Category Archives: Marketing

August 26, 2010 – 10:00 am

Might be a Great Target Market for an Enterprising Virtual Assistant

I love listening to NPR in the evenings. This week, they’ve been doing a three-part series about doctors in primary care. In this series, they reported on the catastrophic shortage of primary care doctors who provide basic health care (they make around $150,000 a year compared to the multiple six-figure incomes of specialists), and took at look at primary care doctors who were opting for solo practice.

As all of us solopreneurs know, going solo comes with some special challenges. We have to be more concerned about profitability and leverage. At the same time, as I’ve long been saying, small is the new big. Nothing wrong with those folks who want to be a big as they can get, but at some point, “big” begins to lose it’s structural and quality integrity. The left hand too often doesn’t know what the right hand is doing or thinking. And people become numbers and transactions instead of, um, people.

So anyway, in listening to this series, it occurred to me that primary care docs in solo practice might be a perfect market for an enterprising Administrative Support Consultant (Virtual Assistant). Some kind of knowledge or past background and experience in healthcare or family practice is likely to provide an advantage.

Big companies and corporations don’t really need what we are in business to do because their workloads are so big they really need in-house, dedicated staff–and can afford it–and because when they are interested, it’s more in the vein of impersonal, commoditized, transactional outsourcing as cheaply as they can get it. That’s not an easy way to make a living for the provider willing to offer that kind of service, and it inherently requires a much bigger business model that depends on volume business.

It’s the smaller companies and solos who really make for the best fit because they place more value in having a more personal type of ongoing support relationship that allows them to stay small (which many of us do by choice) while being as profitable and efficient as possible so they can give the best quality care and service to their clients. They see, understand and appreciate the value much more easily so it’s a much easier “sell.”

If I was someone interested in this market, what I would be doing is calling up a few of primary care solo doctors, taking them out to lunch (individually) and picking their brains about how they are running their practices, what kinds of administrative work are they fielding, who is doing what now and what areas might they see as not needing to necessarily be in the office, and offer up ideas and get feedback on other areas the doctor didn’t think of. Said enterprising Administrative Support Consultant (Virtual Assistant) could in turn, armed with this intelligence about how these businesses are run, what work is involved and where the doctors’ interests are, build a whole compelling message and practice around administratively supporting this very specialized target market. I see all kinds of potential and opportunity here!

It’s a group that certainly meets the first three criteria of a target market: 1) must be able to afford, 2) must have a need for the solution you’re in business to offer and 3) there must be enough of them that you can find them easy enough and there are enough to fill your practice. And because they are consciously and intentionally interested in being small, they are going to be very interested in your support because it will help them keep the quality of their practice while allowing them to be more efficient, streamlined and profitable.

Heck, I go so far as to say for any of our clients, we offer them an opportunity to actually improve or increase the quality of their own businesses because they can be more profitable and get more done with our help. On top of that, it will allow existing in-house staff to focus more on their core work, all of which again helps streamline and increase efficiency and quality. Just think of how much more and better patient care in-house staff can focus on giving (“practicing at the top of their license,” or doing what they are most trained to do) when they are freed from back-end administrative work that an Administrative Support Consultant can take on for them.

Here’s a link to one of the articles (which also provides an audio recording if you prefer to listen): http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=129422386

Happy enterprising! (I’d love to hear from any of you who are already targeting this market or who are interested in looking into it. Let’s hear your success stories!)

By Danielle Keister | Also posted in Business Savvy, Virtual Assistant/Virtual Assistance | Tagged , , , , , | Comments (4)
August 9, 2010 – 10:00 am

What Is Your Pricing Saying About You?

Here’s an article published this week in The Portable Business™, which you can subscribe to here.

Did you realize that your pricing sends a million messages to your prospective clients? Pricing is every bit a part of your marketing strategy. And no, I’m not talking about being the cheapest provider—that is always a losing proposition for both you and your clients. And here’s why:

1. What is your pricing saying to clients about you, your skills, your services and/or products? If you price too low, clients will view you as merely a commodity they can get from anyone, anywhere else. Low-ballers think that by pricing low, they will create even more opportunities to find clients. However, what it really does is open them up to an even bigger pool of competition–and not particularly good company (remember what they say about the company you keep). It’s a losing game and they have to work doubly hard just to get noticed and break even.

On the other side of the coin, clients correlate higher fees with higher skill and expertise. They expect to pay professional level fees where that’s the case. If you aren’t charging professional level fees, they innately think the skills and experience must be sub-par.

2. What kind of clients does your pricing attract? Cheap prices are a lightning rod for cheap clients. And cheap clients are the very worst clients to work with. They don’t value the work, they’re constantly trying to get something for nothing, and they nitpick and find fault with just about everything you do for them. Cheap clients are unprofitable and energy-draining to the extreme and cost you far more than you realize in your business.

You want to market to clients who have foresight and seek to invest in quality and expertise. These are the clients who understand that quality and expertise are far more valuable to them—and ultimately cheaper in the long run—than short-term cheap prices. They value the work and skills because they know how those things, in turn, help their own business move forward.

3. How does your pricing affect your operations and systems? If you have a complicated pricing structure or turn everything into a transaction, it makes it more difficult for clients to deal with you. And difficult, complicated and confusing is not good marketing. When your pricing and, thus, billing structure and procedures are complicated, you create even more administrative work for yourself. Whenever you have overly complicated, burdensome overhead and administration, that ultimately ends up detracting from your client service in one way or another. Simplicity is the name of the game. When you make your business easier to run, you make it easier for clients as well—and you have more time to serve them.

Likewise, if you aren’t charging enough, your business will not survive. You simply must charge profitably in order to stick around and continue to serve the clients who come to depend on you. You aren’t doing anyone—not you and not your clients—any favors by not earning well. Because your money problems will eventually affect your business and trickle down as service problems for clients. Pricing well is imperative for your business survival and the ability to create conditions that allow you to provide superior service to clients. And you can’t buy better marketing than the kind of word-of-mouth that is generated from that!

By Danielle Keister | Also posted in Virtual Assistant/Virtual Assistance, pricing | Tagged , , | Comments (0)
August 3, 2010 – 10:00 am

NEW Value-Based Pricing & Packaging Toolkit Available

Whew! What a hectic last two weeks it’s been. I am always energized when I get to talk with fellow Virtual Assistants and Administrative Consultants, but I tell ya, putting on live events is a LOT of time and work. My “Value-Based Pricing & Packaging” Biz Intensive went really well AND I was able to package it up as a self-study course even quicker than I imagined! (Of course, I’d been working on it since February but I hit a block and had to set it aside for awhile. Once I took it back up again, everything fell into place.)

For those who missed the live class, you can now purchase it as a self-study guide from the store (includes 23 page PDF guide of tools, info, exercises and samples and two MP4 presentation videos).  Plus, I’m going to give you a HUGE discount for the next few hours only! There’s no special code or anything to enter. Just purchase the product and you’ll automatically get $50 off if you purchase by midnight, August 5 (that’s this Thursday).

By Danielle Keister | Also posted in Business Savvy, Cool Stuff, Great News, Virtual Assistant/Virtual Assistance, pricing | Tagged , , | Comments (0)
July 27, 2010 – 10:00 am

Calm Down… Ezines Are Not Dead

An Internet marketer recently announced (in the typical hypey fashion of Internet marketers) that she “shockingly” wasn’t going to do an ezine anymore.

My first thought was big deal. What’s so all-fired earth-shattering about that? If something isn’t working for ya, by all means, stop wasting the time and energy. And if you want to start charging for something that you previously gave away for free, just do it. No need to contrive any artifice as an excuse.

Of course, there’s always the possibility that maybe a thing that isn’t working could work if it were just done a different way.

Here’s what I know:

Ezines can be done well and they can be done not so well. They can be done simply or they can be done in way that makes them difficult, complicated, burdensome and unsustainable.

Having put out an ezine every Monday for, what, four years or so now, I can tell you that if done right, they can absolutely be a fantastic pipeline and additional marketing channel for your business.

I would also tell you (and the Internet marketer) that just because the feedback or participation isn’t readily apparent, that doesn’t mean it’s not working for you. I sometimes get frustrated with people’s timidity in our industry. But I have to remind myself that sometimes new thinking and ideas put forth are so completely different from the status quo, people don’t know what to make of it at first. But that doesn’t mean they aren’t paying attention. Because I can see very clearly, not just from my Aweber stats and reports, but also through all the times I hear that someone found me or connected with me via the ezine (or my blog, for that matter), that they are opening and reading and saving and forwarding it.

I wouldn’t abandon the idea of doing an ezine just because some Internet marketer dropped hers and now declares them dead for everyone. The key here is to really know your stuff as well as your target market. Because if you don’t, you’re not going to have much to say that is going to be of interest and value to them.

Ezines can be a great tool for growing the know-like-trust factor and nurturing relationships along. But for an ezine to be successful, there has to be some commitment on your part. You have to write about things your audience will find useful and interesting and you need to have a regular and consistent publishing schedule.

Another thing I think is really important is authenticity. So many ezines are following the most obvious 1-2-3 steps… they get so caught up in following the Internet marketer stock-in-trade formula (talk about your kids/pets, launch into self-promotion, feature article, resource) they end up losing their own voice. Hey, I’m sure your kids are great (just as I think mine is), but I’m really not interested in hearing about them week after freaking week. It’s just so obviously disingenuous and manipulative. Then again, maybe I’ve just got more of a nose for the bullshit factor than most people, LOL. (Anyone else feel me on this?).

Anyway, you want to keep it short and sweet so that a) it doesn’t become a drag, and b) you’re an easy read. There’s no point in doing an ezine (or anything for that matter) if you eventually hate doing it or it’s so long that it’s too much work for your audience to pay attention to. If you can remember who your audience is (that is, for God’s sake, stop writing for colleagues and focus on your clients and what they’re interested in instead) and keep it real so they can really connect with you as a person (and not simply as some Internet marketer trying to capture the money of the masses), an ezine can be a wickedly wonderful way to grow your list and nurture relationships. Of course, as with anything, an ezine isn’t the only way to do that.

You don’t have to do an ezine at all. Your business isn’t going take a nosedive just because you decide not to do an ezine. In fact, I would advise against it if you aren’t up the challenges outlined above. But then again, you never know unless you try it out. ;)

Bottom-line, there are good reasons for not doing an ezine. Ditching the idea just because it didn’t work for someone else isn’t one of them.

By Danielle Keister | Also posted in Business Savvy | Tagged , , | Comments (5)
July 19, 2010 – 12:50 pm

Why Should I Pay That When I Can Get a Temp or Offshore VA for $5 Bucks an Hour?

Ever hear a client utter these words? It’s probably the most grating sentence in the Virtual Assistant world today.

But what if you knew exactly how to respond… what if you offered your services in a way that didn’t focus whatsoever on hourly rates? Wouldn’t that be a total game changer? It’s not so annoying when you actually begin to love responding to that kind of question (or when you don’t even get it in the first place). ;)

…If you frequently encounter price resistance with clients and want to know what to do about it;

…If you have trouble getting clients to commit;

…If you struggle with articulating your value to clients, talking about your fees and feeling confident in them;

…If you find the whole topic of pricing difficult, I can help you!

Today is the last day to register for my Value-Based Pricing & Packaging Biz Intensive. I have just a few spots left. What I will teach you in this clinic will help you:

  • Attract more clients, more easily;
  • Make more money;
  • Create an easier business to run;
  • And toss out those time sheets forever!

…all without discounting, negotiating or justifying your fees whatsoever!

Learn more and register by midnight tonight >>

I’d love to “see” you there!

By Danielle Keister | Also posted in Business Savvy, Don't-Miss-It Events, Virtual Assistant/Virtual Assistance | Tagged , , , | Comments (3)
July 15, 2010 – 10:49 am

How to Stop Selling Hours and Start Selling Support

I’m really excited about my upcoming Pricing & Packaging Biz Intensive next week. We’ve got a great group of people signed up so far. There are a few more spots available; be sure and sign up by July 19. What you learn in this clinic will blow your mind and revolutionize your business. Plus, as a registrant, you’ll get a ton of hardcopy tools and information to begin you on your journey toward improved billing, marketing and consulting with clients!

In the meantime, I want to invite you to ask me any questions you might have. For example, maybe you aren’t sure what I mean when I ask “Are you selling hours instead of expertise?” Or after watching my quick video below, you want to know more about why selling hours is debilitating your business, limiting your income and scaring away prospective clients. Ask me anything! I’ll post the good ones here for everyone and I will automatically keep your name and information confidential.

By Danielle Keister | Also posted in Business Savvy, Cool Stuff, Don't-Miss-It Events, Virtual Assistant/Virtual Assistance | Tagged , , , | Comments (0)
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.

By Danielle Keister | Also posted in Business Savvy, Dear Gritty VA, Virtual Assistant/Virtual Assistance | Tagged | Comments (1)
May 19, 2010 – 10:00 am

Dear Gritty VA: Should I Post Pricing on My Website?

Dear Gritty VA:

What are your thoughts on posting prices for services on your website? –LB

I see this question all the time and I’ve written several post on the topic. I’ll refer you to two of them below:

Also, Andy Beale, a well-known marketing consultant, also wrote on this topic. He’s, of course, in the marketing business (and, really, what better expertise to defer to on this subject), but the advice pertains to any kind of professional services and consulting business, including Virtual Assistance/Administrative Consulting:

By Danielle Keister | Also posted in Business Savvy, Virtual Assistant/Virtual Assistance | Tagged , , , | Comments (1)
May 11, 2010 – 10:00 am

What is “Expertise?”

People would much rather work with experts than with generalists. Because their perception is that an expert can help them better (which, if the professional truly is an expert, they can). People will pay more for experts as well. But what makes someone an expert? What is “expertise?”

Here’s a list of characteristics I’ve started to help define what “expertise” means and get you to thinking about your role as an Administrative Expert.

What Is Expertise/What Makes Someone an Expert

1. Specific (e.g., administrative support is a specific and separate expertise from, say, web design or bookkeeping).

2. Experience

3. Training/education

4. Creativity

5. Talent

6. Critical thinking

7. Business knowledge/acumen/sensibility

8. Understanding of clients and the market

Do you have any others to add to the list?

By Danielle Keister | Also posted in Business Savvy | Tagged , , | Comments (1)
April 26, 2010 – 10:00 am

There’s No Such Thing as Social Networking

Ha! That got your attention, didn’t it. Let me explain…

Social networking is nothing new. It’s simply the latest catch phrase for something that has always existed and will continue to exist in business: networking and relationship marketing. The only thing that’s different is that we have new technology tools available for nurturing and facilitating those things.

Now, I’m not saying social networking is bad or not to use social networking tools. Not at all. Just be smart about it. Use your head. Know your target market. It makes little sense to expend days and months twittering away if that’s not where your serious clients are spending their time and all you have to show for your effort are a few nickel and dime project customers.

So here are some questions that might help you gain some productive direction in your social networking efforts:

1. Is your target market there? If not, you might as well be blowing smoke in the wind. If your target market has its own, more concentrated industry forums and groups, your time and energy might be more productively spent in those places.

2. Are the interactions meaningful? If you and your prospective clients aren’t able to really engage, might there be quicker or more effective means to get in front of them and really connect?

3. What’s the ROI (return on investment)? You want to engage in networking activities that yield the highest, greatest return for your marketing/networking time, energy and budget.

4. Is your effectiveness being diluted by spreading yourself too thin trying to everywhere? You can do a lot of things not very well or you can do one or two things super duper well. Don’t be afraid to buck the bangwagons and stick to your favorite platform for better results.

5. Are you being interesting? Remember what you’re there for. Prospective clients are interested in how you can help them. Tie your conversations to that interest whenever possible. Provide good info and also ask questions to learn more about them. Clients are also people: don’t bore them. They don’t care what you had for breakfast or that you are now taking the garbage out, but sharing a funny anecdote or the day’s pet peeves can be great conversation starters that also let them see you as a real person.

Social networking can be a great leveraging tool for finding and getting to know new prospects and drawing them into your own pipelines. Done without any thought or intention, it can also be a complete waste of time. Do your homework so the former is the case for you. :)

By Danielle Keister | Tagged , | Comments (2)