The Ridiculously Good Virtual Assistant Show

If you Google the word framework in relation to business, you are going to see a whole bunch of colored images and matrices that come up.

There are many, many official or famous frameworks that you can use in business. Porters, Hamrick and Frederickson's etc.

But you know me by now ... I don't want to confuse and complicate things for you.

I want you to consider your business, but find you simple solutions that you can easily implement.

Because if you don't implement what I teach you in your business, then you will not be any further ahead next week than you are today.

The most important thing for me is that you get better at what you do. That's why I teach you!

So let's talk about really simple frameworks ... three of them, that I think will be pretty easy for you to implement, that will make real differences in your business.

There are so many structures you can set up in your business, and I think when you start to strategize in that way, things get simpler. Things get clearer.

Here are the three that I think are pretty important for Virtual Assistants.

Framework 1 - Organization

Framework 2 - Pricing and Rates

Framework 3 - Connections

Organization

When we talk about being organized as a VA, it impacts both our clients and our own business.

We need to create processes, workflows, best practices, terms, policies,and those all fit under the framework of organization.

The more decisions we make around how things need to work, the better we can plan for the flow of everything through our business.

From business foundations to revenue and expenses to promotions and marketing to client acquisition and retention and more.

Begin at the beginning. Business plan. Do one. Answer all the questions. If you don't know the answer to a question, it's time to make a decision on it.

Know how you will earn revenue. Choose what you need to run in expenses to run your business well. Determine how your will market your business and where you will find clients. Repeat this process daily or weekly or monthly to get new clients regularly.

I'm not going to teach you how to do that today. You can learn to do that by taking my Getting Started as a VA Self Study, or in The Virtual Vault training membership.

Put plans in place to nurture clients and work well. Keep your training up to grow with them.

It is really simple to set up systems and make decisions around how all of it runs when you see it as a framework.

Pricing and Rates

The second framework needs to be how you charge clients for your services.

Your revenue is one of the most important things you can decide upon in your business. The amount of money you bring in has to support absolutely everything else you do.

It's about your value and expertise of course but it is also about really knowing why your services are priced the way they are.

How do we do that? By creating processes and a framework for costing our services, and setting all of our rates based on that framework.

You need to create deliverable pricing. I'm not going to teach you how to do that, you can check that out in The Virtual Vault training membership.

When you are quoting your rates to clients, the more confident you are, the more confident they are. And having a framework to do the math is essential to give you that confidence.

No more discounting rates for larger clients, no more billing by the hour, or minute, no more negotiating or bartering.

Set your rates. Do the math. Confidently quote clients. Sign clients.

Connections

The last framework you need to set up is your connections.

In order to build your business, whether it is from day one or day one thousand, you need to be making connections.

Talking to business people every single day is an important part of growing your business, but it's going to be much more effective if you are following a structure.

It will also take you less time when you are focused on a particular strategy.

Figure out where your people are. Spend time with them.

Figure out what to say to them. Say it often.

Figure out who can refer clients to you, and who you can refer clients to. Do that as often as you can.

I'm not going to teach you how to talk to people today. You can learn to do that in my mastermind group The Virtual Circle.

Follow up. With everyone. All the time.

These are general rules of course. Your framework will be built around deciding what your steps are for your VA business.

Even if you don't want to have 100 clients, you want all of your clients to be the best clients you can have.

Strive for excellence with all of your frameworks.

Organization: onboarding, planning, work flows, client care. Do the actual best you can do at all of this and you will excel, stand out, and get noticed.

Pricing and Rates: get crystal clear on what to charge and how many clients you need to earn what you need to earn. Do the actual best you can do at this and you will already be doing better than at least 70% of all of the other VAs out there.

Connections: get crystal clear on who your people areand where you can connect with them every day. Do the actual best you can do at this and you will get clients.

Are these frameworks simple? Yes. They are complex, but as I always say, if you were tasked with doing this setup for a client, you would hit the ground running and get it done.

So do yourself the same courtesy and so it for yourself too.

Start with the most important one #1 - it is the simplest one, Organization - Do you have room for improvement? Do you have any of it done yet? Be ready to make decisions. Fast. And move on to the next thing. You can always update the details later, but get it done now.

Then go to the #2 Pricing - set or change your rates immediately to start making a profit today. Start documenting your task processes right now. Every time you do something, document it. It does not have to be fancy, just done, and timed. This may take a little while longer but doing it every time you do a task makes time for it. Then start to set your deliverable pricing.

Finally do #3 - Connections - when you have the other two frameworks set up, the third is easy. You in fact need to have made all of those other decisions before you can explode your connections and networking.

So get at it!

Create your framework, use it, and watch your VA business explode!

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 whatever is 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 how to explode your thinking with a success journal. It's a tool that helps you focus on the positive, every day.

First of all, focusing on success is a good idea in general.

What we focus on grows, and success does too.

When you are looking for good, when you are looking for positive, you need a source - and the success journal can really help you do that.

Sure, getting testimonials from clients can be helpful to let others know how great you are is fantastic - but how many clients do you have? Many none yet!

Enter the success journal.

You do so many great things every single day that no one ever sees - or talks about.

And the success journal helps you keep track of those.

Okay so what is it?

It's a book where you keep all of your accomplishments, compliments, and general feel-good info.

I started mine again and I am really enjoying it, and I'm really finding it makes a difference in my mood - and my mindset.

It's very therapeutic.

Today I want to focus on three ways that your success journal can help you as a VA.

Mindset and Motivation Track Accomplishments Do More Of What Works

Let's begin:

Mindset and Motivation

It goes without saying that the more positive things you say about yourself, the more positive things you will think.

I don't know about you but many days I won't say anything out loud in my office - if I don't have any meetings. But I sure think a lot!

And sometimes even if I do have meetings, I don't focus on the positive things about ME.

That's where we begin.

To make a shift in your motivation or your mood or your mindset, you have to think good things about yourself. And you have to say them out loud so you can hear them!

And those are the things that should make it into your success journal.

I've never been someone who can be a journaler - writing out my feelings. I've done it, but it's never stuck.

It doesn't feel natural to me.

But I am a list maker and by gosh I can make a list!

I love them. I use them for everything.

That's why my bullet journal is such a great tool for me. It's a book of lists!

So that's why the success journal is much more functional for me as a tool to brighten my mood and mindset.

The basic idea is to write down (at least) 3 things every single day that you did that were positive.

If you want you can write as many as you can, or want to - but the habit of writing 3 can help you pick out the best 3 things.

Who did you help? What made you smile? Who did you reach out to? Who did you get a result for?

The thing you write down should be business related but if you don't have that many of them right off the bat then you can start with whatever you can that is positive.

Focus on things that helped you with your mindset, your mood, or your motivation.

Examples: I answered a question in a Facebook group and got great feedback from the OP. I reached out to a contact I met in person at the monthly networking event, we have a consult tomorrow. I helped my client launch her new program.

Track Your Accomplishments

We all have very long to do lists, not just as business owners, but as moms, wives, women, whatever.

I find that when I put something in my success journal that I've accomplished, it actually motivates me to do something else.

Like a bit of a chain reaction. It's the accomplishment train.

One of the things I have kept for years is a tolerations list.

I attended a VA conference many years ago and the speaker told us that there are certain things that are holding us back from getting all 'the stuff' done - things we don't even realize.

These are things we are tolerating, but that are populating the spaces of our brain and maybe even overwhelming us.

The exercise is simple - start at point A and note all of the things that you notice need doing. Write them down onto a list. Get them out of your head. Then do them one by one when you have a little extra time.

For example, what I did was drive into my laneway and started there. What needs to be done on the outside of the house? Our garage window and trim need painting, our siding needs patching, our walkway needs to be done, and so on. All of those things go on the list.

Then go in the front door. Go room by room through your house and do the same thing.

Then do the same thing in your office. You get the idea. The list might be very long but it's so effective to clear things out of your mind. Why?

Because now you have a list of things that you can fix or clean or tidy or do. It's less overwhelming because the list exists -and then you can pick one or two things a day to do and cross them off that list.

Anyway I digress a little but you get the picture.

When you get something done and you can cross it off your list, that releases some kind of serotonin and it makes you feel good. At least it makes me feel good ha ha.

You feel like you are accomplishing something and that's a great feeling.

So for your success journal, when you note the things that you have accomplished, it makes you feel good. Boom. Serotonin.

Maybe you posted your first video. Or you completed your blog post. Or you create some social media templates. Or you send out your newsletter on time.

Or you did any of those things for your clients. Accomplishments. Great things to list in your success journal. It makes you feel good!

Do More Of What Works

Sometimes I'll ask VAs what they have done that worked for them - and they don't know.

Like, if they got a client, they aren't sure what led to that. I ask them where that client came from, and sometimes they know - but sometimes they don't realize it.

Tracking where people find you is an important piece of your marketing.

I ask the question right in my registration boxes - where did you find us? My email system also tracks the leads but I ask the question.

One of my colleagues tracks where all of her business comes from. It's quite cool actually. She knows what works for her.

I do too, to an extent - but a lot of my traffic comes from Google itself. I have a lot of content out there and I get lots of inquiries because I've been at this a long time.

But the idea of doing more of what works is just a good business principle.

I was talking with some VAs this week about just that. Our marketing, our networking, have to work for us. You don't want to waste your time if you aren't getting results - whether that means building a great network or getting actual clients.

You need to set a goal for everything that you do in your business - who you will connect with, who you will work with, where you will find them, what you will do for them, how many clients you will work with, what you will charge them, how you will maintain their business, how you will raise your rates, how you will expand your business, etc.

It's all a series of goals that you need to measure your results again.

The interesting thing is that you don't have to measure from the start to the goal. You should be measuring your progress. Dan Sullivan's book The Gap and the Gain is exceptional to show you how to focus on your progress.

I love the concept, I talk about it a lot - and you should do it too!

In your success journal, note the progress you have made your goals - all of them. If you are working towards getting 5 clients, write down when you get one - you are on your way! two - you are building momentum - etc. don't thing of your goal as unreached if you don't get to your five. You are making progress all the way along.

And that's what you want to note. What led to that small success on the way to your larger goal? Do more of that!

Maybe you are excited by being referred in a Facebook group - what led to that? What did you do, how did you conduct yourself, so that someone else thought to mention you to others? A huge celebration, always.

Naturally, do less of what doesn't work. If you have been going to a networking group multiple times with no real connections or results, maybe look elsewhere (or change what you are doing when you go there).

You will start to spot patterns - when you signed a client, had you just finished a training and your confidence was sky high?

Were you part of a mastermind group and that's when you were consistently reminded of how amazing you are, so things were going well for you?

Maybe you had a great morning routine - podcast, reading a few pages of a book, going for a walk, eating breakfast? What were the things that helped you create and maintain that positivity?

Your success journal can show you the path to your clients - and your success - and it will, when you use it daily.

Let's get back to Dr. Phil for literally just one sec! You have to sell yourself to you first. And the only way that you can get clients is when your mindset and confidence are high. The success journal is a fabulous tool to help you get there. And it doesn't take long! Three things a day for even one week gives you 21 times you did good. It can be very therapeutic to read at the beginning of your work day.

And on those bad days, just flip through it with a cup of tea. It really helps, I promise! You. Are. Awesome!

It reminds you of your positive mindset and mood, and all that momentum.

It reminds you of your accomplishments, no matter how small.

It reminds you of what has worked for you in the past - and what will probably work for you again.

Whatever happened that went well, we want to record that - and really understand what it was that created that moment, or what made it happen (write that down too!).

I challenge you to create your own success journal. You can start today. Just a blank notebook - you can date the pages or not (though I find that handy so I can remember when I recorded something).

Shoot to record three things every single day starting today. They can be small, but they just need to be WINS.

I hope that I bring some positivity to your life - I certainly try to. Every Wednesday I release a new podcast episode that I hope will inspire you and help you move forward in your VA business.

I enter that into my success journal every Wednesday. If you are listening today, then you can write this down 'I gave Tracey a download today', 'I started my success journal', 'I started my journey to shift my mindset today by committing to using my success journal every day.'

That's it, your homework is done!

Now go and start your success journal. I can help you kick it off or keep it going.

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 whatever is 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 share the truth about billing your VA clients by the hour. I'll tell you why all VAs should be doing it - no matter what their invoice looks like each month.

Billing by the hour is an interesting topic, let's go!

As a business owner, you can choose to bill your VA clients anyway you want.

No one gets to decide how much you charge, how you work, or anything else.

Its totally your choice, and the only thing you really need to do is make sure that whatever you are doing is consistent - and profitable.

You are, after all, in business. And without running a profit, you will not be able to stay in business.

And the money you earn to do work for clients is the thing that keeps your business running. Your revenue.

Today I want to talk about charging your clients hourly - the good, the bad, and what you need to consider if this is a route that you want to go.

Why would you choose to bill your clients hourly? It can seem clearer - work done = time paid.

There really isn't a simpler way to charge for your time when you operate a service business like a VA business.

But you can also shoot yourself in the foot when you are charging hourly, because of a number of reasons:

For one thing, you can miss time that should have been billed.

If I had a dollar for every time a VA told me they are working hard all day and they are only billing 4 or 5 hours a day to their clients ... well, I would be pretty wealthy.

It's a common issue. You think you are tracking every last minute but you aren't. You forget to write something down, or you work at a super fast pace because you are busy. Your money earned is lower than the work you have actually done.

When you work faster, you actually make less money.

Not to say that you should be taking your sweet time doing whatever tasks your clients need, but you do need to consider your work pace and keep at a regular one in order to ensure that you are not losing money.

And aside from work pace, the more you do something, naturally the better you get at it - and that also means money coming out of your pocket (even though the client gets the work done).

And in terms of forgetting to record something, there are ways you can track your time, but you are not a robot and you are not an employee so it really is a backward way of kind of running your business.

The bottom line is that it doesn't matter what the clients want. It's your business and you need to get yourself and your policies and terms sorted out, and then relay them to your clients.

The way I prefer to teach VAs like you to is to bill your clients by task - which still uses your billable rate and the clock on the wall - just not WHILE you are doing the work for the client.

It's basically about setting a flat rate per task or service you offer. It is based on the time it takes to get that task done, but it doesn't involved counting hours.

You take your billable rate x the estimated time to complete the task - ie a newsletter might take 90 minutes, and your billable rate is $40 per hour. That means your newsletter will cost the client $60 each time you do it. Four newsletters a month and you bill your client $240. No surprises.

You definitely need to know how long things take you to do in order to create task pricing like this So you have to do it, practice, and make sure you add in time for things to not go perfectly well each time.

And THEN when you set that time, it's up to you to make sure it's right - you have to strive to get that task done within your estimate time.

When you work hourly, you keep track of how much time you work. This can be bad because you can take too long to do something.

Example: Six hour research project from my VA that I expected to take 2 hours of a 10 hour retainer I had paid her.

Charging by the hour can be accurate but as I mentioned earlier, you can also miss time - and also clients might nickel and dime you if you provide them with detailed billing at the end of the month.

Often if you are billing by the hour clients will want detailed billing.

They need to treat you as a professional and pay you accordingly too It does make it easier to add on new tasks or services but you can also do that with task billing.

Aside from your clients asking for your detailed records, you need them for yourself because you need to ensure that you are billing them the right amount.

Billing by the minute does not work, it's impossible to account for every second of time that you work for a client, even if you are using a time tracking software. If you are charging by the hour, bill by an increment of at least 10 or 15 minutes.

Also don't overcharge your clients ... as an added note. 'Anything I do costs the client an hour.' That's just ripping them off.

It just makes more sense to me to track the tasks you do and assign the time it takes to do it, so that's why I teach it that way.

Some things are black and white like the newsletter, and some things are not.

You need to look at tasks that are open ended like checking email - this is a common service that VAs offer and you can waste a lot of unnecessary time doing it if you don't manage it properly.

How do I teach you to manage someone's email? Easy check it a set number of times a day - once, twice, five times, whatever. Charge the client a set amount of time for each 'check'. If there is a lot of stuff that needs doing on each check, that time will be more than if there isn't anything to respond to or file or whatever.

Multiply the set time by the number of times you are going to check it every day and then multiply that number times the number of business days in a month (usually 22). There's your fee for managing the client's email for the month.

And yes sometimes you will do more work at a check than other times, but it should all work out over the course of the month. If not, you adjust the fee up or down when you have a better idea of how much time you are using to do that task.

For instance, if there is rarely anything to do when you check, maybe you reduce the number of times you are checking - adjusting the bill down.

Alternately if you are spending more time than you estimated on a daily basis, then you will increase the billable time per check.

For most of my clients, who were 6 and 7 figure business coaches, even when they were very busy, I found that 15 to 30 minutes a day was more than enough to handle email for them. Usually 15. Checking twice a day totals 11 hours a month, and it's usually more than enough to keep on top of it. If you want to book in 20 minutes, then that's 15 hours per month.

No one needs their email checked every hour, unless they are in the middle of a launch - in which case you will bill them straight hours of time, not check ins anyway.

It makes everything so much easier. You still need to keep track of your time on your end to be sure that your estimate time is accurate, but you remove the minute counting and potential detailed billing issues with the client.

You tell the client that you will bill them 15 hours per month to take care of their email - and that's it.

Trust is an issue with virtual work - not just for VAs - are you working? how long do things take? did it really take you that long to do xyz? And doing things this way removes the extra stuff that might get in the way of just doing the work for a set rate.

When you start out, hourly billing is usually easiest but as soon as you know how long things will take, you need to shift to a better way.

You can work that into your business by starting each client out monthly and then transitioning 3 months later to a set fee - if you outline this for them from the start, it can be really easy - and you won't have to worry about not getting their flat rate or task billing quite right from the start.

It's simply more efficient and easier for everyone to charge by task.

The other thing with charging hourly is often you do the work before you get paid - and sometimes that means that you can get burned by a non paying client which is never ideal.

So it protects your business to get paid upfront and then do the work. Although that can be a difficult transition for some clients and VAs, it's very common to prepay for everything you get these days and so it's a good model for everyone.

If you bill afterward you can also surprise your client with a really high bill at the end of the month. Some VAs will keep doing work and tasks and just keep racking up the time, and then client is overwhelmed at the end of the month.

Getting back to today's quote, you don't need to overdo it because you are charging by the hour.

If you are billing by the hour, be sure that you still have the client's budget in mind and that you keep them up to date every week on how much time you have used out of their budget.

Surprises are bad business and not recommended. Just because a client sends you work to do doesn't mean that they are approving you to spend as much of their money as you want.

Keeping things in check is really important - it is their money after all. Yes you are doing the work, but they get to agree to how to spend their money.

This is a much more common issue than it should be with VAs. You are responsible to be professional and not just be a task taker.

Imagine for yourself if you are expecting to pay a certain amount of money for something, and then the bill comes and it's more than you expected. And you had no notice. How do you feel about that? You have to think about that, and conduct your VA business accordingly.

Another thing about hourly billing is it is more difficult to raise your rates.

Letting your client do the math is one of the ways that you can get devalued, or treated as less than the expert that you are.

If you tell someone your billable rate if $40/hour, and let them do the math in their head, based on how long they think something will take to do, you could lose the client.

And if you tell them your billable rate is going up by $X/hour, they will do that math all over again.

Your rates are your rates. You can charge whatever you want. Your clients need to know how much it will cost them to work with you.

I always say your client wants to know two things: what you can do for them, and how much it will cost them. So its your job to tell them that.

I'm going to leave it here for today. you get the idea.

Ask about their budget. Work within in. Figure out your task rates and estimated times. Use those to quote and bill.

YOU make the decisions. How will you bill? What does that look like? How can you ensure that you are going to get paid properly and on time? How can you ensure that your client doesn't get surprised and pays the right amount for the work they get done? How can you make it easy to fix or adjust your rates regularly if the client's workload changes?

In short, how can you make things easier for everyone?

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 whatever is 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 we are going to talk about sales conversations. You may remember last week we talked about how to answer what you do - and being able to do that well will lead to more sales conversations - so if you didn't listen to that episode yet make sure you do!

Quote: Most people think selling is the same as talking. But the most effective salespeople know that listening is the most important part of their job. Roy Bartell

This is it. This is how you get clients. I'm excited to share today's episode with you. Let's go!

Getting clients - it is far and away the biggest topic that VAs come to me for advice about. You know it, you can see it yourself as the most common topic in VA groups too.

I used to get clients wrong.

For a long time I tried to find a shortcut to getting clients. There must be one, right?

And I also tried a lot of very silly ways of getting clients. Ways that I thought were so smart! Like job forums, classified ads, bulletin boards, cold calling, yellow pages.

Now don't get all worked up if this is how you are trying to find clients. I got clients all of those ways. But it was HARD.

And you might think that when you hear me saying that you need to have daily business conversations with people that THAT is hard - and it might be, to start.

But, it will yield you more clients than the other way. You will not have to work as hard - that's my promise to you!

Why do I know this? Because I've done both, and I can tell you that networking is more successful.

Because I've taught VAs just like you to network, and they get clients too.

It takes some work, some decisions, and some support, but you can do it.

The main thing you want to do is to get people on a sales conversation. You might call it a discovery call, but it's in place to make a sale.

And that's what I want to talk to you about today.

Getting the client.

It's not enough to get them on the phone or zoom call. You want to get the client.

And that starts with listening.

So many VAs do not listen. They think the sales conversation is to make a pitch.

NO! Stop pitching.

If I can give you one piece of advice to get clients, it's to stop pitching them!

A sales pitch is to persuade someone to buy something - you plan a presentation, you present it, and you attempt to close a sale.

And although on a sales conversation we would like it to end up with a client signing with us, it's not the key goal.

We need to see whether we can help them - that's all!

If we can't, we move along to someone else.

We don't have to persuade them to do anything.

We connect, we listen to their needs, we see if we are a good fit service wise, personality wise and budget wise. If we are, bravo!

If not, it's okay.

Detaching yourself from the outcome of a sales conversation is one of the best pieces of advice I can give you.

It's one of the most valuable piece of advice I've ever been given.

I used to worry about getting sales conversations all the time. Because I was so nervous to get a no.

I thought if I got a no I had failed.

Nothing could be further from the truth!

Now, yes, you should want to qualify your people before you get on a phone call with them. You don't want tire kickers and inquiries to fill up your day.

When you get a qualified prospect on the phone everything is easier.

And when you are networking with the right people, you will get the right people jumping on the phone with you.

You can prepare all the stuff you want to say, but if you don't treat is like a conversation, you are shooting yourself in the foot.

No one wants to be sold to - even if they are shopping for something.

I remember going up the escalator in one of our local Sears stores - and at the top of the stairs was the electronics department, and the toy department. When the escalator reached the top, my dad would always say 'here are the vultures' because the guys in suits would be standing right there facing the escalator, ready to sell you something.

Sales gets a bad rap because people think they need to make a sale.

Stop worrying about the sale and concentrate on the conversation.

Who is this person? What is their business? What do they have a problem with? What do they want help with? What is their budget?

Ask them questions that are related to the services you offer - or in general about their business. Then let them talk.

Listen to what they say, how they say it.

Keep the conversation on target - but let them do most of the talking.

Under no circumstances should you be offering detailed solutions, no screensharing. They get the details when they work with you - and pay you.

A failed sales conversation is one where you give them the solution to their problem for free.

A failed sales conversation is not one where someone says no.

Focus on what they need - and whether you can help them.

Showcase your value by asking thoughtful and professional questions, and then letting them know that's exactly what you do to help your clients.

Positioning yourself as an expert goes a long way in being a professional VA.

The client will hear your confidence in your voice, and they need to feel confident that spending their money with you will be worth it.

Don't try to convince anyone of anything. Tell them you can see they need someone to help them with xyz - and that you could be that person if they want, but that it's okay if they don't choose you. (this actually works)

So here is my long list of things that you need to do to get the client every time on your sales conversations - luckily they are all very easy to do!

Use a checklist - without question this will be your greatest tool. It helps you to stay on track, collect all the information you need, and make sure you don't miss anything you want to ask the client.

Keep on time - sales conversations should be SHORT - I book mine for 15 minutes. You might need 30 but don't go longer than that. There is absolutely nothing that you need to talk about that should take you more than 30 minutes. If you are doing sales conversations longer than that, what are you doing on them? I'm guessing you are giving the client the solutions to their problems. Stop doing that. You are losing a sale.

Keep on topic - asking questions is important to keep the topic of conversation front and centre. Don't be afraid to say to the client, I'm going to stop you there for a minute - I want to make sure I'm understanding you correctly - and then paraphrase what they are saying to bring the topic back to where you need it.

Ask pointed questions - like I said earlier, create the questions you need the answers to - the ones that will lead directly to 'that's exactly how I help my clients'.

Assure them you can help - remind them at every stage that you can help them. And if you can't, be sure to clarify those parts too. The client can make an informed decision if they know that you can help them with their most pressing issues.

No screensharing or solving issues 'right now' - if you are doing this, you are losing the client. They will not see value in what you charge for if you provide it for free on a consult. If they have an issue with Mailchimp, ask them to describe it - say no to a screenshare 'that's not what this call is for, that's how I work with my clients' but you can tell them to describe so you can let them know if you can help them or not.

If they ask you what do you charge, tell them you need to know what they need first - and then you can talk about budget. Use the word budget all the time through the conversation. It puts the money topic squarely into their lap because it's THEIR budget, not YOUR rate that is the challenge.

Practice your sales conversation. Like anything, practice makes perfect. Don't practice with a colleague. Practice with real, live potential clients. Trust me. Nothing will make you better at these than doing it live.

Know your services inside and out. Know your rates inside and out. And estimate the work they can get for their budget right on the call.

Ask for the sale at the end or in the middle of the call even - how does that sound? I can't tell you how many sales I lost because I was to nervous to ask for the sale - I sheepishly sent a proposal and then sometimes didn't even follow up.

You have to know that if you are a good fit, it's your job to make sure the client sees that, and gets excited about working with you.

No more, no less. You don't have to convince anyone, or educate anyone, or push anyone, or persuade anyone of anything.

They may be hesitant to spend money - but if you show them the value then they will make the right decision. If they aren't ready, then they simply aren't ready.

If you know that you have done all you can to show your value then you have done your job.

And every time you do a sales conversation you will do better at it.

And finally, do not focus on selling. Focus on helping. Focus on fit. Focus on budget.

If a client's budget is too low for what you are discussing, work with them on it. 'Here are the things we can do for that budget'.

Answer all of their questions to the best of your ability. If you don't know something, be honest. People love honesty.

Master your sales conversation - Be confident. Be professional.

Turn down clients that will not be a good fit. You will regret it if you say yes to someone that you kind of know isn't good for you.

Above all don't let the outcome of a call affect you if you did everything right.

A client is ready when they are ready. And sometimes a no is just a no for now. You'll be able to tell the difference very soon.

Detach yourself from the outcome of the call but definitely make sure you have followed your checklist and covered all of your bases.

This is exactly what I help VAs do. As a VA coach and trainer, I help you set yourself up for success on a sales conversation, helping you find the people you should be helping and deciding what you need to say to them. And, when we work together, I will help you reach out those people so you can get clients.

I'll help you get clarity around it all, and cheer you on as you walk through the steps to do it.

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 in starting your journey today.

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

Today we are going to talk about how to talk about what you do. This is a big sticking point for a lot of VAs, and it actually keeps them from networking.

Today we are talking about how to talk about what you do.

This comes up when you are networking, but it also comes up anytime someone asks you what you do.

I still struggle with answering this question well sometimes.

Why? Because a lot of the people who ask me what I do are personal connections - and the topic seems very big. I have to tell them I teach virtual assistants. What if they don't know what a virtual assistant is? They aren't going to be a virtual assistant so why should I bore them with the description of what a VA does?

I'm sure you have been in exactly the same situation.

So what happens? You either stammer out a few words that don't really sound like you know what you are talking about, or the opposite - you get that verbal diarrhea and just keeping talking as you try to poorly describe what you do for your clients. Their eyes glaze over, and you are certain they are thinking they wish they didn't ask you the question to begin with.

We also sometimes get fixated on making what we do sound interesting and that sometimes doesn't work out the way we want it to either.

Talking about ourselves is hard for a lot of us. I'd rather talk about someone else all day long than pump my own tires, and I'm guessing you feel the same way.

So when someone asks us what do you do? It can feel like we need to brush it aside in favour of a more comfortable subject.

But we shouldn't! What we do is very important, and actually very interesting to a lot of people.

They do have questions, and many of them are genuinely curious to know how it all works.

Let's get into how to answer that question better.

First let's talk about elevator pitches.

I very much dislike the standard elevator pitch. I even have a training called Ditch the Elevator Pitch and Get More Clients!

They have their place, but so many people just simply do them wrong and it makesit painful for everyone around them.

The good news is if you hate them too, I'll teach you a better way!

The reason I think elevator pitches just don't work is that anyone who learns how to 'write' one or 'recite' one is taught to hit on all the points they want their audience to know, in a short sentence.

And so we try to pack our name, title, company name, and everything we can possibly do into one run on sentence. it doesn't sound natural or interesting.

The time limit to recite it is usually one minute, or sometimes 2 minutes. That makes it a whole minute long run on sentence, and the audience is left trying to follow your whole thought just to keep up.

It's uncomfortable for everyone. The person reciting it, trying to make sure they don't miss anything, and the person listening, who is trying to make sure they understand it.

Further to that, if the audience in not full of their target client (or if they don't have a target client) then the VA sometimes blurts out something too general, and it wont' land with anyone.

Hi my name is Tracey D'Aviero and my company is called XYZ VAs. I am a virtual assistant who specializes in helping small business owners with their marketing tasks like newsletters and blog posts, so they can get more visibility for their business using a variety of online platforms. Working with a VA will save you time and money.

Okay so that's way number 1 to NOT answer the question what do you do?

Here's the other one: I'm a Virtual Assistant.

I can't tell you how many VAs answer the question what do you do with those four words.

In my opinion, both of these are just plain wrong.

When you are speaking with someone (anyone) about what you do, think one word: conversation.

You don't need to cover everything in one big breath.

Break it up, make it interesting, and above all make it conversational.

When someone asks what you do, say this:

I am a virtual assistant who helps health professionals (or whatever you target market is) market their businesses (or whatever one of your services is).

Then stop. Or, then add 'what do you do?'

Either way you are inviting conversation about a very simple topic.

I usually use exactly this tactic if I am meeting someone for the first time. I am a virtual assistant coach and trainer that helps women set up their own business. What do you do?

If I know the person I say I am a virtual assistant coach and trainer that helps women set up and market their own business.

Sometimes that starts a conversation, sometimes it doesn't.

But for sure, It's enough as an answer.

We need to remember that not everyone is looking to purchase our services, and as a result, they don't all need to hear everything that we do in our business.

Sometimes they are just being curious.

In a business networking situation, they are probably being more than curious, but still they may not be in need of a VA right then.

So enter the conversation. Questions. Answers. Back and forth. You learn a little something about them, they learn a little something about you. That's networking.

Can you help them with their business? Can they help you with yours?

That's all you are really to figure out!

And yes, that leads us back to today's quote.

Zig Ziglar was a master of sales. I worked at a sales job for a small courier company many years ago and we were very well trained. We were strategic, we worked target markets, and we closed sales. It was a fun job despite the fact that we needed to sell our service, every single day.

And I remember we followed Tony Robbins and Zig Ziglar. They were huge in the 90s. Sales trainings!

But despite the fact that Zig was definitely a salesman, this quote describes our service industry so well.

You can have everything in life you want if you just help enough other people get what they want.

Helping others. It's what we do! It's the very basic principle of being a VA.

So to get what we want, we need to help as many clients as we can (or want to)

How do we know if we can help someone?

Conversations!

Learn to describe what you do so it makes sense to people. Invite them to have conversations with you.

Can you help them? Yes. Then start helping them.

Can they help you? Maybe! If they can't be your client, can they refer other people who you can help?

If you can't help them, can you refer someone else who can? Then you are helping 2 people.

Take it from Zig ... and me.

Answer the question 'what do you do' better, and it will change your business!

This is exactly what I help VAs do. As a VA coach and trainer, I help you find the words that describe what you do, and help you find the people that you should be talking to. And, when we work together, I will help you reach out those people so you an get clients.

I'll help you get clarity around it all, and cheer you on as you walk through the steps to do it.

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 in starting your journey today.

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

Today we are going to talk about how choosing a niche for your VA business can help explode your success, among other things.

If you want to explode your VA business, you need to get focused.

Not just on the work you do, but on the marketing side of things.

A lot of Virtual Assistants don't like the idea of a niche, or a target market - but it really is the key to getting lots of great clients, with less effort.

Let's begin with defining what a niche is.

Niche and target market are similar. but they are not interchangeable terms.

A target market is a group of people that you choose to focus on - to network with, to market your business to.

Targeting a group of people that have common needs is smart because it means that you can talk to a group of people instead of finding one person at a time.

For instance, if you decide that you want to support podcasters, you will find large groups of them to spend your time with. Why? Because they all need the same services. So that means when you have a conversation with one of them, it can be heard by many of them.

In traditional networking, we talk about connecting one to one with people. That scares a lot of VAs because it can mean that you do a lot of talking - something that some VAs shy away from.

But if you are networking with similar people, say in a Facebook group, then when you answer a question that one of them has, you can answer it and hundreds (or more) of them will see that answer.

Like VAs, many business owners do not speak up in groups - they don't talk about their struggles or problems - but they will respond to you if someone else asks the question, sometimes privately, or sometimes as a comment in the conversation.

In short, target marketing is good.

A niche can also be a target market. A niche is a group of people who need the same services (as each other).

But a niche can also BE the service you are providing. You can 'niche down' your services so that you are offering something very specific, for different types of business owners.

So for instance, maybe you offer Pinterest management. You can provide that for lots of different clients, but it's a specialized service offering. You don't offer support or management of 'all' social media platforms - you are upleveling yourself and standing out as a specialist.

Why is choosing a niche necessary?

Because it helps you to become a specialist - whether that means you are a specialist who supports podcasters, or you are a Pinterest specialist.

And becoming a specialist means that you can market yourself accordingly.

You can set your rates higher. You can create content that is very specific. You can work in your brilliance. You can do what you love. You can build a business that allows you to work when you want.

Let's go on the podcast idea for a moment to illustrate this.

if you offer podcast management, you will learn all of the things that you need to know to be a master podcast producer or manager.

What are those things?

For a solo podcaster: - topic research - recording - audio editing - show notes - transcripts - podcast audio storage - podcast uploading and publishing - promotion items creation (blog, audiograms, graphics, social media) - marketing of podcast (ie emails, blog posts, social media channels) - reporting

And for a podcast that has guests, all of the above as well as: - guest research/acquisition - set up and management of booking form/guest intake form - scheduling - collection of guest contact info and - promotional content sharing - reminders to promote when episode airs - follow up as necessary - You get the idea. There are SO many tasks that go along with every episode of a podcast, and a lot of podcasters do weekly episodes.

And so how does this help you? You set the deadlines (often far in advance, at least a couple of weeks, sometimes more) - and you can then set your schedule any way you like to complete the work.

It's one of those services that doesn't keep you chained to your computer 9-5 - and that's the first mark of specializing your services.

You can even do podcast setups - which include tons of tasks that are one-off projects.

Anyway you see how it works - and podcasting is not the only niche that allows you to build your business this way.

Find the clients that need ongoing high level services and you can pick your niche.

Let's get back now to Andrew Davis's quote: Commit to a niche. Stop trying to be everything to everyone.

This is extremely common for Virtual Assistants - never wanting to say no, and then doing things they don't want to be doing. Some VAs think that they are supposed to do whatever a client asks them to do, simply because that's the nature of our experience.

I remember coming back to my desk and checking my inbox (literally, the box on my desk!) to see what else needed doing. Over the years this moved to the email inbox - and now it has moved into project management systems too.

If you allow your clients to add projects and tasks and deadlines to your project management system, you are acting like their employee.

You can definitely let them add tasks (it saves time - and if you get a client who likes to log into the project management system, that can be a good thing) - but YOU set the deadlines - and the lead times.

Remember always that you are an admin specialist -whether you call yourself that or not, you need to act like one.

The client requests the work - you can accept it turn it down - and they can tell you when they need it by, but you can also accept that or turn it down.

The way to get around this is to ensure that your client is very aware of the lead times involved with every task you do for them, as well as what they need to provide to you and when you will turn the work around.

I've told you before of my client who I told needed 24 hours notice for all work to be done. She consistently sent me an email on a Wednesday at 11 am and tell me it needed to go out on Thursday at 11 am. That's not quite how it works, and that is on me for not explaining it well enough and holding the boundaries in place.

We need to be really clear with our clients - and that's what specialists do.

One of the biggest issues with working with multiple clients is that we try to turn things around much too quickly, and that can become unsustainable when we get more and more clients.

So you have to set them clearly from the start - or now, if you are already working with clients.

Being a specialist, and not acting like an employee, means that you get comfortable with talking about things like that. And working with them daily.

Getting back to the podcast niche, you can tell your client that to get a podcast published on March 1st, you need the content recorded by February 15th. You can decide when you do that huge list of things I mentioned earlier - they can be done whenever you want, because you are allowing yourself enough time to do them.

I still work regular business hours, but I don't want someone giving me 24 hours notice to get their podcast done. I'm a specialist, so I am in demand and I need more lead time.

Do you see why choosing a niche is necessary? It helps you build a business that can give you a lifestyle of your choosing.

If you want more time with your kids, if you want more money, if you want to build a team, if you want to work from anywhere, or just travel there, whatever you want.

It pays to be a specialist. It pays to pick a niche.

And it's easy too - you just need to choose!

When you are deciding who to work with, or what service to offer, you can start with who you want to work with, or the industry they work with or in, you can start with the services you want to do.

The services are the important part for your lifestyle, of course.

Do some research to see what kinds of clients need great VAs - and what services they need that you can provide.

And then pick. Easy!

Now the last piece is something that I have to constantly talk to VAs about - it's about working only with the clients you choose as your niche/target.

The biggest reason that VAs do not want to niche down is that they think they are going to be turning down clients who want them to work with them.

Well, yes, you will. But when you are marketing to and networking with the right clients for you, that won't matter anymore - you will have SO many clients.

Really great clients - that you want to work with. That will be desperate to work with you, and will want to pay you.

When you stay in the poverty mindset (that is where you are when you don't want to do what you need to do 'in case'), you are only making things more difficult for yourself..

Go to where the clients are that you WANT to serve. Never mind the other ones - there are plenty of VAs who will help them.

You will be too busy building your amazing business, and living your amazing lifestyle.

For real!

Stop trying to be everything to everyone. It simply doesn't work. Be the best to a select group who needs you, and wants you.

This is exactly what I help VAs do. As a VA coach and trainer, I help you find those services, and create the marketing messages, and find the groups of people, and talk to them, and get those clients.

I'll help you get clarity around it all, and cheer you on as you walk through the steps to do it.

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 in starting your journey today.

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

Hey there, welcome to another episode of the podcast that teaches you how to be a ridiculously good virtual assistant.

Today we are going to talk about your qualifications to be a ridiculously good VA

Quote: Do what you do so well that they will want to see it again and bring their friend. - Walt Disney

A classic quote that definitely describes going to Disney. They do what they do well - and you can too - and that's what I want to talk to you about today. Let's go!

So Walt Disney says you need to be so good they want to come back. That's exactly true for any service based business, not just for a theme park. It's because they are happy, of course. Happy customers are the key to a successful business - any business, but of course, your VA business.

How do we make sure our customers are happy?

Lots of ways - but the simplest one I can think of is to do what you know how to do.

Common complaints from business owners about VAs include:

pretending to be something they are not too much hand holding needed not enough industry knowledge lack of communication level of professionalism

Now don't worry, we VAs have a list of things that clients do wrong too!

But this is really important information to know, when it comes to your VA business.

So that's why I say I think the easiest way to make your clients rave about you is to do what you know how to do.

If you have general admin experience -guess what? You are qualified to be a great VA.

You don't need to start there and learn something else.

Every single business owner in the world needs general admin work done in their business. And they should be outsourcing that business so they can focus on what it is that they do best - working in their brilliance with their clients.

Enter Virtual Assistants.

It's what we do. It's what we specialize in. It's what you specialize in.

I talk to a lot of new VAs every day - but also a lot of women who are just checking out our industry - and one of the biggest misconceptions I have to clear up for them is that "i need to learn xyz to get VA clients'.

Nope, you don't. You already know what clients need - from your work experience in an admin role.

Now, if you don't have admin experience, then you have to take training.

Or, if you were a receptionist and you didn't do a lot of admin work, same thing.

But most of us who are starting our VA businesses are doing so after working for a period of time (sometimes a long period of time) in an admin role, and we know that we can work with multiple clients to help them as a freelance VA.

If you aspire to be a social media VA, or a podcaster's VA, or a course creator's VA, you can. But you need to get money coming in to your VA business first. And the easiest way to do that is doing what you know right now.

My best advice is to start with what you know now - if I asked you what you could help me with today, what would you say? There must be something. Customer service? Email management? Scheduling? Those are probably the top 3 general admin services I hear that new VAs can provide.

And if you tell me that you can do that for me, then it's clear to me that you are capable and we can start working together today.

If I asked you questions about how we could work together to do any of those things, you could tell me. And I as a potential client would be confident that you could help me with what I need done.

I would see the value in spending money to work with you.

But if you tell me that you are taking some training to do this, that or the other, or that you are a brand new VA, and you are willing to learn, or that you are a quick study and you could look after whatever I asked, I would not have the same confidence in you.

I would not see the value in spending my money to work with you today. I would call someone else.

VAs are shooting themselves in the foot every day because of what they THINK the clients need.

Here's the big news: if you think that all business owners need social media, so that's what you need to learn ... guess what? They don't.

I know several people in my local town who run multi million dollar business - and they don't need social media support. You know what they need? General admin support. Bookkeeping.

Where are you seeing that people need social media as their top service? You're seeing it on social media! That's what you think that.

And that's why a lot of clients think that's all VAs do.

And because the clients don't understand it, they don't see the value in it. And so it will take them longer to spend their money on it.

This is my point - that whatever a client decided to place value on is what they decide to spend their money on.

What is valuable to them is worth their money.

So that's what you need to figure out - and it's why I always tell you that you should choose a target market. Because it helps you with that value part.

If you say I do customer service and research and reports and data entry and business presentations, that may make sense to you but it may not be appealing at all to people who are seeing you.

But if you choose target market of say, course creators, then you can say that you help with researching their course materials, you upload their course materials into their systems and test them, that you can do their new student or client onboarding, that you can find course content for them, and you can create their course handouts and resources - do you see the difference that makes in getting noticed by a potential who needs support?

And it's the same thing - it's just getting more specific with describing what you can do for them.

It helps you to get clearer on their specific needs - and that's where they place their value.

They will see that you understand their business - their industry - and that you won't be one of those VAs that I talked about earlier - that they don't really feel is a good fit.

So when I tell you that you are already qualified to be a ridiculously good VA, it's because you are.

Draw on your previous work experience. All of your experiences, actually.

When I work privately with a VA, or in my group programs too - I get them to do what I call my Skills Inventory.

It's an exercise that reminds you of all of the stuff you know.

Quite often when we are thinking about what we know how to do for clients, we just think about our most recent job or role.

But you know wayyyy more than that. To do the skills inventory, go back to the very first job you ever had. What did you do there? What did you learn? What skills are transferrable to a business. Then go to the next job, and the next, and the next.

What education do you have? What courses have you taken?

What volunteer work have you done? What else have you learned - online or otherwise?

And finally what are your hobbies? You can incorporate your hobbies into your business too.

When you look at this whole inventory you will see how much you can actually do now. When I first did this exercise for myself, I had forgotten so many things that I had learned, or that I loved to do.

Everything you know is what makes you unique - and it's what makes your business unique.

You are more than qualified to have clients hire you. You don't need to learn about Facebook ads or how to edit videos for Instagram reels, you don't need to do something brand new.

It's hard enough to be a brand new business owner - confidence-wise - so give yourself a break with your services. Do what you know.

And like I said, if you want to take training and be a social media expert, do it after you already have your business up and running, money coming in. You can change your services to whatever you want. You can change your target market. You can change your rates. Everything. But it's easiest to start with where you are.

When you are comfortable having business conversations and networking, the confidence comes through.

I often record the coaching calls I do with my VAs and I can show them exactly where their voice changes in a call, when they are describing what they do. When they are trying to convince me of something, they look away from the camera, they use too many words, they stumble on what they are trying to say. But when I ask them a question about what they do know, they settle right in. Their voice gets louder, they look right at me, and they can describe the process easily and confidently.

THAT's what you want your clients to hear. That's what will make them feel comfortable and trust that you can help them with their business.

Remember their business is very important to them - and so is their money. They want to believe that you can help them. They have no way to do that if you don't assure them.

That's why working in your brilliance is key.

Also, it's easier! While I am a perpetual learner, I definitely don't want to have to learn something new every time I try to complete a task.

When you are doing things that are new to you, that's sometimes the case.

I remember trying to learn how to do Facebook ads. It was the most frustrating thing in the world, I definitely didn't know what I was doing, but my client had heard that she 'needed' them, and it seemed pretty simple. Not only did I not have any idea what I was doing, so I spent a lot of her billable time learning and testing ... but I also spent her other money on clicks and ad revenue (which I had no confidence in doing).

But you know what? There are a lot of VAs who DO know how to do Facebook ads - and they charge accordingly, and they actually can help their client get results. That's a referral to me.

There are so many reasons that you should stick to what you know, but my biggest message for you today is to do it because you CAN.

Don't be one of those VAs who thinks that you need to learn something to start your business. You don't. You are creating more stress for yourself.

Here's what to do instead:

Target a group of clients that you know you could help today.

Determine exactly how you can help them and describe the value they will get from working with you today.

Connect with a lot of them, and help them today.

Your business will grow immediately - today. I promise!

And don't forget, one happy client will tell their friends about you - and that's exactly why Walt Disney says to do what you do well.

Starting with what you know and showcasing your expertise to your clients right now is something we can work on together in 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.

If you need some help with figuring out what you do best, reach out to me at [email protected]

I've helped hundreds of VAs through their challenges and got them on their way to growing their business through my private and group coaching. I'd love to do the same for you.

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

Today we are going to talk about business.

When we start our VA business, it becomes very personal to us. It's the most personal thing we can own in the business sphere. But business is business, it's not personal, and it's important to keep that in mind as we move through it. Let's go!

You have probably heard me say more than once that business is business, it's not personal.

Michael Corleone said it in The Godfather series and I agree.

When we let our emotions dictate business decisions or communications or boundaries, we can be heading for problems.

Is there a place for being personal? Sure there is. We'll talk a bit more about that later.

But right now I want to talk about some of the times that it is important to keep business in mind.

Virtual Assistants often mistake a client making a business decision, or saying something they don't like, or questioning something they have said or done as a personal insult.

Especially as we progress into our relationship with our clients, we get to know each other a bit better.

We might relax some of the things that we initially set up, and then we feel like we are being taken advantage of.

It's these times that I want to address in this episode.

Boundaries

We set boundaries in place for a reason. it is to make sure that both you and your client have their expectations set about how you work together.

The more access you give a client, the more they will want, or use. The faster you respond to them, the faster they will expect your next response to be.

If you let your clients step on or cross your boundaries once, they will push them again. They may not even intend to - but you will have blurred their expectations.

And it happens very quickly that we then get frustrated with those clients, and it feels like they might be taking advantage of us.

You must reiterate the boundaries and hold to them in order for the clients expectations to be managed properly. Most clients aren't trying to annoy us, but they do so when they think something is not a big deal.

I had a client for 7 years and she knew I started work at 9:30 every morning. My husband had some commitments in a particular week and so I was getting an early start because we needed to be out in the afternoon. So I replied to one of her emails at 7 am. ONE day I did this. The next day she sent me an email at 7 am and asked me to schedule it to go out at 9 am. When I said no, she said well yesterday you responded to me at 7 am, so I thought you were working early. After 7 years of working together, the expectation became blurred.

Me saying no to the 'request' was resetting the boundary. But the client took it personally because we were close. I took it personally because my schedule was being changed due to my personal commitments. But the bottom line was it was a business request - and neither one of us should have taken it personally to be asked or denied.

Incidentally, I have never emailed another client outside of business hours since then. Gmail scheduling for the win!

Communication

Communication is one of the biggest areas that get misinterpreted between a VA and a client.

A brief email that causes a misunderstanding or error. A million texts when you don't really use it as a communication method, but you answered your client once that way so now they prefer it.

The words we use to communicate with our clients, and they with us, often are the biggest source of us feeling personally affected. Someone is curt, or cold, or brief, or even angry.

Email sucks at times like this, let's face it. And if someone is not a good communicator, that can cause a lot of stress in a business relationship.

Is it you? If you constantly have to ask for clarification on things, you may begin to think it's you. Often it's not. A busy client may not be able to articulate what they need because they think you can.

Your communication methods are key as well - you need to make sure that the client uses your preferred methods, not theirs.

I once had a client send me 83 emails over the weekend. She would pop an email off to me when she thought of something she wanted me to do. And some of the emails were her changing her mind on something she had previously sent. This particular Monday morning I lost it when I saw my inbox. I couldn't believe she had wasted so much of my time. I addressed it with her that day - she had NO idea she had sent so many (how? who knows) and was genuinely shocked - I let her go anyway.

You must find a way for your client to communicate the proper information to you for every project so you can correct this and move on. Whether that is a project management task request, or a google form - get the details you need and eliminate unnecessary back and forth. It's one of the biggest culprits of the business versus personal argument.

Money

When a client questions your invoice, or the work you say you have done, this can definitely be a time to think it's a personal attack on you - you're not dishonest or untrustworthy.

And so when clients question things, we can jump to the defensive. What you should actually do is try to figure out why the client is asking you for such detail or clarification.

Did something take longer than they expected? If so, why was the anticipated time not communicated at the start of the project? With VAs, time is money. All tasks should be assigned an estimated time to complete.

I have worked with VAs who didn't work nearly as quickly as I did. Often in corporate jobs, we aren't worried about how long it takes to do something - but as VAs we need to be. Working efficiently and quickly is the name of the game.

People do work different ways - work pace is so important - but you are always working with the clients money.

I have always set a limit of 2 hours for ANYTHING I do for a client before checking in with them about it. Research especially is important. I have seen VAs go down huge rabbit holes claiming they needed to - and charging 10 hours to a client for some simple research.

So these are the reasons that YOUR client might be questioning you - because they have been burned by money before.

Now of course many time the client is the wrong one - they think something shouldn't take as long as it did - and it does. It's hard not to lay blame, but this is where some really solid procedures come in handy.

You need to be sure that the client understands what you can do in their estimated time each month, and that you are always communicating that clearly. If you are doing something for the first time, or starting to work with a new client, make sure you give them estimates so they have some idea.

And always keep them up to date on how much of their budget you have used per month. It's a professional way of handling their money that they will appreciate, and they will build trust with you much sooner - no more nickeling and diming!

Deadlines and Availability

Your client's lack of planning doesn't make anything an emergency for you.

Everything you do should have a deadline set for completion- and proper lead time associated with it.

I used to have a client that I billed 1 hour to send out their weekly newsletter. The newsletter was to be sent out at 11 am on Thursdays. I would very often receive the newsletter at 10 am Thursdays. Their reasoning was that I only needed an hour to do it, and that I knew it had to be sent out at 11, so I should be able to get it done.

How cocky that sounds! But it was really just a miscommunication - and a fractured deadline and lead time process.

We needed to have a discussion about scheduling and buffer times for things like editing, approval, creating images, and so on.

Maybe I billed them an hour for the newsletter, but maybe I created my images on Tuesdays, and they had missed that deadline. Maybe I wanted to send them the draft on Wednesday, so they had time to send edits and then I only needed 15 minutes on Thursday morning at 8 am to schedule it to go out on time. But without the actual content for the week, those things were impossible.

And so I, begrudgingly, actually blocked out that hour in my calendar, expecting it - and did it last minute for months. Until I just didn't. I decided to discuss it with them and let them know I needed more lead time.

It was eye opening for them and we fixed it immediately after our discussion, but this was after months of me rushing at the last minute. I felt they were taking advantage of me, and they had no idea they were, or at least that was their story they stuck to!

I also had another client who I told I needed at 24 hours notice for every work request so I could schedule her work properly into my calendar. She would literally send me everything 24 hours ahead. Wednesday at 4 pm delivery of pieces, please schedule it for Thursday at 4 pm. Some people are quite literal - it's not personal at all.

Task List

And finally, the things you do for people. Scope creep is a big thing that falls under business not being personal.

You don't want to say no so you say yes, but you really don't want to. You hold it again the client because you feel like their yes man. And you are!

But once again, much of the time this is because you haven't clarified where your scope of work starts and ends. If you do this, and hold to it, you won't be the yes man (or woman).

Now, sometimes we have clients who think we SHOULD be doing everything they ask. If they have ever had an assistant, that could be why. Or they could just be a jerk. Either way, it's not personal - they are conducting business.

I had lots of clients who just kept piling things onto my desk. Most of the time I kept on going with it, and many times I was not happy about it. But when I learned to define and hold my scope of work in place, things became so much easier.

So then when we say no, it's the client who then takes it personally. They need help, they don't have anyone else, and they feel slighted. It happens!

And it's their turn to not take their business personally. It's just time to find someone else to do that particular task. Really simple: That's not something I do. Let's find someone else to do that.

I had a client once who was located in California. I told her we could work together because our work days would overlap. At 1 pm my time, it was her morning. So she didn't need to feel like she would never hear from me. She misunderstood and decided that every day at 1 pm we would work 'together'. Nope. That was a big one I had to correct fast.

Anyway you can see what I'm getting at here.

A lot of times we feel like someone is insulting us or taking advantage of us, or judging us, and it's really not that way at all.

It's important to take a few steps back and look at the facts.

This can be hard to see on your own- if you have a trusted colleague or community that you can check in with, it's easier to get some support. Not the VAs groups with clients in them though!

And the more you do it, the more you will build that muscle.

No one is trying to upset you - most of the time - they are just trying to trudge through their business the same way you are.

When you make sure you address the issue, you can fix it.

Or you will realize that the client is not a good fit for you.

Either way, it's still not personal, it's business.

I agree, the saying itself is quite trite. But the more you learn to work with it the better you can handle things that don't go quite the way you expected them to.

Now when should you get personal in business?

When you are beginning to build a relationship with your client. You are building trust with them and vice versa.

When you are moving towards goals. Everything you do in business will get you what you want in your personal life. That's definitely personal.

When you are writing or collecting testimonials. Those are all about feelings.

When you are creating content for your website or your social media. People are buying YOU as a service provider, and a quick way for them to know whether they can work with you comes through in your personality.

There's a place for it - but it's not in the areas of conflict I've described in this episode.

To me it's a very distinct line - I hope after this episode,\ you now think it is too!

Go be you, and put on that CEO hat when you need to. You won't regret it!

Handling boundaries, managing expectations, smoothing out conflict and other touchy things is something we can work on together in 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 run your VA business that much better.

If you need some help with putting on your business CEO hat, reach out to me at [email protected]

I've helped hundreds of VAs through their challenges and got them on their way to growing their business through my private and group coaching. I'd love to do the same for you.

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

Welcome to another episode of the podcast that teaches you how to be a ridiculously good virtual assistant.

Today we are going to talk about raising your rates the right way.

Quote: Your most important sale is to sell yourself to yourself. - Maxwell Maltz

Very hard to find a quote about raising rates - with inflation and all of the industries that got nailed by the pandemic, everything has gone up in price, including service industries. So I've gone with Maxwell Maltz's quote here today because it's so important to be confident with your rates. If you believe that what you are charging is what you are worth, that will come through in your confidence in your sales conversations, which is essential to getting that client. Let's go!

Today I want to talk about raising your rates.

It's a common conversation in VA circles, I think we are always wondering if our rates are 'right'. I know that a lot of VAs I work with think their rates are fine where they are, and I think they are too low.

When I work with you, I will almost always suggest raising your rates, but I'll never force you to! At the end of the day, it's your choice - but every decision in your business is easier when you are charging appropriately.

Remember you are running a business, and it's important to build a foundation that you can build on.

One of the most common times I will suggest raising your rates is when you are trying to bring subcontractors in to work with you.

Your rates need to support paying someone else to do the work for the clients - not all of the work of course - you also have to allow for your admin time to manage the client and the sub.

But of course there are all kinds of reasons that you might want to raise your rates - in this episode we will talk about several of them.

Raising your rates is something we can work on together in 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 get revenue coming in and running a better business.

If you need some help with setting or raising your rates, reach out to me at [email protected]

I've helped hundreds of VAs through their challenges and got them on their way to growing their business through my private and group coaching. I'd love to do the same for you.

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

Today we are going to talk about accountability and the very important role it plays in your VA business.

Running your VA business takes a lot of time and effort - and when we are working on our own it's easy to let ourselves off the hook for stuff that should be getting done. We'll talk about why all VAs need an accountability partner in today's episode. Let's go!

Getting things done is what we do, as Virtual Assistants.

For other people.

When was the last time someone asked you to do something (a client) and you didn't do it?

Well, actually that's not always the case - but in general - when a client asks you to do something, we give that thing priority, don't we?

They are paying us, after all, and so we need to make sure that we do what they need done.

Motivation isn't always that hard when someone else is requesting.

But what about ourselves? There are lots of things that we need to do in our business, or for ourselves - but because we are solopreneurs - we work alone - no one is there (proverbially) kicking our butt. Holding us to our deadlines. To our plans. To the things we say we need to get done. That we want to get done.

On our own, motivation can be hard.

With no one to push us, we can let things go by the wayside, and just think we'll get to it later.

We can get distracted by many things. Our focus shifts to something else., maybe something more interesting, or maybe more fun, or maybe something that is less work.

There is a lot of pressure to do all the things.

When we worked in a corporate job, someone else was the one who was telling us what to do and when - and making sure that the team deadlines got met. We just had to do our part.

But we have to do that for ourselves now.

As a matter of fact, every single day I talk to VAs who are having trouble prioritizing.

What happens mostly is that they can't figure out how to manage multiple clients - isn't everyone's 'stuff' a priority? How do we manage that?

That's just one of the things that we have to think about in our business.

And it's yet another thing that we need to learn how to do well.

When the things we need to get done are for us, it can be hard. It can be much easier to push them side.

Hello, procrastination.

As a result, we set goals that we don't reach, we build bad habits and we generally are less successful because we aren't doing the things we need to do in our business to reach the level of success that we say we want.

Accountability is about doing what you say you want to do.

Accountability is the actual act of making sure that something gets done. If you say it should be done, then it needs to get done.

How can we get things done better?

With accountability - having someone help you stay on track.

Before we talk about who can help you, let's talk about the actual 'things' you aren't getting done.

First you have to decide what you want to get done. It could be a task, a habit, a routine, a mindset shift - so many things.

Next you have to set in place the steps to get it done. When we are talking about tasks, we put them on a to do list. But it doesn't stop there. For habits, we need to find out when is our best time to do it, and the frequency we need to do it (I always suggest daily!). For routines, we need to find a pocket of time in a day or supplemental things that fit with that routine. For a mindset shift, we need to check in daily, sometimes more often, and build new ways of managing or coping.

The steps are the thing that we need in place to know that we can get 'the thing' done. If we don't know the clear steps, that's where we need to begin. Find someone who can help you map out the steps but get them done.

Then you have to map your progress. And take steps to get to your goal, or complete the 'thing'.

That's what we need to do with everything - and somewhere along the way in these 3 steps, we go off the rails. Maybe all the time.

So the first thing we can do that helps is to tell someone else. It's very documented that telling someone else about what you want to get done helps you focus on it much better than telling no one.

But getting accountability - which is what is even better - is what will help you get better at getting everything done.

We don't need to do anything alone.

I highly suggest having either a person or a group to help you stay accountable in.

When we make the commitment to expanding our circle of trust, it is really awesome.

I personally prefer groups because you get the input of others - but I'd be lost without my accountability partner who I have had for many years. She has also become one of my best friends, but that's another story!

I've worked with a few other accountability partners, and several groups. What you need to do before choosing someone is to vet them. Don't just pick anyone because they are excited and offer.

This is an opportunity for you to find someone who will help you - not just listen to your woes.

So, interview people before you decide. Ask them. What have you done? What are your goals? how long have you been in business? How will our partnership work? You want to make sure you find the right person or group - not just anyone who is excited to get an accountability partner because they want to 'support each other'.

Accountability is much more than just calling each other to ask advice.

It's about making the commitment to be more productive, to implement your strategy, to move your business forward. It's about getting your own support - and using it!

Many people will suggest a stranger, but you will get to know this person very well and they you, so I actually don't think it matters - as long as you set the rules and you make sure you both stick to them.

But do the interviews. Don't just say yes to the first person who comes along. You need someone to at least be moving at the same speed or in the same direction as you. And you need to push each other forward.

The more clients you have, the more important it is to get accountability support. If you are running a team, it's important to get accountability support.

In a group you can work on regular habits, reprioritizing things, getting to the business stuff that you are putting off, managerial issues with your team - so many things. You can easily look after this kind of thing in my monthly mastermind group, The Virtual Circle.

So once you choose someone, how does it all work?

You make a schedule to meet regularly. You write things down. You ask for help. You prioritize your plan. You do not miss your meetings. You are honest with what you have done and what you have not. You look for solutions when you have not done something, not excuses. You help the other person in the same way. You do not let them off the hook. You work with deadlines and lists and strategies. You get feedback on stuff. You give feedback on stuff. You seek out celebrations. And you email or call when you need immediately help or have an immediately celebration. It's not all about hard stuff. It's about the good stuff too, the progress, the good news, the revelations, the ahas, the more money, the more clients, the more productivity, the better business person you are becoming.

In a group you do exactly the same thing. Most groups have regular calls or sessions, and then a community group like a Facebook group for those time sensitive things between calls.

My accountability partner and I meet every two weeks.

My mastermind group meets twice a month and also has a coworking session once a month (talk about getting things done!)

Before long you will know more about each other, about each other's business and you can give genuine, trusted help to each other.

When you have a confidante, a partner, it feels like the things you want to get done are more of a priority. They are given more value because you are sharing them with someone else who is cheering you on.

You will make fewer excuses for not doing stuff - no one wants to look bad.

It's meant to be positive - not negative. If you are struggling with your daily tasks, reach out and get some support - a kind word, a resource, a pat on the back. It really helps!

What do you need help with?

strategy to get clients your bookkeeping processes daily bad habits daily good habits

There are a myriad of things that you can get done. Pick one, find your accountability partner(s) and start working towards it. Then pick another, and move towards that. Start creating better habits one step at a time.

You can do it! Every VA should have an accountability partner or group. Be one of those ones that do!

Getting things done is something we can work on together in 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 prioritize your stuff and start running a better business.

If you need some help with strategy, action steps, getting your marketing or business stuff prioritized, or managing your client or team workload, reach out to me at [email protected]

I've helped hundreds of VAs through their challenges and got them on their way to growing their business through my private and group coaching. I'd love to do the same for you.

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