grow your virtual assistant business

Do You Really Have What It Takes To Be a Successful Virtual Assistant?

Getting into business is easy. Staying in business … not so much. There is the basic stuff that you have to know, like business and marketing, of course, but that’s not what I’m talking about. I’m talking about you. Your personality. Your perseverance. Your personal strength. Arlene Dickinson talks about this in her book All In. She says if you don’t have the personal strength (she calls it a few different things – mental muscle is one of my favourites – but basically it is really about resilience and personal strength) then you will not be able to cut it as an entrepreneur. I totally agree with this. Not everyone has the mental strength to be a business owner, and… Read More »Do You Really Have What It Takes To Be a Successful Virtual Assistant?

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It Takes a Minimum of 21 Days to Form a New Habit

Lately I have been working on a new strategy to market my business. My business has changed completely in the last year – totally planned changes! – I have gone from running a full time VA business of my own, with some VA training and coaching on the side – to now owning two VA associations, and having my training and coaching at the forefront, and my VA business considerably downsized. It’s been a complete flip – and with that come new challenges. I have earned my main income from my VA business for many, many years now. I know how to market it. I know how to network for it. I know how to find clients whenever I want… Read More »It Takes a Minimum of 21 Days to Form a New Habit

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Did You Reach Your Goals This Month?

I taught a workshop this month about goal setting. I know, I know. I talk about goals a lot. But as a business owner, goals are essential to your success, your profit and your growth. If you don’t know what you are trying to achieve – then how can you achieve it? I set lots of goals. Some I reach, others I don’t. I don’t beat myself up about the things that don’t go well. But I do ask myself why they might have failed, so that I can do better next time. For instance, I joined a 100 connections challenge earlier this year. The challenge was to reach out 100 people in 100 days about your business. That means… Read More »Did You Reach Your Goals This Month?

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Don’t Wait to Make That Connection

I recently hosted a conference for Virtual Assistants. When you plan an event, you call everyone you know to see if they want to attend, or if they can help or support you in some way. At least I do! It’s important to remember that everyone you come into contact with in your business can play some sort of role – to get the word out, to point you in the direction of great resources, to become your clients, etc. Building your business depends on the connections that you make. And yet, so many VAs I know don’t make those connections regularly. At least not consciously. So at the conference, I kept making a point of telling the people in… Read More »Don’t Wait to Make That Connection

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Getting Started as a Virtual Assistant is Hard

I have officially been in business for myself for 20 years. I always remember it because I was 8 months pregnant with my son when I was leaving the office to be off for a while, and my boss asked me when I could get back to work. I worked for a local restaurant chain’s head office. I sort of motioned to my big belly and said, ‘Um, having a baby here, not sure how you expect me to come back to work.’ And he suggested that I could do my work from home whenever I was able, and as soon as I was able. He needed the work I was doing to continue, and he just said to track… Read More »Getting Started as a Virtual Assistant is Hard

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7 Simple Tips to Building a Sustainable Virtual Assistant Business

This week I am celebrating my 7th anniversary of Your VA Mentor (I began teaching in 2010). It’s very exciting, and it occurred to me that perhaps I should share my tips with you, for how to remain in business long-term. They are simple tips, and they are ones that I have lived by over the last 7 years. Now granted I have not run Your VA Mentor full time up until now, but I have spent a lot of time and money keeping it in business to serve you – and I’ve done it by using the tips below! 1. Start with your passion.  Whatever you decide to do in your business, know that you will have hard times.… Read More »7 Simple Tips to Building a Sustainable Virtual Assistant Business

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5 Reasons to Attend a VA Conference

Working as a solo virtual professional, we sometimes run the risk of having a little too much solitude. Sometimes networking mainly consists of water cooler-type conversations with our colleagues, and then jumping back to client work. That’s why it’s important to seek out opportunities to get out there in person. Live networking events are a great way to have actual conversations with people. It’s a great place to learn and grow, and basically refine your art of conversation. I am hosting the first VA conference in Ottawa, Ontario in May! Are you coming?   The VA Conference will be a great place to connect with your colleagues and take time to work on your business (instead of just working in… Read More »5 Reasons to Attend a VA Conference

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What Will You Do This Week to Find New VA Clients?

Do you need a new client? Most VAs will answer YES! to that question without hesitation. But do you know where your next client is going to come from? If you don’t answer that question as quickly as the first one, then you need to get a plan in place! There are many places you can find your next client. The best thing to do is to build a system into your business where you can find new clients easily in a few different places. And then you need to network! Online, offline, start getting out to events and really connecting with people to fill your pipeline. If you talk to just 2 people a day about your business (and… Read More »What Will You Do This Week to Find New VA Clients?

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