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Virtual Assistants-7 Red Flags That Say You’re in Over Your Head

May 05, 2009

(Listen to the Podcast: 7 Virtual Assistant Red Flags )

I tend to get quite a few inquiries from new virtual assistants looking to ‘hire on’ with my company or perhaps ’sub-contract’. Honestly, I’m not at a point where I am comfortable sub-contracting work to another VA, but I have been known to send clients who need services which I don’t provide to another virtual assistant. That said, I make it a policy not to send them to just any VA. I want to be sure that they will be as committed to providing the same high level of service that I am committed to at Clerical Advantage.

Between conversations, e-mails and checking out websites, I’ve seen plenty of ‘warning flags’ that some new VA’s may have jumped in over their heads.

Here are the Top 7 Red Flags that scream you’re in over your head:

#1: Lack of a dedicated e-mail address. If I’m getting an e-mail from sexykttn411@hotmail.com it’s the first red flag. If you’re going into business as a VA, you need a professional grade e-mail address. Ideally it should be yourname@yourbusiness.com, but if you really can’t afford to purchase your business domain name w/e-mail (and I would argue you can’t afford NOT to) then at least look into the option of a personal domain name (you@yourname.me) w/e-mail hosting or a more professional free webmail account like your.name@yahoo.com.

#2: You don’t respond to my e-mail for more information about your business. I’ve actually had new VA’s call and ask if I’d received their e-mail requesting subcontracting,etc. and when I respond that I sent them an e-mail in reply they say “Oh, I haven’t checked my e-mail for a few days”. Uh, hello? Are you sure you want to be a virtual assistant? We pretty much live and breath e-mail.

#3: You call and ask me how to run your business. Hey, I’ll give you advise gladly, because I have a passion for this industry and I enjoy helping others. But if you’ve signed a client and are asking me what your next steps are, you aren’t ready to be signing that first client. Months before signing your first client, company forms and policies should be drafted and ready to go. You should also have a plan as to how to proceed from the initial contact to the signing of the contract and beyond.

#4: You have a cookie cutter website and/or tons of typo’s and grammatical errors. Look, your website is a chance to show the world what you have to offer, if it’s straight out of SiteBuilders ‘R’ Us with nothing to distinguish it as yours, the message you’re giving is that you don’t value your own business enough to invest time, effort and/or money into it. So why should a client invest in your services? And nothing screams unprofessional more than typo’s and grammatical errors. Period.

#5: Your website contradicts your services offered. For example, you offer proofreading and editing services but your site is riddled with grammatical errors. You offer blog services and don’t have one yourself. You offer website maintenance and customization and your site is a basic template with no personalization. Get the idea?

#6: You lack professionalism.This is not something you can learn from a book, course or class. This is something that you obtain through experience and is yet another reason actual professional office experience is required. Trust me on this one, working in a corporate or attorney’s office teaches you a totally different aspect of professionalism than working in the office of the local grocery or department store. I’ve done both and know from experience that it’s like night and day. As an owner of your own business, your level of professionalism should be extremely high, otherwise don’t expect to be taken seriously.

#7: You tell me you’re ready to be a VA because you completed a course or class. Just because you complete a course, which may have truly been a stellar program, doesn’t mean you’re ready to become a VA. Do you have professional office experience? Have you been in a position that carried some degree of responsibility? Did you work independently or have all of your work assigned by a superior? These things make a difference. As a business owner you will need to be self motivated, no one is going to be reminding you that work needs to be done, it’s your responsibility to get it done and get it done well. No class, course or e-book can teach you that type of thing, it comes from experience. Plain and simple.

I’m sure some within the virtual assistance industry might view this as being a bit harsh. I view it as being truthful. Regardless of the fact that it’s tends to be portrayed as an easy, low cost ‘work-from-home’ job, everyone is not virtual assistant material. If I can help people understand that, even though it may come across as being a bit harsh, so be it. I’m proud of being a virtual assistant, and I’m proud of my fellow VA’s as well. I encourage those of you who have the experience and the passion to explore the option of becoming a virtual assistant. But in the same vein, I would ask that you seriously examine if it’s the right career choice for you.

If you have questions concerning virtual assistance or have an interest in working with a virtual assistant you can contact Tina Hilton or visit her business website for Clerical Advantage.

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S.E.E. Your Way to Clearer Communication with your VA

Apr 30, 2009

By Tina Hilton of Clerical Advantage

In my last post here I gave people who work with virtual assistants six tips. My third tip was to communicate clearly. But just what constitutes clear communication in a collaboration with a virtual assistant? How do you know that you’re giving your VA the information they need to do the job? One way is to apply the S.E.E method as you’re composing your instructions. S.E.E is an acronym for Specify, Elaborate, and Example and should be applied as follows;

Specify- This refers to being specific about the task or project. This includes time constraints,background and other details. You may send a rough draft of a blog post on ‘best dogs for women’ and you want it to be posted just before Mother’s Day, thinking it might draw customers to your pet store to get Mom a truly unique gift. Knowing what you’re trying to accomplish with your project/task might not seem important, but it helps your virtual assistant to be able to visualize what it is you want their work to accomplish for you.

Elaborate- Always elaborate when giving instructions. For example, instead of saying “Please post this to the blog” you say “Please post this to the blog, with a picture of a puppy, place hyperlinks where I’ve indicated and block quote the information I’ve placed in italics. Place it in the pets category and do a spelling and grammar check” Of course as you work together over time you’ll be able to shorten that to “Please post with puppy pic in pets category and do the normal checks and insertions.” But don’t take anything for granted. As a VA we don’t want to overstep by changing what you’ve written or inserting links, pics, etc unless you’ve directed us to.

Example- If applicable and at all possible, give your VA an example or template to refer to. This is especially useful when having documents drafted, formatted or converted, but applies to other tasks as well. If you’re looking for your VA to create an e-book cover, send them several examples of covers you like, pointing out the details you’d like to see in yours.

By using these suggestions you will not only give your virtual assistant a clearer picture of what you need them to do for you, you may also save time, as your VA will most likely have less questions concerning the task/project. Help your VA to see what you need by using S.E.E..

If you have questions concerning virtual assistance or have an interest in working with a virtual assistant you can contact Tina Hilton or visit her business website for Clerical Advantage.

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A Virtual Assistant’s Guide to Constructing a Web Presence

Mar 03, 2009

By Tina Hilton of Clerical Advantage

Web Presence - (definition) The term refers to an individual or business having an established existence on the World Wide Web , through a Web site, Internet advertising, blog, or a collection of Web files. (Webopedia)

A few weeks ago, on my own blog I wrote a post about businesses that are reluctant to build and maintain a web presence. I’m still surprised at the number of local businesses that don’t even have an active website, say nothing about a Facebook page or Twitter account. There are several reasons these local businesses fail to utilize the tremendous marketing power of an online presence. Some just don’t get it. But others see the potential and either don’t know how or don’t have the time to create one.
The chance of those that ‘don’t get it’ reading my words in this blog post are pretty slim. But just in case a few of you are reading? Newsflash! Computers and the Internet are here to stay. It’s not just techno nerds and high tech geeks that are using it anymore. In case you haven’t noticed, people are even accessing it on the go via Blackberry and iPhone. Your target market is out there and if you aren’t, then they are going to your competitor who is. There is no excuse for not seeing why your business should have a web presence.
For those of you who see the need, but don’t have the know how or time to accomplish it, this one’s for you. Over the next few weeks I’m going to explain how to build a web presence by using a website, networking sites, Twitter and a blog. I’ll touch on what visitors are looking for in a website and how to give it to them, how to benefit from social networking sites, how you can use Twitter to connect with your market and why you should take blogging seriously. And for the time crunched, pointers on outsourcing to get it done, and what a virtual assistant or freelancer will expect from you.
When we get to the end of the series, you’ll see that you don’t have an excuse not to construct your own web presence.
Next week: The piece of the web presence puzzle that your business MUST have.

If you have questions concerning virtual assistance or have an interest in working with a virtual assistant you can contact Tina Hilton or visit her business website for Clerical Advantage.

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Are You Ready for a Virtual Assistant?

Feb 05, 2009

By Tina Hilton of Clerical Advantage

There’s been a lot to say lately in the Virtual Assistant world regarding whether the term ‘virtual assistant’ is a benefit or a hindrance to our businesses. As an offshoot of that debate is the question of just exactly what a virtual assistant is. This debate is not new, I’ve let my voice be heard during the discussions now and back in July when I wrote several posts on the subject here at Home Office Warrior. Today’s post comes at the issue from a different angle. Today I venture to say that perhaps the issue isn’t so much about the term ‘virtual assistant’ but more about who is looking for one. More specifically, are those looking for a virtual assistant really ready to work with one?
Interesting concept hmmm?

So just how does one determine if they are ready to work with a VA? I’ve gone into detail in a free guide I’ve written called “Am I Ready for a Virtual Assistant?” a mini guide and checklist to help people determine their readiness. In the three page mini guide I give 7 questions to ask yourself before you go on a VA hunt, and brief explanations as to why each question will help determine your Virtual Assistant readiness.

Your answers to questions about your propensity toward micro-management, your understanding of the difference between Employee and Contractor and the support level you’re looking for all play a part in how ready you may or may not be. And either way it’s ok. Just because you need additional help doesn’t automatically mean you’re ready to team up with a Virtual Assistant.

And that, in my opinion, is why our industry is having such a difficult time with what we’ve chosen to call ourselves. You see, people who aren’t really ready to work with a Virtual Assistant are the ones who seem to be looking for them and driving the demand for cheap, often overseas, assistants. Even successful people, like Timothy Ferriss, have confused professional level virtual assistance with cheap, general online administrative support. Just because Mr. Ferriss is a huge success with a New York Times Bestseller doesn’t mean he, or others like him get to re-define what we are. And I don’t think it’s so much about finding another title for ourselves as it is about educating the public. And part of that education is letting people know that teaming up with a Virtual Assistant isn’t for everyone. It’s a unique collaboration, that not everyone is suited for. But for those that are, they’ll find it to be one of the most valuable tools for business success ever imagined!

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You can download your free copy of “Am I Ready for a Virtual Assistant?” by following this link.

If you have questions concerning virtual assistance or have an interest in working with a virtual assistant you can contact Tina Hilton or visit her business website for Clerical Advantage.

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Productivity Starts with Equipping Your Home Office with Reliable Technology

Dec 12, 2008

We talk about productivity a lot here on Home Office Warrior. In fact, you will notice we have an entire category devoted to the very topic. And Kris is doing an outstanding job by providing some awesome post. Lord knows I need to listen to and read everything she talks about in my own home office.

What I want to talk about in this post may not be your typical GTD productivity tip or hint. However, I do think some of those working from a home office are truly missing a major part of being productive. You can have and use all of the best and greatest planners and graphs you can find. But if you are skimping on the actual tools in your home office you are not going to be productive.

The very first thing you have to have is good reliable technology in your office. Don’t skimp on your computer. Spend some money on this very important tool as it is without a doubt one of the most important ones you will use every single day. The excuses I hear are usually the same. “I can’t afford to get what I want.” “Oh, the one I have will get me by.” “This one works OK.” And on and on and on.

How productive can you really be if you are spending more time fighting a slow and sluggish computer? How productive can you really be if you are spending your time keeping that old computer working? I have had my MacBook now for right at 2 years. It still works and works well. It could “get me by.” And, it is paid for. But, I could be more productive with a new model MacBook Pro. Or better yet, a Mac Pro desktop. I am going to get the MacBook Pro because I like to take my office with me when I am out of the office.

And yes, the MacBook Pro is going to cost me some dough. Do I have the spare money just sitting around, most likely not. Do I have to have the tools that make me the most productive, yes and so do you.

I don’t know how many of you know anything about farming and the cost of machinery. I like to equate buying office technology to buying farm equipment. Productivity and being efficient is the key to modern day agriculture. If a farmer is not using the more advanced and most reliable equipment, he is not going to be producing at his/her fullest ability. The same applies to those of us who work from a home office.

Usually, those of us who work from a home office don’t have employees. (Thank God). And we have to rely on our tools to get done what needs to be done. We can not afford to just get by. Get the best technology you can for your home based business which will do the job you need to do.

Remember one thing, how is it going to look if you are competing with a business that has employees and you both are working on a new project and you run into a snag because your tools fail you. Equip yourself with the tools so you can compete and be successful.

We will discuss more about what you need to equip your home office in future posts. In the meantime, please, please leave your comments on what other tools you feel you have to have to compete and be productive. Also, I know this post is going to generate some negative thoughts on your part. Tell me what you are thinking. If you disagree, tell me in your comments. I do not hold any ill feelings to any of our readers who disagree. In fact, we grow and change when someone has a different view.

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