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Are You Still Charging by the Hour as a Virtual Assistant?

When you started your Virtual Assistant business, it was probably easy to charge your clients by the hour. But in order for your business to grow and be successful, the ‘trading time for money’ model quickly falls short. Why? For one thing, there are only so many hours in a day/week, so you can quickly max out the amount of money you can make in your business. For another thing, it’s much harder to raise your rates with your current clients. And that means if you get so busy that you need to bring on subcontractors to help, you may not be able to earn enough to keep your business successful. These are just two simple reasons why charging by… Read More »Are You Still Charging by the Hour as a Virtual Assistant?

3 Common VA Roadblocks and How to Handle Them

In business, as in life, many things can jump into our path unexpectedly. It’s how we handle these things that will allow us to continue on the path to success, or derail us completely. Here are three common roadblocks that VAs face: 1) Unexpected loss of a client 2) Too much new business at once 3) Late payment by a client Unexpected Loss of a Client When a client decides to leave you (or if you fire them with little notice) it can be devastating to your income. The key is to keep your pipeline filled with prospects on a regular basis, so it’s as easy as contacting people in your audience and getting a new client. But this isn’t… Read More »3 Common VA Roadblocks and How to Handle Them

What Are You Tolerating?

I attended a Virtual Assistant conference several years ago and I listened to Mary Lou Ashton speak about tolerations. It was one of those talks that stays with you, at least it stayed with me. I refer to it all the time when I am in conversation with people who are struggling to focus and move forward in their business. Tolerations are those things that are around you that you probably don’t even consciously notice. A toleration can be a broken step as you walk into your house, or an unfolded basket of laundry, or dishes on the counter, or an unanswered email, or a stack of filing that needs to be done. A toleration is something that you notice,… Read More »What Are You Tolerating?

Start Your VA Business With Where You Are – And Then Get Moving!

As a Virtual Assistant, one of the most important things that you can do for your business is to grow with it. When you first started your business, you probably had a laundry list of administrative services that you offered. This is a good thing! Starting with what you know and as I call it ‘where you are’ is the best way to jump into the world of being a VA. But to keep your business fresh and exciting, you need to keep it moving forward and growing. One of the ways you can do this is to get really focused on your service offerings. Specializing your skills and service offerings allows you to easily raise your rates and build… Read More »Start Your VA Business With Where You Are – And Then Get Moving!

Add New Skills To Your Virtual Assistant Business

Recently a Virtual Assistant asked me about adding new skills to her business. She felt that she wanted to raise her rates, and that adding new services was the way to do that. When we talk about expanding our service offerings, it’s important to start by stepping back and looking at the big picture. Ask yourself the following questions: 1. Why am I considering adding a new skill or service? 2. Why am I considering adding THIS new skill or service? 3. Where can I learn about this new skill or service? 4. Is the training free or paid? Can I afford the time if it’s free, and can I afford the time and money if it’s paid? 5. Is… Read More »Add New Skills To Your Virtual Assistant Business

20+ Cheap or Free Resources to Boost Your VA Business

I often talk with people who are very new to the Virtual Assistant business, or are thinking about getting into it. One concern is that you will need to spend a lot of money at startup getting all of the necessary pieces in place – software, training, and many other things come up for people when they are starting a business. I always tell them that it’s possible to get going with really solid tools, without spending a lot of money. Don’t get me wrong. It’s important to have good resources and things in place – but it’s important not to spend money that you haven’t made yet. When I started my work as a VA, I looked long and… Read More »20+ Cheap or Free Resources to Boost Your VA Business

Client Relationship Responsibility

Are You Being Responsible in your Business?

I recently had a discussion with a group of VAs and it was based around my policies that I have to work with my clients. Policies are important, as we all know, so that everyone knows the ‘rules’ and it makes for a better working relationship — from clients to team members, and everyone else you might work with. The thing that caught several people off guard is that I told them I delete my client emails after 60 days. I don’t keep their documents or information on my computer. Once it’s delivered to the client, I delete it. Audible gasps were heard when I told them this. Why would I do that? What if I needed something? How could… Read More »Are You Being Responsible in your Business?

Your VA Mentor: Schedule Your Work

Get More Done, Make More Money

At the IVAA Live Summit I spoke about organizing & prioritizing your work. One of the pieces of my presentation was about organizing tasks so that you get more done each day. When you are working as a support professional, it is easy to try to multitask and do many things at once, but there are all kinds of studies out there that show that multitasking is simply ineffective. It’s much more efficient to focus on one task at a time, and complete it, and then move on to the next thing. The way I handle multitasking in my daily routine is by batching my work – that is, collecting tasks that will done at one time and doing them… Read More »Get More Done, Make More Money