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In The News... Back to Archive
Managing Your Virtual Assistant Workload by Justine Curtis
When you are a virtual assistant, especially when your practice is becoming full, you spend a lot of time juggling your schedule so you can fit in all the needs and requirements of your various clients.
As you become more and more busy with client work, it is often easy to forget to schedule in time for work associated with running your own business. Tasks such as book keeping and invoicing, making time for your marketing activities and getting outside of the front door to do some networking can often fall by the wayside.
If you let these things get away from you, they can quickly become the downfall of your business. I mean, there’s no point in working your fingers to the bone if you aren’t invoicing your clients, or lose track of if you’re being paid on time. If you stop marketing your business, what happens if you lose your main clients? With marketing, it takes a long time to build the momentum back up again. And if you have stopped networking, a lot of your old contacts will simply assume you have gone out of business. Not a great impression for them to have of your business.
The following series offers some simple steps that you can schedule into your working week to effectively work on your business so that it remains healthy and robust.
Schedule your email.
Whilst you may be monitoring emails for your clients and have to collect them regularly during the day, collect your own business emails just twice a day and deal with all enquiries in batches. This will enable you to work free from distractions and free up lots of additional time.
Sort your emails.
Hands up who has an inbox with more than 10 emails in it? If you have, it can be a huge waste of time trying to find what you are looking for and the clutter can be overwhelming. Have files for incoming email and set up rules for all mail that can be dealt with later so that it goes directly to those files.
File your emails.
In a similar vein to the last point, have a filing system for emails that have been dealt with. When you have replied or dealt with each email, file it away or delete it.
Create email templates.
If you answer an email to the same question more than once, create an email template so that next time you are asked the question, you already have an email ready to send out. You can do this by moving the email you have sent to your Drafts folder, and then using this as a basis for future similar responses
Back everything up.
If you’ve ever deleted something accidentally or suffered a computer crash, you won’t need to be told about this. Back everything up at least once a day. I use Carbonite and it automatically backs up my whole system everyday at 6pm. Then if I lose something or my system crashes, I have a copy of everything easily accessible online.
Book keeping and invoicing.
I’d recommend allowing time on two days of the month, about two weeks apart, for paying bills, inputting expenses, raising invoices and checking payments have been made.
Do your filing.
In addition to your client files, keep files for everything related to running your business. Then set aside time each week to file everything you have dealt with that week. I use the last half hour on a Friday for this so that I leave the office clean, tidy and organised for my return on Monday.
Create checklists.
Have checklists for every process in your business. For example, when you take on a new client, have a checklist that prompts you to check you have received back the signed contract, you have sent your Welcome Pack, you have set up an appropriate email address, and you have their stationery, and so on. This saves time and prevents things being forgotten.
Check and update your web site.
Check your web site is up to date and current. Set aside time, perhaps once a month, to check all the information is current and add anything new your clients and prospects might find useful.
Writing your newsletter.
If you write a newsletter, be it weekly, monthly or whatever, try to write it in blocks. It can be hard to find a quiet time to sit and write, but when you do, you often feel like you could write for hours. Do it when you feel inspired and then split the content over several newsletters.
Writing your blog.
The same writing advice applies here as it does to newsletters, but with the added bonus that you can schedule your posts in advance. I’m actually writing this on the 30th October but you’ll be reading it weeks later!
Social networking.
If you have a profile on sites such as Ecademy and LinkedIn, it’s easy to spend hours each day on and off the site responding to requests. Set aside some time each week for social networking and respond to invitations then. Also use this time to seek out new connections of your own, join and post to groups, and so on.
Review your marketing activities.
Set aside time each month to review your marketing activities. How many enquiries did you receive last month and where did they come from? Have a look at what is working for you and what could be improved.
Keep on networking.
This is often the first thing that gets dropped when you become busy with client work. I know; I’m guilty of it myself. But when you suddenly disappear from your regular groups, it can be assumed that you are no longer in business. Accept that networking is part of the ongoing development of your business, choose one or two groups that you will remain a regular at and keep going. Even if you are not looking for more clients, you will still establish relationships that you will benefit from later on.
About the Author
Justine Curtis is the director of her own successful virtual assistant business My Virtual Assistant http://www.my-va.com and founder of The UK Association of Virtual Assistants (UKAVA) which offers free resources and information to its subscribers – sign up at http://www.ukava.co.uk. Justine is the author of Setting Yourself Up As A Virtual Assistant and is delighted to be able to pass on the benefits of her vast experience of the VA role to aspiring and progressive virtual PAs as a co-founder of the VA Success Group. If you are thinking about starting a virtual assistant business, visit http://vasuccessgroup.co.uk
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