Savvy Virtual Assistants setup and implement systems to run their business.  Using systems consistently will allow you to work as effectively and efficiently as possible.  The more you can systemize, the more you can monetize!

Systems are the key to your business organization.  It’s a way to ensure that you create consistent high-quality results in everything you do.  This includes bookkeeping, communication, administrative,  client support and marketing.  Whether you realize it or not, you probably already have a system in place for all of these things, you just haven’t gone through the process of actually documenting them.

Documentation is the key to helping you streamline your processes so that you get better at doing things more quickly.  Once you document your processes for how you handle different tasks, you’ll begin to see how you can either automate them or outsource them.   This will free up time for you to spend on the two most important things:  client work and marketing your business. Continue Reading »

Choosing a name for your new business can be an exciting but stressful task.  There are so many factors in selecting an appropriate name for your new company.  While you can change the name down the line if you want/need it, it can be a cumbersome task.  So you want to make a decision that will be comfortable for you to live with.

Here are my suggestions on points to consider when selecting a name for your VA business:

1. How do you want to brand your company?  Do you want people to know your business based on what you do or, do you want them to know your business based on your name?  Deciding to brand your business or yourself is an important first step in creating your business name.
2. What image are you trying to convey?  When an ideal prospect hears the name of your company what thoughts do you want to come to mind? When they see your company name how to you want them to feel?  Remember you’re a solutions provider, a problem solver.  You want to convey the benefits and results that clients experience in working with you in every part of your brand, including your business name.  Let this guide you toward selecting a name that fits. Continue Reading »

The number one question I get asked about Virtual Assistance EACH week is:  “How do I get clients?”

The answer is very simple.  You have to “fish, where the fish are!”  And you have to “fish” consistently.

Many VA’s find it difficult to market their services and thus struggle to consistently attract clients.  This has mostly to do with one’s mindset, because we can often hold ourselves back from success because of limiting beliefs, fears or doubts.  Have you ever thought to yourself:

• “I can’t charge that much!”
• “No one is really going to pay for what I do.”
• “Marketing is too hard and I’ll never be good at it.”

If you tell yourself things like this you’re right.  But if you tell yourself:

• “My time is worth X and I deserve to paid that much!”
• “There are plenty of people who need my services and I’m going to find them!”
• “I can learn how to market my services in an authentic and comfortable way!” Continue Reading »

I have a confession…..I am an office supply junkie!

I love to go to the office supply stores and get all the matching organizers like pencil cups, paper trays, folders, and covered memo boards. I love cool pens, pretty folders, interesting Post It notes…you get the picture.

It all looks so nice and neat in the store and I can just imagine my desk looking all neat and organized. Many times I’ve thought, “I know that once I buy all this stuff, I will finally be organized and I can get on with my day. ” It wasn’t until I started working with a professional organizer that I realized how wrong I was. Buying fun, pretty supplies is NOT the “magic pill” to having an organized office. It really boils down to eliminating what we don’t need, creating systems that work WITH you and making a commitment to sticking with the system.     Continue Reading »

Dealing with the accounting aspect of your business is a necessary “evil” of being an entrepreneur.  Whether or not you are a “numbers” person, keeping accurate records, billing your clients and paying your taxes are tasks that you will need to handle regularly in order to stay profitable.

These weekly processes can be simple if you set up a system to handle them.  What is a system? It is simply a matter of documentation.  A system is documenting the steps you take to complete a task. For example, when you get ready to bill your clients each month, you may tally up the hours/tasks you completed for them, compile a report, prepare an invoice and bill their credit card.  What else do you do?  What software do you use to track your time? Do you have a format for the monthly report?  How do you prepare invoices? What steps do you take to bill their credit card?  If you have systems for billing, you will accomplish this monthly task in a matter of minutes.  If no systems are in place, it could result in hours of wasted time and much frustration.  (You could be using that time to make more money in your business or take a well-deserved break).

Here are a few tips on creating systems around your monthly financial tasks that will save you precious time, money and sanity:
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As Virtual Assistants, we tend to be really good at creating lists.  We create to-do lists for ourselves, our clients, our families, the housekeeper, etc.    These lists are created as a method for getting things done.  But,  how often do you go back and review your lists to see if “what” you’re doing is yielding the right results?  In other words, is how you’re spending your time supporting or detracting from the life and business you want to create?

If perhaps you aren’t making the money you want to make, or you’re working with clients who drain your energy, or you find yourself working far more hours than you’d like, it’s time to step back, take an honest, objective look at your VA practice and decide what adjustments need to be made.  Just as you would create an action plan for your clients, you need to create one for yourself.  The first step is to answer this question, “Are you making these 3 common mistakes?”
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I saw the following question on one of the forums I belong to and thought you’d find it interesting:

Q. Tell me About Your Elevator Speech… do you have one?

I live in an area where Virtual Assistant has yet to become a household word. I am interested to see what others in my field tell folks when they ask with a quizzical expression… O, what is that?

It is easy for me to come up with examples of what I do but unless it addresses the individual’s “pain points,” I am still not doing the job of educating them and properaly promoting myself – I usually turn it around and ask them how they run their business and try to find out how they might utilize a VA’s service. Either that or I just explain how using a VA can actually help them increase their income potential by allowing them more time to do what makes them money and how they can do it without the usual costs associated with hiring an employee.

I am interested to hear some ideas from this wonderful group about how you handle this issue. Continue Reading »

When you’re out networking or talking to your family and they ask you, “What do you do?” or “What is your business all about?” what do you say?

Do you freeze?  Stammer? Continue Reading »

Aspiring entrepreneurs dream of the time when they can tell the boss “See Ya!” and start working in their PJs. Working from home is definitely a relief from the commute, stress and politics of the office. You have your freedom to call the shots and do things your own way.     Continue Reading »

This is the question that plagues all virtual assistants regardless of how long they’ve been in business. Clients are our lifeblood. But you don’t want to be so anxious for business that you will take on just anyone as a client. You need to have standards for what you will and won’t put up with in a client.

Virtual assistants have to be proactive about finding and acquiring these ideal new clients. Thanks to the Internet, prospecting for clients has become easier in regards to your ability to reach more people in a shorter amount of time. But the basic business practices that apply in the brick and mortar world still apply.

There are three ways to grow you business, online or offline. And they are:    Continue Reading »