It’s been 5 and a half years since I started my Virtual Assistant business. It’s funny to think that back then, in 2003, I didn’t even know what a Virtual Assistant was! I started out thinking I was going to have a Secretarial Services business and take care of the odd job here and there ……. well I must have been sending out messages that I wanted much more because I did get much more than I ever bargained for.

As labour day approaches and my sons start school (grade 1 and preschool), I was reflecting on a chat I had with a colleague some time ago. We were talking about the challenges of running a home-based business and she asked me…… “Cindy, what does it mean to you to be a Virtual Assistant?”

I had to sit and think for a minute … my VA business and a typical day for me includes so much more than working as a Virtual Assistant to several clients. It includes:

• getting the kids ready for school/preschool,
• meeting with potential clients of The Multiple Streams Team,
• connecting with Virtual Assistants on the Team,
• looking after multiple priorities for my clients,
• responding to inquiries about my book,
• putting together details for teleseminars I’ve been invited to lead,
• providing support/mentoring to Virtual Assistants who are trying to build a business of their own

….. and so on.

FLEXIBILITY is the best worked I could come up with that describes what I love most about being in the VA industry.

When I started my business my ultimate goal was to be able to be a Mom, raise my son at home, and be able to contribute financially to my family at the same time. Now I get to take my kids to school each morning, pick them up in the afternoon, go to soccer, baseball, swimming, skating or whatever they’re doing at the time, participate in the school functions and so much more.

Great clients, partners, colleagues, and much more are other things I love about my work but… Flexibility is at the top of the list.

I have so much more to be thankful for …. what do you love most about the Virtual Assistant Industry?

Nico & Jacob Greenway - Yellowstone National Park - July 2008

In just a couple of days my oldest son will be starting Grade one. I’ve already thought of the homework assignments, class projects and everything else I’ll be helping him with after school for the next 12 years. Although I’m glad I don’t have homework to do every night, I was thinking about how I apply ‘homework’ to my typical day as a Virtual Assistant.

Homework - as I call it, is essentially taking the time to research information about your prospective clients before you speak with them. For example, with the Multiple Streams Team, when a business owner completes our Client Application Form, I schedule a time to speak with them to learn more about their business. However before our scheduled call, I do my ‘homework’ and gather as many details as I can about this potential client.

To me, this means more than just visiting their website and taking a quick look around. I do start with reviewing their website and reading various details such as their services and bio. Then I typically Google their name and see if I can find anything else about them - articles published, press releases submitted, joint ventures they may already have, organizations they participate in, awards they have won, etc. By taking this extra step, I am more equipped with details about who this business owner is and whether I am interested in what they do and who they work with.

On a teleseminar I recently gave through a VA Organization, a participated asked me why it was important to me to go beyond just reviewing a potential client’s website. The answer was easy to me - by learning more about them than was on their website, I was able to:

1. Demonstrate my ‘mindset’ - letting them know I had used my initiative to learn details about them that were beyond their website
2. Determine how involved this person was in their expertise as well as which marketing strategies they actively used for their business
3. Understand more clearly who they worked with and exactly what they offered
4. Get a better sense of their style and personality
5. Consider potential ways I could support them - both short term and long term
6. Determine whether I was interested in working with this person or if I was the right person to support this business owner.

If you can demonstrate to your potential clients that you’ve taken the time to learn about them - and have gone beyond visiting their website - their interest in you will peak. Clients WANT a VA who uses their initiative ….. this is an easy way for you to demonstrate this from the very beginning.

In my book “Virtually Successful: 8 Simple Ways for Virtual Assistants to Find (and Keep) Clients“, I go in to much more detail on how you can get ready to meet new clients. Visit www.GrowYourVABiz.com for more info.

An interesting topic came up recently when I was speaking with a business owner - she had just recently started her very first relationship with a Virtual Assistant. Sadly, it was somewhat of a negative experience … this business owner now had a sour taste in her mouth about working with a VA.

It seems the main issue behind this business owner’s frustration was the lack of responsibility the VA took on items that she completed incorrectly. The VA simply dismissed these items, gave excuses or avoided responding to them all together.

The end result was that the business owner could no longer trust the VA and the relationship fell apart. The business owner felt that the VA had not honoured their relationship. Had the VA simply stood up and said, “I’m sorry, I messed up”, the business owner would have considered the issues as mistakes and learning lessons that each person could learn and become better from.

This made me think back to the *few* times that I’ve messed up. One time in particular that I remember hitting my head against the wall was when I sent out an ezine on behalf of my client but included the incorrect link throughout the copy. I was so upset at myself but I knew I had to come clean so I phoned my client immediately and told him what happened. His calm response shocked me … he said, “Well, these things happen. Don’t worry about it. If you can send an email out right away to make everyone has the right link, that would be great.”

When I called to confess I was expecting the worst. I mentioned my surprise and my client laughed - of course he wasn’t happy with the mistake but the fact that I came forward and took full responsibility for the error is what made the difference.

We’re all human and we’re all going to make mistakes or have things happen beyond our control that may result in an uncomfortable situation, however it IS our responsibility, not just as Virtual Assistants, but as people, professionals and partners to our clients to come clean and take ownership for things that we have done incorrectly.

Next time you make a mistake, be sure to take ownership and claim responsibility - it may not be comfortable but it will likely turn in to a positive lesson learned rather than a negative ending to a client relationship.