The Virtual Legal Assistant, Inc. - Aretha Gaskin

The Stevies

The 2007 Stevie Awards for Women in Business were announced the other day in Las Vegas.  The Stevies are annual awards honoring women executives and entrepreneurs worldwide.

I’d like to send particular congratulations to some of my fellow small entrepreneurs and blogger winners.

The Best Entrepreneur providing business services, with under 100 employees was JBK Associates of Englewood, NJ (hardly a category didn’t have a winner from my home state), headed by executive search entrepreneur Julie Kampf.  Julie uses three decades of sales and marketing experience to present client companies with prefect-fit, top drawer executive candidates.  JBK is a previous winner for Best New Company.

The Best Executive for service businesses with under 100 employees was Maki Nakamura Bara, managing partner and co-founder of Oxford Lodging Advisory and Investment Group LLC.  Ms. Bara has worked with over 100 properties in the lodging, conference and convention industries, advising them on redevelopment and repositioning in the marketplace.

The Best Young Entrepreneur was Lauren Berger, the “Intern Queen” from Los Angeles, whose blog is titled “A Savvy Start”, and whose expertise is drawing on her extensive personal experience serving as an intern to provide interns for companies.  23-year old Lauren parlayed a string of internships into a wealth of business experience that eventually became a multi-faceted career in marketing, writing and promotion.

The Blog of the Year was the innovative “Content is Queen”, by Anna Murray, president of e-media at tmg-e media in New York City, which tracks the trends and developments in content on the Web.  Anna is a summa cum laude Yale graduate who discusses branding, strategy and the world of words on the Web in a simple, authoritative format.

Congratulations to all my hard-working colleagues!

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Politicians and Alternatives

Entrepreneurs who run small businesses, like virtual assistants have benefited in Illinois, thanks to Presidential candidate Barack Obama.

As a state senator in 2000, Obama heard about a group of black independent professionals called the Alliance of Business Leaders and Entrepreneurs and helped them in various ways to get business from state pension boards and other governmental groups.

While he acknowledged receiving subsequent donations to his presidential campaign, he scoffs at the notion of a “quid pro quo.”

“The suggestion that these pioneering leaders would need my help or anyone’s help in order to succeed is troubling, to say the least,” he said.  He promises to bring his pro-entrepreneur attitude with him should he gain the White House.

The awareness of the virtual professional of the attitudes of local officeholders toward small business can make a critical difference in overall visibility and the quality of networking.

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One Entrepreneur’s Journey

In 1984, University of Michigan graduate student Andra Rush, already lectured by her father that “to get ahead in life, you have to work for yourself,” was listening closely when her instructors told her that transportation was the field of the future.  How the product gets to the customer.

So, she took advantage of the deregulation of the trucking industry, and began her business with three trucks.  She dispatched, she did billing, she drove, and she maxed out some credit cards.  She made deliveries at ungodly hours, because she decided to accept every job, and focus on “rush” work.

And the Mohawk woman, whose family left a Canadian reservation to succeed in the USA, now finds herself at the helm of Rush Trucking, in charge of thousands of trucks and employees dedicated to “hurry-up” deliveries made while maintaining uncompromising standards.

In the process, Andra Rush has also become an inspiration to entrepreneurs of all kinds, is on the Board of Directors of the Native American Business Alliance, has been profiled in Inc. and the Detroit News and was one of Entrepreneur’s 25 Most Fascinating Entrepreneurs.

Rush Trucking’s formula for success is a larger version of the focus of most successful virtual professionals:  meet the needs of the individual.

“Because we are very focused on people, we emphasize that our drivers - owner operators are a key part of the team, not just social security numbers in a payroll computer.” Rush says. “We see our drivers as our greatest salesmen and our true ambassadors of good will.  That’s what they have become and that’s why we have done as well as we have.”

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Hello? Hello?

“There’s no etiquette.  It’s a pandemic,” says an Ohio therapist.

“If anything characterizes the 21st century, it’s our inability to restrain ourselves for the benefit of other people,” says a Rutgers University educator.

They’re talking about the ever-present cell phone that we all carry, and are often tempted to use when we shouldn’t. The complaints are widespread, but in our era of virtual solutions and entrepreneurial thinking, you also don’t have to look far to find a counter-movement.

“Deliverance!,” a San Francisco architect remembers exulting to himself when he secretly shut down the conversation of a young woman in the train seat next to him one day, using his own personal portable pocket jammer.

The New York Times reports that a device the size of a cigarette pack can knock out cell phone transmission in a 30-foot radius.  They come in larger sizes, too, which can effectively create a “no-call zone.”  They range in price from fifty to several hundred dollars.

The catch?  It’s illegal to disrupt the radio frequencies of cell phone carriers, who pay billions to lease frequencies, and there’s a potential fine of up to $11,000.  Also, jammers in the wrong hands could prevent communications in an emergency.

Still, the urge to silence the loud overheard conversations in settings where phones are not wanted is easy to give in to, like the restaurant owner who couldn’t get his kitchen staff to concentrate on customers, or the group therapist who was distracted from a troubled client making a sensitive confession because someone else in the group had answered a ringing cell phone, and then proceeded to conduct an audible conversation.

As always, the entrepreneurial spirit that got us to this point in communication technology, and in large part enables virtual assistants to exist, now needs to be applied to the problem of integrating these innovations into our lives, a process somewhat slower but just as important.

In the meantime, if you lose your call in the movies or just as you approach the counter in a café, or in a hotel ballroom during a lecture, just remember: it might not be an accident.

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Top 10 Peeves About Secretaries

From www.businessknowhow.com (And 10 ways the Virtual Assistant makes sure she never ever hears them).

1.  Keeps clients waiting.  (Be organized and respectful.)

2.  Cant spel, cant rite, cant talk two good.  (Keep that dictionary close, have access to experienced freelance proofreaders, think before you speak.)

3.  Territorial -- won’t let anybody near the boss, even people who need access.  (Defend only those who ask for or need defending.  Discretion comes into play here, and learning from experience.)

4.  Expecting raises for mediocre work.  (In the case of the independent professional, it would read, “Raising rates and giving no value for the money.”  Keep skill level high and when you need to hike your rates, it will seldom be protested.)

5.  Comes in late, leaves early, or takes extra long lunch breaks on a regular basis. (Again, the virtual assistant doesn’t generally have such luxuries, and must be available at the hours she has established for her business.  This earns trust, confidence and respect from clients.)

6.  Interrupts the boss to help with every single decision that needs to be made.  (The virtual entrepreneur is a business owner, too, and can appreciate the need to keep the decision-making process uncomplicated.  In the role of virtual assistant, of course, serving the clients needs is the main priority.)

7.  Keeps a messy desk and can’t ever find anything when it’s needed.  (A time-waster and a sign to the client to look elsewhere for help.  Again, organize.)

8.  Stays on the phone "chit-chatting" or taking too many personal calls. (Be there when the client calls.  They’ve already probably been put on hold five times today already by people they’re NOT paying to take their calls.)

9.  Doesn’t show respect to the boss or treats co-workers poorly. (Well, that’s the short route to one less client.  If they’re happy, you’re in business.)

10.  Doesn’t get enough details in telephone messages to identify the caller or the purpose of the call.  (Yes, it’s a busy life, but take the time to do the small things well.  Life is in the details, and so is success.)

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Women in Business

The Center for Women’s Business Research has compiled some statistics I found enlightening and encouraging as a virtual professional.

81% of women-owned (at least 50%) firms (over 5 million) have no employees, generate over $160 billion in sales annually, and their increases in sales have outpaced the rate of other women-owned firms.

The stats show we women entrepreneurs in general are equally willing to face risk, as compared to our male counterparts, but are more concerned with relationships as we manage our businesses.

We will persist in the face of rejection in seeking a favorable banking resource, we are more likely to consult with experts and colleagues, and are also more likely to pass on a business to a daughter.

Of particular relevance to virtual assistants, we are hands-on when it comes to selecting and purchasing business technology, and we insist upon secure, virus-free equipment.  61% of women business owners “use technology to integrate the responsibilities of work and home,” and 44% use it “to enable employees to work offsite or to have flexible work schedules.”

If we sell a business, the woman virtual professional will be just as interested as a man in getting a good price, but will be much more likely to be concerned with the buyer’s personality and background, future plans for the business, and plans for the current employees.

In my state, New Jersey, the number of women-owned firms increased 62% between 1997 and 2006 to over 140,000, which is over one-third of all privately-held firms in the state. 

All this and Hillary, too.

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Top 10 Ways To Pitch Your Business

Getting ready to “meet the clients”?  American Express’ Open For Business presents some interesting ideas on how to pitch your virtual business or entrepreneurial service to a budding prospect:

1.  Open With What Makes You Unique.  How do you stand out from the crowd, and what do you offer that no one else does?

2.  Focus On Problems and Solutions.  Your client has a problem or a need.  You have the answer, and it will leave them better than they were before.

3.  Provide Proof.  Back up the pitch with stats on repeat business, calculations on how much money you’ll save them, how much experience you’ve gained or how many awards you’ve earned.

4.  Be Tangible.  Present your story simply, confidently, and with interest.  Stay away from technical talk and clichés.  Your benefits should be clear to anyone.

5.  Be Specific.  Cite a specific client problem you’ve solved, and how you did it.

6.  Show Your Passion.  You became a virtual assistant or an entrepreneurial professional because you believe in what you do, and you’re good at it.  The successful pitch strikes at the emotions, so connect with your listener.

7.  Practice, Practice, Practice.  Professional comedians, ballplayers and speakers, to name three examples, make their work look easy because behind it is hours and hours of practice.  Rehearse your pitch until it sounds unrehearsed.  Try it out on a colleague.  Remember you’re telling your business story and it has a happy ending.

8.  Tailor Your Message.  Focus on who you’re talking to and why, and incorporate relevant common experiences or problems specific to your listener’s business that you can eliminate.  Sales talks should emphasize facts; networking is about relationships.

9.  Taglines Tell.  A distinctive phrase or description that a client will remember or that encapsulates your philosophy will help keep you on the prospect’s front burner.

10.  Don’t Worry, Be Happy.  Worry is wasted energy.  Be rested, well-dressed, comfortable and, yes, happy, when you pitch your business.  It’s a good day when you can show off what you worked so hard to create. 

Good Luck!  

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