I have an interesting subject to talk to you about today — Kryptonite of Virtual Assistance. I call it kryptonite because, just like Superman, if you get encounter this phenomenon, it can really turn your business into something that’s extremely unproductive and you just wither away and it’s horrible.

In terms of virtual assistance, kryptonite is like working with clients who, for reason or another you don’t like, to be honest.

I’ve sometimes come across clients who where I’ve done a consultation with them and my gut feeling is telling me that we shouldn’t be working together and it will happen. It’ll happen to you and certainly in the earlier days of when I was being a virtual assistant and starting out, it occurred to me that I was taking on every single client that I possibly could that came my way. One day I got a little bit of an eye-opener and an awakener when I read about a book by Tim Ferris called the “Four Hour Work Week.” He actually explained in the book about the 80/20 rule, which is something I never heard of before. Then it occurred to me that it was absolutely true in terms of clients that I was working with because, really, 80% of the problems in my business came from 20% of the clients.

When I sat down and I worked out what I was doing for people it seemed that the clients that I got on well with and we worked really well together they weren’t taking up a great deal of my time. I was just working on the billable time that came through. This was an excellent relationship. A service exchange that was meant to be. There was a great deal of productivity associated with the people whom I enjoyed working with. The people that I didn’t enjoy working with so much proved to be extremely time consuming because we would be going back and forth with different things. This came down to the fact that these people didn’t really understand what virtual assistance was all about and even though I tried my best to get them to understand it all, it seemed to be water off a duck’s back. They always seemed to want a little more and were unhappy, even though I was doing my best. You may well come across your own version of these people.

Just so you understand, I don’t work with any of these people anymore and I knew that I shouldn’t have initiated the relationship as I had a gut instinct before we even started that I would be better off going somewhere else and we shouldn’t be engaging. This is basically what I want to tell you what the kryptonite of virtual assistance is and it’s really working with somebody who you don’t get along with, who you feel doesn’t value what you do because, I must admit that a lot of the clients (there weren’t that many, I would say it was a handful at that time, of the clients I was working with), didn’t really seem to respect my business in that I was a business-owner and an entrepreneur myself. They kind of thought that because I was doing what I was doing that I was assisting them that I was sort of an underdog.

You may come across this yourself. It’s not uncommon. If you just look at YouTube, some of the videos, they are wrong there about how you should train your virtual assistant and what you should do with your virtual assistant. I think this is quite degrading. It’s beyond me why people should look at it this way. As entrepreneurs and business people, we all want to succeed. Of course from my perspective, I just want to see my clients succeed with their own businesses, but if they don’t understand that and don’t trust in your ability, then it can all go pear-shaped pretty quickly and can be a nasty experience all round. I urge you to heed my advice here and trust your gut instinct, as if you really don’t feel that you should be working with a client following your initial consultation, then you should come up with some kind of excuse so that you don’t actually end up working with them, or if you do push forward and start off with something relatively small, just to see how it goes. See how you work together.

Don’t ever think that you need to continue with a client just because you said that you’re going to work with them. Just because you advertise your services in a certain area, it does not mean that you have to take on everybody who you find. People may get in touch with you looking to engage your services, but it doesn’t mean that you have to accept them come what may, if it is not a potentially good match. So, be selective with who you work with. You need to be able to look at yourselves and be happy and take pride in everything that you do. Without respect, what is the point? Really, your business is going to be much more profitable, much more productive, if you follow the 80/20 rule. And to take advantage of this quickly, seriously consider taking on someone looking into how to become a virtual assistant, or even a team looking into how to become a virtual assistant business, to maximise your efforts in a very short period of time. Always remember that someone looking into how to become a virtual assistant can help you with your workload, at a great price, simply because they’re still “learning the ropes” of the business.

Look at the clients who you enjoy working with and focus on them. Focus on the clients that you enjoy working with and that you have an excellent working relationship and there are no problems there because they’re the clients who are going to bring on other clients for you through recommendations. This type of client is likely to make your VA business sustainable for the long term.

As a virtual assistant, you can sometimes be snowed under with the amount of work that you have. At this point, you should look for other virtual assistants to handle some of your outsourced work. But, where do you start with that? Lets take it step by step and see how it’s done. After all, it would be better if we could decrease the workload a little bit, allowing us to enjoy life for a change.

What Jobs Do We Outsource?

Whenever you do work for clients, you have to respect a certain amount of confidentiality at all times. You will have to work with confidential e-mails, sensitive databases, legal documents and other schedules. These have to be handled carefully at all times. Therefore, as you are the person who got this particular contract from the client, you need to be sure that all information is kept safe and you therefore have to be careful about who you bring in to help handle this specific work for you.

The first important decision that you made was to hire someone else who can provide the same service that you have for your clients (more about that in a moment). In the meantime, you need to be congratulated for understanding how important this is. Now, what will you give them to do?

In the beginning, it is likely that you will outsource jobs that don’t bring them into contact with a lot of confidential information. You will start them off small, so you will be able to learn how they work, explore their style and their ethic. These are some of the tasks that you can give them in the very beginning:

• Article submissions
• Article writing
• Putting together presentations and reports
• Creating newsletters
• Internet research

When articles are written they can be used for submission purposes or directly for online content. Clients with websites like to keep it up-to-date with fresh, pertinent information and if you find someone who can help you whip out that content in a timely and top-quality manner, you’re in business.

Companies use reports to send to their clients and also for internal use. To put this kind of report together requires knowledge of working with PowerPoint to compile presentations, or various other tools to combine databases and spreadsheets into the equation. If this information is okay for this particular purpose, pass the task of creating these reports to somebody else.

Internet research is used for many things: writing manuscripts, articles, preparing reports and more. It is a unique skill to be able to entice search engines to give up their treasures. If you can come across somebody who is adept at online research and can find the necessary information quickly, this can be very advantageous.

While you might not be passing across any confidential material as part of your outsourcing to start off with, it is still a good idea to get your subcontracting virtual assistant to complete a confidentiality agreement. This way, as you get more confident and need more in-depth help, you don’t have to worry about anyone selling trade secrets. It’s also a good idea to have all your outsourcers and assistants complete a nondisclosure agreement, also known as an NDA, depending on the category of work concerned. Although this is another subject altogether, this kind of protection can certainly be a good idea if your virtual assistant were to leave and set up shop as your competitor in the future.

Without a doubt, if you are really serious about search engine optimization and increasing your page ranking, you will want to make sure that you get as many quality backlinks to your site as you can achieve. A backlink is essentially a link to your site from another website or internet location. If you are a blogger and you include links to relevant sites and resources, then you are giving that source a backlink. Backlinks are so important, because they are part of the algorithm that Google and other search engines use, in order to rank your website correctly. As an on-site marketer, or a blogger, you have to build backlinks as part of your daily operation, without fail, especially if you want to be successful at what you do.

Be very careful when creating backlinks and understand that they are not all equal. Search engines value quality backlinks and therefore it is important to be aware of the most effective types of backlinks and which ones are frowned upon by the various search engines. Specifically, avoid buying links, participating in link swaps or joining link farms. If you do go down this road, just be very careful, indeed. You might find in the end that this has not been a worthwhile endeavor. Worse than this, Google might decide that they do not like your activity and this could cause significant damage to your potential.

The single best way to increase your backlinks is to offer great content. Compose well-written, quality, entertaining and informative content and your readers will want to link to your site, in turn providing more exposure for your efforts. Always think about providing value and your readers will reward you by coming back regularly. It will prove to be the most effective strategy for building links to your site.

Link building is the primary way that you can boost your page rank, expose your blog or website and get good traffic to view your business offerings. Consider every different type of backlink available, though, and decide what your goals are, before you engage in any building. For the long haul, to establish yourself in the business world, you should focus on that quality content, encouraging your readers as often as you can and watching the results come in. And to take advantage of this quickly, seriously consider taking on someone looking to become a virtual assistant, or even a team looking to become a virtual assistant business, to maximise your efforts in a very short span of time.

Buying or swapping links is something that is widespread across the Internet, but it is not a recommended activity, in the long run. The risk to your site in terms of violating Google or the other search engine policies is simply too high. If you go down this road, you might find it very difficult to retrace your tracks. Don’t forget, someone looking to become a virtual assistant can help you with all the details, at a great price.

Quality in almost all things is better than quantity and the same is true for backlinks. You are highly encouraged to build your quality links by providing great content, by engaging in the social media world, by composing press releases and other above board and acceptable methods, as found elsewhere here. If you provide your readers with valuable information and resources, they will return frequently and reward you with quality backlinks especially if you encourage them to do so! Start today, and ensure that you “hit the ground running!”

Michelle Dale is Chief Executive of Virtual Miss Friday, an adept and highly-proficient Virtual Assistant Service which works closely with enterprising people who really want to succeed in their chosen field. If you’d like to learn more about online business building success strategies that are tailored to your needs, contact VMF today!

Is outsourcing restricted strictly to a work environment? As you grow your business, you still have other responsibilities that need to be taken care of. Check to see if these duties can be passed on to someone else.

It can be very testing when home and work clash. You could be trying to edit articles at the same time as you are folding all your newly washed laundry. Or, you’ll be going over reports in your head while you cook dinner. Is this what you envisaged when you decided to become self-employed? It doesn’t have to be that way, anymore!

Again — Get Some Help

If you have found some virtual assistants to help you with your business, you already know what an advantage this can be. Now, turn your attention to your home. If you find people with the right abilities, you can outsource many of your home activities to them.

1. Childcare – Part of owning a home business like virtual assisting is that you can spend more time with the kids. It’s possible that you could configure the makeup of your day, so that your children can stay home with you. As the business becomes more demanding, you’ll want to rethink that scenario. By taking on somebody, maybe part-time, looking after your kids can be a lot easier. You have options: a nanny in the home, a part-time babysitter from the neighborhood or a childcare center.

2. Housecleaning — this is a chore which we all like to avoid. Just because you work behind a computer, doesn’t mean that you don’t get tired as well. You can become mentally tired just like you can become physically tired. After a day of managing clients and typing your fingers off, you won’t want to pick up one more thing whether its clothing or a dirty dish. Budget in to hire a maid service. This really is quite affordable and won’t break the bank. If you do a thorough cleaning of your home, a service can come in just to touch things up once a week or twice a month. See what a difference this will make. And to take advantage of this quickly, seriously consider taking on a virtual assistant, or even a virtual assistant team to maximise your efforts in a very short span of time.

3. Balancing the books — this is a very important operation when you are in business. All those numbers may start running together after a while. Don’t wait until tax time is looming around the corner before you start looking at this. Hire a freelance professional or another virtual assistant who specializes in bookkeeping to help you keep the business finances straight all along instead of at the last minute.

4. Your Business Needs – While you are building your business, administrative tasks seem to fall by the wayside. You’ll feel more at ease when you can find someone to do these things for you. Tasks like the following are perfect for someone else to handle for you.

• Updating your website
• Content creation
• Answering emails
• Newsletter distribution

What’s that noise? It’s the sigh of relief you’ll breathe when you outsource your needs so you can spend more time growing your business and doing the things in life you enjoy (yes, I mean more than working).

What does it take to set yourself apart in the world of virtual assistant business? There are a lot of things online or marketing speak about the 5 P’s. By doing a search on Google for the 5 Ps or the Ps of Marketing or similar, then you will uncover a list of different words whose initial letter is a P, which are indeed relevant to marketing, but not necessarily when it comes to Virtual Assistants. These are my 5 P’s for Virtual Assistants and what you can do to be truly remarkable at your Virtual Assistant business.

1. PASSION

The first P is the most important one, it’s Passion. You need to have passion for what you do, for your business. You have to be passionate about your skill set and have a passion for learning everything that you need to know about the world of virtual assistants, especially as it is so dynamic. So, without having the passion you won’t really have a very remarkable virtual assistant business. You might establish some level of success whatever you do and this might be sufficient for what your needs are, but if you really want to set yourself apart here and become one of the best virtual assistants and one of the movers and shakers in this industry, you have to focus on your passion, as that fire is what will propel you to the stratosphere.

2. PERSONABLE

Secondly, you need to be Personable. Do you get on well with people? You really have to be able to communicate well. You need to be able to speak to people well. You also have to have some sort of degree of ability to communicate what you’re thinking, what you’re feeling, the instructions, that type of thing and people need to actually take to you. You need to be sort of social and quite personable. It’s an important part of being a virtual assistant because people actually can’t see you, usually, because you’re virtual. If you like, you have to have a very advanced digital kind of personality. It’s not easy but you need this characteristic in you.

3) PRODUCTIVITY

Let’s turn to Productivity. You have to be very very productive to be a good virtual assistant because the whole basis of your business will be how much work you can get done, how productive you can be with the tasks and various things which are going to be coming at you because you’re not just doing billable time. If you were then it would be pretty easy but you also have to run the business alongside it. If you think that you’re going to restrict yourself to eight hours a day, then don’t expect all those hours to be billable by themselves as only a few will be and the rest of the time you will be focused on trying to develop and build your Virtual Assistant organisation. That’s why productivity is so vitally important if you’re going to get things done and have time available to work on developing your business, as well.

4. PATIENCE

Number four is Patience. You have to be very very very patient because you will get clients and some people that you have to deal with who will test your patience. This happens quite a lot, unfortunately. But it’s really important that you keep a cool head and that you always sympathise with the other person. Sometimes you come across people who try to get their work done and put you under additional pressure and you cannot upset people so all you can do is stand back and take a deep breath and tell yourself that you are going to do your absolute best under the circumstances. If you take the time to assess a situation and approach everything in this way, the chances are very good that everything will be okay in the end.

5. PERSEVERANCE

You have to remember that Rome wasn’t built in a day and without perseverance you will not be able to ensure that your VA business survives in the long run. It’s not a get-rich-quick scheme. You have to dedicate a lot of time. Hard work pays off though and if you put a lot of effort in you will be very satisfied with what you get out of it in the end, believe me. I enjoy my Virtual Assistant business very very much. It’s really one of the best things that ever happened to me. I hope if you’re thinking about becoming a virtual assistant that you don’t give up on the first hard time, you persevere and you get through the tough time, especially during recession and things like that. But in actual fact, the recession, after a couple of months I increased my workloads and my business a lot more. So, I think that Virtual Assistance is recession-proof as a business.

Here are the 5 Ps of being an outstanding virtual assistant: Productivity, Personable, Patience, Perseverance and Passion.

By now, you should know that video marketing is one of the biggest buzzes on the Internet right now with regard to online marketing. Using video on your websites, blogs, and sales pages increases conversion rates, ups your likability factor, and engages readers.

While that sounds great, you may be wondering how you possibly can incorporate video when you are painfully camera shy, tongue-tied, or have a face that you feel is better suited for radio. Well, I’m here to tell you that you don’t have to be Naomi Watts or Gerard Butler to get in front of the camera and demonstrate your expertise.

There are a wide range of reasons why people don’t want to stand in front of the camera; for example they might think they have a squeaky voice, or are losing too much hair. I’ve heard them all – and let me tell you, none of them holds water! I want to go over some of the most pressing reasons why people don’t want to appear on camera and reveal these excuses for exactly what they are, that is just a reason not to engage.

“I’m not attractive enough to be on camera.”

Larry King. Oprah Winfrey. Sally Jesse Raphael. Geraldo. Joan Rivers. David Letterman. None of these much-filmed celebrities could be considered to be the ideal human specimen, yet all of them have made millions talking on-camera. It doesn’t matter if you have a receding hairline, are overweight, imperfect teeth, or have had too much plastic surgery; if they can do it, you can do it.

“I’m too nervous – I can’t speak on-camera.”

Most people, in truth, are not naturally good at speaking and often will need quite a lot of practice before they feel confident enough to be recorded. This should not be an excuse for not trying though, as a little bit of nervousness can often make it better.

“The equipment is too expensive.”

This may have been true at one point in time, but not anymore. Indeed, you may well have all the equipment that you need right now without even knowing it. And if you don’t, you can get it for less than the cost of a new pair of shoes.

“My voice is funny,” or “I talk too fast/too slow.”

I can still remember when I first heard my voice on a tape recorder when I was a very small child. I couldn’t believe I sounded like THAT! We all think we sound (and look!) funny, but very few of us truly have unpleasant voices. And speed? A little practice will look after that.

“People won’t like me once they see me.”

Any professional OBO who runs a virtual assistant business will say that it’s normal to feel insecure when trying something for the first time and to wonder whether it will be okay. However, when somebody does get to know you after a while through the use of video, research has shown that they will like you better than they would have otherwise. And that’s a fact. If you need some support to get it all done fast, consider hiring a virtual assistant, or even a virtual assistant team to get everything going fast!

I know that just telling you that these excuses are silly won’t make them go away completely. But you need to be able to realize that most people have the same worries as you and this should really help to push you to try video marketing for yourself. You can always delete the evidence afterwards if you still feel that you’re really awful!

It is incredible how a person’s opinion can turn on the smallest thing. In online business, that would be customer service through a virtual assistant. Customer service can literally make or break an online business venture. It can set you apart from other businesses of a similar nature, and make you really stand out from the crowd, in a positive or negative light. You have the potential to build a significant feeling of trust here, with visitors, customers or those who are still deciding.

Describe Customer Service?

Think about these points, carefully for a second. A reader signs up for newsletters or your affiliate program. Days go by before they receive a confirmation of your receipt of their request or they receive any information at all. That reader decides to withdraw their request because you have become “persona non grata.”

It is important, to say the least, to follow through on the offers you make to readers and customers alike. This is why they came to you first. You have to follow through and this will help to formulate their decision to stay, so it goes without saying that this action is very important, if you are to succeed.

Imagine if you were in a store, you wouldn’t want to wait aimlessly without somebody helping you. If you have to ask for help you then the point has been missed. It is the primary function of the business owner to be available, in case help is needed.

How to Provide Good Customer Service

Now, of course it would be totally unrealistic to think that you will sit at your computer 24/7 waiting for a reader to ask a random question. A process must be put in place, though, so that somebody, like a virtual assistant for example, is waiting for just such an eventuality, 24/7.

Examples of these processes:

• Messages sent via autoresponder
• Scheduled newsletter delivery
• FAQ page that is always updated
• User-friendly tabs, site map and links to get around the website with ease
• An answering service
• Virtual assistants

It’s important that when you aren’t available personally, your customers and readers are catered for. As an example, when you have an affiliate program, the information or links should be sufficient to educate the readers and to tell them how they can go about signing up. Sign up forms need only include pertinent information so they are as simple as possible to complete.

In due course, you should go through the e-mail messages you have received to find those where a question didn’t correlate to one of the categories you included on your “contact us” page. Those people will have received an auto responder message from you, informing them that you will get back to them within 24 hours with the information that they have asked for.

Any expert virtual assistant will tell you that prompt service tells people that you are seriously concerned about their business. You value their action and want to ensure that they are quite pleased with their choice. In business, customer service is such an important part of creating a lengthy relationship with your readers and you should make sure that you attend to it at all times, as you could be sacrificing a potentially great online investment otherwise.

Unfortunately, we’ve all bought a product or two that didn’t stand up to the advertising hype. Some would say that’s to be expected with late-night infomercials, for example. Keep in mind that any online business consulting firm will tell you that if you want your online business venture to be around in three years, build real relationships through integrity.

Integrity

This is a strange word to some online business owners. They would promote any product or service to get a quick buck. On many occasions, the journey that the customer has to take after purchase is irrelevant to them. We have all seen those websites that are there one week and gone the next when things start to heat up, but then come back under another name in the future.

There could be a reason for that. Could it be that they know what people want, but instead of trying to provide it, they are just in the business of exploitation? We see this time and again when we come across those sites that sell the dream of making millions in a short space of time, online.

Integrity means that you have to keep your promise in business terms. Believe it or not, readers really scrutinise businesses online. We tend to look a little closer, as there’s no physical embodiment to associate with this company. The end result would have been the same: those that do not come through will end up losing both readers and sales.

Readers are very concerned about the misuse of their personal information. The worst thing that the business can do is to sell the names of those who have opted in to other mailing lists, or worse yet, to indulge in spam. This is not the way to get what you want from your readers.

Test, Test, Test

Are you selling products on your website? There are a lot of variables with that, especially if it is a physical product. Before you start, you should test the market to see if people actually want such a new product. No market means… no money. This is a crucial step which you should never overlook.

When you sell a digital product, your testing process requires you to be sure that the advice you are including will work for anyone who buys it. For example, if you sell an e-book about setting up an affiliate program easily, then everyone who reads this should be able to duplicate the procedure.

The same goes with affiliate marketing. Be sure about the affiliate products or services that you are promoting, make sure you know that they are on the “up and up” and deliver what they say. What is the money going to help if your online reputation is shot? If you’d like some help to get things moving fast, hire a virtual assistant now!

Make Sure The Content is Truthful

Before readers become customers, they will visit your site over and over again. They will read your content. Everything needs to be true and unique to your site. There is enough bad information floating around and you can’t build a relationship of trust on false information.

Don’t suggest anything that you cannot follow through on, but do make good on what you offer. This kind of trust takes time to build up, but the relationship will survive between you and your readers for many years.

Working online at home is the latest business craze. Whether or not you have recently pinpointed what avenue of online business you wish to pursue there are still many stumbling blocks to get around before you can get off the ground. Here are some easy questions that will help you get your home online business active:

The first question people regularly ask is “Do I need to be educated to run a web business?” Regularly folk are threatened because of the net, and believe that they must be PC professionals to run a web small business. The reality is little if any programming or PC expertise is really needed. If you can visit an internet site you can own a site. If nonetheless you want to discover more about computers and the internet to manage your business there are several classes and coaching materials available both on and offline.

The subsequent question people sometimes ask is “What are the legal requirements to run a web home business?” you need to keep your business valid. Without the trust of your customers it’s not possible to succeed in the business world. Avoid any shady scenarios. Discover if your state or province needs a license or permit to build an internet business.

Nearly universally people want to know “How much money will i need to start an internet home business?” By now this question has ran thru your mind when thinking of starting a web business. Remain positive and think about your resources. There are many different routes you can take. Your local bank should be in a position to explain to you the various different financing options available depending on your fiscal situation. Consider credit or check and cash, but be certain to estimate the interest you will encounter. Remember, if you currently have a job can always use your free time to get started part time till you get the ball rolling.

Speaking of sparetime, after you’ve your mind made up to start an online business it is a good time to take stock of how you can budget your time. The great part about web businesses is you set your own agenda. Many moms and pops get into the net business craze to spend a little more time with their family. Be realistic. To maintain a successful web business you need to be able to commit a significant slice of your day to your business. If your kids are in school you could have more time available during those hours. Make sure you use the time you have sensibly and productively. If your kids do not attend college you’ll have significantly less time. Keep in mind, to maintain successful internet business adaptability is key .