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Referenced Links:
- Jamberry
- Upwork
Tweetables:
Don’t allow some else’s emotions to get in the way of your goals. #vatip 
Gotta Tweet!
You got in this business to select your own projects and the people you work with. #vatipGotta Tweet!
You may not always get it right. #vatip Gotta Tweet!
In Words:
Hi and welcome to The Business of Being a Virtual Assistant. I am Tiffany, your host, and you’re listening to episode number 47.
Today, I want to talk to you about starting from the beginning, starting from the top, and the one thing you and I both need is clients.
I was thinking about what to share on this particular podcast episode and there are different projects I’m working on, various clients that I serve every month along with one-off projects where you complete the project and it’s over. Then, just to get away from the computer some and do something else, I also have direct sales businesses that I do.
I have mentioned my direct sales jewelry, but recently I started with a company called Jamberry, and the reason why I started that is because for 30 plus years I have been a nail biter and it is a very embarrassing habit. It’s a habit that not everybody understands. It’s one of those things where people just, oh, well, just stop, or just do that and just do this, and nothing works. Well, nothing worked until I started wearing the Jamberry wraps.
Once that happened to me, I couldn’t help but share it and talk about it. I couldn’t help but watching the videos on YouTube, and I kept thinking, oh, I should join. No, that would be crazy. I’ve got all these other things going on. But that thought wouldn’t leave, so I went ahead and signed up and just am very excited about what the future brings with that.
But with that, just like starting with a virtual assistant business, you need a client. For me, I would need a customer or hostess. It’s a party plan business. Let me tell you, I am not all into the reaching to friends and family all the time. In fact, I would rather reach out to them later after things have taken off just because of past experience, and maybe you’ve experienced the same thing.
Now, as a virtual assistant business owner, we don’t have the luxury of calling family and friends. We have to get out there and get clients. The best thing for you, whether you don’t have a client right now, you’re just getting started, or whether you’re having to restart, sometimes we have to restart for whatever reason, is to go where people are looking for you.
I’m always talking about going to the job boards like Upwork and creating a profile and you’re submitting information. Why, because that’s where the people are who are looking for you. It wouldn’t make sense to reach out to family and friends unless you know specifically they are looking for someone to help them in their business. If that’s not the case, it just doesn’t make sense.
Like with the case with the nail wraps, it just wouldn’t make sense to go and talk to family and friends who I know this would not be of interest to them. I don’t mean, you know, just thinking, oh, no, she might not like it. But I mean you know already up front, like I wouldn’t call an uncle about nail wraps. Clearly that’s – why? It sounds silly, doesn’t it?
You want to go where the people are who are looking for what you have to offer.
It’s scary. It is fun and scary all at the same time because once you’ve accomplished your goal that is an exciting thing, and you want to go try again and again.
What I am finding, and I’m pretty sure I’ve shared this as well at some point on the podcast, I’m not sure if you’ve listened all the way back to the first episodes or if this is your first episode, but I am an introvert. It doesn’t mean that I am shy. Introverts can be shy, but introverts are not always shy.
Being an introvert means that I prefer to be in small groups, or small groups meaning one-on-one, as opposed to hanging out with large groups of people or crowds and things like that. It doesn’t give me anxiety, it just makes me think about all the other things that I could be doing, and sometimes I feel like I’m wasting my time.
One of my jobs when I worked in Corporate America, in fact it was my very first job out of college, I was called an annuity specialist and I answered the phone, helped people do withdrawals from their annuities and things like that. So when people would call they would want to have small talk and ask about the weather and how’s it going in North Carolina, and in my head I’m just thinking I just want to help you make your transaction and we just, you know, keep going. I didn’t know that it had anything to do with being introverted. I didn’t know all the details about that, but it turns out that is one of the things. Small talk is one of those things that introverts kind of cringe at.
When my husband and I are going out to events and stuff like that, if it’s not a set program, like an event with a start and end time, say it’s a party or cookout, something like that, I’m already thinking about how long we’re going to stay and what we’re going to do afterwards, because I already know before I get there that I’m going to be ready to go. Now, if I’m having a really good time, there are a lot of people there I enjoy being with, I already know them already, it’s totally different.
But if it’s a brand new crowd of people – on one of the episodes here I shared about networking and getting out. It’s been a long time since I’ve done any in person networking in that way, since the summer. Summer, I was, you know, go get them. Get out there and network. Now, I’m kind of pulled back from that. I have not done that.
But since starting the new direct sales business, I am challenging myself to reach way outside of my comfort zone and I am making cold calls to people that I don’t know. The biggest help was taking my emotions out of it and not caring what was the outcome.
What can a no do to you? Nothing. What can someone turning down your proposal do to you? Nothing. But look what you have gained. You took a step forward. You learned either why they said no or maybe you didn’t learn why they said no, or maybe after the fact you could see why they said no.
One of the biggest things you can do for yourself, whether you’re just getting started or you’ve been a virtual assistant for a while, is to take the emotions out.
I know sometimes clients bring their emotions, but we have to take our emotions out. Words like, “I’m disappointed; I’m upset,” those have no place in business because things are so concrete. It’s either a yes or a no. It’s either a now or a later. It’s not personal. You can almost feel when things have gotten to the emotional side because they just don’t make sense or there are unrealistic expectations, either your client’s unrealistic expectations on you, or you having unrealistic expectations of your client, or your team members if you subcontract with other VAs, because we can do that as well.
The biggest thing is to take your emotions out of it.
If you have not started and this is not your first time listening to this podcast, this is not your first time being on my website, this is not your first time researching being a virtual assistant and you still haven’t moved, if it’s been six months since you’ve just been doing Google searches, if it’s been a year, what are you doing? Is this something that you want?
I won’t give you an extroverted answer like Nike, “Just do it,” because everybody’s “do it” is different, and I don’t know what your “do it” looks like. But hanging on the fence that long, this can’t be something that you want. If it is, you can’t let it paralyze you to the point that you don’t move.
I have seen many people who have dreams of things outside of sitting at their desk at their job, coming home tired, only to do it again the next day. I see many people with dreams, possibilities, gifts and talents, and fear has stolen years of their life.
I started Virtual Hired Hand in 2008. It’s 2016. I can rattle off a list of names of people who back then in 2008 when I started that I met with, that I talked to, that I encouraged, that I gave ideas to, and fast-forward to now, nothing. No progress. None.
Don’t allow someone else’s emotions to get in the way of your goals. Somebody could be telling you no because of their own past experiences, their own issues that they bring to the table. You can’t let that stop you. For those of you who are in it, you’re already moving, you’ve got your client roster, you can’t let emotions keep you from moving forward.
You got in this business so that you could select and choose not only your projects, but also the people that you work with.
If you’ve got a client that has a little confusion, that doesn’t understand the difference between having a contractor on their team and having an employee on their team, you set the tone, you set the boundaries, you have the choice to continue or not. It is empowering to you as a business owner when you take charge of what you’re responsible for.
You may not always get it right. You may make a bad decision or regret some things. I’ve given people the benefit of the doubt and continued when I knew I shouldn’t have. One thing I haven’t done though was end something too quickly. If you’ve experienced that where you had to end something, it’s rare that we end something too quickly. Usually, we’re ending it too slowly.
I’m just here to give you a little nudge and to let you know whatever it is that you want out of your virtual assistant business, out of your life, whatever it is, it’s up to you. Don’t let another day, another minute, another hour, another month pass you by. Don’t let that happen. Time is moving so quickly. Look how fast we got to February and it’ll be gone before we blink. We don’t have time to think about what if someone says no. What if they turn me down? We don’t have time to think about it.
I was one to think about, well, what if nobody signs up? What if the client says no? What if they say no? Does that harm us in any way? No. The sun will still rise and set, right? Yes. I’m still living and breathing, right? Yes.
Now, granted, if I call somebody, I make a cold call and things don’t work out well – like the other day a lady told me no and she was really nice about it, and before I knew it I was telling her, “Thank you so much. I appreciate your time.” I didn’t have that written anywhere, but I would gather that – since I haven’t done cold calls in a long time, because when we’re talking to our clients, we’re talking to them for the first time so that is a cold call. Whether it’s email or our first time communicating, in a way that’s like a cold contact, and so I think that has helped in how I communicate.
I challenge you to see where you’ve grown and how you communicate, and how things now affect you compared to the way they used to.
If your emotions are still there, now you know to be aware of it. In business, there are no emotions. It’s either this or that, yes or no, now or later. It’s up to you. Take charge of your life and your business, and have a fabulous day.
Thanks so much for tuning in. If you like what you heard, stay tuned. We’ll be back. Tell me what’s going on with you. Come on over the Facebook page: facebook.com/tiffanyparsonbiz, or if you prefer a little shorter message, come on over to Twitter: @tiffanydparson.
See you next time!
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