Occasionally, I receive emails from virtual assistants seeking advice regarding how to start their businesses. I suggest the usual; create a good website, craft a solid business plan, open up social networking accounts and have concrete business policies and contract documents in place but my main piece of advice is to join Virtual Assistant Forums (VAF) www.VirtualAssistantForums.com

And that suggestion is often met with surprise!

My reasoning is simple. When a new virtual assistant joins a community specifically designed for the virtual entrepreneur she/he will find all of the necessary answers to starting a new business. However, VAF is not only a ‘think tank’ for virtual assistants. Through participation, a new virtual assistant will receive the personal and professional support so necessary when jump-starting any new business.

As there is no ‘magic bullet’ to being a successful entrepreneur; there is certainly no reason for a new virtual assistant to go at it alone.

A winning virtual assistant business needs a strong starting point. VAF is available to all virtual assistants right out of the gate; from the sound of the starting bell to the finish line.

Most importantly, VAF is as vital to the continued success of a virtual assistant’s business even when the practice has been established. As the entity grows, an entirely new set of business situations occur. A concrete foundation is key to maintaining the momentum. So a VAF membership is beneficial long after that first client has been signed.

By nature, we are social creatures seeking out others with the same common interests.

Just by ‘being’, we are automatically part of a community called the human race. Within that structure we are part of other communities which centers around being a part of a family. As parents, we become constituents of the clubs we join such as PTA/PTO or Scouting groups. Many are members of our homeowners associations, of weight loss groups, the local gym and of chambers of commerce and hobby clubs. If we patronize stores we become members of a store’s reward and coupon programs. When we own pets we are members of pet-owner communities. It is our nature to gravitate toward each other when we find commonalities.

You may have heard that, “The whole is greater than sum of its parts.” Groups are often capable of producing higher quality work and make better decisions than an individual working entirely alone. So when a virtual assistant posts a problem or a need on VAF, often several members will offer an array of solutions.

Noted American psychologist, William Schutz introduced a theory of interpersonal relations called Firo: A three-dimensional theory of interpersonal behavior, which defined three reasons humans join groups: inclusion, control, and affection.

Without sounding terribly scientific here, a membership to VAF fulfills all three of these needs. VAs can feel included by participating in discussions. VAs feel in control when he/she offers expert advice while the need for affection is fulfilled when a member compliments another for a job well-done.

Any virtual assistant who wants to start their own business needs the support of those who have been in this business before. There are no better teachers than those who have spent nights wondering where that next client will come from. Virtual Assistant Forums is THE community where a VA can join and participate at any stage of progression.

And, we have fun on VAF. So it is not all about being so serious.

For example, Virtual Assistant Forums currently is celebrating its 3rd year in the virtual universe. Boasting more than 3000 members, several associates have joined together to form a planning committee to facilitate contests for all to enjoy. This year’s birthday theme is “Best of…” so members can nominate the ‘Best VA Business Blog’ or ‘Most Helpful Member’ or ‘Friendliest Member’. And, the prizes are phenomenal! Need an iPod Shuffle, a Genus Mouse Pen Graphic Tablet, a copy of The Toilet Paper Entrepreneur by Mike Michalowicz, a new Facebook Fan page, a new WordPress blog? This is just a small sampling of the great prizes to be presented to the winners. During VAF Birthday Bash Week, scheduled for April 19th to 23rd, three prominent authors and speakers will join members for free chats where drawings for even more prizes abound.

Another great reason to join Virtual Assistant Forums is to market your business even when you are not online to actively promote. Potential clients have access to the forum and can read the posts the virtual assistants create. If a client is seeking a WordPress virtual assistant and you have answered a question about WordPress, a client may find you and decide to make contact.

And there are the many virtual friendships formed on VAF….

Virtual Assistant Forums is a community where friendships are made every single day. Join a group such as Florida Virtual Assistants or the VAF Mentoring Group and now you have entered a subgroup of virtual assistants with whome you can have even more in common. Many VAs schedule to meet face-to-face through these subgroups.

If you have an e-newsletter there’s a VAF thread for that. Would you like to take a class but do not know which one is best for you, there’s a VAF thread for that.

Interested in live chats from expert bloggers, authors and social media experts? Check the VAF calendar and log on for that.

The absolute easiest way to become involved is to simply sign onto Virtual Assistant Forums and introduce yourself. Tell us about your business. You will receive a warm welcome and links to some of the best ‘getting started’ threads. If you have a specialty, we would like to hear from you.

Virtual Assistant Forum members are there to share, to learn and to just be ourselves. A few minutes a day and your VA batteries will be recharged.

And no doubt, one of the best perks of all to join is that Virtual Assistant Forums is that the membership is completely Free!

One of the services I offer as a virtual assistant is blogging and article marketing. It is a valuable resource that is in great demand in our virtual industry as more clients understand the potential for good SEO.  As article marketing increases online presence it also helps to classify the client as industry experts.  Additionally, articles can reap a ‘better bang for the buck’ as they can be repurposed into blog entries, newsletters and press releases.  Strategically placed, one article can have many lives.
 

I recently had a very intuitive consultation call with a potential client who is interested in blogging and article marketing. The client asked an interesting question, “How do you create topics for articles [when the virtual assistant is not familiar with the client’s industry]?”

I have been asked this question on previous occasions by other virtual assistants as well, so I created a client questionnaire for VAs, which is available for download here . (Click on the star logo). 

Ideally, a virtual assistant partners with a client on an ongoing basis to develop a relationship where communication between the parties is regularly maintained.  If the opportunity for a good partnership develops, the best way to write thought-provoking articles for a client is to be privy to their business happenings. This occurs only through good, two-way communication.  It is not unusual for a client to ask a question or share a piece of information with me, which can easily be turned into an article. Consequently, I’ll often reply with, “This can become a good blogging topic”. 

Another means to develop good article topics is to ask the client to check his Sent Box. What kind of questions is the client answering to his own customers?  Whatever information the client’s customers are asking certainly makes for great article topics.  Give the readers what they want to know… write about what your client’s customers are asking.

VAs, ask the client to send you urls to the online newsletters which are relative to your client’s business.  I often subscribe to the same blogs, newsletters and ezines my clients read. This is another means to find great ideas for articles and blogs. One long-term client regularly sends me real estate articles from which I have been able to construct good articles.  Keep them in a folder in your favorites entitled, ‘Blogging Topics’.

I often find subject matter on other people’s blogs which I send to my clients requesting that he respond with a brief reply.  Sometimes the answers are a few lines which I can expand upon, while others are complete responses which I can post in varying blogs or article marketing sites.

A long forgotten source for good article topics is the local public library.  I will often visit the library and sit down with several magazines and publications related to my client’s businesses. I jot down the publication name and look it up online when I return to my office.  Ask the librarian for other sources such as newsletters and flyers which are not available online. The librarian is another valuable tool to good research…and, the librarian’s services are free!

If a virtual assistant is not familiar with a client’s industry, there are numerous means to learn about his business. Asking questions, creating Google Alerts with keyword relative to the client’s business and keeping abreast of the client’s products and services are other important options to good article marketing as a virtual assistant.  Download the Questionnaire for Virtual Assistants to Ask Their Clients Regarding Article Writing and Blog Ideas for more options.

 Janine Gregor

Recently, I have ‘been on’ a few back-to-back consultations with potential clients. Each conversation had to be fine-tuned on the spot depending upon the clients’ expertise with working with a VA and in regard to his/her use of the internet.  Since consults are not ‘one size fits all’ this post can help VAs to customize the conversation to achieve maximum results.

*note RFP used herein is a Request for Proposal. This is the form that potential clients complete with information regarding their virtual assistant needs.
*Letter of Intent is the reply letter a VA writes in response to the RFP.

1)      Research, Research And More Research – If there is any tidbit of information you will take away from this post this will be it:  Research the client’s website and business as much as possible before dialing the phone. I suggest going one step further and research as much as possible before hitting the send button to reply to the initial RFP itself.  Although each Letter of Intent should be customized to the client’s requirements, take more time than usual to know the client because you may not have much time to do the research between the time you hit send and the time the client replies back to your customized letter of intent.  I have been in close-timing situations and have had mere minutes to vamp-up my research before I called the client back. Being prepared ahead of time will thwart being caught off-guard because you may need to book an immediate consult. It happens.

2)      Be Careful How You Phrase Your Opinions – Before making the consult call (and creating the Letter of Intent), make a list of what you think can be improved on the website or blog but do not come forward right away with a critique while on the phone with the potential client. Wait until the client asks for your opinion and phrase your critique as such, “If your website heading is decreased in size you can offer more information about your business above the page fold” or “If you add your social marketing badges to your home page, you can increase your membership”.  Making suggestions as opposed to saying, “The header is too big” or “The web page is messy” may make for bad vibes during the consult. Diplomacy is key.

3)      If the client indicates that they do not know how to do something while you explain what services you can provide, offer to show them how to do it. You may think that offering to train a client, for example how to post a blog will take away work from you; I actually believe that this leads to more work, which is what we all really want as virtual assistants.  I believe in offering to share my knowledge with a client for three reasons:  First, you will get paid for training; Second, once you spend more time teaching the client a task, this helps to build a relationship and solidifies you as the expert and, Three, these tasks lead to more work because then you can make suggestions as to how the task can be fine-tuned. The latter is much easier to do when you have built a rapport with the client.

4)      During the consultation call, be keen and listen to the client as they speak. Clues to how much expertise they have will be apparent just by listening. It can be embarrassing for the VA to review services the client is already familiar with.  In fact it is a waste of time.  Some clients know what ftp might be, while others have no idea.  Do not assume a client knows the entire internet ‘lingo’ so it pays to be clear during conversation without being too ‘techie’. It is easier to consult with client who has already worked with a VA so be sure you know this information in advance. 

5) If the client is seeking to replace their VA, it pays to know why but never be intrusive by asking outright. Most clients will say if they are replacing their VA upfront.  Use that information to your advantage.  For example, if the client states, “My VA does not know how to post a blog”, that would be your cue to indicate this is a service you offer (if you do, of course). But do not ask why the VA is being replaced. Only use the information if offered to indicate what you can offer to fill that hole.

Finally, evaluate each consultation call immediately after hanging up.  What could you have done better? What did you do well that you can use for the next call?  Consultations calls can improve over time.

Janine Gregor

1) Have a good understanding of what you want the VA to do for you before you search. Keep an ongoing list next to your desk of responsibilities you really want to delegate. List those items which keep you from doing the work you enjoy.

2) Prioritize that list. Break the list down to three categories: Items which should have been done yesterday; those which need to be done this week and those which can wait until next month.

3) Decide how much your budget will allow to contract with a VA. If you can spend $200 a month then stick to that budget.

 
4) Post a request for proposal (RFP) on the Virtual Assistant Forums for free. (This is the premier virtual assistant forums website. VAs are not charged for services here, so the site is open for all VAs and business owners with diverse backgrounds.) Make your RFP as detailed as possible and do not forget to include your website address and alternate email address. Most VAs will research your business online before posting for a position so any information you offer ahead of time only helps to weed out those who may not meet your needs.

5) Give a timeline as to when your request for proposal response has to be submitted but give a fair amount of time to respond. Anyone who is really interested will respond right away but it does take time to reply properly to RFPs as they are often customized to clients’ needs. Specify what you want the VA to send you in the first pass…i.e., links to sites, blogging samples, graphic samples, articles, etc. It is not necessary to ask for a resume. This is not an employee-employer situation. A VA is a business owner as well.

6) Ask for references. And by all means send out for those references asking for feedback on the VA’s work and turnaround time.

7) If you know someone who uses a VA, then ask for a referral from that colleague. Many VAs handle multiple clients. If you like the work you see, then this can be indicative of a VA you might wish to work with.

8 When you have decided upon the right person for the job, expect that in the beginning you will need to ‘hand over’ passwords and usernames and business information to get started. Be sure that your VA has a confidentiality agreement. You will need to open up your business to another person with whom you have never been physically introduced. Trust will grow over time.

9) Review the service contract needed to begin and return back to the VA in a timely fashion. If you are not in agreement with something in the contract, say so upfront.

10) Communicate…communicate…communicate…Set aside time during the work week to answer your VAs emails and questions. The faster you return your replies, the faster the work will be completed. Share ideas…send your VA articles and blogs which spur conversation and brainstorm to grow your business. Suggest that the VA read online newsletters or mail her/him publications which are related to your business.

You will have more time to do the work you enjoy. You can focus on your business plan. Best of all you can partner with someone who has an interest in the growth of your business.

Janine Gregor

When a business owner is need of a virtual assistant, the protocol is to submit a Request for Proposal (RFP).  This online document format varies from posting-site to posting-site but the main components are:

*Software or Hardware needed?

*Expected date of completion if one-time project work

*What do you expect from a virtual assistant?

Here are 5 basic recommendations I have compiled when submitting an RFP to better help the virtual assistant assess your needs:

1)    Unless the proposal is anonymous, submitting your website address is helpful to the virtual assistant choosing to respond.  Even if the online format does not ask for your company URL, consider adding this information.  I prefer to research the company for which I am submitting a proposal beforehand, so any industry information will only help the virtual assistant send an informative introductory letter to the potential client.

Janine Gregor