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 energy. Your energy. If you are struggling in your business, you are probably putting that out there … and it’s definitely hurting you.
Today’s Quote: Once you replace negative thoughts with positive ones, you’ll start having positive results. – Willie Nelson
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Connect with Tracey D’Aviero, VA Coach and Trainer
Episode Notes:
Is your energy attracting VA clients or chasing them away?
What you put out there is what comes back to you.
When you are in business, your energy is an important thing to focus on.
It’s not a woo woo type of thing, your energy. And I’m not here to tell you that having a positive attitude will get you VA clients.
Negative energy will chase them away.
Your energy is truly one of the most important things that drives your VA business.
Your clients will be attracted to you when they feel good about who they will be doing business with.
If you give them the sense that things are not so great, they will not have the confidence to decide to work with you.
Even more than that, keeping clients that you are already working with also depends on your energy.
If you are struggling in your VA business, you might think that no one notices.
You probably think you are doing a great job of covering it up.
Or maybe you just aren’t putting yourself out there are all so that people won’t notice.
You might think that it’s just the way business is supposed to be. I mean everyone knows business is hard, right?
But it’s not supposed to be THAT hard!
If you are having a tough time, don’t just accept it as the way it’s supposed to be.
Figure out what the plan is to make things better.
That starts with the energy you are putting in to the GOOD things.
Let’s talk first about how negative energy affects everything you do in your VA business:
You second guess your pricing
You let clients cross your boundaries
You misunderstand clients or take what they say personally
You take longer to do things because you just aren’t feeling it
You rush through tasks just to get them done
You lack creativity because you are in a fog
You feel exhausted
Those are the obvious ones … but how about these …
You keep to yourself and hope no one notices you are failing
You create content that talks about all the wrong things
You abandon your target market and start trying to find any clients at all
You agree to do work that you don’t love
You let your client set your rate or tasks you do because you don’t want to turn down money
If you are feeling any of these, you need to get your energy in check.
Let’s do it together!
Business is hard, yes. But it doesn’t ALL have to be hard.
And you don’t just need to fake energy to make things look good. We need to really find them.
Today I’m going to help you find the things you need to focus on. Trust me, they are there!
You are amazing. You are ridiculously good. And your clients (and potential clients) need to know it.
Let’s start by talking about four reasons that positive energy in your business is so important:
1. Client attraction
So I don’t believe that clients will flock to you if you put on a happy face, but client attraction is a real thing.
When you are in the right frame of mind, you show up every day and exude confidence. You freely share advice and opinions. You invite and participate in conversations. You actually show up and are part of the communities where your clients are.
The client attraction part happens because people see you, and they hear you, and they trust you. They see your confidence and they believe that you can help them. You know the words to tell them to help them believe that.
They might not even be feeling very positive themselves, and you can help them to see that there is a light at the end of their dark tunnel. We help people, it’s what we do. So how do you help them? Talk about it!
Confidence is one of the most important qualities you can showcase to your audience, and it starts with feeling positive about your abilities.
When you believe it, and share it with others, they will see it and want to work with you.
And that obviously will boost your energy too!
Getting clients means putting yourself out there and confidently describing how you can help your clients.
I had a private client once who really struggled with getting clients, well I’ve actually had a lot of those, it’s one of the things that VAs come to me with all the time, but this one in particular really had trouble with understanding who they could help.
So they spent all day online, job sites, rfp boards, in VA groups, just waiting for clients to say yes. It was exhausting. And it brought down their energy if they didn’t get the client.
We worked together and got really clear on what they could do and who need those services. We developed a plan for them to connect with those people and guess what? Within 3 months they were hiring a subcontractor because they had too much work.
Client attraction exists because when you put the right energy out there, you find the right people. And you have conversations that lead to people saying yes.
I can help you to put together the plan you need to use every day to find great clients.
2. Confidence
If you don’t believe that you are the best person to help your clients, they won’t believe it either.
It’s kind of a catch-22 though. If you are struggling to get clients, then you might feel like you aren’t the best VA for them.
So measuring our confidence is a really important thing to do.
A lack of confidence in your abilities to either find the people you can help, or charge them accordingly, or do the things they need, is really common when things aren’t going so well.
The funny thing is that you might not even realize that you are putting it out there. But I can assure you that you are.
Take some time and look in the VA groups for the conversations that are happening in them.
When we are struggling, the language we use to describe our situation proves that we have a lack of confidence.
And you know I have told you before that the brain needs to hear 5 positive things to counteract just one negative thing. So even if you aren’t saying things out loud, you are dragging your confidence down by thinking these things.
You need to believe in yourself before your clients will believe in you.
When I work with you privately, we record your sessions. We talk. And this really cool thing happens when you get to your sweet spot.
If you have done private coaching with me you will know what I’m talking about.
When you start to talk about something with confidence, your whole demeanor changes.
When we dive into what you do for your clients and I ask you about something that you know really well, that confidence comes out. Your voice changes. I hear it and I love it!
I tell you after the call to ‘go back to the 3 minute mark and listen to the change in your voice’. It’s something we never do, get a do over, so the session recordings are really useful.
You settle in, you start to use all the right words, no tripping over words, you add all the right details … the confidence just comes shining through.
That’s good energy – and that’s what your clients need to hear!
If you aren’t sure how to change the language you use – and find your confidence, I can help you with that.
I have so much confidence in your ability to be great, and I’d love to help.
3. Communication
Did you know that one of the most common problems that VAs and their clients have is a communication problem?
We work virtually, of course, and so we rely on online methods of communication – and there are so many opportunities for us to have misunderstandings, or leave too much to the imagination.
In fact, the majority of the complaints that I see VAs making about their clients is due to a lack of communication.
It starts because we are not used to being on equal ground with our clients. We still think the clients get to call the shots. Newsflash, they don’t.
And so we do whatever they say, and sit back feeling more like an employee than a business owner in our own right.
Your clients can crush your energy like no one else, and it happens all the time.
I could spend all day giving VAs advice who have let their clients treat them badly.
It’s not always the client’s fault – they have probably never worked with a VA as a partner or an equal before either – and truly, if you are acting like their employee, then that’s how they will treat you.
But getting a handle on your communication is something that can turn your energy like nothing else.
It’s not personal, it’s business.
Get GREAT at business communication – leave emotions out of it, and your energy will sky rocket!
I am pretty active in VA groups, and of course I work with my own VAs who are clients in my monthly mastermind group or through private coaching. But you will see my comments in many VA groups, and a lot of them are giving examples of how to change the words you use when you communicate with clients.
Business is business and it’s so important to articulate what you want to say in business words.
You don’t have to be someone you aren’t, you can totally be yourself – but just state the facts in your communication.
Instead of explaining things with a million words and apologizing and asking if that’s okay … stand behind what your boundaries and rates and things are, and create a way to describe those to people. Use those words all the time to be clear and concise, and in charge. That’s great communication.
I can help you with this. It’s something I have always done exceptionally well, and it’s my pleasure to help you gain the confidence that you need to keep your energy high.
4. Credibility
Before we get a full roster of amazing clients, we have to build up credibility as an amazing VA.
To do that, you need to put yourself out there, and the energy you project is what will affect your results.
Like I’ve said, your audience needs to believe that you are the best one to help them – that’s the point that they will make that buying decision, and say yes to working with you.
Credibility comes from what you put out there, and what others say about you too.
You know your expertise, but are you confidently sharing that with people? In your social media posts and your networking conversations?
You are probably the best kept secret – even though you don’t think you are.
We have this notion that when we go into business – when we publish our website, or post on social media – that the entire world sees it.
But they don’t. We have to work strategically to put ourselves in front of the people who will potentially be our clients.
That’s not ‘everywhere’.
If you don’t have the right energy in your content or your networking, it’s going to come across super obviously to your clients.
How many times have you posted ‘I have a special on, I have an opening for a client, I am looking for someone to barter with.’ Or even just discounting your rates in general.
Dropping your price for any reason screams desperate. Well maybe not screams, maybe states is a better word.
And guess what? It’s not just you! If your clients respond to the word ‘discount’, then they are probably putting out the same energy that you are.
That’s probably going to be a recipe for disaster at some point. Starting a relationship with a client for less than what you want to earn is a serious issue.
Don’t sacrifice the money now for the money you WILL earn when you do things right.
Find your best clients, do amazing work with them, earn what you know you are worth (and need to earn) and your credibility will speak for itself.
I tell you all the time that my clients were 6 and 7 figure business coaches. That was a conscious decision. They also had to be working with a coach of their own for me to work with them. You can define these things!
Don’t work with just anyone. That is one of the things that can really mess with our credibility. What if you say yes to a client that can not afford you, and then you don’t get them the results they want? Or you end up fighting with them about money? That will be a client relationship that ends badly … doesn’t really matter which way you look at it.
I advise VAs to find the clients that can afford them, that need them, that value them, and do great work with them. Those clients will praise you from the rooftops.
VAs who are earning what they want to earn and working with clients that they love (or at least doing work they love for great clients) … that’s who we want to be!
That’s how you build up your credibility. And obviously it’s amazing for your energy levels too!
So there are four reasons that positive energy is so impactful in your business.
Now how do we get there … and stay there?
You have to give yourself all the help you can get.
1. Define what success means to you
When you have a clear understanding of what you need to feel successful, you can help yourself confidently get there.
I did a vision board a long time ago, my first one. I didn’t know what a vision board was and mine sucked compared to everyone else’s, but I stuck on pictures of things I wanted and places I wanted to go, that kind of thing. I stuck on words that I wanted to feel in my business and my life.
And I recently did a big office cleanup and I found it. At first I laughed, it was totally falling apart, but then I noticed something really cool. I had achieved a lot of the things on that board. I didn’t realize it. I didn’t use the board, like at all. But I did put the right things on it.
Success to me meant going those places and getting those things. And I have. I didn’t need a vision board to follow. They really were the things I wanted. And I have built my business to get them. You need to define what it means to you, and start to help yourself get them.
2. Success routines
Set yourself up with routines that will instill success in your business. Figure out how you get clients, and do it every day. It’s not luck, you can’t leave it up to luck. You have to decide what your system is, and buy into it. Following a strategy that you know will work 4 out of 5 times is the surest way to be confident and to stay positive.
If you don’t know how to do it, it’s time to work with someone who can help you map out that plan. You don’t need to follow someone else’s plan or path. you need to follow yours. Ask for help. Invest in help. And then you do the work. You will get to where you want, I promise!
I would be nowhere if I didn’t work with a business coach. Many of the VAs who have taken my Getting Started as a VA self study program say they would not be where they are without that program. You invest what you can afford and you DO THE WORK. Every day.
3. Seek out positivity
Don’t do it alone. I’ve said it before. Business is hard. But you know what? Other VAs have had the same thoughts as you – probably right at the same time as you. Your problems are yours, yes, but you are not alone in having them. Find your people. Let them help you.
Surround yourself with people who lift you up – and who you lift up too. Did you know that when you are helping others, that gives off SO much positive energy?
I have an accountability partner and we talk every second week. Without even realizing it, we lift each other up. We also hold each other accountable for what our results are, but we do it in a positive manner – like if I share something that did not go well, my partner will honestly tell me why – what I didn’t do, or should have done differently – but then just naturally she will tell me why I CAN do it. And both of our energy levels go up.
Like instantly. I know the same things about her. Find your partners, your people, and ask them for help, and give them help.
4. Banish negativity
Be really aware of what you are saying to yourself, and where you are spending your time. I know I talk often about what you say to yourself in your head, but another place that I see so much negativity is in the VA groups. We wallow in our pity when others agree with us. If we tell them that a client was mean to us, and we get all of our colleagues patting us on the back telling us, ‘yes they are mean!’ then we buy into it. But it’s negative and it’s not good for you. Get yourself out of there and go and network with the entrepreneurs who need you to be THEIR support.
And lend positivity wherever you can. Every single day. Look for it, sow it yourself.
5. When you’re in it, get out of it
Am I telling you that you need to walk around in a good mood every day?
Hardly.
If I knew how to do that, I’d bottle it!
But you need to be able to identify when you are in it, and get out of it.
So to do that you need strategies that will help you.
I follow an ADHD coach of sorts on Instagram and she has put some really cool stuff into perspective for me that I think is relevant to so many of us.
She talks about energy levels as being sort of the bar for our output.
What I mean by that is that we can have habits and routines that we intend to follow every day (I encourage it!) … but what if we are having a low energy day?
We can’t just toss what we need to do aside. We need to adjust it.
And that’s what Melanie teaches – to have processes for both scenarios. If we are suffering from low energy, we still need to do stuff – but what is the bare minimum that we need to do to be effective?
That’s what I love! On a low energy day you ‘just’ need to do x of xyz.
Let’s circle back quickly to Willie: once you replace negative thoughts with positive ones, you’ll start having positive results. Happy people seek out happy people. Your clients will seek you out when you are positive.
Assessment time.
Let’s take stock right now.
How are you feeling?
Are you struggling?
Are you feeling down?
Are you stuck?
It’s time to get out of your head and write this down these 3 things:
What do I want?
Why do I want it?
How can I get it?
We all know what we want. That’s the easy one.
But why do you want it?
If you want clients, it’s probably so you can make money. So you can pay for stuff. But really why do you want it? So you don’t have to go back to a job? So you can work part time? So you can be more present for your family?
It’s really important to attach the WHY to what you want. It helps you to remember why it’s so important to get what you want.
And of course the last part of that is how to get it.
And I’m guessing that if you are struggling – and if you made it this far in this episode, that you don’t know how.
That’s okay, that’s what I’m here for!
I don’t know everything – and I get help in my business all the time with the things I don’t know.
You can too.
What You Need to Do Next:
I want you to know that I can help you do this stuff in your business. That’s literally the reason I am here. To help you become a ridiculously good VA.
I’ve helped hundreds of VAs through challenges just like yours, and got them on their way to growing their business and the lifestyle that they dream of. That you dream of.
I’d love to do the same for you.
Let’s work together privately to get you to your really big goal. It’s the fastest way to get results and we can start right away. Learn more about private coaching here.
The Virtual Circle (TVC) is a monthly mastermind group for Virtual Assistants just like you. We get together 3 times a month for group Zoom sessions to talk about what you are struggling with, working on, or celebrating. It’s a close knit community of your VA colleagues that provides the best kind of support for your VA business. Learn more about TVC here.
My self study program Getting Started as a VA can help you get your VA business started easily and quickly too. You can sign up right away and be on your way to getting clients by the end of the program, with all the right foundations in place. Check out the program here.
Reach out to me if you need to talk about where you are stuck and what the right option might be to get you moving. It’s literally all I’m here to do is help you get to where you want to go. Book a complimentary Cut to the Chase call with me here.