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We have to get comfortable with speaking using audio and video. #vatip 
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When your clients see you as a person, it changes the interaction and the relationship. #vatipGotta Tweet!
Tear down the online barrier by having short videos or doing webinars. #vatip Gotta Tweet!
In Words:
When you are a virtual assistant, you don’t go into your client’s office. If you’re going into your client’s office, then that is a mobile assistant, meaning that you drive around town and maybe you go into their office and you set up files and whatever else you may be doing for them physically in their office.
The big thing with being virtual is that you are wherever you are, whether that’s at home. Whatever location it is. I won’t go through all the places that you could be. You know where you could be. But it’s not physically in the same office as the client that you’re working with.
Being mobile means you drive to your clients, which also means they would be local or within a certain mile radius. But there is no such thing as a mobile virtual assistant. You’re either mobile or you’re virtual. You may offer both services before the client that you’re serving. You’re their mobile assistant or you’re their virtual assistant.
Telecommuting – it really doesn’t even fit in our category. If you’re telecommuting, you are an employee. Telecommuting is a phrase used for companies that allow their employees to work from home. So telecommuting is not even in our same…space. I can’t even think of the right word. Okay, so telecommuting in an employee term. Throw that out the window. You’re not telecommuting.
You’re either mobile, virtual, or you’re live like in person. You go to their office every day and that’s a totally other thing. That would go into an employee category.
I wanted to discuss that because I know you may be transitioning from an assistant that was working in an office, and for whatever reason you are now starting your virtual assistant business and you’re working in your home office. If you’re truly virtual, the only interaction with your client is through your computer, whether that’s email, a video chat, or phone, of course, you know, talking on the phone or what have you. But you don’t go to them and they don’t come to you.
This is our motivational moment. I’m going to turn on the timer because I really just want to speak for a minute on this. I don’t want to get on a soapbox or anything like that, but just for one minute and talk about missed opportunity.
There is so much at your fingertips and if you are not taking advantage of the things that are right at your fingertips, you will be behind next year.
We have to get comfortable with speaking using audio and video, and we have to get comfortable with how we sound and what we look like. I’m saying have to, have to. Where we’re going in 2016, the environment that we all work, the online space is the environment that we all work in, we have to get comfortable with that.
When I first starting recording and doing podcasts back in 2011, no, I didn’t like the way I sounded. Oh, there’s my timer. My minute’s up, but I’m going to keep going. I didn’t like the way I sounded. But it’s just like back in the day when you record your answering and then you hear yourself or (I’m going to date myself here) record yourself on a cassette and you hear what you sound like for the first time and it’s like, ooh, it that me? So nobody likes what they sound like.
Then with video, somebody else will be watching the video. You don’t have to sit around watching your video. Something’s a little strange if all you are doing is watching yourself on video. What video does is it removes the wall so now your clients see you as a person. You’re no longer just an email address or just a name. You are a person. When your clients see you as a person, it changes the interaction and it changes the relationship.
A lot of your clients have never worked with a virtual assistant before and they’re used to being belly to belly with someone. With the online world, you can’t always be that way. But what we can do is tear down that barrier by having little short videos of ourselves or doing webinars.
In 2016, I am going to be doing a 21 Day Webinar Challenge for virtual assistants.
We actually just started one this month, and if you’re on my email VIP list, you heard all about it. To get us comfortable in using webinars, which does require video. You don’t have to be on the video the whole time, but it’s good if they see you at the beginning and at the end.
That’s where things are moving. That’s where the trend is for 2016, and I would imagine that once we get video, you know, there’s no turning back. You’ve watched cat videos, dog videos. You’ve watched other people’s videos. Now it’s time for people to see you. We don’t want to miss that opportunity.
The platform that comes to mind immediately for me is Blab. I’ll share this real quick and then our motivational moment that has almost turned into five minutes will be over.
We finished up the 21 Day Upwork Challenge, and again, you want to be on the email VIP list. A lot of things I put out, I start with that group of VAs first before I even say anything about it on my website or on Facebook. My email VIP list gets things first. If you want to be on that go to TiffanyParson.com, click on Free Training. Sign up for the eBook there. That automatically puts you on the VIP list, plus you get the eBook with the training to help you get started.
So the 21 Day Upwork Challenge, it ended on Monday. Monday was our celebration day and the way we celebrated is that we got on Blab and we celebrated together, talked about what everyone got out of the challenge. Guess what happened? We met two potential prospects, and these are only the people that spoke up. I mean, there may be people that watched the replay. There may be people that were there that we don’t know were there that are potential clients.
Here we are, virtual assistants in the flesh, on video talking about this 21 Day Challenge and sharing our specialties and what we do and what everybody got out of the challenge. It was amazing to me. I knew when I decided to do it on Blab that would open us up to the general public, whoever was out there. I knew that there could be potential clients that would see it and be curious. I knew that because it had happened to me already and I was excited that it happened during our celebration. Unfortunately, everybody that participated in the challenge did not make it to the Blab session. Guess what that was…a missed opportunity.
Let’s talk about 2016. We are already in the middle of December. I think I said this in an earlier podcast episode that I’m already in 2016. If you’re not there, now is the time to get there. Whatever you do this month will determine what happens going into 2016.
For example, if you have not started marketing your VA business and you decide to wait until January 1st, it’s not going to happen if you’re not already there right now. Meaning you have thought about it, you’ve planned it, you know where you’re going, you know the service you’re providing, and you started already in December.
Start right now. I know we’ve got two weeks of holiday in December, but it doesn’t matter. You have to start right now, right now, this month, if you want to get it moving in January.
Have you experienced a year where you’re like I’m going to do this and I’m going to do that, and I’m going to wait until January 1st. January 1st comes. Oh, it’s a holiday. It’s New Year’s Day. I’m going to wait until January 2nd. Oh, I’m just getting into gear. It’s been the holiday. I’m trying to get myself motivated. It does not happen. January 15th comes. It’s Martin Luther King Jr. holiday. It doesn’t happen. January 30th comes. Oh, I’ll wait until February. It doesn’t happen.
You have to start right now, now, now, now, now, and I’m repeating that to stress if you don’t start now it won’t happen. June 2016 will get here and whatever you decided to do in 2016, if it doesn’t happen in December 2015, it won’t happen. The things that are in your control, that’s the only thing I’m talking about. What’s in your control starting now.
2016 – here’s where I’m going for the VA training. I will be doing four different 21 day challenges.
You’ve already heard me talk about two of them. The 21 Day Webinar Challenge. The 21 Day Upwork Challenge. We’ll also be doing a 21 Day Social Media Challenge and a 21 Day Blog Challenge. Now, with those challenges, you get training as well as action steps. If you like to take action on things, you just need some guidance and direction, what to do, how to do it, and then go do it, the 21 day challenges are for you.
Everything is done in a private, secret Facebook group. Every single day for 21 days, you are given a task. You are given training and then you are given a task to do so that by the end of the 21 days what we’re doing is creating a professional habit for your business.
The 21 Day Upwork Challenge was about marketing your business on Upwork. Those VA business owners that were a part of that challenge now have something. They know exactly what to do based on whatever their schedule is. I don’t know if it’s every day, every other day. I don’t know. That was part of their task for themselves.
The VAs that are a part of this new challenge, the one that just got started this month, the webinar challenge is about how to market your VA business using webinars. They are learning how to use Webinars in their VA business to promote themselves, what they do. This month is getting them ready to propel their business forward in January.
In addition to the four challenges, there will be skills training. I know some of you are transitioning from your corporate skills to what skills are needed online, and so we’re going to have some skills training courses. I want to say 2014-2105 we did some intensive training and that is going to pulled way back and we’re going to scale it down and do skills courses. All of those are going to be on Udemy. Right now my course, Make $100 a Month Providing WordPress Content Management Services, is the first course that’s up there. I’m working on some other training courses as well.
If there is something that you have wanted to learn as a service to provide for your VA business, let me know. The best way to get in touch with me is on Facebook. Facebook.com/tiffanyparsonbiz or just search Tiffany Parson and you can find me that way. That’s the best way. If you’re on the email VIP list, when I do a little check-in with you, you can reply back and let me know what it is that you would like more training on.
I have been doing this for over 7 years now and my goal is to get more good quality VA business owners out there. I can’t tell you how many business owners don’t know where to find you. I’ve had numerous come to be directly say, “Well, where to we find VAs?” Or they’re talking amongst themselves, “Where do we find VAs?” They don’t know.
When I tell you I feel so strongly about the webinars to promote your VA business as being a major game changer, I mean that from the bottom of my gut. I know it is. If you want to be a game changer in your business and propel yourself forward and beyond what’s out there, you want to be a part of that challenge.
I can tell you now, January we are doing the Upwork challenge. That is the starting point for everyone because we’re diving into your skills. What are you providing? How are you communicating? All that good stuff, and using Upwork as our testing ground for practicing and getting potential clients because you want to build your portfolio and have some testimonials and on and on and on, so that when you get to the webinar phase, you’re building on what you learned in the Upwork Challenge. Anyway, I could go on and on and on and on, but I won’t.
I’m going to close out the episode and tell you about this book by Steven Pressfield.
You may have already read the book. The first time I heard about him was from a business coach and it was about the War of Art. I remember I got the audios and I’ve got the book somewhere. I think that was pre-Kindle days, so any books I bought pre-Kindle, it’s like I don’t know where they are. They’re on my iPad, which I don’t even use anymore. I have the first iPad, so I’ve got to upgrade at some point. But right now, I’m enjoying the Kindle.
Anyway, War of Ar, had it on audio on the iPad. Turning Pro is the book that I’m reading now. I started reading this last night and I could not turn away from it. Turning Pro by Steven Pressfield. Put this on your reading list for now. We’re not doing January or December. No. Put it on your reading list for now, right now, to start now. Turning Pro. It’s about how to go from the amateur phase of what you’re doing to the professional phase of what you’re doing. Not just business, but life. You want to get this.
In fact, the phrase I used earlier, developing a professional habit, came out of that book. As I was reading, there was a certain point where I knew I had to share it with you. I knew it. I was like, oh man, I’ve got to share this on the podcast.
There’s a part in the book that I want to read to you and share it real quick and then I’m going to be done with this episode because it’s getting longer than I imagined. But I was full. I had so much to share with you. Let me find that part in the book. Here’s where I knew I had to share with you:
He says, “Ambition, I have come to believe, is the most primal and sacred fundament of our being. To feel ambition and to act upon it is to embrace the unique calling of our souls. Not to act upon that ambition is to turn our backs on ourselves and on the reason for our existence.”
Then further, “Sometimes, when we’re terrified of embracing our true calling, we’ll pursue a shadow calling instead.” “Are you working in a support capacity for an innovator because you’re afraid to risk becoming an innovator yourself?”
You’ve got to get this book – Turning Pro. Then once you get the book, come over, holler at me on Facebook. Let’s talk about it. Oh my gosh, I probably will have this book done by the night, if not sooner.
All right. Thank you so much for listening. You just have a wonderful and blessed day. I can’t tell you how much I had to press through this episode today with technical glitches, my computer shutting down. I know this episode is for you.
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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