proactive

Too Busy For Your Own Business Growth?

I have recently been talking to many Virtual Assistants about blocks they are facing in their businesses. One of the ones that comes up time and again is that they can’t concentrate enough on their own business to grow it properly. We work hard to get clients, and then we get too busy with client work to look at our own business. We stop marketing, we don’t network anymore … we forget how to tell people how great we are at what we do. Then when something happens, and we need new clients, we struggle to find them. We have to start all over again. Or worse, we suffer working with clients we don’t like or doing things we don’t… Read More »Too Busy For Your Own Business Growth?

A Change Is As Good As A Rest

Have a look at your business. Your clients. Your revenue. Your marketing. Your website. Your general attitude. Do you still get up every morning raring to go? Does your task list get you excited to start your day? If you’re like many VAs (this one included sometimes!), you probably said no to that last question. It’s easy to settle into a routine that you just don’t love. When you get the clients and they start to pay you and then you stop looking for new clients … you can get bored. Or burned out. Or both! I challenge you to take some time to step back and really look at what you are doing on a day to day basis.… Read More »A Change Is As Good As A Rest

Amp Up Your Productivity with These 5 Tips

Do you ever just look at yourself in the middle of the day and realize that you are not being productive? Maybe you are busy, doing lots of things, but you still feel like you are kind of going around in a circle, or just running in place? Busy time is not always productive time. I get people asking me all the time how to be better organized and how to get more done. Those two things go hand in hand for sure, but you don’t have to be organized to be more productive every day. (It helps!) Here are few tips that I use regularly to make sure that what I am doing is productive work, and not just… Read More »Amp Up Your Productivity with These 5 Tips

Want More Virtual Assistants Clients? Be Special!

The biggest wish of most VAs I come into contact with is to have more clients … better clients … great clients. But many times they are not doing anything to find those clients. Look at your client list. Do you love everyone you work with? Are there people you ‘watch’ online that you wish you could work with? I know there are people that I would love to work with … so how do you stand out? Be special. Get specialized. Get known for what you do best. Think about those clients for a moment. They know what they need help or support with. In many cases, they are looking for that help when they are networking, whether it’s… Read More »Want More Virtual Assistants Clients? Be Special!

Great Customer Service in Three Steps

Recently I have been noticing how I am treated as a customer when I am out shopping, dining, or even connecting with people online. I have had some great experiences, and some not so great. What makes good customer service? For one thing, it’s about recognizing the fact that without customers paying for your service, you would not have a business. Now that doesn’t mean ‘the customer is always right’, as the old saying goes, but it certainly weighs heavier since your success depends on keeping them happy. Here are three easy steps to great customer service: Keep Them Informed One of the things that can make clients nervous or uneasy while working with someone virtually, is not knowing the… Read More »Great Customer Service in Three Steps

How Do You Act Around Your VA Clients?

When we talk about supporting our clients, there are two ways we can be: reactive and proactive. Being reactive means that you wait for situations to happen, and then you base your next ‘actions’ on what just took place. You act, after the fact. Being proactive means that you look ahead in the road, to see what might come up, and you plan to ‘act’ on what you see coming in the distance, before it happens, instead of afterwards. We often act proactively in our own businesses, with our planning and strategy, but many virtual professionals I talk to don’t realize that it’s beneficial to be proactive with our clients as well. How do we do this? Here are a… Read More »How Do You Act Around Your VA Clients?

Three Questions To Solve Any Problem

“To solve any problem, here are three questions to ask yourself: First, what could I do? Second, what could I read? And third, who could I ask?” – Jim Rohn I love this quotation. It tells me that to solve any problem, first you need to think through it, then you need to learn about it and then you should seek advice. I wholeheartedly believe in this process. I’d like to expand on it here. Take any issue you are currently having in your business – big or small – and do this exercise. First, what could you do to fix it? Think about the problem itself, and as many possible solutions as you can think of. Make a list… Read More »Three Questions To Solve Any Problem

It’s right in front of you!

As you reflect on what to do next in the various parts of your business, where you do you tend to look? Do you research on the ‘net for the latest trend? Do you get ‘shiny object syndrome’ – where you get easily distracted? Or do you look to where you have been already? Keeping up with trends and new stuff is a good idea in your business, but when you are looking to build your business, you could be looking away when you should be looking within. Think about all of the things you have done in your business to date. Maybe you have done research, or writing, or planning or strategizing. What have you done with all of… Read More »It’s right in front of you!