It is well-documented amongst my VA colleagues that working with a virtual assistant means good value for the dollar.  Afterall, clients only pay for the time they use and they do not pay for the overhead expenses to seat a VA in a heated office providing a computer and the necessary software to do the job.  There are many, many blog entries and articles written for the potential client explaining how much money is saved by not having to pay all of the employee expenses such as vacation time, downtime, etc. 

The message is clear and people get it.

But I do not want to dwell only on the dollar-saving value of my services. I do recognize the importance of saving money for clients but my own real worth as a virtual assistant and business owner is in the merit I provide as a business partner.

It is very difficult to place a dollar assessment on the directive and collaborative services I provide to my clients.

As a VA, I act as a sounding board for those clients who come to me for feedback and evaluations.  I often receive communication asking me for my opinion regarding website information, articles, blog posts, etc., as my role with the client develops to a level beyond just completing tasks. I am not just someone to assist with client work but I have evolved into the audience that the client is trying to reach and herein lies another value-added service. 

I have handled phone calls from distressed business owners who need a hand to hold during rough times. I have logged onto Skype during a client’s teleseminar giving feedback on the audience’s comments.  I have made the final decision for clients who cannot make up their mind on which logo or WordPress theme to choose.  I have been given the responsibility of dealing with a client’s difficult customers during busy times and turned those calls into sales. I answer customer questions on behalf of the client because quite simply, I can. I write blog entries as the client’s voice because I am trusted enough be the righthand person.  When asked, ‘How can I create more traffic to my website?” Rather than just say, “Create a better website”, I’ve successfully convinced clients to dabble in more social networking activities. 

I’m the peanut butter to a client’s jelly. And nothing beats a good sandwich.

Sue L Canfield recently released her book, The Commonsense Virtual Assistant – Becoming an Entrepreneur, Not an Employee. Today, she’s stopped by my blog. 

Janine:  Sue, why did you write this book?

Sue:  My husband, Joel D Canfield, and I co-authored the book to help newer and aspiring virtual assistants understand what it takes to run a successful business. Over the last two years, I found that many newer and aspiring virtual assistants were asking for and following my advice on how to run their business. Though they had the skills to be a virtual assistant, many had no idea how to run a business, write a business or marketing plan, how to market, and other basic business skills. Since my husband had already written a book for small business owners on how to be the best foundation for their business, we decided to add to the material and focus on the virtual assistant industry in our new book. 

Janine:  Sue, Please tell me about yourself

Sue:  I’ve worked as an administrative assistant for over 25 years and began my virtual assistant business in 2005 before I even knew there was such a thing. This past year I added virtual assistant coaching to my services to help newer virtual assistants succeed in their businesses. My husband and I work together from home along with our five-year old daughter in Roseville, California. 

Janine:  What qualifies you to write this book?

Sue:  Joel and I have more than 50 years of combined experience supporting and operating small businesses. My success as a virtual assistant is in large part due to the advice I received from Joel. Our success in our businesses provides testimony to our qualifications. 

Janine:  What is the book about?

Sue:  The book helps virtual assistants to understand that they are now business owners, entrepreneurs, no longer employees. Successful business owners need good business sense and a good understanding of what it takes to run a successful business. The book provides basic, commonsense information every entrepreneur needs to know along with advice specific to virtual assistants. 

Janine: What do you want the readers to get out of the book?

Sue:  The most important concept I would like my readers to understand is that they are now business owners and what that means. After reading the book, readers will have a clear understanding of how to set rates, manage their time, and market their business. 

Janine:  How can the readers contact you if they want further information?

Sue:  Joel and I can be reached toll-free at 877.771.7746 or by email at Contact@BizBa6.com. They can also visit our website athttp://www.bizba6.com. 

Janine:  How much does your book cost?
$19.95.

Janine:  Where can the readers purchase your e-book?
Sue:  They can visit our website at www.bizba6.com.

JanineL  Sue, thank you for stopping by my blog.
Sue: You are very welcome. Thank you for having me. 

About the Authors:

Joel and Sue have more than 50 years of combined experience supporting and operating small businesses. They operate BizBa6 Small Business Support Services and love not only their work but the life it allows them to live. This book (Joel’s third business book, Sue’s first) shares how they think about business–it’s a ‘why to’, not a ‘how-to’ because it focuses on how people think and what they want–not just your clients, but you, too. 

Book Summary:

So, you want to be a virtual assistant. The virtual assistant industry is growing rapidly. Just about anyone can say they are a virtual assistant. You have a computer, internet access, and the desire to work from home. Voila! You’re a virtual assistant. But is that enough to succeed as a virtual assistant? Do you have what it takes to run a business? Yes, a virtual assistant is a business owner. Successful business owners need to have good business sense. As a business owner, you, the virtual assistant, need to understand what it takes to run a business. Pick up your copy for $19.95 at http://www.bizba6.com.

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

Hello,

I’ve had a ‘cherry’ good response to last week’s free online resources and tips that I may try to make this a consistent blog event.

I look for resources which not only help business owners improve productivity but those benefits which offer greater exposure and publicity. I have also decided to expand this selection to include ‘fun stuff’; namely sites that entertain without being terribly distracting.

www.helpareporterout.com Looking for ways to get your name and business recognized? Do you want to be quoted in major publications? Help a Reporter Out, also known as HARO, is a venue set up by celebrity blogger Peter Shankman to help reporters find material for article topics. Once you sign up at Shankman’s site, he sends a morning and an afternoon email listing of topics which reporters wish to address. Shankman organizes reporter queries with contact information so it is very easy to click on a topic for reply and then quickly send your expert advice to the inquirer. If your thoughts are deemed worthy and are published by the reporter, this can only mean greater exposure for your own business. Several of my clients have been quoted and published in books, major magazines, newspapers and online sites through HARO. (It can be a little tedious going through the email topics each day…which is why hiring a virtual assistant to do that for you is tremendously useful. Whether you do it yourself or hire someone to scan the topics for you, the public relations exposure from this public relations opportunity is priceless.)

http://www.15secondpitch.com/new/ Has anyone ever asked you want it is that you do for a living and you’ve replied with, “I’m a speaker” or, “I’m a publicist.” This type of a response does not always elicit great interest. If you are attending a networking event, people really want to know what it is that you can do for them. 15secondpitch is one of the neatest sites for creating an elevator speech, which is a short speech that you would give to someone explaining in brevity exactly what it is you do and what it is that you can do for them. Follow the prompts in the 15secondpitch link and the end result is a speech you can practice and fine-tune to use the next time someone asks you, “What do you do?”

http://www.echosign.com/ Aiming for a paperless office? Bogged down by paper contracts, expensive postage rates and the lag time waiting for a client to return a signed document to you? Enter EchoSign. This is an exceptional electronic signature program which is great for sending contracts electronically for legal signatures. Sign up free for 5 transactions per month. Once a contract is created, upload a document to the EchoSign site where a signed copy can be sent to the client and returned to you with the client’s signature. Contracts can be stored and tracked in EchoSign for future reference allowing for a completely paperless sign, copy and file system.

http://www.hulu.com/ Hulu enables you to watch popular TV shows and movies online. There are no downloads required and there is no charge. This is not a YouTube-type site, rather this is a comprehensive directory of TV programming offering good quality reception. Quoted from the site itself, “Hulu has thousands of videos and movies from Fox, E! Entertainment , MGM, Sony, NBC and many, many more. Popular shows like The Simpsons, The Office, House, Firefly and others are archived and made available for audiences. They are all archived and you can view the content by genre, or alphabetical order, or by doing a search.”

My Hours http://www.myhours.com/ This is a time management, timesheet, time tracking solution. It enables you to track your work time, projects you work on and tasks you perform. It is web-based and can be used from any location at any time.

Pandora http://www.Pandora.com – If you like to work to music this is a great site to set and forget. It will play your favorite songs from any number of genres you choose. Nothing to download and no cost to the user.

RoboForm http://www.roboform.com/ Is an online program for managing, filling in, encrypting and generating random passwords. This is a great tool if you handle multiple client websites. RoboForm saves website passwords into Passcards. Then RoboForm can automatically fill in login information from these Passcards. RoboForm can save secret text snippets such as ATM passwords or lock combinations in to what is called Safenotes. Once registered, there are videos to take users through every aspect of this useful program.

I’ve got plenty more useful sites to blog so please check back next week for more.

In addition to working as a virtual assistant, I also work a few hours a week in a popular children’s clothing store. I took a seasonal position last year and was honored when the manager asked me to stay on as a permanent part-time employee. While news of layoffs was on every media channel, it seemed foolish to turn down any job and one that I enjoyed. The merchandise is of great quality, bright and trendy while the interaction with customers and co-workers served as a nice diversion from my frenetic but thriving virtual assistance business. Although managing my professional time around the two jobs has been a challenge, the flexibility of being a virtual assistant affords me such opportunities.

Retail work is very difficult. There is no other way to describe it. Anyone who has worked in retail knows how trying the job can be emotionally and physically. Each customer transaction is different, so a good sales associate has to be ready to handle a variety of personalities as well as have the ability to ‘stomach’ the way customers treat sales associates. Some customers feel I am the ‘bottom of the food chain’ while others are grateful for the service I provide.

Often we read about how a sales associate should treat the customer who is ‘always right’. But little is said about good customer etiquette. A positive attitude toward the associate can actually bring out the best in the sales transaction.

10 Rules of Customer Retail Etiquette

1) When checking out at the service desk and you only have a large bill to pay for your items, it is respectful to ask the associate if she can ‘break’ the bill first before handing it to her.

Reason: I am not an ATM machine and my drawer is usually set up with change (bills and coins) for about $100 for security purposes. If I just signed on for my shift, chances are I cannot make the change for your large bill. If you ask beforehand, often times I can tell you if I can break the bill or not and move the transaction along. Please do not assume I can make change.

If I cannot break the large bill…

2) Please do not take it out on me. There is no reason to get testy if I say I do not have change for a $100 and the receipt is for an $8.00 item. I do not have access to the store safe and I cannot open a co-worker’s register to make the change.

3) Please hand the money to me in my own hand. Please do not lay the bills on the counter with change. It takes time to pick money off the counter and the transaction will go much faster if you hand me the money. Although it is my job to take the money from you it is just courteous to hand the money to the associate just as I directly hand you the receipt and your filled bags.

4) Please do not act upon any last minute shopping while you are on the line. Decide before you get up to the register if you want to buy something or not. I am responsible for keeping the line moving and other customers look to me to move everyone in and out quickly. Our time is as important as your own.

5) Please do not come into a store with open food container even if you do not see a sign that states so. Children are messy. I cannot take the time to clean up spilled ice cream or fruit juice. Please do not throw your food trash in my own counter trash can. There is a mall garbage can outside the store to dispense of food items. Someone handed me a leaking smoothie the other day that would have made an even bigger mess in my counter trash can.

6) Please keep your children busy while you shop. I cannot babysit your children while they pull down clothing from the racks or play hide-n-go-seek in the dressing rooms. I once saw a father throw a football to his son in my store near the store entrance. Teach your children that public shopping places should be respected. A store is not a playground.

7) Please do not take the tags off clothing and shoes and let your children wear them out the door. Wait until they are paid for. I will gladly cut off the tags for you. If you rip the clothing before paying for it while trying to take the tag off, we incur a loss which is passed onto the customer in the form of higher prices.

8) If you need something on a high display, please do not grab the hook yourself and try to take it down. Ask me, I will help you and I can do it much faster. Someone can get hurt trying to use the metal hook.

9) Please use the public restroom in the mall. Please do not ask to use our employee bathroom which is located in our busy and stacked stockroom unless it is an emergency. We cannot leave customers in the bathroom by themselves so it is not a good use of my time to stand in the stockroom waiting for the customers to come out of the restroom. If it is an emergency, I understand and can make an exception.

10) Please do not place your baby on the counter while you check out. Diapers leak and the counter needs to stay clean. This is my workspace. Please respect that. Children are curious, often grabbing my register supplies and credit card digital pens.

Thank you.

Janine