AMVA - Amanda Moore Virtual Assistant

NOTE: Make sure you read the comments for follow-up to this post.

Kieron over at Full Time Blogger is wondering just that. And he’s challenged me to give him the answer. In Kieron’s case, given the information that I have, the answer is probably no - not yet anyway.

Typically, before I’d suggest services - or not suggest services, as the case may be - I’d want to know more about the potential client. I’d want to know their goals (both personal and business), what they love about their business, what they hate about their business, and what they have to force themselves to do only because if they didn’t their business would implode. (That’s a bit of a simplistic summary, but you get where I’m going.)

Basically, I want to know what they are and are not passionate about. Touching back on my post from yesterday about how my passion is changing my life (which was inspired by this Dosh Dosh post), if you’re doing something you’re passionate about, your chances of success are higher. I believe this applies not only to business but also personal success. So, my answer to the question “Do I need a Virtual Assistant?” would be:

Yes, IF you’re spending a large amount of time doing things you’re not really passionate about.

It stands to reason that if doing something you’re passionate about contributes to success, then doing things you’re not passionate about could contribute to failure. Those are the things you should outsource to a Virtual Assistant. That will give you free time to focus on what you really care about - and that’s the point of having a VA (at least from my perspective).

In Kieron’s case, he’s passionate about everything he has on his plate right now (at least the things that could potentially be outsourced - I’ll leave helping out with showers up to his wife) so it doesn’t make sense for him to hand them off to someone else. Could that change in the future? Absolutely.

As his business grows, there will probably come a time when, no matter how passionate or interested he is in what he is doing, he just don’t have the time to get everything done (and still have a life). That’s when I hope he’ll call in me (or another VA) to help him out. At that point he’ll have to say to himself, “I love it all, but what do I love doing least?” - that’s what should go to a VA.

You may be thinking “Wow, shouldn’t she be trying to sell her services more instead of saying I don’t need her?” and the answer is maybe - but that’s not how I work. I want to work with clients who want to work with me, need to work with me, and are excited about working with me, not ones that work with me because I conjured up some tasks I could do.

I’m willing to bet that if I took a closer look at Kieron’s life there are things I could do for him - like tracking his personal finances, planning his vacations, cleaning out his spam box - but doing those things, unless he really hates doing them, would be more about making business for myself than helping him out and that’s not how I want to do business. I don’t like people who hard-sell me products I don’t need so I’m not going to do that to someone else.

So Kieron no, you don’t need me…but maybe some day.

Now readers, in my last post I asked you “What is your passion and what are you doing to follow it?

With this post I’m wondering:

What are you doing that you AREN’T passionate about, and what are you doing to change that?

by: Tawnya Sutherland

You can slash prices and offer all types of sales promotions at your online business but unless you can create client loyalty, you’ll rarely be successful. You need to keep clients coming back to your website over and over again. Sounds easy but how does one create this loyalty?

Stay in regular contact with your clients by sending out a regular newsletter monthly or better yet every other week.

After every sale you have from your website follow up with a client appreciation survey. It’s a great way to find out what your client really thinks about your business. Offer them a free gift or discount on their next order as a thank you for filling out the survey.

Why not award a bonus box of chocolates to that client who just made a big purchase from you or signed up as a large retainer client? Better yet, don’t charge shipping on orders over $100 or give discounts for large retainer packages.

Always respond to inquiries within 24 hours from receipt of the email. Better yet, respond as soon as they arrive in your email box. Set your email to notify you of new mail every 15 minutes. Responding immediately will gain you the upper hand against your competition and most likely land you that next project or retainer client. Why? Because the customer feels like you care since you responded so quickly and they are more likely apt to put their service needs into your hands since you appear prompt and efficient. This extra attention makes them feel you will get their job done on time.

Have a FAQ (Frequently Asked Questions) area on your website with phone number and email contact visually prominent for anytime they need a question answered.

Send thank you, birthday, get-well cards or a simple Thinking of You e-card to your clients as the occasions arise. It will bring a smile to their face to know that you thought of them.

Be alert to your client’s interests if you see something like a website that may benefit your client or maybe you read a newspaper article that may relate to your clients business. Email them the URL or mail them the newspaper clipping. It makes your customer feel important.

Go that extra mile with your clients. Always give them more than they expect. Kindness goes a long way so always be polite on the phone or in online correspondence. Remember the golden rule too “The Customer is Always Right” whether they are or not. And if you happen to make a mistake, make sure you make it up to them in a big way with a future discount or freebie on the way to them in the mail tomorrow!

All of these suggestions can help build your client’s trust and admiration in your business which leads to loyalty. A loyal target market is the bread and butter to your business.

~~~~~

Learn more online marketing tips by signing up for Tawnya’s TNTs ~ FREE Weekly Tips & Tactics for online business owners at http://www.virtualassistantshop.com/newsletter.htm

Tawnya Sutherland, founder of Virtual Assistant Networking (VAN) and author of The VAS System, a Virtual Assistant Startup System, is a Certified Internet Marketing Specialist sharing much of her online marketing experience at VAN to help aspiring and successful VAs turn clicks into cash at their websites. Contact her at tawnya@mediamage.com.

by Tia Peterson

This article is written particularly with virtual assistants in mind.

Anyone reading this article has probably heard of or read the book Nice Girls Don’t Get the Corner Office by Lois P. Frankel. The book highlights some common mistakes women naturally make that may prevent them from breaking through that highly controversial notion of the “glass ceiling.” The book is very good, actually, and if you haven’t read it, you should, particularly if you have been or plan to ever be part of “corporate” America.

But I have another angle on this that I’ve been thinking about recently. What about the home office? Is there a difference when it comes to women’s natural tendencies (to bring cookies and other goodies and leave them at our desk, to bring in our kid’s fund raisers, to put others first, etc) in the home-based business realm, vs corporate America?

I’d love to see some responses and comments to this. Women in home-based businesses tend to be in industries we expect them to be in - virtual assistants (like myself), home/personal products, shopping, etc. Some of the very successful are in more mixed pools - graphic design, coaching/consulting, etc. A lot of men in home-based businesses are found in major money-making MLM businesses, finance (like home-based accounting and tax services), real estate investing, technology and media. Of course, all of this commentary is without research into this - this is just my observation.

Case in point: I’ve never been a “brick-and-mortar” administrative assistant professionally (a few times during college temporarily). I have a BA in technical writing and until recently worked in IT as a tech writer, then product manager, and then lead business analyst. But when I decided to work from home, I chose virtual assistance. Why? I don’t really know. I just enjoy it a lot. That’s all I can offer for an explanation.

Women seem to thrive in “helping” businesses like virtual assistance. Does that make us servants? Most definitely not! But if you ever find yourself feeling that way a bit, don’t fret, I’m sure we all do at some point. I recently came into negotiations with a potential client that didn’t go very well. The essence of the conflict was a philosophical one. The potential client (a man) worked from home and probably enjoyed a lifestyle that anyone would - lots of income, low overhead and free time. But he didn’t anticipate that I would be in the same position as he is. When it came to negotiations in terms of my rate and my work schedule, he expected me to work 24/7 for peanuts. That’s ridiculous. Needless to say it didn’t work out between us.

Anyway, the issue I’m really getting at is that it’s obviously possible for women to be very successful in home-based business (many, many women do - just look at Ali Brown and her prodigies), but it isn’t by giving stuff away, acting like a servant, lowering our rates or devaluing our services. It’s by sticking to your guns. Set a price and a schedule that you want and that reflects your desired lifestyle (see my blog about Lifestyle Entrepreneurs) and then don’t waver. Men rarely do that (in business or in life) but as women we’re so good at rationalizing our changes that we talk ourselves into things like “I’ll lower my rate for just this one client” or “It really shouldn’t take 2 hours to do this task so I’ll only charge him for 1 1/2 hours.” Resist the temptation to do this!

Whether or not you believe in “you reap what you sow”, law of attraction, karma, “you get what you ask for” or something similar, the truth is that you will get out of life exactly what you expect to get. So set your expectations high! If you want lots of money and a 2 hour workday, expect that. You will then find yourself researching businesses that allow this sort of lifestyle and the next thing you know it will be yours.

So be nice, but be real. Don’t bend down for clients, reach up for them.

To our success!

~~~~~

Tia Peterson is an entrepreneur, author behind Entrepreneurship Junkie and owner of All-American Admin She holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in Technical Writing with a minor in Public Relations and Advertising. She currently lives in Erie, PA with her son.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Tia_Peterson

By: Nell Taliercio

How would you like to hire someone that is more motivated and more qualified to do the work and costs you less than your average employee? No, I am not talking about hiring someone illegally. You can accomplish this simply by employing a telecommuter. Let’s take a look at 5 very good reasons, why it makes sense for you to consider telecommuting from an employer’s perspective.

1) Less Overhead
How much is all this office space, furniture, computer equipment along with your IT department to maintain them, utility bills etc. costing you? Telecommuters do not require any of the above, which will cut your overhead cost tremendously. Telecommuters use their own office, their own equipment from computers to paperclips; use their own power, phone and Internet connection. If their computer acts up, it’s up to them to get it up and running again.

2) Less Benefits To Pay
Most telecommuters are independent contractors. You do not have to provide for health care, workman’s compensation or paid vacation. Consider the tax benefits as well; there is no employer portion of federal and state tax to pay.

3) Hire Experts When Needed
Do you need someone to write the occasional press release and maybe come up with a revision to your brochure every once in a while? Instead of hiring someone fulltime as your marketing person, consider outsourcing the tasks to a freelance telecommuter. You will pay per project, or hire your freelancer for a few hours per month, instead of creating a marketing position. Freelancers give even small businesses the opportunity to hire an expert for almost any task.

4) On Demand Work
Do you expect a temporary increase in your workload, be it seasonal, or because you just landed a large project? Why not pick up a few telecommuters for the task instead of working with inexperienced temps, or hiring in-office personnel that you may not need three months down the road. Telecommuters combine the flexibility of temps with the on-the-job experience of permanent employees. You get the best of both worlds.

5) More Motivated Workers
Telecommuters have a very good reason why they want to work from home. Whether that reason is being able to stay home with the kids, a disability, or avoiding a long commute, being able to work from home makes them happy. As you well know, happy employees are more motivated, don’t count the minutes until they can leave the office and overall get more work done.

If you haven’t already done so, I encourage you to give telecommuter a try the next time you need a highly motivated, experienced worker, but aren’t in a position to create a permanent onsite position. Once you have experienced all the benefits a telecommuter brings to your organization, you may even consider converting even more positions to telecommuting.

~~~~~

About the author: Learn more about hiring and using telecommuters for your business at <a href=”http://www.telecommutingmoms.com” target=”_new”>http://www.telecommutingmoms.com</a>