Category Archives: Rant & Raves

August 27, 2010 – 10:00 am

Another Reason I Can’t Stand Internet Marketers

I was just listening to a podcast and something that was said reminded me of an Internet marketer who contacted me awhile back. She sent me a message on Twitter asking to talk with me. She didn’t say what it was, and I’m not interested in talking to just anyone, expending my time, unless I know what it’s about and I’m interested in it. Duh. So I replied with something to the effect of “Possibly. What is it you want to talk about?”

Never got a response.

Lord, I hate it when people do that. Don’t fricking waste my time asking me a question if you’re going to ignore me when I reply.

So whatever. Didn’t give it another thought until my phone started ringing off the hook a few weeks later. And I’m talking literally every single day, at least two calls or more from the same phone number, never once leaving a message.

Can we say I-R-R-I-T-A-T-I-N-G?!

Well, I don’t answer the phone. I simply don’t. I don’t need to. I’m not looking for more clients at the moment and if I were, I only talk to the ones who come through my website and go through my consultation form. And I’m sure as heck not answering anyone who refuses to leave a message. It’s phone harassment, plain and simple. If you don’t want to leave a message clearly stating your intentions–who you are and what you want–then I’m not interested. Simple as that. I might be running a business, but I’m a human being first and I refuse to deal with anyone who thinks they can treat people like a number and expects me to prostrate myself for their purposes. Have more respect for those you are calling and, gasp, you might get some back.

Well, after literally over a MONTH of this, whoever is calling from this number FINALLY leaves a message. At the same time, I get an email from this person. She states she is the Virtual Assistant to So-So Internet Marketer and launches into a short spiel about some program this Internet marketer is gearing toward Virtual Assistants, yada yada. Blech. I HATE those things because they are just exploiting Virtual Assistants. I absolutely detest those people. NO ONE has any business teaching VAs anything about Virtual Assistance except other VAs (and then, only the successful ones who have actual experience and substance to offer).

At this point, I’m thinking, how many hundreds of unanswered calls does this person need to get the message that “I’m not talking to you unless you tell me who you are and what you want.” And this is besides the fact that I’m really annoyed at this point and definitely not interested in speaking with anyone who engages in phone tactics like this.

So I reply to the email in the most direct way I can: “Not interested.”

And do you know they still continued to call me several times after that?!

This is all neither nor there. Just musing out loud. But it sure does bring me some feelings of gratitude today:

  • Grateful that I have absolute clarity about what I am in business to do (and what I’m not).
  • Grateful for my standards and boundaries.
  • Grateful that I make a lot of money and get to say “no” to crap (and people) I disdain or have no respect for.
  • Grateful that I’m not the poor schmuck having to take on that kind of work and make those kind of calls to people to earn a buck.
  • Grateful that I don’t have to be a telemarketer to make a living.
  • Grateful that I work with clients I love and respect (who do work I love and respect).
By Danielle Keister | Also posted in Personal Musings, Virtual Assistant/Virtual Assistance | Tagged , , | Comments (3)
June 16, 2010 – 4:42 pm

Buyer Beware

Announcement from Virtual Assistant with no clients charging $15 an hour: “Coming Soon! Workshops and classes on how to be a successful VA.”

I’m sure this is a perfectly lovely person with the best of intentions, but it’s painfully clear that as far as Virtual Assistance goes, she doesn’t have any business teaching this subject to anyone (or more importantly, taking their money) when she doesn’t know what it takes to work with clients and run a profitable, successful business herself. If she were to just focus on her own business (now there’s a crazy idea) and put half the time and effort into it as trying to sell knowledge and expertise she doesn’t have to unsuspecting hopefuls, she might eventually achieve some actual success.

Buyer beware.

By Danielle Keister | Also posted in Virtual Assistant/Virtual Assistance | Tagged , , | Comments (2)
May 27, 2010 – 12:35 pm

Another Reason Why Sending Emails to Your List and Customers is Helpful to Them

One of the technology vendors I use, I actually detest. I have tolerated this particular vendor’s absolute lack of good customer support for far too long. It’s been a thorn in my side that I’ve put up with only because it was too much of an ordeal to move to another platform. But at my first opportunity (which is now finally arriving) I will be ditching them so fast anyone standing in the way will have their heads spun around like a top.

One of the reasons our relationship has deteriorated so much is poor/lack of communication. Tech companies (which is what this one is) are often the ones that fail miserably in this department. As in this case, they tend to think everyone’s world revolves around their product. As if the first thing everyone does in the morning is open up their program to check for messages and notifications from them.

I hate to break it to them, but almost no one does this. Ever.

Most people’s business lives still revolve around and rely on email communication. So when a new version upgrade is out or there are bug patches to be fixed, for example, we’re expecting to be notified by email… to get some kind of message alerting us and prompting us to go to their website or open up their product to place the order or download the upgrade or what-have-you. Without that prompt, you never, ever know. And what ends up happening is you completely miss any inkling of new developments and only find out by accident, sometimes months later, of something you would have like to have known or really needed to know at the time.

Yet that’s what this company and thousands of others do–they never send any kind of email and instead expect customers to go open the product and find out that way. And so those customers don’t ever find out. I’ll learn about some important security release in some completely random accidental way months after the fact and call up only to be told, “Well, we posted a notice inside the admin panel.” I am almost never in the admin panel and the place and the way they post this information, you’d never see it unless you were specifically looking for it.

It’s completely maddening.. and an absolute trust and relationship killer.

So next time you worry about whether your emailing is too much, don’t. Chances are it is completely helpful. Even expected. Better to over-deliver than under-communicate.

By Danielle Keister | Also posted in Business Savvy, Personal Musings, Uncategorized | Tagged | Comments (1)
May 7, 2010 – 10:00 am

“Virtual Professional” is About the Stupidist Term I’ve Ever Heard

“Virtual professional” is about the stupidest term I’ve ever heard.

What in the hell is a “virtual professional?” What makes someone a “virtual professional? How does that term distinguish one profession from another? What separates particular fields and areas of expertise? How do those two words tell the audience what a virtual professional does, specifically? Oh, that’s right–it doesn’t!

Because a virtual professional could be anyone doing anything virtually who considers themselves professional. So a doctor who sells medical information on a website might call himself a “virtual professional.” Or a building contractor who markets for clients on the Internet might consider himself a “virtual professional.”  Attorneys, handymen, interior designers, architects, you name it. If they sell services or market online, they could all technically consider themselves “virtual professionals.”

Gee, that makes a ton of sense (not)–a word to encompass every living breathing professional on the planet who happens to do business online so that it literally means absolutely nothing.

Lot of good that does me if I’m a client. If I’m looking for a bookkeeper, I’m not going to sit there and go “I know! I’ll look under “virtual professional.” If I’m looking for a web designer or administrative support or whatever other specific expertise or discipline I might be seeking, why on earth would I ever search under “virtual professional?”

I wouldn’t. They wouldn’t. Because it doesn’t mean anything. It wouldn’t even occur to anyone to do that. And even if it did, the results would be all over the place. They’d have to sort through pages and pages of all the inane, irrelevant listings in order to find the one or two (maybe!) that actually did the thing they were looking for. No one is going to do that.

By Danielle Keister | Tagged , | Comments (1)
April 22, 2010 – 10:00 am

If You’re Sitting on the Sidelines, Whose Fault is That?

There was a bit of kvetching going on last week on one of the listservs I belong to. I don’t really consider myself a member of that particular list as I’m only an observer there on behalf of one of my clients, but the group dynamic is common to many of the networks I belong to and a constant source of business musing for me.

You see, someone asked a question and as usual, out of thousands of members, only a handful offered up any answers and advice. This handful is comprised of the few folks who regularly participate by answering and contributing questions, adding to conversations and just all around going out of their way to give thorough, detailed information that the rest of the list (who sit like bumps on a log and never bother to open their mouths) gets to learn from and take advantage of. The super-participators make up the 20% who are actively engaged in 80% of the conversations and interactions.

Yet every so often, as was the case last week, there will be someone who pipes up to complain that basically the participators are participating too much. And then a few others will chime in with their agreement.

They’ll say things like they are scared to post or reply for fear of ridicule. They’ll point out that the regular participants aren’t the only ones with good advice and expertise to share.  They’ll complain that conversations get “hogged” by the regular contributors. They say they feel like anything they might contribute would be quickly overshadowed.

Seriously?

How does an online conversation get hogged by anyone? If you aren’t speaking up, whose fault is that? Unless someone has physically hog-tied you and duct-taped your mouth shut, no one is “making” you be silent; that’s your choice. If you aren’t asking questions or adding your own two cents, don’t complain that others are dominating the conversation. You have the same option as everyone else to type words on your keyboard and hit the “post” button. And definitely don’t complain if the list is quiet and no conversations are even getting started–what have YOU done to start any yourself?

Give the floor to those same people who complain they “can’t get a word in edgewise” and ask for their feedback and input, and guess what you’ll still get nine times out of 10? Crickets. Because the problem isn’t really other people “hogging” the conversation. That’s just an excuse.

It’s not everyone else’s job to entertain and inform you. How about giving back a little yourself? It’s also not anyone else’s job to hide or dim their own light so that you don’t feel insecure.

There are no “turns” in business. If you want others to see and know how wonderful you are, show yourself. Take a risk. Put yourself out there the same way the active participators do. Ask for what you need. Dive in. Speak up. Exercise your curiosity and share what you know. Don’t hold back. But do own your own fears, jealousies and insecurities. No one else is responsible for them but you. You get to choose to get in the game or sit on the sidelines. But make no mistake–that’s your choice. Just stop whining about it if you choose the latter.

By Danielle Keister | Also posted in Business Savvy | Comments (4)
April 8, 2010 – 11:17 am

Do You Want to Be Right or Rich?

You may have heard this little saying somewhere online, particularly in Internet marketing circles.

What this really translates to is, “Do you want to be truthful or rich?”

Because the implicit message is that you can’t be honest, really and truly authentic and tell the truth if you want to also be rich.

Frankly, I much prefer to be a truth teller rather than someone who tells people just what they want to hear or manipulates them into paying attention. I have absolutely zero interest in selling my soul for the sake of earning money.

But what I also find interesting is that it implies that being truthful and getting rich are mutually exclusive. Really?

I don’t believe this for a minute. What do you think?

By Danielle Keister | Also posted in Marketing, Personal Musings | Tagged | Comments (0)
March 4, 2010 – 8:44 am

No One Can Guarantee You Clients

There are people who care about this industry, and then there are exploiters in this industry who only care about picking your pockets.

Look beneath the surface. Are these people even in the business they are trying to teach you about? Do they actually DO the thing they profess to have the knowledge about? How can they be Virtual Assistant experts when they are not even VAs themselves?

Don’t buy into slick marketing and promises too good to be true. NO ONE can guarantee you clients. When they start doing that, those are INTERNET MARKETERS and you had better run the other direction with your money because that’s all they are trying to get–is your money, any which way they can. They will tell you whatever you want to hear because they prey on your desperation to believe it will be true. They know that telling people they are guaranteed clients is what will make those folks salivate–and hand over their money–because that’s what they want and need most.

It is reprehensible and anyone trying to sell you that kind of BS is a dishonest, unethical slimeball.

By Danielle Keister | Also posted in Business Savvy, Virtual Assistant/Virtual Assistance | Tagged , , | Comments (2)
March 2, 2010 – 10:00 am

I Don’t Do Pains-in-the-Butt

Seth Godin recently wrote about short-sighted, greedy, selfish consumers in his blog post, “More, more more.” You give them an inch, and they want a pound of your flesh for the rest of your life.

He writes that basically every business owner who wants to provide “remarkable service and an honest human connection” will face the challenge of being abused by a few.

You always have options, as he illustrates: “Put up with the whiners, write off everyone or deliberately exclude the ungrateful curs.”

That last one is my personal philosophy. As Godin so eloquently puts it, “Firing customers you can’t possibly please gives you the bandwidth and resources to coddle the ones that truly deserve your attention and repay you with referrals, applause and loyalty.”

For me, this doesn’t just apply to clients. If someone is abusive, tries to take advantage, is a jerk, an energy-suck, has broken my trust in them or just doesn’t “get it” all the way around, I don’t deal with them anymore.  I ignore them. I remove them. I delete them. I block them. I move on. Go bother someone else. I have better things to do.

Give to Haiti Disaster Relief!

By Danielle Keister | Also posted in Business Savvy, Personal Musings | Tagged , | Comments (5)
November 9, 2009 – 10:00 am

No, We Can’t Help You

Omigawd, I just have to vent a little here today…

You know, we work so hard to educate the public about Virtual Assistants… that they are experts who specialize in administrative support, not unskilled gophers and flunkies. And then those stupid fluff articles come out, written by industry outsiders who didn’t do their homework or talk to the right authorities, and we get a flood of contacts from business owners who really, in all honestly, are just looking for people they can exploit and take advantage of.

“Yes, I need someone who can take all the administration off my hands, grow my business, create my marketing plan, build me a website, perform all my social networking for me, ghostwrite my blog, manage my public relations, handle all my customer service functions and order fulfillment, and just generally be available whenever I call to do whatever else comes up. The person who fills this role won’t be paid until they start showing results (and I start making some money). Once that happens, they’ll be paid on a percentage basis (or $10/hr). This would be a great role for a work-at-home mom looking for some side income.”

Seriously! I’m not even kidding. I get garbage requests like that all the time through our Virtual Assistant Partnering service. We don’t even entertain them. I’m just not going to disrespect and devalue my members like that. My feeling is Virtual Assistants have a hard enough time trying to earn a living at this work and find clients who value them as professionals. They don’t need their professional associations perpetuating or condoning this kind of shit on their behalf. Gee, isn’t it great that there are Virtual Assistant associations out there enabling that mentality, making it even harder for VAs to create viable, sustainable practices?

Look, you unethical morons, Virtual Assistants are professionals who are running businesses–JUST LIKE YOU. They can’t be expending their time, energy and expertise for a pittance or only the promise of being paid later (and which is dependent upon whether you are even successful or not).

So tell me, when you go to the grocery store, do you think you get to pay later for the groceries you take home and eat today? Do you go to your accountant or bookkeeper or attorney and tell them they’ll be paid on a percentage basis? I think not. You’d be laughed out of their office as they politely (or not so politely) showed you the door.

I mean, really. Get lost! How do you even look at yourselves in the mirror? Granted, there are people out there who have no business calling themselves Virtual Assistants. But pay competent, qualified professionals their fees and quit devaluing them. It’s not their job in life to subsidize your business growth and success. That’s your responsibility and you don’t get to decide how or what they are to be paid for lending their skill and expertise to your business.

And let me ask you this, you completely selfish and self-absorbed person who wants to rip other professionals off of their time, skills and expertise–if you think like that about others, why on earth should anyone pay you for what you do? Hmmm?

Think about it. This really is big picture stuff here. If you want people to honor and value what you have to offer in the world, and pay you what you are worth, you have to be willing to extend that same respect to others.

633 participants–only 367 to go! Take part in the 2009 Virtual Assistant Industry Survey and spread the word!

newssurv09

By Danielle Keister | Also posted in Business Savvy, Virtual Assistant/Virtual Assistance | Tagged , , | Comments (11)
September 17, 2009 – 9:08 am

Virtual Assistant Industry Survey Trundling Right Along

Our 2009 Virtual Assistant Industry Survey is trundling right along. As of this posting, we have 269 participants. We’re shooting for 1,000 by the end of the month.

Impossible? No way! We’re gonna reach our goal even if it kills me in the process, LOL. But come hell or high water, we’re going to get  those participants so that this is the best year yet for the survey results report for you.

You can help… I’ve been posting a steady stream of Twitter updates on the survey’s progress. All your retweets help tremendously so please do continue doing that at every chance you get.

I thought it would also be fun if all of us who have blogs posted about the survey today. I challenged all our VACOC members to do so and so I’m challenging you as well–will you join the effort?

Make a post today about the 2009 Virtual Assistant Industry Survey. Feel free to use our press release or borrow any language from the survey page (yes, you have my permission–copying is always okay when you have explicit permission from the author).

I’m looking forward to seeing those numbers spike! I’ll keep you posted!

Oh, and if YOU haven’t yet, don’t forget to take the 2009 Virtual Assistant Industry Survey yourself! Your input is very important :)

newssurv09

By Danielle Keister | Also posted in Don't-Miss-It Events, Virtual Assistant/Virtual Assistance | Tagged | Comments (5)