Not everyone knows how to create a customized Facebook fan page.   While there are some generators out there that can surely help some, there is nothing like having a professional fan page made up for you according to YOUR every expectation, design and liking.   So guess who can do this for you?   You guessed it – your ever loving, loyal and trustworthy Virtual Assistant!   You do not need to hire a company so-to-speak to do this for you, but rather have your VA, and/or find a VA that can and will produce what you are looking for. Another point to consider is that even if you did utilize a generator you may not be able to get the results that you are seeking, but more than that you might be wasting valuable time trying to accomplish what your VA might already know how to do, and if it’s not at 100% to your liking they can edit and fix it at that, as well as manage the page! What a deal!

Never underestimate the skill-set of a Virtual Assistant, as there are many out there that can do so much more than some might have thought possible. All you have to do is ask and if you ask then you shall receive.

                          

So why do I preface this post with that phrase, because it signifies an experience I just had that, to me, personifies what partnering with a Virtual Assistant means. Let me expand.

In my world as a Virtual Assistant, last week was “one of those weeks” where you question the decision you made (in my case 3 years ago) to enter the world of the self employed. A situation happened that could have either helped solidify the client/VA relationship I had OR it could have severed the ties.

The Situation:

Client is a WordPress Developer ( I’ll call him Jim)

Virtual Assistant (that’s me) but to Jim my role is  ”Development and Client Care” which essentially means I help format and develop the WordPress site for the client and communicate directly with them to move the project forward.

The Story:

I received a phone call from the Jim’s client (let’s call him Bob) as I needed some clarification on some content to the wordpress site. Since I am somewhat new to Bob’s industry I had some questions that seemed very reasonable on my end but, as I found out, were not to Bob. The conversation became very one-sided with Bob literally becoming somewhat rude and insulting. His voice was raised and I could hear and feel the frustration but also felt very belittled as his tone was very condescending. I couldn’t get off the phone fast enough. I immediately had to explain to Jim what had happened with a lot of apprehension I might add – could it have just been me, could I have been more clearer etc. etc.

So, three scenarios could have resulted from that conversation I then had with Jim.

A. Jim could have taken Bob’s side in the matter.

B. Jim could have just ignored the situation.

C. Jim could have supported me.

Essentially, the whole direction of how our VA/Client relationship would move forward was held in the balance awaiting a response. My goal was never to “rock-the-boat” but

So what was the outcome???

My respect and admiration for Jim was solid to begin with but now I am convinced our VA/client relationship could last for a very long time.

So why did I tell you this story, definitely not to show you my weaknesses or cry over spilt milk, I was trying to demonstrate that:

1. Virtual Assistants: be open and honest with your clients

And

2. VA Clients: Support your team whole-heartedly and stand up for them.

If you do this, they will be “loyal to the bone” day in and day out.

Do you have a story like this to share, add your comments below so we can hear from you.

                          

Naturally one of the ways in which to do most of the above is by hiring a Virtual Assistant, but not only to do this work for you and/or with you, but also because of the sheer fact that hiring a VA will lower a businesses cost/overhead.   A two for one deal!

Before the economic crisis hit, individuals and businesses alike were able, for the most part, to spend money on things they probably did not even need.   Unfortunately because of that spending phase, these businesses, or many of them at least, did not survive the economic climate simply because they were not prepared for it.   What I mean by prepared is really a very practical tip that can and should be followed: Run your businesses as if there is always an economic crisis upon us.   Sounds rather dramatic, but in reality it is very logical.   Think about the spending factor and what you need and do not need.

Examples:

• Do you really need a team of five to do different jobs when you can hire a VA to do all of them?
• Do you really need a full-time receptionist when you can hire a VA to answer calls and schedule appointments for you?
• Do you really need a full-time Webmaster who ONLY maintains your Website, and will take forever to get back to you, AND who is paid whether they edit your site or not?

Can you imagine hiring a VA to do all of the above, with no slack time, no sick days, no vacation pay, and that only gets paid either per job, per month or however it is mutually beneficial?   Have you any idea at how much money, time and effort can be saved?

Kicking down your costs and overhead WILL kick up your businesses in various ways!   The monies paid out to extra employees and the like can be put into the things that you think your business really needs, and will STILL be lower than what you are paying out now! Monies not paid out remains in your pockets.  Think about it, it all makes sense!

                          

Once your business is up and running, at some point you will experience the realization that you must take the step to move to the next level – you have existing clients, new clients, referrals and what worked when you started up will not accommodate the growth you are experiencing now.

Whether you have reached that point now or not, it is only sound business sense to make a plan on what you need to put in place to make a seamless transition to the growth of your business.

Remember, that Business Plan you created?  That is the perfect starting point – to revisit your Plan and document what procedures you need to change (e.g. your organizational steps to accept a significant number of new clients), what expenditures you need to meet (e.g. additional staff, equipment, training), what new products or services you can offer to meet your clients needs (eg. a bakery that wants to add preserves and jams to increase revenue).

This can be a daunting and time-consuming task, especially when you are already overloaded with working “on” and “in” your business but it is crucial to your success and growth.

Your Business Plan is like a bible or journal that needs to be constantly revisited to adjust and change to meet the needs of your growing business.

Where can you go for help? Once you have a plan of action in mind and an idea of what you need to make changes, consider hiring a Virtual Assistant to help you. They can partner with you to assist in meeting your goals, organizing and streamlining the process and help with the implementation.

                          

Pro’s:

• More free time as a whole
• More free time to focus on work, sales, etc.
• Feeling much less overwhelmed
• Less stress to get things done, because now one has help
• More time to plan, or execute a stratedgy one is working on
• Not having to do mundane tasks
• Not having to do tasks which one does not like to do
• Able to focus on the next level
• In many cases able to brainstorm with their assistant
• More time equates to more sales, which then equates to more profits!

Con’s:

• Not wanting to hire a VA because one may think that they are unable to afford it

• Another reason for not hiring a VA might be because one may not know how to delegate their work load, i.e., what jobs to give to their VA etc.
• A feeling that someone else may not be able to do the work as good as the business owner can. In other words, “No one can do it as good as I can” type of feeling
• Not knowing where to find an assistant, who is best suited for the job, or how much to pay a VA

Now, in looking through this list one may find that the pro’s far outweigh the con’s by a long shot, and they do, but that does not mean that a business owners’ feelings should be taken for granted. It is totally understandable that a business owner might feel anxious over hiring a stranger to assist them. By the same token it is understandable to think that one can not afford to hire help. However, if one looks at the pro’s very carefully they will soon understand how and why a business owner will profit from hiring a Virtual Assistant and in more ways than one.

Firstly, a Virtual Assistant is a skilled professional on many different levels. In most cases more skilled, and on more levels than a regular in office assistant would be, as this is their living as well. VA’s must be really good at what they do, because if they are not they will lose jobs, or not get hired. Thus that feeling of no one can do it as good as you can is not always true. In fact VA’s probably would be able to do whatever it may be much better than you can.   Remember that a VA is an Independent Contractor they are in business too, so a VA would certainly want to succeed and make any client happy, to be able to do that a VA must be highly skilled!

This brings us to the next points, where to hire a VA, how much to pay them, delegation, etc. The Internet is a huge arena of information that is yours for the taking. Information such as the above is only a click away.   One will find information on everything from hiring a VA to the different pay rates, retainers and much more.  Point in case our very own VAnetworking.com – full of any and all the information that you need to make a solid decision.

Lastly, profits, profits, profits! Do not think that you can’t afford a Virtual Assistant, because time IS money, and if you’re wasting your own time trying to get things done, when someone else can and will do those tasks for you, you are missing the boat on growing your business and earning more money! You can hire a VA for forty hours a week or one hour a week! VA’s get paid usually by the hour per job, so rather than you work on the things you hate, or work on the things that must get done give it to your VA. In return you will be less stressed, less overwhelmed, able to move forward and able to concentrate on your business knowing that you other tasks are in good hands with your brand new trusty VA!   Once again, time IS money, thus by having more time you are able to grow your business earning YOU more money!

So, what are the cons exactly?

                          

First of all, it must be clear that a VA is not an employee. They are self employed business owners providing various types of services that usually relate to helping other business owners run their businesses smoothly.

Types of Services

The types of services offered by VAs vary depending upon the expertise of the VA but they generally apply to providing administrative services. However, the work performed by a VA is not restricted to word processing or other secretarial duties. Most have specialty services they offer depending upon their expertise and skills. The types of work performed by a VA are endless and will make the life of a business owner much easier and help him or her operate their business smoothly.

Depending upon what the business owner requires to help them in their business will determine what skills they are looking for when searching for a Virtual Assistant. Many are extremely talented in creating marketing material, or writing business plans, setting up contact management information, website design, article marketing, correspondence, concierge services, project management, event planning, making travel arrangements or even personal shopping.

Benefits

The benefit of contracting the services of a VA is that they work from their own office communicating with their clients via email, telephone, fax, snail mail, delivery service or other methods of communication. Because they work from their own office they have their own equipment and supplies necessary to perform the work they offer. This includes their own computer, fax machine, and office supplies, and they look after their own needs regarding benefits and taxes.

When you hire a Virtual Assistant you don’t have to worry about payroll, sick leave, providing work space or equipment. Payment is for actual work done at the rate both agree upon in advance and the VA will invoice the client for compensation. How much easier can it get?

Quit struggling

To determine how a VA can help you, think about what part of your business you are struggling with and if it would be more beneficial to hire a VA to look after those details. Why not use your own expertise to ensure your business is a success. Maybe it’s the day to day scheduling, or marketing, or project management you need help with. Whatever you establish your needs to be; there is a Virtual Assistant who can help you.

                          

Imagine the possible loss of business this establishment would have experienced if they had not seen that “tweet” or worse, if they had just ignored it. Instead, as a result of one tweet, they immediately contacted a pest control company and had the whole facility investigated for the pests. Guess what? They got a clean bill of health. But they didn’t stop there. They made sure the media in that city heard about the tweet AND  the actions they took to resolve the complaint. It became quite the hot news item on the radio and television for a few days. So they turned a negative into a positive and illustrated their concern and their desire to rectify the problem.

This is a prime example of “Reputation Management” and how to handle issues with customers. If you do not make a point of monitoring what your customers are saying about you – if you ignore customer service issues or worse still, do not make the effort to resolve those issues – you most likely will suffer some loss – the reputation of your business, customers, revenue and/or future growth.

Today’s consumers are very sensitive to customer service and in a challenged economy that we are still experiencing, it is hard enough to acquire new business:.don’t make the mistake of ignoring your past and present customers because referrals are the best way to gain new business.

Another example would be a manufacturer of locks for bicycles. They were the “crème de la crème” in the industry.   Then someone had an issue with how easy it was to actually break those high quality locks:..and the dissatisfied customer made a video and posted it on You Tube. Word spread fast and sales dropped. But the manufacturer was not monitoring their reputation on the internet. They didn’t know why their sales were dropping until they finally became aware of  the video.   By that time it was too late. Now, they would have to try to recover from this incident and earn back their reputation but probably will never rise to the status they experienced before when their products were highly regarded and trusted.

Do you know what your customers are saying about you?

Don’t make the mistake of ignoring the power of the internet and social media.  It can make or break your business in a flash!

Do you know that an experienced Virtual Assistant can handle that task for you? There are systems they can set up that will monitor what your customers are saying about you, they can alert you to problems so you can address them quickly OR notify you of rave reviews where you might want to offer  a special discount in appreciation of their testimonial.

                          

Monitoring your online reputation

Consistent and constant listening and engaging in conversations regarding your business or industry will ensure you are in tune with your consumers and your competitors and automatically will be aware of any negative comments that will affect your business. By monitoring social networks for mentions of your brand, services and products or your domain name will make certain you can respond in “real-time” and not let any negative comments viral out of control.

Top 3 free Social Media monitoring tools ~ by utilizing available tools it is possible to receive daily, weekly or monthly alerts of the keywords or domain names you are monitoring.

1. Google Alerts is probably the best free tool available.
2. Twitter – search keywords using Hootsuite, Tweetdeck or Seesmic
3. Google Reader

How to handle a complaint:

Are you pro-active? Are you monitoring the negative comments and handling them immediately?

• Was the complaint valid and have merit?
• By knowing whether the complaint is valid will allow you to handle it honestly. If you made a mistake be honest.
• Do your research – who is this client? Know who you are dealing with and if they have actually used your services or product so you can respond accurately.
• Respond positively using the same network and then request that they allow you to contact them directly.
• How are you going to fix the problem? Do you have a solution?
• How are you going to ensure this client is satisfied and will continue to use your services?

All of the above can take up a great deal of your time. By hiring a Virtual Assistant who specializes in Social Media and Online Management she can set up a tracking system, monitoring social networks and forums providing you with accurate information. She can work with you to determine what keywords and domain names should be monitored and what tools should be used that are relevant to your business. The systems for tracking your online reputation must be evaluated regularly and adjusted if needed.

Depending upon what role you wish your VA to take will depend upon the amount of involvement you personally want to have. By utilizing your VA’s talents and skills she can identify, track and evaluate potential problems, reporting regularly. It will be up to you to decide upon an action, have your VA respond or have her monitor the results of your response to the customer letting you know if anything further needs to be done.

Both positive and negative comments should be acknowledged.

Not only is it important that you respond to negative comments or complaints regarding your business but you need to respond to positive remarks and let your customers know their business is valued. By responding to your customers or clients comments or concerns will help to ensure your online reputation is excellent. Remember, by taking care of complaints in a positive manner turns problems into successes.

                          

You’ve probably heard of Jing and if you have downloaded it before, you recognize the yellow sun icon that sits on the corner of your browser window. I have often just used it for the occasional screen cast and never thought about the potential of Jing as a powerful communication tool between Virtual Assistant and client.

“Jing is free software that adds visuals to your online communication – instead of typing at people at people, show them what you’re talking about..pronto!”

1. Harness the Power of Video: Jing allows you to make quick 5 minute videos. Let’s say you are working on a sales page for your client but you need to talk to them about the layout, send a quick video to show the page and discuss the options. Jing allows you to save your video to screencast.com and immediately receive a link that you can paste into your email. It’s simple and effective.
2. Screenshots for Visual Effect: Have you ever tried to explain how to understand Google Analytics in an email, I have and it just didn’t work. I should have taken a screenshot or 2 of the various components of Google Analytics, added visual comments and arrows to direct the client’s attention and viola:.a much better idea.

Applications for Jing:

Take it one step further and create a training center for virtual assistant associates or for future clients. Create ongoing videos or screen casts of tasks that are carried out on a regular basis and share them with new clients or associates to help train them. For eg. I always recommend Hootsuite as a Twitter Manager for my clients so upon setting up Hootsuite for them, I send a quick video showing them around the various components of the program.

Further Applications:

E-Commerce:

• How to add a product to a shopping cart
• show a client how to set up a stored search within their shopping cart
• create a bundle offer with the cart

E-mail Marketing:

• formatting an ezine in their email marketing system
• checking on delivery rates

WordPress:

• How to add a thumbnail image to wordpress
• How to add a plugin
• How to upload images to the image library

:..and more and more. The uses for Jing are unlimited and highly effective.

Can you envision the possibilities?

Partnering with a VA who expands the boundaries of email opens up new communication and hopefully, leads to a long-term relationship.

PS.. Jing is owned by the same company that brings you Snagit and Camtasia.

                          

When hiring a Virtual Assistant a client really does not know anything more about this new person that is about to help them other than what has been emailed between them, or perhaps a quick chat on the phone to confirm details etc. Does a client really know who they are dealing with? Probably not, but that also does not mean that a VA is lying either. It may be wise on the client’s part to check references on a VA first, before actually hiring him or her. By the same token a VA really does not know if a new client is on the level. For example, will the client pay the VA what they are worth, on time, and in accordance with a VA’s policy or terms? Yes, it can be a shot in the dark sometimes, but more often than not if a VA and a client are trustworthy it usually works out, but it doesn’t hurt to take a few extra measures to be on the safe side.

But what about more important things like information; such as, trade secrets, user names and passwords of any kind, and/or confidential matters? There is a solution for that as well. Service agreements/contracts and confidentiality agreements are both beautiful things! This is exactly what they are meant for. However, this does not mean that a client will actually adhere to what these agreements state, the same for a Virtual Assistant. So how does one actually make someone else trust them?   A hard question to answer, but I have found that developing a relationship with a new client works wonders for both the VA and the client. In other words, be a tad less formal. Discuss things outside of work if that is possible. Call each other by first name only.   Does this solve every problem: absolutely not, but at least it is a beginning to what could very well be a long and mutually beneficial working relationship. Remember that praising your VA for a job well done, or just caring about the others “needs” is a wonderful start. Just like regular employees in an office setting people like to hear that they’ve done well. This spurs a lot more interest in a particular job being handled on the VA’s part, and gets the job done. Caring in general is an act of kindness. Be kind to each other. It does work.

In conclusion to this article, I will give you an example of one of my own experiences. I had a job that had to be done, but when starting this job I began to realize that it was way over my head in certain areas. I could have outsourced this particular job easily, but I did not. Instead I told my client the truth. What did this do? The client was so pleased that I was completely honest about the situation that I ended up doing other work for him/her instead. The client could have asked for a refund, but they were so genuinely impressed by my honesty that they kept me on for other work needed. As they say:Honesty is the best policy!