Virtual Assistant – THE Blog About Our Industry

About the Virtual Assistant industry for VAs and for clients

Monthly Archives: March 2010

VAs – Looking for long-term relationships

The excitement of getting that first client soon passes and you start to wonder how much work is going to come through and how often.

If you’re a new VA, or a client looking to engage a VA for the first-time, I encourage you to look at the relationship as something that is going to be for the long-term and not ad-hoc or one-off jobs.

I know that some clients like to ‘try us out’ to see how things go. I expect some might do this with Accountants and Lawyers too, and perhaps tradespeople as well.  But ultimately if VAs provide good and reliable service, delivered in a timely fashion, then clients are going to appreciate the value of a VA and stay with them long-term.

Most of my clients started off with small jobs and then built up, but not all.  Now and then I would get one come along who knew straight off that they were going to need me xx number of hours per week or month, we’d discuss the rate and next thing I knew, I had a new regular client.  I really like those kind of clients! :-)

My longest-term client was with me for almost 12 years, another just over 10 years. Each moved on because of life changes.  Others that are still with me range between just under a year, through to around 6 or 7 years, maybe longer.  I lose track.  I love that I have a variety of work to carry out for a number of people (not a large number, but just comfortable) and their businesses are quite varied: business coaches, author, architect, nurse who speaks at events and promotes safe sleep for babies, professional speakers and then some ad-hoc clients for occasional projects, website updates or sending out newsletters and broadcast emails.

How did they find me?  Many through word-of-mouth, some through networking events (locally and/or online), others through this blog or my website, or Yellow Pages or Google advertising.  There are many ways.

So, whether you’re VA or a client looking for a VA, I encourage you to look at the relationship as something that will stay with you for a long time and nurture the relationship as such from the start. You will find it so worth the effort!

Hiring a Virtual Assistant

Welcome to the readers of Sarah Wilson’s blog where she recently explored engaging the services of a Virtual Assistant (VA).

Below you will find an interview of one client in Australia using VAs for her business but if you check the Client Interview category you will find many other client interviews listed.  We also have a Client Case Study category in the menu on the right and a list of some clients who have been using VA services for many years.

Kathie Thomas

Clients Using VAs Part 9

In another of this series, here is an interview I did some months ago with Wendy Moore.

Please tell my readers a bit about who you are and what you do.

With over 14 years experience in the IT industry, I understood the amazing potential available to women in business who knew how to use the internet. What astounded me was the absolute lack of knowledge amongst fellow business women about the internet.  Basic fundamentals were just not understood by women and so many were missing golden opportunities to attract clients and get online.

I encountered two main barriers for women around the internet:  They either thought they had to do it all themselves, or they “don’t know what they don’t know”.  Faced with so many choices about the internet and feeling overwhelmed, many women simply choose to do nothing.

Recognising this gap, I decided to act and so Savvy Web Women was born.  I educate and empower other women in business to become internet savvy.

When did you realise you needed admin support for your business?

I know what I love to do and what I am good at. I also know which tasks take me a lot of time and what I don’t enjoy.  I quickly realised it would be a far better use of my time to focus on what I love and outsource the rest.  I now focus my energy on my business and have a number of VAs that I use, all specialists in their chosen field, to do the rest.  Doing this frees up my “brain space” and allows me to get back to business, knowing that my multitude of admin tasks are in great hands.

What type of support did you originally obtain?

I needed a knowledgable VA that would be able to get my blog up and running quickly and get it right first time.  Once the template was loaded and the blog was live, my VA is then able to update the blog regularly, including adding pictures to the articles and links to my social media.

Is the support you receive today the same as then or has that changed and if so, how?

As my blog has evolved, so has the support required to maintain it.  When my blog first went up, I chose a template based on what best matched the company colours and on what would be quick and easy to get loaded.  As I became more comfortable with the blog and also influenced by how easy other blogs were to navigate, I asked my VA to source more comprehensive templates to load behind my blog to make it more user friendly.  Once we chose the template, my VA was again employed to update and tailor the new template to fit into how I wanted the blog to look and feel.  By once again using a VA that knew her stuff, this process was quickly and easily implemented.

Do you have more than one VA supporting you, and if so, perhaps you’d like to give a brief idea what the difference is?

I have a number of VAs who each perform a different role.  Just as people are better at some tasks than others and enjoy some tasks more than others, so it is when it comes to finding a VA to suit your needs.  Be specific about the role you need them to fill and recruit the best person to fill that role.  Go for a specialist over a generalist.  I have a VA that does admin, one that updates my website, another who manages my affiliate program, and so on.  It is important to match the role to the best person for the job.

How did you find out about this type of support?

I first found out about VAs from a great mentor of mine, Brendan Nichols.  He employed no admin staff directly.  Instead, the admin side of his business was run using Virtual Assistants and I quickly understood just what a great business model that is.

How long have you had your current VA? (Feel free to name who they are)

Two of my longest VA relationships have been with Kathie Thomas (who established my blog) and Marta Costa (who manages my affiliate program).  Both were recruited for specific roles performing specific tasks and have been brilliant.  I also employ two part time VAs, Teresa and Ness, who are based in the Phillipines – these ladies really allow me the freedom to run my business.  My latest team member is Maria Zito.  For this role, I needed a local who could come into the office to provide on-site assistance as well as work remotely as needed.

Anything else you’d like to share?

Let go of the reins and outsource the tasks that you don’t need to do or don’t like to do to allow yourself to concentrate on what you do best. Be specific about what you need and if things are not working, move on.  There are some great VAs out there who will really work with you to help you achieve your business goals.

Flattery won’t get you everywhere

I’m amazed by the amount of  ‘VA’ spammers out there, who are desperate to get their comments posted on this blog.  Regular spam is bad enough but VAs doing this? Your flattery and use of big words will not impress me, nor the html coding you leave in the comments either.

However, if you add value to the article and simply leave your name and URL in the relevant fields, your comments will get published and people can visit your site if they wish.

Spamming on a peer’s site is not the way to get yourself good attention. It will just serve to have you added to the spam list managed by Akistmet or any of the other spam filter programs used by bloggers.

Engaging a VA?

Then it’s important to remember:

There is no ‘standard’ rate for engaging a VA.  Their cost of living, location, currency, experience and skillset vary considerably.  First you will have to weigh up whether you need to engage someone who is local to where you work, or whether virtual is what you need.

We find that most work can be carried out 100% virtually, unless you need for that VA to be onsite (Minutes of Meetings for example) or to do research that requires local geographical knowledge.

Advantages for working with a Virtual Assistant (VA)

  • They’re self-employed, therefore responsible for their own taxes, superannuation, insurances, etc
  • They have their own equipment and work in their own office so you don’t have to have the space or equipment available to them
  • They own their own software so you don’t have to buy it for them
  • Available for short-term or long-term work, i.e. your personal assistant whenever you need them
  • You pay $$ per hour for the work they do, not for their lunchbreaks, tea breaks, sick leave, etc
  • Already experienced – you don’t need to train them, other than explain how you normally operate – however if there is a need for the VA to learn a new skill, they are generally very willing to do this, or help you find the right VA for that skillset.

Tips for working with a Virtual Assistant (VA)

Be clear about your expectations at the beginning of your project to avoid misunderstandings:

  • Understand that the VA is not someone you are going to see every day and is not an employee but instead a business owner who will view your business in a different perspective – they should be seen as a business partner
  • VAs do not need to be micromanaged – you’re paying for someone who doesn’t require a lot of supervision and who has experience on their side
  • VAs are not sales people so do not expect them to generate sales for you. They are there to assist with aspects of your business that prevent you from generating more income.

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