Month: November 2008

Many Virtual Assistants do not have a management background and may find themselves lacking some business management skills after starting their business.

This is a common problem, but one that is easily resolved, by investing time, energy and resources in to learning HOW to be a smart, savvy business owner.  One can easily save time, money and frustration by learning some key strategies for HOW to run a successful business.

Check out my blog post over at the Virtual Wire for some of my favorite resources:

http://www.thevirtualwire.com/2008/11/invest-in-training-to-become-a-savvy-business-owner.html

Life’s up and downs provide windows of opportunity to determine your values and goals.  Think of using all obstacles as stepping stones to build the life you want.

~ Marsha Sinetar

I spent a LOT of time this week thinking about the importance of working with ONLY my ideal clients in my business.  Doing so leads to working ONLY clients who inspire and energize me to do my best work. Plus, I get paid to do so! What could be better! 🙂  These sessions of brainstorming also caused me to reflect on the early days of my business when I would work with anyone with a pulse and checkbook.

I DON’T want you to struggle through this process like I did.  I DO want you to achieve success in your business quicker and easier than I have.

One of the keys to doing so is getting crystal clear on who YOUR ideal clients are for YOUR business. I’m going to stay on my “soapbox” on this topic until I see a significant shift in our industry in this regard.  I can’t stress enough how VITAL it is for Virtual Assistants to embrace this concept and immediately implement it into their businesses.

Check out the post I wrote Wednesday on “The Virtual Wire” and let me know how you are doing in developing your own ideal client profile.

http://www.thevirtualwire.com/2008/11/do-you-know-who-your-ideal-clients-are.html

Last week I attended Ali Brown’s last ever (annual) Online Success Blueprint Workshop. It’s an event dedicated to teaching her simple, proven, and easy to implement Internet marketing system. This was actually my third time attending…I first went in 2006 when I was still learning the ins and outs of Internet marketing. That year I was the only Virtual Assistant there, among 250 attendees. Last year, I was one of 3 Virtual Assistants out of 250+ attendees. This year there were about 10 of us (mostly from AssistU) among almost 500 attendees, which was wonderful to see.

Why am I telling you this? Because attending events such as these, has been a MAJOR contributing factor in my growing my business to its current level and beyond. Did it cost me money to attend this? YES! The registration fee was $997 (that was the discounted rate from $2,997!) Plus, I paid my own travel expenses AND took off time from my business. But was it worth it? ABSOLUTELY! I am sitting at my desk right now looking at the business cards of 15 people who are just itching to hire a new Virtual Assistant to help them implement all the cool strategies they learned last week. And because they know that I am an expert on this topic, I don’t have to “sell” myself so that they’ll want to hire me. Continue Reading>>

Never give up, for that is just the place and time that the tide will turn.

~ Harriet Beecher Stowe

One of the keys to my success as a Virtual Assistant is that when I first made the decision to start my business, I mapped out a detailed transition plan. I’ve always been a “checklist”, “step-by-step” kind of person and although I didn’t entirely know or understand everything I needed to do, having a plan was a source of comfort to me. My transition plan changed and evolved over time, but it served as my road map towards getting my business up and running. And looking back I can see how having a plan kept me from feeling overwhelmed with all of the tasks I had in front of me.

Following are a list of 8 tips that will help you in creating and moving forward with your own transition plan:

Continue Reading>>

I can’t tell you how many times I’ve heard my fellow Virtual Assistant’s say something like:

“Should I charge my client for learning a new skill/software package/program?”
“Can I charge my clients for research time, telephone calls, and email correspondence?”

The answer is YES and YES!! You should absolutely be charging for EVERY minute spent on client work. I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again….

Unless you intended to start a non-profit organization, then don’t give your time, expertise or skills away for FREE! In doing so, you are undermining your business, selling yourself short and giving your clients too much power (which starts to sound like a J.O.B.).

From the very beginning you MUST be clear with your clients about how your billable time is calculated and that ALL of the time you spend on their projects will be billed to them.

My coach extraordinaire, Stacy Brice, wrote a brilliant blog post on this topic today. Check it out and then come back here and post your comments below! I want to hear about your thoughts and experiences.

http://www.virtualmoxie.com/2008/11/but-you-can-use.html

Always be a first-rate version of yourself, instead of a second-rate version of somebody else.

~ Judy Garland

Every business owner needs assistance with managing their finances.  Although they may have a dedicated bookkeeper to handle such tasks, there is much a Virtual Assistant can do to help in this regard.  Following are a 8 ways a Virtual Assistant can help a client with their bookkeeping:

1. A client needs bill-paying services. The client has all bills mailed to a post office box near a VA. The VA sets up a checking account with payment authorization for both the client and the VA. As the bills are prepared for payment, the VA notifies the client how much money to deposit into the account. The bills are then paid. Another option, if available from the client’s bank, is to use on-line bill payment services or email money transfers.
2. A client needs bill-paying services. The client collects bills and mails them to the VA twice a month. The VA sets up a checking account with payment authorization for both the client and the VA. As the bills are prepared for payment, the VA notifies the client how much money to deposit into the account. The bills are then paid. Another option, if available from the client’s bank, is to use on-line bill payment services or email money transfers. Continue Reading>>

I just received an email from HP.com (Yes, that’s THE HP), about their latest online class offerings. If you haven’t tapped into to this awesome resource, I suggest you check it out ASAP. They have a variety of classes available that will help you to learn and enhance your technical skills. The courses are available 24/7 and the schedule is updated regularly. The current offerings include:

• Microsoft Word/Excel/PowerPoint 2007
• Adobe Dreamweaver CS3 Introduction
• Project Management Made Simple
• Create your own marketing materials with free templates
• And much more!

Check it out:

www.hp.com/go/learningcenter