Blog - Laptop + Littles: Recent Episodes
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What your organizational skills might be missing and how to pivot in order to be more successful Chances are you resonate with being at one of these levels of organization skills…
- Super Organized
- A Hot Mess
- Organized Chaos
The goal of this post is to speak to each of these organization skill levels. We believe that each level could use some growth (yes, even you, the type A entrepreneur). Our years of experience working with different types of clients at different skill levels of organization allows us to share a perspective of seeing the consequences of poor organization and/or delegation skills.
So let's dive into these skill levels one at a time…
The Super Organized Congrats, you have beautiful Asana projects and seamless processes for your team to follow. It’s a skill not many hold, especially when they are running a business or managing large teams. Here is where we have spotted weaknesses with this skill level…
Sometimes the most organized can get caught up in processes that once worked well for them but don’t work for larger teams or different seasons of business.
The most important thing to remember is that our processes should always be growing and improving. We can always find ways to be more efficient.
While your processes may have worked well and may be great for where you are in the solopreneur season, they may not translate over to working with a larger team. Make sure you stay open to growing your processes and taking advantage of the perspectives you bring into your circle.
Especially when you bring on a Virtual Assistant, they will gain a unique perspective on how efficient your processes are as they will be the one maintaining them. So always be open to growth in this area! Don’t be the bottleneck in your own processes and efficiency. You can still be super organized and have help staying organized.
Or maybe your processes go on to work long term but you are having trouble handing it off to a Virtual Assistant to maintain. This is another bottleneck that can easily be avoided. You can’t do all the things forever. Maybe in the beginning but the goal is to grow to a point where you can’t handle all of the things. Be ready to hand things over before you even get there.
Need help finding someone you trust to hand off your baby? Book a call with us and we can explore finding you the perfect match: https://calendly.com/laptopandlittles/need-an-assistant
Next, The Hot Mess If you resonate as someone with no process for anything, who operates each day within a new routine and with no consistency, then this might be for you!
The gist is that this organizational strategy doesn’t last long. It certainly won’t allow you to scale and will most definitely drive any team member away from working with you.
Most unorganized individuals recognize they need help and have no problem handing things over to someone else to make things happen. If that’s you, great job, make sure you find that person sooner than later.
If you’re one who has a harder time handing things over and following processes, here are some tips for you to get into the habit of an organized work schedule…
- Block your calendar.
Calendar blocking can work wonders for someone trying to get into a routine. It’s also going to keep you accountable each day for what needs to be done. You don’t get it done one day? Move it to the next. 2. Work high-level.
Once you get an assistant and they get your life in order, operate in your strengths. Work on high-level things and leave the details, organization, and processes to your assistant. 3. Assign everything to your assistant.
Whether to hand things off physically in an email, slack, Asana, etc or you jump on a weekly check-in and list off everything you have going on, make sure you are letting your assistant know what all is going on in your life, so they can take over and help you manage it.
You don’t have to be organized to be a successful business owner, but you do have to have organization in your business to be successful.
Need help finding that organized person to come in and whip your processes into shape? Book a call with us to explore how our team can help: https://calendly.com/laptopandlittles/need-an-assistant
And finally, The Organized Chaos A lot of business owners start out this way, especially if they aren’t naturally organized. When getting things off the ground, sometimes things move too fast to put processes in place, so you tell yourself you’ll go back and create them later. This doesn’t always happen.
And sometimes, you get into a groove with the bits of a makeshift process you’ve put into place along the way and since it’s worked fine for you…you expect others to catch on as well.
Don’t do that to yourself or your business.
Once you are at a level where you can bring someone on who is organized, let them get things organized. Follow the processes they put into place for you. Don’t continue operating on a level of chaos because it will never allow you to scale.
This level can usually come before most think it can. You don’t have to bring someone on part-time for them to make a difference in your day-to-day. Start at 10 or 20hrs a month just to get things started. Need help with that process? Book a call with us to explore how our team can help: https://calendly.com/laptopandlittles/need-an-assistant
No matter where you are on this scale of organizational skills, know that you can always improve! Here are some basic tips for staying organized:
- Add everything to your calendar and add notifications so you actually see it…Even better? Have your VA do it!
- Keep all of the same types of information in 1 specific place or folder…Even better? Have your VA do it!
- Keep forgetting to pay your bills on time? Set up auto bill pay…Even better? Have your VA do it!
- Do you miss doctor or medical appointments because you forget about them? Set a reminder for that date WHEN YOU BOOK IT…Even better? You guessed it :)
Need a Virtual Assistant that can implement these things into your life? Book a call with us to explore how our team can help you: https://calendly.com/laptopandlittles/need-an-assistant
There is a really amazing benefit to working with a Virtual Assistant that I don’t hear talked about that often.
We hear about how you can save up to 78% on operating costs…
Or how remote workers can increase productivity up to 13%...
But we don’t talk a lot about the vastness of support you can get from a Virtual Assistant.
Think about it like this, an in-office administrative assistant or office manager is going to be limited to the role they’ve been assigned. They will answer calls, book appointments, organize files, maybe plan events, manage vendors, pay invoices, etc.
If their boss has a birthday party they are planning for a family member, they aren’t going to suggest helping take tasks off their list because…it’s not a part of their role.
There is so much more in our lives as business owners that we can (probably need) to hand off to someone else. So why don’t we?!
Maybe you’re going on a family vacation and it’s been tough to get everything in order because of how busy work has been.
Maybe you keep missing certain bills because you have to pay them manually and you just get caught up on everything and always seem to miss the due date.
Or maybe you need to do your Christmas shopping but you can’t even begin to think about what you’re going to get, much less actually going online and ordering it.
Here is the thing, the goal of hiring a Virtual Assistant is not to free up your time to focus on all of the personal to-do’s in your life.
The GOAL of hiring a Virtual Assistant is to free up your time to work on the high-level things only you can work on in your business and to give you more time to enjoy your life.
So again, why aren’t more clients handing off personal tasks to Virtual Assistants?Maybe, because it’s personal and you don’t feel like you should be asking someone you hired for your business to be taking on personal tasks.
And there are a couple of things to note with this…
If you hired a Virtual Assistant through the company you work for, it might be a discussion with your team about what you can and can’t have your assistant work on.
But if it’s YOU paying for your Virtual Assistant, you can write off their support whether they spend it helping you put together a slide deck for your next presentation or booking a dinner reservation for your next date night.
If you have someone keeping your personal life organized, then you have more freedom to enjoy the free time you get from also having a VA keep your business life in order.
Delegating is hard and for some, it gets harder when handing off personal tasks. We get it.
But it’s such a small speed bump keeping you from the most efficient interstate you could possibly operate on.
Getting over the strangeness of handing off personal tasks can launch you into a new level of free time.
So maybe you’re wondering how we can make such a claim?
What could a VA possibly take off your plate to free up your life that much?* Schedule doctor appointments * Make food/drink reservations * Book Travel - flights/Airbnb/hotels * Research - find the best live show in Vegas * Shop - find potential gifts, order groceries, etc * Plan events - holiday parties, birthday parties, family get-togethers * Meal plan * Pay bills - including things like vehicle registration, medical bills, etc
Still not sure what that would look like for you?Okay, I want you to reference some of the outstanding personal life to-do’s on your list right now. Maybe it’s:
- Do research into a lawn care company to use this summer (and then actually set it up)
- Plan a family trip before the kids go back to school
- Find a contractor to do work around the house
- Get your dog groomed
- Sell that piece of extra furniture
- Call about that medical bill
- Create a reading list for the summer
- Create a chore chart for your kids
- Get tickets to your favorite local sports team
Whatever is on your list, chances are a Virtual Assistant can help you take steps to check it off. Don’t underestimate the power of a good VA!
There is also a huge benefit to having your assistant take on personal life tasks when they are already working with you in your business/work. It gives the assistant a deeper level of understanding of where you are in your life. Maybe letting them into your personal calendar allows them to see you haven’t gone on a date night in months and so they make it a priority to help you work one into your schedule.
Could you use a little help keeping your work and personal life in order? Book a call here with us to explore how our team might be able to help.
In an effort to help you set expectations and take the steps to create a solid foundation for your client/assistant relationship, we’ve compiled 8 tips for working with a Virtual Assistant. If you are working with a new assistant or if you are looking for ways to better the existing relationship you have with your assistant, then this article is for you!
We’ve taken our founder’s combined experience of over a decade working both as Virtual Assistants themselves and as clients, working with other Virtual Assistants to create this list of realistic expectations and easy steps to take.
#1: QUALITY OVER QUANTITYI think it’s safe to say, this lands on all the lists of tips for just about everything, but let’s explain a bit more in detail what we mean in the context of working with a Virtual Assistant.
One big benefit of working with a VA is that you don’t have to be ready to take on someone full or even part-time. Some people tend to shy away from getting support because they think they can’t afford it…because they don’t have a large budget for a FT or PT assistant.
We get it! It’s the setup we’re used to in offices or even on our own remote team but when working with a Virtual Assistant/freelancer, you don’t always need the amount of time YOU think you need to begin with. Something that might take you an hour will only take the assistant 30 minutes.
In addition to that, even if you don’t have the budget for what you estimate needing…
For example, let’s say you estimate needing 20hrs of support each month, your budget is $300/month…and you are looking at two assistants:
One has been kind of flakey in their communication, doesn’t seem excited to work with you, or for whatever reason doesn’t feel like a fit BUT they are within your budget at $15/hr.
Meanwhile, the second assistant is super easy to communicate with, you already feel they are trustworthy, and overall, it seems like a good fit. The problem is, they are $30/hr. That’s double your budget.
Sure, you could go with the assistant that fits within your budget and make it work. Maybe it does! In our experience two things could happen:
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The assistant may eventually raise their rate to meet their performance anyway.
-
(and more likely in this scenario) The assistant doesn’t work out and you spend a month or two onboarding and an additional month of realizing they aren’t a fit before you part ways, and then you’re back to square one, but short $900.
The solution is simple. And no, we’re not telling you to up your budget when you can’t! Just cut the hours of support for now. Make it work with the assistant that is the best fit. THIS is what will go far and create the support you need in your life to grow your business. Work with the $30/hr assistant at only 10hrs/month until you can afford to up your hours. Delegate things slowly instead of all at once. You’ve been doing it all up until now, it will feel like a dream even to have just a fraction of it taken off your plate!
#2: DEFINE EXPECTATIONSThink of any time you’ve hired someone or applied for a specific position. Most likely, you created a job description and laid out expectations for the role. This starts to look a little different for small businesses, especially when it comes to a Virtual Assistant. You don’t always know what you’re going to delegate right off the bat. That’s totally okay! The expectations we’re talking about are more about how you expect your relationship to look. Think through the following examples:
How will you communicate - Slack, text, Asana, Email, etc?
Even if you aren’t sure, have this conversation with your assistant (and most assistants will initiate this conversation so just be sure to know what you want). You want to make sure if they respond to a task you send over, that you are looking in the right place for their response. We have so many assistants who struggle with getting their clients to commit to a dedicated channel for communication, so it’s important to settle on where day-to-day communication should take place, as well as where tasks will be handed off!
How often do you expect them to be on video calls?
This is important to consider when hiring a Virtual Assistant because freelancers freelance for a reason. They don’t want to be tied down to their computer or on calls all day. Now, some assistants don’t mind all-day meetings every day but you should disclose this so they can be upfront about the support they can and can’t provide for you.
Do you have working hours you’d like them available for?
Now, this really only applies if you are working with an assistant for 20-40hrs a week. You can’t really expect a VA to be online between 9 am-5 pm every day if you have only retained 10hrs of their time a month. But if you are working with them in a larger capacity, make sure they know if you would like them online and responsive during certain times. Some freelancers like to take care of urgent tasks in the morning and then work on non-time-sensitive items after hours. And again, most freelancers are still available all throughout the day but they just might not be ready to jump on a quick call at all times.
#3: SYNC WITH YOUR ASSISTANT REGULARLY You will not grow in your relationship with your assistant unless you are syncing regularly. Let me repeat that: You will not grow in your relationship with your assistant unless you are syncing regularly.
If they are providing PT or FT support, this sync might be every day (even if just in slack, text, voice msgs, etc) but we recommend a weekly check-in. This can even be just 15 minutes blocked off for a brain dump. Sometimes, the tasks you need to delegate don’t come up until you sync with your assistant and have a moment to think through what’s going on and what you can hand off. Don’t skip this!
#4: SHARE YOUR CALENDAR AND EMAIL ACCOUNTThis might seem obvious but we think it’s important to note because there are always some clients who think they don’t need their VA in their inbox. Our reasoning behind this is that even if a VA isn’t actively doing something in your inbox (i.e. email management, setting up drafts, etc) it’s still super helpful for them to keep an eye on what is going on. This helps give them the foresight to be proactive in their support! If they notice an email come through that they know they can help you with, they can bring it up for you instead of waiting for you to notice the email and send them a message with the request. It just allows them to keep one step ahead!
It’s also important to give them full access to your calendar. This will help your assistant from running into any issues while doing any last-minute scheduling/rescheduling and keeps you from having to keep updating their access level.
#5: GET PERSONALYou may be hiring a Virtual Assistant for your business to-do’s but keep in mind that the more you have off of your plate in general, the better! When was the last time you had a physical? Or had a date night? Having an assistant helps you be intentional about making these personal things happen and can be a life-changer. Don’t be afraid to hand off personal stuff! You can even hand off having someone pay your bills, order your groceries, and meal plan, manage your family schedule, research gift ideas, research vacations, travel options and so, so much more!
#6: SHARE YOUR PREFERENCESAlong with your expectations, share all of your preferences! Again, a good assistant should be asking you these in their onboarding process but you can do your part in making sure you have these top of mind for them. Make sure to think through things like:
- Scheduling - Do you have a naming convention for your calendar?
- Inbox - What do you want to be done with your emails?
- Communication - Do you want to be kept (cc’d) on email threads when your assistant takes over scheduling/coordinating?
- What are your travel preferences - Airline, flight seats, hotel or Airbnb, points or cash?
- Do you have any pet peeves?
#7: TREAT YOUR VIRTUAL ASSISTANT LIKE A PARTNERThe more your VA operates as a partner (and not an employee), the faster you will grow together. Be open with them about what’s going on in your life so they can intuitively support you. Respect their time when you have scheduled syncs, if you need to miss them, tell them ahead of time so they know they are valued…they will get it if you are too busy that day :)
#8: GIVE CONSISTENT FEEDBACKLast but not least, make sure to give continuous feedback. If your assistant does something you don’t like, tell them. If they do something that makes your life easier, tell them!
We gave you 8 tips and it may seem like a lot but really, it’s simple. Be intentional about building your relationship with your assistant and they will take ownership of their role in your business/personal life in a life-changing way. They have the power to help you in more than just handling the admin tasks but you have to give it to them!
If you need more help managing an assistant, let’s chat. We can explore how our team might be able to help: https://calendly.com/laptopandlittles/need-an-assistant
Did you know that being a Virtual Assistant is one of the easiest ways to transition into working from home?
No experience is needed. And no degree needed.
This is crazy considering what we all heard when considering college in high school, that in order to make a decent salary, you have to go to college.
But on average, a virtual assistant can start out anywhere between $20-$25 per hour.
That’s $3,200-$4,000 your first month with full-time hours.
You can earn more money working as a freelancer than working in many traditional jobs.
And you can save on commutes and childcare if you wanted to!
Plus, you can increase your rates as YOU see fit. You can always make sure you’re being paid your worth. And then add tax. No more waiting for that yearly pay raise from your 9-5.
Still, some don’t really believe you can do it without a degree. And I get it.
We’ve all been so conditioned to believe we have to go into forever debt to earn a degree we may or may not use. It’s hard to change that belief.
Tianna started her virtual assistant career over half a decade ago and had no idea what she was getting herself into.
And then she made $2,500 her first month working PART-TIME and knew she’d tapped into something amazing.
Or maybe you're like me and took out an unspeakable amount in student loans to earn your degree and then one day found yourself staying at home with your littles...
OR maybe you have a job but you aren't making near what you thought your degree would earn you. AND you aren't even doing something you enjoy...
What I’m trying to say is... If we can justify an expensive college degree because it's what the next step is supposed to be...
Then maybe we can justify investing in ourselves to learn how to earn an income we have control over.
A college degree opens doors FOR SURE, but you still have to earn your way through those doors even after all of the work the degree took to earn. Some people spend years doing that and then realize how unhappy their career makes them.
But let’s get to the practical reasons you DON’T need a Virtual Assistant degree.
The Virtual Assistant role is very similar to mothering.
We have said for a while now that we believe mothers make incredible assistants.
There are many reasons for this but the gist is, moms do a LOT and they do it all at once, and sometimes clients need someone to come in and do that for their business.
They need someone to come in and mother their business.
And most of the things they need you to do are the same things you are doing in your day-to-day.
We do very similar things like:
Coordinate schedules
Meal plan
Pay bills
Set reminders
Help create to-do lists
Organize
Take notes
Etc…
Instead of a degree, the things we look for in a good assistant are 10 traits. Listen to our podcast on this to learn more on this!
Here are the 10 traits:
- Motivation
- Resourceful
- Trustworthy/Reliable
- Proactive
- Organized
- Adaptability
- Good Communicator
- Multi-Tasker
- Autonomous
- Committed
Need help deciphering if you have these traits? Text us at 812-203-4244 and we’ll help walk you through if this career could work for you!
While we don’t encourage focusing on making “quick money” when you start your Virtual Assistant career, we do understand that it’s a necessity for some people to start making money asap.
The best way to do this is to get out there and focus all of your effort into landing clients, even if it’s temporary work…
But let’s break down 3 ways you can intentionally hunt down work as a new Virtual Assistant. 1- Sites like Fiverr and Upwork These sites are, for the most part, freelance havens where clients go to find support with one-off tasks and projects. You most likely aren’t finding a forever client here. You might find an ongoing client but in the sense that you provide one specific service for them each month (like posting blogs, creating social images, transcribing a podcast, etc.)
These are great ways to make quick money when starting out because the turn-around is faster. When networking with potential clients, you are building trust and relationships. It’s not going to be overnight that you meet a potential client, and they sign on as a client (although, we have seen this happen, so it’s not impossible).
The difference in these situations is that clients go to sites like Fiverr and Upwork looking for someone to complete a task they already have in mind. Sometimes, when you land a client you’ve been networking with, it still takes a bit to get into a groove with them. They might have an idea of what they need support with but actually delegating is a different story. And they go to the places where you are networking with them looking to…network. They don’t usually go to those places looking for a VA right away.
However, a client that posts a gig for transcribing a 90min meeting chooses your bid, they pay for that gig, you turn that task around in 24hrs and the whole interaction is done.
The key to landing these gigs when there are hundreds/thousands of other freelancers is to make sure your profile is polished and professional. Get family/friends/old coworkers to leave reviews on your profile!
2- Network Locally Networking online is efficient because you can network with so many people in different places at once. However, the time it takes to build trust can sometimes be longer than it would be if you were networking in person. So if you don’t want to go the Fiverr route, take some time to network with local businesses. Start off by just introducing yourself and making a connection. Follow them on social. If it’s a physical goods business, make a purchase and share a picture in your stories (tagging them), show them support and engage authentically with them. Get the conversation started and offer ways to help them. Don’t leave it to them to imagine how you can support them. Find ways you can specifically serve them.
Do they post on social consistently?
When you visit the business, is their phone ringing off the hook?
Do you notice that they don’t have a personal life?
See if you can fill gaps in their day-to-day!
3- Join referral programs! There are ways to get creative with this! For example, we have a referral program for our students, where they can earn up to $99 when they refer a future student. If you join a coaching program, check if there is a referral program. If you are referring someone more business, make an effort to check if there is a way you can be compensated for sending them business!
The most important thing though is to focus on finding the work that works for you. If you find these opportunities quickly, great. If not, don’t get discouraged because it just means you haven’t found your fit yet!
Stay consistent and you will get the results you are looking for! The worst thing you can do is go after these things with a desperate mindset so keep in mind what would be a good fit for you and the rest will come.
It’s really hard to say what a day in the life of a work-from-home mom looks like because there really is no concrete definition that works for every mom out there. Even when working the same role, the days can look different.
Part of that is because every single child is unpredictable so even two moms with the same number of children, working from home in the same type of role…will have two different workdays.
Another part of that is that we are all different. We operate differently, even when we are similar. So when given the freedom to work how and where we want, it will look different.
And that’s really the beauty of working from home, especially as a freelancer.
If you are working in an office, you are most likely expected to work the same way everyone else in the office works. Company culture and all of that, right? This can be great for people who thrive in the company culture they are in. Maybe they even helped create it.
But for people who don’t feel at home in their company’s culture (intentionally created or not), this can be really uncomfortable. It can even take the joy out of a job you may enjoy. It can cause stress and create a feeling of being stuck in an environment you can’t leave but also can’t change. The matter of the fact is though…not everyone is built to work the same way.
This is one reason we’ve heard so many good things about the WFH era that was forced onto our society the last few years. Most companies hated it while most employees loved it, and reported they felt more productive. This is because they are able to work the way they want.
So the first thing to consider when trying to imagine what your day should look like as a WFH mom is… that you can’t compare your day to anyone else’s because they are meant to look different.
For example, Tianna and I do very similar things but our workdays look totally different.
She will wake up early and get right to work while I will stay up late and work.
She will try to knock out as many calls and meetings as she can in one sitting while I need a day to recover from a handful of meetings.
She will co-work easily while I can’t focus as well when working around other people.
But then we are super similar in other ways!
We both like to work on the phone together from time to time.
We both have bursts of energy when it comes to working on projects.
We both need focus time away from our kids to feel creative in our work.
And then you throw kids into all of that and there is never a normal.
Here is a way we find a way to prioritize the important things each day so we can roll with the punches and still get stuff done.
1- What are my and my kid’s needs today?
You literally never know when someone in your house could wake up not feeling well. So first things first, evaluate everyone’s mood, health, etc so you can anticipate the type of day you’ll have.
No matter the answer to that, find time to yourself to prep for the day. Even if that’s 10min of getting yourself ready in your locked bathroom.
2- What are my work needs today?
Do your to-do’s. Check your emails. Prioritize by urgency and clients. Figure out what absolutely has to get done today and knock out the most time-sensitive items first. If you are a procrastinator (like me), start knocking out the bigger stuff next, the little stuff will feel like cake after that.
Be prepared to be interrupted. Work the bigger stuff into naptime or something where you should get at least an hour of uninterrupted work time. Anything else that’s bigger, less time-sensitive but still needs to get done, take some time to knock out after dinner or bedtime (or early the next morning). These pockets of “bonus” work time are great for things you can do to get ahead. Keep in mind, you may be “working late” but it’s not because you are working more hours than you should, it’s because you choose to work around your kids’ lives during the day.
Now if you find yourself constantly behind or frustrated at your kids because you can’t get any focused work time in, you might consider finding help keeping your kids entertained for half the day or even preschool a few days a week.
Just because you work from home, doesn’t mean you have to have your kids with you.
This is important to remember because that belief can land you in some serious burnout. Even though your roles consist of helping everyone else, that doesn’t mean you can’t keep a pulse on your own needs.
The bottom line, be open to working differently when working from home. Whether that is happening with your kids or not! And if it’s with your kids, be prepared to sprinkle your work throughout your day and plan focused work time in when you can!
Most importantly, follow other moms working from home…not to mimic their routines but gain inspiration from them that you can work into your own routine!
Need help figuring out what your routine would look like? Text our community number to ask for help! 812-203-4244
I get it, it’s a lot of information to take in when you first start your Virtual Assistant journey. There is so much information out there but when you go to put it all in place, it seems overwhelming and like you are more lost than you were before finding the information.
If that’s you, then this post was written for you.
While you’re sorting through all of the information and figuring out what to do with it, let’s break down what basics you need to get in order before you land that first client.
1 - A Way to InvoiceFirst, let’s figure out how you will get paid.
There are a ton of invoicing options out there so I encourage you to get out there and explore a few of them to get a feel for what dashboard you like, the features you want, etc. Play around inside of these tools and find one you feel at home with.
Here is something to keep in mind as you explore these invoicing tools…
Will you be taking on a full-time VA career or very part-time? Do you plan on ever taking on subcontractors to scale your business?
If you’re making this a small side gig, you don’t necessarily need some large invoicing tool.
But if you are building out a full-sized business with the potential to take on sub-contractors, then you will need something that can do more than just invoice. You might need something that can take on bookkeeping as well.
Honeybook seems to be a fan favorite at the moment.
2 - A ContractThis is a must because it’s a really simple way to protect yourself in these positions. We blindly sign these types of agreements all the time… When we sign an estimate for housework, when our iPhone updates, or when we purchase something online. Most of these we never even read through or see but they keep us and the seller protected.
Now if you don’t have a lawyer on retainer (who does?) or you’re not a part of a Virtual Assistant coaching program, like ours…you may be overwhelmed by the idea of having a contract in place with your clients. That’s okay!
The basics you need to cover can be found in most contract templates you can find online.
If you aren’t planning on purchasing a template, just do a quick google search for “Contractor Agreement Templates”
My suggestion is to eventually have it looked over by a lawyer OR save to purchase a pre-made one from a lawyer who specializes in online business.
3 - Your 1-Pager
Finally, once you have the basics in place for getting started, you need to have something to share when you’re networking. It can be as simple as a resume or as complex as a website. But don’t get stuck on either/or, just create what you feel you can be confident in!
Some ladies will even just create a FB page with a killer about me, some sample work, testimonials, and posts.
Your main goal with this is to give clients a clear picture of who you are. You want your personality to show through so they can feel that initial connection with you.
Once you have at least these 3 things in place, you’re safe to start networking and landing clients. Everything else can fall into place later. Just take these steps to get the ball rolling and as you do, everything else will start to make sense!
Excellent customer service is a must for a service provider. Sure, you can do just enough to provide the service you promised. No more no less. But the moment your client is presented with an opportunity to move on from you, they won’t feel the loyalty to stay with you.
And really, if you love what you do as a Virtual Assistant. If you love supporting your clients, this should be an easy thing to accomplish.
But sometimes life gets in the way and we move our customer service to the back-burner. We do the bare minimum.
So here are 3 quick and really simple ways you can go the extra mile for your clients without feeling like you’re bending over backward.
- Be extremely responsive
I say extremely but I want to make it clear that this doesn’t mean you make yourself more available than what your client pays for. If you have boundaries set to not be available after 5 pm or on the weekends, by all means, keep your boundaries in place (but of course, make them verbally clear with the client from the beginning so they will expect this).
But during your workday with your clients, make sure you are responding to them quickly. Even if they reach out and ask you to do something for them and you don’t plan on doing it right then, respond to let them know you got their text/email/slack/whatever and you’re on it. Give them an ETA on the finished product. Never make them question if you got their communication.
Once you’ve finished a task, make sure they know it’s ready for them or that it’s done. If the task was to research something so they could make a decision and then you are waiting on them to get back to you on what phone to order or flight to book, make sure you nudge them if you don’t get a response right away.
- Offer up your assistance even when it’s not asked for If you are having your weekly check-in with your client and they mention having to travel next month…but they don’t ask you to look up flights or accommodation...Ask them if you can anyway. They may not have thought about it yet but YOU know that they won’t think of it until the last minute so you might as well as NOW. :)
Another example of this, is if you notice something in their inbox that you can take care of but they haven’t sent it to you, ask them if you can take care of it. Give suggestions for how. Maybe the email just needs a quick response, so you offer to draft one up and send it once the client approves it. Or maybe it’s an invoice you’ve seen hanging out in their inbox for a few days, ask if you can get it taken care of for them. Never leave things waiting!
- Put everything on their calendar. Even the things that don’t involve other people. Put lunch on their calendar. Put your vacation time on their calendar. Put reminders on their calendar (or maybe even shoot them a message with reminders, as needed). If your client doesn’t use their calendar, shoot them messages more often.
It doesn’t take much to become irreplaceable, just be intentional about your customer service and own your work! Baby your clients as much as they need it. Some clients won’t need or want that, and that’s okay! But get in-tune with the type of relationship they want so you can step up and be that for them.
I think it’s safe to say that when you first learned about the Virtual Assistant world, there was a lack of trust. Even if it’s a split second of, “Is this real” you most likely had to build trust with the idea that you can work virtually this way.
And if you’ve spent any time at all in the Virtual Assistant world, you’ve seen how many scams there are out there when looking for VA jobs (this is a big reason we say to stay away from job applications but that’s another post for another time).
So imagine how potential clients feel when they are introduced to the idea of working with someone so closely, yet virtually.
Not only that but there are lots of clients that HAVE actually worked with Virtual Assistants before but had bad experiences.
Maybe they took their money and ran, maybe they over-promised and under-delivered, or maybe they just disappeared after working together for a while.
Whatever the case, it is YOUR job to do everything you can to make sure these clients can trust you.
Of course, there are situations where the client might simply be a micromanager or are just not ready to trust someone but let’s assume the client has put in the work to make their trust accessible to you…
- Having your calls on zoom (video on)This helps create trust for obvious reasons. Being able to see someone face to face takes the mystery out of things a bit. Especially in the beginning. They can read your body language (as much as you can from the shoulders up). Being “face to face” will just naturally allow your relationship to grow faster.
- Staying responsiveThis goes for even before you’ve landed the client. From when you first start conversing with the client to after you’re working together, be responsive. When they reach out, respond as quickly as possible. And by that, I don’t mean as soon as you get off of work. I mean, if you are able to open an email from your phone and respond with a “got it! I’ll get to this by EOD” or whatever, do it.
Follow-up with your client when THEY aren’t being responsive. Don’t let them get busy and have to reach out to YOU for help. Be in their line of sight so you are the first thing they think of every time a new task comes up. If they are having trouble delegating, don’t sit around and wait for them to send you tasks. Be diligent about reaching out every day to ask how you can help, make suggestions often and schedule those weekly check-ins. 3. Have a contract in placeHaving a contract in place with the clients you work with creates that extra level of security for you and your client. Them knowing that you have gone through the trouble of creating a contract to keep things in order will show them that you can be trusted. Why would you sign a contract saying you’ll do the work you’ve agreed to if you plan on flaking? 4. Share testimonialsThis is a big one for clients. They like to see proof that you’ve made other clients happy. Of course! We don’t usually buy things that don’t have any reviews on them because we aren’t sure we want to be the first to have to leave a bad one.
This doesn’t mean that if you’ve never worked with a client before that you can’t get started. How do you think someone with pages of testimonials got started? Not with pages of testimonials.
There are several ways you can solve this problem and here are just a few:
- Reach out to some "dream clients" or post in a FB group and offer a specific task in return for a testimonial
- Create graphics for said "dream client" and send them asking for a testimonial
- Take any part of a recommendation letter that speaks to your skills you will use as a Virtual Assistant and add them as testimonials
- If you’re working with coaches like us, ask if you can do some sample tasks for a testimonial
As usual, don’t overthink it. Use your common sense and intuition. What would cause you to lose or gain trust in someone? Be intentional about your communication and reach out if you need feedback on how to communicate!
Finding a niche is KEY to growing your Virtual Assistant business.
But it’s not going to make or break it.
You may hear VA coaches tell you to find your niche right away and that advice can be detrimental to many women getting started. Here is why:
Coming up with a niche gets some women stuck and so…they just never start.
So here is my take on finding a niche…
Finding a niche IS important but it doesn’t have to come before finding your first client.
You CAN find clients without a niche. And it doesn’t have to be harder to do so without one.
When you’re networking and prospecting clients in FB groups, your personal network, etc… focus first on providing excellent support. Focus on meeting whatever needs are in front of you and adding value to the clients in front of you.
Finding prospective clients is not hard. But it takes effort to start and build a relationship with them. THIS is why having a niche is so important. Because it gets easier when you are targeting your ideal client.
But how do you know who your ideal client is when you’ve never worked in this world?
I could tell you to imagine the type of work you’d like to do and the type of space you’d like to work in but sometimes, you really just don’t know yet. And that’s okay.
On the other hand, you may know right out of the gate that you want to work with clients in the beauty industry, or maybe you’d like to work with mom influencers or business coaches. Or maybe you were a dental assistant before entering the Virtual Assistant world and you want to stay in the medical industry so you focus on dental offices or even virtual therapists.
Definitely think through what your experience is, your hobbies, interests, what type of tasks you enjoy doing…
But if you just don’t know what your niche could be, don’t sweat it. Get your first client or two and then you can gain clarity around the type of tasks you enjoy, the industries that interest you…even the personalities you enjoy working with most.
All of this can adapt but here is why waiting, if you don’t know what niche you want to be in…is so important:
If you settle on a niche you aren’t really in love with, you can put yourself in a box.
Maybe you go with being a social media manager for dental offices but a year in and you hate it. But you built up your social community around this niche, so what do you do? Either you power through it or start over.
Now, there could be benefits to building a community around a niche and realizing you want to go a different route… You could find someone to run your niched-down business for you and subcontract the workout. Have a passive income while you pursue something you’re more passionate about, sure. Especially if you found what worked for you the first go-round, you can replicate the process for the next one.
Generally speaking, though, what happens is if you choose a niche you aren’t really into, you aren’t successful. Because it all takes consistency and work to be successful and if you aren’t really into what you’re working for, it’s easier to give up.
This is why my suggestion is to Marie Kondo the niche decision. If you can think of a niche within the first steps of starting your VA business and you know you’re excited by it, then run with it. If you can’t, don’t let it keep you from moving forward because you can lock it in anytime.
The most important part of starting your VA business is to keep moving. Stopping too long will get you stuck!
Want to chat through this topic more? Text us at 812-203-4244 and we can talk!
So you’ve taken on several clients and it’s getting tricky balancing all of the work. Whose tasks do you give attention to first? How much time each day do you spend on each client?
It’s definitely something you have to think about as you grow your business and bring on more clients. Obviously, organization is a huge part of this but it’s not the main focus of today’s post. How you stay organized is also going to vary for each Virtual Assistant, so we’ll leave that to you to figure out. Just make sure you DO have some sort of organizational system in place when handling multiple clients. But today we’re talking about prioritizing client work when you have multiple clients.
So how do you prioritize?I’m going to break this down two ways:
- The type of task
and
- How much time the client has retained of yours for the month
For the sake of explaining both of these, let’s imagine you are a Virtual Assistant with 5 clients. I’ll explain each scenario in this context:
Client 1: Retains 5hrs of support a month
Client 2: Retains 10 hrs of support a month
Client 3: Retains 20hrs of support a month
Client 4: Also Retains 20hrs of support a month
Client 5: Retains 40hrs of support a month
So let’s start with scenario #1…
Prioritizing client work by the type of tasks It’s really straightforward when you think about it but let’s really break it down. You wake up and check your inbox…
You have an email from Client 1, 4, and 5. All 4 are scheduling emails.
Client 1: needs you to schedule a lunch with their friend for two weeks from now.
Client 4: needs you to reschedule a call for today.
Client 5: needs you to schedule calls with each of their team members, all to happen in the next week.
You have an ongoing project for Client 2 that involves organizing their filing system in Google Drive.
And then you have an email from Client 3 asking if you can book a flight for next week.
What do you do first?
First, I might send a note to each client letting them know I’m on it and for Client 3, letting them know when you will have flight options over to them. Even though this might not seem necessary, it keeps your client from worrying if you saw your tasks or are even working on them. It just creates that trust and responsiveness in the relationship.
Now moving on, there is more than one right answer to what task we knock out first but here is how I would personally break this down.
Scheduling or time-sensitive matters always go first. For the obvious reason being…they are time-sensitive. People’s calendars book quickly, as soon as you can get a scheduling task taken care of, the better. Otherwise, you may be booking something a month out that was requested for a week from now. Take care of scheduling items asap.
Also, these don’t take a ton of time, so it makes sense to clear your to-do’s of these items as soon as they come up.
Pro-tip: Sometimes coordinating can involve lots of back and forth. When you are coordinating multiple events for one client (i.e. client 5) block the times you offer up to the person you are coordinating with. This way, you don’t offer the same times to multiple people and have them all come back confirming the same time! Once you lock in a time with someone, remove any blocks of times that they did not choose so you free up your client’s calendar again.
Let’s break down even further how to prioritize these scheduling tasks. As I mentioned, these don’t take a ton of time to knock off your list (or at least initiate the coordination process) but sometimes certain scheduling requests can trump one another.
In the examples I gave, Client 4 trumps all of the other scheduling requests. Why?
Because it’s the most time-sensitive. The event is happening today, so you want to give the other party as much of a heads up as possible.
The next one to knock off the list could be either Client 1 or 5. Client 1’s request is a quick interaction, so I personally would probably get the coordinating started with the other party since there might be some back and forth (locking in a date/time and location). Client 5 will take more time but is more time-sensitive and has more detail to the coordination process, so I want to give my full attention to ensure it’s a seamless interaction with my client’s team.
Now that these items are out of the way, let’s move on to the next task. Client 2’s ongoing file organization project and Client 3’s travel.
What is the most time-sensitive?
Well, flights can change and book up quickly, plus this trip is next week…so I would get crackin’ on finding some new flight options. Once you’ve sent the flight options over and before you dive into Client 2’s request…
I would check my inbox for any responses to the scheduling emails from earlier. Chances are, you’ve gotten some responses. Take care of those to keep those items moving forward efficiently as possible and then get to work on your ongoing task for Client 2.
Ideally, you have a due date for this project with Client 2, so you can plan out how much time you should spend on it daily but there is no rush each day to actually get it done by a certain time. This is a huge benefit to having clients with fewer hours, they generally don’t need lots of time-sensitive items.
This leads me to the second scenario you should consider when prioritizing tasks from multiple clients.
Prioritizing by how much of your time the client retains each month Ideally, you don’t have to consider this because clients like Client 1, 2, or even 3 + 4 won’t send several time-sensitive tasks a day.
Now, don’t get me wrong…you COULD have clients who do this, thinking they should get immediate attention at all times. I’ll cover in a bit how to address this.
And we kind of covered this example earlier with Client 2 and 3 but since Client 3’s task was more time-sensitive, it wasn’t a tough call.
So let’s think of another scenario that makes you think about how to prioritize based on client retainer.
Let’s say Client 1 emails you and says: “Hey, I need you to hop on a call with me and one of my team members to take notes. It’s in one hour and the call will last for about an hour.”
The problem? You have a meeting with Client 5 at that time.
So we prioritize Client 5 because they pay for more of your time, so they naturally get priority.
How do you explain this to Client 1? Well IF they push back on the fact that you can’t jump on a call last minute like this, then you can explain that you would love to accommodate last-minute items like this but because they only retain 5hrs of your time each month, the rest of your time is reserved for clients with larger retainers. If they anticipate needing more on-demand help like this, they might consider upping their monthly retainer so you can reserve more time for them. And that generally speaking, 5 hours a month is for clients with non-time-sensitive tasks/projects or a handful of scheduling items that take no more than 15min a day.
This really shouldn’t happen too often but when it does, it’s probably the only time you’ll really run into a situation that takes more than a few seconds of thought on how to proceed.
This is why I highly recommend setting expectations with clients before working together. If you get on an intro call with them and they give you a long list of things they need help with but then say they only want 5hrs of support a month, you should be setting the expectation right there by saying something like:
“Got it! So for 5hrs a month, since that breaks down to roughly 15min a day, I can offer you basic low maintenance email management or calendar management. Or I can take on one or two non-time-sensitive tasks/projects each month. But keep in mind, that takes time away from any scheduling or email management. If you want me to tackle everything on your list at once, we may need to consider a larger retainer… But I completely understand if you have a budget you are trying to stay in and if that’s the case, we can tackle one thing at a time, I just want to make sure I set the right expectations for this type of retainer.”
Have you had any encounters like this with clients? Let us know how you handled it!
As we ring in the new year, a lot of us are also getting our business finances in order for tax time. Just like the new year, it comes every year…
So, if you’re preparing taxes for the first time or this will be the first year you pay taxes on your business… I wanted to prepare a list of things you should be making sure you write off on your Virtual Assistant business.
Note: We highly recommend using an accountant that is familiar with online businesses and LLC’s. Most should be, but just make sure they understand what you do for a living before handing over your taxes to them. A good accountant will look for things you might not already turn in but don’t rely on them to remind you of what you should be writing off!
Let’s start with the basics…
Your Home Office:
Phone Bill
Internet Bill
Any physical purchases for your office:
Office chair
New Desk
Notebooks
Pens
Printer/Ink/Paper
Other supplies
Do you create content for your business? Did you buy a ring light this year? Write it off!
Educational Expenses:
If you purchased our All-In Coaching Program in 2021, you could write it off on your taxes
Any other training you purchase
Physical events related to your business
Startup Costs:
Setting up your LLC
Registering your website domain
Travel expenses:
Gas
Meals
Coffee
Accommodations
Flights
Event tickets
I know, you’re thinking wait…I am a VA so I can work from home, why would I travel? Some do! Some will work at co-working spaces, some will travel to work in person with their clients or they will travel to events their clients attend, speak at or just for educational purposes…
General Business Expenses:
Any paid tools you use
Client gifts
Bank fees (what do you bill with? If you pay a fee to receive the money from paid invoices, you should be writing those fees off)
Subcontractors (if you have them)
Health Insurance
Business Insurance
Legal or Tax Advice
There are more but this is a great start for knowing what you should be tracking! And the easiest way to track these expenses is to use a bookkeeping tool (like Quickbooks) and most importantly…
Separate your business money from your personal money. All of your business income should be going into a business bank account. This means you will use that bank account to pay yourself out and pay for any and all of the expenses you have for your business. If you aren’t doing this, things can get super messy.
If you have more questions about taxes, take advantage of our partner Denai Wolfe’s Facebook groups for business owners: https://www.facebook.com/groups/theprofitfactor
Denai is our go-to for any and all tax questions inside of our All-In Coaching Program!
There are so many tools out there and when first getting started as a Virtual Assistant, it can be overwhelming if you tell yourself you have to learn all of them before landing your first client.
You definitely do not.
Don’t let not knowing or even being familiar with the online tools out there…stop you from getting started as a Virtual Assistant.
Being a Virtual Assistant is so much more than being able to expertly navigate Asana. Sure, it’s a plus and you’ll need to master it or other tools at some point…but it’s not what makes or break you getting started!
The things that make you a great Virtual Assistant…they can’t be taught. You have those qualities or you don’t…
Skills and knowledge of online tools can be learned.
And besides, you can be an expert one day and know nothing the next with how often things change in the online business world.
Check out our Podcast Episode on “10 Traits You Have to Have as a Virtual Assistant” to learn more about what you do need.
The important stuff, you already have. The rest you CAN learn.
But I know it can still be overwhelming to take on a role knowing you will be using tools that you’ve never used before. So let’s talk about how you can calm those fears without getting overwhelmed OR wasting a ton of time learning tools that you may never even have to use.
My suggestion is to narrow down the types of tools you will most likely come into contact with and then pick 1 or 2 tools to get familiar with. (familiar meaning, play around and make sure you can function inside of the tool, you don’t need to become an expert just yet)
Let’s break down the categories of tools you should look into: Invoicing Getting familiar with an invoicing tool is a must anyway because you yourself will need to learn how to invoice. So this is an easy one!
Even if all you do inside of Quickbooks is invoice, get familiar with the process and layout of the expenses side of the tool so if you ever need to do this for a client, you’ve got it.
Try a few different tools out before you decide on what works for you and this will also give you familiarity with different tools out there.
Project Management Another one you will most likely have to have for yourself anyway. Again, check out some different options. The popular ones right now are Trello, Asana, Monday.com, Click Up, and more depending on exactly what you’re into.
Most of them are fairly similar to each other, so get familiar with one or two and you’ll be able to catch on quickly to all of them.
Here is the thing with all online tools but especially these project management tools… For the most part, certain personalities, work styles, and industries flock to certain tools. There are so many to choose from nowadays that not everyone uses the same one out of necessity. So when you find what tools your personality likes to use, what interfaces are easy for your work style, etc… then ideally the clients you work with will also like using those tools.
BUT there will be times when clients are already married to specific tools. This is where you let them know that you are familiar with similar tools and excited to learn a new one. Never tell them you don’t know the tool or aren’t familiar. You are familiar with project management tools in general and you are capable of figuring a new one out. Share that same confidence with them.
Come up with processes in your own workflow, learn how to map them out in the project management tool you personally choose, and then replicate that with each client.
Communication Tools Most clients will use the same tools for communicating with their team. Slack is a huge one right now and it’s free to download and play around with. So is zoom!
Get familiar with setting up meetings in Zoom, the settings inside meetings, adding them to your google calendar…
And learn how to connect your project management tool to slack so you can streamline that workflow.
There may be some outliers who use Voxer, Skype or Google hangouts…I wouldn’t go out of my way to learn these tools until you need to.
Google Suite This is another one that most clients will use. Sure, you’ll still have some clients in Microsoft Office but even then, most things will translate into Google Suite.
Open Docs, Sheets, Forms, and all the tools you have time to explore!
The more you get into all of these tools, the more comfortable you’ll get diving into unfamiliar territory and catching on. Almost all of these tools have an extensive amount of tutorials and help sites on their own site and elsewhere!
Just remember that you are capable of learning new things.
Need someone to encourage or guide you through everything you need to learn? Check out our All-In Coaching Program, which gives you lifetime access to coaching and our online course so you can go on this journey at your own pace while having someone alongside you to cheer you on. Check it out here: https://www.laptopandlittles.com/allin-coaching
If you’re reading this, you may be trying to start your Virtual Assistant career and can’t seem to get exactly what you need to really dive in and get started.
We have a lot of conversations with women who are quite literally on the brink of starting their Virtual Assistant business and then just…don’t. Sometimes for no real reason, they just can’t get the picture clear in their head so they don’t do it.
And maybe that’s for the best for some people. Maybe they wouldn’t like it or maybe they wouldn’t be very good at being an assistant…
But here is the scariest part of when that happens:
They could be meant for this role and could even grow quickly because of that…
Enough to quit their day job
Enough to build a 6-figure VA business
Enough to find fulfillment in their career
But they just…don’t. Because they couldn’t quite wrap their head around getting started.
So I’m going to share a secret with you on the key to starting your Virtual Assistant business.
There are really many keys (there always are with these things) but I’ll give you an overarching theme that will carry you through your entire VA career.
Don’t Wait to Get Started, Just Do It… I know this sounds corny and you’ve heard it all before but I’m telling you…hearing it and doing it are two different things so if you are rolling your eyes right now because you’re thinking “this is nothing new,” then my guess is you’ve never taken the advice because if you had, you would know that this is absolutely what will get you where you want to be.
Let me explain it further to you.
You will always not know something. You will always not know or fully see your next step but still, you have to take it.
Most women don’t get their Virtual Assistant career off the ground because they don’t know exactly what their workday will look like…
And you never will until you get started and have your first workday as a VA
You don’t know how you are going to invoice…
And why would you! You’ve never charged for something like this before, just start with something and you can change it later when you learn more about what you need to be doing.
You don’t know what you are going to call their VA business…
Most don’t! And most don’t have a “name” so they just use their own. Don’t let this get you stuck.
You don’t know how to do some of the tasks or aren’t familiar with online tools…
That’s okay! As a VA, you sometimes get new tasks every day! They aren’t hard. You aren’t learning rocket science every day, you are just learning how to google different things.
You just don’t know if they will like it.
And you never will until you try it. Don’t like it? Quit.
There are so many other reasons but the point is, you can’t stay stuck in the “I don’t know’s” and “what ifs” because you will never move forward. If you surrender yourself to those thoughts, you might as well stop thinking about doing something new.
And this will follow you through everything. Don’t be paralyzed by the unknown.
Here is a Key to Navigating the Unknown Remain consistent.
It’s probably the hardest part after the getting over your fears bit.
In the beginning, especially, commit to consistency. Something doesn’t work the first time? Try again. The second time? Try again? The third, fourth or fifth time? Tweak and then try again.
Keep going until you find what works. You will always find it, but only if you don’t quit looking.
Need someone to encourage or guide you along the way? Check out our All-In Coaching Program, which gives you lifetime access to coaching and our online course so you can go on this journey at your own pace while having someone alongside you to cheer you on. Check it out here: https://www.laptopandlittles.com/allin-coaching
Referrals make the BEST clients.
Especially if you are getting them from a client you already work well with. Because then you know you are most likely getting another version of their personality…which you obviously already gel with!
But referrals don’t always just come.
Sure, clients will ask if they can refer someone to you but…
You should also be asking current clients for referrals.
Don’t wait on them because they may not think of it. Or maybe they do during a conversation with a busy friend who doesn’t have an assistant but then they forget.
So when was the last time you asked for a referral?If you’ve solidified your relationship with your client, you should have already been asking for referrals!
Obviously, you don’t want to bug them, so ask once and follow up a month later if you don’t hear anything.
Your ask could sound something like…Hey Tianna!
Quick question for you. I am working on upping my client load and am wondering if you know anyone looking for or are in need of an assistant? I love working together so I’d love to work with more people like you!
Thanks in advance!
Ariel
Most likely, they will automatically start referring once you ask them once because they will be excited to share their secret weapon with their friends! Plus, they know when you are secure in your VA business, they are secure in keeping you as an assistant…and giving you referrals will make sure that happens.
Still, never expect anything. Do your part in making them aware that you are taking referrals! Work it into the auto messaging in your invoicing, your email signature, etc!
Keep something in your email signature like…
“Currently Accepting New Clients”
“Booking New Clients Now”
“Looking for an assistant? I am currently open! Let’s chat!”
Or in the memo of your invoices…
“Have a friend looking for an assistant? Send them my way and as a thank you, I’ll take 10% off your next invoice!”
“Know anyone who needs an assistant? Feel free to send them my way!”
“I’d love to work with more amazing clients like YOU. Do you have anyone in your network in need of an assistant?”
When you are owning your role as a Virtual Assistant and making yourself irreplaceable, you shouldn’t be afraid to ask!
My first holiday working as a Virtual Assistant, I had a client gift me their hours for the month to spend with my son. Still paid but told me to just enjoy the time.
My other clients had me help with some holiday gifts and their regularly programmed calendar management but for the most part, things remained fairly slow.
MOST clients slow down over the holidays. Some all month of November and December, some all December, and some just the two weeks around Christmas and New Year...no matter what, it can be a slower month because clients are busy enjoying their personal life.
Things you can do during this time:* Get organized * Evaluate your processes * Make content! * ENJOY things slowing down, you deserve it!
Get organizedNow, I’m sure you are already organized...at least I hope so! But I know how things can get cluttered in the heat of being heads down and working/being a mom. Use this downtime to go through your inbox and get it to zero (or at least below 10), get rid of all of those random files in your Drive or file them away.
Make sure your client’s info is up to date in your files! Have you learned a new preference about them that you haven’t recorded anywhere? Make sure you have it all added somewhere.
Evaluate Your Processes
Don’t have your client’s preferences and general info stored anywhere? Create a spreadsheet, Google doc, or profile in LastPass for them and start entering everything you can think of.
Don’t like your password manager? Do some research on new ones!
Have your onboardings been smooth with new clients? Maybe you need to send an email when they sign with the next steps and layout expectations.
Are you having weekly check-ins with your clients? Get those on the calendar for the coming year!
What’s not been running smoothly in your business? Think through your day-to-day and see if you can find ways to automate and run more efficiently!
Make content! Are you looking to scale in the new year? Now would be a great time to start a content plan for January and even get to work on putting it together.
Need content ideas? Start researching other Virtual Assistants and duplicate what you like about their content layout. Come up with your own content! But take time to find inspiration from others out there.
Also, if you’re looking to scale in the new year, make sure to ask your clients for referrals! Since things are slowing down for them, they will have time to consider and make introductions.
ENJOY Slow SeasonsYou deserve to slow down with the clients you work with. Don’t feel like you have to hustle 24/7, especially through this time of year. Make sure you reflect on how you’re doing and what you need in order to hit the ground running come January 1.
Don’t burn yourself out right into the new year. No one will blame you if you do less this holiday season. It’s supposed to be a time for you to recharge too!
It’s the most wonderful time of the year! And a lot of new Virtual Assistants start wondering right about now if they should be buying their clients a gift for the holiday.
The short answer is, it’s really up to you.
This isn’t something that's expected or anything you would be judged on if you didn’t give your clients anything around the holidays…
If that doesn’t clear things up, let me say it this way. You will know if you should send your client a gift. And maybe some clients that will mean different things. You don’t have to get all of your clients a gift on the same level. Just use your gut…
What is your relationship like with this client?
You know when you are excited to get a gift for someone? If you think about each client and the possibility of getting each one of them a gift, who are you excited to do that for? Who does it make you excited to hear their reaction when they receive your gift? If anyone comes to mind, then you should get them a gift.
Let’s say your client doesn’t come to mind when you ask yourself this. That’s okay too! Maybe your relationship doesn’t reach this level and that’s okay. So first, let’s cover what you can do for these clients.
What to do for clients you are spending money on…
For the clients you don’t think are expecting or would appreciate a gift in a way that would bring value to your relationship, here are some things you could do:
Send a happy holiday’s card (e-card through Handwrytten, an email or physical card)
This is a great way to start building a relationship that surpasses your day-to-day work. Some clients, you will just never gel with this way and like I said before, that is a-okay! But sometimes it just takes a little effort to get to this level.
Why should you even make an effort to get to this level? Because it creates a lasting relationship with your clients that will bring more loyalty and richer relationship.
Now let’s get to the fun stuff!
Here are some easy and fun gifts to get your clients…If you know your client well, this can get a little more curated. Do you know things like, their favorite sports team? Music? Food? If so, set a budget and do some shopping!
If not, we can keep it simple!
My favorite places to look for food gifts:Goldbelly - Literally my FAVORITE place to buy food gifts! There are so many fun and unique food options on this site from food all over the states. Sometimes it’s fun just to explore the site, just make sure you don’t do it on an empty stomach!
Harry & David - You’re probably familiar with this name. I’m sure you’ve seen it on some charcuterie board sets around the holiday’s but it’s really a tried and true food gift go-to!
Cocktail Courier - Got a client who doesn’t treat themselves with food but does with drinks? This is a fun one to plan ahead and have delivered before your next one-on-one with them before the holidays! A little virtual happy hour never hurt anybody. They even have mocktails!
My favorite places to look for flower gifts:UrbanStems - Super fun bouquets, shopping experience and I’ve received flowers from this service and the delivery/packaging is excellent!
Bouqs - Echoing my same thoughts on UrbanStems, I have both given and received from this company and loved the experience. The only difference is the availability and delivery timelines are sometimes more limited.
1-800 Flowers - When all else fails and you have a smaller budget and shorter timeline, this is an equally great service!
Want to find something that’s not going to get eaten or thrown away in a couple weeks?
Here are some of my favorite places to shop for fun unique gifts:Uncommon Goods - This place is a curated site of unique gifts for every type of person!
World Market - Less curated than Uncommon Goods but still full of dreamy gifts!
Etsy - You can never go wrong buying from real life small businesses! Gotta order from these shops sooner than later though as most of them are one women/men shops and have early cutoffs for delivery by Christmas.
Of course, there are also gift cards...not a lazy way out if you know your client’s favorite coffee shop or online store! No matter where you shop for clients this year, make sure you are using Rakuten so you get cash back on any purchases you make! Actually, make sure you are using it ALL YEAR ROUND so you can get cash back on all purchases, all the time :) There is literally no catch to this, I’ve earned almost $2,000 from this site!
Hope this helps and happy shopping!
Do you want to know the key to keeping your clients happy?
Yes, it’s staying motivated in your role.
Being resourceful, not needing to ask a bunch of questions…
paying attention to details.
Being reliable…
Anticipating what is needed before it’s asked...
Of course, staying organized…
Being adaptable…
Keeping good communication…
Being able to wear multiple hats…
Keeping busy without being checked on constantly…
And all of those obvious things.
But the MOST important thing you should be doing as a Virtual Assistant is >>>
Owning Your Work
What does this mean?
It means taking the extra step to ensuring your client has everything they need. Thinking ahead before your client asks for help with things. It means noticing birthdays and anniversaries on your client’s calendar and asking them if there is anything you can do to help with those upcoming events.
Owning your work as a Virtual Assistant is caring about your client’s life, their work, their company and their well-being.
When you genuinely care about your work, you provide nothing short of excellence. Think of the last time you felt really good about the work you were doing? Or the last time you were really proud of a meal you made? A DIY project?
How much did you care about the outcome of that thing?
Now think of something you didn’t feel good about work you were doing? Or the last time you threw together dinner without really caring what it tasted like? A DIY project you cut corners on?
How was the outcome?
Now, we’re not saying to take this on in a way that hinders your well-being. Don’t lose sleep or let your clients ignore your boundaries.
You have to also keep your boundaries. Decide these things before you ever sign your first client. Will you work after a certain time? On the weekends? Will you allow communication through your personal cellphone?
Think of it like mothering your kids. You anticipate their every need, you are their go-to...but when they push boundaries, you don’t allow it.
The clients meant for you will be easy to fall into this sort of relationship with. Keep looking for the clients that are the right fit and you won’t have a problem falling into sync with them and owning your work.
You’ve got this, mama! You are the only woman that can provide the support you can. Don’t doubt yourself!
Have questions on how to keep clients happy? Text us your questions at 812-203-4244
October is Domestic Violence Awareness Month and as a survivor of domestic violence, Tianna shares more of her story with us as she walks us through the 4 stages of abuse. On average, more than 1 in 3 women and 1 in 4 men in the US will experience rape, physical violence, and/or stalking by an intimate partner.
Local to us, Domestic violence cases constituted 33% of crimes reported to the Lawrence County Prosecutor's Office last year.
Tianna has been apart of all of these stats and so many alongside her in our community who have not had the chance to find safety and share their story. As she walks us through the 4 stages of abuse she experienced in her story and what red flags to look for in yours.
If you are experiencing abuse, call the National Domestic Abuse Hotline: 1.800.799.SAFE (7233)
This week, we sat down with our partner, friend and Tianna’s former client Denai Wolfe, a virtual CFO, business strategist and owner of Profit Perfect. Denai helps successful entrepreneurs increase their profits by designing and implementing financial structure and systems. On this week’s episode, Denai is sharing her story of how she left her 9-5 world and started her online business.
Denai started her career in a traditional office job but always new she wanted to own a business, she just wasn’t sure what that would look like. After opening a franchise (while working her 9-5), having her first baby, she ventured into the online business world and she’s sharing in detail how this process went
If you’ve ever questioned what the transition would/should look like, this episode will help you walk through the process and give you an idea of how to set up a clear plan for leaving your 9-5. Have questions for us about transitioning into a Virtual Assistant career? text us at 812-203-4244
Want to learn more about Denai? Check her out on IG here: https://www.instagram.com/thechiccfo/
If you haven’t heard Ariel + Tianna say it already… contrary to popular belief, you do not need Virtual Assistant skills or experience to BE a Virtual Assistant.
So what do you need?
There are some key characteristics every great Virtual Assistant has. We’re breaking them down in this week’s podcast episode but here is a quick rundown of the characteristics we cover:
- Motivation
- Resourceful
- Trustworthy/Reliable
- Proactive
- Organized
- Adaptability
- Good Communicator
- Multi-Tasker
- Autonomous
- Committed
Kelsey Padigos is a Hypnotherapist, Transformational Life Coach, Entrepreneur, and Neuro-Linguistic Programming Practitioner who helps you discover how to get your Sub-Conscious mind working for you & empower your self-healing abilities.
Both Ariel and Tianna have worked with Kesley personally and professionally. She’s been a game changer for our motherhood and our business.
We’re going to talk about…
- What hypnotherapy actually is…
- How as moms, we need time to unravel the chaos…
- What empaths are (and which one of us and our kids are empaths)
- What we are teaching our kids
- How God is still working in our lives and how we can work with Him
You can learn more about Kelsey from her podcast, The Confidence Company, her website: https://www.confidencecompany.org/
And her IG: https://www.instagram.com/kelseypadigos/
Tianna became a single mom about a year and a half ago, after being married 7 years and having 3 beautiful babies. The last several years have been a major time of growth for her as she’s made decisions to keep her and her family safe. On this week’s podcast episode, we talk about everything from what changed when she became a single mom, work schedule as a single mom, how she handles burn out and getting alone time, her dating life as a single mom, the comments you can get as a single mom and her tips for moving forward with your life as a new single mama!
If you want to learn more from Tianna’s journey or follow along in her motherhood, make sure you follow her on IG >>> @tianna.inman
This week, we sat down with Meredyth McCauley from BELAY, our new partner in the Virtual Assistant world!
We love BELAY for their work-life balance that they empower their contractors to have. BELAY celebrates moms and and has empowered so many moms to work from home as a Virtual Assistant.
BELAY is an incredible Virtual Assistant agency that empowers the remote workforce, as well as the assistants that work at BELAY. The company is headquartered in Atlanta, but their team is spread out across 48 states in the U.S. because in not-so-shocking news, the workforce has changed a lot since the Industrial Revolution.
We loved chatting with Meredyth to get to know BELAY more and to chat about how amazing mothers are in the Virtual Assistant role. To learn more about BELAY, check them out here.
Our inner voices are mean girls. Can you relate?
In this week’s Mother Together episode, we’re breaking down how we tackle the the bully-side of our inner voice and ways we are working on re-training our inner voice.
We’re sharing the things we’ve come to believe from our inner voice and how we’re working on breaking that belief. Join our conversation and go on this journey with us to clean up our inner voices, build our confidence and speak more life into ourselves!
Want to spend more time with us talking about confidence? Check out our Untamed Confidence course for just $47 here: https://laptop-littles-school.thinkific.com/courses/untamed-confidence
You don’t have to listen to the mean girl inside of you. Le't’s retrain your voice to celebrate the woman you are!
So we’ve shared that Ariel has been a 6-Figure Virtual Assistant and on today’s podcast episode, we dive deeper into the story. Ariel shares exactly how she got started, the transition into making 6-figures and what type of tasks she found herself doin then and now.
The beauty of Ariel’s story is that it’s HERS and every VA’s story is different. There is no normal journey for a Virtual Assistant because you truly get to make the career work for you. Join our conversation to hear how Ariel was able to make it work for her and her family.
Find and follow Ariel on IG and Tiktok: @ariel_naomi
Welcome back to season 2 of our Mother Together podcast! We had so much fun kicking our season off chatting to our friend and influencer, Macy Blackwell.
Macy is a fellow Indiana girl, stay at home mama and lover of the social media community. She’s been growing her community since 2018 and has lots of fun mom tips to share with you.
We sat down to chat with Macy about how she got started and some key pieces to being an influencer. She also talks about how you can do it too :)
While you’re listening in, make sure you check her out on the gram: https://www.instagram.com/macy.blackwell/
You can also scroll her on tiktok: here https://www.tiktok.com/@macy.blackwell
Browse through any online job listings for 15 to 20 minutes and you’re bound to see it. Written in bold under the ‘Essential Skills’ header you’ll find ‘Multitasking’ – the seemingly superhuman ability to do two or more things at once, both efficiently and effectively.
Multitasking: The Myth DemystifiedThe idea of multitasking started to seep into certain, specialized sectors of the professional world in the mid-1990s. But by the early 2000s, however, the concept had swept through every industry.
New technologies were rapidly redefining the way we worked, and chief among those changes was speed. What might have taken a week to do in 1965 could now be done in 24-36 hours. And unsurprisingly, what could be done quickly became what must be done.
As a result of this dizzying increase in speed and complexity, multitasking became a kind of holy grail among managers and HR personnel. As they themselves struggled to juggle their increased responsibilities, this ‘skill’ was seen as both a must and a rarity. So reasonable, right?
Why the sarcasm? Because here’s a little secret of human psychology: Almost all humans are awful at it.
Doing two or more things at once or doing multiple high-level tasks in a single hour consistently results in both lower quality and slower work. You may feel like you’re getting a lot done, but that’s most likely just an illusion caused by feeling so scattered and hectic.
Remember: Just because you’re racing doesn’t mean you’re taking the best route to the finish line.
‘So how do I get more done with limited hours in the day working from home?’ you ask quizzically.
You microtask.
The Secrets of MicrotaskingMicro-tasking is the process of switching one’s attention between different tasks in quick, short succession. Whereas talking on the phone while checking your email would be considered multitasking, stopping halfway through an email to make a short phone call then returning to the email would be considered micro-tasking.
But we often can’t control when we receive urgent emails, phone calls, or visits to our office. So, the ability to address these frequent interruptions and still get our work done proves paramount.
And it starts with prioritizing. Every day …
- Identify your three most important tasks and focus on those one at a time until they’re done.
- Consolidate your distractions as much as possible. So if, for example, you know you’ll have to make four phone calls, try your best to schedule them all in a given block.
- Reduce the distractions in your day-to-day, like checking unrelated distractions at work – Hello, social media! – while you’re working.
In today’s whirling, must-have-it-yesterday society, we’ve been indoctrinated with the belief that multitasking is the only ‘-tasking’ – but more often than not, we do better when we focus on one thing at a time.
Still feeling puzzled by the art of microtasking and staying productive when working from home? This tip sheet will help you clear the clutter and keep your tasks and workload organized!
Okay, mamas, we know we aren’t alone so we’re putting ourselves out there to normalize imperfect motherhood. 😂We are sharing some confessions of things we’ve lied to our kids about or done in order to get something else done…
This could be a whole series. Listen and let us know YOUR confessions. We’ll be sharing more over on our stories @tianna.inman and @ariel_naomi and we want to hear from you too!
Like this episode? Share it with a friend and leave us a kind review!
When Tianna and I got started in our Virtual Assistant career, the mindset shift to a business owner was never made. We made the shift to working for ourselves, making our own hourly rate, choosing what clients we work with and making our own hours. But we never completely made the transition to being a business owner.
So when we had women coming to us, asking if we could teach them how to become a Virtual Assistant and work from home like we did… We would, and it would take up hours of our day. Taking time from our client work and our kids. For free.
I remember being at a much needed date night with my husband and having a woman I was “coaching” calling me over and over and my husband questioned the worth of someone who while it may have been unknowingly, was taking advantage of me offering to help. He pointed out that people literally pay for “coaching” like I was offering for free but it never really crossed my mind to bring turn it into an income.
When Tianna came into my life and I shared with her how I’d love to coach women, she had shifted into the business owner mindset more than I had…and said, “Let’s do it.”
Still, when we got onto a call with our soon to be business coach (who we paid for), Apoorva Pande…we realized even more so how far from a business owner mindset we were! And on this week’s Mother Together episode, we talk with Apoorva about how lacking our mindset was then and how important it was to change that.
A good mindset is a necessity for any type of growth. Business or no business.
We know how hard it is to find the right friends in motherhood. We’ve both been through all sorts of seasons of friendships and have been so blessed to benefit from our life wife situation. Join us in this week’s Mother Together episode to hear us talk about what you should look for in your friends, how to find them and then endure us gushing over each other for a bit (sorry, not sorry!).
Your season of friendship isn’t over just because you’re a mom, you might just need to look elsewhere for the right friend(s). We’re here to support you in the meantime. Join our Mother Together FB group to get encouraged and maybe even meet your life wife: https://www.facebook.com/groups/mothertogether
“If you want to run for Prime Minister, you can. If you don’t, that’s wonderful, too. Shave your armpits, don’t shave them, wear flats one day, heels the next. These things are so irrelevant and surface to what it is all really about, and I wish people wouldn’t get caught up in that. We want to empower women to do exactly what they want, to be true to themselves, to have the opportunities to develop. Women should feel free.” – Emma Watson
Our mission at Laptop + Littles is to empower ALL women with more options. This doesn't mean we believe the option we share is the option for every woman. Tune in to hear where our passion for empowering women comes from and how we are using our platform to spread awareness on why we believe women NEED to be empowered.
We sat down with a beautiful mama this past week and we can’t wait to share her incredible story with you. Bex McLennan, a mama of 6 (SIX!), shares her struggle with infertility, having an anchor during the struggle and why self-care is SO important for a mama. The amazing part of her story is that her struggle with infertility isn’t over. All of her beautiful babies have been adopted through foster care, as she shares with us…and her and her husband’s hearts and hands are so full. Bex has a light about her that we felt all the way through zoom and we know you’ll feel it too. You can follow along with her sweet family over on instagram here: @machouseblanc
This week we sat down with our friend Jaci Watson, a beautiful soon to be mama to share her story. We laughed, cried and laughed some more as she opened up and shared for the first time. We know Jaci’s story is going to speak to so many women going through their infertility journey. Feel free to share some love with our beautiful friend on IG: @_jaciwatson
Dallas is a sweet mama from North Carolina that we’ve been blessed to connect with through our Laptop + Littles program. She’s doing amazing things in her Virtual Executive Assistant journey and has gone from her in-office job to growing her own business from home…where she gets more time with her daughter.
On this podcast episode, we get to hear from Dallas, on her journey with infertility. She shares how the struggle with infertility made her feel helpless, broken and depressed. She shared her anger with God as she leaned on her relationship with Him and His promises. She shared with us on the story of Sara and how it gave her strength during the waiting period of not knowing what was going to happen.
11 And by faith even Sarah, who was past childbearing age, was enabled to bear children because she considered him faithful who had made the promise. Hebrew 11:11
Tune in with us and hear from Dallas herself! You can learn more about Dallas by connecting with her in IG here: @dallashathcockvirtual
National Infertility Awareness Week is April 18-24 this year and for the entire month of April, our podcast will be focused on a handful of mamas who have experienced infertility.
In this week’s Infertility Journey, we are talking with a fellow business owner mama, Vickie Bell, owner of Faithfully Rooted and hear about her and her husband's story of infertility that last 18 years.
You can connect with Vickie through her IG: @faithfullyrooted
A booked out VA career can look different for everyone.
We have booked out VA’s in our coaching program that work 5-10 hours a week and some that work 20-40 hours a week. It really depends on where you want to be with your income but how you get there… is the same for everyone.
You have to put the work in no matter what.
Where most ladies struggle is, where to find that first client. So becoming a booked out VA seems daunting because they are still struggling to find that first one…
But here is the thing, that first client can sometimes take a minute to land but once you do, things get easier.
This is a result of many reasons but mainly it’s because your confidence shoots up and suddenly... you believe in yourself in a way you simply thought you couldn’t before you landed that first client.
Step One of Becoming a Booked Out VA: Find Your ConfidenceConfidence is key in absolutely everything.
When do we start feeling like you are actually doing this mom thing?When we have confidence.
When do we feel like we are failing as a mom?When we feel insecure, guilty, unworthy… we don’t feel confident in our decisions or actions as a mom.
So what do we do as new moms or even seasoned moms, when we are lacking confidence?
Usually, we lean on those who have gone before us. Or those going through it with us. And if you’re like us, you heavily rely on the Holy Spirit to give us wisdom.
The equivalent of this for a mama starting their VA journey, is to get in a community of other women on the same journey. For some, this means hiring a coach to learn from, be encouraged by and be able to learn from their mistakes.
Step Two of Becoming a Booked Out VA: Start NetworkingSis, you have to get out there and network. It’s such a key piece to this puzzle but if you are introverted like me (Ariel), don’t be discouraged. You can do this.
I’m not talking about networking at local events or huge conferences (although, you totally could!). I’m mainly referring to networking on social media.
We’re actually starting a challenge TODAY with the ladies in our program where we will go hard all month at networking to attract clients.
It involves a lot of the same things you do on social media already…
We’re just tweaking it to be engaging with business owners.
So on Instagram, start following business owners! Start organically engaging with their content (not pitching!) in a way that adds value to their post. Even if it’s just commenting on how awesome their design is, or how amazing they look...whatever it is, add value. Don’t get on and just drop the same generic comment on a bunch of people’s posts.
On Facebook, join a handful of groups that business owners hang out. A HUGE one that most of our program members are in, is Boss Moms. But there are so many others you can join as well. Start engaging and adding value there too. Eventually, you’ll make connections that go somewhere.
It seems too simple, I know.
And when you’re putting in the work of networking every day and not seeing the fruit right away, it can get frustrating…
But that’s where that confidence comes in. Share your journey with others who GET IT… not someone who hasn’t been there. If you share it with someone who hasn’t been there, most likely, they will fuel your frustration. Find women that will encourage and cheer you on and then celebrate with you once you land that first client.
Step Three of Becoming a Booked Out VA: Referrals
Now, you can totally find a full load of clients by networking but once you get 1 or 2 that you have worked with for a month or 2… start asking for referrals. Again, not in a pushy way but casually mentioning that you are taking on more clients and would love to work with more amazing business owners just like them. Most likely, they will have at least one friend or colleague they can refer you.
If not right away, down the road for sure.
And as you probably know, referrals make the best clients! So make sure you are only asking clients that you enjoy working with, for referrals. You don’t want to work with more clients that are just like a difficult client!
Now, once you become completely booked, don’t ghost your networking efforts. Keep posting on social and engaging. Doesn’t have to be as much as before, but you want to keep active so you have a running pipeline of potential clients. The worst feeling is to have a full load of clients, one need to scale back on their hours and you have to suddenly jump back into the networking game to pick up another client.
Keep it going. The beginning will lay a foundation for sure but you have to stay active in the business owner community.
If you know you need a coach and you want to join our April Client Attraction challenge, you can enroll in our All-In Coaching program by Monday, April 5th to jump on the challenge with the rest of our program members!
How many businesses do you follow on Social Media?
Clothing brands?
Influencers?
Coaches?
Salons? Spas?
Musicians?
Local restaurants?
How often do you think they are creating and posting their own content?
Some business owners are a one-man show, it’s true. And you can probably tell this by how often they actually post. However, once a business gets to a certain level, they are usually handing these tasks off to a Social Media Manager.
You might already know that we train ladies on how to start a Virtual Assistant career. But did you know another role VA’s can take on is the Social Media Manager role?
Let’s first cover what this role is:
A Social Media Manager is generally responsible for creating and posting social media content. Usually, the SMM will learn the culture and mission of the company they work for, so they can be strategic in their posts and create engagement with the company’s target audience. Most SMM’s will also collect and review the analytics of their content to develop more effective campaigns.
All kind of businesses can use the support of a social media manager. Social media has officially been monetized, if anyone was unsure about that… and if a business is not utilizing their space in social media, they should reconsider.
A social media manager can come in to help companies that not just need help keeping up with their content but companies that might have no idea of where to even start would benefit from a SMM.
Most VA’s encounter some social media management tasks at some point and some become completely focused on the SMM role. We have several ladies in our program that have done just that, and one in particular that I’d like to highlight in today’s post…
This woman joined our program and is now a booked out social media manager and KILLING it.
Let me introduce you to Courtney.
Courtney McKibben joined our 𝗔𝗹𝗹-𝗜𝗻 𝗖𝗼𝗮𝗰𝗵𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗣𝗿𝗼𝗴𝗿𝗮𝗺 on October 6, 2020 because she loved the idea of being able to bring in an income, while 𝘣𝘦𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘩𝘰𝘮𝘦 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘬𝘪𝘥𝘴. Right now she supports 4 clients mainly as a Social Media Manager in Facebook, LinkedIn, Instagram, and Pinterest. She also offers support in email management and design. Pushing to continually educate herself she plans to bring more to the table for future and current clients!
Here are a few questions we asked Courtney:
What is something that surprised you about the All-In Course?
How great the layout was!
Has woking with your client met your expectations or is it different?
Yes it has! I am my client's first VA and she is my first client. We get along wonderfully and are both on the same track with each other. It is fantastic!
When asked what she loves about her role, she said:
Being a SMM is extremely rewarding. I am able to learn about the individuality of each client and how they want to represent themselves and their brand! I love creating the graphics and content to share to their newsfeeds and pulling captions from a previous blog to go along with it. When customers or other business owners comment and send messages through the platform, I follow up with a reply to best assist with any questions or concerns they may have and building that relationship and trust with them.
What would you say to a woman out there, who is considering the Laptop + Littles program?
Go for it!! Go all in and do it!
Courtney is the epitome of taking the Virtual Assistant role and RUNNING with it. She puts in the work and does a great job of giving what she expects in return. We see her in Facebook groups all of the time adding value to conversations and giving back to the VA community.
If you are interested in the Virtual Assistant, Social Media Manager, Freelancing world… you can get started just like Courtney did.
Check out how you can Learn With Us here!
This question…
Sometimes it comes at us more as an angry statement.
Usually from folks who have never even heard the term before, or had any experience with the remote working world.
So let’s just address it.
Short answer, no, it is not a scam.
Long answer…
I have been in the Virtual Assistant world for 8 years now. I have never been scammed. All of the money I’ve made has been real, spendable money that I pay taxes on.
And even though I’ve been doing this for a while now, I still get questions all of the time about what I actually do and how it works.
It’s unfamiliar, still fairly new for lots of people and frankly…
It goes against everything we’re taught growing up about what a career would look like:
It’s not a traditional 9-5
You pay self-employment tax
You make your own hours
You work from home (or wherever you want)
You don’t need a college education
You don’t have to submit vacation time, you just take it
You don’t have to move to a specific location based on the industry you want to work in
You don’t need any crazy skills
You can work less and make more
You can literally nurse your baby while taking client calls
So what happens, is people who have been investing in their job for years and then see someone who is making more money doing less work, it gets frustrating. And the easiest thing to do is chalk it up to a “scam”
Or “impossible”
“Not gonna last”
It’s scary to think that what you’ve been told you whole life is the only way…is not the only way. It’s frustrating. And our initial response to anything that challenges our normals is to go on defense.
But when was the last time to approached your hair stylist and told them what they are doing is a scam?
Your contractor?
A local coffee shop?
Boutique?
Your favorite Etsy shop?
You don’t. Because these are normalized self-employed opportunities.
The Virtual Assistant role just takes it a bit further and yes, sounds too good to be true but it real.
The trick is that it sounds like it’s easy to get started, it sounds like something you don’t have to put a lot of work into. And that’s why it sounds like a scam.
Let me enlighten you! This journey takes work. If it really was so easy to get started, more people would be doing it. There are loads of people who know about the Virtual Assistant/Freelancing world but they can never crack into their happy place, so they quit. Which is why there are companies like ourselves that offer coaching and training to individuals looking to start their journey.
If you are looking for coaching, you can check us out here >>> https://www.laptopandlittles.com/learn-with-us
Now once you get that first client, it gets easier. Things start to fall into place and of course…you are getting paid! Which makes everything feel a lot easier. :)
Getting paid is another obstacle a lot of folks get hung up on. So let’s break down that process…
There are a few ways this can be set up but the first step is to find an invoicing system you like, and there are many to choose from. Here are the most popular:
Quickbooks
Wave
Paypal
Honeybook
Freshbooks
And so many more!
Once you’ve found a system you like, you practice putting together an invoice. And for this, you need to know how you’re going to bill. Sometimes, this will depend on the client but the way we teach in our coaching program is to bill by a retainer:
If your rate if $25/hr and you find a client that needs 10hrs/month of support, you will bill them $250 at the beginning of each month prior to providing any work.
Of course, there are several different ways you can bill your clients, you can do it hourly, bi-weekly, etc. But this is the tried and true way we’ve found for billing as a Virtual Assistant. The important thing is to find the cadence and structure you are most comfortable with and NO MATTER WHAT, know your worth.
Another thing that makes this a secure career is the fact that you 100% should have a contract in place with your clients. If you don’t have one, they most likely will. The main items in these contracts are to keep their information protected (so basically a standard NDA), the agreement on when and how you get paid, the services you are providing, etc.
This contract protects you and your client and creates the trust that is sometimes lacking from virtual service providers.
Still not convinced?
Check out VA agencies like Zirtual, Belay, Virtual Assist USA, Double… there are so many and the simplified version of what they do is source VA’s to clients needing support. The alternative of this is to work as a self-employed VA, which is how we train the ladies in our program.
Freelancing in general is not a new source of income. It’s been a career for many for some time now, but the Virtual Assistant world especially is beginning to blow up because more and more business owners are seeing the value in them.
In fact, according to Business Insider:
New applications for an employer ID in the US "reached 1.1 million through mid-September, a 12% increase over the same period last year and the most since 2007," according to an analysis of US Census Bureau data by The Wall Street Journal. That number excludes gig workers, but including that specification of independent contractor boosts the number even higher, according to the report.
The world is changing and thankfully, humans are adaptable enough to change with it. Not all people (women especially) have been given the opportunity to adapt, simply because they were never given the knowledge of what opportunities are out there.
This is why we created Laptop + Littles, to help women understand their options.
SO when someone jumps in without any knowledge of what we are or what a Virtual Assistant actually is… yelling “it’s a scam, looks like another mlm, this isn’t legit!!”
You could be robbing others from an opportunity they have been dreaming about.
Don’t let your fear, doubt and lack of awareness stop others from asking questions. If you are genuinely concerned about this career and the legitimacy of it, please, reach out and I will be happy to share more with you. :)
Who is in your corner, Mama?
Do they encourage your growth or hold you back?
👀 Story Time 👀
We met in 2015 right after having babies. At a church workout... looking back always made us think it was the beginning of a needed group of mom friends.
And it was!
Ariel had just moved back home with her husband to be near family. No friend group to build her up in her motherhood.
Tianna was struggling in her marriage and going through a separation from her old friend group that kept holding her back.
Ariel didn’t have anyone in her corner and Tianna had the wrong people in hers.
We both discovered what it meant to Mother Together through the group of moms brought into our life from those church workouts.
But what we didn't know at the time, was that we also needed the beginning of our friendship that God would turn into a purpose 5 years later.
And He did.
As you might know…
In 2020, we felt God tugging at a dream we had shared together for years.
When the pandemic his, we felt this confirmed by all the moms filling our inbox asking how to work from home like we did. We decided it was time to present what we did on a larger platform. So we created a FB group called Laptop + Littles, with the intention of creating a community for women who work from home OR for women who want to work from home.
Overnight, the group blew up and again our inboxes were packed but this time, with moms wanting to know if they could join even though they didn't work from home/want to. We didn't feel like we should turn anyone away from a community that was needed, so we opened it up to all moms and changed the group to Mother Together.
Join the community here >>> https://www.facebook.com/groups/mothertogether
We founded Mother Together with the intention to empower ALL moms within all types of motherhood.
We've all experienced loneliness in motherhood. It sucks. It's even harder when it feels like other moms are purposefully pointing out flaws in our motherhood. And even though we seem to be more intentional about women empowerment as women are learning to let go of comparison and just encourage each other, no. matter. what...
The type women who made you feel alone at some point in your motherhood are still out there.
Are they in your corner? Have you checked?
Did you allow them to take up that space in hopes that they would build you up and help you grow in your woman and motherhood?
Or because you thought they genuinely knew better?
We have become very protective with the space that gets taken up in our corners.
We see mamas out there with HUGE friend groups and to be honest, it used to make us feel like we were doing something wrong but what we've realized is...
Mothering Together is a small group and a large group thing. 15 friends usually can't grow at the same pace as each other. And it causes a breakdown that ends up holding some people back.
It's important to have the crowd and the small group in your corner cheering you on. Both are important but you hear them at a different level.
Have community. It’s so important to see people like and unlike you experiencing the same situations.
But when it comes to going through the lows of motherhood, you need the tried and true friends by your side. People you trust to give you what you need, know your situation, your past experiences and everything that contributes to you as a mama.
So who is in your corner?
Did you mean for them to get placed there or did it just happen as a result of poor or no boundaries?
We challenge you to take inventory of the people around you, mama. You deserve a support system that supports your growth, not your negative circumstances.
Need to meet new mamas?
Join our mom community here >>> https://www.facebook.com/groups/mothertogether
Hopefully, you are about to tune into this episode with a cup of coffee, tea, wine or whatever at your side.
Maybe you’re even getting to listen to it with NO background noise, alone in your car, in the tub, on your run…whatever it is, we hope it’s being worked into some self-care for the day.
Why is this so important?
Same reason it’s important for your kids to eat, have clean clothes, clean teeth/hair/bodies, shoes that fit, a space to feel safe, heard, themselves…
It’s important because your mental health matters too, mama.
We know this, we just choose to put ours behind everyone else’s and it’s time to STOP doing that. We aren’t perfect at this, so just like every conversation, we’re going on this journey with you.
So let’s start with some self-care that we are all fairly familiar with, and that is skin care!
Listen as Ariel + Tianna chat with their personal Aesthetician, Sydney Hawkins of Mira Salon and Spa
Catch her on IG >>> @beautyby.sunrise
“Why would I pay for a career coach?”
“Can’t I learn how to become a Virtual Assistant for free?”
“Why do you charge for your program?”
As Virtual Assistant Coaches, we get these questions fairly often…
Honestly, Tianna and I asked these questions to ourselves when we first started Laptop + Littles!
And before we co-funded L+L, I did coach ladies for free, I directed them to all of the resources and tools and I didn’t charge a thing.
Now, I was only able to “coach” one woman at a time, and I wasn’t able to do it very often. It usually only happened when I had an existing relationship with them or someone sent them my way.
But I’m a mom of 4, I have a husband and full time job that I love (both the husband and the job!) 😅
So taking on someone who is trying to completely shift to or pursue a new career and I’m their only resource, is a lot to take on…even if it’s not super hands on. I’m sure you can imagine.
Because I found so much joy in it, I was happy to make the time. Then it got a little overwhelming, so I set some boundaries and quit offering so much of myself.
I wanted to take it on and be available to coach women in a hands-on way so they could change their life, but I never saw the right time for it. Tianna and I met in 2015 and I introduced her to the Virtual Assistant world, and shortly after…she started getting the same request from other women wanting to work from home 😅and she saw how much work that commitment entailed.
So for years, we talked about how to overcome the lack of time and ability to coach several women at a time in an efficient and effective way, but the timing never seemed right.
AND we asked those questions just above, telling ourselves we should just continue to offer guidance for free.
Then in May of 2020, we got bombarded with questions about how to start a Virtual Assistant career. Decided to start a FB group to give out more information (found the efficient part) and then again realized we couldn’t give our time to each of these ladies at once.
So we started Laptop + Littles, created a crash course on the Virtual Assistant world, started a classroom (FB group) where the ladies in our course could get coaching from us AND got a weekly coaching call with them on the calendar. All for $497 at the time. 🤩
We learned during our time guiding women into the VA world for free AND during our first month of Laptop + Littles the importance of dedicated coaches.
So for anyone who has been contemplating our programs or someone else’s course/programs/coaching…whatever, I want to share 5 reasons we know having a coach is a game changer:
- You immediately aren’t in it alone - Most coaches even have a community for you to join, of folks going through the same experience. So you don’t just get feedback and experience from your coach, you get it from the community of people further along in their journey.
- You will be kept accountable - Coaches are most interested in YOUR success, so if they see you giving up, not putting in the work, self-sabotaging…they won’t let you. We remind you what you invested in and take the steps to get you back on track.
- You have a new inner voice - You might not always believe in yourself or feel super confident, but you coach will always believe in you and will always build your confidence. Consider us your biggest hype girls. I think my favorite past-time is building other women up.
- You have experience you haven’t earned yet - There is something powerful about mentorship, when a mentor/coach is gifting their years of experience to someone just starting out. You might just be starting out but you have access to seasoned individuals in the industry you are venturing into. You should never worry about not knowing what to do or what the next step should be. Take advantage of this, your coach wants you to!
- You won’t waste time - Because coaches have the experience and are focused on getting you to where you want to be, they have a clear perspective of what you’re doing and what you shouldn’t be doing. You won’t waste time on things that don’t ultimately matter or get distracted with things that will lead you away from where you want to go.
So where do you want to go, Mama?
What has been stopping you from getting there?
Have you given up, gotten overwhelmed or discouraged?
Sometimes, all it takes is the right person in your life, cheering you on and showing you the way. Just because we CAN do so much on our own, doesn’t mean it’s always the best way for us. So if you are wanting a change, let’s chat about how we can help you, today.
Let’s chat, just DM us on IG @laptop_littles or email us at laptopandlittles@gmail.com
We talk with a lot of women who have partners who just can’t get on board with them pursuing a career that is unfamiliar to them.
We get it.
New is scary but here is the thing…
If your partner is unhappy in their current position and has a desire to pursue something new that would bring them joy and potentially a whole new and improved income… Then take a second to educate yourself before discouraging them from doing something you know nothing about.
Feel free to poke around our site or better yet, tune into this podcast episode that we did with Ariel’s husband about his perspective on the Virtual Assistant world that she entered into 8 years ago.
Here is the thing: The role is STILL unfamiliar to him but Ariel’s happiness, income and the impact it’s had on their family, is not.
Listen in as Ariel + Tianna chat with Zarod about the Virtual Assistant world, what it was like when Ariel was getting started, the first thing she spent her VA income on and how he feels about her becoming the main breadwinner in their family.
1:00 Sex after baby, what does that look like?
4:45 After baby body, how do you feel?
7:10 Queefing happens
8:40 Why aren't you doing kegels right this second?
9:50 Orgasims after baby
11:00 Mindset with sex
14:23 the 6-week period of no sex and still finding intimacy
18:25 Communicate your needs
18:45 Otherwase to be intimate
20:05 Sex with your partner when you have little littles cramping your style
23:10 Planning sex
24:45 Spicing things up
29:40 Back to mindset
32:10 Calm down, Karen, this is all in the context of marriage.
The question we always get from business owners, executives, managers, etc...who are thinking about working with a Virtual Assistant is:
What can a Virtual Assistant do for me?
The short answer to this is: almost everything
If you don’t have an assistant already, then you are the assistant.And that means, you are wasting time on things you don’t need to be doing. Your focus is too scattered to be the [Add Your Role Here] you started out to be.
I always say, any task you don’t have to do yourself, an assistant can do for you.
And a great assistant will be able to uncover these tasks for you.
To give you a practical idea of what this delegation could look like, we have compiled a list of 50 things that can be handed over to a VA.
I would say write down anything on this list that you could use support with, but I’m not in the business of adding to-do’s to business owner’s day.
Plus, I already know that you can use support in the majority of these things, even if you haven’t realized it yet.
So here we go...
-
Event Planning
-
Managing your inbox
-
Creating Itineraries
-
Transcription
-
Project Management
-
Scheduling/Calendaring >>> Protecting your time!
-
Strategic Planning
-
Writing Saved Replies
-
Research
-
Editing Podcasts
-
CRM management
-
Creating Social Graphics
-
Copywriting
-
Maintaining & Running a Website
-
Organizing & Creating Systems
-
Creating Content (blogs, podcasts, etc)
-
Community Management
-
Building relationships with other business owners
-
Data Entry
-
Answering & supporting current clients
-
Responding to emails for you/as you
-
Ordering your lunch
-
Creating meal plans
-
Daily admin tasks
-
Project Management
-
Booking travel
-
Bookkeeping
-
Recruiting
-
Social Media Management
-
Taking notes during meetings, adding actionables afterward
-
Manage Youtube channel
-
Make calls you don’t have to make yourself
-
Editing
-
Creating Forms
-
Purchasing and sending gifts
-
Writing and sending "thank you" cards or birthday cards
-
Recognizing and sending flowers for special occasions
-
Converting digital copy
-
Scan and create digital filing system
-
Narrow resumes for potential employees
-
Create HR documents
-
Create personal photo books
-
Newsletter or monthly correspondence
-
Purchasing Christmas Gifts
-
Vacation research
-
Create Amazon lists for ANYTHING
-
Run background of Zoom webinars and meetings
-
Funnel multiple email sources into one space
-
Pulling Reports
-
Sending customer appreciation gifts
The list can go on from there. The better you get a delegating, the more your VA will be able to uncover how they can support you.
But you can know ALL OF THE ways a VA can help you…
And never learn the skill of delegation.
Which is a problem. Because it only causes more frustration for you.
Which is why we teach clients how to use their assistant at Laptop + Littles. When clients come to us looking for an assistant, they have the option of working with us directly, which enables them to get relationship management from both Tianna and myself. Between us, we’ve worked with over 30 different clients, which means we’ve handled all types of personalities and delegation skill levels.
Don’t settle just because you can’t get yourself to delegate. It’s not an optional skill.
If you don’t learn to delegate, you’ll discover burn out and you’ll never experience the full potential of your business or capability in your role.
So take the first step and ask for help...getting help from a VA. :)
We can even chat today about how we can help you with this.
Book a call here >>> https://calendly.com/laptoplittles/need-an-assistant
We have said for a while now that we believe mothers make incredible assistants.
There are many reasons for this but the gist is, moms do a LOT and they do it all at once, and sometimes clients need someone to come in and do that for their business.
They need someone to come in and mother their business.
And most of the things they need you to do are the same things you are doing in your day to day.
Listen to our conversation about why this is and how you can take advantage of the skills you didn’t realize you already have.
On May 11, 2020 Tianna and I officially launched our All-In Virtual Assistant Coaching Program for enrollment. We had no idea what would happen or the lives that would change (and will change!) from there.
What’s incredible is the commitment the 100+ ladies that have gone/are going through our program had to invest in themselves to learn something new and write their own story.
This program and the community it’s created is empowering.
Like, seriously life changing.
And I’d like to highlight the very first program member to join this community: Breanna Norris
Breanna joined very shortly after we launched. She was very much ALL-IN.
She actually emailed us right after joining with a quick intro and said:
“I have been an executive admin at Cook Medical for a little over two yeas now and I love the work I do, but it has been hard to adjust from a 6-2:30 schedule to an 8-5. I feel I could get double the amount of work done in my 40 hours if I was kept busy, I spend a lot of time begging for people to give me work!”
We knew she’d kill the roll as soon as we got that email :)
And not everyone entering the VA world for the first time have previous assistant experience. That’s 100% okay. Breanna happened to have this experience but it’s not completely necessary. The important thing is to have the motivation and determination that Breanna had.
So on June 1st, when we opened the doors to our 11 students and naturally, she hit the ground running.
Her goals for joining the VA world were:
“To grow and learn - knowledge is power! I don’t know what my calling is in life long term but I find fulfillment in working with others that are so passionate about what they do and hope to find my own passion through this work! Bonus - I will have all the tools and then some to make it happen when I know what that ‘dream’ is for me!”
Let’s just say Breanna is hitting those goals. :)
She started with her first client on Sept 1st, 2020 and when I asked her how working with her clients has met her expectations she said:
“Exceeded every expectation! My client is flexible, we have clear boundaries for expectations and he is more than generous with his bonus/ tips!“
And this isn’t outside of the norm. I once had a client gift me his hours for the month of December as a Christmas gift and he asked me to just spend that time with my littles. I’ve received flowers for my birthday, National Executive Assistant Day, I’ve received cash gifts, packaged gifts.
And I promise you, all of those gifts have been better than any company gift I’ve heard of ya’ll getting. ;)
Why is that?
Because the people you work with really get to know you and they are generous in their appreciation for you. Unlike most companies that don’t even know the names of each person they are sending generic gifts out to.
You genuinely create lasting relationships with the clients you work with. Breanna is learning that just in the day to day of working with her team:
When I asked her how this VA world and working remotely has changed her perspective, she said:
“It made me realize how much time I was wasting at work before! I was doing probably 4 hours of work in 8 just trying to stay busy. Now I get to do 6 hours of work daily (completed in more like 5 most often) and on my own time! I wake up before my son and work from 6-8am, do inbox and social media checks throughout the day and send an update at the end of the day! Everything in between is flexible based on my families daily needs 😎 “
Mama, this is what we preach all of the time. If you are in a 9-5, you are most likely working harder and not smarter. The way you work changes entirely when you become a self-employed Virtual Assistant.
And it’s overwhelming, I get it. It’s a mindset shift for sure but that’s why our coaching program has been so successful for ladies like Breanna. I asked Breanna how the program helped her transition and she said:
“I loved the links to other sources for help for hiring - I got hired through the great assistant program who paired me with a client I am still over the moon about after 4months! I also love the templates, you can be as prepared as a turkey and still turn to water when the interview starts so these were a game changer for me feeling prepared and confident!”
Every woman’s journey is different. But the opportunities are out there for each of you…
Breanna said that, “it is easy to say just do it - but for me that doesn’t work! I am a realist and I needed to know before I made this commitment that it was going to be a valuable investment for my future. It was a HUGE step to take knowing that the only thing in between failure and success was ME! Find support in those that support you and continue to surround yourself with those people - the Mother Together FB group is a great place to start boosting your confidence!”
And she is spot on.
It’s exactly why we started our mom group on Facebook and then immediately launched Laptop + Littles because of the volume of woman asking how we were able to work from home.
And now we have an incredible community with amazing hard working women like Breanna, who are constantly encouraging and empowering each other.
So proud of lead this community and if you want to join us, let’s talk today about how you can make that happen: https://calendly.com/laptopandlittles/planning-call
How do you set boundaries?
DO you set boundaries?
In your family relationships (mother/in-laws)?
In Dating?
In your motherhood?
With gender norms in your home?
As a new mom?
With your clients?
Without boundaries, we (especially as mamas) become severely depleted.
We pour ourselves into everyone and everything around us. Whether we work outside of the home or are SAHM’s, we are constantly pouring out of our own cup.
Usually…
Without ever refilling it.
Join our conversation about setting boundaries in motherhood, having grace with yourself and teaching your kids through the boundaries you set and your self-talk...and let us know how YOU set boundaries...
What boundaries do you set in these areas?
So, maybe you are wanting to jump ALL IN to your Virtual Assistant business. You are ready to find the freedom in working from home while having the flexibility to mother your kiddos. But, you find yourself stuck … What can you offer? What are businesses looking for?
Or maybe you’ve already started your VA business but you’re looking to scale.
Either way, here are just a few HIGH PAYING services you can provide:
OBM (Online Business Management)
Project Management
Personal Assistance
Social Media Management
Executive Assistance
Client Management
Graphic Design
Copywriting
Event Planning
Social Media Management
Marketing Assistant
Now, I know these may sound daunting but the truth is, you probably already have experience in most of these roles and don’t even realize it. And whatever knowledge you lack can be found with a simple google search. It’s even easier if you have a coach around to guide you in the right direction. 😉
The highest ticket service you can offer as a Virtual Assistant though, is becoming an irreplaceable assistant.
This doesn’t come with bringing to the table knowledge of the latest project management tool, graphic design abilities, or any past experience you may or may not have.
It comes with paying attention to details, becoming invested in your client’s success (not just the invoices they pay you), being resourceful and proactive.
Here is a peak at the list we give our students in our All-In Coaching Program for tips to be irreplaceable:
A lot of these tips might seem like really simple things but trust us, these are what makes or breaks client/assistant relationships. Think about your favorite babysitter…
You’ve probably had someone babysit that did the job, everyone was safe and happy when you returned but maybe the house was a mess, and the kids weren’t quite asleep yet. And maybe they forgot that you didn’t want the kids to get specific toys out and you find them out when you get home…
Now think of a babysitter that when you got home, the kids were in bed… Your house was cleaner than when you left, dinner was put away and they even left a status report of how the evening went.
Maybe those weren’t the requirements to being your babysitter but they went above and beyond to make sure your experience with them as a babysitter was great. They want to be…
Irreplaceable.
And this applies to lots of things, not just assistants and babysitters. What makes any brand, store or service provider your favorite? They go above and beyond what you ask!
I think of my go-to baker for all of our family's birthday cakes. (shout out to Two Sons Cakery!) I am literally eating on some of her leftover birthday cake as I type this. 😂 She goes out of her way to make sure the cakes are exactly what my kiddos want. If she doesn’t know about the subject or theme for the cake, she does her research! She puts her own artistic flare on them to make them unique and they always make each birthday that much more special. And because of that, I have no reason to go to any other bakery. Two Sons Cakery has become irreplaceable to our family for cakes (and macaroons, seriously you should order some from her, she’s amazing). And when it comes to paying for her goodies, I really don’t even ask the price because I know what I’m getting is worth the cost.
It’s the exact same as a Virtual Assistant. When your clients know what they are getting from you and they don’t want to have to go back to doing things without your support...they won’t question your rate because to them, it’s worth it.
And the thing is, when you truly enjoy the work that you do...it’s pretty easy to become irreplaceable to your customers. This is why we encourage our VA students to look for clients they would enjoy working with. When you enjoy working with them, you are willing to pour all of yourself into supporting them.
Don’t take this roll lightly, mama! The support you provide as a VA is important and when delivered well...it is irreplaceable. Don’t forget that!
Want more tips on how to start and grow your VA career? Book a call to learn about how we can coach you >>> https://calendly.com/laptopandlittles/planning-call
P.S. Take a look at the incredible cake I got to enjoy while writing this post for you!
00:30 - Intro: What are boundaries, what do they mean to Ariel + Tianna
01:30 - Examples of boundaries
02:45 - Setting boundaries in relationships: Spouses and Ex-Spouses/Co-Parenting
05:15 - Setting boundaries in relationships: Friends
14:00 - Setting boundaries in your career
17:55 - Having mentors to keep you in check
21:40 - Setting boundaries in your finances
29:35 - Giving yourself grace and setting boundaries with your morning routine
31:10 - Affirmation
34:45 - Speaking kindle to yourself
37:30 - Setting boundaries with your spouse in parenthood: dating when marries
39:15 - Setting boundaries with self-care
44:30 - Little eyes and ears are always watching.listening
45:00 - Your next steps
Alright Mama, we went through a lot in 2020 (and in January 2021, tbh)
The main thing we learned as mamas and entrepreneurs…
Is that you can’t rely on one source of income as a “stable career,” we’ve especially seen this during the covid-19 pandemic as millions of mom’s lost their job.
Of course, the pandemic is “unprecedented times”
But the mamas we know who not just didn’t lose their jobs but PROSPERED during this time... were freelancers.
Self-employed service providers who work remotely with clients all over the States (and sometimes world).
And most of these women don’t have any sort of specialized skill that allows them to do this type of work.
They have utilized the skills they already had to start providing services to executives and business owners and then self-taught or hired coaches along the way. Sometimes this means skills they gained from past work experience, secondary education or simply being a Stay At Home Mom. Whatever skills you have right now, they can be utilized to start an online business.
This is why we believe the Virtual Assistant role is such an important place to start when starting your business.
Because you can take very basic skills and get yourself into situations where you get the opportunity to learn and do things you would not be able to do in an in-office role.
Let me give you an example…
Shortly after I started my Virtual Assistant career, I was invited to work as the Chief of Staff (basically an Executive Assistant on steroids) for a startup. In that role, I acted as the partner manager, the marketing coordinator and operations director. I created systems, implemented marketing funnels, and more. Things I never would have done in the same role in an in-office job.
The Virtual Assistant role can be an incredible opportunity to discover and learn new skills to grow your career. We like to say that it gets your foot in the door to the remote working world.
So how do you actually get started?
Well, there are several things that go into starting your VA career. The main thing is to create somewhat of a business plan but before I go on, I know what you’re thinking…
And I’m going to tell you to stop thinking. Just stop.
I said business plan and your head is already spinning with the idea of creating a business plan and not knowing what that even involves gets you too overwhelmed to even continue with the idea.
This is why most women just never start. They overthink the first steps and decide they aren’t cut out for it.
But when I say business plan, I really just mean...get your head wrapped around what exactly you want to do. It doesn’t have to be anything fancy or super complex. Just figure some basic things out like…
Do you want to call your VA business something other than your name?
Do you want to get an LLC right away?
Do you want to create a website, FB page, IG?
Do you need to update your resume (you most likely do)?
Do you have a cover letter video? Do you know what that is?
A portfolio?
How much do you want to charge?
How will you invoice?
Do you have a contract?
I can keep going and actually...we have a free checklist and planner that you can download to map out getting started >>> Grab it here
But the most important thing when started your VA business…
Is to practice your elevator pitch and Network. Like. Crazy.
Because potential clients are everywhere. Sometimes a simple conversation with your local coffee shop owner can land you a client in need of bookkeeping help, or your local handyman in need of social media help.
Networking is key, mama.
It needs to be authentic and it needs to be consistent but once you land those first couple of clients, the rest will trickle in.
Which is why, making sure you have your ducks in a row before you land that very first client is important. It keeps you from having to backtrack or retroactively put systems in place.
And there are so many resources out there to help you build your business. Laptop + Littles included. Get your notebook out and start mapping out a plan, then use your resourcefulness to gather all of the information and fill in the pieces!
To start, definitely download our planner that gives you a game plan from start to finish of starting your VA business >>> Grab it here
“Two roads diverged in a wood, and I took the one less traveled by, and that has made all the difference.” Listen as Ariel, Tianna and their guest, Matt Rubacha, a Financial Advisor from No Boat Ministries, talks about finances and debt, plus much more on this podcast.
Matt Graduated with a bachelor’s science degree in computer engineering, from Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology. He is a technological project manager for US Navy. He is also an Ordain minister with the Assemblies of God. He has held his credentials for 15 years.
Matt discusses why financial literacy is important. He explains that financial literacy is a building block for achieving contentment. He mentions based on his experience from looking at peoples finances they are not making wise decisions by overpaying. We talk about how society believes the answer is, “if I had more money,” and how individuals at any income level spend base on their income. Your expenses tend to grow when your income does. Listen as Matt discusses debt and suggests using a lender debt summary form, which he explains how to set up.
Learn more about No Boat Ministries by visiting their Facebook Page: https://www.facebook.com/No-Boat-Ministries-136116966449937
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What if you could break free from fear, insecurity and mom-guilt so you could stop settling and FINALLY find freedom in your motherhood?
In fact…
What if there’s a way you could do it with the skills you already have?
We want you to see…
How it’s possible to start a legit career from home – regardless of your background, education, or life circumstances right now.
We know, it sounds crazy. Maybe even unbelievable. But we promise you, it’s not.
We are Ariel + Tianna, and we both come from very different life stories.
I’m Ariel Myers… I grew up as a pastor’s kid, my dad worked hard when he wasn’t preaching and I watched my mom grow her career despite having no higher education. My parents instilled in me that I was capable of taking on and being more than what the world would tell me I could be.
In my early twenties, right before graduating from a very expensive college education, my then boyfriend and I found out we were pregnant with our firstborn. I had no idea what would happen next but I knew I wanted more than what everyone was telling me my options were. So I settled into a SAHM role, praying God would open doors to more.
I’m Tianna Inman… I was raised by a 14 year-old single mom who loved me with everything she had, but struggled to keep the bills on. I didn’t have a typical childhood, as a little girl I spent a lot of my time witnessing poverty, addiction, and abuse.
I was forced to grow up quickly. I married at 19 and had three kids shortly after. I then spent the next 9.5 years living paycheck to paycheck while my now ex-husband fought battles of addiction and abuse. For years I spent many nights crying out to God because I knew he created me for a bigger purpose but I didn’t feel capable or focused enough to meet that purpose.
We both came from different life experiences but...
We both felt SO STUCK in that either or option…
Have you ever felt you were settling for what someone told you your only options were?
Do you know that’s simply not true?
Do you know you have the skills and ability to do more if you want to?
Do you know you DESERVE to not settle?
But maybe you have no idea where to start or what that realization would look like?
Motherhood Does NOT Have To Be One Or The Other, Especially If You Do ONE Thing Most Mamas Don’t Do...We used to be like most women who struggle to find freedom in their motherhood…
We’d get targeted by different MLM’s, college courses, and sales pages like the one you’re reading now.
Like yourself, all we wanted was to be a happier mom AND help bring in money.
But all we found were direct sales opportunities or having to go to school to start yet another career away from our littles.
So what did we do? Maybe like you, we bought into the direct sales opportunities, pursued a career we didn’t really want or just settled with the idea of our husbands being the only breadwinner.
Day after day… week after week… year after year…
We still didn’t experience freedom in our motherhood.
No matter how much money we actually made, or how hard we tried to talk ourselves into being happy…
We looked in the mirror and saw the same tired mama desperately wanting more freedom.
Freedom to spend the time we wanted with our littles, to have a career we actually enjoyed, to make the money our time was worth…
But instead, we hated having to choose career or SAHM…
Having to take off a whole day of work for a doctors appointment or not having our own income…
We felt stuck, but more importantly, terrified that things would never change.
Terrified wondering if we would just wake up one day finally feeling content...or if we’d be working jobs we didn’t really enjoy into our 30s, 40s, and 50s, and if we’d ever feel worthy enough to claim more for ourselves…
So how did we go from stuck, exhausted, overworked mamas into work from home moms with an amazing career and life?
It’s simple: We destroyed the source of our “stuck feeling”.
Today, as a mama of 4 and a mama of 3, we are successful self-employed Virtual Executive Assistants working from home with our littles.
From Ariel.. I’m a happy wife to my husband of 8 years, a Christian who stands strong in my faith, I have confidence in my ability to claim more in life and 4 amazing littles.
From Tianna.. I’m raising my 3 littles on a single income after escaping an abusive marriage. Also a strong Christian with confidence in the promises our God has made to us.
The best part? We are extremely ambitious. We have tasted the freedom that comes with self-employment, setting our own rates, our own schedules, our own job descriptions... And our lives keep getting better and better...
Our kids are smiling. Our incomes are growing. And we look forward to the Monday’s rather than dread them...
There’s no greater joy than turning ambition into action and fulfilling your life’s greatest purpose… without ANY mom guilt.
Now you might be wondering, “ladies, that’s amazing, but how?!”
It might seem like we have it all now, but I promise you…
Unlike Most “Believe in Yourself!” Advice, The Answer Is Not Solely In Self-Care, Some Self-Help Book, Affirmations, Or Even Starting A Business
Of course, those things help, they play a major factor in finding that freedom. But they aren’t the real secret.
The secret to transform your motherhood is to break the framework of motherhood that have been instilled into you…
Whatever framework people in your life have given you, it is not Gods framework.
Recreating that framework changed our lives, and we want to show you how is can change yours and your families lives, too.
What you’re about to see is NOT some big secret that you can’t learn more about out there on the world wide web...
But despite it being so accessible, you’ll come to realize that SO MANY women just ignore this opportunity out there…
Because it takes work, it takes commitment and it’s not failure proof…
There’s a small group of women quietly recreating the framework of their motherhood, becoming work from home moms, setting their own rates and LOVING their work.
So let me ask you…
What If You Could Stop Settling And Claim the Motherhood You’re Dreaming Of?Imagine how much easier your life would flow?
You could finally have freedom in your motherhood without sacrificing your income...
So you could wake up each morning with your littles, motivated to take on the day...
And you might even be, do, and say ANYTHING you want without caring what other people think of you. Because YOU are in control of your future, not your limited income or your employer...
It’s an amazing feeling, and we can’t wait to help you experience this too.
But first, ask yourself this:
What level of prosperity would you create for you, your kids, and the people you love if you could finally step into this new framework of motherhood and bring in your own income from home?
Would you…
- Pay off any debt or mortgages looming over your head?
- Pull your kids from childcare and save thousands a month?
- Go on the vacations you’ve been saving up for?
- Book some self-care time at the spas?
- Commit to going all-in on your dream business or passion projects?
Whether you want to just help pay the bills as a SAHM or you want to build a business that brings total financial freedom, you could finally do it without settling in any part of your life…
Because if you could find happiness in your work, show your littles the capability of MOTHERS, and turn the skills you already have into a real career…
You’d virtually have the ability to rebuild the framework of not just your motherhood but your life – from your children to your husband – and create the reality you all deserve.
Unfortunately, most moms never get to this level of freedom.
They’ve dreamt and possibly even tried dozens of different ways to do it, but they continually get stuck on the same problem...
FearPreventing Ambitious Moms From Finding Freedom In Their Motherhood
Let’s talk about it for a minute: Fear is killing your happiness.
We’ve been led to believe…
You’re subjected to one type of motherhood or another...
You have to sacrifice, you can’t have it all…
You have to rely on your employer to pay your worth…
Or your partner to bring home the bacon…
You have no skills since you didn’t get a secondary education…
You’ve been out of the workforce for too long...
You have NO CHOICE but to be one or the other, a SAHM or a “Working Mom”…
It’s just the way motherhood is…
And doing it any differently is wrong, it won’t work and it’s irresponsible.
Fear is what makes you think...
How am I expected to make an income from home if I’m covered in baby food?
Or how am I supposed to quit a “stable” job to work from home?
What if I can’t do any of the things the clients I work with need me to do?
How am I going to even find clients?
If fear keeps you from finding your freedom in motherhood, in your career, in your relationships...then you need to break up with fear.
You need to stop claiming the life fear tells you, you have to live.
Living safe is only limiting your true potential, because it forces you to believe you must choose between being responsible and your purpose.
However, mamas who start their work from home career while home with their littles and running the household believe in something totally different:
You deserve to have it all!Here’s how we do it at Laptop + Littles:
Working From Home With A Mother Together Mindset
If you want to create freedom in your motherhood without sacrificing your career, you must first do ONE thing:
Identify limiting beliefs, then swap them out for empowering beliefs.
But I’m not talking about your typical “empowering beliefs” you find in a popular blog post. I’m talking about beliefs specifically designed to empower moms to live the motherhood they deserve.
We call these beliefs, The Mother Together Mindset.
The Mother Together Mindset breaks the framework you’ve been taught, so you can:
Feel empowered to start your own business under your own terms and using the skills you already have…
See opportunities that you might’ve overlooked before...
Naturally think, say, and do what’s required to turn those opportunities into success, even when it seems unlikely…
In other words:
Mothering Together gives you the feelings, attitudes, and beliefs of the most successful mamas out there.
All you have to do is reset your mindset so it becomes natural, using three steps:
- YOU – Identify and replace your limiting beliefs.
- THEM – Create a freeing environment alongside a tribe of empowering mamas.
- US – Integrate this “new mindset” into every area of your life.
Do this, and you’ll naturally destroy fear at the source…
You will start to believe that YOU can do what it takes to truly have it all, because you’ll finally see, feel and believe it’s all possible.
Because once you reset your mindset, you will naturally over time, recreate the framework of your motherhood.
You Can Have The Same Mother Together Mindset We And 100’s of Mamas Use...
It’s why we created our program, built for mamas on how to actually build a career from home…
Because when you finally go 110% all in on yourself, magic starts to happen…
You’ll feel empowered to pursue your purpose, and you tell fear to move out of the way.
You’ll finally get out of your head, stop listening to the world on what your motherhood should look like and build the life you’ve been dreaming of.
And you’ll even enjoy a newfound sense of confidence that lights your soul on fire and inspires you to give your gifts to the world.
The gifts you already have but aren’t using.
This is exactly what we have experienced in our own lives, and it’s what we see in other happy Laptop + Littles mamas… and soon to be you!
But you don’t have to figure these out by yourself. You can, but you don’t have to waste time or energy doing it alone…
You can have access to the same exact “Mother Together” strategy we and countless other women use to create the motherhood we want...
If you want to learn more about how we teach this mindset in our All-In Virtual Assistant Coaching Program, feel free to book a call with us and we’d love to pick up the conversation there: calendly.com/laptopandlittles/planning-call
We’re excited for the movement we see empowered mamas out there creating. Let’s keep it going until every mom knows they deserve more.
In the meantime, let’s keep Mothering Together…
P.S.
Book a call to chat more with us here: calendly.com/laptopandlittles/planning-call
Or Mother Together with us in our Facebook Group, here: facebook.com/groups/mothertogether/
The main source of clients when starting out as a Virtual Assistant is going to be through referrals and networking. This can be physical or virtual networking but the important thing to remember is that this process can take time.
When you are offering a service as a business owner, the majority of your leads probably aren’t actively looking for your help. They may know they need it but aren’t actively searching for someone.
This is why you can’t expect to land someone as a client as soon as you connect with them. It’s just not realistic. Now, I’m not saying it can’t happen because it does...but you are more likely to grow a relationship with these connections before ever working with or getting referrals from them.
And those clients that you’ve built that relationship with prior to working with will be some of your best clients.
Check out this conversation I had with two of our program members on how they found their first clients:
So what do you do while you’re waiting for these relationships to grow?1. Lay your social foundation
Make sure you are creating authority out there in the online world. Choose at least 2 social sites to be super active on so that when a potential client finds you, they can see a history of your “experience” and activity pointing toward your authority in the space you are in.
Think of it like this…
If you click on a Facebook ad for a super cute top but you’d never heard of the store…
And the site is a little sketch…
They have a FB page but it looks abandoned, or like it was never actually active…
They have NO reviews anywhere…
No contact page…
What are you going to do?
Well, you probably aren’t going to purchase the top.
You might even go out and search for the same exact top and find it on another site that looks legit and purchase it.
Same thing goes with your Virtual Assistant business.
It’s not enough to just put out an open for business post and then expect the clients to come rushing in.
You’ve got to lay the foundation and start building out your authority so there is a layer of trust when potential clients hit your profile.
- Let everyone know what you’re doing.
I’m not saying reach out to everyone on your wedding guest list to let them know you started your Virtual Assistant journey and to let them know if you need any support…
But make it as big of a deal as you do a new house/renovation, your name being spelt wrong at starbucks or your littles cute new outfit…
Casually post on social about what you’re doing WITHOUT pitching yourself.
For example, a cute picture with your kids or of just you sitting with your coffee with a caption like…
“I am killing this work from home thing. 😉I have fallen in love with the Virtual Assistant role and only wish I’d landed in this world sooner! Why didn’t anyone tell me how rewarding it is to support small-business owners as a VA?!”
And don’t be afraid to do it more than once… or even mention it on some level with every other post. Because an important thing to understand about social media posts is that not everyone is going to see every single post. So you have to repeat yourself.
You should also get into the habit to sharing your new venture with everyone...even in-person. If you run into an acquaintance and they ask you how you’re doing… share with them your transition into a new career (again, without pitching yourself) and that will open up for opportunities to gain referrals.
- Get a coach/mentor/community
Most VA’s give up not because they can’t learn the skills they need to be a VA but because they get discouraged and think they just don’t have what it takes.
This is where a coach or mentor comes in. Sometimes all you need is encouragement, a mindset shift or pep talk.
Sometimes you need a full-on coaching session with a reminder of how amazing you are so you can leave the conversation with the confidence AND a game plan for moving forward.
In most Virtual Assistant groups we’re apart of, when the question gets asked “Do I have to take a course to become a VA”
The majority of the answers are “No but you do need a coach”
And we stand behind that 100%
Finding a coach for any new adventure is a game changer.
Think about the last in-office job you had. Most likely, you didn’t get the job and then show up and have to figure everything out without any guidance.
You probably had a colleague or manager training you before you completely took over the role and it’s duties on your own.
Same thing goes for starting your own business. A coach can change everything for you.
So where do you get started with finding some sort of coaching?
Join Virtual Assistant groups on Facebook.
Follow along with us at Laptop + Littles or even book a call with us to chat about what you need in your VA journey >>> https://calendly.com/laptopandlittles/planning-call
The most important thing to do when waiting to land your clients, is to continue believing in yourself. Be grateful for rejection because it means you’re being saved from the WRONG clients. And don’t give up, mama.
Listen to the audio of the conversation with two of our program members here:
* Warning: for 18 years and older ears only! ***
Hey Mamas, we are SO excited to start this relationship with you through our brand new podcast. If you’ve been following along with us for some time now, you know a bit about us…
But this very first Mother Together podcast episode dives into some of the fun, random stuff to let you get to know our personalities, our secrets and our go-to filler words a little better (promise to work on that last one for future episodes 😂)
We cover every Never Have I Ever question from playing hooky, sex, living alone and starting fires. 🔥
If you haven’t been following along for very long and want our formal introductions before getting intimate…
Ariel is a mama of 4, married to her high-school sweetheart and has worked from home in the Virtual Executive Assistant role for almost 8 years now. She’s also been pregnant and nursing off an on during that entire time. She loves working from home with her littles and teaching other moms how they can too. She also loves Mexican food, camping and movie nights. She’s a homebody, hype-girl, her love language is words of affirmation and she’s a type 2 on the Enneagram.
Tianna is a mama of 3, recently divorced and lives on a single income through her Virtual Assistant career. She’s been in this world for about 5 years now. She started her career in the Dental Assisting world and quickly jumped into the VA world after meeting Ariel. She’s who you go to when you want something done. She also loves Mexican food, the Notebook, dancing, movie nights with her kids and cleaning. She’s a force of nature, her love language is physical touch, and she’s a type 8 on the Enneagram.
Both Ariel + Tianna have a passion for teaching moms that they don’t have to settle. They believe God made motherhood for much more, and are on a mission to spread empowerment to every mom out there and help them live out the motherhood God has in store for them. You can tune in to hear anything from conversations about God, womanhood, mothering, finances and entrepreneurship.
I don’t know if you’ve noticed but Christmas is in 3 weeks.
Everything is different this year but I’m sure there is one thing consistent with past years…
And that is, last minute gift buying.
But the good news is that it’s definitely not too late and we’ve put together a list of things you can wrap up and put a bow on for the mother of littles in your life.
In fact, we got some help from our amazing Facebook group (Life + Littles, if you want to join!) of mamas on this, so this is a real-life Christmas list from real-life mamas! We’ve narrowed it down to our top 5 favorites but you can get the full list at the very bottom.
- A weekend at a nice hotel with room service
- A gift card to the spa and bonus points for planning the day she can go so she can actually get out and use it!
- Silk Pillow Covers
- Loungewear: nice robe,crewnecks, joggers, slippers
- Self-Tanner
And if you are a fella who is unfamiliar with most of this list, we’ve broken most of it down here below so all you have to do is checkout!
Spa Gift Card Options >>>
So this one is tough to give you a link to buy BUT if you don’t know what your wife/mom’s favorite spa/massage/nails location is, I recommend seeing if there is a local Massage Envy or using Spa Finder.
And it all else fails, give that amazing woman a card full of cash and tell her the only requirement is to use it on herself!
Seriously, it’s what she wants.
And if you don’t trust me, trust these Mamas who shared their Christmas list with us in our FB group >>>
Silk Pillow Covers >>>Not only do these feel super luxurious but they are great for your skin and hair. Below is an example but Amazon is full of affordable options.
Mulberry Silk Pillow Case - $23.99
Loungewear >>>This is a great way to spoil every mama. Sure, she can wear your oversized t-shirts and socks to be comfy but why not get her something to make her feel as extra as she deserves?
Aerie is pretty much the queen of comfy, so you are safe getting almost anything from there but if you know the mama on your list’s favorite clothing store, I can almost guarantee they have a loungewear line.
Here is one of our favorite slippers - $25.99
And one of our favorite robes - $39.99
One of our favorite lounge joggers - $19.99
And some of our favorite crewnecks - $49.95
Self-Tanner >>>Our favorite self-tanner is a completely natural and smells-amazing brand, called Coco & Eve.
We’ve tried just about everything from this brand and we love it all. So if you know hair products and skin care are on her list as well, it’s worth adding to cart. This stuff is literally liquid gold.
And hint, if the mama on your list doesn’t use self-tanner YET, sticking with the medium color is safest.
Here is the Sunny Honey Bali Bronzing Bundle - $78.90 (currently on sale)
If nothing on this list sounds like something the mama on your list would enjoy...then here is our secret for getting them the perfect gift.
ASK THEM
Seriously, she will much rather you ask her exactly what she wants than for you to spend any time or money on something she won’t use or enjoy. Tell her you're spending your money either way and she will most likely give you some ideas :)
And here is the full list we gathered from our amazing Life + Littles group!
- A gift card to the spa and bonus points for planning the day she can go so she can actually get out and use it!
- A weekend at a nice hotel with room service
- Silk Pillow Covers
- Loungewear: nice robe, joggers, slippers, crewnecks
- Mug Warmer
- Starbucks cards
- New gym shoes
- Self-Tanner
- Yeti Cooler
- Bissell-Crosswave (seriously, these are the bomb)
Whatever you do, make sure you don’t leave her off your list. Mamas deserve to be spoiled all year long, but especially during the holiday season when their to-do list is a mile longer than usual.
And if you’re a mama reading this feel free to join us over at Life + Littles, we’d love to have you!
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The holidays are upon us, Mama!
We’ve got a million more to-do’s on our already normally long list, stretching our budgets and sanity… all while running off of less Vitamin D (at least here in the midwest!) and the temptation to eat less healthy diets.
And if you’re like us mamas here at Laptop + Littles, you’re spending almost every waking moment of these holidays in your home, with your hyped on the coming holidays littles.
Especially in 2020, of course.
So we want to share some tips for working from home during the holidays, to help any mamas new to this experience :)
Tip #1: Order Christmas Gifts Online
This is especially relevant right now but even in the days of in-store shopping...we’ve found that online ordering is a HUGE life saver around Christmas time.
It’s a lot easier to hunt down the best deals and track what you’ve actually bought.
I personally track Christmas presents in a spreadsheet, so I can monitor the number of gifts for all 4 littles. If you don’t track this somewhere, then I can almost guarantee you’ll be scramming to make the number of wrapped gifts for each kid even.
(tip 1.a - if you are super uneven and it’s literally too late to rectify the situation, double up some gifts for the little with more presents... so 2 toys are wrapped together. The other littles won’t notice since they will be tearing apart their gifts at the same time. OR put a gift back for their birthday, Easter, etc.)
Ordering online will also usually save you money for many reasons like not overbuying just because you’re in the store and seeing something last minute…
But also because there are tools like Rakuten >> Which give you cash back at most major stores… ESPECIALLY around times like Black Friday, when they up the percentage of cash back to make it an even sweeter deal. You can download the extension to your browser, shop directly through Rakuten or through the Rakuten app. However you do it, make sure you do it! It’s wasted money if you don’t.
Seriously, I get about $1,000 in cash back each year.
And my last reason for ordering online is that it makes gifts MUCH easier to hide and later because they arrive wrapped in a box secured with tape.
Tip #2: Let yourself indulge
It’s pretty tough to get through the holidays without any extra pounds and mama…that’s okay.
Please, hear me.
It’s 100% okay.
Because no matter what, you are beautiful and powerful and you deserve to enjoy your favorite parts of the holidays.
Now here is my tip for handling your indulging and it really goes along with any other time of the year but especially during a time when there are a lot more treats around the house… it’s important to pace yourself.
And when we work from home, it’s super easy to snack on treats throughout the day. I’ve done it and let me tell you, my body did not handle eating so unhealthy for the entire holiday season very well.
So now, I still make my and my families favorites but I try and keep them put away during the day (out of sight out of mind is the goal) and only treat myself once a day… usually with my coffee. It also makes it more of a treat because I look forward to it all day!
I also make tins of goodies for my neighbors, teachers, friends, etc which is a great way to get rid of the treats! This way, I can have fun baking/making and indulging in some of them but not eat ALL OF THEM.
Because girl, I will.
Tip #3: Keep your routines but be flexible
It’s hard and I’m not the best at this but I do believe that it’s important.
Your littles will enjoy the time more if they stay relatively in the same routine...especially with all of the extra fun going on around them, their routine will keep you and them sane.
Kids get serious FOMO any time of year but especially during this time of year. Assure them they won’t miss anything. Keep them updated with plans and let them be a part of making plans!
YOU will also enjoy your time more if you stay in routine.
If you normally work out, don’t skip just because family is visiting or because you feel gross from all of the christmas goodies. Keep working out! Even if the workouts are shorter and not as intense, they will make a huge difference in your recovery in January.
And in the midst of keeping your routines, recognize that this time of year can be crazy. Even during a pandemic where most of us will be confined to our homes, this time of year will still feel crazy. So have grace with yourself. If you do miss a workout, don’t beat yourself up over it but don’t make it an excuse to miss tomorrow’s. If you don’t get ALL of the gifts you planned on getting for your littles, don’t let it ruin the joy of watching them on Christmas morning because I can promise you they will be fine.
Tip #4: Plan Ahead
I’m talking about just about everything here, mama. Christmas gifts, Christmas dinner, your work schedule, your meetings… ALL OF THE THINGS.
If you don’t, you’ll end up like my husband on Christmas Eve NIGHT, building kitchens for toddlers 🤣
Plan ahead your Christmas gifts to eliminate the stress of last minute shopping, spending more on a gift because you’ve missed all the sales OR because all you can find are items that someone else bought on sale and then priced ridiculously high on ebay for late shoppers.
Plan ahead your Christmas dinner so again, you eliminate last minute shopping. I usually bake and make most of the desserts anytime between the week leading up to Christmas (sometimes sooner). And then I plan out the dishes I’m making and prep them the week of. This way, I’m not getting 6 dishes together the morning of Christmas 😬
Next, I plan my work weeks leading up to Christmas. Basically, by the time the kids are on Christmas break, I like to be flexible enough to not have anything super urgent that ties my to my computer too much during the day. I do this by sometimes putting in some extra hours leading up to that time, making sure everything is done before I settle in for the holiday.
This allows me to keep my days flexible with my kids. If I need to make a run to the store for xyz, I can because I wont be shoulders deep into a spreadsheet I have to finish before 12pm. I also make sure all of my meetings that can be moved, get moved. I don’t schedule anything new until after the New Year.
Basically, I don’t put pressure on myself to work during the 2 weeks that cover Christmas and New Years. I make sure my clients are taken care of, my work is handled and then I schedule time to check-in on the rest.
Why?
Because planning ahead allows me to easily take Tip #5
Tip #5: Take time off
Working from home can sometimes make it hard to go offline because you are always “in your office”
Thankfully, around this time things generally slow down or companies purposefully close for employees to get a holiday break. If that’s not the case for you, plan to take time off. You need the time to reset before the New Year and missing a few extra days of work is not going to leave anyone stranded. 😉
Want more?If you’d like more tips on working from home with your littles, follow along with us here and on Facebook!
Want to Work From Home During the Holidays (and year-round)?Grab your free getting start planner to learn how to start your work from home career as a Virtual Assistant, right here >>> laptopandlittles.com/planner
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The question we get the most is… “What exactly do you do all day from home?”
We got it as stay at home moms…
And we get it now as work from home moms...
And the reality is, the answer can be different for almost everyone and can even change with each client they work with.
So what do you do when you have a client reaching out and asking what you do?
The important thing to remember when they ask this question, is that they are essentially asking...what could you do to help me? Which means, you need to have a strategic answer, something quick and to the point.
We call it your elevator pitch.
And obviously, how you answer depends on the services you offer. If you have a specialty in social media or booking travel, etc., this question is easier to answer.
If you are a Virtual Assistant in an Executive Assistant or even OBM type role, this question gets tough to answer quickly.
So when answering this question…For friends and family who ask, I usually say something along the lines of: “I work remotely supporting executives and business owners.” >>> Because honestly, the simpler the better.
If they want more info, then I go into the general response I give when I’m purposefully networking…
“I support busy business owners and executives free up their time and increase their productivity by taking day to day tasks off their plates and streamlining their processes.”
This usually gets the individual thinking… “Oh really, so what kind of things do you take off their plate?” And they are usually asking this while thinking... “What could you take off MY plate?”
It gets the conversation going without narrowing your service down so much that only select clients will feel drawn to what you offer.
Why does that matter?Because you can provide life-changing support to every executive out there…
But it might look different with each of them. And for the most part, that’s okay.
You might have 10 clients and only work on 2 of them each day. But your 8 other clients are a combination of smaller hours that fill up the rest of your time. This is great for some because it creates a full-time income without the usual weight of a full-time load.
And if you respond with something like “Well I support executives free up their time by taking things like social media tasks off of their plate”...
Then you might only attract clients in need of social media management and not be able to tap into the massive amount of clients out there needing general admin help (that almost always ends up turning into more, when you can open their eyes to the value in working with you)
So how do you gather a client load like this?A big part of it is deciding what you want, and then going out and asking for it.
Here are 2 things you can do RIGHT now to use your “elevator pitch” to find potential clients.
1. Simply talk with your network about what you do and what you’re looking for.
You can do this with local business owners, friends, churches, etc. Tell them what you do and let them know that you are open to taking local clients on if they know of anyone needing support. This gives them the opportunity to ask about your services for them OR make a referral.
So how would this conversation look exactly?
Let’s say you’re talking with an acquaintance that owns a business and when they ask how you’re doing, you mention that you’re great, busy with your VA business.
Most likely, that person will respond with something like..
“Oh what is that?”
And then you have the opportunity to share more with them by saying something like…
“Well I work remotely and help business owners reclaim their time and become more productive.”
Again, assuming this person is genuinely interested in you, they will most likely ask more.
If they say something like…
“Well that sounds interesting!”
Don’t let the conversation die there, just respond with…
“Yes! It’s a ton of fun and I get to work with a variety of businesses. Actually, if you’re ever in need of support, I’d love to chat more about how I could help you.”
Think about it Mama, it’s not much different from answering that same question of “how are you?” with a response about how busy you are with your littles and then getting follow-up questions where you get to brag on how amazing they are.
Now how do you go about answering this questions when networking and doing reachouts?
Stay general so you can attract all clients and work to get them on an intro call.
Then, take ownership of the call by asking them what they do (usually you can tell what they would need support with just from asking this question)...
Then your answer to “What do you do?” is basically answered, because you’re going to talk to them about how your service solves the problems they are having.
If they say, “Well I run a team of engineers and we’re all in different time zones with busy schedules and I spend most of my time trying to get my 1-1’s to happen…”
Then you know that’s a need you can solve. So when it comes to you explaining your services you highlight that part of what you can offer…
“I help business owners and executives manage their time by being the gatekeeper of their calendar. I take all of the scheduling off their hands!”
Boom, you’ve solved their problem and it becomes a conversation about how you can help make their life easier.
And that’s really the key here. These conversations are all about how you can serve each other and help each other along in your journey, But if you go into these conversations with the mindset of “Ahh I have to get more clients,” the people you network with will feel that and they won’t want to work with you, much less refer someone to you.
So really, the way you answer this question “What do you do?” isn’t about YOU…
It’s about them and you are doing a disservice to them and yourself when you don’t share what you do with them.
So get out there mama, practice your elevator pitches.
Practice LISTENING when networking, so you can solve problems like the amazing VA you are.
Need help with your elevator pitch? We cover this and all of the other details involved in starting and growing your Virtual Assistant career, in our All-In Coaching Program...which you can learn more about here.
And then there is the referral method, which is really where you are going to find your BEST clients. So that brings us to the second way you can use your “elevator pitch” to find potential clients.
2. Ask your current clients (don’t have clients? Ask anyone in your network)
If you already have clients, be open with them about your client load and let them know when you are looking to take on more hours. Great clients will be excited to introduce you to their friends. Or maybe they will just find more work for you :) Either way, they will want to keep you busy, even if it’s not with their work. Your success means they get to continue working with you and if you’re good (which I know you are!), then they won’t let the alternative happen.
Another way this can work, is to make your client’s network aware that you are available. (sounds sketch but this isn’t a relationship you can cheat in...unless you have actually signed some sort of agreement stating otherwise (don’t do that by the way!))
You can do this very simply by making sure your email signature indicates that you offer VA services (or whatever services you offer) and directs them to more information...i.e. Hyperlink to your website, facebook page, calendly, whatever!
Now, if you have a branded account through your client that you use, you most likely can’t do this. If that’s the case, another way to get in front of the people you are interacting with for your client, is to simply add them on LinkedIn.
Connect with them! Send them a message like…
“Hey SoAndSo, great coordinating schedules with you for ClientsName the other day. Would love to connect here on LinkedIn!”
And then frequently post from your LinkedIn profile about the benefit of hiring your services and even put feelers out for clients looking for help.
I get it.
It’s uncomfortable to think about doing these things. I’ve been there. I still struggle with it!
But you have to let go of that discomfort. Remind yourself of your abilities to completely change someone’s life with your services, scale their business, give them back their family time, etc.
You have a service worth broadcasting, mama.
So get out there and share it! We’ve got your back.
Kindra joined our Laptop + Littles, All-In Virtual Assistant Coaching Program in May and made it very clear that all she wanted to was data entry.
Data entry is most Virtual Assistant worst nightmare.
So when she told us this, we were surprised and slightly concerned.
Someone who focuses solely on data entry may not have an issue finding work but will have an issue being able to charge more than $15/hr...
It's a task that is generally outsourced out of the country or to those with little experience.
And for most mom's wanting to make an income from home, that's not exactly ideal.
So we knew we had our work cut out for us to either get Kindra a client that could use her love for data entry or convince her to step into a role that involved a little more.
Thankfully, it didn't take long for Kindra to convince herself that she wanted more in this role and even better... she went out and got it for herself.
She joined one of our weekly coaching calls and announced that she had an interview with a potential client, we celebrated and then a little later, had landed them as her first client doing fun and exciting things that didn't involve, you guessed it...
Data entry. 🙌
Kindra is a full-time stay at home mom to 3 mini-me's and didn't want to take on much more than a part-time client load so she could have her own income while continuing staying home with her littles.
She actually didn't even plan on jumping right into having any client work until all of her littles were in school but she joined the program and saw how easy it would be to dive in NOW... with the resources she had in front of her and get started.
And she did it. She got out there and not only exceeded her own expectation of what she thought she could do, but she's completely changed her mindset of what she is capable of doing... even as a stay at home mom. During a recent Live with Kindra, she referred to herself as "Cookie-Cutter Kindra" which I would argue was never her... but we laughed because she was even further from that persona now as she pursued her new boss-mom career!
Check out the full interview with her here:
If you're interested in breaking out from the "cookie-cutter" mold like Kindra, let's chat.
Book a time with us here.
It’s amazing the number of executives I chat with that don’t have any sort of assistant.
I mean, they have zero help.
If YOU are one of those executives, this post is for you.
Maybe you’ve given an assistant a try and it just didn’t work out…
Maybe you’ve never had an assistant and the thought of delegating makes you sick…
Or the idea of coming up with a task list and having to offload seems exhausting.
Or maybe you think… I am not in a place to pay for help.
I get it, it’s easy to hear these excuses and decide it’s easier to just keep doing things the way you’ve always been doing them...yourself.
But that’s simply not sustainable.
Not if you want to grow.
So how can a virtual assistant actually help you?
A GOOD assistant will…
Streamline your processes...
Handle the smallest tasks before you know they need to be done…
And take on the biggest tasks without batting an eye or asking too many questions...
Catch things that usually fall through the cracks…
Help you scale by taking on all of the details and letting you plan.
You can also…
Trust them to hold conversations with your clients and colleagues, so you can stay out of your inbox…
Hand off your personal to-do’s so you know they will be taken care of…
Give them access to everything so you can stay as hands-off as possible…
Have them handle thank you cards, or any physical mail that you can hand off…
And seriously so much more. Check out this infographic of just some of the things a VA can do for you…
But WHY go with a US based Executive Virtual Assistant?
Why not do it yourself?
Or get a free intern?
Or an overseas VA?
Because you are taking on a partner who will be invested in the success of you and your company. You are trusting someone to handle the ins and outs of your life. Someone who will reclaim your time and keep you on track. You wont get this type of assistant for cheap or for free :)
You are NOT just handing over transcription or data entry tasks that anyone can do.
This person, when it’s the right person… is a game changer.
This person is a business owner and they are providing a service that makes your life either and your business run smoother.
So how do you find the right person?
Some people have a bad experience and write off the entire idea of working with a VA.
Some people just do not know where to look, so they don’t.
So let’s cover two things here:
- Where to look
- What to look for
Where to look…
Social Media: I’m sure you’ve seen a ton of posts in Facebook Groups you’re a part of, which is a great way to get a lot of responses to sift through…
Of course, that’s not a bad thing but it can be overwhelming and some end up not doing anything with the list of candidates they end up with. If you go this route, the best way to sort through these candidates would be to eliminate considering anyone you have to DM directly for info. If they haven’t already done their part in reaching out to you directly, move on. This usually trims the list significantly and from there, it’s based on the info they send over…
Now what else to look for...
Did they take 60 seconds to learn about you and your business before reaching out?
Do they happen to have experience in your industry or field?
Do they have a mentor/experience/any training?
Depending on your needs, there are plenty of things to look for. If you’re needing someone to come in and run the behind the scenes of your life and business, you might need someone with a little more experience OR with an obvious go-getter attitude.
If you’re just needing someone to hand off a few hours of work to here and there, you can be a little more choosy with who you work with.
So what if all of this sounds a little overwhelming and you’re thinking…
Eh, I’ll just continue doing things myself until someone comes along.
Stop.
Because there are other options. In fact, Laptop + Littles helps executives in this very situation, by placing you with trained, qualified assistants.
It’s completely hands off and all you have to do is tell us what you need.
And the best part?
The ladies in our program receive ongoing coaching, so they always have access to support when they need it. Meaning, they don’t have to ask you as many questions because they can always get guidance from us.
And our goal is for them to succeed, so we pour time into these ladies to make sure they continually have the tools they need to grow and provide incredible support.
We also teach in our program that the assistant role is meant to partner with their executives to create and maintain systems that help the business grow. Our assistants are committed to their clients’ success and are trained to go the extra mile to act as a partner, not just a service provider.
And that is what will make a great assistant. You don’t just need someone to check off your to-do list. You need someone who owns and takes pride in their work, someone who feels invested in your success. Because they will change your business.
If you need help finding that assistant, let us know and we will point you in the right direction.
Actually, here is a peek at our Virtual Assistant Database…
And we have more ladies finishing up their training every week.
Your perfect partner is out there, ready to mother your business…
And we would be so happy to introduce you to her.
Just fill out the link above and we’ll get you placed with someone excited to dive in and make your life easier.
Mama, you don’t have to have a degree to make the income you’re dreaming of.
You don’t have to climb some corporate ladder.
You don’t have to put your kids in childcare and go into an office everyday.
You don’t have to join a network marketing company and sell anything.
And the best part: You already have the skills to start doing it, right now.
I’m serious. Don’t believe me?
How many doctors appointments do you make each year?
Do you plan your kids’ schedules? Around school? Sports? Church? Activities?
Date nights?
Family Vacas?
Do you manage your family’s budget?
Meal plans?
Do you pay bills?
Etc. (because we all know there is more!)
You might be thinking, okay what do the day to day things I do as a mom have to do with making $48k a year?
It’s pretty simple. We see the Virtual Assistant role as mothering.
Because you are scheduling, planning, organizing, etc… for your client.
You are essentially mothering their business.
And you are doing it from home, with your littles.
Saving money on childcare, commuting, work clothes, etc...
And charging at LEAST $20/hr.
So what does this actually look like?
What’s amazing about this role is that it can really look whatever way you want it to.
If you want to work full time during “normal” work hours, you can find a client needing full-time support in your time zone.
If you’re wanting something you can do during naptime or in the evenings, you can find a client needing very part-time help with non time-sensitive tasks.
Both clients are out there, and even more that are somewhere in between.
If you’re wanting to focus on only offering general admin tasks, you can.
If you want to focus on social media management, you can.
Bookkeeping? Go for it!
Copywriting, heck yes.
You create the role you want. You are a service provider, so you define what services you provide and you decide what you charge to perform those services.
And this is an adjustment for sure. Because we’re so used to being TOLD what our roles should look like, what we will make…
But not this way, mama.
This way, you create the role you want, the schedule and the environment. You are in control of what your career looks like as a self-employed Virtual Assistant.
Including how much you get paid.
Which brings me to how you can make $48k a year in this role (at least).
The average starting out pay for a Virtual Assistant is $20-$25/hr.
So let’s say you’re going to charge $23/hr and you take on a total of 40hrs a week (doesn’t have to be with just 1 client).
Do the math…
And that’s roughly $48k a year.
Now stay with me, because I know you’re thinking… Well I can’t work full-time at home with my littles.
First of all, you can. There are women out there doing it every day.
Because you aren’t glued to your computer all day (at least you don’t have to be), so you can stay flexible in how and when you work… as long as you are getting work done.
(For example, I’m literally writing this on the couch watching Mickey Mouse with my earliest riser as I type)
And most of your work can be done with background noise, on your computer, on your own, wherever you need to be at the time. You can be mostly autonomous with this role. In fact, most clients prefer it. They don’t want someone they have to monitor and check-in on all of the time… because well, they don’t have time!
And when you do need to have quiet time for meetings, you can schedule it during naptime or after your partner gets home…
Or you can hide in your closet or car to get a few minutes of quiet if you really need to! (We’ve totally done this)
Bottom line, you make it work. Just like you make 50 loads of laundry work each day. 17 meals in between breakfast, lunch and dinner… potty training, quarantining with littles for months, etc.
You can do this.
Get started for free with our Getting Started Planner, here!
The planner covers everything you need to do to get your Virtual Assistant career started. Including, a really cute printable planner to schedule out those to-do’s :)
Before I begin, I want you to understand, my views and opinions that I express in this post are purely that … views and opinions for MY life.
This post in no way is to say one path of motherhood is better or worse, easier or harder.
Moms are rockstars! You have little humans that you provide for, teach, comfort, love, feed, play with, mentor, and you do it everyday!!
With that being said, when my motherhood journey was about to begin, my husband and I decided that we would do whatever it took to allow me to stay home with our child(ren). Part of that was living on his income alone.
* We wouldn’t get to buy whatever we wanted whenever we wanted.
* We wouldn’t get to go out to eat daily or even weekly.
* Starbucks was a birthday treat. (Side note … I love flowers! But, I hate how quickly flowers fade and die. So, while many enjoy flowers from their significant other, I am thrilled with a coffee I didn’t make!)
* Date nights would scale back.
* Vacations (stay-cations) would look different.
* If there was a coupon, I used it.
* If there was a rebate, we sent it in.
* If I could get it used, whether it was furniture, household items, clothes, or baby gear, I bought it used or graciously accepted hand-me-downs.
* We also decided we wouldn’t live with debt.
We knew it would be a sacrifice, but because it is what we wanted, we did it.
I have been home with my kids for years. I’ve done a little crafting to bring in a little money around the holidays and I worked one night a week for one year at a video rental store which basically paid our monthly phone bill. My husband has worked several side jobs. I don’t want to present a face of “hand to mouth” or desperate living. This has been a conscious life decision and we have had a beautiful life with our family.
Before I became a mama, the majority of my work experience was in administrative assistance and full-time ministry. When the opportunity crossed my path to become a virtual assistant, I wasn’t entirely accepting of the idea. I was very used to being right outside the door of the person(s) I was supporting and working within the 8-5 timeframe. I was slightly confused on how it worked.
So, how does it work?
Allow me to explain with a simple example: Think about that meme that floats around stating, “If you can say it in a text, don’t call”
(Can anyone relate to that?!)
Or there is another about staff meetings, “That 4 hour meeting could’ve been a 4 minute email.”
Being a VA (virtual assistant) is kinda like the “text message” version of administrative work.
By engaging in a VA role, you take away the time wasting fluff (and uncomfortable shoes and pants! Haha!) and just get tasks done, on your schedule. I work here and there through the day/week. During nap times, between homeschool lessons, or if the girls are playing nicely together I will just slip away and get a couple tasks done. I put in about 30 minutes before they get up in the morning. If I still have a looming task, I will work after I put them down for the night.
This is still a sacrificial lifestyle, but I get to make the choice what is worth sacrificing. Time with my family isn’t one of those.
(Laundry … I sacrifice laundry. Haha!)
Author: Thais Standefer
Thais is a former Executive Assistant turned Family Executive Assistant (aka, a Stay at Home Mom) and now a part-time Virtual Assistant. She started her Virtual career with Laptop + Littles and has grown into a killer copywriter. She stays home with her littles and loves every minute of it (minus the laundry) :)
Work From Home as a Virtual Assistant or Online Business Manager with Little to No Experience
Hey Mama,
What if I told you that you have the skills to take charge of your career?
Right where you are…
With a degree…
Without a degree…
With experience…
Without experience…
And the best part?
No, you don’t need to build a ladder or a pyramid.
No, you don’t need to get your sister’s friend's cousin to join with you.
No, you don’t need a customer base.
No, there are no physical items to sell.
All you need:
The skills you already have.
A go-getter attitude.
It is possible to earn a full time income and not sacrifice your career OR any of the milestones with your babies.
Sound too good to be true?
It’s not. Let’s lay out some facts about what a Virtual Assistant (VA) can do:
And that’s just the tip of the iceberg, mama.
A VA is a great way to get your foot in the door to the remote working world but it’s not the only option out there.
You can take that role and find your calling, your mission, your purpose…
And then SCALE your career however you want to.
While getting permission from no one.
One example is transitioning into an Online Business Manager (OBM) role, which a lot of VA’s do…
This role manages all the behind the scenes of a business from administrative tasks, marketing and hiring. Basically, you take your skills you’ve gained as a mom and you... mother the business.
You can also go in a completely different direction and niche down to specific industries, services, tools, etc.
The virtual world is your oyster once you’ve mastered the culture.
And why should you even consider leaving your 9-5 or current stay at home mom setup?
Because you don’t need someone else controlling what YOU earn...
How far up the ladder you climb...
How you mother...
Working from home, owning your own service-based business allows you to take control of your career and find the freedom you want in your motherhood.
Now what…
Want to claim that future for your career and motherhood… ?
You can get started for just $47 with this in-depth getting started course, where you can take the first steps of getting started.
You are capable and worthy of MORE, Mama. Just get out there and take it.
So we’ve covered what a Virtual Assistant (VA) can do and what you need to be one…
But who actually hires VA’s?
There are two ways to answer this question:
- Companies that Hire VA’s
- Clients
So let’s dive into the first option…
Companies that Hire Virtual Assistants
There are plenty of companies out there that hire Virtual Assistants and match them with clients. In this scenario, you are either a contractor or employee but the clients you work with are the company’s clients… not yours.
Meaning, the company has done the marketing and onboarding for the clients, they give you clients based on your availability and experience, etc… but the client is still paying the company for your work and the company answers for your work (you answer to the company). Then you are paid an hourly rate by the company.
Some of these companies offer training before taking on your first clients and some of them have a team-minded culture! If you are wanting to work remotely but crave working with a team, this situation might be the best fit for you.
This is a great opportunity for someone just starting out, that might be looking for more support
before landing their own clients and operating their own Virtual Assistant business.
So do your research! These companies are out there.
Now let’s look at the option where YOU are the business owner.
Clients Hiring Virtual Assistants
In this scenario, you have complete control of your rate…
How you work…
When you work…
How MUCH your work…
The clients you work with…
It’s all in your hands, mama!
If you don’t like providing a certain service, don’t offer it…
If you enjoy one industry more than others, niche down…
If you want to raise your rate, raise it!
Still wondering who these clients are that either pay a company to receive Virtual Assistant services or hire Virtual Assistants directly?
The need for a VA is out there. All business owners and execs could use the support a good VA can offer.
And if they aren’t sure how they can use you… show them!
Once you’ve got some experience under your belt, you can easily sit on an intro call with a potential client…
Talk with them about their business, their work…
Hear what works well and where they are struggling…
And then repeat their struggles with you as the solution.
You take their own explanation for why they need support and you show them how your services can provide the support they need.
Now what?
Get started on your VA journey, TODAY.
Need help? Take the first steps with this in-depth getting started course.
You already have what it takes to enter the Virtual Assistant world, all you need it to get out there and do it. The resources, the community and most importantly… the clients are out there.
How do we even determine that?
It seems like wherever we look, there are qualifications for what makes a good mom.
But it's up to you, mama. YOU are in control of your motherhood.
Did you hear me???
YOU ARE IN CONTROL OF YOUR MOTHERHOOD.
Motherhood started for me when I was 21, in my last semester of college. It wasn't ideal timing and I had no idea what things were going to look like once I graduated...but then again, I didn't know what things would look like before I became a mother either…
Eventually, I found myself in the stay at home mom role. I LOVED it.
About 6 months in, I felt the need to re-enter the working world but I didn't want to leave the SAHM role.
I didn't think there was any other option than to find something part-time so I could work part-time and stay at home part-time.
I couldn't find anything I was excited about and when it came to it, I hated the thought of leaving my son at all.
I thought of my dream job, which at the time was some type of event planner. So I looked into wedding planning, which led me down the path of personal assisting. I have always thrived in the support role so it felt sort of perfect for me and I thought...why couldn't I do something like that from home?
So I googled "virtual personal assistant"
And my VA career took off from there (Check out the blog post on "my story" to hear the whole journey!)
In that moment, I took control of my motherhood and started my career from home, even when others thought I wouldn't be able to do both. Honestly, I still get questioned, 3 more kids later. :)
I went from working very part-time as an assistant to full-time, choosing my maternity leave, my hours, my RATE, where I worked, who I worked with...
I didn't let everyone else's idea of being a mom change what I wanted my motherhood to look like.
And that changed my life.
Even though that doesn't stop the rest of the world from still trying to tell us what it should look like.
No matter what expectations we follow for our motherhood, it's going to be imperfect...
I don’t let my kids drink pop and almost everything I buy is organic...
🤷♀️ BUT I buy them giant bags of cereal and fill baskets with crackers and granola bars so they can snack when they want
I work from home so I can be with my littles...
🤷♀️ BUT I struggle at playtime with my kids, I’m not a get on the floor and build a castle mom
I try for an early bedtime...
🤷♀️ BUT sometimes we slack and let the kids do their thing instead of going through their bedtime routine
I’ve worked really hard to stop yelling at my kids...
🤷♀️BUT...I still yell
I could literally go on forever because motherhood isn’t easy, it’s beautiful, chaotic and imperfect.
But the most important thing to remember is that it looks different for all of us.
We can’t let other people tell us what our motherhood should look like.
If you have been thinking you are limited in your motherhood because of what you've been told you can and can't do as a mom... let me change your mind.
And if working while mothering is something you'd like more info on, check out this getting started course that Tianna and I created for mamas wondering what the Virtual Assistant career could look like for them.
When my oldest was born, I had to leave him with someone else at just 3 days old to return to my dental assistant program.
With my second, I had to leave her after just 6 weeks of maternity leave to return to my then Dental Assistant job.
4 months later, I decided to quit so I could stay home with them full-time.
AND work.
I was introduced to the Virtual Assistant world by my now business partner, Ariel and once I discovered the freedom the career gave me...
I knew I could safely leave my Dental Assistant career and transition into this new role.
And more recently, I knew I could rely on my source of income when I left my husband of 7 years.
I became a mom at 19...before I was a Virtual Assistant, before I was a wife, before I had any confidence in myself.
And Spoiler Alert: Now I teach mom's how to become Virtual Assistants themselves.
I worked through my pregnancy with my youngest, and slowly returned to work at my own pace after she was born. But this time, it meant I could continue working while being home with all of the newborn snuggles and struggles.
It was life changing for so many reasons and I wish I could've discovered this option before...
Staying in an unhealthy marriage...
Spending money on the Dental Assistant Program...
Giving up that time with my precious new baby to return to work...
And making WAY less money than I made even just starting out as a Virtual Assistant (AND saving money on childcare)...
I spent a lot of time thinking that the career I chose was all I could do. That or give up any sort of independent income to stay home with my babies. I didn't go to college, I lived in a small town, I was a mom of 2...
I didn't think any other options were out there so I didn't even think to consult with myself about how I enjoyed my career much less if what I was making was WORTH it...
It wasn't.
When I made the transition into the VA world, I didn't have the support at first, other than Ariel and some friends that encouraged me along the way. My then husband and family didn't believe in the legitimacy of the role until they started seeing how I was able to contribute to supporting our family... sometimes even carrying our income on my own.
And now... I am a single mom, recently divorced and completely carrying myself and my 3 littles on my income.
I'm not sure I could've left the person I've been with since I was 17, married when I was 19, had 3 children with and stood by for 7 years praying for change... If I didn't have power over my income and career.
Having that freedom, that independence is a game changer.
Not just for single mom's or women needing to leave unhealthy situations…
Ariel and I have made it our mission to educate other mom's...
Single...
Married...
Stay at home...
Working...
Not yet moms...
To know that they have options outside of what is in front of them, that allows them to take control of their life, their income and their motherhood.
Women need to know that there is more out there for them once they become mothers. It's not a one option or the other situation. You don't have to feel stuck or settle.
My whole story is a lot longer than these few paragraphs I've put together.
But once I felt empowered over my career and income, I had the confidence I needed to leave the situation I was in.
It enabled me to save my own money, leave without disrupting much of my kids' routine and not use the excuse that I rely on my husband's income to not leave.
The process it took to get me there is the same one the group of mom's in my coaching program are doing right now.
And it starts the second you make the decision to move forward.
There are no qualifications needed
No degree
There IS training
But you don't have to pursue it
You can go at it like Ariel and I did and teach yourself using all of the resources out there (there is an overwhelming amount)
Or you can find a training program that will fast track your journey and provide you a community of moms going through the same process alongside you.
Our program specifically also provides access to direct intros to clients, a list of qualified VA companies and consistent job postings.
If you're ready to start your journey, Ariel and I have created a getting started course for just $47 that you can check out here...
Because I'm determined to let every women I can know about the power they have to take control of their career.
I made a mistake with one of my clients 😅
About 2 years ago, my husband and I bought a house that needed completely remodeled. We had 3 littles at the time and as you might know...I work from home.
We closed on our previous home and had to be out before we even started working on the new house.
Thankfully, the house was big enough that we were able to live in one section of it while the main part of the house was being renovated (So we had all of the perks of no kitchen and no furniture)
If you've gone through any sort of remodel, I'm sure you can agree that this living situation is pretty miserable. Especially for someone who works from home with their littles every day (no relief from the construction site)...
I'm also one of those people that needs things to be in order around me to function properly. You know, those people who are super fun, go with the flow and spontaneous... 🤣
So my stress level was maxed out and my anxiety hit an all time high...
I made a LOT of little mistakes in my work. My head was just all over the place and I couldn't stay on top of things like my clients were used to.
In most jobs this sort of thing might lose you your job (look at how many people have been forced to leave their jobs during the pandemic to juggle their home life... instead of the companies working WITH them during this time)
Instead, my long-time client reached out and asked if I was okay.
He noticed a difference in my work and knew there was something off.
He basically made me take a week off to recalibrate, told me everything would be fine and that he was there for what I needed while I was figuring out how to handle the situation.
Roughly six months later, everything was back to normal, if not better than normal after having a finished house, finally a kitchen, and a lot of grace.
Almost TWO YEARS LATER...
I found a fedex box from that same client in some storage when we were going through things that got put away during the remodel. 🤦♀️
And suddenly, I remembered something on my to-do list that I had clearly spaced back when…
My client had sent me his old iPad and iPhone to sell on eBay for him.
It wasn't detrimental but I could've lost their trust.
But when I texted to tell them about the mistake they responded with:
"😂😂😂😂😂"
So they were understanding and it ended up not being a big deal
We had also been working together for 5 years when this happened, so there was a pretty solid relationship there, as you can tell from how he responded to the original situation.
Which reminded me of how often I get asked, "Is your job as an assistant really stable?"
I never really understand that question because we don't usually go around asking people with office jobs "Is your job really stable though?" 😂😂😂
If we did, I wonder what people would say?
How would you measure your response?
- If you have an employee agreement in place?
- Have consistent income/benefits/401k?
- By working with a company that's been around for a long time?
- A good relationship with your boss/team?
I would measure my response (which is yes, btw) with:
- Being in control of who I work with
- Being in control of what I charge (how much I make)
- Being able to land clients when I need to and not losing ALL of my income if I lose one client (vs losing ALL of your income if you lose your job)
- Good relationship with my client
The stability of my role as an assistant and others who work as project managers, OBM's or service-providers in general is very much dependent on myself and the type of relationship I have with my clients...
In other words, I am in control of my stability because I am the business owner. I am the employer, I am the customer service and marketing team, etc...
It’s an entire shift in mindset from employee to business owner
So I’m not relying on my employer to keep the business running and to keep me in my position, because I’m in control of how many clients I work with and my work...
I’m not relying on getting paid because my employer agrees to pay me a certain time each month (on their terms) or having benefits, because I charge my own rate, decide when to bill my clients and can make enough to afford private insurance if I want to...
And I’m not relying on just one client for my income because well... this quote lays it out:
“Think of your income as a table. If your table has one leg and it’s removed, your table will collapse. If your table has several legs and it’s removed, it may wobble, but it remains standing.”
And when you are in control of the outcome of your work, you work harder and you own it way more.
Fyi, I now work from home with 4 littles. So there is still plenty of chaos but I manage it because I’m able to create my own workflow AND I work with amazing people who want to work with me, so they are understanding when life is happening around me.
If you’re like me and want to have a career and want to stay home with your littles, check out this getting started course Tianna and I created for mamas who are considering a Virtual Assistant career.
I didn't start off my stay at home mom journey as a Virtual Assistant.
Honestly, I didn't even think there were any legit opportunities out there for stay at home moms!
Other than MLM/Network Marketing... Which I totally tried but like many of others, it wasn't for me.
Then one day I googled "virtual assistant" not even realizing it was an actual thing
Just hoping that someone somewhere out there would maybe hire a personal or executive assistant who worked remotely.
And of course, it was very much a real thing and I felt like I had been living under a giant rock...
I applied to work for a company, called Zirtual, that hired Virtual Assistants. It was a shiny startup doing great things and I was loving the culture, the team, the workflow and I felt like I'd really hit the jackpot by falling into the opportunity.
I took a part-time position and after a couple weeks of training started with my first client! I can remember that first intro call and how nervous I felt going in with pure "fake it 'til you make it" confidence.
I was promoted to a manager over a team of 10 Virtual Assistants within 8 months
And then that company closed their doors overnight in 2015 (if you google them, they were bought out so they are still around)
And mama, I was 7 months pregnant when that happened...
Why am I telling you this?
Because it launched me into a career that works for me. It gave ME control of my career in a way an office job, MLM/Network Marketing, or even working from home for a company wouldn't have because I was calling the shots
And you can too, mama, just take that leap and get started!
The day the company that introduced me to the VA world closed... I woke up feeling sick but also somewhat excited for what might be next (mostly sick though). I hustled to get ahold of my clients I had worked with and locked in working with them directly.
Which was great! But something I never really had thought about doing. I honestly felt like I had just been living under a smaller rock...
I was able to collect from my clients everything the company I had worked for did (vs them skimming from the top)
And it was incredible...
Suddenly, I was in control of my work more than ever before.
My hours...
Where I worked...
My upcoming maternity leave...
The number of clients I took on at once...
MY RATE...
The company closing their doors overnight definitely ended up being one of the best things to have happened to me, because I was able to take that opportunity and find myself in the virtual world.
From there, I grew into an Executive Assistant role for one of my clients, while handling basic admin tasks for other smaller clients.
You get pretty good at doing the basic stuff really quickly... Tasks like email management, scheduling, booking travel, expenses, etc. So you're able to focus on larger projects while still keeping clients who use a small amount of hours "on the side".
So you can definitely take on more hours than you actually want to work and still get paid for them :) Think of it like getting paid for an hourly job that you work 9-5 (or even salary) but are you truly working every minute of that 9-5?
Probably not.
I've worn many hats since I started working with clients directly.
I've even taken on full-time Executive Assistant roles, I've worked with many client's at once and now... I'm coaching mamas in their journey to finding what works for them.
I started my work from home career making $10/hr and now charge up to $40/hr.
The opportunities are endless, so don't be afraid to look outside of the normal you've grown up around and explore those opportunities.
If you want guidance from two mamas who have been where you are, check out our All-In Coaching Program, where we teach you exactly how to get where you wan to be...