Organization
Business Management Organization Time Management
Why Planning Your Work Leads To An Outstanding Life!
It’s time to go to class. Business Development: 101! 
One of the best things that you can do for your business today is to plan the next seven days of your working life. If you would like extra credit, you can plan the next 7 days of your personal life as well. Why is such planning a boon to your business? There are three reasons.
Reason #1 – Increased Energy and Excitement
There is something that fill make you slowly creep out of the bed in the morning. It is called a lack of direction. When you wake up in the morning and have no sense of direction, your desire to get out of bed will be impotent. How can you increase your energy and excitement for the tasks that you need to accomplish?
Plan your work! Give yourself a reason to wake up with enthusiasm every single day. Even if your goal seems difficult, focus on the benefits of achieving your objective. Take each activity one step at a time. Enjoy the process of getting things DONE! You know the joy that comes from striking through an item on your to-do list ☺.
By planning your activity in advance, you will wake up each day with the motivation that you need to build a successful virtual assistance business. (These same principles apply if you are currently employed.) Can you feel your energy bubbling forth as you read this? Here is a way that you can give yourself an edge each day. Make your first task super exciting! Ensure that the first activity of the day is worthy of your jumping out of bed.
Reason #2 – Increased Productivity
When you plan your work for the next seven days, the most important tasks and projects will clearly come to the forefront of your mind. These activities will help you to accomplish your most important business goals. (Note: If you are not working towards your most compelling goals, what are you doing every day? That is another article.)
Planning your work for the coming days is also a brainstorming strategy. It will enable you to get your best thoughts written down, prioritize your work and the way you choose to use your time. This will increase your productivity. How so? Planning your work automatically puts you in a mindset of focus. You look at each hour of your day as an opportunity to build something great. It is only with this mindset will you avoid the pitfall of allowing time wasters to control your day. Think of things that currently waste your time. By planning your day in advance, you create a road map to successful and productive working.
Reason #3 – Increased Fulfillment
Is there anything that makes you feel better than a job well done? Likely, you associate 8-12 hours of each day for work (including travel time, lunch etc.). This is how you support your family. Be sure to make that time count. It should be meaningful and precious to you. Avoid wasting time because you cannot recoup ill-spent time. You can however make your time valuable by planning your work in advance. When you accomplish your important “to-dos”, the sense of joy and satisfaction you get from being productive is definitely increased.
Start today by planning the next seven days of your business and personal life. Remember to schedule something thrilling as your first activity each day. Such planning will help you to go to bed excited. You will wake up energized and enthusiastic. This will lead to greater productivity and ultimately increased fulfillment. Can you think of a good reason for not wanting increased energy, productive and fulfillment? I didn’t think so. Now get to planning your work!
3 Ways to Use Evernote For Your Business
If you would like a tool that gives you instant access to data that you have collected, you have no need to look any further than Evernote. Why can this be an effective tool for your Virtual Assistance business?
Keep Track of Everything
Evernote has so many cool features that you just cannot get enough of using this awesome app! You can track absolutely everything that comes to your mind. One of the first things that you may want to do with Evernote is to start saving data so that you can see how easy it is to collect information.
If you have photos or images that you want to keep online instead of on your smartphone or camera, you can save them in Evernote. The same goes with audio and text files that you create. When you upload data you can use the tagging function that will enable you to do an easy search for your files.
Inside Evernote I have a notebook called Business. This is where I put all of my business ideas that come to mind. The app on my smartphone gives me 24-hour access to my Evernote account. I use this app to organize product launches for the EAtoVA community. You can consider ways that you can Evernote to keep track of business opportunities, ideas and tasks.
Safeguard Client Details Continue Reading>>
Achieving Goals Business Management Marketing Networking Organization Virtual Assistant
FREE VA Success Strategy Calls
I have something very special and exciting for YOU! One of my favorite past times is to sit in a nice coffee shop, enjoy a nice brew and have good conversation with good friends. So, we have decided to do more of that in a virtual sort-of-way.
Over the past 7 years, Sydni and I have been working with entrepreneurs to help them build lucrative businesses. In the process we have started 4 different companies. One of them being EAtoVA.
You might be asking, “Wil, I thought you said that you had something for me?” And you are correct.
We are taking ALL of the knowledge that we’ve used to build our businesses and share it with you EVERY week. That’s exciting for a few specific reasons:
- We will get to know you by talking on the phone regularly.
- For 10 minutes I will share with you business-building strategies.
- For 20 minutes you will be able to ask questions and we can brainstorm business solutions for you.
- NO selling, NO pitches, NO tricks. We are having a friendly conversation and getting to learn more about one another.
- These calls will be FREE, forever! Isn’t that cool? I really look forward to getting on the phone with you.
CLICK HERE to accept the invitation
Every Tuesday, we’ll discuss a specific topic. Check out the line up for November:
- Nov 06: How to develop a success mindset.
- Nov 13: Skill sets prospective clients are looking for.
- Nov 20: What technologies are successful VAs using?
- Nov 27: Fixing holes in your business foundation.
These are just 4 of the MANY topics that you and I will be discussing. Don’t worry, if you cannot join us live, I will post the recordings here on the blog! We are going to have an awesome time each week!
Achieving Goals Business Management Marketing Mindset Organization Skill Development Transition
5 Keys To Becoming A Successful Virtual Assistant
In 2009, there were 27.5 million businesses in the United States, according to Office of Advocacy estimates (per a report published in January 2011). What does that mean for you?
A) That number has only increased since 2009.
B) EVERY single one of those businesses needs some type of administrative support to function and be profitable.
C) There is more opportunity for you to be successful than ever before.
Since you have expressed an interest in becoming a Successful Virtual Assistant, I want to share with you all the tips, short cuts and resources that were not available to me when I first got started. I had to figure out on my own most of the things that I learned. I hope that you will utilize the tools that I give you so as to make your journey a LOT less stressful than mine turned out.
Fortunately, I kept track of every step I took, every mistake I made and everything that worked along the way. I didn’t have a real reason for doing so at the time, but I’m SO glad I did because now I can share them with you. When I look back I see that there are 5 critical keys you need to start and build a successful Virtual Assistance company:
1. Mindset: You may not realize it now, but to be successful as an entrepreneur, you have to THINK like an entrepreneur. As employees, we are conditioned to do what others tell us. Someone else typically decides our schedule, how much we get paid, who we work with and what projects we work on. When you become self-employed, YOU call all the shots. This is probably one of the things that is most attractive to you about the opportunity to be a Virtual Assistant. However, you must understand that you will have to go through some growing pains to make-over your mindset. You cannot operate your business they way you function as an employee. It simply won’t work. If you avoid working through this transition it could be the ONE thing that can make or break your business.
2. Infrastructure: What makes up the infrastructure of your company? Here are a few things to consider: 1) Insurances – health, life, disability, dental etc. 2) Technology – computers, phones, an online presence etc. 3) Operations – you must have operational systems in place such as accounting, tax filing, setting up new customers, processes for working with customers, etc. 4) Structure – will you set up an LLC or a Sole Proprietorship? 5) Finances – it takes money to make money. Considering these important matters and making well-informed decisions about which situations will work best for you, will enable you to start and manage a successful company.
3. Marketing: Marketing your services and getting clients boils down to one thing, ‘Offering solutions to people who are already looking for them.’ You don’t have to “hawk your wares”, you don’t have to convince people to hire you and you don’t have to take any opportunity that comes along. Marketing at it’s best is simple, focused and consistent. Those who do not market their company tend to find themselves out of business very soon. The best thing that you can do for your business is to know how to generate leads and enroll new clients. You do not want to wait to figure this out. You can develop a marketing plan even before you have made your first dollar, taking advantage of the resources, relationships and opportunities already within your reach.
4. Transition: Having a PLAN around your transition from Executive Assistant to Virtual Assistant will help you to make the leap from employee to entrepreneur smoothly. Please do not quit your job and then ‘hope for the best’. That is NOT a plan that leads to success. You want to make sure that you have not only your infrastructure in tact, but also a step by step plan that has dates attached to keep you focused. This plan gives you time and space to make the transition. In your mind you may think you can “wave a wand” and make the changes you need to make overnight. But that is an unrealistic view. Mapping out a realistic plan will help you to make steady progress, avoid unnecessary stress and minimize wasted time and wasted money.
5. Building Your Business: When you work for someone else, that company does all of the heavy lifting for you as an employee. The company is responsible for building the business so that you will have a place to work each day. Now, YOU are responsible for whether you win or lose. Success or failure is 100% in YOUR hands! You, therefore, have to perform all of the needed tasks to REMAIN in business. This includes constantly upgrading your skill set, setting up systems, marketing consistently and more.
If you would like help with each of these 5 Keys, I invite you to join me for a FREE training call on Thursday, May 31st, entitled “How to Use the Skills You Already Have to Add An Additional $500 – $5,000 to Your Monthly Income…Working From Home”. Click HERE to get the dial-in details!
Achieving Goals Mindset Organization Time Management
What Activity is Most Important to YOUR Business?
The misuse of your time is probably the greatest disservice to your as a business owner. How do you manage yourself within the time that is afforded you? Just like me, you have 24 hours every single day. Time is just like money, the way you spend it proves what activities are important to you.
I am sure that you engage in different activities every day. But, are those activities your MOST important ones? Are your activities building the business of your dreams or tearing it down? I will put you to a time challenge and ask you to track the time that you spend every day. Keeping this simple log will show you exactly why your business is in its current condition. Now, I want to assist you a bit further in analyzing how you spend this precious commodity.
Subtract 9 Hours
Right off the top, I will shave off nine hours for your sleep. If you do not sleep well, it does not matter how you spend your time because you will not be able to put forth your best effort anyway. That leaves you with 15 hours.
Subtract 5 Hours
I’m going to give you the benefit of the doubt and say that you are a person who loves to spend time with your family and friends. You also deserve some personal time each day so that you can reflect on your life as to what you have done and what matter you still need to care for. This time slot will also give you some time for personal care. You have 10 hours left.
Subtract 2 Hours
Likely you will need to run errands and care for other matters that pertain to your business or personal life. This is a giveaway of time that may be planned or unexpected. These two hours may or may not benefit your business but will certainly vary from day to day. Now, are you ready to get your business day started? You have 8 hours left.
Subtract 8 Hours – Time is UP!
In this very important time slot, you must decide how best to build your business. There are two very important activities that will boost your income. That is client work and marketing. There is so much that is involved with both of these activities. How are you spending your stipend of time? How many clients do you now have? How many of your hours each day are allotted to each client? After you have done the math on that, you need to wisely consider how you will shell out the remaining hours.
If you do not have a full practice of clients, it only makes sense to spend as much time as possible on marketing your business. Your marketing efforts today may not produce results until three or more months from now. Consistent marketing is imperative! You never know when your marketing efforts will yield results. The worst time to do marketing is when you are thirst for clients
I ask you, on what activities are you spending your TIME?
Business Management Marketing Mindset Organization Time Management
Are You Making these 3 Common Mistakes?
Virtual Assistants tend to be really good at creating lists. We create to-do lists for ourselves, our clients, our families, the housekeeper, etc. These lists are created as a method for getting things done. But, how often do you go back and review your lists to see if “what” you’re doing is yielding the right results? In other words, is how you’re spending your time supporting or detracting from the life and business you want to create?
If perhaps you aren’t making the money you want to make, or you’re working with clients who drain your energy, or you find yourself working far more hours than you’d like, it’s time to step back, take an honest, objective look at your VA practice and decide what adjustments need to be made. Just as you would create an action plan for your clients, you need to create one for yourself. The first step is to answer this question, “Are you making these 3 common mistakes?”
1. Is my own mindset getting in my way? Have you ever gotten frustrated with how things are going in your business and thought, “I’ll never work with high-quality clients who happily pay my fees,” or “I guess I’m destined to discounting my fees if I want to stay in business?” If you answered yes, then that’s exactly what you’ll get. This element of the Law of Attraction is simple and it applies to EVERYTHING you do. Whatever you tell yourself is ABSOLUTELY true. If you put out negative energy that is what you’ll get in return. But if you consistently focus on positive, abundant thoughts, you’ll begin seeing ways to create the results you desire—and the opportunities you need will find their way to you. (Not to mention a positive attitude is highly client-attractive!) If your tendency is to have a negative attitude toward your business, stop! Make the decision to change your thinking, starting TODAY. If you consistently attract non-ideal clients, ask yourself: “What can I do to attract my perfect client?” Look into upgrading your services by taking new courses that expand your knowledge and justify higher rates. Participate in social networks to explore what kind of support your ideal client is looking for—and place yourself directly in front of your target market. Also, be honest about where YOU are standing in your own way. What fears do you have about your business? What limiting beliefs are you holding onto? Put forth the effort to stare your gremlins in the face. Then make the decision to start thinking differently from today forward. All these activities will help you tap into a new group of clients and move you closer to your goals.
2. Do you only market or advertise your services when you need more clients? This is one of the biggest mistakes that Virtual Assistants make. And it is an area where they struggle needlessly. Some may feel hesitant about marketing thinking they have to be pushy and sales-y in their approach. That is certainly not the case. Marketing is simply a matter of sharing solutions with people who were already looking for them. The most effective marketing strategy for Virtual Assistants is to get clear on what you offer, embrace the value you bring to your clients’ lives, get to know your ideal clients REALLY well so you know what their urgent needs and compelling desires are and then put yourself in front of them as THE solution to their problems. You should be marketing your business every week, bare minimum. (Ideally you should be doing SOMETHING to market yourself every day.) There are countless ways to market your services. Attending networking events and industry events has always been highly effective for me. Blogging about the benefits and results you create for clients is another. Publishing an email newsletter, getting involved in social media, and sending a letter to EACH person in your network explaining your services also yield positive results. The list goes on and on. The goal is to be consistently attracting new leads to your business and keeping your pipeline full. Even if you find yourself at full capacity, when potential clients contact you about your services, you can still have your introductory meeting with them to determine what their needs are. If their needs exceed the support you can provide at that time, just let them know your practice is full. Then, offer them the option of going on a waiting list or refer them to another Virtual Assistant. Either way, you keep the lines of communication going. And, if you have an opening, you now have a “warm market” list to contact. This will keep you out of “feast or famine” mode with your finances.
3. Is your business foundation solid? Building a business is like building a house—it needs a solid foundation. If you don’t have an effective bookkeeping method, your office and paperwork are a disorganized mess and you don’t have a marketing plan to follow, you do not have a solid foundation for your business. If you struggle meeting deadlines because you can’t find everything required for a project, it’s time to stop and get organized. Nothing is more important than a solid foundation for your business for it to grow and prosper. This means treating your business like a business, NOT a hobby. Outlining your standards, boundaries and operational guidelines clearly on paper will give you a roadmap to follow to successfully run your business for years to come. Remember, the best compliment a client can give you is to refer your services to a colleague. Make sure you earn that referral by being a competent business owner.
If you are making any or all of these three common mistakes, there is good news! You know now what they are and can take action to make improvements. Spending time assessing, planning and implementing proven solutions will help you to upgrade your business in short order. It will also boost your confidence, decrease your stress and move you that much closer to having the business you dreamed of when you first started.
Action Steps For This Week
1. Schedule one hour on your calendar to sit down and honestly assess your business. Make a list of what is working and what is not. Pat yourself on the back for having the courage to stare your business in the face and acknowledge that some improvements need to be made.
2. Once you’re clear on where you’re at, it’s time to get clear on where you want to be. Set a few specific, measurable goals for improving your business and assign a deadline to each.
3. Break down each goal into a series of projects or action steps. Schedule time on your calendar over the next 2-3 months to work on these projects and get your business affairs in order.
4. Reach out for help if you need it! No one who is successful in business has created that success alone. NO one. So, don’t be afraid to ask for help. You and I can work together one-on-one if you like. (Simply email me at Support@EAtoVA.com to schedule an appointment for us to chat.) You can register for a mentoring program. (www.SuccessfulVA.com or www.FullPracticeVA.com). Plus you can reach out to other VAs for ideas and support. (Check out my group on LinkedIn.com) Whichever option you choose is fine, but set yourself up with the support and accountability you need to take your business to the next level.
5. Leave a comment below and let me know how this business overhaul is working out for you! I love hearing about your successes (no matter how “small” you think they are) and celebrating with you!
Business Management Organization Time Management
5 Steps to a Productive Work Environment
When you’re a Virtual Assistant, you are only paid for the time you spend on client projects. Therefore, maximizing your work time is key to the profitability of your company. As VAs typically work from home, it can be a challenge to create a productive work environment where you experience minimal distractions and can focus on running your business. Use the following strategies to get more out of your day.
1. Create a dedicated workspace – There is such a thing as being too virtual! If you find that your “office” moves from your living room, to your bedroom, to your kitchen table or elsewhere, I guarantee that you aren’t nearly as productive as you could be. You are running a business, not pursuing a hobby! Your business deserves its own dedicated space where you show up for work each day. Regardless of how large or small your home is, you can carve out a space for your own office. A corner, a nook, even a closet can be used to create a highly functional office space where you can run a profitable enterprise. Retailers like IKEA and The Container Store have numerous resources to assist you with this.
2. Clear the clutter – Some of us are more organized than others for sure, but there is not a single VA around who wouldn’t be more focused, productive and profitable if they got rid of their clutter. Do you have old pens, mail, folders or other materials piled up in your workspace? Whether you realize it or not, having clutter in your space is a huge distraction for you. It’s been proven that:
- Clutter causes you to feel overwhelmed or depressed
- Clutter robs you of energy
- Clutter steals 50% of your storage space
- Clutter makes running your business harder – You have to look longer and dig deeper to find what you’re looking for
- Clutter makes it hard to think straight
Get rid of your clutter and you will instantly boost your productivity!
3. Eliminate all your notifications – Unfortunately, because of our technology focused society we are often inundated by notifications and so called “helpful” reminders. However, when you are focused on your client work and business operations during the day, you don’t need to notified of every little thing. Make it a habit to turn the ringer on your cell phone OFF. Turn the ringer on your home phone or business phone OFF. (You can schedule times to check your phone(s) during the day). Also, let friends and family members know what your work scheduled is and that you are NOT available to talk during those hours. Finally, turn your email notifications OFF. Your time during the day is much better spent working on various projects and being notified each time you receive an email is a costly distraction that you don’t need.
4. Stay OUT of your email Inbox – Email is one of the greatest productivity killers around. It’s a fabulous communication tool, and critical to the functionality of your virtual business, however it also has the potential to be a HUGE time waster if you aren’t careful. I recommend dedicated two blocks of time per day to process your email. Otherwise you’ll find that you won’t get any real work done during the day because you spent all your time answering email! Also, train your clients to communicate with you via a project management system such as Basecamp or Central Desktop. These systems will track all correspondence in a neat, organized fashion so you don’t have to keep a back log of emails but can still keep track of conversations around projects and tasks.
5. Choose the right workstation – Think about the functions that you’ll be doing at your desk. Analyze what you do in a day, and make sure that your desk or workstation suits your needs. Do have lots of cords between your computer and other equipment? Then you want to have a desk with built-in cable management and an adjustable keyboard drawer. Are you a person who likes to spread out while you work? You’ll want a desk with lots of flat space so that you can work comfortably.
By implementing these strategies, you can create a workspace that maximizes the time you spend on your projects and stay focused on the task at hand. Schedule time now to makeover your workspace by selecting one area to work from, cleaning out clutter, eliminate notifications, manage the time spent on email and choosing the right workspace. You’ll see the benefits pay off in no time!
Achieving Goals Mindset Organization Resources Time Management Virtual Assistant
Create Systems to Create More Free Time
Savvy Virtual Assistants use documented systems to run their business. Using systems consistently will allow you to work as effectively and efficiently as possible. The more you can systemize, the more you can monetize!
Systems are the key to your business organization. It’s a way to ensure that you create consistent high-quality results in everything you do. This includes bookkeeping, communication, administrative duties, client support and marketing. Whether you realize it or not, you probably already have a system in place for all of these things. You just haven’t gone through the process of actually documenting the steps involved.
Documentation is the key to helping you streamline your processes so that you handle your workload more quickly. Once you document your processes for how you handle different tasks, you’ll begin to see how you can either automate them or outsource them. This will free up time for you to spend on your two primary business activities: client work and marketing your business.
Another benefit of setting up systems and embracing technology to help you run your business is that your clients see that you are a true professional. When you invest the time, money and technology to run your business efficiently, you demonstrate that you are running your business like the CEO of a large company rather than a “hobbyist” who makes decisions flying by the seat of her pants. This sets you apart from your colleagues and makes you a more valuable and respected Virtual Assistant.
Think it this way: why would a client pay you top dollar for your services if you don’t demonstrate that you are the absolute best choice? When clients see that you invest money in your systems that help you work more efficiently on their projects, they will gladly pay you what you are worth because they know they are getting the best service possible.
Setting up systems and embracing technology uniquely prepares you for something else: growth with your client. As your relationship grows with your client, they will see you not only as their skilled Virtual Assistant but also as a trusted adviser and business partner. And when it’s time for them to grow their business by expanding their services or looking at other solutions, they will feel comfortable coming to you for help. That trust can only be earned by someone who can offer solutions to what the client needs.
At this point, you may be asking yourself, “So where do I start?”
The best place to begin is to document your tasks for a couple of days. Once you start writing things down, you will see some areas where you can maximize your time by “batching” tasks together.
For example, if you read email every 15 minutes, you probably waste a lot of time reading emails and responding immediately. This is ineffective for two reasons: one, you are constantly reading emails and never get into a good rhythm for completing client work and two, you set an unrealistic expectation for your clients about when you’ll respond to them. If you always reply immediately, a client may start to get impatient with you if you take more than a couple of hours to address their needs.
You can resolve this issue by putting a system in place to set aside specific times of the day to read and respond to emails. This will allow you to schedule time to review emails and respond so that you free up time to schedule actual client work.
You can also embrace the technology within your email settings to be even more efficient. For example, you can set up rules to automatically filter specific emails (like newsletters) into a folder. This helps you control the clutter of your Inbox and you know where to find the newsletters when you have a chance to read them.
These are just a few examples of how you can begin to create systems in your Virtual Assistance business. Once you get some practice with creating systems and using the technology to help you work more efficiently, you will be pleasantly surprised and how much “FREE” time you have available. Now, you’ll be in a position to use that time to grow your business, work with more clients or take a well-deserved break!