Ok, I know many of you have been waiting for this. I believe it to be setting rates that are too low. This also includes allowing clients to tell you what you should be charging. Many VAs, particularly in the first year or two of their businesses, mistakenly think they should charge low to get the clients. What happens is a number of things: They find quickly that they're not making much money and have difficulty covering all their overheads and have some left over for themselves. They … [Read more...]
Archives for December 2008
Getting past the no.1 mistake VAs make
Further to my previous 2 posts, I have more to add and Tracey's comment included some of what I wanted to say. When a client contacts you for a quote you need to project confidence and telling someone nervously that you are new and you're not sure what to charge, or umm and ahh over charges, will help give them a lack of confidence in your abilities and knowing what you are doing. What is there to be nervous about? If you know well the services you plan to offer then you know you are going to … [Read more...]
How to get past the no. 1 mistake VAs make
I wrote recently about the no. 1 mistake VAs make and it was good to see the comments coming in. I thought I'd follow up with things that new (and existing) VAs can do to help shift that employee mindset. Now, I'm not by any means trying to belittle employees and thank you Deb M for your comment. There are a lot of employees out there who are motivated, have self-initiative and don't wait to be told what to do. And this is the stuff that VAs should be made of as well. But it goes further … [Read more...]
Mistakes new Virtual Assistants make
The number one mistake (I believe) Virtual Assistants make is not changing one's mindset when entering our industry to become a VA. I'm going to post a series on this topic and I wanted to share the one I believe is at the top of the list. What do I mean by that? Many who join the chat forums plunge in and start asking questions before they've done the research and read the message archives or articles online about this industry. Or even some of the books available out there. What happens is … [Read more...]
Facebook for networking
I was recently having a discussion on my Virtual Assistant forum about using Facebook for networking. Some thought that it might not have value and others thought it a great tool. Comment had been made about the necessity of using it to advertise how many friends or fans you have. I'll share with you here what my response was about using Facebook. I used to think similarly but I don't anymore. And it's not about 'advertising' who your friends are. It's about keeping in touch. I … [Read more...]
Will you be the one?
I've been running a promotion here for our 1,000th member at "A Clayton's Secretary". We are very close to that number and it's been good to see the new members who have joined us over the past couple of months. Some of those members have received bonuses for joining and here are a few more lucky people. If your name is below, please contact me via email or the contact form here so that you can receive your bonus. Teneille Griffiths Juliet McDonald Penny Green Sophie Cherval Each of these … [Read more...]
Do you give gifts to clients for Christmas?
On some of the Virtual Assistant forums there have been discussions about whether or not to give clients gifts or cards during this special holiday season. Some give discounts, some give gift vouchers for books, movies or other things, some offer other things. On one of the LinkedIn forums I belong to there was a link given for a site that has some excellent "No Cost" gifts for colleagues and service providers and I've listed some of them here. To see the rest please click on the link … [Read more...]
Intel Centrino – a Notebook to play with
Over the past few weeks I've had the privilege of playing with, and testing, an Intel Centrino 2 powered notebook. It has a great easy to view widescreen, is very compact, slim and lightweight, and easy to use. This one has Windows Vista installed on it and OpenOffice suite. It also has 4gig ram. I wasn't able to carry out my normal daily activities on it as it didn't have the software I use every day (MS Office 2003, ACT!, Quickbooks, Dreamweaver) for my regular client activity and it would … [Read more...]
I think I need a VA – what do I do now?
I had a new prospective client contact me overnight. He feels he now needs a VA and has read through my blog but wasn't sure what the next step was. Ooops! Didn't I tell anyone? My oversight. I have a link in the right-hand menu of this blog but for those who read this via email or RSS, then just simply go to http://www.vadirectory.net/jobrequest.htm and fill out the form giving the details of what you want done. Don't forget to include any software programs that are relevant. The results … [Read more...]