I was at a meeting with a new client today, well, actually 3 men who represent a group and the group will be my client - if that makes sense? Anyway one of the men had mentioned he'd never heard of Virtual Assistants before and thought that one of the others had made up another new technical term, as he was prone to do. The man who had introduced me to the group has been a client of mine for over 7 years and had mentioned that the Virtual Assistant who looked after him could look after this … [Read more...]
When the Client Doesn’t Understand
Not everyone understands how to use a Virtual Assistant or what a VA can do for them. I get asked regularly what kind of business I'm in and when I tell them I'm a Virtual Assistant I get asked the normal question 'what's that?' And then when I explain that for me, it means being like a personal assistant, only virtual, briefly their face shows their unspoken question which is soon voiced. They can't even begin to perceive how we (VAs) receive the work or get it back to the client if we don't … [Read more...]
Out of Sight, Out of Mind
We were having a discussion on our VA forum the other day and one of the newer VAs spoke of the challenge she was having in getting her business up and running. There were a lot of things demanding her attention and it was a busy time in her life but she was concerned that she might be losing focus and sought ideas from the group for things that she could be doing. Which was a good thing to do as many of us have 'been there' and were able to advise what we did to keep us moving forward. When … [Read more...]
A Client Has Asked Me To Do Something I Haven’t Before – Should I?
I guess one of the key things here is - is the client brand new or is the client an existing one asking their VA to provide another service? The answer to this question may give a clue to what should be done. I wouldn't start providing a service I know nothing about for a brand new client as it's bound to get me in hot water and it is best onforwarded or sub-contracted to another VA who already knows how to do that particular item. However, if it's an existing client that I've been … [Read more...]
Finding out what to charge
Periodically on the VA forums to which I belong, a VA will post a question, asking what is the 'normal' rate for a particular service. There are a number of reasons why that question will cause challenges for them and I'll explain it here. Firstly, the VA forums have members from all over the world so the cost of living in the areas in which each VA lives and works will be quite different to that of many of the other VA members. Secondly, the skills and experience of each of the VAs will also … [Read more...]
Web copy and plagiarism
Regular readers will have seen my post a few days ago about website copy being stolen. Several comments were made including one from Jonathan Bailey of Plagiarism Today. I emailed Jonathan and asked him some questions about his suggestion and he has very kindly given back some answers so I'm placing them here for your information. Thanks heaps Jonathan! Tell us about DMCA notices Jonathan - I must admit I’ve never heard of them. Are they country specific or global? Kathie, Your question … [Read more...]
Help! Someone has copied my website!
Some of the VA forums I belong to have recently had discussions about new VAs who are copying the content of more established VAs and placing it on their website, unchanged. It is plagiarism and as far as I know, that isn't legal. It certainly isn't moral and can be very upsetting for the owner of the content. Why does this happen and what can be done about it? Well, it happens for a number of reasons. People like what they've seen and want to copy it as it will make them look more … [Read more...]
Promoting Your VA Business
Regularly on the chat forums, I see new VAs seeking advice for getting clients. I recently posted the following on one of those forums. As with any business, marketing is an important part of what you should be doing regularly, at least weekly. This could be in the form of paid advertising, networking, calling people, going out and meeting people, doing leaflet drops, registering with directories online and so on. I've never found advertising in a local publication useful but that can differ … [Read more...]
A Day To Work On My Business, Instead Of In It
If you've had any contact with a business coach, or if you do a lot of reading about operating a business, you will be familiar with the need to work on your business, instead of just in it. Michael Gerber mentions this in his book - The E-Myth as well - I read his book many years ago. When I first started my VA business many years ago I did anything that came along on any day it came - even weekends and evenings. As my business picked up, so did the hours I was doing and for quite some time … [Read more...]
