» virtual pa

How You Can Stand Out As a Service Provider – Part 2

admin — Fri, 18 May 2012 12:04:25 +0000

In part 1, we looked at how clear, consistent and easy communication is key to successful client relationships. Today, we’ll look at 2 other ways to stand out from the crowd.

Professionalism

As a virtual assistant, your clients are looking for a few key features. They want their service to be provided:

In a timely manner
Without excuses
Without additional fees
To the best of your abilities

It’s not too much to ask for. And the truth is that many virtual assistants manage this just fine. To stand out, go above and beyond what you promise, you need to give your clients a little extra.

This can mean delivering a project early, giving them a little something extra that they didn’t pay for, or offering some useful information or advice.

Get Involved

Many virtual assistants provide a great service and do the work requested. To stand out, you want to get involved in your client’s success. Send them an email once in a while to say hello. Include a link to some information you think they might find valuable. Offer them a promotion. Connect with them on social networking sites.

When you are involved with your clients and in their community, you put yourself ahead of the competition. Clients will think of you first when they have a need.

When you sit down next to review your business, take a look at what you’re doing to stand out from the crowd. Integrate follow-up methods and business strategies. Offer more value. Connect. Show your clients why they want to do business with you again and again.

What are you doing to stand apart from every other virtual assistant? Please leave your comments below.

Suffering from writers block?

admin — Wed, 16 May 2012 11:36:41 +0000

In this information hungry world, how can you stay ahead when you’ve a couple of hours to put together your latest newsletter and, uh-oh, no content. Sometimes when you sit down to write your latest informative piece it all comes flowing, and at other times, there seems to be nothing in the tank.

Welcome into your virtual assistant arsenal the prewritten articles from the VA Success Group.

We’ve written a whole load of articles about virtual assisting so you don’t have to. Add them to your newsletter, blog or website. Anywhere you choose as long as our author tag is left intact.

Get yours here: http://vasuccessgroup.co.uk/virtual-assistant-freebies/

Virtual Assistant Time Tracking and Getting Paid

admin — Mon, 14 May 2012 11:35:48 +0000

There’s a lot to think about when you start your virtual assistant business. There are many processes and systems to put in place, your first clients to find and lots of new ways of working in a ‘virtual’ world.

One thing you really want to make sure you get correct from the outset is your system for tracking your time spent on client work and your invoicing process. After all, there’s no point spending hours and hours on client projects, if you end up not getting paid.

For a range of financial templates that you can adapt to use in your own business visit: http://vasuccessgroup.co.uk/virtual-assistant-document-templates/

Make It Easy for Clients to Pay You

admin — Fri, 11 May 2012 12:02:09 +0000

Getting paid for your services is quite an important thing! One way you can help your clients to pay you in a timely manner is to make it easy for them.

Think about:

BACS (Bankers’ Automated Clearing Service)

An easy option for clients is to send a BACS payment. It is straightforward for both the client and the VA. Clients simply use their online or telephone banking service to send the payment directly to your bank account. The money usually takes two or three working days to be transferred.

PayPal

PayPal is a quick and relatively easy way for clients to settle their invoices, using a credit or debit card. The only thing you need to consider is that fees are charged for receiving payments. However, you may choose to incorporate these fees into your invoices.

Standing Order

For your regular clients who are charged a monthly fee, think about setting up a standing order mandate for the fee so that you receive it in your bank without the client having to do anything. You can then send an invoice for any charges over the monthly fee.

If you want some help in setting up an effective finance system for your business, check out the Finance Templates Pack at http://vasuccessgroup.co.uk/products/virtual-assistant-document-templates/

Becoming a Successful Virtual Assistant Part 2

admin — Wed, 09 May 2012 11:35:01 +0000

For the first part of this article, click here

It’s also important to understand that there are several levels or models of virtual assistant businesses you can operate. From the one-man band to the office based team, these can follow in sequence as you grow or you can start with you favoured business model in mind and develop that to its full potential. As you also develop with experience, practice and gaining the knowledge that you need for the job, you will be able to become more successful with your business. Continuing to define what you need and constantly growing into your virtual assistant business will help you to find your success.

The most important thing to keep in mind with your virtual assistant business is that the satisfaction should come from the process, not the goal. No matter what stage you are at, there is always room for growth. This may mean that you will grow into success by redefining the services that you offer or by continually refining your professional standards. Or it may mean developing your skills in certain areas or learning new ones to make you a well-rounded and progressive virtual assistant. The more you know and the more you can offer, the better of a chance you will have at continuing your success.

Becoming a successful virtual assistant simply means taking the steps that you need to be successful and achieve your own goals, whatever they may be. By beginning with your own idea of what success in your business would mean to you, and moving forward one step at a time.

To get your business off to a successful start, why not check out the fantastic Online Course Bundle and get all three online training courses for the price of two?

Get your 3 courses for the price of 2 here: http://vasuccessgroup.co.uk/virtual-assistant-online-courses/online-courses-bundle/

Free Article: How to Turn Your Clients into Raving Fans

admin — Mon, 07 May 2012 12:01:06 +0000

Justine shares some fantastic tips on how clients can be your biggest fans and recommend your services to others.

Check out this great article about How to Turn Your Clients into Raving Fans.

Visit http://vasuccessgroup.co.uk/virtual-assistant-freebies/articles

How You Can Stand Out As a Service Provider – Part 1

admin — Fri, 04 May 2012 11:59:49 +0000

The virtual assistant industry is rapidly expanding with new businesses are coming on board every day. what this means is that you are now competing to find great clients, as well as keeping them.

Paying attention to a few details can make the difference between a full schedule and having to hunt for clients. In short, you need to stand out as a virtual assistant to build and grow your business. The good news is, if you’re dedicated, a few simple strategies can make a huge difference to your life and bank balance.

Clear, Consistent & Easy Communication

Clear, consistent and easy communication is one of the most importance thing you need to do with all your clients. Think about:

Responding to your client’s emails or phone calls promptly. Don’t let 24 hours go by without a response
Responding professionally. Ego has no place in a client communication. Respect, get to the point, and be courteous and professional
Respond clearly. Email communications are easy to misunderstand. If you’re unsure your message is being communicated or received the way you intend, call your client

To stand out, make sure each communication you have with your client is positive. Be enthusiastic about connecting with your clients. They’ll receive that enthusiasm and reciprocate.

How are you going to communicate with your clients? Comment below.

Free Content for Your Website, Newsletter or Blog

admin — Wed, 02 May 2012 11:33:10 +0000

We all know the value of sending out regular information to our prospects and clients through newsletters and blogs. Informed articles on relevant topics promote us as experts in our field. But constantly having to write more and more information to send out to our ‘lists’ can sometimes take over our working lives. If we’re constantly producing articles for the sake of marketing, we’re not spending our time on client work, which, when all is said and done, is what pays the bills.

One of the best ways of keeping up with the information hungry, without extending our working day, is to reprint articles others have written. There are two golden rules here: you must never reproduce an article without permission, and you must always include the original writers author tag or resources box when you are allowed to reproduce them. This is the information at the end of the article that usually links back to the writer’s website.

At the VA Success Group, nice people that we are, we have written a load of articles for you. You are free to use them in your own newsletters, blogs and websites, provided that you leave any links intact and include the author tag at the end.

What are you waiting for? Get yours here: http://vasuccessgroup.co.uk/virtual-assistant-freebies/

Becoming a Successful Virtual Assistant Part 1

admin — Mon, 30 Apr 2012 11:31:20 +0000

Many Virtual Assistants start out in their businesses by working towards the finish line of what they perceive to be a successful VA business. They will research online what everyone else is doing and strive to achieve something very similar. But doesn’t that just make them the same as everyone else?

They will spend time deciding what services they will offer, how they will offer them and going about finding the right clients. But before this process really starts, you should begin by defining what success really means to you. You need to drill down and establish the type of success that you want and how you want to achieve it.

Successful doesn’t necessarily have to mean the largest or most profitable VA business. It could be a business that fits in around your lifestyle, or one that develops a fantastic reputation within a very niche market.

To get your business off to a successful start, why not check out the fantastic Online Course Bundle and get all three online training courses for the price of two? Get 3 for 2 here: http://vasuccessgroup.co.uk/virtual-assistant-online-courses/online-courses-bundle/

Why Boundaries Are Vital For Your Virtual Assistant Business – Part 2

admin — Fri, 27 Apr 2012 11:58:15 +0000

Please check out part 1 for suggestions of boundaries for your VA business.

Some other questions to ask yourself:

Will you only be working certain hours?Decide what your business hours are and make sure that you inform all prospective clients what they are. Some clients may try to push this boundary by calling 5 minutes before you finish wanting work completed for the next day. Be firm and say that you will start the work the following business day – but only if you have the capacity to.

What will your work turnaround time be?

You need to decide in advance what turnaround time you work towards for routine tasks so that you can inform all prospective clients. For example, I say that I will respond to all email correspondence within 24 hours and all routine work will be completed within 48 hours.

Will you be working 52 weeks per year?

Think about what holiday you want to take now so that you can start educating your clients or getting associates on board to cover for you.

Do you want a term time only business?

If you have children, you may choose to only work during term time and spend the holidays with your children. Again, now is the time to be able to start educating clients or getting associates on board to work during holidays.

By establishing your boundaries now, it can become part of your client intake process to inform and train your family and clients about how you operate.

You must remember that you are the boss of your very own company and you can say no!

What boundaries will you set?