Virtual Moxie

OCTOBER 26, 2021

First do what YOU want, and then attract the clients who think that’s terrific. Pull is far easier than push. The post Moxie Tip #17: Push/Pull appeared first on AssistU.

130

130

Virtual Moxie

OCTOBER 19, 2021

Some people are naturally easily trusting. Others struggle. If you have a client who’s struggling, suggest that s/he give you a small thing to handle (take a small risk). Handle it superbly. Make sure s/he’s delighted. Do it again. Then again. Every time the risk/good outcome cycle repeats, trust builds. You should be able to have a reasonable amount of trust built with any client inside of 30 days.

130

130

Virtual Moxie

SEPTEMBER 28, 2021

One of the hallmarks of a terrific and successful Virtual Assistant is not only having great ethics, but modeling them for her clients. Isn’t leading great? :). The post Moxie Tip #13: Model Your Ethics appeared first on AssistU.

130

130

Virtual Moxie

SEPTEMBER 16, 2021

In my work, one statement is heard repeatedly. I call it the “I have to do A before I do B” statement. You know this one: ?? I have to retire from my job before I can start my VA business. ?? I’ll get pregnant once I’ve saved $50K. ?? I have to lose 10 lbs before I go to the beach. ?? I have to be in business for five years before I raise my fees. ??

Retirement 49

Retirement 2020 Learning 49

Virtual Moxie

SEPTEMBER 7, 2021

Keep your focus on what you want and WHO you want in your practice. If you don’t know, or you don’t pay attention, how can you reasonably expect to manifest it? The post Moxie Tip #10: Goal! appeared first on AssistU.

Goals 231

Goals 231

Virtual Moxie

AUGUST 19, 2021

Rose scheduled an on-the-spot coaching session with me. When she called, she immediately shared that she was overwhelmed. As I listened to her, it became clear that she was overextended; she’d simply agreed to do to much for too many (her VA clients, friends, and groups she belonged to). I asked her why she thought she did that; she hesitated a minute and then said, “I don’t know.

AT&T 278

AT&T Learning 278

Virtual Moxie

AUGUST 17, 2021

As a virtual assistant, you absolutely have the right to work only with clients you purposefully choose. If someone tells you that makes you sound entitled, let him/her know you are…entitled to every single possible good thing, including clients of your own choosing. The post Moxie Tip #7: Choosing Clients appeared first on AssistU.

239

239

Virtual Moxie

AUGUST 7, 2021

I’ve said before that I’ve yet to meet the VA who couldn’t stand to hike up her business standards. This isn’t because everyone has lousy standards, but because as soon as standards are created, and person starts living and working within them, she changes for the better. And when she changes, her standards naturally can be higher. It’s a never-ending process, but a really fun-and-exciting one, because as a person goes through the cycle of setting standards, living them, raising them, living the

Interviewing 162

Interviewing Forms AT&T UPS 162

Virtual Moxie

AUGUST 7, 2021

This week, create a standard around over communicating, and communicating quickly. What do you think is a reasonable expectation for clients to have of you? What would you want to be able to expect from others? Be sure to offer no less than that. The post Moxie Tip #5: Communicate Quickly appeared first on AssistU.

245

245

Virtual Moxie

AUGUST 7, 2021

A client has the right to expect discretion at all times. Be smart…talk to your clients specifically about what they think it’s ok for you to share with others about your work with them. Then, be sure to never cross that line. The post Moxie Tip #6: Discretion appeared first on AssistU.

214

214

Virtual Moxie

JULY 7, 2021

“Spare” time is created through efficiencies. I’m all for efficiencies and what they do for us, but the downside. In all areas of your life—life, work, relationships, money, business, etc., ditch your plan B. Nothing great comes from having a fall-back plan. Consider marriage. Anyone getting married knows that divorce is possible if she gets in and wants out.

UPS 130

UPS 130

Virtual Moxie

JULY 1, 2021

In all areas of your life—life, work, relationships, money, business, etc., ditch your plan B. Nothing great comes from having a fall-back plan. Consider marriage. Anyone getting married knows that divorce is possible if she gets in and wants out. But would you ever suggest to your bestie that she marry someone with that in mind? No…you probably wouldn’t, because love, like life, needs—and deserves—an all-in sort of commitment.

UPS 221

UPS 221

Virtual Moxie

JULY 13, 2021

Have high standards for your spare time, rather than consider it unmeaningful. Consider the time precious, and fill it with what matters to you. Don’t create spare time and fill it with more work. Instead, do what you love, always, in all ways. The post Moxie Tip #2: Spare Time appeared first on AssistU.

195

195

Virtual Moxie

JUNE 3, 2016

I wanted to let you know that our new sites are live! WorkWithAVA.com is the site we've created for people who want to work with AssistU VAs. You might like our new blog over there, as well, if you're a VA who wants to see how we're helping clients be smarter in their relationships with their VAs, or if you're a biz owner considering working with a VA who has loved Moxie (we're glad to have you, and that blog is for YOU!).

UPS 100

UPS 100

Virtual Moxie

MAY 30, 2016

Hello, friends! You'll notice there's really nothing here, anymore.all signs of the move. . Moxie will be in its new home, and there will be a new post there next Tuesday! Our URL will remain the same. you will always be able to find us at VirtualMoxie.com. Until next week! A.

100

100

Virtual Moxie

APRIL 5, 2016

Kathy came to me to ask me to review her business in the hopes that I would tell her where I think she fits in the overall landscape of Virtual Assistants. She told me that if I thought she was one of the best, it would absolutely do wonders for her business, proving she was great and helping her compete for clients. I took a deep breath and shared that in my view, the fact that she wants someone to tell her she's one of the best means that she doesn't believe she is.

Phones 100

Phones 100

Virtual Moxie

MARCH 22, 2016

Getting paid via the Intuit Payment Network has been a real boon for the VAs at AssistU. With a fee of just $.50 per transaction, it beat using PayPal—hands down—with clients who wanted to pay from a checking account. But Intuit announced last week that they are shuttering IPN at the end of June, leaving lots of people wondering what the smart choice will be for accepting client payments moving forward.

Credit Card 100

Credit Card Expenses Legal Networking 100

Virtual Moxie

MARCH 1, 2016

Yvonne wrote a follow-up question to last week’s post. "Thanks, Anastacia. I too love the front seat. And in that particular instance, there wasn't a question or a problem. But what if there had been? Who navigates the bus while we're off duty? Will there be instances when we do need to break our standards to respond to a true problem?" Great question!

International 100

International Management UPS 100

Virtual Moxie

FEBRUARY 16, 2016

Two weeks ago, I answered a question Anastasia posed about charging for "rush" work. As a follow-up to my response, she sent me this: "The situation I found myself in is when a new potential client contacted me and she turned out to be a really nice lady who was working with someone else and it didn't work out and she needed someone urgently to help her (with a potential for a long term relationship). .

Interviewing 100

Interviewing Management UPS 100

Virtual Moxie

FEBRUARY 2, 2016

Anastasia wrote to ask about charging rush fees. “I haven't charged it before but just got a new client with whom I feel it would be very appropriate. But I am not sure what's the best way to do it - flat fee, or raising the hourly fee or something else, and what's a reasonable percentage.” Oooo.unfortunately, I don’t actually have an answer to the question you posed because I don’t support VAs doing “rush” work.

Policies 100

Policies Management UPS 100

Virtual Moxie

JANUARY 19, 2016

Last week’s post on productivity brought a question from Silvana, who said: “I’m a new VA and I just experienced losing my only client. I now have nothing to be productive for, and I know that’s mostly me feeling sorry for myself, but still, my mojo is gone. I am having a hard time even going into my office now, and I don’t know what to do about that.

Policies 100

Policies Learning Skills UPS 100

Virtual Moxie

SEPTEMBER 22, 2015

Recently, I ran into a seriously difficult problem with a trusted vendor. Friends told me to walk away--find someone new. But because this is a trusted vendor, and I've worked with this company for years, I want to have a conversation and find out what happened, as well as what will happen to prevent this thing in the future. The point of my telling this story is that I'm sure there are lots of people who wouldn't bother.

UPS 100

UPS 100

Virtual Moxie

SEPTEMBER 8, 2015

Attraction. If you're an AssistU-trained VA , it's a concept (or, as TJL would say, an "operating system") you've heard a lot about. Others of you reading this probably also know about Attraction—it's difficult to move about the 'net anymore without running into it. Recently, I've run into some VA web sites where the VAs are trying to employ some sort of Attraction mojo, but they aren't really getting it.

Skills 100

Skills Purchasing Training UPS 100

Virtual Moxie

AUGUST 17, 2015

Waaaay back in the day, I was Cheryl Richardson 's Virtual Assistant, she was the new president of ICF, and we were deeply engaged in working on the first-ever International Coach Federation conference. Although instructions had been given to attendees about how to handle their own special dietary requests directly with the hotel, one woman decided she HAD to talk with me about it.

International 100

International Phones 100

Virtual Moxie

AUGUST 4, 2015

How can you be sure that it's time to let a client go, time to change your business model, time to go for training or certification, or time for… well, anything, really? When do you really know that you're ready? You never do. Even when there's a problem that seems irresolvable and you feel pushed to do something different, you never can be sure you've worked at things hard enough, or looked for enough solutions, or even completely addressed things together (if another person's involved).

Training 100

Training 100

Virtual Moxie

JULY 21, 2015

Often, I hear from VAs who want to be viewed as equals in the relationships they form with their clients. And, in most of the conversations or email exchanges about this, the word "hire" is mentioned—usually in this sort of context: "When my client hired me, blahblahblah." Clients don't "hire" VAs. Clients "work with," or, "retain the services of," VAs.

Forms 100

Forms Email 100

Virtual Moxie

JUNE 30, 2015

Your clients need everything. Today. Your best friend just left her husband and wants to b h about what a jerk he is. The dog won't stop barking, but you can't see what she's barking about. The baby is with your mother, but your mother has a headache and wants to bring the baby home. Outlook won't save new appointments for some reason, and even repeated reboots aren't solving the issue.

100

100

Virtual Moxie

JUNE 16, 2015

It rarely happens, but occasionally, I'll get email from someone wanting to "make sure" I know what someone else in the industry is doing. In reality, I almost never know, or care. It's not that I am shoving my head in the sand, but that I've learned an important lesson (in last week's post —this is #2). Being successful requires you to focus on what you're doing, and what you want to do.

Email 100

Email Learning 100

Virtual Moxie

APRIL 27, 2015

After last week's Moxie , several of you wrote to ask me to explain what standards are, and what the benefit of having standards is, in an easy-to-understand way. I'm always happy to do that, so here goes: When you created your Virtual Assistance practice, chances are some of the reasons you did it were: more freedom, more control, more time with friends and family, more choices.

UPS 100

UPS Restaurants Learning Management 100

Virtual Moxie

APRIL 21, 2015

'I was talking with someone about his relationship with his Virtual Assistant. He was saying how much he really wanted to give her a whole lot of his projects and processes and have her be 100% responsible for getting everything done or making sure it got done (including stuff that other people were handling, and including things he was responsible for getting done).

Management 100

Management UPS 100

Virtual Moxie

APRIL 14, 2015

'In my office, I have many things that inspire me. One of them is a perpetual wall calendar (I admit I don''t use it, but it''s beautiful, so I keep it). It''s done in mixed media, and across the top in fabric, paper, blocks, and marbles, is a sentence: . Although paraphrased from a longer Emerson quote, I prefer this one! For me, it has one meaning—for you, possibly something very different.

Calendars 100

Calendars 100

Virtual Moxie

MARCH 10, 2015

'In a conversation with a friend, one of the things that we discussed was Abundance. He asked me what it meant to me, and I said that it''s the belief that there''s more than enough of everything, for everyone. He scoffed, "But that''s simply not true—there''s not more than enough of everything for everyone!" I countered that there is, and back and forth we went.

UPS 100

UPS 100

Virtual Moxie

MARCH 3, 2015

'I''ve been asked what I think a Virtual Assistant should do if a new client wanted her to sign a confidentiality agreement about his intellectual property. The VA was disinclined to do it because she 1) thought the client should trust her, and 2) because this particular confidentiality agreement spelled out, very specifically, an exorbitant amount of money she''d be responsible to pay him if she spilled the proverbial beans.

Copyright 100

Copyright AT&T Negotiating Learning 100

Virtual Moxie

FEBRUARY 24, 2015

'My friend Shannon is a content strategist and fellow writer. The other day on Facebook, she posted this image, along with her thoughts about how people get what they pay for. (click to enlarge). That’s one view, of course. And although that ad is for a writer, there''s no shortage of people who want the help of VAs, and all other sorts of knowledge workers, on the cheap.

Self Esteem 100

Self Esteem Facebook UPS 100

Virtual Moxie

FEBRUARY 17, 2015

'A friend sent me this funny thing (whether or not it''s factual is in debate!): You''ve Gotta Love the Irish! This is the transcription of the ACTUAL radio conversation between the British and the Irish off the coast of Kerry, October 1998. Radio conversation released by the Chief of Naval Operations 10-10-98. IRISH : Please divert your course 15 degrees to the South to avoid a collision.

100

100

Virtual Moxie

JANUARY 13, 2015

'Nearly a decade ago, Oprah did a special event that she called the Legend''s Ball, to honor a group of African American women who had paved the way for others. I can''t tell you what an impact it had on me. . Among the "Legends" were Maya Angelou, Coretta Scott King, Rosa Parks, Alice Walker, Lena Horne, and Toni Morrison. Among the "young ''un''s"—the younger women who were paying tribute to the Legends—were Phylicia Rashad, Angela Bassett, Judith Jamison, Anna Deveare Smith, and Iman.

Forms 100

Forms AT&T UPS 100

Virtual Moxie

JANUARY 5, 2015

'The brilliant Alice Inoue of Happiness U wrote a smart post about why people don’t reach their goals. I loved it, wanted to share it, and felt called to add one more piece to the discussion in case it’s helpful. Be sure to read it, then come back and continue to read my post. Alice talks about the conscious and unconscious, and how, in goal achievement, the unconscious always wins.

Goals 100

Goals Clothes 2015 International 100