am qualified to translate medical and legal documents (Spanish/English). Now, I would like to offer my skills (and education) to clients, but I’m not sure which way would be the most effective since not all clients will use all skills and I certainly don’t want to deter someone from working with me because of an expensive hourly rate. My husband says I’m stepping out of the virtual assistant realm and it seems to be more consulting because I can tell someone how to run their business. I somewhat disagree, hence the reason why I’m asking the question. I would really appreciate your thoughts on my little dilemma and I trust your advice. Thank you! –DL

This is where it is important and helpful to keep in mind what a Virtual Assistant is and what it is not. A Virtual Assistant isn’t someone who does piecemeal tasks and projects. A Virtual Assistant is someone who specializes in providing ongoing (month-to-month) administrative support. Administrative support is a skill, specialty and expertise in and of itself. At the VACOC, we are actually moving away from the term Virtual Assistant and transitioning over to Administrative Support Consultant. This term more clearly and readily identifies to clients what we are specifically in the business and profession of doing, where our expertise is, while at the same time setting more correct perceptions and understandings about the nature of the relationship. Namely, that we are not “assistants.” We are experts in our own right with our expertise being administrative support.

Getting clear about what you intend to do and be will help you answer these questions yourself. From the sound of it, my guess is that you are looking at things from the perspective of selling individual services. But that is not a Virtual Assistant business. That is a secretarial service. If your intent is to provide ongoing administrative support, on the other hand, I can see all of these being excellent supporting skills that would enhance your value and benefit to clients. However, do be clear–as a Virtual Assistant/Administrative Support Consultant, it’s not your job to advise clients how to run their business. If that’s the work you want to do, then you should look toward becoming a business consultant of some kind.

Now, where I think you’re really going to run into trouble, no matter what profession you end up deciding on, is this thinking you have when it comes to money. Your job as a business is not to be cheap or affordable. You will never ever win that rat race. There will always be someone else ready to undercut you even further. And then where do you go? No, you can’t make your value proposition about money or cost whatsoever. And ask yourself, why would you cater and slant your marketing right from the get-go toward people who can’t afford professional fees in the first place? What do you think is an “expensive” hourly rate? Why is that? Where does that thinking from come from?

If you don’t work to overcome employee mindset and the poverty mentality when it comes to money and charging professional fees, you will not be successful. And you won’t be in business long unless you are profitable. In fact, I always say that charging well is actually a service to clients because you can’t serve clients well unless you are served well and have your needs taken good care of first. And that includes being paid well so that you don’t have to burnout and overwork yourself just trying to make ends meet because you haven’t charged enough.

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

February 10, 2010 – 10:00 am

Dear Gritty VA: How Do I Keep Everything Separate?

Dear Gritty VA:

It is that time of year… taxes!!! And I was wondering if there were any helpful tips or tricks that you could share for a new Virtual Assistant to help stay organized. What you do to keep track of your business expenses from your personal expenses? My tax accountant told me that it is very difficult to write off office expenses from home because you have to keep track of EVERYTHING. She also stated that being paid as an employee is better than being paid as an independent contractor for tax purposes. Is that true? I would love to hear your thoughts. –MB

Omigosh, you need a new accountant! The one you have doesn’t sound like she understands small business at all! First of all, you aren’t an employee so you don’t have a choice about that, just like clients do not get to choose to pay employees as independent contractors. That’s called misclassification of employees and it’s against the law. You are either an employee or you are a business. Independent contractor is not a third option. It’s just another name for someone who is in self-employment and self-employment is a business, just like any other. The first thing I highly recommend is that you find an accountant who understands these things as well as the fact that you are a business owner, not an employee. Of course, you have to be clear about that in your own mind as well.

In response to your accountant’s claim that it’s very difficult to write off office expenses from home: No, it’s really not. EVERYONE in business has to keep track of everything; where your office is has nothing to do with anything (except for maybe the square footage of your office space).

Here is what I recommend: If you don’t have a dedicated room in your home for your office, at least have a dedicated space, whether that is a desk in a corner or a tabletop in your den. Wherever your space is, keep it off-limits to anyone and anything else. That becomes your dedicated business space that may not be used by anyone else or for anything else other than your business. The square footage of that space is what you then get to use to calculate that business expense when you file taxes.

As far as keeping track of expenses, yes, of course, save your receipts. If a receipt isn’t clear about what it was for, you will need to make notes on them by hand. Whatever you buy for the business is pretty much a business expense, as long as you don’t use it for anything else. Just keep that in mind and you’ll be good. It’s only when you mix things for personal and business use that you have to start figuring out percentages and calculations and make things complicated so the way to keep things simple is to just not mix them. Get dedicated everything.

It is never a good idea to co-mingle business and personal funds, and, in fact, the law can dictate that you may not do that. Therefore, plan on getting a dedicated checking and savings account with a debit and/or credit card that you use strictly for the business. (Depending on the bank and account, these can earn you rewards points that might come in handy as well.) Each month, transfer funds over to the savings account to set aside for taxes. Your new accountant can advise you on the right percentage to set aside. That way, when it’s time to pay estimated self-employment taxes, you don’t have to scramble.

Also, if you haven’t already, I really recommend investing in a proper business accounting software like Quickbooks Pro. Not only will it make entering and keeping track of things a breeze, but the reports you can pull up in analyzing your business and seeing how it’s doing will be invaluable. Your tax preparer will love you more, too.

I also want to be clear that when it comes to anything financial, legal and tax-related, you should never, ever rely on the advice, and especially not the opinions, of laypeople and colleagues, no matter how experienced that may be or how smart they think they are. Always, always go to the source and seek the guidance of those who are educated, licensed and qualified to be giving the information (ahem, accountant and attorney). In your case, you did the smart thing by consulting with an accountant; you just need to find one a little more knowledgeable, current and supportive of the small home-based business owner.

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By Danielle Keister | Also posted in Business Savvy, Virtual Assistant/Virtual Assistance | Tagged accountant, accounting, business expenses, Virtual Assistant | Comments (0)

January 20, 2010 – 10:00 am

Dear Gritty VA: What Advice Do You Have for a Vagrant Virtual Assistant?

Dear Gritty VA:

I am currently planning and readying my new Virtual Assistant business for its grand opening in about a month and a half, but my husband is in the military and we will be moving all over (this is why I am starting this business). So my question is two-fold: Do you have any tips for a vagrant VA? And will there be different laws to follow depending on where you are located? –CD

As you recognize, that’s the beauty of a business such as ours. It does not require any kind of physical brick and mortar presence, there are no geographic constraints and we can do the work that we do anywhere. You don’t elaborate much so I’m not sure what kind of tips you’re thinking of, but here are a few thoughts off the top of my head:

1. Set up a virtual collaboration office with a service like HyperOffice (they charge a monthly fee) or software like Groove (one time software purchase; requires hosting). These are not merely project management programs–these are full package organizational tools that you can set up by client so that each “collaborative office suite” has it’s own shared calendar, contacts/address book, project/task management section, full real-time document filing and sharing, forums and wikis you can set up, and all kinds of other things–all in one.

2. Perhaps set up your email accounts in an online tool like Gmail. That way, you can have online access to all your communications wherever you have an Internet connection. It’s funny I should recommend this, since I’m not personally a fan, but I can see the potential advantages for someone in your position who moves around a lot.

3. Get an aircard (also called “mobile broadband”). This is a little “stick” you plug into your laptop that gives you Internet. Wherever you can get a cell phone signal, your aircard will work there as well. Which means you could be anywhere, in your car, at a park, whereever, and still have Internet access. I use Verizon and have been very pleased.

4. Get a remote access service like LogMeIn. This will allow you to log into your homebase when you need to whenever you are away. There is a free version, but there are all kinds of wonderful extra tools you get with the pro version, which is what I use.

As far as different laws to follow depending on where you live, yes, that might be the case. Different cities, counties and states have their own licensing and tax obligations. Some cities (like mine) requires a separate business license in addition to the state business license you may have to take out (also required in my state). Others don’t require any separate or special registration at all. Some areas might have special zoning or laws pertaining to home businesses. Some cities or counties might require you to file their own business tax reports in addition to what you might be required to file federally or with the state. It will be your job as a responsible business owner to research those each time you move.

I want to also stress that it’s important to go straight to the source–contact the pertinent state and local agencies and ask them those questions. Their directions and information will be the only ones that matter. You don’t want to rely on the guesses or opinions of others as they are not going to be paying your penalties or fines or dealing with problems if you end up not doing something right based on their “helpful” advice.

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By Danielle Keister | Also posted in Business Savvy, Virtual Assistant/Virtual Assistance | Tagged Gritty VA, Virtual Assistant, Virtual Assistants | Comments (1)

January 6, 2010 – 10:00 am

Dear Gritty VA: What’s Your Website Advice?

Dear Gritty VA:

I found your website today and am very impressed. I am new to the world of Virtual Assistance–actually, today is my first day! My 2010 goal is to build a professional Virtual Assistant business, the kind of quality practice you describe in your website. It seems that one of the first really big steps is to design and build a website. Can you share any advice on selecting a host web service geared to Virtual Assistants or what pitfalls to avoid? The seemingly endless options are overwhelming and building the right website is a step I don’t want to take lightly. I’d really appreciate any insights you can share. Thanks. –FS

Oh, this is always a tough one for me to answer because honestly, I think the best business advice is to hire a professional (meaning, someone with actual design training and not someone who simply owns the software) to design your site so you can stay focused on the business-building and simply provide the designer with the direction. Unless, of course, you actually have the design and technical knowledge to do it yourself, and even then, we can often be too close to our own “product” to see the forest for the trees, so to speak. But I know the reality is that most VAs do not start their businesses properly capitalized so I’ll speak from the bootstrapping route.

As far as hosting, you don’t need a service that is geared toward VAs. Basically, it just needs to have reliable servers and great customer service. There are so many out there and we could both wear ourselves out just trying to go over all the particulars of things to look for and what ones to avoid. I don’t have the energy for that today, LOL, so I’m just going to give you a recommendation: A2Hosting.

I had been with another hosting company for years and years… had all my sites hosted through them as well as my web client sites. But the company got sold a couple times and went from being an absolute gem to an absolute dud. I mean, I can’t even begin to tell you how horrible they became…. horrible, horrible offshored customer service, constant server crashes, problems getting into your own accounts (they’d change the password on you without telling you and then you’d have to waste all kinds of time sitting on the phone trying to get your damn info)…. I’m about to die just remembering all the crap I had to go through with them. It was a nightmare.

So I went shopping around and tried many of the hosting services that are frequently recommended. And they sucked. But eventually I found A-2 and tried them out and I could not be happier. Actually, ecstatic would be a better word. I have not had any problems with their servers. They have fantastic in-house 24/7 telephone support on top of an easy-to-use online support ticket system (depending on what you prefer). They’ve got a Fantastico control panel with all the bells and whistles. I have moved all of my sites and as well as the client sites I manage over there and I could not recommend them more highly. They personally “walked” with me through a few more complex site transfers, all the while continuing to be their very personable and cheery selves. They’ve also got a sale going on right now of 40% off any hosting plan for new customers. Here’s a page where you can view all your plan options and discounts.

As far as the site design goes itself, you don’t mention where you’re at in terms of know-how on the web design thing so I’m flying blind here. That being the case, one route you could take is self-hosting a blogsite from WordPress.org (do not go with WordPress.com as you have no control over hosting, have fewer capabilities and people have lost their sites before going that route). A hosting company like A2 has one-click installs of WordPress. You could also hire someone who already has the know-how to do the installation and then work with them to customize a template. Lots of folks recommend WordPress as being easy as pie, but truthfully, it is a bit more complicated than that and if you don’t have the know-how, you can expend a lot of wasted time and energy concerning yourself with all the ins and outs. And getting the site to look like a professional site and not just the same generic template that everyone has seen on a million other sites takes some doing . You’ll have to weigh that out for yourself. Personally, I learned long ago not to waste my time with things I’m not good at and hire those who are. It saves all kinds of time, aggravation and ultimately, money.

I should add that your site will always be a work-in-progress. It’s the most important piece of marketing collateral you have and should always be in a constant state of improvement as you learn more about marketing and your clientele and how to better articulate your message to be more compelling and have more meaning for them. So the good news about that is that it doesn’t have to be perfect, get something up and then work from there. And if design isn’t your forte, at your first opportunity, find a pro to partner with to help you so you can have a visually attractive site with your own unique visual identity that will help draw people into the all-important content and facilitates their ease and use of the site.

As far as content goes, one of the biggest pitfalls in our industry is that VAs are recycling the same, tired old industry rhetoric so their sites sound exactly alike. This frustrates clients and doesn’t do anything to differentiate the VA from the herd. The one thing that makes literally everything easier–your marketing, your networking, your work, finding client…everything–is to focus on a target market. I can’t stress this enough. Narrow down one audience to speak to and then study and learn everything about them. The direction this focusing on a target market gives you will make everything less overwhelming and vastly more effective and expedient.

It’s important to remember that when your product is a service, it’s invisible… meaning, it’s not something a person can physically hold in their hand. That’s why your “packaging”–hich is what your website is–becomes so important. It’s the physical, more tangible representation of your business and image. If your site looks amateurish, prospective clients will think the caliber of your service may be amateurish as well. Any money you invest here in making your site top-notch, professional, polished and unique is an investment in your success.

38gde Now, getting direction in your marketing and messaging efforts can be overwhelming in and of itself. If you have any trouble in that area, I’ve figured all that out for folks in my guide, “Understanding Your Value: How to Craft Your Own Unique Marketing Message and Make More Money with Alternative Billing Strategies.”

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By Danielle Keister | Also posted in Marketing, Virtual Assistant/Virtual Assistance | Tagged Virtual Assistance, Virtual Assistant, Virtual Assistants, Web Design | Comments (2)

December 23, 2009 – 10:00 am

Dear Gritty VA: I’m Afraid I’ve Forgotten Everything I’ve Learned

Dear Gritty VA:

I sent an attorney the Virtual Assistant contract templates that I purchased off your site. I contacted him knowing very well that it would be costly, but he offered to look them over at no cost. After not hearing back from him, I asked him once if he’d had a chance to look them over and he mentioned via email that he would look them over during the Thanksgiving holiday weekend. Well, as of today, I’ve yet to hear from him. Since he offered, I don’t want to bug him. I would really like to start marketing the business, but I’ve been hesitant because of this minor glitch. I’ve worked with contracts before and they looked fine to me, but contacted him because it’s smart to have an attorney look things over. I’m seriously thinking of writing him off and simply moving on. I really need to move forward with my business, but I’m nervous about working with my first client. I’m sure you can understand my dilemma and frustration. To be honest, I’m afraid I’ve forgotten everything I’ve learned in the last 15 years. Crazy, isn’t it? –DE

Not crazy at all. So is that the only thing holding you up? If so, don’t give it another thought. So you’re nervous about going live, so to speak. It’s perfectly understandable. Perhaps waiting around for this attorney’s approval on the contracts is a way to keep dragging your feet. So I have two thoughts to offer you:

1) Yes, I think you should write the attorney off at this point. It’s holding you up and when it does that, it’s no longer a kindness or a favor to you. Don’t allow empty promises to keep you from moving forward in your business. You were prepared to pay for this service originally. Find another attorney and pay him or her. Remember: You get what you pay for and you can’t expect much when it’s a freebie.

2) For legal reasons I have to qualify my assurances by saying that you should always have an attorney look things over. That said, I work with attorneys, three of my uncles are attorneys, I developed these forms with my own attorneys and have been using them for over 12 years of business. So again, I want to encourage you to move forward. Waiting around for clearances and permissions and okays and not trusting in your own good counsel is going to keep you from rockin’ and rolling. Find another attorney to look them over when you get a chance, but in the meantime, you don’t have to wait on that to get started.

As far as being afraid you’ve forgotten everything, trust me you haven’t. It’s like riding a bike. You’re just experiencing the natural, usual fears that all of us have about putting ourselves out there. We all have the inner self-critic in the back of our heads telling us we’re not good enough and all that. You have to just ignore that and plow forward.

Remember, you don’t have to be perfect. You don’t have to know everything. The value in what you do as a Virtual Assistant for clients is that you are providing a base of right-hand support. Some things you might be rusty at, but you’ll pick them back up with use. There will be other things you might have to learn. And then there are going to be other things you simply don’t need or want to provide.

Sometimes, the best advice is to not even think about all the what-ifs you may encounter. Just focus on getting that first client, taking that first step. It might even be helpful to have an honest conversation with any new client letting them know that while you are an administrative expert and can definitely help them, you are new to business as there are going to be things that you learn in that regard as you go along. This will at will clear the air and I think most people are going to find such openness and honesty very refreshing and earn you their even greater confidence. You’ll tweak and hone and fix things as you go along, which is to be expected in any business regardless, but if you don’t ever get started, you won’t ever get anywhere. Go for it!

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

December 2, 2009 – 10:00 am

Dear Gritty VA: Do I HAVE to Know This and This and This, Too?

Dear Gritty VA:

My biggest strengths are written and verbal communication, research and word processing. Can I still be a successful Virtual Assistant or do I need to know things like 1shoppingcart, website design and desktop publishing to even have a prayer of getting any clients? -KT

I’m going to be annoying and not really answer your question directly. And the reason is because there are several aspects to consider. In pondering those things, you will end up answering the question for yourself.

My first question to you is: Do you know what business you are in (or considering being in)?

Being in business first has to be something you want to be in, want to be doing and have the qualifications to do. I mean, it wouldn’t serve you to wake up one day and decide to be a plumber if you have zero interest in pipes and sewage. And it certainly wouldn’t serve any customers you got if you didn’t have the training, experience or qualifications to be a plumber, right?

For this reason, you have to get really clear and cognizant of exactly and specifically what you want to be in business to do. In this case, you may want to ask yourself: Am I in business to provide support or am I in business to sell individual services. Because there is a big difference between delivering ongoing administrative support (which is a service offering all its own) and selling individual services. When you are selling line-item services, the focus is on the individual project and the transaction. But if you are in business to provide administrative support, the product you are really offering is an ongoing, right-hand relationship. The relationship is the focus, not the transactions or tasks.

The reason this clarity is important is because it makes all the difference in how you market, articulate your value and attract exactly the right clients who have a need for what you are in business to offer.

Which brings us back to your original question, and the answer to that is, it depends. It depends on what you are in business to do, who has a need for what you offer and who you want to work with. You can be an administrative expert and not have to also be a website designer and a graphic designer and a bookkeeper, etc., etc., if that’s not what you want to do. Your value isn’t in trying to be every single kind of professional under the sun or to know how to do everything in the world. In fact, it’s really silly to and ineffective to try to do that because you can quickly distract yourself from your focus, spread yourself too thin and dillute your strengths and expertise.

You’re in the driver’s seat. You get to set the expectations and craft your marketing message in a way that attracts exactly who you want it to attract. If you don’t want to do any of those other things you mention, focus clients on the thing you do do and how that helps them in their business.

Now, I’m not saying you can’t or shouldn’t do any of those other things. If you want to work with online business owners, knowing HTML and being able to draft up web pages, etc., is something that will add value to what you offer. Additional divisions and layers of support in your business (such as technical support for 1shoppingcart, for example) are also ways you can add more revenue streams by offering them as stand-alone services or at higher priced support packages.

At the same time, there are plenty of clients doing real-world work and running non-virtual businesses who aren’t going to care a whit whether you know 1shoppingcart and don’t need you to know graphic design because they already have a talented graphic design house they use, thank you very much. They just need you to be focused on administrative support, and really, that’s plenty as it is!

They certainly wouldn’t turn to you for legal advice if you weren’t an attorney, and they wouldn’t ask you for financial guidance if you weren’t an accountant, right? Of course not. So focus clients on exactly what you are in business to do and explain things so they know as clear as day exactly what kind of expert you are.

The trick is to get clear about what you want to be in business to do and then target a market that has a need for exactly that. The more clear you are, the more you’ll attract exactly the right clients.

32frm PS: I think you’d find my Virtual Assistant Business Plan very helpful in sorting all this out. It’s not only a template that shows you how a professional business plan should be structured and formatted, it’s also designed to get your thought juices going with regard to these kinds of questions, figure out exactly what kind of business you want to be in and how you can create a multi-layered administrative support business with multiple revenue streams.

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By Danielle Keister | Also posted in Business Savvy, Marketing, Virtual Assistant/Virtual Assistance | Tagged Virtual Assistance, Virtual Assistants | Comments (4)

November 25, 2009 – 10:00 am

Dear Gritty VA: How Do I End a Relationship with a Difficult New Client?

Dear Gritty VA:

How do I end a relationship with a difficult client without burning bridges? This was a brand new retainer client. We’d finished the contract process and I had just received my deposit. I’d actually been talking to this client for three months about working together and I was so glad to finally close the deal. This client had lots of energy and seemed to be wonderful on the telephone and in email and on chat. We went through the contract process fine, no issues. I felt we would have a long-term relationship with lots of exciting projects to work on. But in one of our first exchanges, she got very nasty with me. She threatened that if I couldn’t do this, she’d do it herself or find someone else. Up until this point, she had been very nice. Ultimately, I refunded her deposit, but I was not really sure how to address the email to her regarding the tone of her letter, why I was refunding her deposit or how to explain why she needed to do these tasks in a way that worked for me, too. As you know, threatening to “do it myself or get someone else” doesn’t really bode well for furthering the relationship. I don’t like working with people like that nor do I really need the work that much. But I still feel guilty. I always feel guilty about these issues. She has emailed me more than once asking for another chance. I just don’t feel like we’d be a good fit at this point. I have recommended someone else to her who is probably more willing to put up with this type of thing. The situation is basically over, but I’d like to know what someone like you would do so maybe I’ll stop feeling guity. Should I give people like that more of a chance or not? –NB

I think you handled this just fine. I would have done the same thing: refunded her money and politely indicated that we weren’t going to be a fit after all. As you recognize, the kind of behavior you describe right out of the gate doesn’t bode well for a happy, healthy working relationship. As service providers, we simply can not afford to work with anyone who makes us miserable. It’s unhealthy for both you and the business, as well as the client. You can’t honestly take care of any client you silently resent or allow to mistreat you.

As far as ending a relationship without burning bridges, you only have domain over your own actions. It can be tempting to point out all the things a client did wrong or let’em have it in a letter. But really, going into all the details serves no useful purpose and it’s a negative waste of your time and energy. It’s enough to be unfailingly professional, simply explain that you no longer see a fit (or however you would say that in your own words) and wish them well. Refunding the client’s deposit was a very honorable and ethical thing to do as well. How the client chooses to view or handle things after that is out of your control and none of your business.

I see this as a very healthy experience for you. It shows that you value yourself as much as you value any client. Don’t second-guess things. There’s no right or wrong answer. If you saw fit to try and regroup with this client, have some conversation about how you expect to be treated and bring some clarity about how dissatisfaction should be expressed so that neither of you feels demeaned or mistreated, in an effort to make the relationship work, that would have been perfectly okay, too. But your gut told you this wasn’t a relationship you wanted to invest in any further and you trusted and honored that. That’s very healthy.

As far as feeling guilty, that’s something only you have control over. It comes from that little, niggling Negative Nelly in the back of all our heads, the one that tries to make us second-guess ourselves, tells us we’re not good enough, make us feel that our needs, our wants, are less important than everyone else’s. That voice. We all have to work at stifling our inner naysayer and not allow it to interfere with taking good care of ourselves. And that you did. You honored what was right for you and you did everything you could to do right by this client in ending the relationship. Celebrate that.

You can’t beat yourself up for taking on a client who didn’t turn out to be a fit. You had every indication that this was going to be a great client to work with. We do what we can to make educated decisions in accepting the best-fitting clients as possible into our practices, but none of us has a crystal ball. We aren’t going to make perfect choices or do things perfectly 100% of the time. We’re all going to make mistakes, missteps, have things turn out in ways we didn’t expect. You have to say, so what. The world will continue to go ’round and you always get to start over..

At the same time, be sure and reflect on everything and see where you can glean other business nuggets. There’s always something we can learn from experiences that we think are all bad. You might see spots where you can tighten up your client qualifying and selection process. You might have a better idea of the kinds of red flags you want to be more conscious of in the future. You might find that there are other questions you want to ask in your consultation process. Maybe you can beef up your explanations of how things work, take more ownership of your processes so the client has the proper understandings and knows what to expect. Maybe there are collaboration tools or services you can begin using (like HyperOffice and DropSend, for example) to make it simpler and easier for clients to work with you. There are all kinds of things you can take away from this and use to improve your business, service and client selection for the next time. I think you’re on a great path to a very happy Virtual Assistant practice that ultimately will serve clients well because of it.

PS: As a side note, I notice you use the term “deposit.” But if this is a retainer client, why are you accepting a deposit? Perhaps you meant retainer and just misspoke, but I did want to clarify that a retainer is a full fee paid in advance (typically at the start of each month). There are no deposits when it comes to retainers; you should be requiring the full fee upfront. If they are truly committed to working together, they are going to pay. You can’t waste your time on those who can’t commit or aren’t really invested in the relationship. Otherwise, it’s another area where you’d be setting a bad precedent in the relationship right from the start which will ultimately undermine its success.

698 participants–only 302 to go! Take part in the 2009 Virtual Assistant Industry Survey and spread the word!

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By Danielle Keister | Also posted in Business Savvy, Virtual Assistant/Virtual Assistance | Tagged Burning Bridges, Ending a Bad Client Relationship, Gritty VA, Virtual Assistance, Virtual Assistant, Virtual Assistants | Comments (1)

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