Virtual Assistant – THE Blog About Our Industry

About the Virtual Assistant industry for VAs and for clients

Monthly Archives: April 2010

How many clients do you need?

A chance comment at a VA forum made me realise that a new VA was using the scatter gun approach to finding new clients and was, therefore, trying to prevent travelling all over the countryside and use cold calling instead. Except she was unsure how to go about it. She’d obtained (legally) a directory for her target market and wanted to approach them all to introduce her business and was seeking advise about this.

I’d made comment that face-to-face was more personal and why didn’t she just go along to the industry association networking meetings put on for her target client base.  She then said she didn’t know how much fuel she’d use and the cost involved in going all over the place.  Bingo!  The thought hit me ‘how many clients did she really need?’ and I responded by saying that she really only needs to go to the one event to meet possible clients and once she gained one client, if they’re happy with her, they will refer her.

Now, I should clarify here – I don’t mean attend only one meeting, period. I mean, find one local network that is close by and attend their meetings regularly, whether it be weekly, monthly or somewhere in between.  Building relationships is important but once you get past first base and people get to know you it’s so much easier to move to the next base and gain new clients.

It’s important to know when you’re first starting out in business that you don’t have to get everyone’s attention.  You can’t possibly service everyone with a need, but if you gain 1, 2 or more clients from that source it will build from there and as you gain confidence, the more attractive your service will be to others as they learn about you.  You only need one to get the ball rolling!

Forum Etiquette

One of the VA groups I belong to was discussing limiting sales pitches to seminars or webinars and how did members feel about it?

My response was:

I think that people who come along to promote/sell something at a list that doesn’t belong to them are being presumptous. I have a problem with it personally. You spend time building a list and then they come along and think it’s their right to pitch to that list – without having anything to do with building it in the first place.

My own opinion and probably one that’s going to cause people to feel strongly one way or another, but as a moderator of two fairly large VA forums I find it very cheeky, or perhaps rude, to assume it’s their right without asking permission of the moderator.

I try to be nice about it and email them offlist if they keep doing it, just letting them know that I’d prefer they were more involved with the group and joined in, rather than using it for promotions only. If they persist but don’t join in, I usually remove them from the list.

Another member came along and apologised as she felt the discussion was aimed at her.  I responded with:

My own thoughts weren’t about you but a VA forum I moderate where one lady in particular has consistently just posted promotions for webinars and events but has not participated in any discussions of that group. So when the owner here posted that was very fresh in my mind and is something I feel strongly about. I moderate/own two VA forums with well over 1,000 VAs in each group (and only a handful are in both groups) so it does annoy me when someone joins purely just to promote. After all they gain financially when they promote events but they ask nothing of the moderator/owner for permission and do nothing to help encourage the group, build it, or nurture it.

It is good to have a discussion about this because it is something people should be mindful of and to me it is a matter of ethics too.

I might add I have emailed one VA in particular who has posted to one of the forums I manage several times promoting events but only once responded to a discussion and even then it was just to promote another event.  I told her if she would participate in the discussions and join in, then the promotions would be ok but it’s not appreciated if that’s all she’s joined the group for.  That was a few days ago now – no response as yet.  But since the weekend has been taking place I’ll give her the benefit of the doubt and wait a little while longer before deciding whether or not to remove her from the list. For now she’s on moderation.

If you belong to a forum of any type, be it a VA forum or another business forum, be mindful of the rules of that forum and who owns it or runs it.  Some forums are ok for promotions and have been developed for that reason but others have been set up to help people relating to a particular theme or topic and that needs to be respected.  When you’re new just lurk for a bit, read past messages and get a feel for the culture of the group and then join in and let people get to know you.  Don’t start promoting from the start. If in doubt, seek permission of the moderator before posting.

McAfee not in my good books!

Imagine my dismay this morning when I checked my computer just before 6.30am to find that it had two error messages and the Start button was missing.  Little did I know what was ahead of me for the next 10+ hours.  Frustration, tears and wasted time and I nearly wiped my computer to start all over again!

I did some research on the two error messages I had and it seemed to indicate it was a Windows error but it was a Dell file that wasn’t operating in the \gs_agent\folder.

I tried to run the Dell diagnostics from my computer but it wouldn’t run so I pulled out the disc I got with my computer and then ran the diagnostics from that.  It showed up 3 error messages indicating corrupted files, although it also did say that they might have been read protected.

I rang Dell to find out what to do – I had tried to run System Restore but it wouldn’t activate and I couldn’t get the run command function either because the Start button wouldn’t show. Rebooting several times did nothing.

Dell got me trying different things but in the end advised we would have to do a shadow imprint and did I have everything backed up? I confirmed ‘yes’ and we started the procedure but the penny soon dropped they meant a full reformat of the hard drive.  Wait a minute, did I really want to do that?  I backed off and asked the operator was there any other way?  She had already been to speak to her manager and she assured me ‘no’.  I got the instructions of what to do and advised her I really wanted to check all my files first to make sure everything was properly backed up as I knew it was going to take me hours and days to get fully back up and running again.  The tears began to flow.

I emailed hubby to tell him what was going on and he rang me. We talked about possibilities and we both shared files we’d seen on possible fixes.  Thousands of computers had been affected overseas by all reports.  I believe McAfee’s own report about it affecting minimal computers is wrong and if I can claim for a full day’s lost work and pay, I’m going to.

I tweeted for help and answers started coming in.

McAfee’s own site was not helpful and talked about using the Start button (duh, it’s missing, I can’t find it) and downloading a new dat file (huh? I can’t connect to the internet on this computer and I can’t copy and paste files from an external source – nothing is working!)

Eventually I was given via twitter and a link via my husband (which funny enough is not working now and it’s via McAfee) relating to the svchost.exe file which was the REAL culuprit.  McAfee’s update last night incorrectly identified this Window’s file as a virus.

What did I do?

Used a combination of the directions from the first and second links to sort the problem. Instead of using my CD with the svchost.exe file, I managed to find an updated copy in the ServicePackFiles folder on my computer (the search function mentioned in McAfee’s example did not work and I had to locate it manually in safe mode in Windows. Problem was that the command function won’t work to copy and paste files if there is a window open in Windows.  Fortunately my husband twigged why the function wasn’t working and got me to close down Windows in Safe Mode and then reran the copy function in the Command Prompt.)

It worked and I was able to reboot and get my computer working again, yay!

I promptly uninstalled McAfee and refuse to use their new updated DAT file. They’ve cost me and I’ve lost income as a result of their stuff up.

I’ve downloaded a different program and have that running and now have to catch up with a couple hundred emails and some lost work time.

I feel sorry for those who need to engage a technician to help them – but at least the fix is now available. It wasn’t when I first started my journey this morning.

Thanks to all those who offered suggestions and empathy. Now I need a hit of chocolate!

Addendum: Quick way to get to your command prompt – Start computer in Safe Mode (press F8 several times when rebooting and choose Safe Mode).  Press your Windows key (on the keyboard) and press the R key. The run prompt will then come up.

All the research was done on a second computer in my office.

Don’t give up!

Recent discussions at a VA forum were about how overwhelmed one member was feeling, trying to keep up with everyone else, but knowing she didn’t excel in a lot of the things that others do.  End result was she felt like she was beginning to burn out.

Starting up a business is no simple thing.  There is a lot to do and as the business owner you are now suddenly responsible for marketing, setting systems in place, making sure the bookkeeping is done, and working out what services to provide and locate clients.  Of course you are going to feel burnt out in very quick time if you try to get everything done at once.

The first thing you have to do is remember you’re only human and that you cannot be everything to everyone and that saying ‘yes’ to everyone who asks you for help is not going to do you any favours.  It’s important to take stock of what you can do and what you can’t do and then look to outsource, or seek help, in those areas you’re not equipped for. That means services you cannot provide to your clients and even things you might not be capable of doing for your own business.  In fact, you might have to consider there are some aspects of your business you can’t get operating straight away.

The Internet unfortunately has developed this belief that you should be able to get everything free, or damn cheap.  And many new VAs are told they should find their niche as quickly as possible.

May I say that you would be doing yourself a favour if you took things one step at a time and actually plan what you need to do and when you’d like to do it by.  If you’ve never run a business before, then find a coach, trainer or mentor, to help guide you on what is important to be done now, and what can wait till later.  Yes, there might be some costs involved but consider it an investment in your business and that coach, trainer or mentor may well save you money in the long run by showing you what you can do now and what can wait till later, or might not be needed at all.

Join some VA forums – they are free to join, and mix and mingle with others who are building businesses but also take stock of those who have been in the industry for quite awhile. Learn as much as you can from them.  And if you’re going to take advice, check out who it is that’s giving it first and make sure they’re qualified to give it.  Again, you could save yourself some money in the long-run and certainly a lot of angst in the short-run.

Finally – concentrate on what you really enjoy doing.  Don’t take on work just because it brings in funds if it’s going to bore you to tears or make you wish you never got started. I know how anxious you can get when starting but be prepared to stick with what you know and like and concentrate on that for the long-term.

Most of all, don’t give up. Success is usually just around the corner – you just need to get to the corner.

Operating a VA business – Adding to the equasion

When we first start building our Virtual Assistant businesses we tend to concentrate on what we know best and it nearly always relates to word-processing, data entry, transcription work, book-keeping or similar.

As we become more confident we start to find things we really enjoy doing and that often we can teach our clients about those things.  For me in the past it has meant adding blogging to my list of services, websites and eventually setting up social media profiles for Twitter, Facebook, Linkedin and so on.  These services have been very well suited to business coaches and professional speakers as well as other industry groups.

In some cases I actually do most of the work for the clients, i.e. setting the systems up and then operating them for them, with the client giving me the data that they need imparted to their audience. For others, I’ll set them up and then show them how to use the systems so they themselves can have some control.

I’ve loved that working on my computer and via the internet has opened up many possibilities, choices and opportunities and, as a result, I often get people contacting me wanting me to try out this system, try out that one, testing software programs and using them in the hope that I’ll promote it to my own audience of clients and VAs.  Not all of these things I take up – I could be busy a lot of the time just trying out something for someone.  While I’m flattered that  they appreciate my feedback and ultimate promotion, realistically I can’t do it for everyone.

However, now and then I do come across something that I believe would be a great additional arm to my business and so I get involved.  Hence, on my website and here at my blog you’ll find links to different services I feel are beneficial to either the VA industry, our clients or both.

This time it’s a service that allows you to send cards in writing that could be close to your own handwriting and saves you the time involved in shopping for the right card, or going to the post office or simply saving face because you forgot about someone’s special date and online late at night you can find a suitable card and get it sent to them very quickly.  I’m talking about Send Out Cards.   I’ve set up the service so I can assist clients to remember special dates, say ‘thank you’ to their client base (and import their database into the system), create personalised cards (I love photography so this is ideal for my own photos) and all sorts of other things.

I know that many VAs have been approached about  Send Out Cards and might be wondering how they can add this to their business. Have a look at the link above to give you some ideas.  I’m sure that many clients also will be able to use this system in their own businesses but they might feel they don’t have the time to set it up properly and use it. Enter their VA who can do this for them. When you check out what I’ve set up, feel free to try the gift account to see how it works.

I love that the Virtual Assistant industry is so flexible that as new ideas come along and new forms of technology are developed, we are often in the right place to adopt these things and add them as a new arm to our businesses.  It means that life as a VA is never dull and boring, it is always changing and developing.

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