I'm often asked what the most requested skills are for a VA to have. The underpinning of that question, when I probe, ends up being about fear. Fear of not getting clients, fear of not being successful as a VA, and fear of having to go back to "work."
As with everything else, my answer revolves around foundation. With a strong foundation, you can build on it and do well. Without a strong foundation, it will never matter what skills you have, because something about your weak foundation (or as I call it, the wobbly floor) will cause you to mess things up.
There are many foundational items to think about in business--whether we're talking about being a Virtual Assistant or anything else. Two with the highest pay off are integrity and credibility.
Integrity is about being whole and right with yourself. It's a code you follow that has meaning for you, is an internally perceived estimation of yourself and is rewarded by self-trust.
Credibility, is the estimation of trustworthiness made about you by others when you are in integrity and it is rewarded by their trust in you.
When integrity is high, usually so is credibility. Integrity on your part will help your clients see you as credible. The more highly credible you are to them, the more likely they are to talk about you at every turn, and recommend you to their peers and colleagues. And there's the ultimate business payoff: I think there’s absolutely no finer thing than to have a practice built 100% on referral. What would you need to do to (or, for those of you whose practices have been built solely on referral, what do you do) to have that happen?
What Bit O’Moxie of your very own do you have to share with me, this week?
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