The Virtual Legal Assistant, Inc. - Aretha Gaskin

It’s All in the Details

As the Democratic candidates for President debate endlessly, the headlines always concentrate on broad themes.  Who won?  Did either one make an inappropriate remark or show an embarrassing lack of knowledge?  What was their body language like? 

Then we get the sound bites, and by this time, most of us are wearily familiar with the Need For Change vs. the Need To Be Ready on Day One.  But the truth of a candidate’s positions is never found on a carefully lit stage for one place, it’s found on the campaign website where you might find out just how the grand plans we hear about health care and immigration and national security are going to translate into action after the inauguration. 

They say life is in the details, and it’s no less true for the virtual assistant and the small businessman as for the big time politician.  And not only in the sense of doing thorough work for clients, error-free and double-checked, but in the human sense, too.

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Who’s Arguing?

“The aim of an argument or discussion should not be victory, but progress.”

This is a quote attributed to Joseph Joubert, an 18th Century French essayist.  When you’re out on your own in business, like a virtual entrepreneur, being aggressive and having a strong sense of yourself and what you want should be standard equipment.  It comes in handy during negotiations with vendors and clients, when setting or moving deadlines, while questioning or defending invoices, fielding complaints, having the discussions of all kinds that fill your days.

I think most of us, deep down, are conflict-averse, but interactions (and they are the entrepreneur’s lifeblood) are part of the business life.  It is also a given that not all of them will be pleasant.

Which brings us to the wisdom of Monsieur Joubert’s words: acceptance of disagreement.  Within every argument is an opportunity to learn, an opportunity to compromise and (what Joubert rightly calls “progress”), an opportunity to grow.

How perfect is this quote for our current political season?  The candidate debates (hard to avoid, aren’t they?) are essentially staged arguments, during which all the would-be presidents are eager to show how different they are from each other.  For us, this process of juxtaposed ideas and approaches helps us to make a choice, just as the give-and-take between entrepreneurs and clients should lead to a clearer understanding and a more productive working relationship.

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Perception, Meet Reality

Columnist Bob Herbert, discussing the growing phenomenon of Barack Obama in a recent column, made the point that Obama’s appeal is a reaction against the repeated insincerity voters have been subjected to by their candidates.  He quotes Obama observing, “Something’s stirring in the wind.”  And then comments:

“Something is stirring all right. Voters are paying attention. Young people are coming into the process.  The electorate is fed up and ready to invoke the prerogatives of citizenship to hold the leadership to higher standards.  The textbooks tell us that’s exactly how it’s supposed to work”

It got me to thinking that it’s much the same for the virtual entrepreneur, out there selling a professional service from a remote location.  In our economy, there are plenty of options for the buyer.  But buyers don’t ever want just anybody to manage their office, they want the best they can get.  And when they see, hear and experience true professionalism, they know it and that is the person they hire.  That’s the way it’s supposed to work.

It’s good to remember that the highest quality is always is short supply.  It takes constant work and vigilance to maintain those standards, and most will be content performing at a somewhat lower rung on the ladder.  But choosing to put in that effort to sincerely offer the best service available will not be missed, and immediately distinguishes you among your peers and your clients.  This is what thriving businesses are made of.

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On the Road Again

There was a time when I was a member of the employee world, and sat in a cubicle, and read firm-wide memos and emails and did all the things company people do.  The people I met were company people, and everything I did revolved around the company.

And then I learned about being a Virtual Assistant, and a window opened in my company life.  I started to look out that window while working for the company, and out there were the tools I needed to begin my solo business career.

Verizon has an ad campaign saturating the airwaves that has the tagline—“It’s the Network.” We’ve all seen the guy in the black-rimmed glasses with the crowd behind him, cleverly cementing the idea that Verizon is both social and reliable, always behind you.

I found that as I completed my transition from salaried employee to independent virtual assistant and business owner, the value of a network increased.

It’s not enough to simply troll for clients with cold calls and printed marketing material.  You need to meet other business owners in your field, other entrepreneurs, and other newbies.  Every encounter sharpens your networking skills, fattens your rolodex, and gets your card into someone else’s wallet.

I’ve enjoyed going to business meetings, seminars and chamber of commerce presentations in the past year.  It’s given me insights, kept me from mistakes, and brought me new friends.  It’s funny that it’s the solo entrepreneur who needs ready access to others, who succeeds the fastest.

So, make time to pack up your cards and get out there in 2008.  We need you.

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Branding

The concept of branding has engulfed corporate America, and the promotion and protection of a unique business identity is now a priority for all business segments.

How this affects the virtual entrepreneur is the subject of an interesting New York Times guest blog recently by Pamela Slim, who blogs about us independent professionals at Escape from Cubicle Nation.

Her advice concerns the need to create a brand versus the reality for many virtual entrepreneurs of having a multifaceted career (writer/artist/programmer).

Slim’s advice is similarly multi-faceted:

In keeping with branding philosophy, do be consistent—but in the “spirit of your brand.”  It is difficult, for example, to maintain three quality blogs in three career areas.  So, choosing “a word or small phrase that describes the spirit of your personal brand” can encompass all the facets of your virtual entrepreneurship, and bring them together in one place, such as a blog.

How to choose a brand focus?  List the benefits and qualities of each activity (“brings the greatest joy while doing it”, “best return on investment of time and money”, “best business to sell”) and weigh them against each other.

Pick a primary marketing focus each year and make it your priority.  Then list other business activities and projects that should be attended to and assign a part of the year to them (1st quarter, 2nd quarter, etc.)  This straightens priorities, builds up a portion of your business without distraction, and because all the other projects are now scheduled, nothing falls by the wayside.

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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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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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Fellow Innovators

What’s happening in Entrepreneurville?

Plenty.

Business Week’s list of America’s Best Young Entrepreneurs for 2007 makes it clear that the prospects for the virtual professional are healthy.

The group that is profiled is composed of “millenials”, 18-35 year olds, who are making it as independent professionals. 

“Millenials in particular want to be able to control their own destinies,” according to David Galbinski of Entrepreneurs Organization, quoted in the accompanying article, “and entrepreneurship allows them to do this.”

The young innovators include:

A group of Stanford computer science classmates who created a way for cell phone users to access customized maps to locate friends.

A Texas woman recently diagnosed with lupus who has run a tutoring business, a Web design firm, an online jewelry shop and currently heads a medical billing company.

A pair of California high school buddies who graduated from sandwich board advertising jobs after school to founding an advertising company that employs people to carry 6-foot-long arrow-shaped advertising signs and do tricks with them to attract attention.

A Canadian undergraduate who noticed his parents’ difficulties with online shopping and started a business supplying retailers with virtual customer service.

The magazine also took a look back at last year’s winners and found almost uniform growth and progress among the entrepreneurs previously profiled. 

It’s an interesting read and can be found at www.businessweek.com.

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Top 10 Customer Service Tips

Virtual Assistants can work in a variety of professional fields, but we are all in the customer service business.  And since customer service is something that we need to monitor frequently, here’s a list of tips from JobDig.com for keeping our clients happy.

1.  Be There.  Don’t keep your callers waiting more than 3 rings, be an attentive and pleasant listener, and make sure your voicemail is clear and even day-specific.

2.  Don’t Park in the Best Spot.  You’re the boss of your business, but always remember humility and courtesy, too. 

3.  Expand Customer Expectations.  Do more than expected.  Respond promptly.  Communicate often.

4.  Ask Permission.  Everybody hates spam emails because they’re imposed on us without our consent.  Show respect and caution with client confidences, divulging a client’s name, even using their nickname.

5.  Show Understanding.  Confirm your understanding of a client’s request or instructions, and show them they’ve been heard and you know what to deliver.

6.  Manage Your Image.  Make sure sub-contractors adhere to the policies and procedures under which you do business.  They represent you and are essential to promoting a consistent image of your business.

7.  Give Business To Others.  Referrals are sometimes necessary in the service of a client, and good ones will pay off in many ways.

8.  Watch the Big Boys.  Large companies are often good models for new customer service trends.  See if any will translate to your business.

9.  Follow-Up and Feedback.  The end of a project is an opportunity to solicit feedback, ensure the client is happy, and maybe make changes that will build your business.

10.  Say Thank You.  Say it a lot, print it on your invoices, show it with simple gestures.  It’s necessary and always welcome.

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