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What Do You Need to Succeed in Your Virtual Assistant Business?

Almost every new VA I know becomes an information pack rat pretty quickly. As we begin to forage around looking for information about this industry that we don’t know much about, we start to collect. We collect websites, blogs, articles, free classes, and anything else we can get our hands on. So we can learn. It’s a great idea – but where do we stop – to apply what we have learned? One of the things I always tell my students and mentoring clients is to STOP collecting and USE what you have. The key to success is not to keep collecting at a break-neck speed. The key is to learn valuable information and then implement it into your business.… Read More »What Do You Need to Succeed in Your Virtual Assistant Business?

5 Tips for Better Networking as a VA

Keeping your business pipeline full just takes planning. Some small business owners get caught up in the process, rather than the planning piece, and a lot of time can get wasted when you are not really aware if what you are doing is productive or not. It’s important to think about a few things before you get started with networking (or prospecting). 1. Develop a plan that suits you. You need to fit marketing into your day, every day if possible. You don’t, however, want to get sucked in to spending a lot of time doing something without knowing why you are doing it. Planning is the key to success here. 2. Ask yourself what the purpose of your networking… Read More »5 Tips for Better Networking as a VA

Quick – I Need You! How to Handle Emergencies When You Are A VA

Last week we had a family medical emergency to tend to. I felt fortunate to be working from home, and I was able to go and assist at the moment I was needed. All it took was a quick email to each of my clients to let them know what was going on. I also let them know what was done for the day’s work and what was still not done – and whether I could take care of the unfinished work or not. How do you plan to handle emergencies in your business? That inevitable moment when someone calls you and says, ‘Quick, I need you to…’ (whatever that may be). It will happen, and you should be prepared.… Read More »Quick – I Need You! How to Handle Emergencies When You Are A VA

Did You Get Any New VA Clients This Month?

Did you sign on any new clients this month? If you didn’t, you should reassess what you are doing to find clients. When you are operating a thriving business that means you will constantly be building and growing, and that means that you should be bringing on at least one new client each month. It would be even better if you could bring on a lot more than that, but we’ll just talk about one today! When you are nurturing your business, you will still have to be sure to continually market it, and network with new prospective clients. It’s important to keep your potential client pipeline full so that as your business grows and changes you have a pool of… Read More »Did You Get Any New VA Clients This Month?

How Do You Act Around Your VA Clients?

When we talk about supporting our clients, there are two ways we can be: reactive and proactive. Being reactive means that you wait for situations to happen, and then you base your next ‘actions’ on what just took place. You act, after the fact. Being proactive means that you look ahead in the road, to see what might come up, and you plan to ‘act’ on what you see coming in the distance, before it happens, instead of afterwards. We often act proactively in our own businesses, with our planning and strategy, but many virtual professionals I talk to don’t realize that it’s beneficial to be proactive with our clients as well. How do we do this? Here are a… Read More »How Do You Act Around Your VA Clients?

Do you know what you are doing?

Business planning gets me jazzed up. It’s exciting to flesh out ideas and make plans to bring new and exciting programs to my network. In short, it helps me know what I am doing to bring revenue (and more!) into my business. Do you know what you are doing? If you don’t have a clear picture of your purpose, keep reading! So as I was doing some reading over the holidays, I came upon a course I had taken late last year about marketing. One of the pieces of the program was to develop my Mission Statement. I didn’t remember writing it, but it rang very true when I re-read my homework. (Imagine not remembering something so important!) Here is… Read More »Do you know what you are doing?

Slow Down! You’ll Get More Done

Many small business owners I meet respond to the question ‘how are things?’ with an all-encompassing, chest-thumping ‘busy!’ Of course we are all busy. We all have things to get done, and things to schedule around those other things too. It can get out of hand. My advice? Slow down! When we stop moving at such a ferocious pace, we can slow down and actually be aware of what is going on around us. The holidays is a time when we seem to have even less time, as there is much to do personally as well as in our business. I notice the urgency in the emails I receive at this time of year – last minute holiday sales, and… Read More »Slow Down! You’ll Get More Done

Favourite Tools for Virtual Assistants: Express Scribe

Express Scribe is a transcription software that I have been using for many years. It’s a free software that operates like a transcription machine. You load the audio you want to transcribe, and then you can stop it and start it as you type. You can also control the speed at which you listen, so you can slow the audio down and keep up with it more easily. I highly recommend Express Scribe as a tool to manage any kind of transcription you need to do.  The basic software is free. You can purchase a foot pedal to go with it, or you can use keyboard shortcut/hot keys (that’s what I do!).  There is a professional version and other add… Read More »Favourite Tools for Virtual Assistants: Express Scribe