Virtual Assistant – Page 6 – Virtual Assistant Success Strategies

Wil Hart on July 23, 2010

Your Unique Story is Compelling – Use it in Your Marketing Materials

Creating compelling marketing materials is an exercise you cannot afford to skip or rush through. Your marketing materials are critical to your overall marketing strategy and brand. One of the important components in your marketing materials is "your story".

In The Beginning Your story, of how you decided to become a Virtual Assistant is a great way to educate your target audience about you, your expertise and your passion. Your "why" is just as important as your expertise because it makes you relatable. Marketing your business should be authentic and real. You don’t want to come across as sales-y or pushy. No one likes the used car salesman approach. So make your marketing materials stand out with your story.

How do you include your story in your marketing materials?

Writing a heartfelt message to your website visitors on your "About Me" page is one way to convey your story. Many people look at the "About" tab first to see who they are visiting. Who does this website belong to? Why did they start their business? What is their passion? And most importantly, they are looking for a connection with you. Why should they hire you?

While you want to be honest about your story and your journey to becoming a Virtual Assistant, you don’t want to share private information. No one really wants to hear the sordid details of your divorce. As much of a hardship as this is, that’s a little too real for a first time visitor.

Instead, focus on your main "why", really drill down as to what motivated you to start your own business and work so hard. While divorce is an unfortunate event in your life, the real motivator was that you had to find a flexible career that allowed you to take care of your children. Almost anyone can relate to you wanting to provide for your children and raise them on your own. By giving your website visitors a compelling "About Me" page, you are giving them a reason to find out more about you, your services and your expertise.

Another way to use your story in your marketing materials is to relate to your target audience based on the solutions you provide. For example, you could add something like this to your services page:

"Taking care of your family, your house and a successful business isn’t easy. There just doesn’t seem to be enough hours in the day to take care of everything and everyone else…let alone yourself. I know exactly how you feel, and I want to help you. I can help you get back some precious time in your day by taking care of tasks like…"

By using an example like the one above, you are speaking directly to their problems, identifying with them as someone who knows what it feels like to be overwhelmed, and then offering them a solution.

These are just a few ways you can incorporate your story into your marketing materials. But, including them is part of the key to your success by identifying with your target audience. What other ways have you used your story in your marketing materials? Share your thoughts with me by posting a comment!

Wil Hart on June 23, 2010

Stand Your Ground on Your Fees – Don’t Negotiate

Everybody likes a good deal and to save money. Perhaps you clip coupons to use at the grocery store. Or maybe you go out to eat on family nights when kids eat free. You may look for “out of the box” or gently used items to get that new electronic gadget you want.

But one thing you should remember as a Virtual Assistant and a business owner is that your fees are not negotiable.

Despite the fact that the economy has changed, that isn’t a reason to reduce your rates. Likely, you have continued to invest time and money into improving your skills and building your expertise that will allow you to provide more value to your clients. Your clients need to understand that by choosing to work with you, they are working with the BEST of the BEST, and that your rates are simply a reflection of that.

Admittedly, dealing with the question, “Can you lower your rates?” can be challenging. While you might feel like you want to reduce your rates, you should stand your ground. It doesn’t have to be as difficult as you think it might be.

Here are some tips to handling the conversation if a prospect tries to negotiate your fees:

Be confident! – You should firmly believe in your rates and your expertise. If you don’t, your clients won’t either. Nothing is more professional than someone who is self-assured and confident in their abilities and their value.
Have a standard response – Knowing what to say in this situation before it happens will help prepare yourself for the conversation. Don’t let yourself be caught off guard.
Don’t grovel or waiver from your response – If a potential client reacts negatively or asks you again, don’t cave. Stand firm with your rates and your decision. If they can’t afford your rates or don’t want to pay them, then they are clearly not your ideal client and won’t ever fully respect your working relationship.

Here’s an example of what I have said to people who have tried to negotiate my fees, “No, my rates are not negotiable. They are a reflection of my skills and experience. So if you would like to benefit from the services I provide, that that is the fee structure I have in place.”

That’s it – don’t say another word.

There will be a kind of uncomfortable silence (perhaps uncomfortable for the prospect, NOT you) that will force the person either to say yes or no. If they say yes, then they understand the value you can provide their business. If they say no, then they are not the client for you and let them go. Again, don’t grovel or waiver and don’t be uncomfortable. Don’t underestimate your value for anyone.

When you are meeting with a potential client, it’s not just about them interviewing you — you are interviewing them to see if they deserve a place in your practice. Remember, taking on a new client is starting a new relationship. So you want that relationship to start off in the best way possible and with mutual respect. NOT with the client trying to de-value what you offer from day one.

What has your experience been with clients who have tried to negotiate your rates? Did you lower your rates for them? What was your experience like with this client? Post your challenges here so we can learn from each other!

Wil Hart on June 21, 2010

Create a Work Schedule That Gives You Time to Play

Starting your own home based Virtual Assistant business is a decision that involves a lot of thought and preparation. One of the biggest “perks” that comes with working for yourself and from home is having a flexible schedule. However, that flexibility can become a liability if you don’t manage it well.

One common pitfall I see VA’s struggling with is the tendency to “multi-task“. While you may think you can get more done, multi-tasking can truly be a detriment to your business and personal life. It’s so easy to think you can do a load of laundry while you’re working on a website, and then take a break to fold the laundry and come back to the website when you’re done. While this may seem harmless, it actually is making you less efficient in your work as a Virtual Assistant and your housework (or whatever the other activity may be). As a Virtual Assistant, it is important to create a work schedule for your clients’ benefit…and yours.

A key to creating a work schedule and maximizing your time is called “batching”. Batching refers to setting aside a specific block of time to handle similar tasks. So, say for example you have 3 clients and all of them need you to do some phone work. You might be making phone calls to clients, checking on insurance rates or whatever. The important thing here though is to do all the phone calls at once. By blocking out 2 hours in your day to do all the phone calls, you are focusing on just being on the phone and completing the project. Even though you will need to track the time spent on the phone for each client so you can allocate the time appropriately, you are still being more efficient by doing all the phone calls at one time. If you were to make a phone call here and there throughout the week, the project would take much longer.

By batching your tasks, you become much more efficient which can free up time for you later in the day to do other client work, or take (some well-deserved) time off. This technique works with virtually all tasks that you do: bookkeeping, reading emails, transcribing files, client projects, etc. You can even batch clients individually, rather than by task. What this means is that maybe you designate each day of the week to a particular client and do everything in that day for them. You’ll have to test this method out to see if it works out for you (and the client), but it can be a really effective way of getting projects done.

Another important thing to remember to schedule in your day is breaks. We all need a mental break throughout the day to ensure we’re on top of our game. So maybe you find that you can work for a solid 2 hours before your mind starts to wander. Then make sure you schedule your day in 2 hour batches with a 15 minute break to get something to drink, take a brief walk or just rest your brain.

By taking the time to outline your schedule and establish how you’ll get work done, you are setting yourself up for business and personal success. You’ll have a clear “start” and “end” time for your business and family time. This gives you the ability to make the time for doing housework (YUCK!) and of course enjoying your family time each day. By focusing on one project at a time, you are also giving your full attention to the task at hand. This is very important to completing clients’ projects, but also to your family who notices when you’re “distracted” by work.

What type of work schedules do you use? How do you batch your day? Please share your techniques with us so we can learn from each other and hopefully help someone improve their work and life balance!

Wil Hart on June 15, 2010

Showcase Your Expertise: Solve Problems On Your Blog

One of the best ways to showcase your expertise as a Virtual Assistant is to create and maintain a blog. As a VA, you want to show potential clients you hold the key to the solutions they’re looking for.

Now admittedly, one of the first concerns you may have about writing a blog is figuring out what you will write about. One way to create highly useful, relevant content is to answer questions or solve problems in your posts. Prospective clients (and even current clients) come to you for assistance because they are struggling with particular problems. So use those situations as your inspiration! If a client doesn’t mind, you can even use them as an example (with a link back to their website, of course) so that you can demonstrate your expertise and how you add value to their business and their life.

For example, let’s say one of your clients’ websites was hacked and they “lost” their website. This is a scary thing for business owners but that’s why they’ve hired you as the expert, right? So, in your blog post, you can detail how this “problem” was minimized because you create weekly backups. Your blog post can then detail 3 or 5 tips on how and why to run weekly backups and maybe even provide some solutions on what to do if they did not backup their site and how they can fix it.

As you see in this example, you offered a specific solution to a specific problem. Not only did you solve it for your existing client, but you also provided resources for other people to solve the problem on their own, or better yet, gave them concrete examples on why they should hire you to solve the problem for them.

There are 3 main goals of your blog:

1. Maintaining it as a marketing tool to attract prospective clients
2. Showcase your expertise and build your credibility
3. Encourage participation through comments and suggestion to build your community

By using examples from your own experiences, you can provide countless solutions to problems that you are already solving. All you are doing now is taking the time to document the problem, the solution and recommendations for avoiding the problem for someone else. Using this as a method to keep your blog posts fresh will help you avoid the “what do I blog about” mind block.

What other ideas do you have for keeping your blog posts fresh and up to date? I’d love to hear your ideas – please post them below so we can talk about them!

Wil Hart on

Keep Your Client Pipeline Full With Public Speaking

Public speaking is one of the most effective ways to attract more clients to your Virtual Assistant business. Even if you’re not comfortable talking in front of a crowd – right now – there’s a good reason you should start. Why? Because it’s the fastest way to automatically establish yourself as an expert in your field.

Think about it. When looking to hire a service provider, don’t you typically want to work with the BEST person for the job? Would you really consider hiring someone who offers substandard services? Of course not! So neither would your prospective clients.

By speaking in public, you automatically put yourself in the driver’s seat. Whether your presentation is 5 minutes long or 30 minutes long, the room is focused on you. Everyone is listening what you have to say and if you deliver great content, they are writing down everything you say and making a list of questions. That list of questions is a good thing because they are trying to envision themselves working with you.

Also, public speaking adds credibility to the virtual assistance industry as a whole. There are still so many people who are unclear about VA’s, what they do and how a VA can help them grow their business. By delivering a content rich speech on what a Virtual Assistant is and how you can help business owners increase their business and reduce their stress, you elevate your expertise as well as that of the entire VA industry. Continue Reading>>

Wil Hart on May 29, 2010

Marketing VA’s: How They Help Entrepreneurs Grow Their Business

One of the best ways to grow your business and earn more income, is to specialize in a specific type of virtual assistance. One option is to offer marketing support services. There is an ever growing need for marketing virtual assistants, particularly those who specialize in Internet marketing.

The two things EVERY business owner wants are 1) to make more money in their business and 2) to have more time to enjoy being self-employed. A VA who specializes in marketing and is directly connected to creating more profits and increased productivity will make herself invaluable to her clients. This type of virtual assistance is not just about supporting the entrepreneur to run their business effectively or waiting for the client to ask for help. It’s about taking initiative and being proactive about completing tasks and projects that create more opportunities for exposure and revenue in the client’s business.

Speakers, authors, coaches and consultants are part of the growing group of business owners who are hiring VA’s to help them market their business effectively. They’ve found that they just don’t have the time or the expertise to market themselves and their services . To create the desired results, marketing needs to be done in a focused and consistent way. By hiring a VA who specializes in marketing support, business owners can focus on their gifts and developing their business, while the VA executes their marketing plan to attract more clients and customers. Continue Reading>>

Wil Hart on May 25, 2010

Savvy Systems Means More Pro.fits

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>>

Wil Hart on May 10, 2010

How to Select a Name for Your Virtual Assistant Business

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:

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.
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>>

Wil Hart on April 25, 2010

Need More Clients? Fish Where the Fish Are!

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 VAs 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 that 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 be 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>>

Wil Hart on March 26, 2010

Use Accounting Systems to Streamline Your Finances

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:
Continue Reading>>

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