Virtual Regeneration

Speaking at the VA Networking Seminar Series

I am very excited to announce that I will be one of the featured speakers at the first ever VA Networking Seminar Series.

Come on over and check us out - VAvirtuosos Seminar Series 2009

Service thats first rate...All done while-u-wait

Now that is a catchy tag line. 

In my line of work, I am constantly meeting all kids of people.  Yesterday, I had the opportunity to talk with a fellow VA, who by the way will be celebrating her 23rd year as a virtual service provider at the end of this month (see, this industry isnt as new as some think).

That is the tag line Marian uses to describe her niche'.  Marian has found a way to provide a service to her clients, all while she is talking to them on the phone, or in some cases, in person.  What is that service?  Resume' writting - and she is considered an expert at doing it.

Here is what transpired in our conversation:

How long have you worked in a VA capacity?  Nearly 23 years (I opened the business on June 25, 1985)

What has changed in our industry over the 23 years you have been involved? Technology has played a huge impact.  In the 80’s, most of my work had to be done “in-person” and therefore local, where as now I have had clients literally located all over the world. 

How has Resume’ Writing changed over the years?  Again, the technology has changed and the actual layouts of the resume of themselves.  Once upon a time you would have submitted your resume’ and would have been competing with your neighbors, now you are competing on a global market because of such sites as Monster.com and Workopolis.com. 

How has working virtual impacted your life? I find that I have more freedom, as I am home based.  I can transition from work to personal life very easily because of this.

What is your specialty?  “Making my clients shine on paper” by ensuring that their word processing and correspondence are letter-perfect and grammatically correct

What is/are your best quality/ies?

• I am dependable and provide stellar customer service; e.g., my business placed 2nd (out of 500) in a professional membership customer service survey.
• I provide super-fast turnaround without sacrificing my commitment to producing top-notch work; e.g., when I was a Public Relations Secretary at the beginning of my career, I performed all of my assigned duties - with time to spare.  When I was promoted, 2 full-time secretaries and 1 part-time admin. assistant had to cope with a reduced workload - and still had trouble meeting deadlines.
• I can solve problems and brainstorm effective win/win solutions; e.g., in 1997, I co-introduced a 24-hour cancellation policy because I experienced 275 insufficient-notice cancellations in 1996.  As a result, my cancellations in 1997 dropped by 97% to only 7 for the entire year.
  

Best advice to new VAs just starting out? 

• Form sincere and genuine alliances with other VA's so that you have someone to turn to when facing a VA-specific concern.  The right way to do it:  Ask if you can help them with their workload.  The wrong way to do it:   Tell them that you want to steal their customers away.  (Note:  One VA-wannabe actually admitted this to me!)  
• Join a VA association and sign up with their e-list.  I've learned some priceless tid-bits from both the Canadian Virtual Assistants Network (CVAN) and the Canadian Virtual Assistants Connection (CVAC).
• Participate in teleclasses.  In addition to the appealing and highly-relevant topics offered in teleclasses, bask in the energy and motivation  that is sure to envelop you and keep you jazzed for a long time to come. 

Best advice to business owners thinking about working with a VA for the first time?  Conduct a Google search, access the Virtual Assistant member web-sites, and acquaint yourself with the myriad of talents that each VA can offer.

Hobbies/Interests?  50's / 60's / 70's (et. al) music (I am an admitted Top 40 geek and could easily be the next Rick Dees!), cooking, bargain hunting, eBaying, finance conservation, personal and professional development

Volunteer/Charities?  I’ve volunteered with Girl Guides of Canada (similar to Girl Scouts) since the Fall of 1996:
… 1996 – 2000:  Brownie Leader (girls in Grades 2 and 3)
… 2000 – 2004:  Spark (equivalent to “Daisy”) Leader (girls in Senior Kindergarten and Grade 1)
… 2003 – present:  Cookie Sales Coordinator

Is there anything else you would like to tell us about yourself?  Along the way, I developed a passion for writing resumes, preparing clients to ace the interview, and wishing success for my job-seeking clients.  As a result of becoming the Province of Ontario’s first Certified Professional Resume Writer (CPRW) and 1 of only 8 Certified Employment Interview Professionals (CEIP) in Canada, I take pride in the fact that (i) samples of my work are published in 3 resume-writing primers and (ii) I sport a 97% success rate in terms of my clients landing interviews.   Ultimately, I LOVE what I do for a living!

To contact Marian -

The Regency Group (d.b.a. Regency Secretarial) - a subsidiary of 6429432 Canada Inc.
Aurora, Ontario, Canada ... Aurora is 30 minutes north of Toronto

905-841-7120 / FAX 905-841-1391 / www.resumeexpert.ca
 
* Ontario's first Certified Professional Resume Writer
* 1 of only 8 Certified Employment Interview Professionals in Canada
 
* Proudly affiliated with:
   ... PARW/CC, CMI, and CPC (resume associations)
   ... CVAN and CVAC (virtual assistant associations)
   ... Aurora-Business.com, the Aurora Chamber of Commerce, and Girl Guides of Canada
 
* Contributor to the following resume books:
   ... *Expert Resumes for Managers and Executives*
   ... *Gallery of Best Resumes for People Without a Four-Year Degree*
   ... *Best Canadian Resumes*

Finding Your Niche

Finding and defining your specialty has got to be one of the toughest business decisions you can face.  You want to do it all - so many programs - so little time!  But the truth of the matter is you will be much more effective if you define your Virtual Assistant role.  You want to be known as the specialist - the ruler of your domain - the conqueror of your niche - the queen of the world - okay I'm getting a little ahead of myself here.

Mark Twain once said, "Find out where the people are going and get there first."  While defining your niche this way is good in theory I believe more in "being true to oneself".  Afterall we are at our "jobs" for more hours than we care to count. Why not fill that time at something you care about - something you find satisfying?

Start first by taking a good look at your experiences and not just your professional experiences.  Make sure to include your education or  volunteer roles, things you have been a part of because they inspire you.  Find common skills or interest in these roles and research each one.  Is there something there that could help you define your niche?   

What I believe to be my best piece of advise to you is to find a niche that inspires you to keep doing what your doing.  Find something you like to do and do it well.  There is a saying out there, “if you find a job you love, you’ll never have to work a day in your life.” I believe there is truth in that.

Who is your ideal client?

Wouldn’t it be nice if you could pick and choose who your clients were?  Well why cant you?  Knowing who your ideal clients are can make that happen.

Although it has taken me some time, and many revisions, I now have a clear idea of what characteristics my ideal clients need to possess. 

My ideal clients need to:

~ Understand the concept of working with a VA – now this does not mean they need to have heard of what a VA is, but I am not going to waste my time having to explain over and over what it is that I do and the value of my services.                                                                     

~ Understand that I do not work for them, but rather with them.

~ Know where they want their business to go.  I only work with those who have a vision for their business. 

~ Have a passion about what it is they do.  I can’t believe in, nor help to support a client if they don’t truly believe in themselves and the service(s) they offer. 

~ Have a thriving business.  I will not work with new, start-up companies.  There are VAs that work exclusively with new companies.  If you are one of them, and are interested in their services, please let me know and I can put you in contact with them. 

~ Be able to delegate – my ideal clients are those that don’t necessarily care how the tasks get done as long as they are done to the specifications that are requested.

~ Have more than one-time tasks needing done.  I do not provide “project work”. I work on retainer basis only. 

~ Understand that my VA practice is based on a Christian faith.  Although my clients do not need to have the same faith as I, their needs to be a respect and understanding of from both parties.

To get started on creating your own ideal client specifications, you may find it easier to write down the characteristics of people you don’t want to work with.  That is what I had to do.  I knew I didn’t want to work with people just starting out in their business, people who need to “watch over my shoulder” all of the time, and people who couldn’t understand that I am a business owner, just like them and that I am not "just their secretary". 

One thing you need to keep in mind is that this is a list in progress, and it is definitely not set in stone.  From time to time, I have come across someone that appealed to me for one reason or another, but they didn’t fit into my ideal client specifications.  I go with my gut when that happens.  As I grow, and my clients grow, my ideal client specifications grow as well. 

Once I was able to get a clear idea of they types of people I wanted to work with, my business took off.  And more importantly, I can tell almost right away when talking with a potential client if I want to work with them or not.  This has saved me a lot of hassle in the long run and it will for you as well.