VA Secrets Revealed! The Blog

Secret #19: No Doubt

One key to being successful as a business owner has to do with your mindset. In order to be successful, you must think like a successful person. It is all about attitude; be confident in your abilities and don’t listen to the naysayers. Also make sure you build a network of people that will support and nurture you. You can also practice daily affirmations and other self development exercises to help build up your confidence. It may sound silly, but it works!

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This post is expanded from Chapter 6: My Top 20 Secrets to Success in the book, VA Secrets Revealed! An Insider's Guide to Being a Successful Virtual Assistant. Grab a copy and follow along as I blog!

Secret #16: Give it a Home

You just received payment from a client; a nice big check for all the hard work you did over the course of the month. You put it on your desk and the next day when you're on your way to the bank, you go to grab it and it's missing! Two hours later, you find it behind your filing cabinet with the birthday card you were supposed to send to your Uncle Bob last month.

There is no better reason than being a business owner to get organized. There are so many important client documents, reference materials and tools you will need to be able to access quickly. When setting up your office, create a system that is simple to maintain, allows you to file quickly during your day, and helps you find what you’re looking for right away.

And don't forget about electronic organization. You should have a working system for files on your computer and a system for organizing your e-mail, too.

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This post is expanded from Chapter 6: My Top 20 Secrets to Success in the book, VA Secrets Revealed! An Insider's Guide to Being a Successful Virtual Assistant. Grab a copy and follow along as I blog!

Secret #9: Call in the Cavalry

Learning to recognize when you need support is a very powerful skill in business ownership. It’s so much more effective to have all hands on deck to work through a problem instead of waiting until the 11th hour and scrambling.

Even if you’re not at the point where you need help, create a plan now and you will be happy you did.

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This post is expanded from Chapter 6: My Top 20 Secrets to Success in the book, VA Secrets Revealed! An Insider's Guide to Being a Successful Virtual Assistant. Grab a copy and follow along as I blog!

Secret #7: Back It Up, Please

If you only implement one tip from the book, this is the one! One of the most important things you can do for your business is create back-up copies of everything. That means make copies of all of your files, settings and everything else you store on your computer to an external media, i.e., somewhere other than on your computer.

The purpose of this is to prevent loss of work, files, client data and e-mails. If your computer crashes -- which unfortunately is not an uncommon occurrence -- and you don’t have your information backed up externally, you are going to have one huge headache, lose a lot of money, and possibly have to rebuild your business from scratch.

Read this article outlining some options for creating backups of your data.

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This post is expanded from Chapter 6: My Top 20 Secrets to Success in the book, VA Secrets Revealed! An Insider's Guide to Being a Successful Virtual Assistant. Grab a copy and follow along as I blog!

Secret #10: Cha-Ching

One of the most exciting parts of business ownership is making money, so you need to develop your billing policies well before getting your first client. There's nothing worse than speaking with a prospective client and being tongue-tied when she asks you how you invoice. Here are some tips for making sure you have your bases covered:

• Decide on Payment Methods -- Do you plan to accept payment by check or do you want to take credit card as well? Are you going to use a service like PayPal?
• Create a Monthly Schedule -- Pick one day a month to do invoicing. It’s also great if you can coordinate your monthly bill payments on the same day.
• Bill in Increments -- Decide how you want to bill for your time, i.e., actual time spent, in 6-minute increments, 15-minute increments, etc.
• Track Your Time -- You will definitely want to use a time tracking application to keep tabs on your work for clients. Most have a "punch-in/out" function so you can accurately account for your time, even if you quickly switch from one task to another.
• Keep Clients Informed -- There can be nothing more shocking for a client who gets a humongous invoice at the end of the month that they weren't expecting. Keep them updated on how much time you have put in. I do this by sending my retainer clients a weekly time report at the end of each week, showing them what tasks I spent time on each day. It carries a running total for each week and month. This also comes in very handy at month’s end when I do my invoicing. The VA Resource Toolkit Online Edition includes a sample time report you can use in your business.
• Follow Up When Overdue -- You should create a plan for following up with clients who are late in paying. How long are you giving your clients to pay your invoices? What type of reminder will you send them? Will you cease all work until you are paid?

You may also want to consider hiring a bookkeeper. A professional can do a thorough job managing your monthly books, submit any required forms and prepare your files at year-end for your accountant. Not to mention this will free up your time to focus on what you do best!

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This post is expanded from Chapter 6: My Top 20 Secrets to Success in the book, VA Secrets Revealed! An Insider's Guide to Being a Successful Virtual Assistant. Grab a copy and follow along as I blog!

Secret #17: Go for the Wow

Want to know one of the best, easiest and least expensive ways to get clients? Make your current clients happy. Actually, make them more than happy -- make them ecstatic. And they will pass it on. Word of mouth marketing works!

Here are some things you can start doing today:

Do more than a client expects whenever possible -- By going the extra mile, you are telling your clients that you care about their businesses and they are more likely to trust you with future work.

Always pay attention to the details -- don’t send back work that is not your best. Be focused on the work you are doing for each and every client, when you are doing it.

Think about the big picture -- If you come across a process or system that you think would work better during a project you are working on, don’t be shy! Let the client know. Most clients will be very receptive to your input if it will save them time and money down the line.

By considering each client as a partner, you will build long-term relationships that will invaluable to both you and the client.

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This post is expanded from Chapter 6: My Top 20 Secrets to Success in the book, VA Secrets Revealed! An Insider's Guide to Being a Successful Virtual Assistant. Grab a copy and follow along as I blog!

Secret #5: Goal!

It's that time of year when everyone is thinking about goals for 2009. I, for one, am always thinking about what I will be doing next. I'm a perpetual planner, and I thrive on challenges, so I LOVE this time of year.

But I don't limit my goal setting to once a year. Every couple of months, I reevaluate my status and make a new list of goals. Having goals and consistently thinking about the next project and challenge can keep you going, help your business to grow beyond what you envisioned, and keep a level of excitement that is vital.

Here are a couple of articles I wrote on goal setting to get you started:

• Setting Goals for 2009: Oh, the Places You'll Go!
• New Year's Resolutions vs. Goals

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This post is expanded from Chapter 6: My Top 20 Secrets to Success in the book, VA Secrets Revealed! An Insider's Guide to Being a Successful Virtual Assistant. Grab a copy and follow along as I blog!

Secret #12: Bounce It

One of the best things you can do during the planning stage for your business and on an ongoing basis is to designate someone as your go-to person when you need encouragement, want to brainstorm, or need some outside input. It can be easy to get caught up inside your own head and essentially stuck.

Candidates for this type of support can be a colleague, spouse, friend, or even a business coach. Identify a person (or people) you trust, is easy for you to talk to and is genuinely interested in your business venture. They will become invaluable to you and your business.

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This post is expanded from Chapter 6: My Top 20 Secrets to Success in the book, VA Secrets Revealed! An Insider's Guide to Being a Successful Virtual Assistant. Grab a copy and follow along as I blog!

Secret #20: Don’t Sweat It

As much as we may want it to happen, chances are you won't wake up the day after starting your business with a full client list and more work than you can handle. You may not even wake up a year later with that kind of success.

But don't stress! Being a successful virtual assistant, or any kind of business owner for that matter, takes time, hard work, planning, and foresight. Have patience. No business with the longevity you want is an overnight success.

If you hit a wall (which happens to everyone, even veterans), try a change -- even the smallest of adjustments can be the turning point. Here are some of my favorite "shake it up" activities:

Think Big...and Work Backwards

You know where you want to go and are excited to get there, but don't try to skip the small steps to speed up the process. Start from your end goal, and go backwards milestone by milestone until you reach where you are now. You'll get clarity on the route to take AND a great blueprint for how you will reach your goal.

Get a Makeover

No, not a day at the salon (but that could certainly be another way to shake things up!). Try updating your business plan, revamping your website, or refreshing your sales pitch. A new look can bring a new outlook and new ideas.

Clean House

Give your office a Spring cleaning, including going through your file cabinet and ditching dated, expired or other unneeded paperwork; organizing bookmarks on your computer; and straightening up your electronic files. You may come across an old article or website that gives you a great idea for your business. At a minimum, you'll have a clean computer and spotless desk to start the next day with.

The most important thing you can do is to keep striving. Think of building your business as a marathon, not a sprint, and trust that you will reach your goals. And you will.

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This post is expanded from Chapter 6: My Top 20 Secrets to Success in the book, VA Secrets Revealed! An Insider's Guide to Being a Successful Virtual Assistant. Grab a copy and follow along as I blog!

Secret #8: It's Good to Be a Geek

As a virtual assistant, even if your focus is strictly on administrative services, the technology you use will be your best friend (and your worst enemy!). It is so important to stay up-to-date with new products, software updates and systems that you use to do your job. Periodically check for updates to your operating system, software, new versions of applications available and hardware. Consider what your clients are using in terms of software. If the norm is version 8.0 of an application and you are using 5.0, it's probably time to upgrade.

You should also schedule a time each week to run maintenance processes on your computer, such as checking for spyware and viruses and defragmenting your system (if you are on a Windows machine). If you use a Mac, make sure you are checking for application updates regularly. This will help keep your computer performing at its best. And no matter which platform you use, be sure to back up your data!

Click here for an overview of some of the options available for data backup. For tips on computer maintenance, read this article on Stepcase Lifehack.