I attended a NAWBO (National Association of Women Business Owners) event again last week. I had so much fun! It’s great to gather with so many successful women and have the opportunity to learn and share with them. This will be my second time attending this group’s event so I will need to join if I plan on continuing the relationship. It will be an investment on my part and I plan to join by Mid-March.
Making the decision to join a networking group is not an easy task. It’s important to be sure they are worth the time and money. As a small business owner, and a fairly new one, I don’t have “extra” funds and have to ration out where every dollar goes. The conclusion I keep returning to though is that I need to meet other small business owners and I need to get my name out there. There really is no better way than face-to-face.
What I have decided is to join NAWBO now and choose another group in September; maybe BNI. One tip I can offer is to research, research, research any group before you decide to invest in it. Visit a meeting and see how many people attend and how active they are within the group.
At NAWBO, becoming a member doesn’t mean only investing money and attending the networking events, it means being active in the various committees and offering up my services. The other businesses will begin to see what it is I do and how I can assist them in their businesses. I think I can call it an act of “goodwill” and that can go a long way towards building my contact list and my credibility within the small business community in Western New York.
I guess I should say I’d like to have a new and more productive year. On a professional level I hope to achieve self-sustaining levels by the end of the year. I don’t want to work for anyone else and I need to push myself to reach this.
So, for 2008, I have baby step goals for my business:
1. Have 2 new clients by February 29 - Kudos to the Virtual Assistant Forums for this one. Because of their future perspectives I have this goal in place. They are currently running a contest for VAs to reach a goal they set by February 29. So, I post on my thread the progress I’m making, any setbacks or issues I face, etc. Others can post and comment on my thread and I can do the same for other contestants. Great Idea, Tess!!!!!
2. Quit my job by March 1st. I cannot stand working for someone else. I don’t like being made to feel less than others. Bosses can often times do this to their employees. It may not be a conscious thing, but they do it nonetheless. So, being able to get out from under an employers eye will be a tremendous relief.
3. Join and stay active in at least 3 networking groups. I am looking to join BNI and NAWBO in my area and join a few chamber groups. Western New York offers a plethora of small businesses with which to offer my services. I am looking forward to beginning this one by the end of the month.
4. Update my blog at least twice a week. Either with articles, tips & tricks, or other pertinent VA info, I will set out to share with others the knowledge I have acquired throughout the years. I hope to offer something as a token of my appreciation of having the opportunity to learn from many I have met.
5. Redo my brand/logo/website/marketing material. If I can enlist the assistance of someone else I will. This can be costly so I will probably have to do this on my own. But I will have a new look by June.
6. Submit a press release once a month.
7. Post to the forums every day. VA Rev, VA Forums, VACOC are the top three that I plan to post to. I need to get out there and “meet” other VAs and volunteer my services when I can. Posting on the boards helps to achieve this.
This is it for now. I know there are more but I am going to stick to the most important ones for now. I will post my progress here and I hope that 2008 is successful and productive for all of you.
Happy New Year!
It is a challenge for me when I’m asked to explain what it is I do and why it is best to hire a Virtual Assistant. Not that I can’t explain it and not that I don’t believe that hiring a VA is the most cost-effective action a business owner can take, it’s trying to break the mindset that owners have about working with someone from a distance.
I’m pretty good at knowing if I like someone from the moment we speak. For most of my life though, this has been in face-to-face conversation. Whenever I met someone new there was body language, facial expressions, and those little nuances we get from the first handshake.
Now that I am a VA, the first meeting is usually an email. From my experiences with online introductions, you really don’t know what a person is like from an email message. Words are hard to ”read” sometimes as meanings can be different for different people.
So then we move on to a phone introduction.
Now we move into a learning to trust relationship.
1. Communication in the age of technological innovation
VAs by nature, thrive in a virtual environment. We are used to long-distance business partnerships. The technology, resources and information available to conduct this type of service is what keeps us excited and striving for success. The Clients, on the other hand, often times find themselves at a loss when it comes to a virtual partnership. It is not a common practice for most. Many business owners find comfort in having a warm body in the chair to answer phones, file papers, and simply be there in case they “need” something. Computers, the internet, email and all the other technology innovations are on the back-burner for them. It’s hard for them to truly understand just what it is their assistants are doing for them when it comes to this side of the business. Helping business owners understand these tasks that are necessary to conduct business could just as easily, and more cost-effectively, be carried out from a Virtual Assistant’s remote location continues to challenge the education process for Virtual Assistants.
Trusting that a Virtual Assistant is skilled and capable enough to handle the technical distances in a VA/Client relationship is a paramount point to solidify in the minds of business owners.
2. Learning to trust and give up some control
Here is a tremendous barrier to cross. Most business owners are used to a process when it comes to working with an assistant. They place an ad and the applicant’s interview for the position. The owner makes a judgment call by what they see and hear in the interview. They take a resume and sum up a person by their experience, education and references. They then proceed to make a substantial investment in this person and hope that they will be with them for the long-haul. It is easy to overlook a key specific point however, when carrying out this process.
The Cost Difference – This is quite substantial when comparing an in-house employee with a VA. It is quite possible the investment made in hiring a full-time employee could be money down the drain. It may turn out that the business owner and the assistants’ personalities are not compatible. The employee may feel that they are not being paid enough to carry out the tasks they were hired to do. The employer may feel that they are not getting their money’s worth in the work carried out by their new employee. There are other scenarios, but they all lead to the same outcome - either firing the assistant or the assistant quits. In either case the employer is out a large amount of money and time. The Return On Investment (ROI) does not balance out. And then they’re at it again - placing the ad, interviewing, and hoping for the best.
There is also the cost difference of lost time due to PTO, Sick Days, Various Break Times - Lunch, Smoke and 15-Min. Breaks, holidays, etc. With a Virtual Assistant a business owner only pays for the time actually worked to complete tasks and projects. Most VAs charge by 15 minute increments, and some charge to the minute.
Then there are the other expenses of Payroll Tax, Benefits - Health, Dental, Vision, 401k’s, bonuses, commissions, etc. Any taxes, benefits, or other costs of this type are handled by the VA. As Virtual Assistants are also business owners, they manage any costs of this nature.
Why the Fear?
What many business owners fear is losing the control they feel they have over the person sitting in their assistant’s chair. Not focusing on the differences in cost is due, in part, to their inability to realize that their assistant’s are very capable and skilled and do not need to be micro-managed.
When I took my last office position, I was perfectly clear about my intentions on pursuing my VA business full-time and the part-time position being offered was the perfect catalyst for me to make this a reality. My employer said he understood, appreciated my desire to be a successful business owner and thought being a Virtual Assistant was a great idea. I assured him I would keep him posted on my status and would give him plenty of time to replace me. It turned out that his needs did not fit my agenda and the tasks I was completing could just have well been completed in a virtual manner.
Sadly, when it came time for us to part ways, I could see a VA/Client partnership was not possible for us. Even though we had worked together for over 6 months, the obstacles of technological differences, trusting in my skills as a VA/business owner and giving up control were issues I could not help him overcome.
It was this juncture in my VA life that I came to understand the dynamics underneath these giant barriers. The physical presence of an assistant is no longer necessary and helping business owners to understand this fact remains a constant struggle for Virtual Assistants.
This is where it is incumbent upon us - the Virtual Assistants - to educate the community - online, local, etc. - about what it is we do. Education is the key. Positioning ourselves as experts in our chosen skills and services starts to create a foundation on which to build a strong bond of trust between Virtual Assistants and the business community at large. Getting out there and helping to build this atmosphere of trust will help propel our industry to the forefront of the business world.