What’s your motivation?

Ask just about any Virtual Assistant, “Why did you become a VA?”, and most likely, there will be 2 reasons…

The Public Reason (aka the one on my website’s “About” page):

• To own my own business
• To work with clients I enjoy
• To do the work I love
• To pursue independence

And these are all true, valid and great motivators. They are for me, but I have a sneaking suspicion that the private reasons are the deep down truths that truly motivate.

The Private Reason (aka the ones that I think about every day):

• I need to be available for ____________ (kids, family, aging parents, volunteering, traveling etc)
• My husband lost his job and I need to help support the family
• I have health issues that keep be from working outside the home
• Me and the “traditional” office structure just don’t mix…

The public reasons are needed and necessary but many times these are just the surface reasons we all have for starting a business. But the core reasons, the ones that keep us going when times are tough, are the private reasons. These are the motivations that push us toward creating a “VA Life Style Business“.

For me the reason I jumped into self employment in the first place was:

1. That I had gone as far as I could in my job
2. I was completely stressed out by the schedule and work load
3. My Mom’s health was not so great and she really needed me around more

It has taken me a while to get my footing, find direction and start moving forward to designing a lifestyle business that works for me and my life.

This type of move is a 2-part journey.

It is a personal journey to learn more about yourself, fully identify and know your values, work style and personality. It is also a professional journey getting to know, understand and utilize your strengths, your skills and your experiences.

The professional journey is just as important as the personal. How many of you have discovered in your business that the skills and experience you brought over from your corporate job are not things you like to do? You learned the skills and you did the work because it was put in front of you and told to get it done. You probably became even quite good at it!

When you get into a business that you run, where you get to choose what you do, you may have found out that what you may be good at… is not something you enjoy or want to do. This can be a frustrating place to be in. Relying on skills that you always thought were strengths and what you could bring to the table for your clients, only to find out that you would be fine if you never had to do that type of work again. So taking the time to understand this part of the journey is key to creating a business that you enjoy working in.

For instance…

1) I have found I do not enjoy project management on a large scale as much as I thought I did.
This is work I did on a regular basis in my J-O-B and did not think to much of it at the time.

2) Supervising employees is not my cup-o-tea
Running a department, hiring, training, managing and firing employees is not something I wish to continue. Working with sub-contractors who are professionals and know their job is so different and much more enjoyable. It is still managing to a point so I am have become very particular about who I work with, I concentrate on finding collaborators not someone I need to manage.

3) I love WordPress!
The technical aspect of setting up, customizing, troubleshooting – yep, just call me a nerd The creative aspect of figuring out how to make the site do what I need it to and designing a site is a pretty cool job for me. In my J-O-B this was not the type of creative opportunities that came up very often.

4) I love learning
If you would have told me in high school or even college that I would be continuing to constantly upgrade my skills and ACTIVELY seek out training and education, I would have laughed and said yeah right. This is probably the part of my business I enjoy most!

What about you?

What are your motivators? What have you discovered during in your personal and professional journey? What has this shown you about what your virtual assistant lifestyle business will look like?

How to partner with your client the right way

In doing some research last night I ran across this blog post from Karyn Greenstreet of Passion for Business, How to Choose a Virtual Assistant. It made some interesting points and had great tips for small business owners who are in the hunt for some help.

There was one section that stood out to me though and had me thinking about it still this morning…

Some VAs are taught that they should be a “partner” with you in your business. On the surface, this sounds great. However, I have heard too many horror stories about VAs who did things without asking permission, from modifying website text to changing established class titles.

This was one of those statements that make you stop and think. Karyn is right, we are taught to think like a business partner. I’m wondering though, have I/we properly defined what a partner is? For instance I would never dream of changing text, class titles etc. for a client without express permission but I would want to be proactive and make suggestions on changing copy or class titles if I noticed something was not quite right.

I like this definition of partner from Wikipedia:

A friend who shares a common interest or participates in achieving a common goal.

And this one from Dictionary.com:

A person who shares or is associated with another in some action or endeavor; sharer; associate.

In both definitions the word share comes up and I think that is a key point. As virtual assistants, virtual support professionals, online business manager… or whatever name you give yourself, have you properly defined for you and your client what the word partner means?

For me a partner is someone you can bounce ideas off of, who tells you it is time to slow down or maybe gives you that needed kick in the tail. A partner shares the load, helps you out when you are overwhelmed. I think it also means you have an interest in their success, that you have a desire to help them bring their business ideas to life. When you get to know their business and understand their goals, you can make helpful suggestions, offer ideas and strategies that may work in a current project.

Being a partner is not about taking control or making independent decisions, but it is about sharing and support.

Being  a partner is about being proactive in saying… “Here is what I can do for you” and not just asking the question, “How can I help?”.  (Thanks to Tina Forsyth on this one, she talked about this concept in a preview call for the Virtually Successful Telesummit. It has stuck with me ever since )

When you talk to your client about being a partner in their success, does your definition send them running for cover? Or does it go the other way and they rely on you so much that it becomes overwhelming?

Defining up front what is means to be a partner in the business is vitally important. As Karyn mentions in her blog post – set boundaries up front. This goes both ways, the extent of your authority and decision making power AND it also applies to the business owner and their expectations of you.

Not every client is looking for this level of partner/support, some are just looking for that key help when they need it and our job is not to force that role onto them.

This has made me go look at my own personal definition of  ”partner”, how I talk about it, what I mean by it and how I present the idea to my clients both current and new.

What about you, what do you think the word partner means for you and your clients?

#002 – FromVA2VA.com Podcast

In this weeks podcast we look at the issue of the VA as a specialist and as a leader.

 FromVA2VA.com - Podcast #002: The Virtual Assistant as Leader [9:56m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

Resources mentioned in the podcast:

Seth Godin’s book Tribes:

Tina Forsythe & Cindy Greenway’s Virtually Successful Telesummit:
http://virtuallysuccessfultelesummit.com/

The Virtual Assistant as Leader

I don’t know about you but, I have a hard time seeing myself as a leader. Some VA’s do, but it is a role I have resisted taking on, it’s uncomfortable to even think about it. It also makes me ask the question “Why does this make me so uncomfortable?” and “Why do I prefer to stay behind the scenes?”.

The answer?

This is where I am comfortable and I’m not required to take chances and risk too much.

I’m reading Seth Godin’s book “Tribes” and in it he gives one of the best descriptions as to why we resist leadership that I have ever read.

Here he talks about the discomfort of leading.

“Leadership is scarce because few people are willing to go through the discomfort required to lead.”

Then he writes:

“It’s discomfort that creates the leverage that makes leadership worthwhile.”

It makes me wonder? What leverage am I missing out on by not stepping up to the plate? How many opportunities have passed me by and will pass me by if I don’t shove myself out of my comfort zone?

Then he writes a list that grabs my attention:

“In other words, if everyone could do it, they would, and it wouldn’t be worth much.

• It’s uncomfortable to stand up in front of strangers.
• It’s uncomfortable to propose an idea that might fail.
• It’s uncomfortable to challenge the status quo.
• It’s uncomfortable to resist the urge to settle.

When you identify the discomfort, you’ve found the place where a leader is needed.”

One more thing that caught my eye…

“If you’re not uncomfortable in your work as a leader, it’s almost certain your not reaching you’re potential as a leader.”

Yikes! He is so right (even though I really wish he wasn’t), when we stick with the status quo, we are not stretching ourselves and reaching for our full potential.

What about the fear? That is also part of the discomfort, especially when it is a fear of being wrong, failing or worse being criticized or laughed at (insert shiver down spine…).

With the transparency that is needed in today’s business, the opportunity to hear a harsh word, a criticism or a derisive “LOL” is more possible then ever. No wonder we resist! BUT guess what? There is also a greater chance of hearing “Thank you!”, “I so agree”, “I needed to hear that”, or “I have been thinking that very same thing”.

We are missing out on connecting with others, leading our tribe, when we do not step up into that position.

So what are we going to do about it? How are we going to get comfortable about being in a state of discomfort? Are you ready to join me in stepping out of the shadows and leading your tribe?

Then maybe it is time for you to join me in the “VA Biz Builders Mastermind” group? This is a beta group I am putting together that will be limited to a small group of VA’s and virtual support professionals who are ready to connect with others, grow their biz, step up to the plate and lead.

Sound interesting? Sound like it’s time for you? Contact me today for more info, the group is starting soon.

The Virtual Assistant as Entrepreneur

For a lot of virtual assistants we step out of the corporate world and jump straight into the business of being a VA.  For many, this is a super easy step, for others it is a struggle. Where does the struggle come from?

I think many times the struggle comes from shifting from an employee mindset to that of being a business owner and leader.  This may seem rather obvious but until you really “get it” you may not realize that is the heart of the issue. As an employee we provide a service of support, doing what is expected, going by the book, coming in at 8am and leaving (hopefully….) by 5pm.

Then all of a sudden you are working for yourself and oh no! Bookkeeping, marketing, social media, client relations, contracts, business taxes… you know what I am talking about, the list goes on and on and that doesn’t even start to cover the client work. For many entrepreneurs that means stretching your understanding of what it means to run a business. Oh sure you knew that this would be something you need to do as a business owner but I bet you probably didn’t realize just how much of your time this would take, I know I didn’t.

As your business grows, you attract more clients and you continue to get busier, but guess what? The business still needs to be run and maintained.  This is where the overwhelm starts to come in and at times a desperate cry of “This is not what I wanted!” Some days are fine but others… you are probably asking what has happened to my business? Sound familiar? It does to me.  This is when the light dawned, the aha moment raised it’s head and said, guess what? You created a j-0-b for yourself, not the business and independence you envisioned.

So what do you do now?

Start to think like an entrepreneur, a small business owner and not as a virtual assistant.  It is time to think of yourself as the CEO and your clients as customers and not as employee and employer.  This one step alone can make a huge difference in how you think about you and your business.

It allows you to step back mentally and look at where you are at, what services you are providing, how your providing them and how you are spending your time. You even start looking at areas that you can outsource (yes, it is important to remember… even VA’s need VA’s!) what takes up way to much of your time. The ironic truth is that you start realizing it is time to practice what you preach  to your clients, you don’t have to do it all yourself!

Having a mentor, a coach or the support of fellow VA’s is a great way to keep yourself  and on track. It is so easy to fall back into the old role of “employee”, so having someone jump in and remind you, “Don’t go there, that does not fit into the big picture” is a great way to keep moving forward and creating a business you love.

I can’t stress enough how important that support is and what an integral part of your journey as a virtual assistant business owner it will become.  You might want to look at our VA Biz Builders Club and join a community of VAs who are going through the same journey.

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