Virtual Assistants | VA Directory

Do the locals know you exist?

I see many (new) VAs asking on different VA forums how they can find clients, or if anyone can give them work. Often, when asking questions about what they’ve done, they’ve got their office set up, created a Facebook page, set up a website or some kind of web presence, created a LinkedIn profile but it’s rare to hear they actually go out networking face-to-face.

How many businesses local to where you live actually know you exist? What makes you think they’ll know you have a website or a Facebook presence or LinkedIn profile? It takes time for all those things to show up in searches online and if you haven’t listed your suburb or region, it’s unlikely locals will realise you’re there.

So, what’s the answer? Spend time networking with other businesses – not VA businesses but rather local businesses in your region. Find out about local business networking groups and go to their meetings. Meet other people in business. It’s amazing how many local businesses don’t know there’s a VA in their vicinity – you need to let them know you exist. After all it’s other people in business that you’re seeking to build your client base so why not mix and mingle with them and let them know who you are?

What should you take with you? Business cards. They have not gone out of fashion and don’t cost a great deal to get made. Don’t keep them in your drawer – carry them with you always and give them out to people. Likewise collect theirs and then follow them up with email a couple of days later. Don’t nag them for work, simply remind them where you met and when, you were pleased to meet them and would they like to meet for a cuppa sometime? Or perhaps just let them know you’ve available should they ever have a need. Never sound desperate. Be prepared to give a short blurb about what you do but remember – the person who asks the questions, controls the conversation. So make the conversation about them as much as you can – rather than just about you.

You might not pick up a client immediately but if you make yourself visible at these meetings on a regular basis it will happen and it’s good for you to get out of your own office and mix and mingle with others. Fresh ideas develop, motivation grows and before you know it, your business is flourishing. Enjoy the process!

Kathie Thomas

Kathie is the owner of VA Directory and is former past President of the Australian VA Association. She founded the Virtual Assistant industry in Australia in the mid 90s, having already been operating a home-based secretarial service. Today the VA industry covers a multitude of office-based services for clients worldwide.

Things that VAs don’t do

It may come as a shock to you but Virtual Assistants (VAs) don’t do everything! Despite what you read out there. Take it from someone who works inside the industry and has done so for over 20 years. VAs don’t do everything individually, but we do a lot of things collectively.

Originating from the administrative/secretarial field in the 1990s, the Virtual Assistant Industry evolved with the introduction of the Internet and the development of new technologies.

Consequently today you’ll find there are ‘old-school’ VAs who came from a secretarial/admin background and probably with many years’ corporate office experience. And then there are the younger set of VAs who have grown up with the Internet in their teen years (90s/2000s) who have entered this industry with quite a different skillset.

However, you would be hard-pressed to find a single VA that does everything. But you can and will find many who have experience in particular industries, or services. And consequently they may seem like they do everything because they have a mixed skillset to service an industry type or provide a particular service.

There are generalists who start off providing a wide range of services, i.e. word-processing, data entry, database management, phone answering, etc but over time many find they like working with a particular industry (be it not-for-profits, business coaches, authors, professional speakers, the medical or legal industries, etc) and hone their skillset to match the needs for that industry whereas others may hone a particular service for a wide range of clients (that is, transcription, book keeping, social media, phone answering and concierge, telemarketing, etc). Some specialise in other services such as webinars, ebooks and book publishing, resume writing, web design and management, association management, project management and so on. I have a list here of some of the types of VAs there are.

So, what if you really do need a VA that does everything? Ask questions, find out who others have used and how it worked for them. And consider that you might actually need to engage 2 or 3 VAs to cover all the services you need provided. Remember, VAs are not employees – they’re service providers and self-employed. As a result their rates reflect their services and skillsets and some charge by the hour, by the month, by package, by retainer. But certainly you wouldn’t be paying for full-time or part-time employees and all the overheads that are attached to having an employee. And just as you would have different staff handling different aspects inside a corporate office, so might you have different VAs who manage different aspects inside your business. If you really want to deal with only ‘one VA’, then consider engaging one as a project manager who will oversight all your needs accordingly.

Kathie Thomas

Do they know how to contact you?

I’m seeing an increasing trend of people creating brand new websites for their businesses but neglecting to put the most important information on their sites!

Namely, how to contact you.

Personally I don’t like doing business with people who only have a contact form and no other form of contact on their site. Makes me wonder what they’re trying to hide. I know, from personal experience, that many prospective clients like to pick up the phone and talk to me. Why wouldn’t clients want to do the same with you?

The various rules of marketing I’ve read over the years have also indicated you should provide several forms of contact methods for your business. Here is a list of things that you can choose from and you should have at least 3 of these on your site.

Phone number, with country and state codes. Remember that your business is global when it’s on the Internet so treat it accordingly.
A form that leads to your email account – especially if you don’t want to have your email address listed. Or there are codes you can use to help protect your email address from getting picked up by harvesters.
A postal address, but if you only have your home address, then your city, state and country. Don’t leave people guessing where you might be. Some clients like to know they’re working with a ‘local’ even if it is virtually.
Fax number if you have it.
Social media account links – let them find you in other places too!

Make this information easy to find. For example, you might want to have it all on the contact page BUT having a phone number in the very top of your site will increase the number of calls you receive – this has to be a good thing! Also having your social media links visible on the home page works well too.

Additional items that I feel are very important:

Your name – let people know who you are and who they are addressing. Not just your business name.
Currency – if you’re going to list rates, then include your currency. Clients like to know what currency they’ll be paying in.
About information. Don’t hide behind a business name. Use your own name and list your experience – let clients know why they should be using you based on what you have done in the past. Anyone can say they’re a premium service or provide fantastic support. Back it up with your knowledge, experience and background.

If you want people to do business with you then make it easy on them to learn about you and how to contact you.

Kathie M Thomas

Who should you be asking?

Sometimes on the VA forums I see people asking questions that really should be directed to others more equipped and qualified to answer those questions. For example, should I have a business license? Or, if in Australia, should I be registered for an ABN or GST?

While people on forums can answer these questions, if the forums are global, rather than national, then the new VAs run the risk of receiving advice that really isn’t relevant to them in their location. Who should they be asking? They should be checking with local business websites run by local government offices, or better still, their accountant. No-one in business should be without an accountant. I know there may be a thought that asking an accountant for information could be expensive, but the reality is you can’t do without an accountant. Better to be armed with the facts and set up correctly when you’re first starting out, rather than having to fix problems or correct things many months or a year down the track, once you have to do a tax return.

Likewise, if you’re asking for information on what rates you should be setting for your services, or what contract you should be using, it is very important that the information you get and choose to act upon, is appropriate for your situation and location. No use deciding to charge the same rate as someone else if they’re located in a different country and with a different currency and cost of living, let alone different skills and experiences to you. And if the contract they use works for them, doesn’t mean that legally it’s the right one for you.

It is important for anyone new in business, not just VAs, do the research and their homework. By that I mean, research what is relevant for you in your country and/or state, on a local level. Locate the government business sites and also tax sites where you can get relevant information. Find a local contract and work on it to rebuild it as your own. There are often draft contracts available online. Or find a solicitor who works with small businesses. But again, make sure you source the information from your own country first. Building from scratch and creating your own content is most important when developing a business. If you use someone else’s rates and then another person’s contract, there is no ownership in that and you wouldn’t be able to answer why you set that rate, or used ‘that clause’ when speaking with your accountant or a solicitor.

Very important that you build your foundations right, in the way that is just for you, not someone else. It’s these important things that help you develop ownership for your business and helps keep you on track as things grow.

Kathie M Thomas

When the client search is on

When we are new in business, or business is slow, the client search takes place. Sometimes it’s hard to know where to look, what to do, who to contact, in order to secure clients quickly. After all we’re in business to make money and to do that we need clients. Where do they come from?

They should come via our own efforts of networking, connecting with people, both offline and online, and helping people to learn about our services. They should come from our own personal databases and personal connections. They shouldn’t come from attempts to lure clients away from other VAs and service providers, nor should it be through spamming or making a nuisance of ourselves. There is a right way to build your database and a wrong way.

I wrote an article for the Australian Virtual Assistants Association today, because of recent events that I became aware of. One I’ve experienced personally several times, where new VAs have contacted me begging for work. And I know that many VAs via discussion forums have had the same thing take place. The other relates to a VA business contacting the clients of other VAs and attempting to lure the clients through the offer of very cheap rates for the services provided. This is called poaching and is unethical.

The article begins below.

When VAs (or anyone in business for that matter) are starting out, it is very tempting to go to where you know existing clients are. By that I mean, a client you know who is already using a VA. Or perhaps you might choose to contact an existing VA to see if they have any ‘extra’ work you can pass on to them.

Both of these practices are frowned upon in the industry. You can read more about this article here.

Kathie M Thomas

Do the locals know you exist?

Things that VAs don’t do

Do they know how to contact you?

Who should you be asking?

When the client search is on

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