Here’s an article I wrote and published today in my weekly ezine, “The Portable Business™.”

I’ve done teleseminars up the ying-yang and know how to run those like the back of my hand. Got it down to a fine science. But I recently held my first training webinar, and it was quite the learning experience. Here are a few odds and ends things I learned, in no particular order, that might be helpful to you, too.

1. Use a timer. I hate having my time disrespected or abused. Likewise, I always try to be conscious of the same when it comes to others. But when doing a teleclass or webinar, it’s easy to get distracted and lose track of time, especially when you get caught up in the moment with the energy and enthusiasm for the topic. In my first class, we went way over the planned time I told people to schedule, and I felt really bad about that. In the future, I plan to keep a clock right in front of my eyeballs and also turn on a timer to help keep me on track. This will help gauge when it’s time to speed things up and move along to keep everything on schedule.

2. Map it out, then stick with the script. One of the things I find difficult is reading from a script. Not that I can’t do it. But it just feels somehow unnatural or inauthentic. I like the dynamic of a real conversation and interaction. It feels more genuine and in-the-moment. There’s just so much I want to share with folks that often I don’t remember something until it comes up organically. But there’s a reason why the experts tell you to script things out. You end up with a more polished production and it helps keep things focused and on track. Plus, if you suffer from “um” and “ya know” syndrome, like me, a script does wonders in curing the problem. Ultimately, this allows you to deliver a better presentation for your participants and they will appreciate that.

3. Leave your notes unstapled. I know. This sounds like such an inane, irrelevant thing, but it really does take more effort and fumbling around to flip stapled pages than it does unstapled ones. Trust me. Things will flow much better if you leave them unstapled.

4. Keep the trickiness to a minimum. I wanted to do something a little more original than anything I’d ever seen in webinars I’d attended. One of the ideas I had was to do a bit more on-screen drawing, where I was engaging with participants, asking them questions and then writing down points to help crystallize concepts I was trying to convey. I wanted it to be like they were at an actual, in-person class. In theory, it looked awesome. In practice, not so much. Trying to do this really slowed things down. It was too difficult switching between all the mental gears it takes to man the control panel, turn pages, keep the conversation on track and flip between the drawing tools all at the same time. While most webinar platforms offer drawing tools, there’s still a lot that needs to be perfected in the technology and controls before they’ll be a level where this could be more feasible. Sometimes, the best solution is the simplest, tried-and-true option.

5. Have a co-pilot. Initially, I weighed the option of having one of my assistants help me. But then I thought that would just make me more nervous and there wasn’t much she could take off my hands anyway. Well, after doing Part 1 of my first webinar, I realized that was a mistake. With everything else I had to do myself, no matter what, it was absolutely impossible for me to also pay attention to those who were having audio difficulties, typing in the text chat area or raising their virtual hands with questions. So in Part 2, I definitely had my assistant help me. She monitored the audio and let me know when someone had a question or issue. It really did help.

6. Have everyone mute themselves. Here again, I really wanted a more interactive, dynamic conversation. I didn’t want to just be what I perceived as talking at people. The problem with that, however, is no matter how large or small the group, no matter how many times you convey your webinar guidelines and ask folks to observe good netiquette, there is always going to be someone whose audio issues and noisy background will disrupt the class. Dealing with those issues slows things down and only serves to frustrate everyone. So here’s the thing to keep in mind if you feel uncomfortable doing most of the talking… people are there to hear you talk at them, so to speak. They paid for your class because they want to learn from you. They aren’t the ones with the knowledge, you are. So you have to be talking to them to a large extent in order to give what you are there to impart. Having everyone mute themselves (and then instructing them to unmute themselves one at a time when you get to the Q&A portions of the class) helps you deliver a better experience for everyone.

7. Establish the Q & A rules. Schedule question-and-answer spots into the sequence of your presentation. You can save them for the end of the class or intersperse them at specific intervals. But just don’t allow questions willy nilly. This can really slow things down and lead you off-track. Set expectations before the class by letting participants know how and when Q&A will be handled. Ask them to save their questions for those times (suggest they write them down along the way) and to keep them on-topic.

8. Keep class size small. If you were just doing a teleseminar, I would say it really doesn’t matter how large the attendance is (other than your bridgeline’s limitations). But conducting training, particularly on a webinar platform, is a bit more involved, more interactive, more intimate. They really do work best and are easier to manage when the class size is limited. Plus, depending on the webinar platform you are using, you can often keep costs down, if that’s a concern, by limiting the number of participants. I think a group of around 20 to 25 is just perfect..

9. Spread it out. Break classes down into one or two hour sessions. Beyond that, people get tired. They have other things to do. Too much information all at once can be overwhelming and hard to digest. Plus, for practical purposes, smaller recordings are much easier to edit and manage (I had total PIA issues in editing my 2.5 hour recording). You can always combine them into one video later.

10. Don’t be afraid to boot bad attitudes. I had the most delightful bunch of participants in my first class. I couldn’t have asked for a better group. However, there was one person in part 1 of my training who rudely made it clear she was impatient with what she perceived to be repetitive information. But this was not her personal coaching session where everything was going to be geared specifically for her. There were others for whom the knowledge and understanding was new–and appreciated. All the parts were important to the whole because they are all pieces of one puzzle that would not be complete without that information. So, know going in that a) there are going to be people who end up not being a fit, whatever the reason, and b) you don’t have to suffer the company of anyone who is ill-mannered and brings negative energy to you and the rest of your class. Lose ‘em.

If you’re in business, you aren’t anyone’s assistant. Too many organizations are training Virtual Assistants to work with clients like nothing more than contract employees (and a contract employee is an employee). This keeps them from growing and earning better. You will keep yourself stuck if you continue to buy into that thinking.

Your value does not depend on you being an “assistant.” Your value is that you are providing an experience and a body of administrative skill and expertise with the big picture goal of helping clients move forward in their businesses–with your specialty being administrative support. You do not have to work with clients in an assistant’s role in order to accomplish that objective, and you can still have a very close and personal one-on-one relationship without working with clients like that.

Providing administrative support does not require you to be an “assistant.” It is a profession, skill and expertise all its own. As an administrative support consultant, your role is not to work with clients as if you were a substitute for an employee or in-house assistant. How and when you work with clients must necessarily be very different. I call this providing strategic support. Even just a little helps them make incredible strides.

Originally posted November 11, 2009

“Incentive-based compensation…”

“Good work will lead to more immediately.”

“Work on commission and your income is only limited by your effort.”

“I pay on percentage… if I make money, you make money.”

Work your ass off and maybe you’ll get repaid in proper proportion for all of the effort and value you give away, is how that should read.

This is all just more of the same… what I call Dangling Carrot Syndrome. They’re cockamamie schemes concocted by exploiters to do one thing: get out of paying you fairly and squarely.

Honestly, sweethearts, don’t fall for this crap. These are just more ways unethical people try to take advantage of you and be unfairly enriched by your good, hard work. It’s a con. They sense your neediness for money, your desire to please. So they try to manipulate and smooth talk you into giving away your value with the promise of great rewards.  They prey on your kind, giving, nurturing nature. In the end, the only one who benefits is them.

It really, really hurts me to see Virtual Assistants being taken advantage of like this. It’s not going to lead you into a financially successful, profitable business. All these types of arrangements do is suck you dry of your precious time and energy, cause you to give away the very value you are in business to offer, for only the promise of just rewards. And in the meantime, you are distracted from finding the real clients who truly value and appreciate you and your talents and skills.

That’s not what you want for your life, is it? Your dreams are just as important as theirs, aren’t they? But how will you achieve your life dreams if you allow others to take you for a ride and you engage in “opportunities” that don’t support the creation of a solvent, sustainable business? What about your children and your family? Is that fair to them? For your time, energy, hopefulness and good gifts to be squandered on hair-brained schemes and people who are only out to exploit you?

Stop letting clients lead you around by the nose. YOU lead your business. YOU decide what you are and what you aren’t. YOU decide what your role is and what it’s not. You are not an employee. You don’t need any “incentive” to be paid. You have a right to be paid today–at the rate and method you determine your business needs–for the good, honest work and expertise you deliver today. Not later. Not if… NOW. Insist on being respected and valued. Promises and dangling carrots are NOT forms of payment.

Ran into this issue and thought I would share what I learned in case it’s helpful to anyone else…

In offering my first training classes, I’ve been getting an education by fire of all the ins and outs of doing webinar recording. I used GoToTraining for my first class. It’s a nice interface, the customer support is awesome and they really do seem to listen and heed user feedback, but there are still enough drawbacks that my hunt continues for a more ideal platform for  my purposes in the future. One thing that turned into quite the fiasco was dealing with the recording.

All the Citrix products come with the ability to do the onscreen capture and audio recording of your online meetings for you and they provide a built-in bridgeline as well. On the surface, this sounded mighty easy and convenient, so I naturally opted to do that. And it would have been, if I had no need to do anything to the recording. The problem was that in wanting to clean up the audio/video afterwards and also convert it to a more universal format, I discovered it wasn’t really compatible with Camtasia. This really turned into a nightmare and caused a lot a disruption in the high quality service delivery I naturally wanted those who attended to get from me.

Ah, well, live and learn. We ended up having to separate the audio from the recording, editing it separately in Audacity, and then re-recording the whole 2-hour presentation and synching up the edited audio back up with it.

Yeah, not fun. And maybe there’s another, better, way to do it, but I’m still new to using Camtasia and everything the support people told me to try was not working. Everyone pretty much threw up their hands and could only surmise that the recording I was provided with must have been corrupted in some way (which, I learned later is a known problem).

At any rate, this all led to me determining that while I might use a platform like GoToTraining or WebEx to conduct future webinars, I want to do the recording myself using Camtasia and our own bridgeline. What was stumping me, though, was how would Camtasia record the conference call?

The answer, apparently, is purchasing a devise called a “recording adapter” or “conference recording adapter.” I was told I could purchase one of these from Radio Shack for $19.99. On their website, it’s called a “mini recorder control.” However, in consulting with folks more knowledgeable than I about all the ins and outs of this subject, I was told that it’s not very high quality and also doesn’t work with cordless/wireless phones (which is what I have).

These folks suggested the better option is to go with one of the recording adapters offered by DynaMetric.com. They have two products for this, depending on what kind of phone you have.

a). If you have a corded phone, you want the TMP636 Webinar Recorder which sells for $85.95.

b). If you have a cordless/wireless phone, you want the TLP124HS Cordless Phone Adapter which sells for $84.95. The problem this one solves is the issue of your phone handset not having enough ports (particularly if you use a headset so you can speak hands-free). With this model, one end of the adapter cable plugs into your computer mic port, the other end plugs into your phone handset, and then your hands-free headset plug into a port built into the adapter device itself. Perfect!

These cost more than $20, but they are much better products for higher quality results and more sturdy, long-lasting life.

When you go to record your webinar using Camtasia, after hooking up the adapter, you would then select that option from your “Audio” mic list.

I saw a Google Alert recently where a Virtual Assistant posted to a forum regarding a certain font she required to complete a project. The Virtual Assistant mentioned that $25 for the font was a bit steep, and I had to chuckle because I’ve paid hundreds of dollars for a single font.

I realize most VAs do not start their businesses properly capitalized, but they have to understand that being in business does cost money sometimes. There are going to be times when, if you want to be smart in business, you are simply going to have to cough up the money. You can’t expect others to provide you everything for free (just as you don’t want clients expecting you to provide everything for free).

That said, there are a couple things this Virtual Assistant could do:

1. Go ahead and purchase the font. She will then have that font for future projects, so it becomes an investment in her library of design resources.

2. She could charge the client for the expense of the font, particularly if it’s one she wouldn’t have ever purchased for herself otherwise and is only purchasing it specifically for that client’s design project. If the client doesn’t want to pay for the font, then you simply inform the client he or she must choose another font (because it’s not your responsibility to bear their business expenses, and this is part of the cost of completing their design project). The choice is theirs.

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.

Dear Gritty VA:

Brief question–how do you get clients? I know this is on every Virtual Assistant’s mind in America whom is starting out. I know that the Virtual Assistant business is referral-based, but my God! I know that you can’t just jump up and think you are going to get rich from this (not my intentions). However, it’s one person I did some donated hours for, I have tried working with another client and lowered my prices to accommodate her. Still a no-go on this one. If I would have said it was free for the service, she would have been all over it. I think if I had at least two clients, I would feel like my business is progressing forward. But not having anyone get discouraging at times and you wonder if it’s worth it if your business is solely based off referrals, you know? –ST

Well, first, I had to chuckle because there’s nothing brief about the question, “How do you get clients?” LOL. Not laughing at you, but it’s sort of like asking, “How do we achieve world peace?” It’s a BIG, complicated question with no quick, simple, pat answer.  It’s difficult to start a business, as you recognize. For a large number of Virtual Assistants, they are not going to get clients right away. While they’re waiting, there’s a lot of learning and studying they can be doing to better understand marketing and client psychology. Here are a few thoughts to help you get started in the right direction…

1. Stop donating hours. When you give away your value (the very product you are in business to earn your living from), you devalue it in the eyes of clients. Worse, all giving stuff away for free does is attract freebie-seekers. These are not your clients. They will be gone as soon as you take the free buffet away. If they can’t afford professional services, they either shouldn’t be in business, or they should at least not expect you to subsidize their business (to your own detriment) until they can. These are very selfish, self-centered thinking people. You have your own bills to pay and people to take care of. You can’t put your time and energy into those folks. You’ve got to market to people who can already afford you and who don’t expect you to be footing the bill for their business. If you keep giving it away for free, you’re just going to keep getting more of the same. “Why pay for the cow when you can get the milk for free?” applies here. If you’re dishing it out, they’re gonna take it. You are attracting what you are giving. So stop the gravy train and get serious about serious clients.

2. I’m not sure why you think this, but this is not strictly a referral-based business. A business can become mostly referral-based once they’ve established their business, had a chance to get their foot in the networking door, and have clients and others who happily recommend them. If you’re new, you don’t have that right off the bat. But there are things you can do and ways you can network that will better draw/pull prospective clients to you. What will help here is having a target market to focus your message on and give you direction on where to find those folks you wish to be talking with and expend your efforts and energy there (which are limited and need to be conserved for the highest and best possible use). Two of the most important criteria in deciding on a target market are that a) it must be one where the people in it generally are earning enough money that they can afford professional services, and b) there are enough of them that it’s easy enough to figure out where they are (offline and off) and then find ways to interact with them, come up in their search terms and be found by them.

3. Never, ever bargain with or negotiate your fee. All you are doing is teaching clients to devalue you and your support. You start doing that and they forever after expect freebies and discounts and that everything is up for negotiation. You don’t even have to tell me what you’re charging. I can pretty much guarantee that you are undercharging–all these issues you describe are always symptomatic of rates that are too low. They cater to the wrong crowd. On top of that, I’m willing to bet the conversation on your site is all about cost and discounts and freebies and savings and how much cheaper and more affordable than an employee you are, yada yada yada… am I right? That’s exactly the problem. I would tell you to raise your fee. You likely will be ALL kinds of uncomfortable doing that and at the same time you will need to learn how to market differently and change your message. But when you do that, you will begin to attract a clientele with an entirely different mindset and more professional business sense. Those folks are looking for skill and quality and competence, not handouts. You simply can’t waste your time and energy–and money, because that’s what it boils down to–on folks who can’t afford you and would have you harm yourself in order to help them.

4. Adding onto the idea of changing your message, you’ve got to frame what you have to offer in respectful ways. You’ve got to hold what you do in high esteem and talk about it in respectful terms. If you use words like “generalist” and “mundane” and “affordable” and the like, you are lowering the perceived value of what you have to offer. You are teaching prospects to look down upon your work and view it as lowly, and thus, not worthy of professional fees. And the industry as a whole has GOT to get off the cost conversation and all the employee comparisons. If you have any of that stuff on your site, take it off immediately. You are creating and attracting the very mindsets you are complaining about now. If everything you put on your website is about how cheap you are, how much they can save, how much more affordable you are than employees, save this, get a discount on that, guess what you are focusing people on? MONEY. You can’t make your marketing message about that–unless you want to continue to attract nothing but people who are looking for savings and discounts and bargains and cheap and affordable. Stop talking about costs whatsoever. That’s the last thing you should be talking about. And if you don’t have anything else to talk about with regard to what you do for your clients and your value to them, then you’ve got a lot more work to do about understanding what you are and what you do.

Marketing and attracting clients is an area of ongoing learning and study. It’s not anything that can be answered quickly or simply in a mere blogpost, but I hope this at least gets your wheels turning. The very best way I can help you is to recommend that you get my e-book, “Understanding Your Value: How to Craft Your Own Unique Marketing Message and Make More Money with Alternative Billing Strategies.” This is a self-study guide that will help you determine your target market, define an ideal client profile, differentiate yourself with your own unique marketing message and value proposition and use value-based pricing methodologies to package up your support in much more attractive, marketable ways.

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.

Here’s an article I wrote and published today in “The Portable Business™.” If you’d like to subscribe, go here:

All of us make mistakes. We all have learning curves when we’re trying something new. Every single one of us. One of the best things you can do in business is go easy on yourself. If you are constantly beating yourself up, you will ensure more of the same. Honestly, we are all our own worst critics. But you’ve got to be gentle with yourself. Here’s how you can do that and make things far less stressful for yourself in business:

1. Expect upfront that there are going to be snafus. No ifs, ands or buts about it. Just accept that and acknowledge it going in. No apologies.

2. Give yourself space. Your value is not in how fast you can kill yourself obeying a client’s wishes. Forget that! Establish work request policies and turn-around times that allow you to breathe and do a great job. If you don’t, you are creating conditions that will cause you to make more mistakes and feel worse about yourself and your work.

3. Set client expectations. Thoroughly discuss your workflow policies and turn-around times. Talk about the fact that mistakes are inevitable here and there and how to communicate (including how you expect to be treated) when they are are made. Don’t forget to remind them that smart management policies like yours are what facilitates great work and successful relationships. You simply cannot do good work for clients if you don’t have protocols in place for these things.

4. Fire ill-fitting clients. Get rid of any client who drains your energy, including those who expect you to work with them like an employee. Working with ill-fitting clients sets you up for failure and brings down your professional self-esteem. You can’t afford to work with anyone who can’t work within your protocols, who constantly complains, belittles and is never pleased, or who otherwise doesn’t create positive reciprocal energy in your business.

5. Look at critics as learning partners. There’s usually a positive side to everything. See what you can learn in these situations and view them as opportunities for improvement. When you try something new, there will be people who aren’t happy with the effort. That’s okay. Learn from what they have to say if it’s helpful, but don’t internalize any upset beyond that.

6. Know when to ignore abuse. There’s a difference between constructive feedback and gloating. Be grateful for constructive feedback and thank those people who provide it. You can even glean useful bits from those who only want to point out your flaws to make themselves feel better. Just remember that you aren’t obligated to indulge or engage with those folks. It’s okay to ignore and delete.

7. Que Sera, Sera! Whatever will be, will be. This is life, darling. There isn’t a darn thing you can do about the fact that when you put yourself out there, you put yourself on people’s radars and a few may want to shoot you down. So what. Instead of cowering, congratulate yourself for learning and growing! Celebrate the success of taking a risk! These are the things that make you feel wonderful about yourself. And when you feel great about yourself as a person, you bring even more wonderful stuff to your clients as a professional.

RESOURCE: In searching for a relevant resource related to nurturing professional self-esteem, I came across this book by Rosamund Stone Zander and Benjamin Zander: The Art of Possibility: Transforming Professional and Personal Life. Not sure if it fits exactly with professional self-esteem, but it looks like an interesting read.

Here’s a little video for ya… feel free to use it on your site if you have trouble explaining to clients what you do as a Virtual Assistant and Administrative Support Consultant.