Are you overwhelmed running your business? Are there not enough hours in the day? The more your business grows, the more administrative tasks you have; the more time you spend on administrative tasks, the less time you have to generate new business.
How much is your time really worth? YOUR time is most valuable because it is your responsibility to generate new revenue for your business. Doing small and often trivial administrative chores yourself does not really add value to your business and the sensible solution is to delegate those less profitable tasks by hiring someone more than capable of carrying them out, but whose hourly rate is somewhat less than your real financial worth. So whats stopping you?
You may have a multitude of reasons that prevent you from hiring a full time personal assistant. You may not need a full time, or even part time employee but just require someone for occasional or limited secretarial services. Then there are the employers responsibilities, employees are entitled to sick pay, maternity leave and paid holiday and often seek generous benefits packages. It is estimated that the true cost of an employee is over double and often up to triple the cost of their annual salary in terms of benefits and liabilities.
Significant for some potential employers is also the loss of privacy and space - are you working from home or have limited office space? You may not want an employee working from your home or simply not have the room for an additional employee in your office or all the equipment they may need.
Wouldn't it be perfect if you had a business assistant that was always ready to work for you, but only when you need them? Providing secretarial services from their own home or office, using their own equipment? Meet the Virtual Assistant (VA), an invaluable new work force that provides a practical solution for small businesses owners. A VA frees up your valuable time so you can concentrate on the important things that only you can do in your business.
There is no need to share office space or even for your VA to live in the same town or city. Work assignments are communicated through email; telephone, fax or post and web-based tools such as instant messengers and online calendars and planners are also often used as a means of keeping in touch.
Because your VA is self-employed, and invoices you only for the actual hours worked or by tasks completed, and is dependent on referrals and steady work flow from existing clients, s/he can be the perfect solution for a busy small business or entrepreneur. When you hire a VA you get all the benefits of outsourcing - no employer liabilities, tax and benefits issues, coupled with the loyalty and steadiness of a company executive PA.
With a VA, you have someone to whom you can delegate. Your VA can return telephone calls, answer e-mails, and draft letters for you. They can run your diary, deal with your post, run your marketing campaign, design your next presentation, book your doctors appointment and even remind you of your spouses birthday and source the perfect gift if necessary! VAs are already computer trained, and can assist with your specific needs from traditional office support services to highly specialised areas including web site design. You can also equip your VA to go beyond traditional secretarial support to client development and marketing support.
You can easily justify a virtual assistant in terms of your greater productivity and your greater efficiency. You need to be the leader in your business and your VA will insure that you focus on what is important, rather than urgent. Your VA can also lend "size" to your company, which will impress potential clients.
As more and more businesses move their marketing and communications to the Internet, VAs are becoming the obvious solution to staffing issues. For an hourly fee often less than the cost of temps or the real cost of employees, businesses can take advantage of professional assistance and a variety of skills at the click of a mouse.
Need a Virtual Assistant? Then youve come to the right place. We have details of all the best virtual assistants and pas in the business so click on the link and start delegating! DIRECTORY OF UK VIRTUAL ASSISTANTS
Are you a Virtual Assistant? Do you want to establish your presence as a professional virtual assistant and become an accredited member of the UK Association of Virtual Assistants? For more information about membership criteria, our CODE OF CONDUCT and how to add yourself to our DIRECTORY OF UK VIRTUAL ASSISTANTS visit our JOIN US section.
We all need to fill our marketing funnel with the contact details of potential clients and referrers of our business services. The following series gives you some ideas about how to collect contact details, and in particular email addresses, so that you can begin to build relationships with your prospects. Put an offer on the [...]
We all need to fill our marketing funnel with the contact details of potential clients and referrers of our business services. The following series gives you some ideas about how to collect contact details, and in particular email addresses, so that you can begin to build relationships with your prospects.
Put an offer on the back of your business card to get people to sign up for your newsletter. For example, âVisit www.mywebsite.com/freereport to download 20 Top Tips for Outsourcing to a Virtual Assistantâ. When they land on your page, ask for their email address in order to receive the free report.
    Your can work with Associates in one of two ways, or indeed, a combination of both. Firstly you can retain all the client contact so that he/she never knows that the work they are sending you has been completed by a third party. The plus side here is that you will never [...]
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Your can work with Associates in one of two ways, or indeed, a combination of both.
Firstly you can retain all the client contact so that he/she never knows that the work they are sending you has been completed by a third party.
The plus side here is that you will never have to worry about unscrupulous associates who may attempt to take the client from you, or underhand clients who think they may save a pound or two if they cut you out of the equation and work directly with your associate.
The downside is there will be inevitable delays as you send work back and forth, and you will have to be not only very aware of every peace of work as you will have to discuss it with the client where necessary, you will have to double check everything that goes out. All this additional admin can become very time consuming.
The second way to work with an associate is to effectively pass the client over to them and allow direct communication.
This frees up much more of your time as all discussions about the tasks performed are direct between the client and the associate. However, do make sure that you have very solid contracts in place with both your associate and your client to prevent them working directly together.
Also bear in mind that associates will not be with you forever so make sure you keep yourself up to speed with the clients account information, that you have access to all their files and the work completed by the associate, and that you maintain a relationship wit them have contacting them regularly to check in and see how things are going.
Itâs imperative to have an Associate Agreement in pace so that everyone understand the boundaries of the relationship. For more information and a selection of templates you can download and adapt for your own business go to:
When you have filled your virtual assistant business with clients, you will soon run out of time that you can sell to new prospects. After all, you only have so many hours in the day that you can work. So how can you expand and take on more business without the overheads of getting an [...]
When you have filled your virtual assistant business with clients, you will soon run out of time that you can sell to new prospects. After all, you only have so many hours in the day that you can work. So how can you expand and take on more business without the overheads of getting an office and taking on staff?
Itâs time to introduce you to the Virtual Assistant Associate.
Working with associates is a very popular business model in several industries as it works in much the same way as working with a virtual assistant. When there is work you donât have the time to complete, your clients outsource it to you. When you have an excess of client work you donât have time to complete, you outsource it to an associate.
Associates work at a reduced hourly rate to that you have charged your client, as they have been handed the work âon a plateâ without having to do all the marketing and relationship building associated with bringing that client on board.
You also continue to manage the client relationship and invoicing and the client remains a customer of your business, rather than becoming a direct customer of your associate.
Itâs imperative to have an Associate Agreement in pace so that everyone understand the boundaries of the relationship. For more information and a selection of templates you can download and adapt for your own business go to:
Our final tip in this series is a short but vital one. Above all, keep marketing as a continual process and recognise that although you may not get clients immediately from you efforts, in time your consistency will pay dividends.
Our final tip in this series is a short but vital one. Above all, keep marketing as a continual process and recognise that although you may not get clients immediately from you efforts, in time your consistency will pay dividends.
When you have decided on your target market, or niche, think about how you can reach them. Do they belong to particular organisations, read certain publications or as is the case with one of my niches, do they all drink on a Thursday afternoon in bars within a square mile of a certain point in [...]
When you have decided on your target market, or niche, think about how you can reach them. Do they belong to particular organisations, read certain publications or as is the case with one of my niches, do they all drink on a Thursday afternoon in bars within a square mile of a certain point in London?
When you know where to find them, consider how you can get your message to them. While advertising in general is expensive and often pointless unless you can afford to take out a run, perhaps you could write an article for a trade publication, or give a presentation at an event your âsuspectsâ will attend. Think outside of the box for some interesting and inexpensive ideas that will have impact on your particular target market and keep you stimulated and motivated.
Next in our serries of Getting Those First Clients – take stock of all the skills you have and the industries you have worked in or that interest you. Consider what services can you offer and to whom? If you have been a book keeper with an IT firm for many years, you are going [...]
Next in our serries of Getting Those First Clients – take stock of all the skills you have and the industries you have worked in or that interest you. Consider what services can you offer and to whom? If you have been a book keeper with an IT firm for many years, you are going to find it far easier to offer your virtual book keeping services to other IT firms as you know something about their market and their âlanguageâ. If you target an industry or sector you have experience of, you will be seen as the virtual assistant who is an expert in this field and have an advantage over any other VA.
One of the questions Iâm asked most often is âWhere do you get your clientsâ. Usually the question is asked by new start up virtual assistants, but more recently I’ve been asked by more established VA’s who have started to struggle during the recession. Newbies have generally spent lots of time putting together their business [...]
One of the questions Iâm asked most often is âWhere do you get your clientsâ. Usually the question is asked by new start up virtual assistants, but more recently I’ve been asked by more established VA’s who have started to struggle during the recession. Newbies have generally spent lots of time putting together their business by purchasing equipment and organising their office, but have forgotten the fundamentals of putting together their marketing plan. Then when they are all set up and ready to go and have opened their virtual doors to the world they find that the phone isnât ringing and the email Inbox isnât full of enquiries. More established VA’s, once they have enough clients, put marketing on the back burner until such a time as they need to look for new clients again.
If either of these sounds like you, you need to develop a marketing plan, and fast. Firstly take a long hard look at your contacts and include everyone youâve ever worked with, all your contacts through previous businesses if appropriate and family and friends. What contacts do you already have that you can ask for referrals? If you are already running a VA business, when did you last ask your clients for referrals? Donât discount anyone because you think they wouldnât need your services. They may well know someone who does.
In The News: Virtual Assistant Training â Who Needs It? In The Spotlight: Virtual Assistant Online Course Bundle â Fantastic 3 for 2 Offer and Online Book Keeping With Kashflow â Accounts Made Easy! Read it online at: http://www.ukava.co.uk/html/ukava_news.html
In The News: Virtual Assistant Training â Who Needs It?
In The Spotlight: Virtual Assistant Online Course Bundle â Fantastic 3 for 2 Offer and Online Book Keeping With Kashflow â Accounts Made Easy!
When starting your virtual assistant business, after getting together all you equipment, getting excited over your business cards and web site, there comes the sudden realisation that here you are, all ready to go and there isnât actually a queue of people knocking down your door to work with you. Yikes! Over the next couple [...]
When starting your virtual assistant business, after getting together all you equipment, getting excited over your business cards and web site, there comes the sudden realisation that here you are, all ready to go and there isnât actually a queue of people knocking down your door to work with you. Yikes!
Over the next couple of weeks we’ll be looking at some tips to getting your first clients.
Keep on networking This is often the first thing that gets dropped when you become busy with clients work. I know; I am guilty of it myself. But when you suddenly disappear from groups in you have been a regular, the assumption can be that you are no longer in business. Accept that networking is [...]
Keep on networking This is often the first thing that gets dropped when you become busy with clients work. I know; I am guilty of it myself. But when you suddenly disappear from groups in you have been a regular, the assumption can be that you are no longer in business. Accept that networking is part of the ongoing development of your business, choose one or two groups in which you will remain a regular, and keep going. Even if you are not looking for more clients, you will still establish relationships from which you will benefit later on.
About the Author:
Justine Curtis is the director of her own successful virtual assistant business My Virtual Assistant Limited http://www.my-va.com which is now recruiting a team of virtual assistant licensees and founder of The UK Association of Virtual Assistants (UKAVA) which offers free resources and information to its subscribers. Justine is the author of Setting Yourself Up As A Virtual Assistant and is proud 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
The Virtual Assistant industry is getting bigger and better every day with more and more people starting their own VA businesses. What this means for you is that you have more competition to deal with. The trick is for you to stand out from the crowd so that you attract clients but also keep [...]
The Virtual Assistant industry is getting bigger and better every day with more and more people starting their own VA businesses. What this means for you is that you have more competition to deal with.
The trick is for you to stand out from the crowd so that you attract clients but also keep those valuable clients – it is a fact that it is easier to sell to your existing clients!
One of the things you can do is look at what added benefits you provide and compare it to your competitors to see what you are doing better and what they are doing better.
You need to be very honest with yourself and also objective as this is a very important exercise to do – there is no point getting emotional over your business, you need to think like your client.
Once you have done the analysis, have a think about what other benefits you can give to your clients.
Think about:
One stop shop – do you have a supplier database that you can recommend reputable companies to match your client’s requirements. Clients come to trust their VAs so it soon becomes the norm when they are asking your advice on where to go and who to use. You could always think about teaming up with good suppliers who offer affiliate or rewards programme or so you can earn some passive income as well.
Referral system – do you reward people who refer work to you? Think about offering an affiliate system to your clients and associates. This is very appealing to clients who can earn money off their bill or commission each month just for recommending you to their contacts and clients. Everyone loves passive income so make it easy for your clients.
Proactive service – do you provide a really proactive service or do you just respond to client requests? Get to know your clients really well so that you can anticipate their needs in advance and therefore provide services or solutions before the client needs them.
Discounts – have you got products that you could offer discounts on for valued clients? Everyone likes to feel special and a great way to do that for your existing clients is to reward them with discounts.
Think about what you could offer your clients so that you can stand out from the crowd in all your marketing material and then start implementing them now.
More tips to improve your virtual assistant business: Give your website a revamp. Is all the information up to date? Does it show a good photograph of you? This is your virtual shop window and the first impression most potential clients will see. Write articles useful to your target market then add them [...]
More tips to improve your virtual assistant business:
Give your website a revamp. Is all the information up to date? Does it show a good photograph of you? This is your virtual shop window and the first impression most potential clients will see.
Write articles useful to your target market then add them to your web site. You can also include them in your ezines. This showcases you as the expert in that particular field.
Syndicate your articles online to article directories to attract new visitors to your web site and Ezine subscriber list.
Thank you are 2 very simple words but not used enough in business. If someone has referred business to you, drop them a hand written thank you card – they will soon remember you and then go out of their way to refer more business to you. Get more free top tips on creating raving [...]
Thank you are 2 very simple words but not used enough in business. If someone has referred business to you, drop them a hand written thank you card – they will soon remember you and then go out of their way to refer more business to you.
One of the downsides to working virtually with clients is that it can be a little more difficult to build effective working relationships with clients and team members. From the client’s perspective, one thing that is sometimes difficult to understand is how work is progressing. One way to combat this is to keep [...]
One of the downsides to working virtually with clients is that it can be a little more difficult to build effective working relationships with clients and team members.
From the client’s perspective, one thing that is sometimes difficult to understand is how work is progressing.
One way to combat this is to keep in regular communication with the client and let them know how you are getting on with tasks given.
Send a weekly activity report and detail what tasks have been completed, what hours have been used and any comments so that the client is fully informed.
Once you have set up your blog, the next stage is to decide how you will use it to promote your business. Here are a few tips to get you started: 1. Define your audience. Have a good think about who you want to be reading your blog. This is easier if you have [...]
Once you have set up your blog, the next stage is to decide how you will use it to promote your business. Here are a few tips to get you started:
1. Define your audience.
Have a good think about who you want to be reading your blog. This is easier if you have a niche market because you will have a clear idea of who your customers are. If you do not have a particular niche, think about what your clients have in common.
2. Define your content.
Once you have decided who you want to reach, think about what information would interest them. Your blog is not a platform for you to continually trumpet your services and remind readers how great you are; it is an opportunity to provide useful information for your readers.
3. Set you posting rate.
A blog is for life, not just for Christmas! A blog takes commitment and is very interactive. Your readers will expect regular new content, so think about how often you want to post. I would recommend at least twice a week.
Part one of this article looked at what your clients like about your service, and how these associations affect what they think about your business as a whole. It is also important to look at what they do not like about your service. What weaknesses can you see? Some weaknesses may be related to [...]
Part one of this article looked at what your clients like about your service, and how these associations affect what they think about your business as a whole. It is also important to look at what they do not like about your service.
What weaknesses can you see?
Some weaknesses may be related to the industry as a whole. For example, it may be that as you work remotely you cannot make the coffee. However, be aware if things crop up that you can do something about. Perhaps you have missed deadlines or you are not up to speed with particular software that your clients use. Think about how you can improve on these in the future.
How can you ‘delight the customer?’
Years ago I used to work for a holiday company that used the line ‘delight the customer’. The idea was that you do not want the customer just to be satisfied with what you have produced for them. In order to get them singing your praises you really need to ‘delight’ them. So, what can you do to delight your clients? Where can you add that little bit of extra value or really show some initiative? If you are seen to be going that extra mile, your clients will love you for it, and that is when they start to become your raving fans and tell everyone how great you are.
Better than advertising
As you can see, creating your brand or the ‘image’ for your company is not about expensive graphic designers or advertising experts. It is about identifying what is great about your business and communicating that in a clear and consistent way. If you can turn your clients into raving fans, they will not only stick with you through these turbulent times, but they will also recommend you to others. That has got to be better than spending a fortune on advertising!
One of the most common questions I get asked by aspiring Virtual Assistants is: “What skills do I need to start my own business?” Here are the top skills you need to run a successful virtual assistant business: Organisation As a VA, you will be working with a range of clients providing different [...]
One of the most common questions I get asked by aspiring Virtual Assistants is: “What skills do I need to start my own business?”
Here are the top skills you need to run a successful virtual assistant business:
Organisation
As a VA, you will be working with a range of clients providing different types of support to each client. It is therefore imperative that you are an organised person who is able to switch between different tasks and work within different situations regularly.
Self Motivation
You are now your own boss. This brings a whole host of positive points, but also means that you no longer have a boss to issue instructions, motivate and encourage you… or breathe down your neck! You need to consider if you will be able to motivate yourself each day to get the job done, even if you are yet to secure your first client.
Relevant Work Experience
As a Virtual Assistant, you are charging for the experience and skills that you have gained and honed during your career. As you are charging for your skills, these need to be of an exceptionally high standard.
High Ethics
Again, you are charging for your time, so high ethics and honesty are essential. Your clients have to trust you to do their work and believe what you report back to them. You need to be completely honest with clients and work to high standards.
Task Orientation
The work of a Virtual Assistant is very task-oriented – but for other people. It is a juggling act and you need to make sure that all your work is accurate and on time. If you don’t like doing some mundane tasks, then the role of a Virtual Assistant is probably not for you.
Software Skills
Virtual Assistants are renowned for their excellent software skills. Some VAs even offer software training as part of their services to clients. Make sure that you are experienced in a particular software package if you are going to offer it as a service to paying clients. For example, it wouldn’t be right to offer to produce high-quality presentations if you don’t know PowerPoint.
We all hear about branding and how important it is to your business. But branding is not just about your web site or logo, it is also about the associations your clients hold with you and your company name. The more positive that association, the more likely they may be to remain loyal to you [...]
We all hear about branding and how important it is to your business. But branding is not just about your web site or logo, it is also about the associations your clients hold with you and your company name. The more positive that association, the more likely they may be to remain loyal to you when times get hard and competitors start slashing their prices.
So, how do you know how you are perceived by your clients and prospects, and how can you set about improving or building on your brand?
What do your existing clients think of you?
The best place to start is by sending a questionnaire to your existing clients and everyone on your prospect list. It is a good opportunity to ask what they like about your service and what improvements could be made. You should begin to see some similarities in the responses, which will give you an idea of how your brand is perceived.
What do they like?
When you have identified the similarities, have a close look at what your clients and prospects love about you and your service. These are the positive aspects or your brand – the things that you should be communicating in all your marketing information.
They will appreciate it and start talking about it so think about ways you can make your clients feel special. Get more free top tips on creating raving fans for your virtual assistant business at: http://vasuccessgroup.co.uk/virtual-assistant-freebies/10-step-downloads/
They will appreciate it and start talking about it so think about ways you can make your clients feel special.
Communication is key when working with multiple clients as a Virtual Assistant. As you aren’t seeing them face to face every day, like in corporate roles, it is important that you get the communication right so that you get the work done as well as build your growing relationship. Set up a regular [...]
Communication is key when working with multiple clients as a Virtual Assistant.
As you aren’t seeing them face to face every day, like in corporate roles, it is important that you get the communication right so that you get the work done as well as build your growing relationship.
Set up a regular time to talk
Communicating by email is ok, but you need to touch base and talk to your clients on a regular basis to build on the relationship.
You don’t have to meet in person, make use of telephone or video conference facilities.
