Virtual Moxie - The Cure For The Common Virtual Assistance Practice

Basking in your awesomeness

At AssistU, we have a monthly community newsletter that's been written since we started the company, called The VA News. Our COO Dawn writes a letter to the community each month, and in this month's edition, Dawn wrote something I wanted to share with you. It's below, and unto itself, it's this week's Bit O’Moxie.

The biggest challenge most of us face is lack of self-confidence. Even those of us who have worked on this issue can still have moments of doubt, where we let that inner critic creep in. Sometimes the critic creeps in quietly, and we don't even notice him until it's too late. Other times, he comes barging in, knocking everything down in his path, including us.

What happens is that we get so used to ourselves that we no longer realize how special we are. Here's an example: you've been working Microsoft Word for umpteen years, and you're pretty good at it. You can do nifty things like mail merges and sorting data. However, you know that Word can do some things that you just don't know about. So, you tell yourself, "I'm not an expert. I can do a few basic things. I'm okay at Word."

Then, you run into someone, maybe a client, who doesn't know how to bold a sentence in Word. (It really does happen. I spent an hour training someone on how to select text with a mouse and do exciting things like bold and italicize - meaning it was exciting for her. She never knew she could do those things in Word.) You realize that your "basic" level of knowledge is anything but. You've been working with it so long that it started to feel basic and just a part of what you could do. You forgot that you really are awesome.

So that's what I'd like to leave you with today. Each and every one of us is awesome, skilled, and wonderful. We wouldn't be here at AssistU if we weren't. We wouldn't have started our own businesses if we weren't. Kick the inner critic to the curb and realize your own wonder.

Basking in your awesomeness,

Dawn

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Oh, one more thing. Dawn is our COO, but also owns her own fabulous company where she helps people become better writers. If you or your clients believe/know you need help with your writing, do yourself (and your clients) a favor and check out the offerings at Write Well U!

Not everything needs to be done

I'm a list maker. Many of the VAs I know live and die by their lists.

Recently on one of mine, I realized that there was an item I simply wasn't getting to. And so it was getting copied from list to list to list--you know how that goes. I was convinced I would get to it tomorrow, but "tomorrow" just wasn't coming (at least as far as that thing was concerned). So, as I coach clients to do all the time, I evaluated the thing, decided I wasn't the one to do it, and ultimately, just blew it off completely; it didn't even really need to be done.

Bit O’Moxie: If you can't get to it, you may not be meant to get to it. Same thing with being forgetful. See the signs and follow them. Evaluate what you keep forgetting or can't get to to first see if it really needs to be done. If so, figure out who you can delegate it to, or hire to handle it. If not, cross it off your list with glee and forget about it! You really don't have to do everything you start out to do.

Say no to the lazy client

An AssistU VA asked our community: My client wants to pay her invoice from me with a credit card. She wants me to just handle it; she doesn't want to even have to acknowledge the invoice or authorize payment. What are the downsides to doing as she asks?

I shared that if she's billing the same exact amount each month, there's no downside, as long as she creates a credit card authorization that the client signs and that spells out what she'll be billing, and when. But if she invoices for expenses or overages, or the amount is simply different each month, then to cover her ass, the VA has to require the client to acknowledge and ok the invoice for payment.

The biggest issue is not how to get the invoice paid, but how to balance the desire to make things easy for the client, without putting the VA at risk for chargebacks. And I suspect that most VAs would go ahead and agree to just charge the client's card without requiring any sort of charge authorization (for recurring charges) or the client to acknowledge/approve changing charges. After all, it's easier than having what might be a difficult conversation with the client, right?

Bit O’Moxie: Have the conversation. Require the client to step up and handle her side of things. There's absolutely no reason she should get to be lazy, while you put yourself at risk. If you explain to her the reason you need her signed authorization, or acknowledgement/approval, and she refuses to get on board, show her the door. She's not ideal, and you're far and away better off without her in your practice.