While we’re on the topic, I want to talk to you about clients.

There are all kinds of clients in this world, more than plenty to go around. As an industry, we have only begun to scratch the surface of all the people and fields we can be helping, and will be helping eventually. And there are way more good people–and clients–in the world than there are rotten eggs.

I clarify that lest anyone who hasn’t yet developed their world sense about this industry be discouraged by my vent yesterday. Don’t be. There is still all kinds of potential and opportunity and wonderfulness out there for you and for everyone. The biggest problem we face as an industry is not bad eggs, it’s learning how to market ourselves, in the right way, with the right focus, to the right people.  That’s part of the reason we are attracting so many of these bad eggs in the first place. Fortunately, that is a problem that can be easily solved with the right education. In fact, I wrote the most straight-forward, step-by-step system to do just that.

But I digress…

When I get my vent on, I say what I say for the Virtual Assistants who can’t afford to. I keep it real and say what many Virtual Assistants wish they could, and would say, if they felt it wouldn’t hurt their business. Sometimes, you just gotta tell it like it is, get it out in the open and out of your system, without all the maudlin woo-woo crap and without apologizing for being a human being and forcing your feelings to be stuffed.

I say what I say because I’m in a position to say it. But I certainly wouldn’t ever advise you to follow suit. There is no place for ranting about clients in your dialogue (your blog, your networking, etc.) as you build your business. This is a conversation between me and you (and me to those particular clients), not one you should be having with your clients and prospects or anywhere within earshot (or eyeshot) of them. All that will do is alienate good clients along with the bad. It’s a turn-off; they won’t know the difference and will think you will be difficult to work with.

As I’ve advised more than one of my members on several occasions: Unless you are an industry leader, have already built your practice and aren’t looking for clients, don’t be an evangelist for Virtual Assistance. That’s not your job. Instead, be an evangelist for your target market and would-be ideal clients.

That said, there really are two essential groups of clients. There are clients who get it, often easily, sometimes with just a tad more education and focusing them on the right things, but who do value it and can afford some level of it or another, as well as prospective clients who get it, want it, honor it, but might not yet be in a position to have it for whatever reason.

These are people who deserve your every graciousness, regardless of whether you end up working together now or later or ever. If you’ve purchased any of my Virtual Assistant business tools, you know that I’ve long advocated that Virtual Assistants always focus and place their greatest attention and efforts on their primary offering–ongoing administrative support, but also create one-time stand-alone services and DIY info products for those clients you can’t work with directly or who can’t yet afford your premium one-on-one ongoing support.

As I explain in my book, “Breaking the Ice:”

Sometimes the client isn’t a fit for you. Sometimes you are not a fit for the client. Regardless of the outcome, every consultation is an opportunity for learning and growth… Don’t forget that even if you don’t end up working with a client, you can still make a new friend. Remember that it’s not all about the end goal. Investing in relationships, rather than outcomes, will always lead you down the path of happiness and success.

And then there are the sharks.

These are the people who are simply out to take advantage, of anyone and anything. These aren’t people you can have any relationship with because they don’t value other people, much less you or the work. They don’t get it and no amount of education will ever get through to them. They aren’t out to be educated. They are out for Numero Uno. They are out to get what they want while giving nothing or as little as possible in return. They don’t care who ends up with the short end of the stick as long as it’s someone else. It’s about them winning, benefiting, getting one over–not partnership and collaboration and mutually beneficial business.

These are not the people who are deserving of any of your added kindnesses or extra time beyond your normal professionalism. You don’t have to do anything–if you don’t feel like it–to help them any further than that. These aren’t people out to refer you because you’ve been nice and gracious and kind. The only referrals you’ll get from the sharks are  more of the same. “Hey, guys… there’s a live one over here. She’ll give you the moon and barely charge you the cost of a month of lattes for it all.”

With referrals like that, who needs hot pokers to the eye.

Don’t be held hostage to this notion that literally everyone is a potential referral source so you’d better be exceedingly nice and overzealously kind to everyone if it kills you. This ultimately also makes you a dishonest, inauthentic phony. Discern the difference. There are some people it’s just not worth dealing with, and there is more to life than business. Live it on your own terms and stop apologizing and second-guessing yourself.

Now, no one can tell you how to spot a shark. I would tell you to not preoccupy one second of your time trying to spot them. It’s the completely wrong focus.

But should you ever sense that you are dealing with a shark (and not someone who is merely naive, innocently misinformed or unrealistic), this is what I have to say to you:

Always be unfailingly professional and polite. There’s no reason not to be. But beyond that, you have no obligation to extend them any further help or kindness, nor be any part of foisting them upon some other poor, unsuspecting Virtual Assistant. You don’t have to wish them any ill will or anything like that. But you do have the option of simply thanking them for their time, walking away, and doing nothing more, giving nothing more, if that is what you see fit to do. There are and will always be a million other more ideal, deserving, giving clients out there to more productively focus your time, energy and kindnesses on. When you focus on the bad eggs, you deprive the good ones of your gifts.

Omigawd, I just have to vent a little here today…

You know, we work so hard to educate the public about Virtual Assistants… that they are experts who specialize in administrative support, not unskilled gophers and flunkies. And then those stupid fluff articles come out, written by industry outsiders who didn’t do their homework or talk to the right authorities, and we get a flood of contacts from business owners who really, in all honestly, are just looking for people they can exploit and take advantage of.

“Yes, I need someone who can take all the administration off my hands, grow my business, create my marketing plan, build me a website, perform all my social networking for me, ghostwrite my blog, manage my public relations, handle all my customer service functions and order fulfillment, and just generally be available whenever I call to do whatever else comes up. The person who fills this role won’t be paid until they start showing results (and I start making some money). Once that happens, they’ll be paid on a percentage basis (or $10/hr). This would be a great role for a work-at-home mom looking for some side income.”

Seriously! I’m not even kidding. I get garbage requests like that all the time through our Virtual Assistant Partnering service. We don’t even entertain them. I’m just not going to disrespect and devalue my members like that. My feeling is Virtual Assistants have a hard enough time trying to earn a living at this work and find clients who value them as professionals. They don’t need their professional associations perpetuating or condoning this kind of shit on their behalf. Gee, isn’t it great that there are Virtual Assistant associations out there enabling that mentality, making it even harder for VAs to create viable, sustainable practices?

Look, you unethical morons, Virtual Assistants are professionals who are running businesses–JUST LIKE YOU. They can’t be expending their time, energy and expertise for a pittance or only the promise of being paid later (and which is dependent upon whether you are even successful or not).

So tell me, when you go to the grocery store, do you think you get to pay later for the groceries you take home and eat today? Do you go to your accountant or bookkeeper or attorney and tell them they’ll be paid on a percentage basis? I think not. You’d be laughed out of their office as they politely (or not so politely) showed you the door.

I mean, really. Get lost! How do you even look at yourselves in the mirror? Granted, there are people out there who have no business calling themselves Virtual Assistants. But pay competent, qualified professionals their fees and quit devaluing them. It’s not their job in life to subsidize your business growth and success. That’s your responsibility and you don’t get to decide how or what they are to be paid for lending their skill and expertise to your business.

And let me ask you this, you completely selfish and self-absorbed person who wants to rip other professionals off of their time, skills and expertise–if you think like that about others, why on earth should anyone pay you for what you do? Hmmm?

Think about it. This really is big picture stuff here. If you want people to honor and value what you have to offer in the world, and pay you what you are worth, you have to be willing to extend that same respect to others.

I was reading a fellow’s blog recently where he was talking about some of the people he was really grateful for in his life. One of the people at the top of his list was a old college professor. He related a story about how one day this professor ripped everyone a big fat new one because they hadn’t done the homework they were expected to bring in that day. Then he stormed  out of class and didn’t return at all again that period.

So did this guy whine about how “unprofessional” his professor was? Did he wail and moan that people should be treated with more respect, who did this professor think he was talking to students like that… yada, yada, yada?

No. What he came away with, he said, was one of the most important lessons he’s never forgotten: Don’t waste people’s time.

This guy really gets it.

Respect is a two-way street. That professor didn’t owe those students his time if they were only wasting it. They were disrespecting him by not being prepared for class and doing what was asked of them. Respect would have been reciprocated had they done their homework and come prepared and mindful of just who was doing who a favor there in the education department (hint: it wasn’t them).

Keep that in mind the next time you think you are “owed” something.

As a Virtual Assistant, if your only selling point is how little you cost or how much cheaper you are than an employee, you’ve already failed in business.

I get it… many people are new to business. They just don’t know how to market themselves. They see what everyone else in the Virtual Assistant industry is talking about on their websites and think that’s what they should be talking about, too. Little do they know that most of those people they are mimicking are struggling, making very little money and attracting all the worst kinds of client traits (think cheapskates and nitpickers, the kind that do not make for a happy nor profitable business).

Let me ask you: Is it your rate that improves the businesses of your clients? Is it your rate that does the skilled work that allows clients to move forward? Is it your rate that streamlines their businesses and helps them run more effectively? Is it your rate that creates more precious time in their lives?

No? Then why do you continue to focus clients on nothing but your price? Surely there is more reason to work with you than the fact that you charge so little or that you are “affordable” or “cheaper than an employee.” Isn’t there?

And for that matter, why do you think that value (i.e., skills, expertise, knowledge and all the host of solutions and benefits that clients reap from those traits) should cost nary a thing?

Sure, you might have clients beating down your door, but are they the right clients? Are they the kind of clients you will enjoy working with? Can you build a real, sustainable business and make an actual living from the amount of money the cheap-seekers want to pay? How long do you think it will take before you resent not making enough money or burn out before barely breaking even?

If you don’t work to understand this dynamic, you are going to forever be stuck on a hamster wheel chasing down clients, attracting the worst kind, and still never making any money. You can’t be (or stay long) in business if clients are the only ones who benefit. Your business absolutely must benefit you equally as well. Otherwise, you don’t have a business.

I encourage you to keep thinking about the real value you bring to the table. How exactly does your support put your clients in a better place in their business than they were before? Hint: It has nothing to do with how much you charge.

The 2009 Virtual Assistant Industry Survey has been humming right along and I thought I would give everyone a more official progress report. As of this posting, we’ve made it well past the halfway mark with 564 participants. We only need 436 more Virtual Assistants to complete the survey to make our goal of 1,000.

This is where your continuing help and promotion will be critical. As you know, all Virtual Assistants who participate will get a free copy of the survey results report. That report will not be compiled until we’ve reached our participation goal. Now that September is over, I’ve got to get back to other things. I will continue to give periodic updates (mostly via Twitter), but not every day like I was. So I’m depending on you all to keep spreading the word so we can reach goal and get the report out to everyone as soon as possible.

I also wanted to say “thank you!” once again to everyone who has continued to send out those mission critical reminders and updates about the survey. Your help has been instrumental in making this huge task such a great success! Keep’em going and feel free to use any verbiage you need from the survey page or press release to remind all your VA buddies and colleagues to take the survey and spread the word.

Luv you, guys!

Dear Gritty VA: I am just starting my Virtual Assistant career. I have seven years of administrative expertise, but one thing I am unclear about is my compensation as a Virtual Assistant. I know that most charge by the hour or on a monthly basis, but how do I know how much to charge? And considering that I am just starting out so I am taking on side jobs that are here and there, how should I charge for smaller list items? Thanks in advance? –KT

My first caution is to always be conscious about the terminology you use. This is important because when you are communicating with others, and especially clients, the words you use in explaining things can have very real effect on how and what expectations are formed, as well as how and whether folks understand what you mean for them to understand. Words like “compensation” have no place in the Virtual Assistant world. That is a term used in the context of employees, which a Virtual Assistant is not. Virtual Assistance is a profession and a business.

As far as what to charge, ask yourself these questions:

1. How much does your business need you to charge? That is, how much do all the expenses and overhead cost to run your business?

2. How much more money do you need to set aside for incidentals and/or continuing education?

3. How much do you need to charge to pay for your own time? How much do you want/need to earn each month/year to pay your own bills (not the business’s)?

4. How much does it take to make something worth your while?

5. How much would honor your skill, value and expertise as an administrative expert?

6. What rate or amount would send the message that you are an expert, not an unskilled amateur, who has what it takes to improve the client’s situation?

7. How much profit needs to be built in for you to achieve your own goals and dreams (e.g., for travel perhaps, or special family vacations, or buying a home)?

8. What kind of cash flow do you need to operate with ease and not be stressed with bills and due dates? (Cash flow is a concept different than simply income; it’s the amount of money you reliably and consistently expect each month that you can use to plan and budget).

9. How do you want to position yourself in the field? How do you want potential clients to look upon you? What “perceived value” message does your pricing send?

You can’t just work to be paying the bills. What you charge can’t just be enough to pay for your expenses and time. In order for you to grow a solvent, sustainable business, you have to make sure your fee covers all the practical business considerations. It also has to be intentioned enough that you can plan, set goals and grow.

Pricing is every bit a marketing strategy as well. How you price sends a message to clients–it can tell them that you are a top-notch expert who has real value to offer and can really help them or it can convey the idea that you are desperate (which isn’t attractive to clients) and/or not very highly skilled.

I would also add that it’s not your job to be “affordable.” Keep that word out of your vocabulary as well. It’s your job to deliver a solution that helps clients move forward in their business and accomplish things. That’s your value and that’s where you want to keep your message focused. So if you consider all the ways that what you do helps clients, how your work ultimately helps them achieve their goals and dreams and make more money, what would you say is the value of that?

Have a look at our Free Resources page… we have a free automated Excel service pricing worksheet that will help give you a beginning frame of reference about what it costs to run a business and what kind of fees you need to charge. It’s a great way to start becoming conscious and intentional about this area of business.

Dear Gritty VA:

I recently purchased the Virtual Assistant business forms offered on your website. I am currently working on developing my business plan for my start-up Virtual Assistant business. In one section of the business plan, you list some industry statistics, specifically an estimated number of established Virtual Assistants. Where did you get that information. I have never attempted any type of market research and analysis before, and to be honest, I am at a complete loss and have been stressing over my lack of knowledge. I don’t even know where to begin. –TD

Oh dear, don’t stress over this stuff! Truly, in the scheme of life, it’s not that important. Let me ask you this: are you doing the business plan for your own purposes or are you intending to use it to seek funding and loan assistance? If it’s for your own purposes, then definitely I want to put you at ease.

First, let me answer your main question on how we arrived at the figure we provided. Back in 2006, my interns and I took on the HUGE project of taking count from Virtual Assistant directories and search engine results. Honestly, I don’t know how we survived that “little” task, LOL. We literally looked at every single VA organization and website we could find and took census.

And we didn’t just take things at face value just because it showed up in results or was listed in a directory or someone called themselves a Virtual Assistant. We deducted from our count any site that was no longer active, and specifically did not include anyone who wasn’t actually a Virtual Assistant (someone who is in the business of providing administrative support to clients) who we determined to be more accurately in another field altogether (e.g., we often found people calling themselves VAs when in fact their entire business was specifically focused on Web design or transcription or bookkeeping–which are completely different categories of business from Virtual Assistance).

So give or take the relatively few anonymous VAs in the world who didn’t have websites or listings, our count really is the most accurate number of those in the industry, increased exponentially to account for the three years that have elapsed since. In two more years, we’ll take another census of the industry and get those counts updated again.

But getting back to your agonizing, LOL, how many VAs there are in the world is of absolutely no consequence for you and your business. It just does not matter. That kind of research and info is only necessary if you are submitting a formal business plan for the purposes of funding or loan assistance. I hereby give you permission to shed not one more bead of sweat on that.

Here’s how I would want you to refocus your thinking on the whole business planning thing… Going through that exercise is very valuable because it gets you to think about and plan things, work ideas and policies out and such, in your business that it might not otherwise occur to you. And of course, you should never, ever just follow a template. You still have to apply your own set of circumstances, your own goals and ideas, as well as your own critical thinking.

The Virtual Assistant business plan template I developed is specifically designed to not only give folks a professional format to follow that they can actually use for funding purposes if they ever need to, but also to get your own creative juices going–not substitute them–and show you a model where you can create multiple revenue streams, passive income and information products all in supplement to your premium craft and trade of ongoing administrative support.

But beyond all that, business planning should most importantly be about what you want for yourself and your life. Your business should serve you and your life first. Your business planning should then be approached from that angle. If you think about it from that perspective, it becomes clearer which parts of the formal business plan to focus your energy and attention on and which parts, not so much. Not to mention, you might be able to have a bit more fun with it.

After that, your highest priority should be on determining a target market on which to focus and doing the homework and research on who they are, what they are doing, what’s important to them, what they need most and where their common challenges and obstacles are. The intersection between your interests and theirs is where you’ll find your sweet spot.

Here’s an article I wrote and published today in “The Portable Business™.” If you’d like to subscribe, go here:

How to Get Yourself UN-Stuck

Ever run into a roadblock where you just can’t move forward? You’re humming along on a project and then, bam—you’re stuck. Big brick wall. You can’t figure a problem out, you’re not sure what the next step is, or your well of creativity seems to have suddenly run dry. Yeah, happens all the time to (literally) everyone.

Finding yourself in that place can be completely frustrating and stressful, especially when you’re really excited to release the work into the world (not to mention possibly being on that impractical little thing called a deadline). But never fear, as I always say! There are some tricks you can pull that will have you unstuck in no time.

1. Do something else. Take a break from the task that has you stuck and focus your attention on another project entirely, especially if it’s one you can finish without any stumbling blocks. Sometimes the satisfaction of successfully completing something is enough to get your mojo flowing again.

2. Change your scenery. Sometimes when I get stuck, it’s because I’ve accumulated too much clutter or disarray. That kind of thing can niggle at you, take up mental space and zap energy. What helps is taking time-out to straighten things up, maybe bring in some fresh flowers and open the windows. Or heck, just get out of the office all together and go sit at a cafe.

3. Go for a walk. Doesn’t matter what the weather is—a jaunt with umbrella and galoshes can be just as fun and invigorating as one in the sun. The point is to get out in the fresh air and get your blood moving.

4. Get someone else’s input. Two heads are often better than one. A fresh set of eyes can help you see something in a new light or that which may have been in front of you the whole time.

5. Read something inspirational. Are there books or magazines that never fail to get you pumped? Go hang out with them for a bit.

6. Sleep on it. Sometimes just putting the project to bed for the night does wonders. It’s amazing how often a brilliant new idea or the solution to a vexing problem will appear to you in the light of a new day.

7. Trust. Don’t be fooled. You can’t rush creativity. It’s controlled by magical forces that only deign to let us harness them at their whim. So try to relax and comfort yourself with the fact it will return precisely when and where it is supposed to.

RESOURCE: I haven’t read it myself, but I have heard so many great things over the years about the book “The Artist’s Way” by Julia Cameron. It offers techniques for overcoming writer’s block that thousands of devotees swear by.

By now, I’m sure everyone has heard about the David Letterman extortion plot. What I think is interesting is how people have drawn conclusions about things they couldn’t possibly glean from the monologue he gave about the circumstances. They make things up in their own heads; draw conclusions based on nothing except their own imagination. Are we a nation of uneducated peasants? The stupidity of it all just floors me.

Now, to be absolutely clear, I’m not defending Letterman. Having workplace relationships (romantic or sexual) is stupid and ill-advised. He’s an unmitigated jerk-off for cheating on the heart of the woman (women?) who loves him and possibly thought she was in a committed, monogamous relationship. Engaging in this behavior also exposes him as a target for just this kind of thing, as we’ve seen.

But, at this stage, based on what little details we know, he hasn’t done anything unlawful. We absolutely do not have the kind of true and complete knowledge of the facts to assume anything. And he didn’t admit to anything other than he’s “had sex with women who work on the show.” So what. He’s just a celebrity. Heck, he’s just a man. Who cares if he’s a hypocrite. He’s not the Pope and he’s not the president. Last I checked, he was a comedian. It’s his job to poke fun of others in the same situation he now finds himself in.

Beyond that, how people conclude that he committed sexual harassment based on his monologue is beyond me. It becomes obvious that they don’t know what sexual harassment is (and shame on the HR consultant who should know this). So let me enlighten you:

A boss, manager or other superior having a romantic or sexual relationship with a subordinate does not automatically constitute sexual harassment.

It’s not against the law to have a consensual relationship with a subordinate. There is no wrongdoing unless the relationship has been coerced with threat looming over the subordinate’s position or career and they bring a claim of sexual harassment against the superior. If the reports that have come out thus far are true, no one has ever filed a sexual harassment claim against him and he didn’t violate any company policies against workplace relationships. Until a victim actually steps forward and states there has been unwanted, coerced sexual harassment, we don’t know that there has been any.

I guess my point is, don’t be an ignorant dummy. Get the facts before you go flapping your lips about stuff you don’t know anything about. Don’t make them up.

Dear Gritty VA:

Hello! I’m in the beginning stages of starting my own Virtual Assistant business, but the information on the Web is a tad overwhelming. I’m well-qualified with eight years of administrative experience within various fields (marketing, accounting, constructions and the military). I have so many questions!!! My first question is how do I find a niche and is it necessary to my business’s success? Where do I find clients and should I pay a fee to do so? –MT

Generally speaking, I would say no to paying a fee to find clients. I’m guessing that you are referring to job referral sites and such, and those places just do not bring the kind of clients with the proper mindset to pay professional fees. Mostly they are looking for project work sourced out to the lowest bidder. You can’t build a VA business like that and they’ll have you working for $1-$10 an hour. Seriously. If that makes sense to you, you of course have that option, but if you’re truly looking to build a business that will yield a livable income or better, you’ll want to save your time, energy and efforts for better avenues.

Determining a target market (another term for niche) is one of things you can do to make everything less overwhelming and give you some direction as far as finding clients. When you know who you are directing your message to, you can write a clearer, more compelling message that will resonate with them. When you know who your audience is, you can create your offerings specifically to meet their needs, which in turn will make them more attractive to clients. When you know who your market is, you don’t have to wonder how to find clients. You simply figure out where your target market hangs out online and off, and then look for opportunities to network and interact with them. Knowing who your intended market is will make all the work of figuring out what their common interests, goals and challenges so much easier.

There’s not really a secret to determining a target market. Some people start with what they are familiar with, meaning they might choose a target market because they’ve worked in that particular field or industry before, they know what it’s about, how those businesses are run and can easily identify the kind of administrative support they can give to professionals in that field.

Some people might choose a target market because it’s one that already has established history of working with Virtual Assistants. For example, the coaching, speaking, real estate and legal fields are industries with a long history of utilizing Virtual Assistants. Those industries are already familiar with ours, they know the drill, so to speak, and you can be pretty sure there are plenty of clients to go around and they will be easy to find.

Other people might end up with a wild card–a client who works in an industry they weren’t familiar with before. In those circumstances, they might find they really have an affinity for the field and the kind of work clients do and really enjoy working with folks in that industry.

You might switch target markets several times throughout the life of your business, but the point is to start somewhere as it will give you much needed direction and focus for your efforts all the way around. In choosing a target market, the most important criteria it must meet are:

• It must be an industry that has a need for the solution you are in business to provide;
• It must be an industry where there are plenty of clients who have a need for your solution and who are easy to find and network with;
• It must be an industry/field where the business owners are making enough money to afford professional fees (you can’t work with people who can’t afford you).

467 participants so far–533 to go. We’re almost there! Take part in the 2009 Virtual Assistant Industry Survey and spread the word!