At What Point Should You Grow Your Team?
August 30, 2008
Question: What do you do when you’re asked to do something but you don’t know how to do one part of it? If I don’t know how to do something and what I’ve done in the past is I’ve turned down the job and I’d rather not do that if I can do 80 percent of it. What’s the best way of filling in the gaps when you need them fast? How do you find other great virtual assistants?
Answer: That’s a great question! What I’ve done in my business in the past , if there were things that I didn’t know how to do and I was asked to do them right away, I would say “yes” to everything and then I would figure it out once I said yes. That wasn’t always the most stress-free way to do things!
What I would do now is:
(A) Try to figure out how to do it yourself.
One of the things I find myself doing from time to time is using the Web to do some research to try and find forums or message boards where people were currently doing what it is that I needed to figure out how to do. I would then see if, based on the knowledge given there, if it was something I could do myself.
If it was something that really went beyond my technical knowledge, I would share that with my client and say, “You know, I can do x, y and z. But I can’t necessarily do w.” The client would then make the decision of giving me the extra time to figure out the part I didn’t know or to hire someone else onto the team who could do that particular task.
(B) Outsource it to someone who already knows.
In my business now, I’m quite fortunate that I have a team as well as a pretty wide database of people, so if there’s something that I can’t necessarily do, I am able now more quickly to find those people. If you get to a point where you’re being asked to do more things that you don’t know how to do, determine if you do want to outsource it. If you do, this might be the perfect place to begin growing your team.
You’ll want to find people who fill the gap for you. If you’re lacking in the blogging department or the website department, consider finding someone who can take over this area for you. If you want to do more graphic work for example, find someone who can do that. Most things that you may need in your VA business can be outsourced to other team members. It just requires great planning and finding the right people.
Technorati Tags: Virtual assistant, virtual assistance, multi-VA, multi-VA practice, multi-VA team, virtual assistants, growing your team, outsourcing, delegating, Erin Blaskie, virtual assistant coach, virtual assistance coach, VA coach
Do You Want to Learn Blog Design?
August 28, 2008
Do You Want to Learn How to Design a Blog for Your Own Business or For Your Clients?
Have You Given Up On the Website of Your Dreams Because of Cost, Difficulty or Just Pure Frustration?
I’m here to let you know that there is relief… in the form of a 5-day intensive Blog Design Bootcamp.
Beginning on September 15, 2008, I’ll be hosting the very first pilot program of our Blog Design Bootcamp – www.blogdesignbootcamp.com.
I’m going to teach entrepreneurs, virtual assistants and anyone else who is interested how to install, setup, customize and work with the HOTTEST blogging platform on the Internet today.
The Blog Design Bootcamp is perfect for you if you have ever experienced the following…
- Frustration with waiting for your blog site to be finished.
- The stress of knowing how much blog design and blog site design creation can cost you.
- Wondering how you’ll update and make changes to your blog now that you’ve finished it.
- Not knowing where to start when a new client comes to you wanting a blog.
- Disappointment at not having any high-end services, like blog design, in your portfolio of offerings.
These are all common issues we are faced with when it comes to blogging and creating this technology.
Luckily, I’m here to tell you that it’s okay… you can breathe a sigh of relief and know that I’m going to do something I never thought I’d do.
I’m going to teach you EVERYTHING I know about customizing blogs and blog sites so that you can in turn do this for yourself, as a service or for fun!
Find out full details and get in on the early bird pricing (until September 5) by visiting www.blogdesignbootcamp.com today!
Why This Training Will Help You Earn More Money & Save Time
What do the top Internet Marketers, coaches, speakers, professional bloggers and myself all have in common?
Well, there is a great chance we’re blogging and there’s an even better chance that we’re using THE best blogging platform in the industry.
By taking this training, you’ll be able to…
- Charge a lot for a service that is in high-demand but has low supply in terms of service providers.
- Save time by not relying on your blog or web designer for their time and availability.
- Save money in your budget by not having to pay out another service provider to do your work.
- Increase your incoming client flow and overall exposure with improved and amazing Search Engine Optimization that is done automatically with this technology.
- Become known as an expert in your industry for adopting the art of blogging into your business.
Find out full details and get in on the early bird pricing (until September 5) by visiting www.blogdesignbootcamp.com today!
When you walk away from this training program, you’ll be able to install, customize and utilize fully your blogging software which will save you time, money and stress.
So, join us on September 15, 2008 for the Blog Design Bootcamp!
I’ll be seeing you there…
Erin Blaskie
Blog Design Commander
http://www.blogdesignbootcamp.com
Are Your Virtual Assistant Rates Crazy?
August 26, 2008
In my previous post, I was discussing pricing strategies and pricing your services to attract the customers you want to have in your business. As a follow-up to that, I also want to talk about the flip side of that and discuss pricing your services too high.
As a virtual assistant coach, I spend a lot of time talking to new virtual assistants as well as virtual assistants who have been in the industry for a long time. One thing that naturally comes up a lot is the subject of pricing. For new virtual assistants, it’s a struggle to determine where is a good place to start and for industry veterans, it’s an issue around pricing their services too high.
My rule of thumb is this. Do your research and ask some questions. Take a look at other virtual assistant websites and see what they are charging for their services. If a VA that has a similar skill set to you is charging $25/hour (let’s say that’s primarily administratively based) and you’re charging $75/hour, you may want to rethink your rate. Here’s why…
If you price your services super high, you will instantly need to deliver to that level. All of your potential clients (or at least most) will be doing their research and due diligence before coming to you for your services. If you’re priced high, they will have very high expectations. If you don’t deliver to those expectations, you may experience high turnover rate where your clients are concerned.
So, go with a happy medium. Determine what feels good for you and what the industry standard / average seems to be for your skill set and then price your own services accordingly. Again, do your research and see what other people are charging. If they are super busy in their practice, it probably means they’ve found a sweet spot in terms of pricing.
What are your thoughts around pricing? Any advice for VAs out there when first starting out?
Technorati Tags: Virtual assistant, virtual assistance, VA, VA Coach, The VA Coach, virtual assistant coach, virtual assistance coach, Erin Blaskie, BSETC, virtual assistant rate, virtual assistant rates, pricing strategies
Branding Yourself as the Most Expensive… Good or Bad?
August 24, 2008
I’m not a Wal-mart, I’m a Holt Renfrew.
That’s the one statement that started off this blog post. I was thinking the other day about pricing and branding and how we turn ourselves into exactly what we decide we want to. What I mean by that is that your pricing strategies, your branding strategies, etc. define you in a simple yet powerful statement.
My statement is the first line… I’m not a Wal-Mart, I’m a Holt Renfrew. Now, let me explain what I mean by that. The first part about not being a Wal-Mart means that I am not setup in such a way to cater to everyone’s needs. I’m also not here to serve the masses. Instead, I run my business selectively. I price my services so that only serious entrepreneurs will move forward with our company. For me, serious entrepreneurs means that we’re going to get focused on the core issues around delegation and why they need a VA more quickly.
Setting yourself up to serve the masses may be appealing because that might lead you to think that you are going to get more customers. While this might be true, can you truly serve that many people in a service-based business (trading time for money) and do it effectively? That answer may be no. If it is, consider setting yourself up to serve fewer people in a more niched format. You could do this via pricing, you could do this in terms of what services you are going to provide or you could target one particular industry or a subset of people.
Now, let’s examine the second part. I’m a Holt Renfrew. For those of you who are not Canadian, Holt Renfrew is the equivalent in most cases as Barney’s or Saks Fifth Avenue. It’s the department store for the elite and the wealthy. They have limited product, high price tags and pride themselves on over-the-top customer service and overall customer experience. When I was thinking about the differences, this is where I wanted to fit into.
So, I’m making it my goal to make my company the equivalent to a Holt Renfrew and I’m going to work really hard at upholding these standards in my business. Catering to fewer people means that I’ll have less stress and be able to do a super stellar job for those people who become our clients.
What’s your business motto? Do you have one and if not, create one! Think about what you want in your business and what you want in terms of a lifestyle. Decide what is most important and write it down!
Technorati Tags: Virtual assistant, virtual assistants, virtual assistance, VA, VA Coach, virtual assistant coach, virtual assistance coach, Erin Blaskie, BSETC, Wal-Mart, Walmart, Holt Renfrew, marketing, business, branding, pricing, pricing strategies, marketing strategies, motto, business motto
The Future of the Virtual Assistance Industry - An Open Conversation
August 21, 2008
(I want to preface this blog post by saying that this entry today is not to put fuel to any fires, it’s not to stir anything up or to be a general trouble-maker but rather to really start an open conversation about the virtual assistance industry and where we’re headed into the future.)
As most of you know, I teach and coach virtual assistants on building businesses, taking those businesses to six-figures and creating multi-VA practices. I take immense pride in what I do and couldn’t imagine not having the opportunity to encourage and inspire others.
On one of my last mastermind sessions, I was asked about the virtual assistant industry survey that is put out by the Virtual Assistant Chamber of Commerce. The issue was raised that the survey was really, really long IF you answered the first page of questions “correct” but really, really short if you didn’t. There was concern that the survey, which calls itself “the largest, most comprehensive, in-depth and representative survey in the industry”, automatically excludes people right away if you don’t meet certain requirements.
It got me thinking… what are the requirements? One of them was that you couldn’t be a multi-VA team and still be a virtual assistant. Another was that you couldn’t provide additional services outside of administration and still be a virtual assistant. There were other things too which I can’t think of right now because I failed out on the first two strikes.
So, does this mean that all of this time my business (four years, fourteen plus hour days, blood, sweat and tears) has been a lie? I don’t think so. Instead, I think that we need to realize (and come to terms with) the fact that we are such a new industry that we can’t define or box in what constitutes a traditional virtual assistant practice yet. We are ever-changing and we’re growing in leaps and bounds.
Instead, I think we should be opening up these surveys and forums to ALL virtual assistants regardless of whether they have a team or provide some web design services on the side. I don’t believe in discrimination or exclusion - we are all working TOGETHER to create an industry that can be proud of what we stand for and proud of evolution. Otherwise, there is no way that the words “comprehensive” or “representative” or “in-depth” can be used. Instead, it should be defined as the survey that only includes insight from a very small subset of virtual assistants.
I’m not trying to be catty here but I really get fired up when we encounter people, organizations, etc. trying to box in something that has the ability to be so wide open. Part of what I do in my daily business is I try to inspire people to reach beyond their abilities, beyond their dreams and beyond anything they ever thought possible. I wish others did too.
I wish I could have participated in the survey for my industry but I can’t. I don’t fit the requirements and to be quite honest, I’m happy that I don’t. It means that at least what I am doing is trail blazing a new path for people who prefer to live out their dreams and reach for the stars - requirement free.
Technorati Tags: BSETC, Erin Blaskie, virtual assistant, virtual assistance, VACOC, Virtual Assistant Chamber of Commerce, VA Industry Survey, Virtual Assistant Industry Survey, VA, VA Survey, Business Services ETC
Amazing Line-Up of 42 Speakers in 1 Month… Are You Registered?
July 21, 2008
I HAD to blog this today because starting August 1, 2008, we’re featuring an amazing line-up of 42 speakers in one month (well, technically less than 1 month as we’re not including weekends!)
The Summer Speaker Series features speakers such as James Roche, Viki Viertel, Christina Merkley, Sheri McConnell, MaryPat Kavanagh, Amber Miller, Tara Kachaturoff, Pam Ivey, Lou Bortone, Lynn Scheurell, Allana Pratt, Kristi Pavlik, Alexis Neely, and SO many more.
Find out more and sign-up NOW (we start August 1!) at www.summerspeakerseries.com!
We’ve got two tracks… One for entrepreneurs and one for virtual assistants. You can also sign-up for both tracks and get the best of both worlds! We have seats only or seats and audio downloads so you don’t have to attend each call to learn all of the tips and tactics!
So, here’s the deal… Simply read through the Summer Speaker Series webpage and view the speaker line-up. If it interests you, scroll to the bottom where the big yellow box is and choose your package. Then, register your seat and prepare for an AMAZING month!
Find out more and sign-up NOW (we start August 1!) at www.summerspeakerseries.com!
You can get each event for $3.50 (at one of our package deals!)… You can’t beat that! We’re also giving away door prizes to those people who sign up so register NOW! Oh, and the first 100 people who register also get access to our special bonus track!
Find out more and sign-up NOW (we start August 1!) at www.summerspeakerseries.com!
So join me and my guests in the month of August. You will NOT be disappointed!
(P.S. - Don’t want to attend? Why not consider promoting the event? You can earn up to $60 per sign-up. See the page above, scroll to the bottom and click on ‘Affiliates’ for full details…)
Technorati Tags: Erin Blaskie, virtual assistant, virtual assistance, VA, virtual assistants, Summer Speaker Series, James Roche, Christina Merkley, Sheri McConnell, Viki Viertel, Carla Young, Amber Miller, Pam Ivey, Kristi Pavlik, MaryPat Kavanagh, Lou Bortone, Tara Kachaturoff, Lynn Scheurell, Charly Leetham, Allana Pratt, Kathie Thomas, Debbie LaChusa, Wendy Weiss, Jody Gabourie, Janet Foust, Rebecca Zwar, Julie Maloney, Alexis Neely, Terri Z, Allison Nazarian, Donna Gunter, Diana Ennen, Michele PW, Alicia Smith, Carol Deckert, Mari Smith, Erik S. Olson, Blog Squad, The Blog Squad, Patsi Krakoff, Denise Wakeman, Dr. Sally Witt, Sally Witt, Mary-Lou Ashton, Kristen Beireis, speaker summit, speaker series
Get More Clients: Learn How to Talk About What You Do
July 18, 2008
You know how business coaches are always telling you to perfect your “elevator pitch”? That 30-second description of who you are, what you do and how you benefit your clients and customers? Well, DO IT! 
It’s important to know exactly why someone will benefit from working with you and hiring you on as their virtual assistant before you go off and network or market your business. The thing is, if you don’t know how to explain what you do, how is anyone going to grow interest in your business?
Because of the nature of our industry, virtual assistance is picking up steam in terms of how well known we are and people are getting an education on what a virtual assistant is and isn’t but it’s still up to you to convey a great message to someone in a short amount of time.
Here’s an example:
I am a virtual assistant. I work with small business owners, coaches, speakers and internet marketers to streamline their operations and grow their presence on the web through internet marketing, social networking and other current marketing methods.
While that may not suit you per say, it’s important to hone in on your benefit to people rather than just hmm’ing and haa’ing over this mystic world of virtual assistance we’re in.
If you’ve honed in on a message, what is it? Share it below in the comments!
Technorati Tags: The VA Coach, The Virtual Assistant Coach, The Virtual Assistance Coach, virtual assistant, virtual assistance, get more clients, elevator pitch, VA, Erin Blaskie
Are You Pro-Active With Your Client Work?
July 17, 2008
One common thread I see amongst really successful virtual assistants is there ability to be pro-active. They encourage their clients to delegate and outsource and they create ideas around their client’s businesses in order to ramp up their own billable hours and get their clients relying more heavily on them.
So, the question is - how pro-active are you?
Being pro-active means:
- Going through your open client projects and making sure you are up-to-date and then going ten steps ahead to see what else you can do for your client
- Doing things that make logical sense to a project but might be things that your client didn’t think of at first
- Thinking outside of the box and offering up new project and task ideas to your clients
- Doing things that your client hasn’t held your hand through
Do you currently do things in your virtual assistance business that is pro-active? If so, I’d love to hear about it!
Technorati Tags: The VA Coach, The Virtual Assistant Coach, VA Coach, virtual assistant coach, virtual assistant, virtual assistance, VA, Erin Blaskie, pro-active, client, client work
Stop the Flow of E-mail People!
July 16, 2008
This is a short post but an important reminder. With the influx of e-mail in everyone’s inboxes, it’s super difficult to manage it all. So, here are some short reminders regarding e-mail.
- Not everything requires a response. If you’re just writing back to say ‘Thanks!’, don’t bother. :) I mean that in the nicest way possible! It’s not required and just causes the person on the other end to go into e-mail overwhelm.
- When setting appointments, be concise and clear. If someone is trying to schedule something with you, tell them an exact time, exact date and say, “If this works, just write back ‘confirmed’ and I’ll call you. Otherwise, please let me know two or three times that you have open and I’ll match that up with my schedule.” Or, use a self-scheduling system like mine at http://www.bsetc.ca/schedule/
- If you’ve e-mailed someone once and they haven’t replied, don’t e-mail them a thousand times. Instead, look up their assistant’s e-mail address, an alternate address on their website, a phone number and use another means of communication.
Help me stop the flow of e-mail. There is far too much of it floating around cyber-space!
Technorati Tags: The VA Coach, The Virtual Assistant Coach, Erin Blaskie, virtual assistant, virtual assistance, VA Coach, VA, e-mail, e-mail management, email
Get in the Face of Your Ideal Client at Least Once per Day
July 15, 2008
One of the questions I am asked most often by my coaching clients is, “How do I get more clients?“ This can be an easy answer or a difficult answer depending on you. If you’re the type of person who likes a small amount of work to do, you’ll receive a small return. If you are willing to spend the time, you’ll receive a higher return. The way that I answer this question easily for both groups is like this: get out there and in the face of your ideal client at LEAST once per day. Every day. No exceptions.
Here is a short list of ideas around this:
- Join Facebook and look up groups that contain your ideal clients. Real estate VA? Then join some real estate groups and give advice. The trick here is not to come across as pushy or ’selly’ but rather just build relationships and showcase your expertise.
- Sign up for a free Twitter account and tweet about the things you do. Using Twitter can be an amazing tool to further showcase your talents, expertise and what you are up to. When people see this and have a need for it, you can partner with them.
- Join some industry-specific forums or message boards. Again, look for the forums and message boards where your ideal clients hang out and join in the conversation! Just remember, it’s all about relationship-building and creating win-win scenarios.
- Write articles and press releases often and submit those. While this isn’t a daily thing, having these things on the web will generate traffic regularly thus increasing your reach.
I also have a short document on how to get clients. If you are interested, please send me an e-mail to info@thevacoach.com and I’ll send it over - free of charge.
Technorati Tags: virtual assistant, virtual assistance, va coach, virtual assistant coach, Erin Blaskie, BSETC, finding clients, getting clients, how do I find clients for my virtual assistance business