Archive for October, 2008

Notes for the Shy Virtual Assistant (VA)

October 29, 2008 at 11:27 am · Filed under barjd communications, networking ·Tagged , , , , ,

Are you a new virtual professional?  Or have you been a stealth virtual professional (maybe you didn’t know your home (or garage) office had such virtual potential)??

Regardless of where you are in your business, you can benefit from connections with professionals who share your goals, commitment and mission to provide off site service to clients.  You may be working alone, but you are not alone.  You may have a network of people who work with or for your clients through you.  But, all of you are working physically alone in your own offices.  This has gone on for ages, but the whole game has been changed dramatically by technology.  It continues to speed forward for easier application.

But, back to the object of this note:  GROUPS.  There are many prestigious and valuable organizations that will provide connection for you.  One of my favorites for beginners at connecting is VAnetworking.com

Networking beginners can join the free side and learn a vast amount of information, get new ideas or ask questions and get answers.  Members can join chats and seminars on a regular basis for the advancement of their skills and business  For many, this side is all that is wanted or needed.  For others, a paid membership  to VAinsiders gains access to ebooks, forms, extra seminars and more. 

On another post I have written about the positive element for clients to know a virtual professional belongs to a network.  The network just expands your knowledge base by unbelievable amounts.  I encourage you to join as many as you can find.  Some will be niche specific and be ready to connect about that particular topic.  Some, like VAnetworking.com will include members in all imaginable niches. Some will have different views and opinions, which gives you a way to measure reality.

Make your next task a click on one of the links above and change your virtual life!

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All Work and No Fishin’ Makes Jane a Slow VA

October 28, 2008 at 10:35 pm · Filed under barjd communications ·Tagged , , , , ,

Jaime Lee Mann wrote a post for Partnering with a Virtual Assistant this week using the example of what happens (or doesn’t happen) when a goldfish is kept in a small bowl.  When the VA seems to be working, working, working, but isn’t really fishin’  for the best amount of work or the best quality of service to deliver.

Or what can happen when the fish is housed and fed well in a larger bowl. The comparison can fit:

A virtual assistant who must

  • market or reach out to all of the potential clients
  • maintain skills to stay at the top of her/his niche
  • expand skills to keep up with new technology or offer new services

can’t continue to function in the tiny, tiny fish bowl.  Sure, if the VA is fed enough, growth will happen, but it will be cramped and uncomfortable.  I’m thinking of a neighbor’s goldfish who grew so big he could barely make a circle in that little bowl.  The cramped VA doesn’t have any FUN in the business and really doesn’t offer clients a well-rounded, committed service.

A potential client for virtual assistants who must:

  • Get the picture of how working with a virtual assistant can get expert services for the business as a reasonable cost
  • Get the picture of how not expanding the fishbowl virtually can lead to business expansion (and profitability)
  • Research and educate themselves on the best ways to delegate to a new working partner who will function as a contractor and be able to move on.
  • Enjoy the possibility of fishin’ because someone with a mission of good service and confidentiality has set up a flexible business picture.

At “How Big is YOUR Fishbowl”, Jaime Lee tells her trade show experience and how she was inspired for the betterment of her virtual assistant business.   The fishbowl can be so much more useful for use than just a place to put the lottery tickets for the keychains,etc.  I think a fishbowl, with or without residents, should be a part of the decor of any office, virtual assistant or client, to keep everyone aware of their mission and goals.

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Secret Question Clients Should Ask Virtual Assistants

October 28, 2008 at 2:01 pm · Filed under Uncategorized ·Tagged , , , ,

Hush!  Don’t make a sound, but listen close for this secret question that will be very telling about the next virtual assistant that you hire:

THE QUESTION: 

  •  Part A: Do you belong to any Virtual Assistant Groups or Organizations. 
  •  Part B:  What are the benefits you gain from the organizations which would reflect and become a benefit for us?

The answer to Part B is the most important.  A virtual assistant who has a strong network of other people with similar skills has

  • A pool of resource for problem solving
  • An ability and opportunity to communicate that will be available to your business
  • A commitment to the career and practice of working virtually. 
  • A contact with reality that builds strength and character

There are many supportive Virtual Assistant organizations that offer membership.  Internationa Association of Virtual Assistants is a popular one.  Virtual Assistant Revolution is a smaller group that offers great networking for members.  The Virtual Assistants group at LInkedIn is becoming strong and developing information for members.

VAnetworking.com is a special group in that there are facets which permit the public (clients) to follow the activity.  There are two sides to VAnetworking.com, a free side and a paid membership side.  The free side has indexed  posts (found on SEO searches) to the forum:

  • Asking questions and receiving answers
  • Offering information
  • Sharing a bit of real life (VAs are REAL people working at a distance; not invisible components)

A business leader who is considering hiring a VA can visit VAnetworking.com and

  • learn a great deal about the potential of a virtual team member.
  • post an RFP for qualified VAs to respond to (the RFP will only be displayed in a private area and offered to VAs who have paid membership and commitment to their practice and skill.)
  • observe the activity and strength of many VAs who are helping others, particularly newbies in the virtual field. 
  • subscribe to Partner with a Virtual Assistant, the official blog at VAnetworking.com and receive perpetual updates on the field of Virtual Assistance.

Now, you have the secret questions, Potential Client.  Ask it and find the virtual treasure for your business and office!

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Considering Delegation

October 22, 2008 at 10:59 pm · Filed under Uncategorized ·Tagged , , , ,

Why do you think people refuse to delegate tasks?

They are micro-managers and just have to keep control

They are distrustful about the performance of team members; suspecting team members will ’shove them under a bus’.

They don’t know there is too much to do

The biggest reason: Dread of the upfront and ongoing work involved in successful delegating.

Delegating isn’t simply passing a task off to someone else on the team and heading for the golf course. The delegatee must have information and possibly training from the delegator. The delegator must be available for questions and reports. Yet, with all of this extra work, studies show that delegation allows the best use of time and skills throughout the team.

I found interesting information at Mindtools.com (http://www.mindtools.com/pages/article/newLDR_98.htm) Read the article and find a link to a Delegation Worksheet (free download)

More interesting and pertinant information about the value of delegating in Basics of Delegating (http://www.managmenthelp.org/building/delegate/basics.htm)

So, what about this buzzing bee hive business that Jaime is writing about at Partnering with a Virtual Assistant ?   http://www.vanetworking.com/blog

 She uses the society of a bee hive as an analogy and justification to consider hiring a VA. Typically, delegating is viewed through the work of a team, all are equals going in. When a Virtual Assistant is hired, will there be a TEAM view and attitude or will the VA be more like an employee? If business people can get past that ‘employee snapshot’ and move right into the Vision of Success that connects contracting with a professional to hand off some tasks that will help the business. There isn’t the same dynamic as must be considered with an inhouse team; the development of the Virtual Assistant isn’t a real issue. The accomplishment of the project is the priority. Business leaders can be ROYALTY for a project and hire some worker bees for the benefit of the business.

This kind of ‘delegation’ is non-competitive. The virtual assistant comes into the mix as a new bee, so to speak, with excellent hive-life skills…this could prevent a swarm of the rest of the workers. Worker bees revere their queen until she fails them; then they kill her. A virtual assistant bee can keep a crown shining for a business queen (or king).

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Economic considerations add to virtual appeal

October 9, 2008 at 4:12 pm · Filed under barjd communications ·Tagged

“Everybody talks about the economy, but nobody does anything about it.”  I cannot recall who said that first, but it is no longer true.  For the past few years, a field that affects the economy of many businesses has been quietly growing.  This field, virtual assistance, has thrived on newest technology.  These technological tools help bring connection between task and performer to a fine tuned line.  Virtual Assistants can offer skills from that of ’home secretary’ through strong supportive administrative assistance to specific high tech. 

As our economy moves through a stage of change, there are businesses seeking quality outsourcing that can be provided by virtual assistants.  Meanwhile, there are people with skills and no occupation who can begin their own business offering their services virtualls.  This virtual road runs both ways and across.

VAnetworking is a website that offers support and networking opportunity to virtual assistants at various levels in their practice, plus quality outsourcing connections for clients who have access to members of VAInsiders.  VAInsiders is a membership group that is composed of highly motivated, skilled and wise people who have a virtual assistant practice.   

I’ve been a virtual assistant at different levels since 2003.  My skills have never stopped expanding even though my target market has evolved in several directions.  Working in my own office with as much technology as I can fit in has been rewarding in all ways.   Thank you for visiting Bar JD Communications and for coming on over to my blog.

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