Also, for those starting out I will be presenting at 10:45 AM on Virtual First Impressions in the Builders Room. I’ll be talking about those first contact emails, phone calls, and impressions you leave with potential clients that can make or break you as a VA.

I’d love to see you there!

http://online.vasummit.org/

So be sure you sign up for my ezine in the top left corner of my blog here so:

• You can be among the first to hear about this new and exciting opportunity–AND
• You can be the first to be able to sign up for this new and exciting opportunity before the spaces fill–AND
• You can have the opportunity to get lots of value for not so much money!

For the last two years, my goal has always been to deliver high quality content for affordable prices. So I will stay committed to this goal as I unleash this new and exciting opportunity to help you attract more clients to you.

It is my pleasure to be a part of your growth as a virtual assistant.

Keep moving toward success!

1. When regular mail (USPS mail) comes in, open it immediately discarding the outer envelope (unless you need to save for proof of postmark date) and inner filler things you don’t need.  Scan the important page(s) to your computer into a folder called incoming mail (unsorted).
2. Get an electronic fax instead of using a paper fax machine.  All your documents will then be delivered to you in electronic format (usually pdf).  If you must use a paper fax, print on both sides of the paper before shredding after use.
3. Clients that require paper invoices (I don’t have any, but I’ve heard they’re out there)–ONLY print as many copies as they require.  Keep the electronic version for yourself, not a paper copy.
4. Suggest to your clients that seem overwhelmed by paper to go paperless by scanning all their business documents and storing them on an external hard driver or an extra computer in their house that can act as the backup database.
5. Make sure you backup all of your electronic files to a backup drive (or CD/DVD) at least once a month, preferably every week.
6. If you keep a paper calendar (as I suggest often) in addition to an electronic calendar, try to get one that is in a binder/folder so the pages are confined and tidy.  Instead of throwing them away once the dates have passed, trying using any blank sides of the calendar pages to scratch down notes from phone conversations or to do lists for the day.
7. Make your grocery list using a Word or Excel document–there are some free templates on Microsoft’s site for this.  If you have a smart phone, you can upload the list and never print it out.
8. Scan in all of your child’s papers he/she brings home from school.  This way you can keep them forever without having to find physical space to store them.  No more being torn between wanting to keep a paper and having space limitations!

Be productive and be paperless!

Keep moving toward success.

In my line of work, I run across tons of people who say they want to work at home but are unwilling to do the work. They make excuses, like they can’t find work to do at home or don’t know how to get clients. Even after I’ve sat there and showed them the path they need to take. These people end up behind financially by not having a steady income or they end up returning to bricks and mortar buildings to work.

In order to move your VA business to success or even get it started so it can move toward success, you have to work! As a coach, I cannot do your work for you. I have my own work to do. My job is to teach you where to look and how to look, but is entirely your job to do the looking!

The motto, “If you build it, they will come” does not apply to virtual assistant businesses. They don’t just come because you build it. You have to market your business actively. Results are always a product of work and never a product of sitting on the fence.

Today, I’m going to share a story of one of my clients with you. She’s asked me to change her name, because she doesn’t want her current clients to find her name in the search of this article since I am posting this on the internet. But I think her story may help many of you get over that initial hurdle so many people have difficulty getting over when starting a VA Business. She wrote this story at the end of 2007.

Please read it and be motivated to take action and do the work it takes to make yourself successful!

Finding Motivation
Anna’s Story

Anna is a mother of three. She had worked as an office manager for medium sized manufacturing company for 15 years. Often overlooked for promotions, because everyone liked her where she was, Anna felt trapped in a dead-end job.

At home, Anna was struggling with a local school system that was failing two of her three school aged children, and the third child not yet old enough for school was miserable in the only day care she could afford. Anna longed to home school her children, but their days were already hectic enough with commute time, a late dinnertime, and quality family time during the week. Here is where her story begins:

“I was burning my candle at both ends at this time, and I felt like I would never get out of this miserable rut I felt inside. I kept telling myself I would start a VA business when I heard about VAs from a friend of mine. I connected with Heather and began coaching with her online.

I treated the calls more like social calls in the beginning, and I wasn’t following through with the tasks and worksheets Heather gave me to start my VA business. I wasn’t neglecting those things because I was too busy. I was neglecting them, because I was too busy thinking and wishing I’d win the lottery so I could stay home with my children. I didn’t yet believe that a VA business could be a reality for me.

I was in for quite a shock when at the beginning of my second month of coaching Heather said she’d no longer work with me, because I wasn’t serious about starting my business. I asked her if she was joking, and she said no she was not. She said she could not coach someone that was unwilling to do the tasks required to set up their VA business. She said I was taking the space of someone who might be serious and want to move forward, and I had no business and no right to waste resources in such a way.

I was completely mortified and offended by what she said, so I hung the phone up on her! And as the next week progressed, I thought about what she said more and more. I sat down with my husband and talked to him about my starting a VA business seriously instead of jokingly like previous attempts. And I discovered he was supportive, but he like Heather indicated that it would need to be something that I would promise to follow through with, something I would need to work for and not set aside.

He asked if I was going to start completing some of the tasks Heather set out for me in the first month of coaching. And I had to sit down and seriously make a commitment to myself that I was going to follow through. So what was my problem? I had every reason to be motivated. My kids needed me and my husband supported me. I had the tools in front of me. I had the skills from 15 years of hard work.

After I completed all tasks Heather had given me in the first month, I called her back and asked if I could start again, with her coaching. I sent her all my completed steps, and she welcomed me back. I finished my coaching with Heather in three months, because I was so motivated I kept asking her for more tasks!

It was frightening, but since I did have the financial resources I decided to quit my corporate job and started my VA business full time in fall of 2007. I now have four regular clients, and they are starting to refer other colleagues of theirs to me so my business can grow even more.

My income isn’t quite where it was at the corporate job yet, but if my business continues to grow as it has since fall, I will be by the end of this year. I also begin a home schooling program for my two kids next fall, and my youngest one stays with me three days a week (and with a relative for two days so I can get phone calls taken care of!).

It’s hard to take steps into unknown areas, because unknown outcomes are frightening. But I did it, and I’m so glad that I did. So if you are stuck like I was and afraid, sit down and consider what you have to support you in making this choice to become a virtual assistant. It’s a wonderful experience, even if you have to work hard to make it happen!”

Keep moving toward success.

When you are planting a garden, you invest a lot of hard work and time and planning into its success.  There are no immediate rewards–the rewards come later on after the seeds you have sewn come to fruition.

There are constant worries that things won’t go as planned or that seeds you have planted might not surface.  There are doubts of your own ability to garden and whether you should continue to do so in the future.  Have you watered too much?  Watered not enough?  Was the soil in the best condition it could be for optimum growth?  Is it getting the right amount of sun to grow?

There are so many possibilities in a garden, and there is no one right universal answer that applies to everyone.  How much you need to water and how much sun you need and how much fertilizer you need in your soil all depend on the conditions where you live.

You need to have the right tools for your garden as well.  Do you have a rock rake?  A tiller?  A shovel?  Poles and string for climbing vegetables?  Electric fencing if you live in an area prone to rabbits or deer?  Fertilizer?  Water?  Gloves to wear while you weed?  Tools are necessary to build and maintain your garden.

A virtual assistant business is built in much the same way as a garden.  There are no “VA business in a can” setups that work for every single person, just as how one way to garden doesn’t work for everyone.  How yours will grow and prosper depends largely upon the conditions in which you are setting up your virtual assistant business.  No VA business will spring to life overnight and automatically generate a successful income for you.  These things are done gradually over time with attention, hard work, and planning.

They also require the correct tools to make your virtual assistant business grow.  Also, you need knowledge.  Your virtual assistant business can be very costly if you decide to try to wing it on your own, because mistakes in running your own business can be very costly.  Often times, it’s best to learn from others.  Do you have the right tools to start your VA business, nurture it, and maintain it while it grows?  Do you have the right knowledge from an experienced virtual assistant to make sure you are on the right track in setting up the framework?

Once you have everything in place and you continue to use the great tools available to you, you will soon reap the rewards that your VA business has the possibility of bringing to you.  I know those wonderful vegetables and fruits in my garden will be heavenly when I can finally sink my first bite into them.  So this spring, how does your garden grow?

Keep moving toward success.

But first thing is first! Join me on my free call, “5 Things to Avoid on Your Journey to Be a Power VA”. This free call is Tuesday, April 28 at 9:00 PM EST, but if you can’t attend at that time don’t worry! I will provide registrants with an audio of the call after it is done.

This free call will teach you how to avoid over-priced and unnecessary start up costs for your virtual assistant business.  You will finally know what is required and what isn’t for your VA business to get off the ground and sailing into success.

Sign up today and get your VA business moving toward success faster than you ever imagined!

So then I ask them, “Tell me what you’ve done to move your VA business forward.”  Some will say they’ve gotten a fax or upgraded their computer or done some other office set up.

So then, I ask, “When was the last time you spoke to a prospective client either via email, IM, or on the phone?”  And the answer always seems to be, “Well my office isn’t set up yet.”

If this is you, I want you to think about that response.  Will your office ever truly be completely set up and able to handle every new thing that might come your way?

The answer is no.  Remember that old adage, if I wait until I can afford to have kids to have them, I will never have any?  The principle of that saying applies here.  If you wait until your office is completely set up, you will never run a VA business.

What you’re doing is a form of self-sabotage through procrastination or a desire for perfection.  Let it go.  Start talking to people and turning people into clients.  Worry about the things you need to run your office ONCE you have clients to serve.

Trust me, with all the things that will come across your path that you can’t even begin to think up now, your office will constantly be evolving to meet the needs of your clients.  Only you can get that pause button off and the play button going.

Keep moving toward success.

When I mentioned this in my last blog entry, it seemed to stir many emails to me. So I wanted to clarify the issue why it’s important for you to have a business telephone line.

The bad thing about having a personal line to use for your business is mainly how you answer the telephone. In business, “Hello” is never an appropriate way to answer a business telephone call. It makes your clients feel like they are interrupting you during lunch or dinner or during your afternoon soap opera when they are received that way.

Sure, you could answer your home phone with your VA business name, and say how may I help you or some such. But you are going to get many people who think they might have the wrong number if they are calling for personal reasons instead of business related reasons. Now, I know. Someone out there is thinking, “I have caller ID. So I know who’s calling beforehand.” Do you? What if it’s a number that’s never called you before? Do you really know if that number calling is for personal or business reasons? If you do, I want to buy stock in whatever stock you think is best. Because you can see the future.

Me? I don’t know all the phone numbers in the US or in the world. So I make sure that I don’t have to guess when answering my phone by having a separate home and business line.

Another good reason for it? If you’re like me, you prefer not to have phone calls at 2 AM. I’ve actually had clients call me at 2 AM to leave me a voice mail. I turn my business ringer off after hours, but not my home phone. I need my home phone on after hours for family emergencies and what not. I would not have been delighted to have my home phone ringing at 2 AM. And guess what? Some of your clients will do that–not necessarily expecting you to answer.

So for your virtual assistant business, invest even in just a VOIP phone for $20 or $30 a month and say goodbye to saying hello.

Keep moving toward success.

1. Can you tell on the phone if they’re expecting to treat you like an employee rather than respecting you as a fellow business owner and collaborator?  A major clue for identifying this is if they tell you what hours they want you to work.  Clients are not permitted by law to dictate how, when, or with what equipment the job is to be done.  They are only permitted to request a specific result.

   If they do anything other, they can get in big trouble with the IRS for having an employee that they are not paying worker’s compensation and appropriate payroll taxes on during that year.  If you don’t believe me, visit the IRS’s own site for the definition of independent contractor:  http://www.irs.gov/businesses/small/article/0,,id=179115,00.html

   You may choose to work the hours they need you, but at a higher rate if it’s after your normal posted business hours.  Yes, as a VA, you should have regular posted business hours, just like any other business; otherwise, you’re treating yourself like an employee instead of an independent contractor.

   Some VAs do work into the wee hours of the night, but typically those are the ones who take on more work they can handle, prefer to work at night, fall behind due to illness or other emergency, goofed off all day instead of worked (lack of priorities), or are poor at scheduling their tasks.

2. Can you already tell if they are going to be overbearing or demanding?  Let’s face it, if you can already tell on the telephone interview that they’re going to be high maintenance, they are only going to frustrate you in the long term.

   However, if you really believe their needs are a perfect match to your skills, you need to charge extra for them.  I call it the PITA-25 factor where you increase your normal hourly or retainer rates by 25% for the extra hassle of dealing with this client.  No, don’t tell them that.  Just tell them that is your current rate if they agree to contract with you.

   If you have your normal rates posted on your website and they mention that, simply state your site is in the process of being updated.  Sometimes money can’t even recompense for the frustration of a PITA client.  It’s best to cut the string before it chokes you.

3. Do they want to argue rates with you or haggle your price down?  This is a huge red flag.  You are not a flea market, and you shouldn’t care what someone in India charges.  If you are not in India, you must charge accordingly to the cost of living and comparable VAs in your own country or region.

   When they start to negotiate your rates with you, it’s time to say thanks but no thanks.  Now, this is not true if they are discussing retainer rates versus hourly or per-project rates.  Those should logically be lower since they are paid up front.  However, you should still have those established ahead of time.

4. Ask them how many VAs they’ve had in the last two years.  If they appear to have a high turn over in VAs, that’s a strong signal to you.  While there are a lot of “bad name” VAs out there, there’s not enough that would make me confident in a client who’s changed VAs 6 or more times in the last couple of years.

   To me, that screams my VAs keep leaving me, because I’m not worth it.  Remember, they are not just interviewing you.  You are interviewing them too!  So you can ask questions, and you would be crazy not to ask any.  Even go as far as to ask what happened to their last VA–why they are no longer working with them (they don’t have to give you a name to protect privacy just a reason).

5. Do they require you to have expensive or unique software that you cannot afford to purchase?  You need to find out everything they expect of you (and of course, you can and should offer more of your skills if they don’t request others you do have).  It’s unprofessional to say yes to something knowing that you have no way of getting the software they require or doing the tasks they require you to do.  It will not only sully your reputation as a VA, but it leaves a bad taste with the client about the VA industry as a whole.

   The same is true with skills.  Do not ever lie about your skills and what you can and can’t do.  Find out what they need and be honest with which tasks you can handle and which ones you cannot.  They may still want to do business with you for the ones you can do, and they may even ask you for a reference for the other skills, which is where networking with other VAs comes in handy.

6. Do you find them easy to communicate with on the telephone and/or in emails?  Typically, you exchange a few emails with them and then have the interview call.  What was your feeling, your instinct telling you?  Do they understand what you’re trying to say easily?  Do you understand what they’re trying to say easily?

   If it’s a struggle on either end, communication problems could be a devastating factor to a relationship with a client.  So trust your instincts on this one, because subconsciously you know more about people you can communicate with well than you realize. 

There are many more things you can watch for, but I feel these six are some of the most important I’ve seen arise in my experiences.  As you’re writing notes down about the client, their business, and what they want, also jot down in the sidebar of the page your feelings as they talk to you.  Do they make you feel excited?  Dread?  Bored?  Confused?  Angry?  These cues are indicators of how you will feel when you work with them.

Keep moving toward success!

There’s a lot of concern out there about the troubled economy and the future for all of us. It’s hard to know where to invest your money these days, and it’s even more frightening to ponder your job security.

However, even this black cloud has a silver lining. When the economy turns bad and people downsize employees, they start looking for independent contractors to do the same tasks their employees used to do.

Why? Here are the main reasons:

1. The companies don’t have to pay for insurance benefits for a virtual assistant. This is a HUGE savings!

2. The companies don’t have to pay someone to be there 20, 30 or 40 hours per week. VA’s are paid only for the time worked!

3. The companies don’t have to worry about paying Social Security and other payroll taxes or complying with OSHA rules and regulations with independent contractors like they do with employees.

4. The companies don’t have to pay for utilities and furniture and equipment for someone. VAs work from their home and have their own equipment.

Even though a VA’s hourly rates are higher than an employee’s hourly rates, companies can save big money and have less risk using the services of a virtual assistant over keeping an employee.

Also, many people will be starting home based businesses right now (not just VA businesses) as they find themselves losing jobs. It’s easy to do that these days, and those people will need support in setting up those businesses and keeping them running. That’s where you, as a VA, step in with your expertise and help them set up their businesses quickly so they can start getting a profit (which means contract security for you!).

Financial institutions are struggling, but home based businesses are growing at a steady pace.

If you’ve been putting off getting your VA business started or expanding it, now is the time to take action!

A bad economy isn’t always bad for everyone. Don’t make it bad for you.