The Ridiculously Good Virtual Assistant Show

Starting a service business like your VA business is relatively easy, because there isn't a lot of startup cost, but let's see how much of a shoestring you need. Let's go!

I like a bargain. I check prices when I grocery shop.

I look for ways to save money on things that maybe others don't.

I'm not afraid to admit that I am cheap. With some things.

My husband and son tease me all the time about some things that I save money on.

But I also know when I have to spend money on something.

So, this is definitely a podcast episode about starting your VA business on a shoestring - as the title indicates.

I'm not baiting and switching you, I promise!

I do tell Virtual Assistants that service businesses can be opened relatively easily - and you don't need a huge startup fund to get going, but what I'm going to talk to you about in this episode is the following:

what you need to have to start professionally

what you will need to plan for down the road

what you may never need

and what you need to prioritize.

Need to Have

• cell phone
• internet
• office software
• dropbox account
• time tracking software
• paypal or other online payment option
• password manager
• social media accounts
• social media scheduler

You must have a dedicated space to work as well as dedicated equipment to do so.

Although you work from home and people may know that you have children, you want to keep business business as much as possible.

Yep, I said it … keep your kids away! No matter what age they are. Don't share computers, don't share space.

In order for you to maximize your work time, you need to not be distracted.

Time is money for your clients, and if it takes you 3x as long to get their work done because you are getting distracted, they will soon move on to someone else who can things turned around faster, or who charges them less for the work being done.

If you truly want your business to work, make it a huge priority.

That means your own cell phone, your own computer, your own desk and office space, with a door!

You also need high speed internet access. I probably don't need to say much more about that, but there ya go. A strong and stable connection will help you get your work done efficiently. If you waste time because you lose connection or because your speed is slow, once again that is your client' money you are wasting.

You will inevitably need office software like Microsoft 365 which I find well worth the low monthly price. I can access all of my files and work from my phone or other devices as I need to. You can also look at Zoho office or Open Office, but being that most of your clients will be using Word or something like that, you should be sure to pay for an annual subscription.

Cloud sharing is really important so our clients can find what they need when they need it. Dropbox is a great option - as is Google drive. Also if you are working for someone as a sub, they may require you to have access to one or both of these to share work. So just set it up when you start.

Time tracking software is essential and there are a lot of free options. Even if you don't want to work by the hour (it's pkay to do this) or give your clients detailed billing (please don't do this) you still need a way to track your time so you know what you have spent your time.

One of the biggest problems VAs come to me with is not knowing how their monthly billing is so low when they feel like they work all the time. They are not managing their time well, that's usually the big issue.

So track yours, so you know. It's not about working fast, it's about working efficiently.

PayPal is a great way to receive client payments. Your clients can use a credit card to pay you easily without you setting up a merchant of your own.

Yes there are fees associated with PayPal, but that is true about any online payment option (and they aren't always that much less than Paypal). The fees are a business expense deductible for you, so work them into your rates and you won't even have to think about them. You should be setting your rates covering all of your expenses anyway, but if you are wondering what you might incur, 5% should more than cover it. Usually a merchant will charge you 2 or 2.5 and sometimes a transaction fee on top of that. Paypal is on the higher end at 3% but again if you are using it, charge for it and claim it. And PayPal also allows to send and receive money in many different currencies.

Online payments are a convenience worth paying for. EFTs are an option in Canada but a US client can not pay you with one in Canada.

A password manager is essential for your VA business. If you are logging in to your client's accounts, you need a safe way to do that. There are lots of options, some are free. All are cheap. I use Roboform and I love it. I have one master password to access my list of passwords, but each password in the system is unique and can be changed at any time. I can access all of my passwords from any device I have and that makes it easy to never have to remember anything.

You will need social media accounts, and yes those are free. Figure out where you need to be and what you want to use each for. I always suggest Facebook and Linked In for sure. You don't need to use your personal FB profile for your business. I don't. I don't friend business acquaintances or clients. I join groups with my profile but that's it. Anyone who wants to connect with me on FB does so through my page and my groups (and any groups I have joined).

Set up a page for your business. That's what you will need on Facebook so people can check you out. Then link that page to your profile so that when people go to check you out, they can see your business page where they can follow you with a click.

LinkedIn is also a good place to be because it's all business. It is a great place to find VA clients.

You should also have a way to schedule posts on social media so you don't have to physically be going online all the time to post content. Scheduling also helps you to plan what you will post better, which is part of your time management.

I use Metricool and it's free!

That's all for what I think you need to have to start out. Pretty decent list and it's very reasonable.

Plan For

What about what you should plan for?

Scheduling software - this will save you lots of back and forth with clients and potential clients. There are reasonably priced options that send reminders, work with Google and iCal. It is professional and easy for clients to get into your calendar. Calendly is what I use, there is also Acuity and many others.

Graphics software - Canva is by far the most popular. There is a free version but the paid version allows you to do so much more for about $15/month.

Website - while you don't need a website to get started, you should plan for one. A hosting plan can run you $100 a year for your first year, and maybe beyond too. Some companies offer a very cheap first year to get your business. One caution, you do not want to be moving your website every year, so budget for the cost of the second year from the start. And take the discount the first year. Other than hosting, design is the other thing. If you are not offering website creation as a service, it makes the most sense to have someone else set up a simple site for you and then learn on your own time to add to it and adjust it as necessary. That doesn't have to cost thousands of dollars, but it will save you hundreds of hours of time if you try to learn it yourself. I'm not even kidding.

Backup software - whether you use an external hard drive or a service like Carbonite for $60/year, it is well worth it to make sure you back up your documents files, programs and more.

Project management - you may be able to manage your work without a project management system. If It's just you and your client, you can use email and dropbox if you like, but it sure helps having checklists and stuff to keep everything organized. For $10/month Asana is a great option. Trello is free if the visual layout works for you.

Bookkeeping software - makes things easier than doing it all manually! Quickbooks Online is a great option for about $25/month.

Training - you will inevitably take training to improve your skills or business. Budget for it and plan to implement what you have learned asap to make the most of your ninvestment.

Coach - because you know you want to work with me! The fast path to your goals.

Insurance - business insurance is not mandatory for VAs but it is a good idea if you are working with sensitive information of your clients, or managing their reputation, or accessing their client data, and and and.. Plan for it as early as you can afford it.

Taxes - plan for your taxes, because you will have to pay them! Save at least 30% and then plan for as many deductions as you can.

May Never Need

• website
• project management
• bookkeeping software

You may never need these but if you budget for them and set your billable rate accordingly, you can have them and your business will be more professional and efficient!

Prioritize This

Finally, what should you prioritize as expenses?

• Dedicated workspace and equipment
• Help with what you don't know
• Time management stuff
• Security for your client's data and info, and yours

I'm going to leave it here for today … I could literally go one for hours about how to set up your VA business, run it professionally and efficiently!

I know I covered a lot, but look at all the time I spent on what you need that isn't going to set you back tons of cash. Not too much expense, eh?

But let's circle back to today's quote: A business without a path to profit isn't a business, it's a hobby. - Jason Fried (Basecamp)

If you want to run a solid, profitable business, you need to spend money. You need to know your expenses and manage them well - and don't be afraid to invest in stuff. It's your path to success.

That's what I want you to know today. What is most important.

I hope you have a good list going right now! ‌ I can help you with advice just like this about all areas of your business!! ‌

This is exactly what I help VAs do. As a VA coach and trainer, I help you set yourself up for success, helping you fix the specific things that are going wrong in your business. When we work together either privately or in a group we talk specifically about your business and you - there is no one stop solution for everyone when it comes to service businesses like VA businesses.

I'll help you get clarity around your issues, and cheer you on as you walk through the steps to fix them.

I've helped hundreds of VAs through their challenges and got them on their way to growing their business and the lifestyle that they dream of.

I'd love to do the same for you.

You can work with me privately, or you can join The Virtual Circle, my mastermind group for Virtual Assistants. Check it out at [www.YourVAMentor.com/TVC] (the virtual circle) - I bet it's exactly what you need to start running the VA business you dreamed of.

Reach out to me if you are interested.

That's all I've got for you this week, see you next time!

It's simple fact that you will eventually come up a challenging client. What we will cover today is what you need to learn from that client, and how to proceed moving forward if you get into the weeds with someone. Let's go!

We love our VA clients don't we!

Sure we do. they pay us to do stuff we love.

But in many cases these people that we decide to work with are brand new to us. we don't know them from Adam, and so we have to get to know them through the work we do together.

And sometimes it goes well. We click. We communicate well. We work well together. Everything is great. If we have any issues, we sort them out easily.

But sometimes it doesn't go well.

We struggle.

We don't communicate well.

We don't sort issues out easily.

So let's talk about what to do when you have to deal with a difficult client.

Actually, first let's figure out what we consider to be a difficult client.

A difficult client is:

One who micromanages your work. One who doesn't pay you on time. One who pushes your boundaries. One who does everything last minute. One who communicates poorly. One who treats you like an employee. One who never sends you the work you need to do the work you need to do. One who complains all the time. One who thinks they know better than you.

That's probably enough examples. You get the picture. It's super frustrating to even go through that list.

These people exist though, and we need to learn how to deal with them.

I think the first thing I want to tell you is that none of this is okay.

Clients don't get to do any of this to you or with you. Just because your clients are paying you, it doesn't mean that they get to be difficult.

I'm totally team YOU here, but I'm about to tell you something that you might not like.

If you have difficult clients, it may not be them that is the problem (yep, so that means it could be you!)

So we will start there and then I'll tell you how to fix any of these problems if you are having them.

Yes I am sorry, but you are a big part of the problem if you have a difficult client.

The reason is super simple: you teach people how to treat you.

If a client is treating you poorly, it is because you are letting them.

So the first thing we have to do is fix how you handle yourself in your VA business.

You are a business owner. You own your business, and you get to make allllll of the decisions in it.

You get to decide your rates, services you offer (and services you don't), communication methods, payment terms, lead times, scheduling ... every little bit of it!

Clients get to decide all of those things for THEIR business.

Not yours. Theirs.

Do their clients tell them when they will pay them, or what the rate will be? Or how they will communicate with them?

No they do not!

I'll give you an example to illustrate what I mean:

Can you imagine calling your dentist and saying I need to come in tomorrow at 1:30, and I need you to give me some full veneers, and I will only pay you $20.

Of course you can't. You are contacting another business and booking their service.

You need to find out when they have time in their schedule, if they even offer the service you need, and then how much they charge for that service.

It is exactly the same for your VA clients. They need to find out all of those things from you.

May seem like a silly example, but it illustrates how you need to reframe your mindset around being a business owner in your own right, and how you need to change your thinking... especially if you have difficult clients.

This is why policies are sooo important to create starting out. Your clients need to understand that you call the shots and that they are hiring you to provide a service, but that there are expectations that need to be managed about how that happens on a daily basis.

Okay so let's get into how to fix some of these issues if you are experiencing them.

Micromanagers - you are not their employee. They do not get to manage anything about what you do. They can tell you what needs doing, perhaps the way they would like it done, but then it is your responsibility to keep the task on track and keep the client up to date on status. Sometimes people micromanage because they aren't sure the status of something. It is your responsibility to keep the client current so that they don't need to micromanage. Provide regular updates or a place to get updates to make them feel better.

Late payers - switch them to prepayment. If you have not been paid, cease work immediately until you get paid. Once you have waited on payment, you will find it easier to ask new clients to prepay you. Don't worry, you'll get there at some point in your business. It will likely be after the first time someone pays you late. It's a policy you need to set and hold. Of course this is about repeat offenders.

Boundary pushers - you set boundaries for a reason, office hours, communication methods, response times, lead times, etc. If your clients break any rules and getting away with it, that's on you. If someone sends you a text, and that's not a comment option, respond by your correct comm method. Bad habits form quickly when you let clients cross boundaries, so hold them any way you can.

Last minuters - the only way to get away from doing last minute work is simply don't do rush work. if someone is supposed to give you xx days of lead times hold them to it. No rush fees, no 'okay just this once', it's a no. Of course this would be after you send reminders for the proper lead time. Setting the client expectation that the work can not be completed at the last minute is a simple way to get them to handle stuff on time.

Crappy communicator- You may need to teach this one. If you are doing way too much back and forth because they can't tell you what they need, Streamline your process (maybe a form or a checklist?). Or maybe they phone you every day instead of going through your project management system. Only do scheduled calls, and keep them very short and on topic. Spending your week on endless meetings isn't a good use of your time, and will eat away at your time to do actual client work.

Boss employee guy - Quite simply you are not their employee. Don't act like one.. Don't respond like one. Make sure they know that you are not their employee. Every day.

Where's the stuff - If you are constantly asking your clients to send you stuff and they don't, walk away from. them. Seriously, you can't care more about their business than they do. Get them to hire you for ongoing work that is essential, and then they will send you what they need to send you because it matters. I used to work with clients (business coaches was my niche) who were enrolled in a program with their own business coach - that meant that they had an agenda and a plan and I knew that they would value and prioritize the work they needed me to do. If you are always fighting or rushing last minute, stop caring so much until they do.

Complainers - Negativity sucks. If all your client does is complain about you, someone else, or themselves, cut ties. Especially if they complain about you and it is not founded.

Smart guy - Your clients are hiring you for your expertise. If they think they know better than you, you will continue to encounter challenges. Now I have been a great VA and I know a lot about how I think things should be done, but I trust VAs to do my work once I've said my piece. You need to help your clients feel confident and cared for, but at some point they have to accept that you know what you are doing. Like my housecleaner!

How's that for getting help with difficult clients??

I think it is super important to get your difficult VA clients under control (or fired) as soon as you can.

Like Bill Gates says, your most unhappy clients should be the ones you learn the biggest lessons from. And trust me, if you have a client you consider to be a difficult one, they are not happy. You are not happy. It's time to learn from them.

So learn, and adapt - and implement new rules and boundaries where you need to. Today!

If you started and got into some bad habits, correct them now. And be sure that any new clients you bring in are not being allowed to do any of this difficult stuff.

If you haven't experienced any of this yet, create your policies for all of the above and make sure your clients know about it.

Change your policies, hold your boundaries, adjust your mindset and run your business.

Fire clients who don't fit or who don't adapt.

Your business will thank you, and it will flourish when you set and keep all the rules!!

‌

This is exactly what I help VAs do. As a VA coach and trainer, I help you set yourself up for success, helping you fix the specific things that are going wrong in your business. When we work together either privately or in a group we talk specifically about your business and you - there is no one stop solution for everyone when it comes to service businesses like VA businesses.

I'll help you get clarity around your issues, and cheer you on as you walk through the steps to fix them.

I've helped hundreds of VAs through their challenges and got them on their way to growing their business and the lifestyle that they dream of.

I'd love to do the same for you.

You can work with me privately, or you can join The Virtual Circle, my mastermind group for Virtual Assistants. Check it out at [www.YourVAMentor.com/TVC] (the virtual circle) - I bet it's exactly what you need to start running the VA business you dreamed of.

Reach out to me if you are interested.

That's all I've got for you this week, see you next time!

Rates are a tricky thing, and trying to jam everything a client wants into our schedule often leaves us feeling like we need to charge them less because they need our help.

And they are willing to hire us if we can do what they need.

But today I'm going to talk about how to break down your tasks, time them and track them, and use that information to work within your client's budgets.

Let's start with breaking down your tasks.

Everything we do has a length of time it takes to complete.

I'm talking about picking up or managing emails, scheduling an appointment, creating a newsletter, creating a Powerpoint, making a travel arrangement, writing social media, running reports for KPIs … everything.

And it's your job to figure out how long everything takes to do.

Does that sound exhausting? Ha ha it doesn't have to!

There are two kinds of tasks: one with a clear start and finish (I call these 'set' tasks), and one that I call 'open-ended' - that could take 10 minutes, or could take an hour, depending on the volume of 'stuff' involved.

For a clear start to finish task - like, say, a client newsletter, we can time it.

We know when we start and we know when we finish. Easy to time track, eh?

But time is money as a VA and we need to make sure we are working more efficiently.

With recurring set tasks, getting procedures in place is easy - but often something that VAs don't bother doing.

I suggest you do!

One of the things that VAs tell me so often is that they don't know how to charge for a task a client needs.

This is becuase they have no idea how long it takes them to do it.

How do you know how long something should take to do? You do it! and time it!

Here's how:

Do the task, start to finish.

Document every step and time it as you go.

Do it again, and this time follow your process document.

Check your work time against your original times. Any changes?

Why or why not?

Figure in what ifs - is your internet slow today? did you get distracted? did you program or software force you to update and restart your computer before you can keep going on your work?

Settle on an average time for that task. Done!

Oh … then multiply the time that task takes by your billable rate.

There is the cost you bill your client, every time you do that task.

I used to do this for newsletters. A client would pay me $50 for every newsletter they needed to send out. That was an hour of my time, based on me pulling it together from they sent me. But I didn't bill them an hour, I billed them for a newsletter. Task time.

So once you have your rate per task figure out, that's what your client gets charged every time.

Revisit your time often to ensure that the timing is still correct. If it is longer than your estimate, you need to make changes to reflect that. If it is shorter than your estimate, you just got a raise.

Set tasks are easy to time and cost. They are the same steps each time, so they are easy to document and set.

And that's how you do it!

Now let's get to the open-ended stuff.

But Tracey, what about things like checking email, or doing research, or creating a Powerpoint? I have no idea how long these might take me.

Well, it's your responsibility to know!

I'll share a story of open ended task going wrong in a bit, but here is basically how you should be handling these.

It's start and stop times, gang. You know, those buckets of time that I always tell you to use to manage your time better?

They come right in here for your recurring open ended tasks.

Let's take email management as our example.

If you are looking after email for your client, and you are checking it all day long, stop doing that. It's not efficient or effective.

Instead, decide how many times a day you will check it.

Two is great - three is standard - four is probably acceptable for a very high volume client.

Set a start and stop time to check it. 15 minutes, 30 minutes max,

These time slots should be short because you are managing your time - not letting the email dictate the length of the task (which can often go off the rails).

So let's say 15 minute time slots for a client that doesn't have high volumes of email. 30 minutes at a time for clients who have lots.

You can process a LOT of email in 15 minutes. or 30 minutes.

How many times a day are you checking? 2? 3? Add up your total daily time - 15 mins? 30 mins? You are charging the client for the check in and processing. That's why the frequency is so important. I often find only twice a day is lots - that is 30 minutes to 45 minutes of time which is plenty even for the busiest clients. But you aren't going in every day and trying to account for two minutes here or there.

And this is about quoting the client a daily rate for that task.

So back that that. Multiply your daily time by 20 or 22 for the business days in the month. 15 mins a day works out to about 5 hours per month for email. 30 mins a day works out to about 10 hours per month.

Multiply that by your hourly rate - $40? That's $200 per month for email or $400.

That's how you bill your client - again, not by the hours, but by the billable task rate.

Then it is your responsibility to process the client's email in 10 hours per month, by checking on it twice every day. No one needs their email tended to every hour, unless they are in the middle of a huge launch and it's customer service email. Trust me!

Set the client expectation, get the work done and everyone s happy.

It's about working with averages for your open ended tasks - and it takes some practice, but once you set that process in place, you will free up so much of your time and you will be very happy!

Time is money - for you and for your client. Use it wisely.

Quick story: I once hired a VA for a 10 hours to help me do a project. It involved research, creating a spreadsheet to track the research, and then some initial follow up from the research contained in the spreadsheet. Simple enough right?

She got to work, and I was happy that I didn't have to do all that work. I didn't instruct her on how to do it since I hired her = she should know, right?

Well, she did not. Well … at least she didn't know how to use my budget of 10 hours.

After the first week I hadn't heard from her and I didn't see any updates in the spreadsheet we shared. I reached out to ask her how it was going, and she told me that she had used 6 hours of research already but she hadn't gotten too far. Um .. what? She wasn't finding what she needed … or what I needed, I guess … but she still kept at it. Spending my money. Instead of reaching out. Of course I was not happy! We had used more than half the time already, and had very little to 'work' with, which was the point.

Because I was a VA myself, I knew how I would have handled this. And how I handled all research projects - If a client gives you a budget of 10 hours from start to finish, then you need to work within that budget. 20% in, check in!

She should have done 2 hours - and then reported back to me. Is this what we are looking for? Or, I am having trouble. I could have helped! But 6 hours without saying anything? No, not good.

So … research. An open-ended task LOL! And one that I want to describe for you.

How do you price it?

Simple. Start and stop times. Those buckets of time that I always tell you to use in your business.

Have a research project? Set an amount of time to get it done … and then get it done in that time.

Communicate super clearly with the client if you are struggling to get something done in a decent amount of time. You are the expert, never forget that!

For research or open ended projects it's fine to give the client an estimate if you don't know what you might be up against.

Like I said, work with averages - get an idea of how long something should take (we give our client's estimates all the time) and then work within those.

Yes there will be extenuating circumstances sometimes, but for the most part averages work.

Next step is to write all of this down (as you are doing it, of course)

Procedure documents are important so that you can do that detailed time estimates - so what do I suggest, doing it 3x and writing it down. Then referring back to it every month or quarter or whatever, to ensure that your timing is still accurate.

But one step further is working with your client budgets - and that's the final step today!

If your client has a budget of $750 in mind, but they want you to do all of the things they need, your instinct might be to give them a deal because you want the client, and you know they need your help.

Let's get back to today's quote - the concept of which I like even though it says you'll get less if you pay less. I don't want you to think of it in that way. I don't believe if you pay less you get less quality - you can simply give them less WORK.

Working within a client's budget is easy. Okay you can pay this? Then we can only do this, this and this.

Clients don't get everything they want unless they pay your rate.

But you can do things less frequently for them if their budget is lower than you expect.

Two newsletters a month instead of four.

Email - check it once a day instead of 3x a day.

A research project that they can have done in 2 hours instead of 10.

What does that take to do? Often they need to do more legwork on their end. Frequency of tasks done goes hand in hand with the client's budget.

You know how long something takes - with a set task, you can do it less often to fit into the client's budget. With an open ended task, you can adjust the time you spend doing it to fit.

The client still pays your full billable rate, but for less time or less work.

Mastering this time process and costing will pay you in dividends - it works!

I still do it. And the client just gets told $$ instead of hours, which is another great thing.

Your quote or estimate for them is super clear and based on deliverables, not on hours.

I hope you implement this in your business today! You'll see a huge change in how you manage your time.

‌‌

This is exactly what I help VAs do. As a VA coach and trainer, I help you set yourself up for success, helping you fix the specific things that are going wrong in your business. When we work together either privately or in a group we talk specifically about your business and you - there is no one stop solution for everyone when it comes to service businesses like VA businesses.

I'll help you get clarity around your issues, and cheer you on as you walk through the steps to fix them.

I've helped hundreds of VAs through their challenges and got them on their way to growing their business and the lifestyle that they dream of.

I'd love to do the same for you.

You can work with me privately, or you can join The Virtual Circle, my mastermind group for Virtual Assistants. Check it out at [www.YourVAMentor.com/TVC] (the virtual circle) - I bet it's exactly what you need to start running the VA business you dreamed of.

Reach out to me if you are interested.

That's all I've got for you this week, see you next time!

Time management is something that so many Virtual Assistants struggle with.

Time is literally money for VAs and other service based businesses, and so making the most of the time you spend doing client work is essential to your profits.

The big thing I see VAs doing that is impacting their time management is very simple: doing too much, for too long.

I'm going to repeat that. Doing too much, for too long, is what VAs do wrong - and that's what eats away at their day, their client's budgets, and their profits.

Write that one down!

Whether we are working with a couple of busy clients, or lots of little ones, whether we are doing one-off tasks or ongoing ones, whether we are incorporating our own business tasks into our regular day or after hours, we have a lot to do.

Running any business is hard and requires a lot of 'doing'. We. Do. A. Lot.

The to-do lists seems endless, the new work keeps coming, and we still have to run our own business stuff too. It's a lot.

But today, I want to talk to you about doing less to get more done. Really!

First let's talk about why it's so important to be able to buy into this objective.

Here are 4 reasons that managing your time well is essential to your success as a VA:

Better Clarity and Focus

Many of the tasks we take on for our clients are 'full' projects. We manage things from start to finish - whether it's client care, marketing, social media, bookkeeping, creative work - usually a VA is hired by a client to look after the whole thing.

And many of the things we do have lots of steps to complete them. It's part of why we are valuable to our clients - because we have the expertise to manage their projects and keep everyone on task and on deadline.

By using a project management system that the team can access we can break things down into all the steps that need to get done, assign each a deadline and the person who is responsible to do it on time.

Everyone can see the status of the project is and what needs to get done next.

The reason that doing less helps you do more is that it helps avoid extra back and forth communication or even status meetings that are a waste of time for everyone. The PM system does that work and everyone can peek in when it's convenient for them.

Increased Motivation

When we are organized it helps us get more done.

But when we break our tasks down into smaller chunks, we can do them in shorter bits of time, and everything we do still helps us get closer to completing the whole project.

It is much easier to get motivated to do something for 15 or 20 minutes, than it is to try to find time to do a 90 minute project. Chunking your work down into more manageable pieces helps a lot with that.

Who doesn't like to check things off of a to-do list? It gives us a sense of accomplishment, and can even inspire us to keep going, maybe on the next task. That creates momentum.

The reason that doing less helps you do more is that momentum - when you get going because you are seeing progress and you feel like you are moving forward, it's a lot easier to keep at it, or do one more thing.

Better Time Management

Working efficiently takes a few things, and efficiency comes when you map out the steps to complete any task. You can estimate the time required to complete each step, and therefore schedule your own time or other people's time better.

Prioritizing work is important to keep every project moving forward, and making sure you aren't spending too much time doing one thing is very important.

I suggest setting start and stop times for every tasks... then once you have estimated that, it is your responsibility to complete the rtask in that length of time.

The reason that doing less helps you do more here is that you are literally managing your time - and getting things done in less time than you might if you weren't paying as close attention.

Better Problem Solving

Collaborating or even just coordinating projects and client work also gets an advantage when you manage your time better.

Sometimes we need to find the best way to get something done, and breaking the project down into the steps we expect it to take can help us make sure that we are doing everything in the most efficient way possible.

You can brainstorm solutions and implement them step by step and that can help keep overwhelm at bay, especially if something you are working on has a lot of steps.

Staying calm and organized is an excellent skill to build as a VA, and will definitely help as you start to work with more clients.

Whether you are managing large projects for your big clients, or managing a lot of small tasks for several smaller ones, being able to recognize that the better organized you are the better.

The reason that doing less helps you do more is that seeing the big picture helps you to avoid roadblocks or things you weren't expecting.

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Understanding that every large project can break down into multiple small tasks is something that every VA should focus on.

If you are one of those VAs that blocks in 2 hour blocks of time for client work, you need to try blocking in smaller time slots.

Identifying the time it takes to complete tasks is the other really important part of managing your time well.

Like I said earlier, if you know how long something 'should' take to get done, that means you really know your stuff.

And it also means that you can work to get every task done in the estimated time - that is the definition of good time management.

You will also know whether your estimates are right, and how you are doing in terms of workplace and profitability.

Time is money for all VAs and even though you may not (or may not want to) bill your clients by the hour, it is still really important to monitor how much time you are spending doing their work.

We will get into work pace and packaging your services in other episodes, but know that the more you master your time management, the more money you will make in your VA business.

Now let's circle back to today's quote: Break down the unreasonable into little reasonable chunks. A big goal is only achieved when every little thing that you do everyday gets you closer to that goal.

When we think of our business, our own marketing, our own networking, this quote takes the principles of actually doing tasks and time management with our client work and shows us how to make it work for us.

We've talked a lot about chunking your work, small tasks, and managing your time around those.

But that last part is what I want to reference - a big goal is only achieved when every little thing you do gets you closer to that goal.

This is something I did myself a few years ago. I set a big goal, and then everything that I did to grow my business pointed in that direction - my connections, my copy writing, my marketing, my newsletters, all that stuff.

Everything I did moved me in the direction of that larger goal, even though they were smaller tasks or goals themselves.

It is amazing how quickly your business can grow when you focus your efforts in that way.

I loved that quote and it fits so closely with time management and today's lesson that I wanted to share that part of it too.

I hope I've helped you see that doing less can help you get so much more done. Stop booking long periods of time to do anything, and start working in shorter spans of time. You will gain greater focus, get more organized, manage your time much better, and literally get more done than you realized. I can help!

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This is exactly what I help VAs do. As a VA coach and trainer, I help you set yourself up for success, helping you fix the specific things that are going wrong in your business. When we work together either privately or in a group we talk specifically about your business and you - there is no one stop solution for everyone when it comes to service businesses like VA businesses.

I'll help you get clarity around your issues, and cheer you on as you walk through the steps to fix them.

I've helped hundreds of VAs through their challenges and got them on their way to growing their business and the lifestyle that they dream of.

I'd love to do the same for you.

You can work with me privately, or you can join The Virtual Circle, my mastermind group for Virtual Assistants. Check it out at [www.YourVAMentor.com/TVC] (the virtual circle) - I bet it's exactly what you need to start running the VA business you dreamed of.

Reach out to me if you are interested.

That's all I've got for you this week, see you next time!

Today I am going to talk about why VAs don't work for free. This episode is for VAs and business owners alike - and it's just the simplest concept ever. When someone does work, they should get paid for it.

Quote: I don't just sing for free. It's my work. You're paid for what you do. And I work hard. - Celine Dion

Yeah Celine! There's a fire in my belly over this one, folks. Let's go.

This week I saw a post in a VA group asking the group members if they were interested in a 3 month unpaid internship.

You would work 15 hours a week for 3 months (!) to 'learn the ropes' of a variety of marketing tasks for a private company.

The OP called it great experience, something to add to your resume, with a potential for some paid time 3 months from now.

And it would be great experience. But it's pretty much illegal.

What??

Yep. In Canada you can't be an unpaid intern unless the internship is tied to an educational institution. I'll get into the specifics of that in a bit, but here's the thing …

Someone is posting what appears to be an opportunity. So many VAs get excited because they can LEARN!

And so come the replies... I'm interested, PMing you now, this is my jam, I would love to learn from you, and so on.

And the VAs have NO idea that it's against the law.

Not even the OP knows that it's not allowed, clearly (if they do it's even worse, butI'm pretty sure this one honestly didn't know!)

Now I'm not trying to call out this person who posted this in that particular group. I want to use it simply as an example

I gave her the info that she clearly didn't have, and she removed the post, but the problem is that this kind of damage is done DAILY to our industry, because we just don't know any better.

And that's what gets me riled up.

You must know! You need to learn what's right. It is your obligation as a small business owner.

I actually bumped my regularly scheduled podcast episode to create this one for this week because I really want to know that you have the right information - at least where to get it - before you make these kinds of decisions in your VA business.

You have to know what the legalities are of what you are doing in your business. It's 100% your responsibility to learn what you don't know, and to do things the right way.

I'm not a lawyer, I don't play one on TV, and I bow the experts .. .every single time.

But I'll tell you, one quick Google search will show you that you can not have someone do work for you and not pay them, claiming that they are getting an advantage or that it's good experience for them.

Just because you both agree to something doesn't make it legal. write that down!

Now, have I ever bartered work? Of course I have!

Have I ever hired interns? Yes I have!

Have I ever done free work for someone? You bet I have!

But NOT for 3 months at 15 hours per week.

And NOT for nothing else in return except the actual work you 'get' to do. Come on.

Let's break down the math on this …

If you work 15 hours per week for 12 weeks, that is 180 hours of free work you are giving someone.

Presumably, they are getting paid by their clients for that work, so they are earning money for the work getting.done.

And yet you are not. They are getting free labour. It is as simple as that.

If you charged the bare minimum VA rate, $25 per hour, that is the equivalent of $4500 worth of work for no pay. Most VAs bill $30, so that's already over $5K. Five thousand dollars you are giving someone!

If they paid you minimum wage in Ontario, which is currently around $16 per hour, it's $2880. Almost $3000. interns are legally required to be paid minimum wage.

Why would you agree to this? Because you are learning something? Because you are getting experience?

Let me ask you this.

If I offered you a marketing course that taught you how to do a few marketing tasks, would you pay me between $3 and $5K to take it?

Of course you wouldn't. That is exorbitant.

That's red flag number 1 - never mind the legalities!

What is the tradeoff for you?

I'll tell you one thing, it is absolutely not as much as the person providing the 'opportunity' is getting.

If you decide that you want to trade services with someone (ie barter) or if you want to do work with people for no money (volunteer), then here is what you should be doing instead.

Bartering

If you plan to exchange services with someone, do it properly.

Decide what you will each do that is equal in value.

For me, I bartered with my first business coach. $750 worth of my VA work for $750 worth of their coaching services.

We BOTH got equal value, and we helped each other.

Bartering is a good way to get experience, but you aren't just 'getting' the experience. You are trading something else that is of the same value. I was a part of their mastermind group, I got training and coaching and it made me a better business person.

They got client care and marketing support for their business, we built procedures, and we even expanded their team when things got going.

The key with bartering is to have a contract in place - and a short time frame. As soon as possible, you want to start paying each other, don't let it go long term.

You can trade VA services for learning ... just make sure they ARE of equal value.

Free Work

Volunteering is one way to get experience that isn't against any laws. But it's not usually something that you do for 60 hours a month. And it's definitely not called an internship.

Volunteering is something you do for a non profit organization, charity or public service if you want to, and not because you are getting them to teach you something. You work in your expertise and you provide a service, like maybe bookkeeping or marketing and you do it in kind for them - like your church or a business association or group. You are helping them because you want to and because you can.

So volunteering is not usually to get experience but it could benefit you by expanding your community of people who recognize your value.

Internship

An internship is a legal relationship or position that has rules attached to it.

In terms of unpaid internships, they are simply not legal. An intern has to get paid at least minimum wage (in the example I gave you that would be almost $3K for the work requested).

Unpaid interns are only allowed as part of an education institutional program (college or university etc), or through the co op programs. What does that mean? If your business isn't a college or university, no free interns!

I'm not an expert guys.

This information is readily available on the Canada.ca website. I Googled it, and you can too.

As I said, I'm not a lawyer or a tax specialist, and I never give legal or tax advice, but I do tell you where to go to find it.

It's soooo simple folks. Go to your Government website pages. They have all of the information you need to do things the right way.

They tell you the rules, they tell you what the consequences are, and they can be severe.

It is not good enough to say 'I didn't know'.

It's your responsibility as a business owner to learn what you need to learn to run your business where you live.

On the intern info page you will also learn about misclassifying employees as independent contractors, which is another BIG issue in the VA industry, but not one that I'm going to cover in this episode (essentially if you are working with just one client, you are their employee … you can't be called a contractor if you don't have multiple clients … and both of you can get caught! Bet you didn't know that either... but now you do!)

Protect yourself when you are getting started, or when you see what appears to be a great opportunity - investigate it.

Don't assume that the other person knows what they are talking about.

Here's what to do instead:

Learn for free, don't work for free. There are umpteen thousands of free places to learn what you want to know online. Don't do free work for someone else to learn - especially if they are being compensated. You need to get paid at least minimum wage as an employee, or your minimum rate as a VA.

Subbing for other VAs is a great way to learn on the job. They get to do all the marketing and business running, and you just need to help them with the work. I subbed for a great VA for 4 years because I just kept on learning more stuff from her (that is a great perk for a lot of VAs who run teams), but I got paid for every single hour I worked.

And quite frankly, trust yourself. Offer services that you know how to do NOW - if I wanted to hire you today, what could you do for me? Those are the services that you need to be out there getting clients for. Don't try to get clients doing something you've never done - it's much too hard.

Once you have revenue coming in, then you can take some training and change your service offerings. I started with some bookkeeping and finance type of work because I could do it (but I didn't like it) and as soon as I got a few months of revenue in, I joined Freelance University and learned how to do digital marketing.

I found my target clients and started marketing my new services to them (I wasn't a new VA anymore, I just had new services). My business exploded because I did what I knew.

I didn't need to intern with anyone and I certainly never worked for free - never mind knowing whether it was against any laws or not, I just knew that I was getting paid to do THIS at a job, and therefore I was getting paid when I did it for anyone as my client.

So there ya go.

That's my rant. I had to do it.Now back to your regular schedule program! ;)

PLEASE learn what you need to know - don't sell yourself short, and do NOT work for free. Just ever.

And to those business owners who think they can get VAs to do free work, just do better. Pay someone to help you. If you don't have a large budget, work within it. Value your VAs. They are soooo valuable to your business.

Now in the interest of transparency, you heard me say earlier that I did hire interns - so I want to be clear on that. I did not pay my interns at the time. (gasp!). I bartered with my interns. They got trainings in return for the work they did for me - and they did 3 months of work for me during their internship. But it was for up to 10 hours per month (or 2 hours per week) - up to a total of 30 hours. Which amounted to about $600 of work I got, to their $600 of VA training.

One of the things I bartered was my Getting Started as a VA training self study program - which is 10 hours of training and resources to help you start your VA business. They got immediate access to that and could easily get their business plan and business started within a few days if they went through the program and did all the homework.

During their internship, they also got access to me as a coach and could ask questions, talk to me about setting up their business, which I only offer as private coaching services. It's valuable.

So I know I did right by the few women that I hired as interns. It was a barter. And like I said bartering can be very valuable to both sides. The key is to offer very clear terms, a contract, and a stop date. And be reasonable with what you are trading - if someone needs 15 hours per week of support, they have to have revenue to support that.

All right I'm jumping off my soap box now.

The bottom line is there are right ways to work with people and there are wrong ways. If you find yourself in a wrong way, fix it.

Value the people that you work with and who do work for you.

If you have any admin experience whatsoever, you do not need to work for free. If you need to learn to set up your business or run it, then learn that. If you need to learn how to get clients, then learn that. If you need to learn to upgrade your existing skills, then learn that.

And then when you have revenue coming in, learn something new and you can change the course of your business.

Value yourself above all. I do!

I am your advocate, and I need you to know that!

Be Celine! You work hard, just like she does. Just like I do. Just like your clients do. They get paid for what they do. You need to get paid for what you do too. Celine gets paid!

This is exactly what I help VAs do. As a VA coach and trainer, I help you set yourself up for success, helping you fix the specific things that are going wrong in your business. When we work together either privately or in a group we talk specifically about your business and you - there is no one stop solution for everyone when it comes to service businesses like VA businesses.

I'll help you get clarity around your issues, and cheer you on as you walk through the steps to fix them.

I've helped hundreds of VAs through their challenges and got them on their way to growing their business and the lifestyle that they dream of.

I'd love to do the same for you.

You can work with me privately, or you can join The Virtual Circle, my mastermind group for Virtual Assistants. Check it out at www.YourVAMentor.com/TVC (the virtual circle) - I bet it's exactly what you need to start running the VA business you dreamed of.

Reach out to me if you are interested.

That's all I've got for you this week, see you next time!

Having lots of clients is a good thing, but if you can't manage your workload then it can be really stressful for all of you.

There are many times when having too many priorities comes up, but handling your workload well on a regular basis helps you manage that better.

Let's talk about your first clients - we get excited, and then we get into the habit of answering their emails quickly, finishing their tasks quickly, and basically giving them really fast service.

That's not a bad thing - I mean they are paying you, right?

But the problem with that is that it's not sustainable as you gain more clients. Which you will if you are a successful VA.

Imagine being the client who got same day service in the beginning and then all of a sudden gets slowed right down, and being told 'I'll do that on Thursday'.

Doesn't feel very good - does it?

And that's one of the biggest problems that new VAs face.

Like Vince says in today's quote - it takes months to get a great client, and seconds to lose one.

Very true. We work SO hard to get our clients - it's really important to work with them in a way that helps them feel valued and also so that we can make sure they value us.

So how to manage it? Well for starters, you want to make sure that you work smarter from the get go.

Which can be a real challenge because you often have nothing else to do - but you have to handle the client as though you have a full schedule.

If you have already started, you are probably going to have to have a conversation with your client or face that disappointment that I described earlier.

I know it well, I've had that conversation with clients.

They don't like being downgraded from being your highest priority.

So you have to build your business with the intention of managing the tasks of many clients.

I bet you never really thought of it till now did you?

I know I sure didn't!

So let's talk about how you can do that.

First you have to be able to tell your clients that they are not your only client. They can't treat you like you are their assistant. You're not.

You are a VA that they have hired to do their admin work (whatever that is), and they have to treat you like any other business that they would outsource to.

Part of working with a target market is looking for clients who are GREAT - and that means clients who value you and understand that you are working together, that you are not working for them.

If they think you are only working for them (or that they are your highest priority because they are paying you), you will run into problems regularly.

So … start with that! Have that conversation. Let them know that you are in charge of your own schedule. They can let you know what they need done, but they can not dictate when you will do it. Only when it is 'due'.

There are lots of ways to do work for multiple clients. They all require the use of your schedule.

Use Your Schedule

Some VAs will set aside large blocks of time to work on stuff for client A, client B etc.

But I am not a big believer in blocking off large blocks of time in any given day.

If you have 5 clients, and you book 2 hours today to work for client A, then what happens to the other 4 clients?

My preferred way of working with multiple clients was to block off short blocks of time - 30 minutes or less. You can always circle back to client A's work later in the day if you need to.

Break up all tasks that you do for your clients into smaller time buckets For instance if you are working on their newsletter don't try to sit down and produce the newsletter within the hour.

Break your pieces of what needs doing into much smaller tasks so you can do them a little at a time. For the newsletter, there are multiple steps that you need to 'do' to get it.

And make sure you factor in breaks to your day - burnout is real and it can rob you of valuable time.

The short blocks of time help you with that too - long periods of time working are bad for many reasons.

One of the main reasons is that the longer you give yourself to do something, the longer you will take to do it.

You also need to be sure that you are planning the right amount of time to complete every task - if you go over on your time regularly, then you have to revise your estimate.

Use Checklists

Instead of booking in an hour and starting from scratch, create a checklist of everything that you need to do to, to get it done. Then look at how long each of those steps takes to complete - and book THOSE times into your calendar.

Think about it - how many 15 minute or 30 minute time slots do you have in your day?

Lots! And it's easier to fill those by doing something that takes 15 to 30 minutes, and then move on to something else.

Breaking up your tasks into smaller time buckets makes sense when you have a lot of things to do.

It also makes it easier to mix up your day.

I love to create checklists for all the things that need 'doing' - they not only help you make sure you don't miss steps, but they help you to work very efficiently too.

One of the things that checklists do is to stop the need to remember where you left off, or think about what the next step is.

It seems like something that is so simple, but it really frees up that brain space, and it honestly saves you time.

Communication

Another really important piece of managing multiple clients is communication, It's actually one of the most important parts.

If your clients have to wonder about the progress of their tasks, that's not good.

They can become anxious - whether they tell you or not - and it can lead to being unhappy with your work.

So communication is always key.

Let them know that you received their work request or email or message.

Let them know when you are going to be able to take care of it or work on it or complete it for them.

Let them know the status of it, whether you are on time or not.

Let them know if anything goes wrong that they have to fix or approve or know about.

Let them know what kinds of lead times you need for all of the tasks you do for them.

Let them know what they need to provide for you in order for you to get their work done efficiently and on time.

Bill them for all communication, and keep it tight.

Set a method of communication and hold them to it. Production meeting once a week and email the rest (or pm system). If they can access you in more than once place you are spending more time on their communication than you should.

Production Meetings

Book a weekly production with all clients so that you can keep the rest of the week's communication going via emails or project management system only.

Meetings are a waste of time almost all of the time. The more time your clients keep you in meetings, the less time you can actually dedicate to working on their tasks.

A good production meeting helps you keep on top of the priorities for everyone, and gives you that once a week touch point with your clients so you can build a relationship with them.

Mondays are good days for production meetings - and when you can keep them to 20 minutes, you can be done by noon and have the rest of the day to do actual client work.

For instance - if you have 6 clients, book them in every 30 minutes starting at 9 am.

Keep a strict agenda and keep the meeting to 20 minutes. Once you finish the call, take another 10 minutes to put your notes into the project management system.

Bill the client the full 30 minutes (not just for the 20 min call).

The key is making sure the client is aware that it's a productivity session - and that means a high level overview of what is going to happen in the coming week only.

Create an agenda and stick to it.

Some smaller clients will not need a full 20 minutes.

Even your busiest or biggest clients can have a 20 minute meeting.

You don't need to cover all details in these - that's what you project management software is for.

For example, we are doing a newsletter this week, where are the pieces for that? we have 3 group sessions, what is outstanding for those? we are planning for that event next month, where do we stand on the call for speakers? and is there anything new coming down the pipe?

It's YOUR job to keep things moving and be efficient. You are in charge of the call, not the client. It's not a gab session or a work session.

It's a quick connect meeting because you can cover way more in a 20 minute call than a hundred emails. And you can get answers to questions quickly.

And you nurture your working relationship because you are actually speaking with each other every week.

Invaluable.

If a client decides to add a new priority mid week, ask them what can be moved (to a if a client adds a new priority mid week, ask them what can be moved on the current list or tell them what is moving - communication is key, especially with changes. a client may not realize that they have given you more work and that you are already scheduled out- it's your job to tell them that you are.

Focus

The last way to manage multiple clients is one that you have heard time and time again but maybe you aren't doing.

You need to focus on what you are working on every minute of every day.

The best way to get more done is to pay attention to it and to do it efficiently - and that means focus.

Avoid those distractions.

Set those buckets of time - start and stop times.

Use checklist to keep track of what you need to do (and what's done).

Don't do rush work. Teach your clients that your lead times and deadlines are firm.

Say no to things that you don't want to do or can't do.

Automate where you can (I like to think checklists are a form of automation!)

And make sure you bill all time that you work for your clients to them - there is no free time, meetings are billable, communication is billable, managing their tasks and projects is billable.

Stay organized.

Stay in charge.

Manage your client expectations and master your communication.

I'm going to leave it there for today.

This is exactly what I help VAs do. As a VA coach and trainer, I help you set yourself up for success, helping you fix the specific things that are going wrong in your business. When we work together either privately or in a group we talk specifically about your business and you - there is no one stop solution for everyone when it comes to service businesses like VA businesses.

I'll help you get clarity around your issues, and cheer you on as you walk through the steps to fix them.

I've helped hundreds of VAs through their challenges and got them on their way to growing their business and the lifestyle that they dream of.

I'd love to do the same for you.

You can work with me privately, or you can join The Virtual Circle, my mastermind group for Virtual Assistants. Check it out at www.YourVAMentor.com/TVC (the virtual circle) - I bet it's exactly what you need to start running the VA business you dreamed of.

Reach out to me if you are interested.

That's all I've got for you this week, see you next time!

Today I am going to talk about email lists and why Virtual Assistants need one of their own.

So many VAs I talk to do not have a newsletter, and I admit for a long time I didn't have one of my own either, but it is a really good way to market your business. Let's go!

Creating a newsletter for your VA business probably seems like a waste of time.

You don't need hundreds of clients, right?

Right - you don't need a mailing list that has thousands of people on it.

But that doesn't mean that it's not a good marketing tool for your VA business.

Everything is relative, and you can get clients from your email list even if you just have 100 people on it. It just has to be the right 100 people.

The same as networking, you want to connect with people one to one - -and like our quote today says, your email list is the original 1 to 1 communication tool.

it's not about getting hundreds of subscribers - everyone started out with one! it's about creating an engaging audience that keeps up with what you are doing in your business.

Let's first talk about why it's a good idea:

Aside from the thought about it being a marketing tool - which can feel salesy and icky, just think about it as a really good habit to get into. Here's why:

When you put together a regular newsletter, you get practice with writing about business.

You get to share your expertise and write professionally so that people can learn from you and also connect with you.

The more you do anything, the better you get at it.

And writing is super easy because you don't have to feel nervous or anxious about people seeing you do it. You just need to write about what you know.

Your clients need to feel that they can trust you - it's one of the most common reasons that small business owners tell me that they don't work with a VA - because they have a lack of trust.

Not in you, they don't even know you.

Just in general. They don't know how to trust someone they have never met - and may never meet! - to log in to their systems, to see the back end of their business, to handle their money, or deal with their clients.

It's a really foreign concept for many people who have never worked with someone who isn't in the same office as them.

And one of the best things we can do to build up their trust is to be available for them to get to know.

A newsletter can help you do exactly that.

So like I say the more you do it the better you get at it. Plan on at least a monthly newsletter when you start out - move to biweekly or weekly as soon as you can.

Sending out a regular newsletter helps you to create content about things that your audience - your clients - don't do well, or don't know anything about.

And it gives you a reason to connect with them regularly without feeling salesy.

Which brings me to what you can put into your newsletter.

The content is simple - it doesn't have to be a crazy busy newsletter.

I put in a personal note, usually with a picture.

Then I say what is happening this week or in the coming weeks.

Then I give some resources - a featured blog post, video, or event coming up.

And contact links.

You don't have to put in personal stuff if you don't want to - I find its a good ice breaker for each newsletter so it isn't just a bunch of links.

Whatever you do, you want to have a call to action, just as any social media post or blog post.

Being able to tell someone to 'hit reply' is one of the easiest calls to action, and it can help them confidently reach out to you to ask questions or inquire about whether you can help them.

And they will!

You can share client stories or a new blog post, or successes you have had - things you have learned, or mistakes you have made (be careful with these, always tell how you fixed them!) - even show them behind the scenes of working with a VA.

Clients are so curious - and they don't often have a trusted source to tell them what they can do with support for their business - become that person for them.

As long as your content is interesting, they will look forward to getting it.

And don't forget to add your affiliate links if you set those up after the last podcast episode!

If you haven't listened to that one yet, be sure you do - your newsletter is exactly the place to use all of them!

So how do you get a newsletter started easily? A little planning.

Like you did for your blog, plan out your topics. Decide which 'regular' sections you want to include (you can change these out if you like) - and decide what you are going to put in each of them.

Create bullet point notes to start compiling your content for each issue or email. Don't try to sit down and do it all at once - it simply takes too long.

Break the create tasks into small tasks so you can do a little at a time - one step forward takes less time and helps a big task like a newsletter go much more easily.

Stories sell, so the more you can use stories in your copy the better. If you are going to reference a particular tool you use to help your clients, see if you can think of a situation where you have worked with a client and specifically describe how it helped them. Or if you haven't got a story, create one - how WOULD you help your client with it? And talk about that. It's really easy once you get started.

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Although it seems easy to post things on social to get clients, you need to realize that a lot of your followers are probably not even seeing your posts. The social media platforms are really moving to paid promotion, and unless you are super active on social your people may never see what you want - or at least not often enough to move them into the action of buying.

Having your stuff show up in their inbox can bridge the gap much faster - when you provide them with quality content regularly. So plan it, and you can!

And of course you need to give them an incentive to give you their email address to begin with. That's what I call a freebie.

Most people will not just sign up to get a newsletter, so you need to create something that they can get instant gratification from - like a PDF or ebook or something that they can get a quick win from.

I'm not going to talk about freebies in this episode, but stay tuned for an upcoming episode for that!

Then all you have to do next is find a program that automates the sending and you are good to go. There are all kinds of them, and some have free levels or aren't very expensive.

Be sure that you use one of these platforms, they make it easy to create opt in forms that you can use anywhere.

Don't spam people. Collect your names ethically and treat them like your friends. Like you would want to be treated yourself.

Put your opt in box / link everywhere - on social media, on your website and in all the emails you send out too.

Don't worry about list size.

Don't worry about unsubscribes.

Worry about engaging your audience and providing them them with exclusive information - and yes, talk about your services in a way that feels natural and not salesy.

When you send out a newsletter regularly, and you set up a process to do it that is efficient and helps you to make it great, you become better at it. You get to enjoy it and your audience will too!

Keep your target market in mind at all times so you can find interesting tidbits for them in your normal 'surfing', and you can seek out statistics, quotes, information, trends and more that are directly related to their business.

Become their expert!

And remember too that if you are a VA with a newsletter, you are in the minority! So their inboxes are not going to be filled with VA newsletters - you will have a real leg up by presenting a polished and professional email for them regularly. They will know you, like, you, and trust you.

And yes, they will want to work with you.

This is exactly what I help VAs do. As a VA coach and trainer, I help you set yourself up for success, helping you fix the specific things that are going wrong in your business. When we work together either privately or in a group we talk specifically about your business and you - there is no one stop solution for everyone when it comes to service businesses like VA businesses.

I'll help you get clarity around your issues, and cheer you on as you walk through the steps to fix them.

I've helped hundreds of VAs through their challenges and got them on their way to growing their business and the lifestyle that they dream of.

I'd love to do the same for you.

You can work with me privately, or you can join The Virtual Circle, my mastermind group for Virtual Assistants. Check it out at www.YourVAMentor.com/TVC (the virtual circle) - I bet it's exactly what you need to start running the VA business you dreamed of.

Reach out to me if you are interested.

That's all I've got for you this week, see you next time!

Today I am going to talk about affiliate marketing - or referral marketing if you prefer to call it that. If your motivation for doing it is right, it can be a very lucrative way to add some revenue in your VA business every month.

Finding extra revenue streams for your VA business is a great way to augment your income every month without taking on more client work.

There are a lot of ways you can bring extra revenue in, but one of the simplest ways is affiliate marketing.

Today I'll share what it is, how it works, and how you can start doing it today to create anew revenue stream.

Affiliate marketing isn't complicated. Essentially you refer people to someone's product or service, and if they buy it, you earn a commission.

That is as simple as it is.

You would be called their affiliate or their referral partner.

I actually prefer the term referral partner because it makes more sense - you are referring people to someone else's product or service.

So you can earn money without doing anything but recommending something to others.

Why is it a good idea for VAs

It helps you earn income without doing more client work, as I've said

It's obviously quite flexible - if you aren't promoting a specific launch or event, then you can set it up to post automatically on your social media, leave a link in your newsletter or on your website, and be promoting it all the time.

It can even easily add to your revenue so that you have a cushion should you lose a client if you are promoting something that has a high affiliate commission.

You can also use it as a service for your clients - when you understand the ins and outs of affiliate marketing, you can help your clients get set up to do the same thing with their business.

As always, we should start with doing it ourselves and then move on to doing it for our clients.

How it works

The main piece of the referral is being able to track your referral, and that's through your affiliate link

You need to use a unique link so that the tracking connects someone to you.

This usually requires getting set up in their affiliate system with a username and password.

You log in to their system and you can see your commission setup and percentage, your tracking reports and your commissions.

Most system have a unique URL for each product or service they offer, so it can get tricky to manage everything, but it's not difficult if you are only an affiliate for a few people.

As I mentioned earlier, if you have a main or default affiliate link, that can be really handy to guide people to someone's stuff anytime.

A tool I love to use is Pretty Link - which is a Wordpress plugin that helps you make just that - pretty links A lot of affiliate links are really ugly, full of letters and numbers.

So what I tend to do is to create a pretty link like yourvamentor.com/tracey and then I put in the affiliate link that I want it to refer to. The nice thing about pretty link is you can redirect it to whatever you want at any time.

So if the person is doing a launch, you can redirect the pretty link to that URL for a few weeks and then back to your default link - and you don't have to update any of your scheduled posts. It's quite efficient and you can always remember the link if you use a naming convention for that person or company. yourvamentor.com/bluehost etc.

Commissions

And percentages can vary as well, anywhere from 10% to 50% is perfectly normal.

Usually the higher percentage comes when you are promoting a special event or launch and sending a lot of people their way.

Or maybe you are a speaker on their event, that's when a 50% commission on an upgrade to VIP is common.

Whatever the commission, the system tracks it all so you can see what you are owed and how your referrals are doing.

Bluehost has a great commission payout of $65 per referral - I love it when people sign up using my affiliate link. I don't have to promote it all over the place, but I earn money every time someone signs up with it. I use Bluehost as a server, so it's authentic for me to promote them. More on that later.

Payouts

Payouts are most commonly issued via PayPal. Some people have minimum payouts, maybe $50 so they aren't sending out $5 worth of commissions every month. If you want to get your commission, make a point of doing some active promoting to bump your numbers up!

People who have very active referral programs usually pay out on the 1st of the month, which is a nice bonus. It's good motivation when you see commissions comes in, to do a bit more promotion for the coming month.

Promo Materials

The other thing you can usually find in the affiliate portal is promo copy and materials. Graphics, social media posts, promo paragraphs or emails to use to promote the product or service to your people.

Those who want referrals from others often provide everything you need to make it simple for you to promote for them.

The easier they make it, the better off you are.

Remember this if you are doing affiliate work for your clients as a service - the easier you make things for the affiliates, the more they will promote.

So those are the ins and outs of how it all works.

Now to get back to Neil Patel's advice … you have to believe in what you are telling others about - and although you are earning money to refer it, it should be something you would promote anyway.

When you keep your audience in mind first, then you can refer with integrity. If they'll love it, then recommend it!

Promote Stuff You Use

One thing that can not be overstated is to be sure that you only promote things that you use or have used.

Promoting services you have not used can come across as slimy or icky.

But if you have a good experience or good results from using something, by all means tell people about it, and use an affiliate link to do so.

And make sure that you are promoting things that are relevant to your own niche - if the people you reach with your content won't use the service, then it will just be spam to them.

Here are a few samples that I have referred easily before:

Web hosts like Bluehost

Email programs like Mailchimp - note that you must be a Mailchimp user to be a referral partner, which I think is awesome

Trainers - like me! or Freelance University

Associations - like CAVA!

When you focus on things that you have used, you can even write your own content honestly and authentically which, if lots of people are promoting using the other person's copy (like during a launch). When you know something about the person and the product or service, it comes across very well to write something personal from you.

One of the simplest things to set up is a Resources page on your website, and include all of your affiliate relationships there.

Disclose Affiliate Links

This is actually not just a suggestion, it's often a requirement in a lot of places that you will be posting it.

Many people know an affiliate link is being used, even if you use a pretty link, but it's good practice to indicate that you are using one so it's transparent.

You just need to say (affiliate link), nothing more.

The easiest way to promote something is to write some content about it - reviews, demo, tutorial, tips, and that kind of thing, and then put your affiliate link in the content (disclosing of course).

Track Your Analytics

If you are promoting something because you want to earn commissions, it's important to watch your analytics.

Watch the clickthroughs, the purchases. And make adjustments to your activities if the results aren't there, just as if you were doing your own promotion.

If you are getting a lot of clicks but no purchases, your audience might not resonate with that product or service.

If you are not getting clicks, maybe the copy needs help.

There is strategy in everything and when you do something, you want to do it right as often as you can so it continues to work for you.

Affiliate marketing is really simple when you pick just a few good people to promote - and then you can always add on more once you get settled into a routine.

All you have to do is a little research, some setup, a bit of content creation, and then monitor. You can do it! Start with my stuff! :) I'd love to pay you commission to recommend my services to other VAs like you.

This is exactly what I help VAs do. As a VA coach and trainer, I help you set yourself up for success, helping you fix the specific things that are going wrong in your business. When we work together either privately or in a group we talk specifically about your business and you - there is no one stop solution for everyone when it comes to service businesses like VA businesses.

I'll help you get clarity around your issues, and cheer you on as you walk through the steps to fix them.

I've helped hundreds of VAs through their challenges and got them on their way to growing their business and the lifestyle that they dream of.

I'd love to do the same for you.

You can work with me privately, or you can join The Virtual Circle, my mastermind group for Virtual Assistants. Check it out at www.YourVAMentor.com/TVC (the virtual circle) - I bet it's exactly what you need to start running the VA business you dreamed of.

Reach out to me if you are interested.

That's all I've got for you this week, see you next time!

If you shy away from networking, this episode is for you!

I was doing some research about networking for this episode, and I came across some advice in a whole lot of articles and blog posts ... it was everywhere!

And that advice showcased exactly why a lot of the VAs and other business owners I know do. not. network.

It was brutal. Everywhere I turned there it was. Conversation starters like:

man these events are crazy are you enjoying the food what do you recommend to eat what brought you here today what are you passionate about what's your story have you been here before any chance you read the news today? i missed it and I wonder if I missed anything did you catch the game last night I love your necklace/dress/pants/hair

Oh. My. God.

I hate every single one of these - some more than others, but I definitely do not like any of these.

I do not suggest that you use any of these in any networking situation, ever

I think that's what makes me different from other business coaches.

I want you to network in a way that helps you connect with people - but also that feels authentic and feels like you want to do more of it.

Because you need to network to find clients - to find GREAT clients.

And I want to teach you how to do it better. Tune in to this episode to learn how!

Finding your community is awesome, and you need to start doing it today. Let me help!

This is exactly what I help VAs do. As a VA coach and trainer, I help you set yourself up for success, helping you fix the specific things that are going wrong in your business. When we work together either privately or in a group we talk specifically about your business and you - there is no one stop solution for everyone when it comes to service businesses like VA businesses.

I'll help you get clarity around your issues, and cheer you on as you walk through the steps to fix them.

I've helped hundreds of VAs through their challenges and got them on their way to growing their business and the lifestyle that they dream of.

I'd love to do the same for you.

You can work with me privately, or you can join The Virtual Circle, my mastermind group for Virtual Assistants. Check it out at www.YourVAMentor.com/TVC (the virtual circle) - I bet it's exactly what you need to start running the VA business you dreamed of.

Reach out to me if you are interested.

That's all I've got for you this week, see you next time!

It's a very well known fact that good daily actions create success.

Why?

Because the more you pay attention to certain things in your business, the better you can control and adjust them.

I am going to talk about 5 things in particular today that, if you focus on them every single day, will make you become a better VA.

1 Money

You need to look at your money every day. Sales, account balances, payments, expenses.

Whether you do complicated reporting or not, if you don't know how much money you have coming in and going out, you aren't actually managing your business.

Checking your sales helps you to see what's coming in of course, but it also help you to see opportunities to earn more.

A daily revenue tracking sheet can help you see how much opportunity you might be leaving on the table.

Even if all of your clients pay you on the 1st of the month, look at the rest of those days ... where could you squeeze some more projects in to increase what you bring in?

Maybe you just have an opportunity to start a new client mid-month and renew their payment later in the month. It is nice to have money coming in more often during any given month, not everyone needs to be billed on the 1st or 31st.

Checking your account balances is always important because it keeps your money top of mind. If you don't have enough, it reinforces that you need to do some connecting or finding clients work. Like, right now. 100% priority. Nothing else is more important for you to do than get a client.

Looking at your payments helps so see what has gone out, and what still has to go out. Cash flow is critical in business.

Monitoring your expenses is similar to watching your payments, but it goes a step farther because you are looking at things you have determined are necessary to pay for to in order to run your business. When you are looking at your expenses, you are always looking to see if they are still required, whether they are enough, or whether you should be taking on a new one. Your VA business costs money to run, and when you manage your expenses well, you can automate and get more done among many other things.

I can help you create simple checklists and tracking sheets to do this daily.

Daily money checks don't take more than five or ten minutes. Schedule it in!

2 Goals

You know I tell you that what you focus on grows. well someone once said that and I know it to be true.

You must focus on your goals if you are going to achieve them.

What I mean by that is checking in on your goals every day.

Look at what you say you want to be/do/have. Look at where you are in the process of reaching it. Look how far you have come from the start.

When I teach VAs to set goals, I also teach them to break the action steps to reach that goal down into very small manageable pieces, and then put those action steps into the calendar every single day.

I watch VAs who fail at goal setting (or rather reaching their goal) every single day, and I wholeheartedly believe that it doesn't mean anything about you as a business owner (like you're not a bad one). It has everything to do with your plan for your action steps.

Here's what I mean:

I see VAs set a goal. Then I see them put their goal absolutely dead last, behind client work, behind the family calendar or needs, and maybe even behind their day job. They book in 2 or 3 hours on Sunday night to 'work on' their goal.

Sounds great but it actually sucks as a plan.

Why? Because when you only look at your goal once a week it doesn't stay fresh in your mind. Because when you try to cram your working on into one large block you can get really overwhelmed, or paralyzed. Or go down a serious rabbit hole.

Or, most common, you will get to Sunday night and decide that something else takes precedence and you just don't do it. Then you try to.book it in the next Sunday and the same thing happens.

So daily actions are better for so many reasons. Short daily actions. I'm talking 15 minute tasks!

Daily actions take less time. You will easily have time to get the smaller task done. And if you DO miss it, you are only behind 15 mins, not 3 hours.

I can help you break down your goal into actionable daily steps, and a checklist to help you move closer to your goal every single day.

3 Read

You need to constantly be growing as a VA. Business owners need to learn new strategies, new tactics, new 'stuff' to improve their abilities in business, and VAs are business owners.

If you aren't currently reading business books, you should be. It can be difficult what to choose to read, but I can give you lots of suggestions!

Whether you need to improve your mindset, marketing, money, team, strategy, or whatever, choose a book that you want to learn something from - and something that you plan to implement.

It will make no difference in your business if you read something and don't make any changes to your business.

Building a good reading habit is also a way to remind you that you are in fact a business owner.

For several years, I belonged to a business book club called Thought Readers run by my business coach Lisa Larter and it was fabulous. She chose the books we read each month and then we would have discussions on the content throughout each month. She even brought many of the authors in to do Q and A calls with us which was amazing. I got to talk to Dan Sullivan who I think is awesome.

Anyway, the point I want to make is that I was not a reader before I joined Thought Readers. I would start to read a book and I would fall asleep or get bored. Like no books. Hardly ever.

I read all day long - but short stuff. I didn't get into books at all, even fiction. And I certainly didn't know how to pick a good book. So I learned to read business books, and I got business coaching from Lisa and from some pretty incredible authors too.

And that's how I know that it made me a better business person. I chose at least one thing to implement from every book that we read, and that's what I tell VAs to do too.

It's like any training that you take - it's just a waste of your time if you are just going to watch it and then not take action on it.

If you develop a good reading habit - 30 minutes every morning or at lunch, you can improve your business vocabulary, knowledge, strategy and so much more.

It also adds structure to your day - and routine, which is so important for your success.

I look for inspiration in the things that I read too - so if I read a chapter every morning (which is what I try to do), then I think about maybe how to do something that day or week using that bit of knowledge - or look for some kind of wisdom or content to share.

Reading is very good for your brain - and so easy to start! Just pick up a book! If you struggle to read or to choose books, that's something I can help you do too, by sharing what worked for me.

4 Brainstorm and Strategize

Strategizing is a good thing to do regularly. Daily it is not necessary to create a full new strategy, that's not what I mean. But checking in on your strategy, your plan, your action steps, your productivity ... all of those things.

Brainstorming to me is making lists. In fact I give this advice to VAs all the time - to make lists of things that are cluttering your thoughts and your mind. It helps you to address the things that you want to get done at another time.

Not everything is urgent - in fact very little is urgent. You can schedule time for all the things, in due time.

So brainstorming is a great way to unload some stress from your mind. A bullet journal can be really good for this. I talk a lot about my bullet journal. I love it and I used it daily in my business, I have for years.

Its a series of lists and notes that I can refer to anytime I need to. And I make new lists every single day!

When you are focusing on your strategy, you can track it, monitor it, analyze it, change or alter or tweak it.

Say you are looking to find VA clients and you need to do daily outreach to do it. By keeping a daily eye on it you can see what is working for you. You can see what doesn't work and do less of that, and you can see what is working or what needs tweaking and then you can do more of that.

Our time is really important, we only have so much of it, and so we need to be efficient and not waste it.

That is definitely one area that we can waste time is doing networking, and that's why it's such an important thing to work with a strategy.

And this actually leads me into my last point which is Conversations.

5 Conversations

If you are not having daily conversations with business owners, you are going to struggle to get good clients.

I know so many VAs who only do marketing or networking when they are looking for a new clients. Starting from a standing position is so much more difficult than doing a little all the time to keep your name top of mind in the communities that you choose to network in.

So I recommend daily conversations with at least two people every day. You know this if you listen to any of my trainings.

It's manageable no matter how busy you are to talk to two people. I'm not talking about discovery calls, I'm simply talking about interactions. On social media works.

The numbers work in your favour all the time for this - if you talk to 2 people every day, that's 40 to 60 people in a month. If you can't get one client from 40 interactions, then you need to revise what you are saying in these interactions. It's simple math and it works.

How many people to do you need to connect with to get a client? You need to know that number. It's called your conversion percentage. And the only way to know it is to have the conversations.

It's easy you go from connecting to conversation to client. Not everyone you will connect with will want a conversation right away. So maybe you have to talk to 10 or 20 people to get 2 or 3 sales conversations. When you are networking with the right people this is not hard, and actually those numbers are quite bad. But you see what I mean.

Then from the conversations, you should be able to get at least 5 or 6 out of 10 to sign on as your clients. Again, you have to talk to the right people for these numbers to work. So your plan and strategy definitely play a role here as well.

But the numbers do not lie. I can help you with finding your people, deciding how many you need to talk to, with figuring out what to say to them, and how to manage a sales conversation so you get the client.

I'm going to leave it off here for today, I feel like that's a lot!

Which of these daily actions can you start taking tomorrow?

To introduce a new habit, focus on one thing at a time. Then once you have that one under control, add another one. You could be doing all five of these within the next few weeks or month, very easily. They aren't hard to do.

And if and when you do, you'll be telling me your VA business revenue has skyrocketed. It happens every time!

One step at a time - you can do it!

Remember what John Maxwell said: You'll never change your life until you change something you do daily. The secret of your success is found in your daily routine. It's an incredible quote and you need to write it down and stick it up at your work station right now! I have it at mine. :)

This is exactly what I help VAs do. As a VA coach and trainer, I help you set yourself up for success, helping you fix the specific things that are going wrong in your business. When we work together either privately or in a group we talk specifically about your business and you - there is no one stop solution for everyone when it comes to service businesses like VA businesses.

I'll help you get clarity around your issues, and cheer you on as you walk through the steps to fix them.

I've helped hundreds of VAs through their challenges and got them on their way to growing their business and the lifestyle that they dream of.

I'd love to do the same for you.

You can work with me privately, or you can join The Virtual Circle, my mastermind group for Virtual Assistants. Check it out at www.YourVAMentor.com/TVC (the virtual circle) - I bet it's exactly what you need to start running the VA business you dreamed of.

Reach out to me if you are interested.

That's all I've got for you this week, see you next time!