Responding to RFPs - A Primer for Virtual Assistants

August 12, 2008 at 5:44 am · Filed under Business Tools, VA, Virtual Assistant

…/Continued from the Canadian Virtual Assistant Network Blog

• Restate the request in your own words to demonstrate your understanding of the project and requirements.
• Describe how you will perform the project.
• Describe ways in which you will measure effectiveness.
• Describe your past experience with past projects.
• Suggest a time-frame for project completion or if warranted, you can suggest an ongoing (or retainer program ? which is of course, is often our ultimate goal)

Do not include a fee or price unless explicitly asked to provide such information. Instead, insert a call-to-action such as offering a free consultation to discuss the scope of the project in more detail in order to determine cost. You want to speak to the prospect personally. It is much easier to sell your services in this manner and provides a better opportunity for the agent to get to know you and for you to get to know the agent.

Thank them for the opportunity to submit your proposal and offer to answer any questions they may have or to provide further details.

Remember to include your contact information - both email and phone number, along with a link to your website.

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Is Your Glass Half Full?

July 24, 2008 at 2:02 pm · Filed under Down Time

It’s all about attitude isn’t it? Everything we do in our daily life relies on our attitude. My washer broke on me after only 3 years (it seems everything around here has  a 3 year lifespan these days!) and I had to call a repairman. Well, George was his name, and I can’t even describe how negative the man was about absolutely everything we talked about. The weather, different brands of washing machines, the company he worked for, the state of the beach this year, his kids. You name it. (He was quite a talker.)

 When he was finished and I was $100 poorer, I thought about how crummy that guy must feel all the time.

 I don’t know about you but I’m a “glass is half full” kinda gal most of the time and it certainly leaves me with a brighter outlook on life. If I’m feeling down, I fake the smile and the bubbly demeaner until it fits and feels good. Food for thought…

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Summer Speaker Series

July 22, 2008 at 6:23 am · Filed under Business Tools, Education, Events, VA, Virtual Assistant, learning

A great event has been planned by a colleague of mine, Erin Blaskie, that you don’t want to miss. She has put together 42 fantastic speakers - 2 per day for the month of August and the topics are sensational!

She just announced it on the weekend, and by Monday afternoon, had already sold over 100 tickets and I’ve heard that there’s only 200 spots available because of the bridge line capacity. 

As you can see in the picture above that includes some of the participants, there are some dynamite speakers. Oh, and there’s yours truly on the bottom row near the middle! My topic is “Do You Niche?” and is targeted to VAs, explaining the benefits of defining a niche or niches to grow their practices, and will be held on Wednesday, August 27th at 2:00pm. Hope to “see” you there!

So, if you’re thinking about it, you better get off the fence and jump on over to www.summerspeakerseries.com to ensure your registration. It’s going to be HOT!

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Top 10 Virtual Assistant Services for Q2-2008

July 13, 2008 at 5:29 am · Filed under VA, Virtual Assistant

Here are the top 10 virtual assistant services we’ve been asked to provide in the second quarter of 2008:

1. eZine set up, design and maintenance
2. Web site maintenance (uploading new content, deleting old content, etc.)
3. Shopping cart setup and maintenance
4. Autoresponder setup and maintenance 
5. Blog ghostwriting services  
6. Real estate listing coordination
7. Marketing strategy and calendar creation
8. Passive income product idea generation/collaboration  
9. Lead processing and management
10. Custom drip marketing campaign creation

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Label Makers - Organization CAN Be Fun!

July 13, 2008 at 5:15 am · Filed under Business Tools

One of the best tools I’ve ever bought for my office is my Label Maker. Not only is it fun to use but everything gets filed or put in its designated space so much faster than my old method of placing everything in a basket “in waiting”.

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MCA’s Top 5 Time Wasters

June 19, 2008 at 6:56 am · Filed under Time Management

We are guilty, now more than ever, of putting way to much on our plates.  And I am not talking about our dinner plates.  It is a bit sad really that we all seem to judge our days by how much we have accomplished.  Sad but true.  Time Management used to be something we dreamed about, thought about doing “some day” and now has become essential in both our personal and business lives.How do we conquer the jobs that keep piling up on us?

We believe there are 5 main culprits:

• taking on too much
• not delegating
• the “no” factor
• interuptions
• last but certainly not least “procrastination”

Taking on too much - we all do it.  Not only do we take on too much but we try to accomplish it all once.  It is okay to fill your day with things that have to get done but the trick is in prioritizing them so that they all get the attention they deserve.

Delegate, Delegate, Delegate - believe it or not you don’t have to do everything yourself.  Find the tasks that take up alot of your time and pass them on to someone on your team who enjoys those tasks.  It’s a win - win.

The “no” factor - define what things you really enjoy and want to do.  If you clearly define your role you then will find it easier to say ”no” when you are approached to do something outside your comfort zone.

Interuptions - your time is important.  Remember that.  Unexpected drop ins or phone calls take away your time that you have previously allocated to you other tasks.  Schedule times to talk on the phone or have meetings.

Procrastination  - let’s face it - we don’t usually put off the tasks we like doing.  Try getting the jobs you don’t like doing done first and break up your large tasks into small manageable ones.

So there you have it in a nutshell - 5 ways to stop wasting your very precious time!

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So You Think You Can Sub?

June 13, 2008 at 3:53 am · Filed under Business Tools, VA, Virtual Assistant

One of my VA heros, Erin Blaskie of BSEtc.com, introduced a new concept to the Virtual Assistant industry, a play on a title of a popular TV show, So You Think You Can Dance - and it’s called So You Think You Can Sub? Here’s an excerpt from the webpage for an explanation:

If you have the skills to be an amazing asset to any of the leading virtual assistant teams, you need to read through and attend this amazing, free event!

Held from June 16 to June 20, we’re hosting the first ever virtual assistance sub-contracting job fair. There is nothing out there like this and we’re making this opportunity happen for many reasons.

Why Is This Event Taking Place?

Virtual assistant teams are rapidly becoming in demand for clients and entrepreneurs around the world. People are looking to hire not just an individual but an entire team. If you are part of one of these teams, there is a great chance that you will have an endless supply of work.

Here are some of our primary reasons for hosting the event:

1. We know what it’s like to try and find clients and we want to help make it EASY for you!
2. We are a group of really booked solid VAs who need to build an amazing team but just don’t have time… this allows us to “audition” many virtual assistants and virtual assistant’s assistants all at once!
3. It gives you the opportunity to get used to speaking in public and in front of potential clients.

It’s a win-win all around!

My Creative Assistant is one of the leading Multi-VA practices that will be reviewing the auditioners in an effort to add some amazing and creative talent to the team! So, if you’re a VA that’s amazing and possesses creative talent, drop by and audition!

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Client Personalities: How to Inspire Productivity!

June 12, 2008 at 10:15 am · Filed under Clients

Continued from the Canadian Virtual Assistant Post (go back) –>

Non – Responsive Client
You know the type – doesn’t answer your emails, doesn’t get back to you when you leave a message, doesn’t respond to questions when talking to you on the phone.

Force the Issue

Ask open-ended questions, learn to wait for a response when having a conversation – let there be silence – force the client to participate.  Show an enormous amount of patience or just bite your tongue – whatever works for you.

Over-Responsive
Because email can be used much like having a conversation some clients feel the need to write every single question in individual emails filling your in bin.  The trick is:

Don’t get sucked in!

Right from the beginning set the tone to clear concise emails once or twice a day answering each question clearly and succinctly.  If you respond to every question each time one is posed you might as well only have one client because you’ll spend your day emailing back and forth.

The Task Master
Maybe the most challenging of all is the client that still believes that we are employees of their business.  NO – say it isn’t so!  Perhaps the best way to look at the task master is this –maybe just maybe they haven’t had someone working with them that can anticipate their next move and work towards it without supervision.  Maybe they have become a task master because it is the only way they have seen results.  Show them the way – I believe that these types of relationships take some time.  A certain amount of trust has to be built – but once they see all that we are able to accomplish for them – (unsupervised) they will hopefully come around to change their tune.  
(I believe in the general good in people I guess!) 

Finally – last but certainly not least…

The all over the place client!
Recipe
Two Bricks
2 short ropes
Instructions:  Affix the bricks to the ropes and tie to the ankles of said client.
There – now that you have their undivided attention for about 7 to 8 minutes this is what you have to do.  Believe it or not this type of client is the most easy to control if you stick to the ground rules.
1.  Give an outline to a meeting.
2. Whenever the conversation (or the client) starts to flap their wings – reiterate the task at hand.
3. Ask them questions that allow them to explore their free spirit but that give you concrete answers to a plan of action.  What are their goals, what projects do they have in mind?  These types of questions lead to you structuring a way to accomplish them.  You can then develop a plan of action based on these goals allowing both the free spirit and the planned, organized spirit to become one – did I just say that?

It takes all kinds of people to make the world work and I believe that in every situation we are afforded the opportunity to learn (while I concede that sometimes it is clearer than others!)

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Would you like fries with your Blackhat Fish?

June 10, 2008 at 1:56 pm · Filed under SEO

A very dear, although a little obsessive VA buddy of mine, Anna Baron of The Virtual Link, is competing in a SEO contest about Blackhat Fish. Strange? I thought so, but she explained to me that it wasn’t a term that registered in the search engines so that’s why it was chosen for the contest. The winner will rank the highest for this particular term. Good luck Anna! I know you’ll be checking your status every 10 minutes. (Did I mention she was a bit obsessive? :))

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Organize Electronic Files and Folders

May 23, 2008 at 5:37 pm · Filed under Business Tools, organizing

I tripped across this neat little program, love it and thought I’d share. It’s called Folder Marker and it allows you to easily change your folder icon or colour. There is a free version available. Enjoy!

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