Every now and then I hear from business owners who share their story about a frustrating experience with a Virtual Assistant. It’s normal … and really, it should be expected, after all we’re still learning how to work well together and build great relationships.

However in discussions last week at the Wealthy Thought Leader event, I was absolutely shocked to hear that the reputation of the Virtual Assistant industry is on serious shaky ground.

Are you surprised to hear this? 

Here’s the scoop … business owners do not feel like they are well looked after by their Virtual Assistants. In conversations with different business owners there were some common ‘complaints’ that I was hearing. Things like working with a Virtual Assistant who does not:

• provide timely responses to their clients
• assist with the occasional request that requires quick turn around
• complete tasks before the agreed to deadline
• communicate appropriately or asking questions to clarify details
• pay attention to details – making sloppy errors regularly
• manage the priorities of all their clients well (leaving clients to feel
  their stuff is unimportant and at the bottom of the list)

Enough business owners out there are unhappy in their experience with a Virtual Assistant and they’re talking to each other about it… and this can affect the reputation of the entire industry. Which of course is something that makes me sit up and take notice.

As someone who is passionate about our profession and as an active advocate of this industry I want to look at how we can fix this. I’m a firm believer that when we hear complaints from our clients on a regular basis it is an opp for us to step up and respond.

Of all the complaints I was hearing one that really stood out for me is that clients don’t feel like they are important. They feel like their stuff “doesn’t matter” or “falls to the bottom of the list.” Now I know as a VA that this certainly isn’t our intention! We are working to juggle all our clients and their various projects, and that last thing we want is for them to feel like they don’t matter.

As a starting point I created a checklist of things we CAN do to make sure our clients feel like they are the only ones we work with. It’s usually just simple tweaks that can make all the difference for clients, and make them feel taken care of. How many of these can you check off?

What are some other things we can do to make our clients looked after?  

Enter your name and email address below and get immediate access to the checklist you can use to identify how well you’re looking after your client. 

We’d love to hear from you, please share your comments with us below.

Hundreds of Virtual Assistants joined us for the 1st Virtually Successful Telesummit preview call  on Wednesday. 

Our next call is scheduled for Wednesday, March 31st at 12pm Pacific (3pm Eastern).  We're going to do something that has never been done.

There's been a lot of talk about specializing.  On this call, we're going to chat with a couple of Virtual Assistants who specialize in working with a specific profession.  We're going to ask them questions that have never been asked before ... the questions that YOU want to hear the answers too!

These preview calls have been designed to provide you with a tiny sneak peek of what we'll be covered in the Telesummit.

Are you missing the first call we hosted on the top trends?  Register and get instant connection to the recording.  

www.VirtuallySuccessfulTelesummit.com

So if you haven't already signed up for these preview calls, what are you waiting for?  Check out the details at www.VirtuallySuccessfulTelesummit.com. 

And if you don't want to be left behind in fast moving future of the Virtual Assistant industry, sign up for the Telesummit. 

You don't need to be an expert writer to be able to help your clients.  By just understanding the basics, and understanding your client, you can support them with all kinds of day-to-day writing tasks ranging from autoresponders, to blog posts to ezine content.

This article was written by Linda Dessau, an editor, ghostwriter and writing coa'ch. Linda is one of our experts in the Virtually Successful Telesummit.

You may not think a lot about it, but writing is a part of your work life as a VA or OBM. Writing issues like grammar errors, procrastination, misused words, typos or readability problems can have a detrimental effect on the success and growth of your business.

Writing is so intertwined with your daily tasks that the work you've been so passionate about is turning into an ornery chore.

If that weren't serious enough, consider this: You are often the last stop between your client's words and their audience. Are those words put together in
a way that will achieve their intended result?

Here are five signs that your writing skills are limiting your success:

1. You spend a lot of time emailing back and forth with clients and prospective clients.

Whether it's to hash out times for a meeting, clarify project details or re-explain your terms of service, you could be sending the wrong message—that working with you will be time-consuming or frustrating. People may wonder if you really do know your stuff.

2. When you (or your client) send an offer to your mailing list you get no replies.

A mailing list won't do you any good if you don't reach out and offer your help. But if your writing is bland or confusing, your offer won't do you any good, either. And even a well-worded offer could flop if it's diluted or masked by competing content.

3. Your mailing list (or your client's mailing list) is shrinking.

Everyone loses the occasional subscriber, but if new people aren't discovering you there is no place for your list to go but down. Great written content gets passed around because it is so valuable. Without new content, there are no new reasons for someone to get in touch or stay in touch with you.

4. You spend so much time perfecting your writing that your other work is falling behind.

Whether writing is a struggle or you actually really enjoy it, it's taking up too much of your precious time. You're constantly running up against phrases that just don't look right, but you're not sure how to fix them.

5. You're embarrassed to send people to your website because it doesn't reflect the quality of your work.

Maybe you'd rather talk than write, so your website features audio, video, presentations, you name it! But there are still some basic details that people want to read on your website. Beyond the basics, you're missing countless opportunities to draw your reader in and encourage them to take action.

If you see any of these signs in your business life, take the steps now to address your writing skills. You can take a class or check online for resources—and don't forget about the library or bookstore. If you're willing, you will find lots of help out there. Your clients will thank you, your business will thank you, and your old English teacher will finally stop haunting you.

Linda Dessau, CPCC, is an editor, ghostwriter and writing coach. She is the author of The Customizable Style Guide for Coaches Who Write, and the editor of VOICE, the newsletter of the International Association of Coaching. Linda has been writing for the web since 2003, and created "You Talk, I'll Write" in July 2005 to combine her passion for coaching with her gift for writing.

Holy Smokes .... 2010 is flying by!  Can you believe we're already into March?

My objective this year is to become much more comfortable with creating videos to use in my business. So here's my official welcome message video for this edition of the V-Scoop.

It's been a crazy few months!  Just last month Tina Forsyth ran her Online Business Manager training program -- a comprehensive 3 days that included a TON of  information as well as appearances by Andrea Lee.   I think there was Twitter overload as many participants continuously tweeted what they were learning and words of wisdom that hit close to home for them.  I made note of so many quotes myself ....here's just a few:

"The thing that drives you the most crazy about your clients is the thing they need you for the most."

"The OBM is the coach for the business, not the coach for the business owner."

"You don't need to know everything but you need to know where to find the answers!"

ahhh ... so well said!

I'm super excited for this issue of the V-Scoop ... want to know why?

Because we're re-launching an updated version of the "101 Ways to Boost Business With a VA" document to the "200+ Ways to Boost Business With a Virtual Assistant". Click through to get your hands on it.

Have you heard about everything that's coming up for us here at VirtuallySuccessful?  There's always something going on ... we can't stop!   Hopefully you received our "keep the date" email last week ... if you haven't already, you really do want to keep the dates of April 12 to 16th in your calendar for the "Virtually Successful Telesummit"  More information to come soon!

Also, the Ecommerce Specialist Training Program will be starting on Monday, March 23rd.  This is our 'flagship' program at HotSkillsVATraining.com and really is imperative for all VAs who want to work with any business owner -- whether ones that do business online, or the traditional businesses that will be forced to start to build online in the near future.  Check out the details
website for details.

Next week we're all going to be gathering in Vancouver at Andrea Lee's Event - The Wealthy Thought Leader. I know the information that will be shared is going to be exquisite ... combined with meeting people face-to-face that I've been only talking to via phone for years is even more awesome.   Interested in joining us?

Enjoy!

-- Cindy, Tina and Andrea

Got something you want to share or request for future issues? Let us know... email
us at news@virtuallysuccessful.com.

As you may already know, the HotSkillsVATraining.com "Ecommerce Specialty" training program is coming up soon.  Starting on Monday, March 23rd, we'll be connecting with a select group of Virtual Assistants who have invested in themselves to learn and become experts in the area of ecommerce.

I've been thinking a lot about ecommerce lately and how it affects both the VA community as well as the business community.

Here's the reality:

Online based businesses can't not thrive (or survive) without ecommerce.

And traditional businesses that will be moving to the online world in the future, will require ecommerce.

So ... as a Virtual Assistant ... you're kidding yourself if you don't think you need to know about ecommerce. 

There's still room to join us for this training.  Over the course of 12 sessions (over 6 weeks), you'll learn everything you need to educate, implement and manage the ecommerce side of a client's business.

Will you join us?

>>YES I want to learn more about the 'Ecommerce Specialty" Training Program!

It was a couple of years ago that Tina and Andrea emailed me saying "Cindy, we need something from you that business owners can use to help identify how they can build their business with the help of a Virtual Assistant.  And by the way ... we need it tomorrow because we're leaving for the live conference in the evening."

Anyone that knows me even just a little bit knows that I work best (unfortunately) under a little bit of pressure.

Off I went ... within 3 hours, I had a list of just over 100 ways business owners could boost business with a Virtual Assistant.

The report was a huge success ... both business owners and Virtual Assistants requested to use it in their own work.

Well guess what ... it's been updated and now includes 200+ ways that Virtual Assistants can help business owners.  Remember, business owners, really can't make it all happen and achieve success without all of us and our expertise!

Curious what's in there?  Take a second to fill out the form below and download it immediately.

Now there's a cautionary note I'd like to add.  While these are all ways Virtual Assistants CAN help clients, in no way is it to set the expectation that as a Virtual Assistant you need to know how to do ALL these things.  Don't let yourself get overwhelmed with feeling you need to do it all.

While I love to share this with you ... there are two things I'd like to have you share with me in the comments section of this blog post:

1. Your feedback on the updated report "200+ Ways to Boost Business With a Virtual Assistant" and
2. Your thoughts on additional tasks that can be added to this document. 

Can we get it to 500+ ways or even 1000+ ways?  I'd love and could use your help.  I'll take care of updating the document, if you provide me with your insight.

Just post your comments/additions at the bottom of this blog post ... can't wait to hear from you!

>>> Download the newly revised "200+ Ways to Boost Business With a Virtual Assistant" by completing the form below:

It's coming ... and it's going to be GREAT!  The Virtually Successful Telesummit is about a month away and we couldn't be more excited about it!  We have a fantastic line up and can't
wait to share more. 

Be sure to save the dates April 12 to April 16th in your calendar ... you'll be sorry if you don't!

Stay tuned for more information coming up soon.