I’ve been a VA since January 2006. When it comes to implementing new things to work on bringing in new clients or bigger and better things to offer current clients, I tend to struggle with knowing the next step to take.

Not anymore…thanks to the this!

I heard about the Virtual Assistant Revolution right after I started Tishia Saves Time. I cant’ tell you how many times I’ve been ready to join but kept putting it off and putting it off for one reason or another. Recently I attended an open house they had and that was the night I knew it was time, that it was my time to join. I believe there’s always a right time for everything and in the past I wasn’t ready for the Rev but know that I am now.

It’s taken me over two years to get to the point where I’m really serious about my business. In the past I’ve been ok with how things were going but not anymore. I’m ready to step up my game, move out of my comfort zone, and revolutionize my business! I’m ready to become a highly sought after VA.

It’s an awesome community! 

I’m thrilled with the resources, mentoring and all around wonderful people that make up the Virtual Assistant Revolution community. It’s empowering and inspiring being around a group of successful VA’s, ones that have ‘been there done that’ and are willing to share what’s worked for them and what hasn’t. If you’re a VA, whether a newbie or seasoned pro, there’s something to benefit from joining the VA Revolution. I give it two thumbs up

If this is your first time here please read the first conversation that Tricia and I had together. This week I’ve been asked a great question, one that didn’t take long to come up with my answer.

Tricia asks:  

Tishia is there a service out there that you don’t know how to do but wish you could learn so that you can offer it to your clients?

Yes Tricia there is definitely something I wish I could offer my clients that I don’t. I do basic WordPress customization but I want to be able to do more in depth customization! I’ve been intrigued with WordPress ever since I started working with it. I love it but sometimes hate it too ;-)  Eventually I would like to learn more coding, etc so that I can offer more customizations. Until then, I’m enjoying the basic customization I do offer.

A Question for Tricia:

Now that your kids are out of school for the summer, how is this going to affect your schedule? Will you make changes to accommodate your kids being home or will you still work the same hours you have been?

I’m back with another question from my CBC with Tricia of Time Saver VA. If this is your first time visiting, please check out our first conversation here. You can read her answer to my last question here.
Tricia’s Question for Me:

How often do you check your email?  And does checking your email really seem to eat up your time?

I suppose I have to answer this question honestly don’t I? This is one of my downfalls, but I’m working on it every day. I’m obsessive about checking my email. It used to be I was ok with only checking in the morning and then in the afternoon.

Once my business began to grow and I had more emails coming in it was a bit overwhelming opening my email first thing in the morning and seeing all that I needed to deal with. So I picked up a bad habit…leaving my email program open all the while I was online. It’s very distracting and a habit I certainly don’t recommend! Having it open at all times makes reading and responding to emails even more time consuming, in my opinion than if you just schedule say an hour in the morning and an hour in the afternoon.

I’m back to only checking it in the morning and afternoon. Ok well I’m working really hard on only checking it twice a day! I schedule 1 hour every day for checking my email first thing in the morning. I schedule 30 minutes every day for checking my email in the afternoon (I have more in the mornings than in the afternoon).

When I know that I have a certain amount of time scheduled to deal with email, it keeps me more focused and on target. When I was in the habit of leaving it open all day, it was too time consuming because I would stop what I was doing when I saw that an email had come in.

I think I got a bit wordy on answering that question. I didn’t mean to ramble so much and I hope it made some sort of sense to you Tricia. Now I have another question for you.

A question for Tricia:

Now that you’ve been working as a VA for awhile, what’s the one piece of advice you would give another newbie coming into this market? 

Many people have yet to realize the benefits that hiring a transcriptionist can bring them and their business. In fact, many people see hiring a transcriptionist as a business expense that that they just can’t foot the bill for. Not everyone - but a lot of people feel this way. What about you? Should you hire a transcriptionist?

Take the Quiz!

Read each question and then rate them using the 1-5 scale. One meaning I don’t agree and five being I totally agree.

I have a website that would benefit from fresh content.

1 2 3 4 5

I have a podcast with audio archives.

1 2 3 4 5

I provide teleseminars full of information.

1 2 3 4 5

I sell information products.

1 2 3 4 5

I know someone (myself, a customer, etc) that prefers to read instead of listen to audio.

1 2 3 4 5

If you scored 20-25 points you definitely should hire a transcriptionist. You understand the benefits of doing so and what a transcriptionist can do for your business. Go for it!

If you scored 15-19 points you may want to hire a transcriptionist but you are still unsure of how such a simple thing will bring forth any business benefits. Give it a try!

If you scored 14 or fewer points hiring a transcriptionist may not be for you. It doesn’t mean you shouldn’t - it just means you need to take some time to consider it before making a final decision. Take your time!

Not every business person will benefit from hiring a transcriptionist and while some will agree that a transcriptionist is a business expense that can be skipped, there are those that understand how a transcriptionist can help them build their business with fresh content, printable material, etc. Each and every business person has their own individual needs so you will have to make your decision based on your needs.

Now that you’ve made your decision it’s time to put your plan into action and start looking for a transcriptionist that will meet your needs.

It’s time for another question in my CBC (cross blog conversation) with Tricia of Time Saver VA. Last time Tricia answered my question of what her ‘perfect’ internship would be so it’s only fitting that her question for me this week has to do with interns. If you are just joining us, please check out our first conversation so you can follow along.

Tricia’s Question for Me:

If you had to hire an intern what qualities would you look for in an intern?

There are several different qualities I would look for in an intern. The main characteristics I would look for in a person applying for an internship with me (if I were to offer one) are:

• self-starter
• eager to learn
• certain amount of time (ex: 10 hours) to devote each week to the internship
• ethical
• good communicator
• follows instructions
• a new VA just starting out or someone interested in starting a VA business

The last thing I would look for in a possible intern would be someone that I could potentially use as my backup VA and partner with them on future projects such as information products, audio recordings, teleseminars, etc. In other words, someone that I could work side by side with that would be an asset to me and my business.

Another great question from Tricia and I look forward to the next one she sends my way.

A question for Tricia:

What marketing tool(s) have you found to be the most beneficial to you in getting your name out there and obtaining new clients?