The Ridiculously Good Virtual Assistant Show

Starting a VA business is pretty simple.

It’s a service business, so there isn’t a lot of startup cost involved - I always say if you have a contract and a way for your clients to pay you, you can start taking on clients.

Of course there is more to it than that, but essentially that’s all you need.

So many women get stuck on allllll the details and never get started.

But if you have admin experience, you can say yes to a client today. You are ready.

Today, though, I want to help you get set up the right way - with the right plan.

In this episode, we'll talk about the five pillars I think you need to get in place to start your VA business the right way.

If you need help making your ideas happen - and getting your virtual assistant business started right now, get in touch with me. I’m here to help.

It’s the only reason I’m here at all, as you know. To help you become a ridiculously good VA.

I have helped hundreds of VAs who are stuck get moving. I'd love to do the same for you.

We can work together privately, through group coaching, or private and self study trainings. es for this episode. Thanks for tuning in this week! I’ll see you next time!

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Let's work together privately to get you to your really big goal. It's the fastest way to get results and we can start right away. Learn more about private coaching here.

The Virtual Circle (TVC) is a monthly mastermind group for Virtual Assistants just like you. We get together 3 times a month for group Zoom sessions to talk about what you are struggling with, working on, or celebrating. It's a close knit community of your VA colleagues that provides the best kind of support for your VA business. Learn more about TVC here.

My self study program Getting Started as a VA can help you get your VA business started easily and quickly too. You can sign up right away and be on your way to getting clients by the end of the program, with all the right foundations in place. Check out the program here.

Reach out to me if you need to talk about where you are stuck and what the right option might be to get you moving. It’s literally all I’m here to do is help you get to where you want to go. Book a complimentary Cut to the Chase call with me here.

Finding high paying clients.

It’s what we all dream of when we think about starting our Virtual Assistant business.

I know I did, when I first got started.

You probably did too.

We have these dreams of getting paid well, doing things we love, being in charge of our own schedule, being there for whatever our family needs.

So we start our VA business.

Then the other shoe drops.

It’s harder than we thought.

We face a growing lack of confidence as we realize we don’t know everything, and things aren’t so easy.

I’ve been there.

If you’re there too, I want to help you get out of it.

I promise you can!

If you need help creating that business for yourself, get in touch with me. I’m here to help.

It’s the only reason I’m here at all, as you know. To help you become a ridiculously good VA.

I have helped hundreds of VAs who are stuck get moving. I'd love to do the same for you.

We can work together privately, through group coaching, or private and self study trainings. es for this episode. Thanks for tuning in this week! I’ll see you next time!

‌

Let's work together privately to get you to your really big goal. It's the fastest way to get results and we can start right away. Learn more about private coaching here.

The Virtual Circle (TVC) is a monthly mastermind group for Virtual Assistants just like you. We get together 3 times a month for group Zoom sessions to talk about what you are struggling with, working on, or celebrating. It's a close knit community of your VA colleagues that provides the best kind of support for your VA business. Learn more about TVC here.

My self study program Getting Started as a VA can help you get your VA business started easily and quickly too. You can sign up right away and be on your way to getting clients by the end of the program, with all the right foundations in place. Check out the program here.

Reach out to me if you need to talk about where you are stuck and what the right option might be to get you moving. It’s literally all I’m here to do is help you get to where you want to go. Book a complimentary Cut to the Chase call with me here.

It's simple fact that you will eventually come up a challenging client. What we will cover today is what you need to learn from that client, and how to proceed moving forward if you get into the weeds with someone. Let’s go!

We love our VA clients don't we!

Sure we do. they pay us to do stuff we love.

But in many cases these people that we decide to work with are brand new to us. we don't know them from Adam, and so we have to get to know them through the work we do together.

And sometimes it goes well. We click. We communicate well. We work well together. Everything is great. If we have any issues, we sort them out easily.

But sometimes it doesn't go well.

We struggle.

We don't communicate well.

We don't sort issues out easily.

So let's talk about what to do when you have to deal with a difficult client.

Actually, first let's figure out what we consider to be a difficult client.

A difficult client is:

One who micromanages your work. One who doesn't pay you on time. One who pushes your boundaries. One who does everything last minute. One who communicates poorly. One who treats you like an employee. One who never sends you the work you need to do the work you need to do. One who complains all the time. One who thinks they know better than you.

That's probably enough examples. You get the picture. It's super frustrating to even go through that list.

These people exist though, and we need to learn how to deal with them.

I think the first thing I want to tell you is that none of this is okay.

Clients don't get to do any of this to you or with you. Just because your clients are paying you, it doesn’t mean that they get to be difficult.

I'm totally team YOU here, but I'm about to tell you something that you might not like.

If you have difficult clients, it may not be them that is the problem (yep, so that means it could be you!)

So we will start there and then I'll tell you how to fix any of these problems if you are having them.

Yes I am sorry, but you are a big part of the problem if you have a difficult client.

The reason is super simple: you teach people how to treat you.

If a client is treating you poorly, it is because you are letting them.

So the first thing we have to do is fix how you handle yourself in your VA business.

You are a business owner. You own your business, and you get to make allllll of the decisions in it.

You get to decide your rates, services you offer (and services you don't), communication methods, payment terms, lead times, scheduling ... every little bit of it!

Clients get to decide all of those things for THEIR business.

Not yours. Theirs.

Do their clients tell them when they will pay them, or what the rate will be? Or how they will communicate with them?

No they do not!

I’ll give you an example to illustrate what I mean:

Can you imagine calling your dentist and saying I need to come in tomorrow at 1:30, and I need you to give me some full veneers, and I will only pay you $20.

Of course you can't. You are contacting another business and booking their service.

You need to find out when they have time in their schedule, if they even offer the service you need, and then how much they charge for that service.

It is exactly the same for your VA clients. They need to find out all of those things from you.

May seem like a silly example, but it illustrates how you need to reframe your mindset around being a business owner in your own right, and how you need to change your thinking... especially if you have difficult clients.

This is why policies are sooo important to create starting out. Your clients need to understand that you call the shots and that they are hiring you to provide a service, but that there are expectations that need to be managed about how that happens on a daily basis.

Okay so let's get into how to fix some of these issues if you are experiencing them.

Micromanagers - you are not their employee. They do not get to manage anything about what you do. They can tell you what needs doing, perhaps the way they would like it done, but then it is your responsibility to keep the task on track and keep the client up to date on status. Sometimes people micromanage because they aren’t sure the status of something. It is your responsibility to keep the client current so that they don’t need to micromanage. Provide regular updates or a place to get updates to make them feel better.

Late payers - switch them to prepayment. If you have not been paid, cease work immediately until you get paid. Once you have waited on payment, you will find it easier to ask new clients to prepay you. Don't worry, you’ll get there at some point in your business. It will likely be after the first time someone pays you late. It’s a po...

Having lots of clients is a good thing, but if you can't manage your workload then it can be really stressful for all of you.

There are many times when having too many priorities comes up, but handling your workload well on a regular basis helps you manage that better.

Let’s talk about your first clients - we get excited, and then we get into the habit of answering their emails quickly, finishing their tasks quickly, and basically giving them really fast service.

That’s not a bad thing - I mean they are paying you, right?

But the problem with that is that it’s not sustainable as you gain more clients. Which you will if you are a successful VA.

Imagine being the client who got same day service in the beginning and then all of a sudden gets slowed right down, and being told ‘I’ll do that on Thursday’.

Doesn’t feel very good - does it?

And that’s one of the biggest problems that new VAs face.

Like Vince says in today’s quote - it takes months to get a great client, and seconds to lose one.

Very true. We work SO hard to get our clients - it’s really important to work with them in a way that helps them feel valued and also so that we can make sure they value us.

So how to manage it? Well for starters, you want to make sure that you work smarter from the get go.

Which can be a real challenge because you often have nothing else to do - but you have to handle the client as though you have a full schedule.

If you have already started, you are probably going to have to have a conversation with your client or face that disappointment that I described earlier.

I know it well, I’ve had that conversation with clients.

They don’t like being downgraded from being your highest priority.

So you have to build your business with the intention of managing the tasks of many clients.

I bet you never really thought of it till now did you?

I know I sure didn’t!

So let’s talk about how you can do that.

First you have to be able to tell your clients that they are not your only client. They can’t treat you like you are their assistant. You’re not.

You are a VA that they have hired to do their admin work (whatever that is), and they have to treat you like any other business that they would outsource to.

Part of working with a target market is looking for clients who are GREAT - and that means clients who value you and understand that you are working together, that you are not working for them.

If they think you are only working for them (or that they are your highest priority because they are paying you), you will run into problems regularly.

So ... start with that! Have that conversation. Let them know that you are in charge of your own schedule. They can let you know what they need done, but they can not dictate when you will do it. Only when it is ‘due’.

There are lots of ways to do work for multiple clients. They all require the use of your schedule.

Use Your Schedule

Some VAs will set aside large blocks of time to work on stuff for client A, client B etc.

But I am not a big believer in blocking off large blocks of time in any given day.

If you have 5 clients, and you book 2 hours today to work for client A, then what happens to the other 4 clients?

My preferred way of working with multiple clients was to block off short blocks of time - 30 minutes or less. You can always circle back to client A’s work later in the day if you need to.

Break up all tasks that you do for your clients into smaller time buckets For instance if you are working on their newsletter don’t try to sit down and produce the newsletter within the hour.

Break your pieces of what needs doing into much smaller tasks so you can do them a little at a time. For the newsletter, there are multiple steps that you need to ‘do’ to get it.

And make sure you factor in breaks to your day - burnout is real and it can rob you of valuable time.

The short blocks of time help you with that too - long periods of time working are bad for many reasons.

One of the main reasons is that the longer you give yourself to do something, the longer you will take to do it.

You also need to be sure that you are planning the right amount of time to complete every task - if you go over on your time regularly, then you have to revise your estimate.

Use Checklists

Instead of booking in an hour and starting from scratch, create a checklist of everything that you need to do to, to get it done. Then look at how long each of those steps takes to complete - and book THOSE times into your calendar.

Think about it - how many 15 minute or 30 minute time slots do you have in your day?

Lots! And it’s easier to fill those by doing something that takes 15 to 30 minutes, and then move on to something else.

Breaking up your task...

Client retention is more than just getting a client and keeping them.

It’s about building a great relationship that helps you grow as a VA, and helping your client grow too.

Strong, long-term relationships with our clients helps us build a stable and profitable business.

One of the most important pieces of building your long term relationships with clients is mastering communication.

When communication is clear, it helps to avoid misunderstandings, but it also helps you efficiently work together.

In this episode, we'll talk about a few simple things you can do to in your business that focus on working with your clients long term.

If you need help taking a step forward, that’s where I can help. I am here to help you become a ridiculously good VA.

I have helped hundreds of VAs who are stuck get moving through private coaching, my group coaching program and my self study trainings. If you are ready to get my help, let’s connect on a Cut to the Chase call. You can book yours at YourVAMentor.com/chase.

Thanks for tuning in this week! I’ll see you next time!

PRIVATE COACHING: Let’s work together privately to get you to your really big goal. It’s the fastest way to get results and we can start right away. Learn more about private coaching here.

GROUP COACHING MASTERMIND: The Virtual Circle is a group coaching mastermind option that costs less than private coaching, and can help you achieve the goals you set for yourself. We have one group training call and one group coaching call each month that will help you set goals and plan and implement the action steps to achieve them. There is also a VIP level of TVC that includes a monthly private coaching call, if you want a little extra personal attention. Check it out here: https://yourvamentor.com/TVC. We’d love to have you join us!

MONTHLY EMAIL MEMBERSHIP: I also have a brand new low-cost monthly membership program that will help you build your VA business – and it doesn’t require you to be on social media! It’s an email membership that I call The Virtual Toolkit! Every Monday morning you’ll receive a lesson and a downloadable resource in your inbox, that you can use to take a step further in your VA business. I’ve created TONS of amazing resources for you – from business foundations and building resources (financial stuff, calculators, productivity, tech tips and tools, website planning guide) to marketing tools (branding worksheet, blogging templates, content calendar, client acquisition, marketing campaign planner) to advanced business skills (package planning, branding tools, onboarding checklist, seo checklist, client management) and personal growth stuff (goal setting worksheet, networking, speaking tips and tools, conflict resolution tips). All of this is available to you for just $9 a month!! You get your first resource as soon as you register, and every Monday morning after that you’ll get a fresh new one. Get more details and sign up here now!

SELF STUDY PROGRAM: My self study program Getting Started as a VA can help you get your VA business started easily and quickly too. You can sign up right away and be on your way to getting clients by the end of the program, with all the right foundations in place. Check out the program here.

COMPLIMENTARY CONSULT: Reach out to me if you need to talk about where you are stuck and what the right option might be to get you moving. It’s literally all I’m here to do is help you get to where you want to go. Book a complimentary Cut to the Chase call with me here.