Category Archives: Virtual Assistant/Virtual Assistance

February 5, 2010 – 8:48 pm

Virtual Assistant Industry Survey: Last Little Bit of Participation Needed

We just need about 125 more participate to close out the 2009 Virtual Assistant Industry Survey. I was wondering why on earth we hadn’t been getting any further survey submissions. Well, I happened to be talking to a Virtual Assistant today on the phone and she said she had tried to complete the survey but it said it was offline. So I go take a look and sure enough, it indeed had been taken offline!

Oy vey! LOL

Obviously a human error by one of my assistants. Not a big deal and easily fixed (survey is online again), but I do want to remind you to tell all the administrative support consultants you know to take the survey if they haven’t already. We just need that last little bit to reach goal and get the results report compiled. So mention this on your blog, post in your VA forums and listservs, sound the bell to your VA Facebook friends and however else you can pass the word along.

Thanks for your help and understanding!

By Danielle Keister | Also posted in Business Savvy | Comments (0)
February 2, 2010 – 10:00 am

Do You Understand the Difference?

Sometimes I’ll read things from other Virtual Assistants and I have to wonder whether they understand the difference between a project and providing support. In case you’re confused, I thought I’d talk about it here…

A project is something that is basically one-off, one-time work. It has a start and a finish. Web design is a good example of project work. It’s a one-time thing where you are hired specifically to do that one thing and that one thing isn’t ongoing because there is a finish, which is the completion of the site design.

Support, on the other hand, is something that is ongoing. In the case of administrative support, it’s a body, a package, of any number of administrative tasks, roles and functions in a business that are recurring and continuous throughout the life of that business.

For example, you don’t just return one customer’s call and that’s it, you never have to call another customer in your life, right? Of course not. So customer service is just one aspect, one area in a business in which you will have to engage in any number and kind of tasks and actions throughout the life of the business. There is no beginning and ending like with project work. It is ongoing.

When you understand the differences clearly, you can begin to better distinguish categories of work and services in your business so that you can create more revenue streams and make more money. So that means, you can group all kinds of administrative support into retainer packages and then charge separately for specific projects and other work unrelated to administrative support.

Give to Haiti Disaster Relief!

By Danielle Keister | Also posted in Business Savvy | Tagged , | Comments (1)
January 25, 2010 – 10:00 am

Are you a Non-Listener?

I like what Keith Ferrazzi had to say recently to his mailing list:

“Failing to listen well is rude. I don’t care whether you’re talking to the Queen of England or your intern. It very loudly communicates, Frankly my dear, I don’t give a damn. And as a master relationship builder, it’s your job to care.”

As a Virtual Assistant/Administrative Support Consultant, it’s your job to listen well. This includes all forms of listening, not just with your ears. Being attentive to written details and instructions is a form of listening that is absolutely essential to what we do. It’s a critical demonstration of your competence and qualification.

Now, don’t confuse this with asking clarifying questions when you need more information to get an accurate picture and understanding. That’s a sign of an attentive listener who wants to do a great job. But when you can’t follow simple instructions and ask for all kinds of hand-holding, particularly when the answers to your questions are right there in the instructions, you waste people’s time. That’s not only rude, it’s incompetent.

I am ruthless about how my time is expended; I have to be. So do clients. I absolutely will not waste it on people who disrespect my time by abjectly refusing to read and pay attention. No one is going to want or continue to work with you if you have a problem listening–in all its forms.

Give to Haiti Disaster Relief!

By Danielle Keister | Also posted in Business Savvy | Tagged , , , , | Comments (0)
January 21, 2010 – 10:00 am

One Way to Sort the Ideal from the Unideal

I was reading an ezine recently where business owners were advised to offer a variety of ways for prospects to contact them. The reasoning was that if prospects can’t reach you the way they prefer, they’ll call someone else.

And this might be good advice at a very general level, particularly if you are in a commoditized, project-driven business that requires a great deal of volume in order to be financially successful. You aren’t in a position to turn anyone away when you’re in that kind of business and you are more or less forced to be at the whim and dictate of customer preferences.

But solopreneurs can be more choosy. In fact, their survival depends on being choosy about clients because a professional service business filled with unideal clients who negatively drain the solopreneur’s time and energy will take down said business faster than a cheetah felling an antelope.

This is very true in our business as well. If you are in the business of administrative support (not project work), you don’t need to work with everyone in the world. It only takes a handful of ideal retainer clients to be financially successful.

So what I was thinking as I read the aforementioned advice was how I actually use limited communication methods as a way to weed out unideal clients. For me, one characteristic of an ideal client is that they are very adept and comfortable with technology and particularly with communicating by email. I’m not interested in taking phone calls all day from prospective clients, 99% of whom I will never work. I couldn’t if I wanted to or I’d never have any time to get any work done.

Therefore, I have a very specific path set up for consulting with me. When I hear from a prospective client who has completed the consultation form on my website, I know that there’s a 50/50 chance they’ve read a fair amount of information on my site. This is where I want them educated first about what I do and they can weed themselves out if there’s not a fit.

When they complete my consultation request form, that also tells me this is someone who isn’t going to be a pain in the ass by sidestepping my processes and, thus, more likely to be the kind of client I can work with easily and happily. I have no interest in clients who have been to my website, but instead of filling out my consult form, email or phone me instead. I know from past experience that those are the folks who are almost always going to be difficult to work with moving forward. I don’t return those phone calls and those who email me, I refer to my VA organization instead.

Is that a head-spinner for you? I know it shocks a lot of people. But you see, you don’t have to be at the mercy of the rest of the world. (And personally, I think the business culture today breeds and enables a lot of really childish, indulgent, self-entitled behavior in our society that does NOT make the world a better place. I refuse to participate in that, but that’s a whole other post.) Getting back to the topic at hand, your business and the clients you work with have to be a fit for you, too. It’s not just about what clients what. It’s about what you both want and need from each other. There has to be a mutual fit for anything to work moving forward.

I realize a lot of new Virtual Assistants who don’t have clients yet or who are still growing their practice will think this is crazy talk, LOL. They are still in scarcity mindset so this won’t make sense to them at all. But if you are further along in your Virtual Assistant practice, you know a bit more about what I’m talking about. You’ve worked with more than your share of clients who turned out to be completely difficult and energy draining. If you are looking to work with more ideal clients, the ability to follow your protocols is one of the telltale clues you can use to establish whether a prospect is someone you will be able to work with well or not.

Give to Haiti Disaster Relief!

By Danielle Keister | Also posted in Business Savvy | Tagged , , , | Comments (5)
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.

Give to Haiti Disaster Relief!

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

Where Do You Get Stuck?

Wouldn’t it be great if all we had to do was network, have business owners immediately want to work with us and instantly sign on for our retained support without any questions?

The reality is that getting to actually work with retained clients takes a bit more effort. You have to get at least some small idea about the new client’s business. You have to gain some insight into their challenges and goals and where your support can best fit in with those things. You have to be able to articulate your value in a way that makes sense to them so that they aren’t asking you, “Why should I pay you $X when I can pay bozo over there $5/hr.

Am I right?

So I’m curious about where VAs are finding trouble spots in their consultation process. Do you have any particular stumbling blocks when it comes to conducting consultations? Are there any areas of the consultation process you’d like to be better at? Or maybe you feel like you do well in your consultations, but the clients aren’t signing on or calling back. Is that the case?

Whatever the issue is in your consultations, I really, really want to hear from you. Shoot me an email (or use the submission form here) and let me know where you feel you are getting stuck and what you’d like to improve.

Give to Haiti Disaster Relief!

By Danielle Keister | Also posted in Business Savvy | Tagged , , , , , | Comments (0)
January 15, 2010 – 10:00 am

Where Do You Get Stuck in Your Consultations?

I’m working on putting together a special learning module that expands on the concepts for conducting consultations that I share in my guide, “Breaking the Ice: A Step by Step System for Confidently Navigating the Consultation Conversation and Converting Prospects into Retained Clients.” Right now, I’m a bit stuck trying to figure out what should be included, how many sessions are needed to cover all the material and how to organize the outline, and I thought you all could really help me out.

If you are a Virtual Assistant/Administrative Support Consultant still growing in your consultation skills and would welcome some additional hands-on help, I need to get a gauge about where you are specifically getting stuck. Do you feel like you’re doing well in consultations, but then not getting the clients? Are there particular parts or topics in the consultation that you struggle with? Is lack of confidence your stumbling block?

Please email me at [danielle at virtualassistantnetworking dot com] with any of your stumbling blocks and where you’d love to get help. I’m working on something really great for you!

Give to Haiti Disaster Relief!

By Danielle Keister | Also posted in Business Savvy, Great News | Tagged , , , | Comments (0)
January 13, 2010 – 10:00 am

Consultation Fees?

A member of my Virtual Assistant community asked a great question today that I thought I would share here as it’s excellent food for thought. This member has been asked by clients on occasion if she would come to their offices and teach them how to do a thing (the “thing” itself doesn’t matter) so they can do it or manage it themselves. She basically wanted to know if this was a good opportunity or something to avoid, and if she did offer it, should the rate be significantly higher. Here’s my advice to her and you:

One reason doing something like that should be offered at a substantially higher fee is because of the on-site, personal one-on-one training and attention. Anytime you have to leave your office, it puts stress and strain on your normal systems and operations, especially if that’s not the thing you are normally in business to do. That time and energy away creates a significant expense for the business and takes away from other work and clients–time-wise, availability-wise, space-wise, energy-wise and money-wise. So yes, I would definitely offer that at a considerable premium fee to make it worth your while. Doing so also creates an additional layer to your top-tier offerings and signifies to clients that this is a special, premium service.

Whenever you get into work that takes you out of the office, it creates significant impact on your profit margins and to the time you have left available to you and your other clients. As solopreneurs, this is a particularly important consideration for Virtual Assistants/Administrative Support Consultants. What you might want to consider offering instead (or at least additionally) are online training classes where you can stay in your own office (thus reducing the expense to produce and conduct them) and teach several clients all at once. That kind of offering is going to be much more profitable for you all the way around.

I think this is a great opportunity for any Virtual Assistant as it is client-focused. This is exactly the kind of thing that I’m always touting to Virtual Assistants–there are so many more avenues for creating additional revenue streams and passive income from clients (not other VAs) that they just aren’t exploring. This is a perfect example of the kind of supplemental, complementary stand-alone offering that Virtual Assistants could be marketing to clients and prospects separately from their retained monthly administrative support.

Qualifier: That is, IF it’s something you want to be doing/offering. It’s perfectly okay to tell clients, “that’s not what I’m in business to do.”

By Danielle Keister | Also posted in Business Savvy | Tagged , , , | Comments (3)
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.

38gdeNow, 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.”

By Danielle Keister | Also posted in Dear Gritty VA, Marketing | Tagged , , , | Comments (2)
December 30, 2009 – 10:00 am

The “Cheap” Mindset Will Always Defeat You

I’ve been having an ongoing conversation with a business owner over the past few months. He had emailed me awhile back outlining ongoing issues he’s had with Virtual Assistants. He’s hired and fired many and nothing ever seems to work out for him.

I don’t spend my time and energy trying to convince those who will never get it. But this was a very nice, genuine fellow… not a crank or someone just emailing to complain. He was sincerely reaching out for some help and even though he’d had many unsatisfactory experiences, he wasn’t ready to completely abandon all hope of ever finding a competent, reliable administrative  professional to work with.

Plus, I’m always interested in better understanding how business owners think in these cases because it helps me identify areas where we Virtual Assistants are giving them inadequate or confusing messages and allowing them to form expectations that will prevent the kind of desired outcomes and mutually beneficial relationships from happening.

So that you have a little bit of context, here are a few excerpts of what he shared with me:

“It’s my opinion there are more Virtual Assistants who promise the moon and then grossly under-deliver, which disappoints. It’s easy to say I’m patient, but I also run a business. If a VA will charge the kind of rates they want, they should come prepared (and many do not) and also be able to say “I don’t do that part” of the business or task you need accomplished.”

“I have worked with various VAs for five years. Spent a lot of money, didn’t really get too far. I’ve had enough experience where I can say that many VAs do not have the skills they advertise, do not have the expertise with products and resources they say they do; rarely complete work on time; have a difficult time estimating how much will be involved in a project, which slows everything down; suffer from the loneliness factor so when they get someone on the phone, it becomes a gabfest… and I’m paying!; they are in constant education mode meaning they spend all weekend getting up to speed on a tool you need them to use (which they professed they had working knowledge of) and so you become their guinea pig. I’ve also found that if you are somewhat flexible in deadlines, a nice guy or easy going, the other clients of the VA will soon take (re-allocate) much of your VA’s prime working time.”

“I had a wonderful VA who was (literally) dirt cheap and fantastic. I’m pretty certain I found her on Guru.com. She charged $10/hour. She was amazing and very trustworthy. Out of the blue one day she called, said she is going to have to drop me because she found someone else who was willing to pay more and give her significantly more work. I would have paid her more, but she then said she would need $30/hr… triple!”

“About a year ago, I interviewed a VA who lived outside Chicago. I swear to God, I would have picked up and moved my entire business to Illinois, she was THAT impressive. She then told me her rate was $75/hr. That ended the entire discussion. She could have been sliced bread (and probably is), but for $75/hr?”

This business owner ended up advertising piecework and projects on Craigslist for $8 and $9/hr, but admitted he has to wade through a lot of wacky replies and still has a boatload of work he puts off daily. I pointed out that while he was finding some help this way, it sounded like it wasn’t an ideal alternative since he still wasn’t getting his needs met, which he conceded was the case.

So we talked at some length about all of this, with some very clear common themes emerging. He was getting in his own way with his “cheap” mentality. Besides advising him to hire for support, not piecemeal transactions, and giving him some tools and information for helping him make better choices and weed out those calling themselves VAs who really don’t have the skills and qualifications, part of what I suggested to him was this:

You had a wonderful VA who was “dirt cheap and fantastic.” This “‘dirt cheap” thinking will always defeat you. Unfortunately, it’s a personal problem that only you can choose to change or not. All I can tell you is that you simply are not going to get anything worthwhile for “‘dirt-cheap.”

It’s a flawed concept doomed to fail because no business owner can afford to stay in business being “dirt cheap.” Business cannot happen unless both the client and the provider have their needs met. In this case, no VA can be dirt cheap and have her income needs met for the business. It forces her to take on more clients in order to make ends meet, which in turn, causes her to become overwhelmed in work. Yet what she’s earning in piling on more clients and more work still doesn’t adequately cover all the time and energy is required for her to keep up and provide any reliably consistent level of professional support to anyone. In fact, the more work and clients she piles on, the less money she makes exponentially and the less effective and productive she becomes. Ultimately, something simply has to give. It’s inevitable. So what happens is,  once a VA realizes she simply can’t be dirt-cheap AND fantastic, and begins to recognize her true value, she necessarily has to increase her fees and move on to clients who recognize the value and are happy to pay her more appropriately priced fees–just as you experienced with the “amazing and trustworthy” VA you lost.

So my advice would be to stop begrudging the Virtual Assistant her fees. If you found these two VAs who were fantastic and impressive, they are worth every penny in time they save you, the headaches and work they save you from, the ability they give you to get more done and move forward more quickly than you could otherwise, not to mention the convenience and peace of mind you’d have working with someone you feel is competent and trustworthy.

And this goes for Virtual Assistants as well. If you are constantly expecting everyone and everything else to be free or cheap, business is going to be that much harder for you. If you want to attract clients who value you and happily pay what you are worth, you have to value and respect others in the same manner when it is you who is in the client/customer position. It’s a laws-of-attraction type thing, if that helps you understand this better. If you are in the habit of devaluing others, you will continue to be devalued by would-be clients as well. If you can’t operate with a value mindset yourself, you aren’t going to be able to attract value-minded clients, must less be able to articulate your value in any meaningful way to them.

By Danielle Keister | Also posted in Business Savvy | Tagged | Comments (8)