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WHAT MAKES A WORKING RELATIONSHIP DYNAMIC?

A TO Z OF VIRTUAL ASSISTANT TOOLS A IS FOR ANY MEETING

AN INTRODUCTION TO BLOGGING

APRIL/MAY 2012 Volume 1 Issue 1

BRIDGING THE GAP

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PUBLISHER/EDITOR Lucy Brazier lucy@thevamagazine.com + 44 1932 560974 Twitter @lucybrazier Skype lucy-brazier CO-FOUNDER/INDUSTRY ADVISOR Carmen MacDougall carmen@thevamagazine.com EDITORIAL ASSISTANT Matthew Want James Taylor Marcus Sullivan DESIGN MAP Systems prasad.rao@mapsystems.in United States, Canada, South America & Caribbean Bridget Wells bridgetcwells@yahoo.com For all other subscription enquiries please contact Lucy Brazier. The VA Magazine is also available as a corporate subscription in print or online. Rates dependent on number of users.

The VA Magazine is published bi-monthly by Marcham Publishing

New Beginnings Spring always seems like a good time for some fresh thinking and I don’t know about you but the temptation to clear away the cobwebs is irresistible.

It seems fitting, therefore, that after six months’ of research and discussion, Carmen Macdougall and I are launching this new ‘sister’ magazine aimed at Virtual Assistants, to complement our current ground-breaking offering, Executive Secretary to you this April.

Executive Secretary has been in existence for 16 years in various guises but we have increasingly been getting feedback from the Virtual Assistant market that you wanted something for yourselves. So we have decided to take the best bits of Executive Secretary; the administrative training, mentoring and nurturing articles that we know our readers have come to expect over the years and add the missing element that Virtual Assistants need - solid advice on how to run your businesses.

The VA Magazine will include an abundance of highly focused business insight including marketing, finance

and productivity articles as well as information on technology, software and opinion from you, our readers. Combined with a fresh and innovative design and our promise that the magazine will never carry advertising, we are aiming to work with you to produce a product that is different from anything else in the market. And more to the point, an offering that offers practical solutions to the problems that you have told us that you face on a daily basis.

No stone will go unturned in our quest to add real value to your businesses and to bring together a global network of senior and aspiring administrative professionals and business owners to discuss and share best practice.

Enjoy this sample issue - it’s a chance to try before you buy. The print magazine and website launches properly on 25th June. We will be in touch.

Head Office 17 Wood Road, Shepperton, Middlesex, United Kingdom, TW17 0DH

A big thank you to all of you that have contributed to this launch issue, whether as a writer or as someone who has suggested ideas. I would especially like to thank all those of you that have expressed interest and encouragement - you know who you are.

+44 (0)1932 560 974

We really hope you enjoy this first action-packed edition of your new magazine. Please let me know if you have any ideas or feedback. We would be delighted to hear from you.

www.thevamagazine.com also available at:

Lucy Brazier, Editor &

Articles published in The VA Magazine are the opinion of the authors. The views reflected do not necessarily reflect the views and opinions of the publishers. © Marcham Publishing 2012 (except where otherwise stated).

Carmen Macdougall, Co-Founder

All rights reserved.

No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means without the prior written permission of Marcham Publishing.

For more detailed information about our Editorial Board members please visit www.thevamagazine.com

April/May, Volume 1 Issue 1 04

COVER FEATURE Bridging the Gap John Palmer examines the progress of the professional VA industry

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BUSINESS STRATEGY No business mindset?

You might as well close your Virtual Assistant doors

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BUSINESS STRATEGY Associate VAs Their importance to your business

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PERSONAL DEVELOPMENT Neuro Linguistic Programming Sue France explores some of the tools you can use day to day

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EVENTS Venues What to really look for

14

FINANCE Cashflow The first step to avoiding a cash crisis

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PROFILE The IAVA Jackie Workman on the birth of the VA industry in the UK

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COMMUNICATION Confident Life Skills Body language and voice

20

PERSONAL DEVELOPMENT How to overcome a fear of networking Ways of managing your anxiety

22

SOFTWARE SKILLS An introduction to Visio Bonnie Biafore provides an overview

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PERSONAL DEVELOPMENT Public Speaking Damian Muirhead on how to overcome your fear

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CUSTOMER SERVICE Great customer experience?

Rachel Clacher shares her real-life experiences

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WRITER

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SOCIAL MEDIA Blogging What it is and how to do it?

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PERSONAL DEVELOPMENT How to be remarkable And why you can’t be all things to all people

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KEY SKILLS UPDATE Email Little things you can do to receive less

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PERSONAL DEVELOPMENT Business Writing Three ways to write more clearly and concisely in any language

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PERSONAL DEVELOPMENT Success It’s all about professionalism

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MARKETING Seven touches Antonia Chitty examines the reasons behind a marketing mix

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PERSONAL DEVELOPMENT The latest Innovation is you Julie Perrine on choosing an innovative mindset

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COMMUNICATION Collaborative Working Collaborating with your peers for best results

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SOCIAL MEDIA LinkedIn A beginner’s guide

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PERSONAL DEVELOPMENT Personal Branding Why it is a vital tool for your career

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VA TOOLS An A to Z of Virtual Assistant Tools: A is for AnyMeeting

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CLIENT MANAGEMENT Working Relationships Donna Coulling looks at what makes them dynamic

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THREE

cOVER FEATURE

Virtual Assistance Industry – Bridging the Gap?

WRITER

JOHN PALMER

In the mid-nineties, with the advancement of technology in the workplace and the strategic quest for “lean” organisations becoming business vogue, the long established role of a secretary began to evolve - with less emphasis on diary management, telephone answering, audio and copy-typing for executives, towards an expanding skill-set for project management, multi-tasking and accountability.­­ Of course, the job title evolved, too – from “secretary” to “administrative assistant”, “personal assistant”, “executive secretary”, “executive assistant” and “executive PA”, with some now enjoying the right to their own PAs – the less than enviable role of the PA’s PA? The “super-highway” began to reach into our lives and homes, and the ability to literally “work at home” became a reality – the independent contractor, “virtual assistant” or ‘VA’ emerged, from those pioneering statements of “digital is the future” to the widespread connectivity enablement enjoyed around the globe today.

With the optimism of the dot com boom and the more latterly recession-driven corporate layoffs, and with the growing desire for a better work/life balance and the adoption of the new digital technologies with advancing software capabilities from the likes of Microsoft and Apple, the Virtual Assistant’s profession came to reflect the distributed way so many of us now work – at almost any time and from almost anywhere.

finds 853,000 references. Yahoo returns 176,000 results.

Of course, it wouldn’t be easy to determine how many of these references point to actual VA businesses, so let’s narrow the search down and look at some popular online freelance employment platforms. At the beginning of March 2012, there are 2,179 VA businesses listed on Guru.com, PeoplePerHour lists 3,800 VAs, and Elance.com responds with 18,500, out of which 15,300 are listed as individuals.

On review, perhaps the marketplace is not what it first appears?

The problem is that, when it comes to establishing the number of professional or career VAs, the above results – even those listings from Elance or Guru – are, dare we suggest... virtually meaningless.

Many listing themselves as VAs actually provide those services only as an add-on rather than as their core business.

So how many full-time, professional VAs are there?

this specific information – but from our research at BeMyVA we estimate there are probably only 5,000 to 6,000 VAs worldwide that may be classified as “professional” and currently “operational”.

At the moment, that is impossible to determine and this situation is not helped by the reluctance on the part of a number of VA organisations, societies and associations to more openly share

Our findings and thoughts are in stark contrast with the 10,000 / 15,000 / 20,000 or even 25,000 quoted on some websites and marketing literature.

So, what is the progress of the professional Virtual Assistant industry?

First impressions – the industry is still growing At first glance, the industry seems to be flourishing. This Google Trends chart shows a steady growth of searches for the term “virtua assistant” since 2004, peaking sharply in the midst of the global economic recession How many VAs are there today?

Another Google search on the phrase “virtual assistant services” (having excluded Apple’s Siri and other electronic applications and devices, which – rather unfortunately – now share the Virtual Assistant label with the human profession)

FOUR

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cOVER FEATURE

Why such disparity?

One reason is that some of the VA organisations and directories count amongst their members anyone and everyone stating that they are offering virtual services and support, no matter how much of that business is providing VA services, as well as the large numbers that are working primarily as contractors for large VA outsourcing organisations.

The other reason is more unfortunate: the numbers of the many new entrants to the profession that are apparently swelling its ranks year on year are in fact cancelled out by those who leave it after 12 to 24 months, and do not quickly update their memberships and listings.

From our research we can say that, after the optimistic jump in growth between 2006 and the end of 2009, the population of professional VAs has fallen dramatically in the last two to three years, particularly in the USA and the UK – and that’s by almost 50%. It may also be viewed overall as a somewhat transient industry - as a snapshot, at one stage in 2011, almost 20% - 304 out of 1580 VA LinkedIn connections “started something new”.

We continue to frequently see VAs moving on to new service offerings, business or career changes.

Whereas the opportunities are definitely there (recent surveys suggest that more than three quarters of VAs expect their client base to grow in the next twelve months), the stark reality is that many VAs will struggle to make it a long-term, viable business. Perhaps expectations are not easily achieved, particularly when the six-figure income alluded to in some VA training literature does not quickly materialise. Even those expecting a

more modest and realistic income often don’t last the course.

Too many VAs aren’t able to win and maintain clients.

In response we have to ask the question - why is this?

What are the problems?

First of all, recent surveys suggest that approximately half of all VAs practice only parttime or as a second job and turn over less than £10,000 (or less than US$15,000) as a result.

Basic mathematical logic of hours multiplied by rates dictates that you cannot expect to earn significant incomes working part-time, evenings or weekends only.

Secondly, you cannot expect to retain clients if you don’t know or don’t meet their needs as and when required. It’s simply bad for business when your client calls and makes a perfectly reasonable request which you turn down because you are not working on your VA business at that time. If you want to be a serious entrepreneur in business - you have to at least keep the business hours and service levels that you have agreed with your clients.

What else is “bad for business”? A quick reference to LinkedIn discussions shows how some entrepreneurs perceive VAs: “The worst thing about using a VA service is getting a novice who lets you pay for their learning curve.”

“My correspondence typically needs to go out by the end of business, not tomorrow afternoon because my VA is ‘busy’.”

“My first assignment was small and specific and every week my VA said she was ‘working on it’ and would have something for me ‘soon’ but after several weeks had still delivered nothing.”

Where does this apparent lack of professionalism, skill and business acumen and low customer care standards come from?

Surveys indicate that approx. 65% of all VAs are former PAs, executive assistants or office managers, which suggests they are used to having work delegated to them rather than having to win - and keep it - themselves.

Survey data also suggests that only a third have relevant business training or experience of running a business. Put bluntly, most do not know how to build and run a business beyond the initial launch, how to maintain and move it forward.

And when things start going wrong, they don’t readily know what to do to change or improve.

With that backdrop, it’s no wonder clients move on. Of course, client retention is normally a key cornerstone for almost all successful businesses.

And, as if this wasn’t bad enough, VAs also face competition from cheap, offshore pooled VA services – those VA services can charge as little as $5 per hour. At that price, many clients are indeed more willing to forgive lack of consistency and low quality of service.

Bridging the gap – our observations: So, what can be done to build a successful professional VA business?

Any business must fully understand their clients, their needs and expectations – and they clearly must understand you – your rates, hours that you work for them, delivery times and standards.

Define and differentiate your services so that clients choose you - your own USP. Some marketing experts say that specialists win better clients and command higher fees than generalists. Many virtual assistants, therefore, specialise - by industry (real estate, law, retail etc) or by functional expertise (bookkeeping, admin, online marketing etc).

With the continuous growth of social media, there is one particular field of VA expertise that is growing faster than any others - the social media VA. Virtual assistants are now being regularly hired to write or proofread blog posts, update Twitter, Facebook and LinkedIn pages, comment on forums, or perform social media updates.

“Can do” attitude, the right mix of skills and business mindset are also prerequisites for any VA looking to succeed. Most of all, however, there is a need to understand “bridging the gap” – what is sometimes referred to as client alignment - so that you can more fully satisfy the business needs of your clients. We will cover this in a future article.

about the author

John Palmer MA C.Dir is the founder and CEO of BeMyVA.com, a new innovative, international directory of Virtual Assistants John is a Chartered Director and holds a Masters in Company direction and is also founder and CEO of exec 4 – consultants and mentors to business leaders, based in London, UK since 1999.

BeMyVA.com has been developed as an Independent, International Directory for locating professional Virtual Assistants worldwide. Our primary business mission is to actively promote the value, skills and resources of Virtual Assistants to the business community at large.

www.thevamagazine.com

FIVE

Business Strategy

No Business Mindset?

You May As Well Close Your Virtual Assistant Doors

WRITER

Cindy Greenway

done and help me make more money… without requiring me to delegate every detail.”

So what is this essential quality? And why does the success of a VA business weigh so heavily on it?

Quite simply, it’s called Business Mindset.

So, what is business mindset and where did it come from?

Let’s start with how the term Business Mindset came to be.

Business Mindset derived from many, but mostly two very unique experiences within the last several years.

There’s an ‘itty-bitty’ quality that one MUST have to build a successful Virtual Assistant (VA) business. Quite frankly, without this quality, a VA may as well close the doors to her business, because it will not generate the revenue needed to sustain and grow.

Business owners don’t know what it’s called.

However, when asked “What do you want out of a Virtual Assistant?”, their description and often exact words include “I need someone who is going to think ahead of me, help me get things

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The first was in 2003. I had just recently started my business and found myself working with a business coach who had previously worked with several Virtual Assistants. These relationships did not last long or end well. Several months after working together, this client said to me “Cindy, you’re different than other Virtual Assistants I’ve worked with before. I don’t know exactly what it is, but you are definitely different.”

A few years later, in 2005, myself and my business partner, Tina Forsyth, led a teleclass

titled “How to Boost Business With Your Virtual Assistant”. The call was filled with business owners who wanted to better leverage their VA, and also learn how to find, hire and start to work with one.

During the Q&A piece of the call, a business owner said this: “Cindy, I know I need help. My coach and my colleagues tell me I need a VA. But I don’t know what I don’t know.”

I was stumped. I didn’t know how to respond.

It literally took me 2 weeks to fully understand what this business owner was both asking and telling me.

Both of these business owners were describing business mindset.

Business mindset is the ability to: • • • • • • • • •

Ask questions Listen to the responses Think ahead and apply initiative Identify all the pieces that are needed to complete a task or achieve a goal Offer solutions and take action Provide feedback Keep someone accountable Show confidence and Get things done.

Think about the relationships you have with the clients in your business. Do you currently apply business mindset?

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Business Strategy

In order to fully apply business mindset, a VA must know very specific details about their client. Without these details, one can’t possibly identify the tasks that need to be done or offer solutions and take action to support the achievement of goals.

For some VAs, Business Mindset comes very naturally. But for others, primarily new VAs, it can be a very difficult.

I blame it on the employee mindset.

Typically VAs come with a lengthy resume of experience in various administrative support roles. Many of these jobs are defined by a job description and tight boundaries. Feedback and suggestions are not always welcomed or appreciated. And don’t ask too many questions, because then it looks like you don’t know what you’re doing.

Can you relate?

When you compare the definition of business mindset with the limitations of the typical administrative support role, you can start to see why and where a VA may experience problems.

Many people will start a VA business because they want to experience the freedom and flexibility of entrepreneurialism, and because they offer tremendous expertise in the administrative industry. They create office space in their home, set up a new office phone line, purchase the essential equipment, create a website, get some business cards printed and voila – they’re in business.

So they think.

But then the phone doesn’t ring. Nobody emails. They head out to a few small networking events and still very little happens.

All of a sudden their confidence decreases and they start to wonder if they can really make this business work.

Building a business is tough no matter what kind of business. And when it comes to a service-based business, such as the VA business, it takes more than simply providing a service to make things work. While there are several

essential components to establishing success, business mindset is one of the most critical.

•

So how do you apply Business Mindset?

It’s easy. All it takes is 4 steps, effort and action.

Let’s say a VA attends a networking event.

Hopefully she’s done things right where she’s selected a target market, she’s researched and understands her target market and knows where to find them.

•

At the networking event she demonstrates confidence. She knows her stuff, offers great value and she ‘gets’ her target market, the people she’s networking with.

When the VA introduces herself to new contacts, she says “My name is Jane Smith and I specialize in working with ______. I help them with _____ and as a result, they experience _____.”

She uses language that she knows connects to her target market

•

Immediately business owners are intrigued.

•

The other VA they met earlier in the evening introduced herself as “I am a Virtual Assistant. I assist small business owners with their administrative tasks.” This VA has already been forgotten.

She’s applying the employee mindset.

Business owners ask the VA with business mindset for more info on what she does specifically. Instead of sharing a long laundry list of services she offers, the VA says to the business owner, “Why don’t you tell me a little bit more about your business, then I can tell you more specifically about what I do and how it pertains to your own business.”

See how simple it can be to turn the conversation around so that you, the VA, can get additional information and apply your mindset?

The other time you would apply your business mindset is when a potential client asks if they can schedule a time to speak with you to learn more about your services.

Here’s the 4-step Business Mindset Formula … you can literally apply this immediately once you’ve finished reading this article.

Take Inventory. Taking inventory is the step in which you are asking the questions.

You’re trying to gather as much info as possible so you can apply your mindset and tell them how you can help them specifically with the items they shared with you. Ask them about their: • Business • Goals • Priorities • Expectations Listen to their responses. You listen… you don’t speak at this point. Let them talk and at the same time, start thinking about what you connect with, what you don’t connect with, how you can help them etc.

Apply your mindset. Here’s where you think about all the pieces that need to happen in order for them to achieve their goals and priorities. What steps are needed? What technology is needed? Can you help or not?

Tell them specifically how you can help. This is the opportunity for you to shine. When you can refer specifically to the items they shared with you and tell them how you can help them achieve those goals and what they’ll experience as a result … it’s magical. They will feel heard, connected with you and likely they’ll want to work with you, starting right away.

If you apply these four steps in your business, and you actively apply your business mindset, always thinking ahead, in your client relationships, you will have no problem converting and retaining clients long term.

Business mindset can also be used with current clients. When you meet with your clients, ask them about their goals for the next 30 to 60 days. Ask them about the priorities they’re working on. How can you help?

By doing this on a consistent basis, you will naturally make it a part of your conversations with little to no effort.

about the author

Cindy Greenway, author of ‘Virtually Successful: 8 Simple Ways for Virtual Assistants to Find (and Keep) Clients’, provides training and coaching to Virtual Assistants in-the-making as well as VA who want to expand their current business. She is inspired to help others create a rewarding business with great clients!

Since starting her own business in 2003, Cindy has worked with well known online based business owners in the area of online marketing management. She has also personally helped business owners identify their own needs and assisted them in finding virtual support team members to support them.

Sign up for Cindy’s FREE ‘Virtual Assistant Formula’ 3-part video training series at www.VAFormula.com.

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seven

Business Strategy

WRITER

Carmen MacDougall

Associate VAs – Their Importance to Your Business

I

magine this scenario: You’ve recently launched your VA business and you’re really excited about it, however, you’re still employed in your role as a PA. Therefore, you’re conscious that when people are making enquiries, you can’t answer the calls at work because your employer doesn’t know you’re running your own business, in any case, it can be against company policy (and illegal) to be using their premises to operate your business. In addition, you’re starting to become very pressurised, as a couple of clients you have managed to secure need your time within working hours and you’re trying desperately to find away around that. You’re worried that if you don’t find the time to support them then they may go elsewhere. You sit there and just wish that you could find the means to leave your employment and work full time as a VA but it’s Catch 22.

You need the income to survive yet you need the time to build the business and the time to work with your clients. Sound familiar?

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Business Strategy

Imagine this other scenario: You are establishing your full-time VA business and doing very well, but you start to notice that, as more clients come on board, you are conscious that you’re not always going to have the capacity to support them all, you don’t want your customer service to be affected. In addition, clients are starting to ask for services based on skills you do not possess but you don’t want to lose out on the business and therefore the income. You’re waking up in the middle of the night worried how you can cope, you want the business to grow, but there are only so many days and hours for you to work. In fact, the whole point of you starting a VA business was to have a work/life balance, more time with your family or a lifestyle choice. What do you do?

Making that final leap from full-time employed to full-time self-employed as a VA can take a huge leap of faith, lots of planning, as well as ensuring you have the income to support you. If you find yourself relating to the first scenario, then you probably notice the Catch 22 situation, you need to be employed in order to have a secured income whilst your building the VA business, but with a lack of time to focus on the marketing as well as the client work, you’re not earning enough to make the transition.

The second scenario is very common, and if this is one you can relate to, then you could just be on the verge of expanding your business but you’re already fully stretched with your client demands but you want to boost your income.

It can be extremely stressful and pressurising to be in either of these scenarios but what is the solution?Quite simply, build a trusted team around you with associate VAs! However, many VAs have avoided this as they feel they either don’t have enough business to give to an associate OR they feel they can’t trust anyone to do as good a job! Other concerns are “What if the associate VA goes behind my back and takes my client?”. So you may have found yourself avoiding going down this route because of these reasons and probably other reasons too.

Creating a Team Helps You Meet Your Client Demands!

Creating a team with associate VAs to handle your client demands within the times you cannot meet them, is crucial to the professional impression of your business and the customer service. After all, it’s not all about you, it’s also about the needs of your clients. In addition, what do you do when you’re unwell and can’t meet the demands of your client? What if you need to attend a networking event or indeed another client...who supports you then? It also creates the impression that you are running a professional business with due diligence and risk assessment at it’s best!

The reason to have an associate VA, is not the fact that you are helping other VAs to build their business and give them income, it means that if in the event that you are not able to fully engage with a client for whatever reason, you have someone who can! You avoid letting your client down. The pressure is off!

I Know my Clients Well so How Can Another VA Provide Just as Good a Service?

When you take on board an associate VA to support your clients you would only take them on board if they compliment you. They must be a good fit for your business and work to the same standards you offer your clients. I would always suggest to go with your gut feeling as well as conduct a thorough interview. You can also ask that they go through a trial period with you (paid for of course) and you can then ascertain if you wish that they remain on your team. You would also ensure that you fully brief them about your client and share what you have learnt from the in-depth new client consultation. You would also have to regularly update your associate about new developments.

What About my Income?

What about income, do I still earn something if an associate is doing the work? Yes you do, although you take a percentage of the hourly rate which you charge to your client, the associate has to be paid for their time. If you imagine now that you have 3 VAs supporting

you during the day, doing the work on behalf of your company, for your clients, working 20 hours a month for your clients, then you could be earning around £400 per month.

What if an Associate VA goes Behind my Back to Work With my Client Direct?

Before you start working with a client or an associate you would have a contract in place as well as strict guidelines. I would also encourage you to have the associate sign a Non-Disclosure Agreement. First of all the VA industry is a small world and word would soon get around if the associate acted in that unethical way, however, with the right contract in place it would make it very difficult for both the associate VA and client to work direct with one another for at least a period of 12 months, anything before that they will both be in breach of contract.

The Process Requires Active Communication and Management This process does take a lot of careful management and regular communication, whether it be early morning, lunchtime or of an evening. You have to ensure though that you are taking on the right associate VA, you establish how you will communicate with them and instruct them and you must possess effective delegation skills. Ensure you are regularly having those important updates and three-monthly reviews with your client as you still play an important role in your client relationship. Once you let that communication slip then your clients will wonder what the purpose of your role is.

Final Point Be aware that there is a whole process that you should follow as well as legalities to be aware of, it is important that you get this right.

Whether you are on the brink of making the transition from PA to VA or if you are in the process of expanding, remember that having a team to support your clients on your behalf can be the difference to you making it happen or staying where you are.

about the author

Carmen MacDougall came from a corporate background as a PA and Office Manager before establishing her VA business over 13 years ago after redundancy. She has since established herself as one of the leading trainers in how to launch and develop a successful Virtual Assistant business through The VA Coaching and Training Company www.vact.co.uk using a model which has helped many of her clients to become award winning VAs. Carmen is a qualified business coach and a Master in NLP, an author and regular motivational speaker for PA and business events. She founded The National VA Conference and Awards in 2007 and has recently been appointed as Director of Training for The International Association of Virtual Assistants. Carmen was very proud to be chosen for the Spirit of the VA Industry Award in 2011 due to her passion and support in putting the VA industry on the map.

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nine

personal development

the keys of neuro Linguistic Programming (nLP) From 2002 to 2009 I was working as a PA to a successful international motivational speaker and a Master Practitioner in NLP, Bill Docherty MBE. It was whilst working with Bill that my curiosity for NLP started me on a fascinating journey. I learned a lot from Bill through helping him put his presentations together, organising and attending his seminars and allowing him to practice on me! After Bill nominated me and I won the Times Crème DHL PA of the Year Award, both Bill and I were asked to present together as boss and PA at both PA conferences abroad and in the UK. I have recently been studying for my NLP Practitioner Certificate after successfully completing my diploma. I have found it extremely insightful and helpful in helping to build relationships, give presentations, communicate effectively, motivate myself and others, think positively and create actions that make a difference.

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personal development

WRITER

sue france

Here are just a few of the NLP tools that you can learn from and use in your everyday life at home and at work.

you always did, you’ll always get what you always got!”

There is No Failure, Only Feedback

Rapport Match and mirror your body language as well as your verbal language with your boss and those around you to help build successful relationships. Is your boss a visual person who may say things like “I see what you mean” or auditory who says things like “I hear what you are saying” or kinaesthetic who says things like “I feel that this will work”? Subtly use the same language and body language and build rapport quickly and easily.

Everyone makes mistakes and sometimes have setbacks in what they are trying to achieve. People need to realise that all they need to do, is to take the learning you have taken from the feedback or setback and learn from those mistakes to move forward and help you to be even better at whatever it is. Some people perceive that they have failed and become disheartened when in fact it is just a learning curve and these experiences will help you develop.

Your ‘World’ is Different From Mine!

Outcomes Focus on the positive steps needed to achieve your goals and objectives.

What is important to you? What will you and others gain when you achieve it? They should be stated positively, be clearly defined, and make sure you have the resources you need. Use “SMARTER” goal setting - Specific, Measurable, Agreed (with boss), Realistic, Timed, Evaluate goals and Revise them when appropriate. Think about what will happen when you achieve it.

Flexibility NLP states “if what you’re doing isn’t working then do it differently”.

Modify your behaviour if things are not going the way you want. You can spend a lot less energy on changing yourself than trying to change someone else. The bonus is that you will find that when you change your behaviour - others start to change theirs. “If you always do what

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“The Map is not the Territory” - NLP teaches that you process information in your own little world inside your own head. A different person experiencing the same event or meeting as you will have interpreted and perceived things differently from you. We all take millions of pieces of information into our brains at any one time from what is going on in the environment we are in, to what someone is saying and how you interpret it and what is going on in the background etc, we filter these pieces of information as we take them all in and we either distort, generalise or delete information and we all do it differently from each other. When you understand that other people have a different experience from you (a different map of the world), you should be flexible and try to understand and empathise with their point of view and your rapport will be greater. When you have the rapport, you can learn how to talk to them, how to present ideas and how to persuade and influence.

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personal development

The Meaning of Communication is in the Response You Get

The Mind and Body Affect Each Other

We all have to communicate and how well we communicate is directly linked to how successful we are. It is imperative that an assistant communicates with his/her boss and takes 100% responsibility for getting their point across. Whatever a PA says or a boss says it will affect the way each other respond.

Misunderstanding in communication happens a lot and causes conflict and problems.

Therefore we have to communicate verbally and non-verbally in a way that produces the results we are looking for and look for congruence between non verbal and verbal communication. People will respond to what they think you mean, which may be an accurate or inaccurate interpretation of your intended meaning. Check to see if they misunderstood not only what you said but what you meant as well.

Your mind and body interact and mutually influence each other. It is not possible to make a change in one without the other being affected. When we think differently, our bodies change. When we act differently we change our thoughts and feelings. Therefore if you want to feel confident - find out what your confidant stance is. For example, for me I have my head up, shoulder back, stand with strong planted legs, breathing comes from the abdomen and my arms feel strongly and are slightly away from my body with palms facing forwards. When I take on the stance which is confidence for me, my mind will believe my body and I will feel confident! Try it for yourself! “Modelling successful performance leads to excellence”

People Are Much More Than Just Their Behaviour Martin Luther King once said “I’m talking about a type of love that will cause you to love the person who does the evil deed while hating the deed that the person does”. The point is that behaving badly does not make someone a bad person. Separating the behaviour from the person is really important. People can behave badly when they don’t have the inner resources or ability to behave differently in that instance.

It is possible they find themselves in a situation that prevents them from being the best they can be. When your boss is behaving badly say to yourself “Don’t take it personally!”

Enabling and Limiting Beliefs

Share knowledge with each other and do not reinvent the wheel. If one person can do something it is possible to model it and teach it to others. In this way everyone can learn to get better results in their own way, you do not become a clone of the model - you learn from them. Learn from people you admire either through job shadowing, taking on a mentor or coach or attending seminars and workshops.

Our beliefs can be positive and enabling or negative and limiting. For success your beliefs should be enabling and saying to yourself “I can do that”; “I’m good at”; “let me have a go” and “being different is good” etc. Our beliefs are formed unconsciously and have been formed throughout our lives and some have come from our experiences, from our parents, and our teachers etc. As soon as you identify the negative beliefs that are limiting, you can change them. For example if you want to go to networking meetings but you are afraid to walk into a meeting room full of strangers on your own, it is probably because your parents told you “Don’t talk to strangers!” when you were a child. This thought then creeps unconsciously into your mind when you think about attending a meeting full of strangers.

My tip to you is to tell yourself that now you are grown up and no longer a child it is okay to talk to strangers, in fact it is good to talk to strangers, to network, share knowledge and enjoy yourselves.

Individuals Have All the Resources They Need to Achieve Their Desired Outcome This means that we all have the capability and potential to grow and develop. It may be that we have to go externally to get help in developing ourselves but we are capable of seeking out resources to achieve our goals.

about the author

Sue France is an award winning PA, international trainer, coach, qualifi ed NLP practitioner and the UK National Chairman for EUMA. www.euma.org She is also the author of “The Definitive Personal Assistant and Secretarial Handbook”, which is available to buy on her website www.suefrance.com The VA Magazine readers can claim a 20% discount by entering the code FAVOUR (in caps).

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events

What to really look for when sourcing a venue…

A busy VA’s clients may often want you to source a venue and need a response that day, with so many venues on the market what are the key attributes to look for and what do you need to be aware of? Verity Deaville offers a bespoke venue finding service and is often asked what makes a good venue and what are the key points to look for when booking. Her top 10 tips are listed below: 1) Check the cancellation small print and go low on your minimum numbers All venues have quite harsh cancellation policies and it’s far too easy in the initial planning stages to get carried away and book for higher numbers so it’s essential to check the cancellation policy before signing. It’s often hidden in the small print with the date you need to confirm your final numbers but always quote a realistic minimum delegate number to avoid cancellation fees.

2) Watch out for the ‘add-on’s’ especially the Audio Visual (AV) requirements Some venues can charge over £170 to hire a projector whilst other venues include a basic AV package in the Day Delegate Rate (DDR).

Therefore always check what’s included in the package; items often not included are a screen, flip chart and LCD projector. If this is the case it’s worth comparing prices with local suppliers as they can often be much cheaper than the venue.

3) Help delegates stay alert If your event is a full day try and book a room with natural day light or good lighting, this is particularly important if booking in London

WRITER

Verity Deaville

as conference rooms tend to be in the basement. Also, be aware of pillars if using a screen at the front of the room. Avoid ordering a heavy lunch and check the venue offers a choice of menus.

4) Is there enough space?

This one may seem obvious but you would be surprised at how the different room layouts can reduce your maximum numbers.

Often clients only state their delegate numbers but not their preferred layout (or the need for exhibition space) so always be clear with the venue on how you would like the room. The most popular table layouts are lecture theatre, cabaret, boardroom and U shape.

5) Always try and visit If you are not using a venue finding service at least one person should visit the venue before signing the contact, either the client, the VA or both. Do not rely purely on the website and venues are always happy to pencil in the date and arrange a tour. Was the venue easy to find?

Could you park easily? Check out the welcome you receive as this is a good indication of their customer service and this will reflect well on the start of your event.

6) Check the WC! I personally check the ladies toilets (can’t do the gents!) just to double check the standard of the venue. The cleanliness of the toilets is so important and also notice the last time they were checked. Good venues check their toilets on a regular basis throughout the day and are perfect.

7) Can you adjust the temperature?

The temperature of the room should be comfortable for your delegates whatever the weather outside so I recommend you check there is air conditioning (that works) and ideally you/your client has easy access to the panel.

8) Don’t get ripped off with tea and coffee Many venues now offer an unlimited tea and coffee package that can save you a substantial amount rather than purchasing two/three serving a day. Or check that the DDR offers at least three servings included in the price.

9) Go Green Where possible choose a venue that supports local suppliers, offers jugs of water instead of bottled that will save you/your client money and has a green policy.

10) Use a Venue Finding Service – it’s free Finally, venue finding services often get the best deals due to their experience, autonomy, knowledge and purchasing power, plus it’s a free service so you can only win. Simply send over your client requirements and you will receive a bespoke search to match your needs.

about the author

Verity Deaville aka ‘Verity Venue’ is the MD of Deaville & Co, specialists in venue searches and event management.

Verity has over 15 years’ event experience, is a Chartered Marketer and has a passion for finding perfect venues for her clients. Verity can help VA’s source the ideal venue for anything, from team building, training, meetings, conferences, to parties, weddings, awards or dinners you name it she will find it.

W: www.deavilleandco.com Twitter: deavilleandco

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T: 01260 273026 / M: 07588 677449 Facebook: verityvenue

thirteen

Finance

Can you Define Cash Flow for Your Business?

WRITER

Fran McCully

Knowing what makes up cash flow is the first step to avoiding a cash crisis. The majority of business owners believe their cash flow is the revenue they generate less the expenses they pay.

The answer lies in the fact that accounting rules governing the creation of a financial statement are not tracking the flow of cash through your business.

The statements are focused on measuring profit or loss â&#x20AC;&#x201C; NOT cash flow.

The P & L (Profit and Loss) is the net income. Net income does not tell you what happened to your cash balance through the period in question. It defines net income based on the accounting rules that were used to create the income statement.

Many cash flow items never show up in an income statement while other cash flow items will show up but in different periods and in different amounts.

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Finance

Cash flow is made up of more than just profit and loss: • • • • •

Accounts receivable Inventory Accounts Payable Capital Expenditures Borrowings and debt service

Therefore, a business cannot look at an income statement and see what happened to the cash during the month. Profit and Loss is only one component of cash flow. A business has to have a clear picture of how each of the other areas effect cash flow each month in order to understand and take control of cash flow.

Example: Recently, a client could not understand why his income statement said he made money last year but he didn’t have enough cash to pay all of his bills. In this case, the difference between his net income and his cash flow was a result of the purchase of a truck for cash, sales made during the period that were not collected (accounts receivable), an estimated tax payment made an amount different than tax expense for the period, a distribution to the owner, and payments on a bank loan.

As you can see the rules of accounting determines when transactions are recorded in the financials and how they are recorded. The reality of business determines when cash is received or when cash is dispensed.

In addition to having a P & L that governs accounting life, it is important to keep a schedule that governs monthly cash flow. The secret to taking control of cash flow is to have an easy to understand view of each component of the business that affects cash flow. The cash flow schedule needs to show what is going on with each of the components of cash flow as mentioned above.

The 10 Rules of Cash Flow Cash flow is the lifeblood of all businesses. Use these basic rules of to help you take control of your cash flow.

1. Never Run Out of Cash. Running out of cash is the definition of failure in business.

Make the commitment to do what it takes so it doesn’t happen to you.

2. Cash Is King. It’s important to recognize that the basics of cash flow are what keeps your business alive. Manage it with the care and attention it deserves. It’s very unforgiving if you don’t. Remember, cash is king, because no cash means no business.

3. Know the Cash Balance. What is your cash balance right now? It’s absolutely critical that you know exactly what your cash balance is. Even the most experienced person will fail if they are making business decisions using inaccurate or incomplete cash balances.

4. Do Today’s Work Today. The key to keeping an accurate cash balance in your accounting system is to do today’s work today. When you do this, you will have the numbers you need - when you need them.

5. Do the Work or Get Someone Else. Here is a simple rule to follow to make sure you have an accurate cash balance on your books. You do the work or have someone else do it.

6. Don’t Manage From the Bank Balance.

The bank balance and the cash balance are two different forms of cash. Rarely will the two ever be the same. Don’t make the mistake of confusing them.

It’s futile and frustrating to attempt to manage your cash flow using the bank balance. It’s a prescription for failure. You

reconcile your bank balance. You don’t manage from it.

7. Know Your Six Months Cash Balance.

What do you expect your cash balance to be six months from now? This one question will transform the way you manage your business.

This question really gets to the heart of whether you are managing your business or whether your business is managing you.

8. Cash Flow Problems Don’t Just Happen. You would be amazed at the number of small businesses that fail because the owner did not see a cash flow problem in time to do something about it. The key is to always be able to answer the question - what do I expect my cash balance to be six months from now?

9. Have Cash Flow Projections. Cash flow projections are the key to making wise and profitable business decisions. They give you the answer to the all-important question from Rule # 7. It’s impossible to run your business properly without them.

10. Take Care of Customers. Eliminate your cash flow worries so you are free to do what you do best - taking care of clients and making more money. Use these cash flow rules to free yourself from cash flow worries. That way you can focus all your time and talents where you can make the most difference in your business.

No more wasted time worrying about what’s going on with your cash flow. Instead, you can focus your unique talents and abilities each day on ways to grow your business and make more income each year. That is a recipe for success and wealth creation.

about the author

Fran McCully of Your Administrative Solutions specializes in bookkeeping/accounting, database and businessplan development, and human resources. Fran partners with small businesses, micro companies, solo-preneurs and individuals. To discover additional resources from Fran McCully, Financial Strategist and Bookkeeper, please visit http://www.YourAdministrativeSolutions.com PLUS! email or call to receive the FREE Know Your Cash Flow Spreadsheet. This is a great tool to help calculate and control cash flow.

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fifteen

Profile

International Association of Virtual Assistants This is the story of how the International Association of Virtual Assistants (IAVA), the innovator and founder of the concept of virtual assistant support associations within the UK, started over 12 years ago and how the Virtual Assistant (VA) industry in the UK has evolved over this period.

In 1999, I was looking for a group like the IAVA to connect with, but my research only took me to the USA. My findings however, were somewhat beneficial as the groups that had started there had an identity – they called themselves Virtual Assistants (VAs).

It appeared that there were a number of people in the UK who were like me; freelancers working from their own office or home office, who wanted the support and connection with a group of like-minded people. At this point the IAVA was born. The original founders included Jacky Workman (me), Bridget Postlethwaite and Carol Golcher. We began a media campaign, started to raise awareness and introduced the concept of what a VA is. From this point we could now market our services using this new identity. The media was not only directed to the business sector or potential client but also to other VAs. Many unskilled mums at home came to us initially thinking this was the solution for them to earn a few pounds. This was not their answer. Although many VAs like me are mums, VAs come from a varied professional background with considerable experience.

In February 2000 the IAVA website was launched slightly prematurely because the

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WRITER

Jacky Workman

first major press article was now public. As we scurried to our posts, enquiries from existing VAs and potential newcomers flooded in. We were inundated with calls and emails. We had no idea of the impact we were to have at that time. It was as if we had opened the flood gates.

When trying to raise the profile of the VA concept, we noticed a lack of understanding or misinterpretation of the word ‘virtual’. We were even asked if this was like a hologram of a person. Really?

Geraldine Skinner of GS Virtual Business Support says, ‘as soon as you mention you work from home, people immediately want to know that what it is that you do, usually because they would love to be able to do it too but when 12 years ago you said you were a Virtual Assistant, they would not have taken you seriously.’

convince people that working virtually can be achieved as successfully as working in the same environment together.’

VA Marion Jones adds, ‘I’ve worked as a VA for the last 12 years and I have seen substantial changes in the way this profession is viewed.

Back in 2000, this way of working was a new concept which many companies and employers found it hard to comprehend. It has taken a lot of educating and publicising to

The media and marketing was amazing and included events, exhibitions, numerous newspaper articles and even appearances on BBC, ITV and radio. The campaign was full on and very hard work. However, the business arena continued to be very reluctant and set in their ways. Hard to believe now isn’t it,

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Profile

twelve years on? Remember the fuel strikes in 2000? Fate intervened and on the main day of the strike, we had a planned interview on ITV. What greater publicity could we get? When people were unable to get to their workplace, we were all continuing to work uninterrupted.

Having said that, many employers were of oldschool thinking. They required someone in the office, someone visual and someone who could make the tea and coffee - is this value for money?

how overheads could be reduced, for example, office equipment, employers tax and national insurance, redundancy and other costs associated with employing staff. Another factor is the wastage of time. A VA will only charge for the time they are working on a project. They are not charging for lunch, tea, coffee or smoking breaks, or the time they are talking to other work colleagues on a social level. These last few points are all very valuable commodities in time and expense to an employer.

We focused on highlighting the benefits of a VA who is a professional person, also running their own business. The benefits included

VA Marion Jones adds, ‘at last companies have discovered the benefits of producing their work without the constraints of employment legislation and all that entails in today’s workplace.”

So was our exposure beneficial? Did the media coverage work? I would happily say yes it has and it continues. Over the years we have seen a huge shift in the pattern of how businesses operate. Not just VAs but now many business owners from many sectors are successfully working remotely from their own home office. This feels like such a natural progression, that we have been doing this for years.

Through the IAVA support forum, we have noticed from day one how VAs do not really see each other as a threat. Many have built good working relationships by sharing clients, covering for each other for annual leave, sickness and passing on potential clients that are more suited to their counterparts. VAs also teach each other about software and keeping up to date with new technologies. Remember, we do not have an IT department

to fall back on, so again we have learned a lot in addition to the general PA role.

VA Suzie Warren says ‘having joined the merry band of VA sisters (and brothers!) back in 2000, I have seen many changes to the industry – not least in attitudes, both from potential clients and the VAs themselves.’ Geraldine Skinner adds ‘What has been a wonderful experience is how VAs network so well, how we help and support each other in every way. It just goes to prove that the office workplace structure is what makes people so unhappy, not the work!’

Our environment has impacted hugely on the changes to mind and work practice, not just from the advancement in technology but also our current financial climate. When the IAVA started, VAs worked mainly via post, fax, telephone and email, now pretty basic standard tools. Most of these are still the essentials in our practice today but for our clients, life has become even easier. We can now communicate via Skype, join conferences with webcams and train through webinars. We are not solely tied to the computer as we can work whilst on the move on our mobiles. We became wireless!

We can now delve into our client’s computer from afar i.e. using VPN. How far we have come! We now look to the Cloud for files.

In 2000 if we had said that to a client, they would have thought we had our heads in the white fluffy stuff! Suzie Warren from www. suziewarren.comadds, ‘whilst technology is an obvious change to quote, where were we before the days of DropBox and Google Documents?

The changes that have made our lives so much easier are that potential clients now understand the term, so rather than have to explain how it works, you can now get straight down to what work you can deal with for them.’

Have you seen the common theme in this article? Yes - virtual! How much of your everyday working is now virtual? The one word we once agonised over 12 years ago is now so widely accepted. Have we at the IAVA done our part? I proudly say yes and thank all of you amazing VAs that have been a part of this fantastic journey.

about the author

Jacky Workman is the Chairman and founder member of the International Association of Virtual Assistants. She is also a successful business woman who runs J’s Office Services and Your Business Aunt from her home in Berkshire. Since starting work in 1979, her employment has had a financial aspect to it. Administration at an advertising expenditure company led to working as a PA for a top producer at a well known life assurance company. She then moved on to work for a German mortgage company where she pursued her sales and marketing career.

Jacky Workman CEwww.iava.org.uk

VAs: Suzie Warren www.suziewarren.com Geraldine Skinner geraldine.skinner@talk21.com Marion Jones marion_jones@talk21.com www.thevamagazine.com

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cOmmunication

Confident Life Skills: Body language & Voice Over the ensuing months we are going to cover in detail all the nuances of what I call “Confident Life Skills” or being able to communicate in a much more positive and effective manner with the people In your life, whether it be work colleagues, including management, your friends, or just everyday people that you encounter.

People give off signals all the time, and knowing how to recognize those signals is a very important part of the process we are going to cover.

All my life I’ve always worked in some form of managerial role or other which has meant a great deal of interaction with other people at various levels and being able to communicate effectively with them all, but it has never ceased to amaze me how many people actually sell themselves short without actually realizing that they are doing it by being unable to get their viewpoint across successfully and effectively.

A lot of people think that by being “aggressive” or “forceful” that they will impart their personality or viewpoint on another individual but are then surprised to find that it has the opposite effect!

WRITER

Garth Delikan

And don’t forget being “aggressive” doesn’t necessarily mean being physically violent. So much can be learned by taking a step back and having a look at how your actions impact on another person or other people and once you can “sense and feel” what you are doing it will make a huge difference in how you project yourself.

Part of being able to get on in life and to be able to cope with things in an effective manner is in your perception of other people and in the way that other people perceive you.

You’ve all heard how most people tend to make a judgement of someone within the first 10 seconds and that first impression is the first and most important impression you can make.

So, ask yourself, if that’s the case and people are making such “instant” judgements what are other people thinking of me, and just as importantly what kind of impression am I making on the people that matter?

What can I do about it and is there in fact, anything I can do about it?

Well the good news is YES, there is an awful lot you can do about it but it is something that you will have to work on and depending on how badly you want to progress at work or in your life it’s the effort you put in that counts.

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cOmmunication

So why do people make such instant decisions and how are they able to do this?

Well did you know that 55% of any communication is “physical” and includes facial expressions, gestures and body language and all these signals are being given out “unconsciously” so we are not even aware most of the time that we are even sending them out as they have become part of our everyday make up and habit.

38% of any communication is “the tone of voice” which means that people are listening to the tonality of what you are saying as opposed to “hearing your words”! So it’s very important to be confident in how you project your voice as well as your physical body as it all part of the same package. Strong positive body language coupled with a great speaking voice will always convey an air of confidence and authority.

7%

of a communication is based only on the words that you use!

Now this is an incredible important bit of news because it means that just because you think the words you are using are important, they actually aren’t, and are having very little impact on what you are saying and the information or message you’re trying to get across.

It’s the way you say it and the way that you project it that’s important!

But the good news is that all habits are learned and all these little “signals” that we give out have been learned over a period of time and logic therefore tells you that “new habits” can be learned just as effectively and be put to better use and thereby cancelling out any of the old habits that you would like to change or improve.

So on the physical side what are we talking about here?

Slouched shoulders, nervous gestures, the wrong clothes, the incorrect accessories, facial expressions, nervous twitching, wrangling of hands, getting too close to people and invading their “personal space” too quickly without being invited in. (We will cover this subject in more

depth at a later date). Always check to see how others are responding to you and correct yourself correspondingly.

Always stand tall, shoulders back, chest high, tummy tucked in. Try to imagine an invisible golden thread that travels from the base of your spine up your backbone and out the top of your head. Not only does this improve your appearance immediately but it will also help you to breathe more easily and therefore look more relaxed, it also gives you an immediate look of authority, try it and see. If having an interview always try to breathe evenly and slowly.

When seated try not to slouch. Again this not only improves your posture and your circulation it will also help you to feel more alert and will help you to feel more in charge.

Try not to fidget!

Smile openly when appropriate and always try to listen before you impart any viewpoint of your own. Not only will this make you look and sound more considerate it’s also polite and people appreciate politeness and someone listening to their viewpoint.

Try to evaluate what is being said before “jumping” in with your opinion and always let someone finish what they are saying first.

And if in doubt to the meaning of anything, ask!

Be aware of the “tone” of your voice. Speak clearly and legibly and don’t try and speak too quickly (a common mistake when feeling slightly nervous). Be animated in your speech and try to add an “inflection” to punctuate important points in what you are saying. Injecting humour in conversation is always a good idea as long as it’s appropriate.

Listen to the words of the other person and always try to pronunciate clearly when you are speaking without sounding robotic, as again too many people mutter or speak too quickly or in too high a tone when feeling nervous or awkward.

Be in control and aware of your own body language and speech patterns and keep them under control “naturally and easily” and you’ll be amazed at the effect it will have.

These intrinsic skills can make such a difference to your professional and personal life you’ll wonder why they’re not taught in school.

about the author about the author

All these exercises and much more can be experienced firsthand by booking Garth Delikan, The Lifestyle Guy where all these principles techniques will be taught to youGarth and Delikan, your department in Guy a fun All these exercises and much more and can be experienced firsthand by booking The Lifestyle where role play situation where you will gain a greater understanding of everything covered in this article. all these principles and techniques will be taught to you and your department in a fun role play situation where you www.thelifestyleguy.co.uk will gain a greater understanding of everything covered in this article. www.thelifestyleguy.co.uk Contact details: Tel: 0844 241 3208, email: garth@thelifestyleguy.co.uk, skype: the.lifestyleguy Twitter: @lifestyleguy or Facebook: www.facebook.com/Thelifestyleguyfanpage Contact details: Tel: 0844 241 3208, email: garth@thelifestyleguy.co.uk, skype: the.lifestyleguy Twitter: @lifestyleguy or Facebook: www.facebook.com/Thelifestyleguyfanpage www.executivesecretary.com

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T H I RT Y F I V E

ninEteen

communication

How to Overcome Your Fear of Networking Events WRITER

Graham W Price

Meeting new people can be stressful but there are ways of managing your anxiety.

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communication

Networking has become a major marketing tool for both small and large companies, helping them make new contacts and generate business. For most, networking is seen as a valuable opportunity. But for some it generates fear and anxiety. Talking to strangers doesn’t come naturally to everyone - for some it can be terrifying.

Overcoming fear and anxiety is a common challenge facing therapists. Previously, the most popular treatment was behavioural therapy, which systematically and repeatedly exposes the client to the very thing they fear.

More recently, the leading technique has been Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT), which encourages the client to challenge irrational thinking at the same time as engaging in behavioural exposure. For example: •

We may believe that others will notice we’re fearful and that this could negatively impact our social or business standing.

The truth is that others rarely notice if we’re anxious. If they did, they’re unlikely to make negative judgements. Firstly, they’re probably more interested in what they want to achieve through networking.

Secondly, most people have experienced anxiety at some time in their lives, most commonly when speaking to groups, so their response is more likely to be empathic rather than judgemental.

approaches, such as Acceptance-Action Therapy (AAT). Accepting (for now) our uncomfortable feelings is one of the most powerful psychological tools anyone can develop. Most people go through life resisting or avoiding uncomfortable feelings. Not wanting to feel whatever we’re feeling, trying not to feel it, or hoping it doesn’t get worse are all forms of resistance. Not doing something that makes us anxious, is an example of avoidance.

Accepting feelings is about being willing to fully experience them and telling ourselves it’s OK to be feeling whatever we’re feeling, for now. Accepting uncomfortable feelings just means accepting them as long as they’re there, rather than accepting that it’s OK for them to remain.

Therefore, therapists now train clients to accept anxiety, then do what they’re afraid of, and keep doing it until the problem is resolved.

Acceptance is based on the awareness that anxiety is a normal response to fearful thoughts and, most importantly, is completely harmless.

Learning to accept uncomfortable feelings has many benefits. Firstly, it enables us to be less distressed by the feeling. Secondly, acceptance always diminishes uncomfortable feelings.

Finally, accepting an uncomfortable feeling makes it easier to do the thing we’re afraid of, which is the key to resolving the problem.

•

Avoiding networking because we’re fearful is more likely to be harmful to our business than engaging in networking, despite being fearful of it.

•

Engaging in networking is the only way of resolving our fears, so we may as well pluck up the courage and dive in.

Avoiding things we’re fearful of will always reinforce the programming that is driving the fear. If I’m anxious about speaking to groups, it’s because somehow I believe that it’s dangerous or threatening to do so. Every time I avoid speaking to groups, I reinforce that belief. My unconscious thinks: ‘If I’m avoiding it, then it must be because it’s dangerous’.

More recently, experienced therapists have been combining CBT with acceptance-based

By contrast, doing things we’re fearful of, while accepting the fear, unwinds the programming

that’s driving the feelings. Acceptance-Action Therapy says: ‘Accept the feeling, choose the action’. If we want to resolve a feeling pattern, the action we choose should always be the opposite of whatever the feeling is telling us to do. So, if we’re anxious about networking, we need to accept the feeling and start networking.

The very act of going out of our way to speak to others at a networking event, whether or not we initially have good experiences, will immediately start to undermine the unconscious beliefs that are driving the anxiety.

Our unconscious thinks: ‘Why am I willing to network if it’s threatening or dangerous?

Maybe my belief is wrong.’

‘Accept the feeling, choose the action’, is a powerful adage to live our lives by. It can be used to break through reticence, procrastination, fear of failure or any other self-limitation. I encourage my clients to use it in every area of their lives limited by uncomfortable feelings.

The more we use it the more powerful we become.

Learning these skills is one component of a ‘personal effectiveness and achievement’ training called Acceptance-Action Training presented by Abicord Ltd. Through this training, everyone can be taught how to eliminate regret, worry, dissatisfaction, stress and anxiety, become more motivated and effective, achieve more, improve their relationships and gain more satisfaction from their work and their whole lives.

about the author

Graham W Price is a chartered psychologist and an accredited member of the British Psychological Society (BPS).

He is author of What Is, Is! The Power of Positive Acceptance which is available from the bookstore at Amazon.

For more information see: www.abicord.com/graham-price Contact: grahamprice@abicord.com

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TWenty One

Software Focus

An Introduction to

WRITER

Bonnie Biafore

Visio Executives want information that’s meaningful, clear, and concise, which is why diagrams of all kinds are a staple of the business world.

Charts, graphs, plans, and other types of diagrams can convey information succinctly, but not all diagrams are created equal. That’s where Microsoft Visio can help. Visio makes it easy to create, edit and format effective diagrams from organization charts to business process flows to timelines -- and much more.

All you need are a few simple concepts, one of Visio’s smart templates, and the program’s straightforward tools. Visio offers so much, this article provides a brief introduction and shares some tips for making the most of this powerful diagramming tool.

Shapes, connectors, stencils and templates are the bedrock that makes Visio so easy to use. These terms are all found in the Oxford English Dictionary, but what do they represent in Visio-speak?

•

Visio shapes look like clip art, but they’re much more powerful. You can construct diagrams by dragging and dropping shapes onto a drawing. Visio shapes are built from vectors so you can easily resize, edit, and format them. They also come with built-in behaviors so they know how to act in different situations -- more than can be said for some people. For example, in an organization chart, a Manager shape knows to connect to the Executive shape on which you drop it; and the organization chart shapes automatically position themselves according to the layout you’ve

twenty two

the Organization Chart Shapes, Timeline Shapes, and Connectors stencils. You can also add shapes you use frequently to a Quick Shapes stencil so they’re readily available. You can add connectors manually, but you’ll learn shortly that Visio can create connections automatically.

selected, such as horizontally or in a vertical column below their manager.

•

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Visio connectors define relationships between shapes, such as the reporting relationship between an executive and a manager on an organization chart or a flow of data on a business process diagram.

When shapes are linked with connectors, you can rearrange or align them with a few clicks using Visio’s layout commands.

When shapes are linked with connectors, you can move shapes around while Visio takes care of neatly redrawing the connectors, so the drawing doesn’t look like a plate of spaghetti.

Visio stencils are home to the shapes and connectors you use to build diagrams.

Visio comes with hundreds of ready-made stencils that contain the shapes you need for a specific type of diagram, such as

•

Visio templates put together a variety of settings and elements, so you can get to the business of building a diagram without pesky setup. When you create a new file using one of Visio’s built-in templates, such as Organization Chart, Visio automatically displays stencils with shapes and connectors for the type of diagram you’re creating; adds a tab (Org Chart in this case) with specialized commands for the diagram type; chooses options, such as drawing scale, page size, and page orientation; and adds a blank drawing page to the file.

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Software Focus

Whether you start with a blank page or modify an existing diagram, Visio 2010 offers a variety of time-saving features. The shapes you use most often within a given stencil bubble up to the Quick Shapes area at the top of the stencil so they’re easy to find. And if you drag and drop shapes from several stencils, the Quick Shapes stencil is a collection of all the shapes from each open stencil’s Quick Shapes area, so you can add shapes to your drawing without switching between stencils.

Suppose you’ve dropped a Process shape onto a drawing to begin to document a process flow.

When you hover the mouse over that shape, AutoConnect triangles appear at the top, bottom, left, and right of the shape. If you want to connect another shape to this one, point to one of the AutoConnect triangles. A Quick Shapes mini-toolbar appears, which contains the first four shapes from the Quick Shapes area of the active stencil. Click a shape, such as the Decision shape, in the mini-toolbar and Visio adds the shape to the page, connects it to the existing shape, and positions the new shape so it is properly spaced and aligned. If you select a shape in a stencil and then point to an AutoConnect triangle, Visio automatically adds a copy of the selected shape to your drawing.

With some diagrams, you can shortcut construction by importing data. Suppose you already have personnel data in a text file, Excel spreadsheet, Microsoft Exchange Server directory, or any ODBC-compliant data source.

Visio’s Organization Chart Wizard template asks for the source of the data and then builds the organization chart. (The wizard needs columns with the headings Name and ReportsTo to create the reporting structure. If the file contains other data, you choose the fields that you want to display in the chart.)

Of course, personnel data isn’t static. People come and go, receive promotions, change their names, and so on. You can make your Visio diagrams as dynamic as the roster for your company. The Data Selector wizard (Link Data to Shapes on the Data tab) helps you define links so Visio can pull data from sources,

such as Excel, Access, SQL Server, SharePoint Services, or other databases. Because the data is linked to your diagram, Visio’s Automatic Refresh will keep your diagram up to date without any effort on your part. If you create a diagram to illustrate status or progress, Data Graphics (Data Graphics on the Data tab) can display values graphically, using bars, colors, icons, or text. For example, you could represent progress on a task with a bar that shows the percentage of work complete or use traffic light icons to show whether a task is ahead of or behind schedule.

Visio 2010 has formatting tools that make diagrams look as though they were prepared by a top designer with a great eye for color.

Visio themes are sets of colors designed to look good together. When you hover the pointer over a theme (on the Design tab), Live Preview temporarily applies the theme colors to the diagram, so you can see what the diagram will look like before you commit to the theme.

In addition, if you add a background to your drawing, Visio suggests additional themes with complimentary background colors.

When you right-click a shape, a formatting mini-toolbar appears near the shape. You can change the font, the font size or color, the shape fill color, the shape border formatting, and more. The color palette that appears for fonts, shape fills, and borders include the colors from the theme you’ve chosen with several gradations of each color from light to dark.

Here are some of the Visio templates that you might find helpful: The General category includes three templates for creating basic block diagrams, whether you want very basic shapes (Basic Diagram), blocks and connectors that are a bit smarter (Block Diagram), or three-dimensional shapes (Block Diagram With Perspective).

The Business category includes the Organization Chart template and the Organization Chart Wizard template, mentioned earlier. In addition, the Business category offers a Charts and Graphs template and a Marketing Charts and Diagrams template. The Charting Shapes

stencil that opens with the Charts and Graphs template includes shapes for standard graphs, tables for comparing product features, shapes to create pie charts, and so on.

The Flowchart category includes templates for illustrating processes of different types. The Basic Flowchart template includes a handful of shapes for documenting procedures. The Work Flow Diagram template contains several stencils with icons that represent different departments within an organization. You can build a workflow by connecting departments and work flow objects with connectors.

The Cross-Functional Flowchart template offers shapes for showing procedural steps in separate swimlanes for each functional area that performs work.

With templates in the Maps and Floor Plans category, you can lay out your own office or several offices within an area. These templates use several stencils to provide shapes for walls, doors, furniture, equipment, and accessories.

Finally, in the Schedule category, the Timeline template is helpful when you want to show when events occur, such as the tasks and milestones leading up to a major trade show. You begin by adding an overall timeline to a drawing.

Then, you can drop blocks to indicate tasks or intervals to show phases. The Timeline Shapes stencil include several shapes for milestones. In addition, you can expand part of a timeline to show additional detail by adding shapes that synchronize with the main timeline.

The diagrams you create with Visio can be incorporated into other files or shared in several ways. You can paste or link a Visio diagram within a Word document, Excel spreadsheet, PowerPoint presentation, or other program file. You can also save Visio diagrams as static Web pages or in PDF or XPS format. If your company uses SharePoint, you can also share a data-linked diagram that updates dynamically as the underlying data changes, for example, to include an up-to-date organization chart with contact information that everyone can access.

about the author

Bonnie is the author of twenty-three award-winning books including Your Project Management Coach, Project 2010: The Missing Manual, QuickBooks 2012: The Missing Manual, and the Visio 2007 Bible. She has recorded several training courses for Lynda.com, including Project 2010 Essential Training, Project Management Fundamentals, and QuickBooks 2010 Essential Training. She has a knack for mincing dry subjects into easy to understand morsels and then spices them to perfection with her warped sense of humor.

You can contact her at bonnie.biafore@gmail.com or learn more at www.bonniebiafore.com.

www.thevamagazine.com

twenty three

personal development

the secret of successful Public speaking.

“Public speaking”. These two words in the English Language have the ability to render the most confident and outgoing individuals paralysed with fear. For many, the mere thought of having to speak in public is literally the most terrifying scenario imaginable. And even those of us who do not necessarily fear public speaking, admit that if we could, we would avoid it.

responsibility, more money and a very real chance to progress up the career ladder.

However this thrill soon turned to terror when I realised just how often I would have to end up pitching to the Senior Leadership Team. Before a meeting I would literally fall apart with fear and nerves and feel paralysed all over.

What made this fear all the

Take the example of one of my clients, Lynne* for instance. She works as a middle manager at a well-known international Investment Bank, however since a recent promotion widened her duties to include regularly pitching in-front of more senior colleagues her job has gone from being one she used to greatly enjoy to one she has grown to dread.

Lynne describes her fear in her own words saying “I was initially thrilled when I got my promotion at work as it meant more

twenty four

Three Steps To Becoming a More Accomplished and Confident Public Speaker The following steps are a summary of some of the advice I regularly offer to clients who want to become more confident and more accomplished in their public speaking roles.

Some of the advice is anecdotal and helps them gain perspective on their public speaking event - whilst some are techniques that if practised regularly, build confidence.

But what is it exactly about the thought of having to stand and deliver a speech, or give a presentation that sets our minds racing with fear? And just how can we overcome our presentation nerves and speak publicly with confidence and ease delivering the performance we know we are capable of.

As a public speaking and performance coach I have coached countless, usually WRITER confident individuals, who turn into nervous damien wrecks anytime they are muirhead asked to speak in public.

For many this fear is a big problem as their job roles regularly requires them to speak in-front of an audience and yet they feel an uncontrollable panic any time they know this will be asked of them.

speaking can begin to feel more confident in a very short space of time.

Tip 1 ‑ Remember its OK to be nervous!

more frustrating is that I am generally a very confident and outgoing person. I have many friends and no problems in other social situations - but something about public speaking just terrified me.”

As a public speaking and performance coach I hear words like Lynne’s almost on a daily basis ,with public speaking being one of the most common phobias suffered in this country. Yet the cause of public speaking fear is very simple to identify and overcome. With a bit of effort and some consistency those who fear public

The first mistake many people make when faced with a public speaking event is that they view their nerves or fear in a negative way. Convinced that the level of fear they have is inappropriate, they try their hardest to eliminate it. Having told themselves or been told by others that they “shouldn’t feel as they do” especially if they are normally seen as a confident person or in a senior position, their fear becomes greater when they realise they cannot make it go away.

The greatest emotion the speaker then experiences is not a fear of the presentation, but instead it becomes a fear of the fear itself.

This occurs because the speaker begins to wrongly interpret the fear as meaning that something is about to go drastically wrong with the presentation.

The quickest way to feel confident despite this fear is to say aloud and repeatedly: “How I am feeling is OK” “I accept my fear or nerves

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personal development

and will not try to make it go away”. “It is OK to feel this way before a presentation, it is completely normal and does not mean anything is wrong”.

The effects of these simple words are enormous as once we stop fighting the fear, it naturally subsides as it was the attempt to eliminate the fear that kept it alive.

Tip 2 ‑ Be yourself!

There is a well known saying that “people buy people” and nothing could be truer than in the case of public speaking. Although we maybe do not know what that special ingredient is, we all know when someone moves us with a speech or performance.

We say that person has the “X Factor” or that they can connect with people easily.

However what we are really seeing is who that person really is deep down. This ability for a performer to convey who they really are impresses us and connects us to what they are saying.

when putting on a presentation is doubly so.

The best speakers and media personalities in the world know that if they can in someway convey who they are to the audience in a genuine way, the audience will buy them and then buy what they are saying. Hence the fact that those in the public eye regularly go on talk shows and do interviews to promote and sell their brand but also to literally “sell themselves”.

So practise being yourself in front of your audience. Don’t think your regional or foreign accent needs to change and your words need to suddenly become Shakespearian. If you are naturally humorous use some light-hearted humour to start the presentation - (you’ll be surprised at how at ease you might make people feel) or if you are passionate and enthusiastic then use this to your advantage don’t hold back and think you need to implement a personality transplant just because you are speaking in front of very senior people in your company. Be yourself!

Unfortunately when most people are asked to give a speech, they are convinced of the opposite and feel that they are required to be anything other than themselves.

Tip 3 ‑ State your objectives clearly and concisely at the beginning of the presentation.

People who are normally outgoing, humorous and bubbly enter “public speaking mode” when asked to give a speech and then become, serious, stiff and reserved. Many people become convinced that this “public speaking persona” is a better persona to show their audience than who they really are. As a result they focus all of their effort on concentrating on how they come across, what they sound like and how the audience sees them, forgetting that what they are saying should really be the main focus of their attention.

There’s nothing worse than attending a presentation where you have minimal knowledge of the topic in hand - or maybe haven’t been briefed on all the facts and the speaker opens with a line such as “So as I am sure you are all aware...!” Lines like this, that fail to establish any context of the presentation are a sure fire way to lose the audience right from the start. Even if you think that the audience should know and understand the topic you are speaking about - don’t assume!

Furthermore they put even more effort into ensuring that the audience doesn’t see the ‘real’ them in case they are unimpressed.

Trying to be someone else in life, is generally exhausting, but trying to be someone else

So to be sure you do not lose anyone unnecessarily always make it clear what you are going to talk about. A simple way to do this in a presentation is to tell them what it is you are going to speak on. This doesn’t have to be in too much detail and can sound something along the lines of “so I’m going to speak on… “ and then talk about whatever the content of your presentation is. Or you might say: “Today the three main areas I am going to be covering are…” You would be surprised at just how much a small intro like that will help refocus the audience and contextualise what you are about to talk about.

When we are speaking in public, because the preparation of the presentation may have been our focus for many days or weeks, it is easy to assume that our audience is as informed about what we are about to speak on as we are.

The reality is however, that if you are speaking in a business context for example your audience may have attended a number of different presentations given by different people on that day or during that week and may genuinely not be sure what your presentation is supposed to be about. Without a clear objective they might literally be lost as to the purpose of your talk.

So state your objectively clearly! Let them know what you will be speaking on.

In fact assume nothing from your audience.

They may or may not have been briefed on what you are about to talk about, or they may not have understood what they were supposed to have understood in the brief.

about the author

Damian Muirhead is a public speaking and performance coach Specializing in helping people overcome Performance Anxiety and Fear of public speaking. He holds a Certificate in Cognitive Behavioral Coaching from the The Centre for Coaching in London - Validated by The British Psychological Society and Middlesex University. www.reenvision.org Contact details: damian.muirhead@reenvision.org +44 (0) 7886 734 262

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twenty five

Customer Service

Thumbs up for Autoglass, Costa and Sweatshop.

WRITER

Rachel Clacher

In her one-woman campaign to promote great headlines about great news, Moneypenny co-founder, Rachel Clacher, shares her real-life experiences of great customer service with us. No more moaning about bad news. Read about those who’ve impressed her, and proved that good service does exist.

As a nation, we Brits are predisposed to moaning – about the weather, about how you can’t get through to speak to anyone at the bank, about bad customer service... We meekly accept that good news doesn’t make good headlines and so we are bombarded endlessly with great headlines about bad news, which in turn gives us an endless stream of things to moan about. Imagine how different life would be if we were bombarded with great headlines about good news; how different, how much happier our outlook would be to life. So, in my one-woman campaign to develop that happier outlook, here’s my happy headline: Great customer service exists.

The other morning, I went out to my car to find a crack right across the windscreen. It was with trepidation and resignation that I called Autoglass to find out what arduous process I had to go through to get the windscreen sorted... How wrong I was. Within 24 hours my windscreen had been replaced by a charming man, who arrived at a time and place to suit me to perform an extremely efficient 50 minute transformation to my car. Later that day, in my newly fixed car, I pulled into a service station for a coffee and I was delighted when the barista at Costa Coffee put a free shot of hazelnut syrup in my coffee (I’d always wanted to try it but was

never prepared to risk my rare coffee moments – it was delicious), and then I picked up a card with details of a song to download for free – I felt happy and part of something. And then, after my meeting in London and on my way to meet a friend I dropped into Sweatshop to look at buying a new pair of trainers. What service!

Knowledgeable and understanding. A go on the treadmill being filmed. An assessment of my funny feet and pertinent questions about what I use my trainers for. And a purchase made at a more than a reasonable price, plus a second pair of trainers for £25 if purchased in the next twelve months. And what capped it all was that I was also invited to join their twice weekly running group that leaves from that Fulham shop. It (almost) made me want to move to London and take up running!

So what’s not to love about all that? Invited to be part of a new active community, a song and syrup that I have never tried before and my car being fixed quietly, efficiently, effectively.

Good customer service does indeed exist! So let’s just quit moaning about the same old tedious stuff, and let’s create new headlines when good things happen unexpectedly to an unsuspecting public. Thank you Costa, Autoglass and Sweatshop for giving me something to celebrate.

about the author

Rachel Clacher is the co-founder of Moneypenny, the UK’s leading telephone answering service. In 2000, Rachel and her brother Ed Reeves pooled their convictions about customer service and teamwork - and Moneypenny began. Today, Moneypenny’s strength lies in its extraordinary people and a passion to exceeding expectations. The exceptional calibre of Moneypenny’s team and the technology that supports them has been recognised by a Queen’s Award for Enterprise and Innovation and being nominated by the Sunday Times as one of the Best 100 Places to Work.

twenty six

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SOCIAL MEDIA

An Introduction to Blogging

WRITER

Erica Douglas

Understanding what a 'blog' is and how to set one up What is a blog?

The word 'blog' is shortened from its full title 'weblog' and a blog is just that, a 'web' 'log'.

A log, journal or collection of articles on any topic.

How to start a blog The first thing you need to decide is whether you'll host your blog on your business website or create a 'stand alone' blog hosted on its own domain.

What is a business blog?

A business blog is an ongoing log about your business. It can comprise articles about your business and products or services, new launches, promotions, your backstory, industry news, case studies, testimonials and more. It can be presented using text and multimedia such as podcasts, vlogs and slideshows. Done well it will demonstrate your expertise, build customer loyalty, drive traffic to your business and increase your sales and profit.

Step 1 - Choosing a Domain Name and Host Your first task whether you plan to build your own blog or have it builtfor you is to choose and purchase your domain name.

Consider this decision carefully. If you have a business already then try and get as close to your business name as possible.

Avoid hyphens and underscores and try and keep your domain name to below 35 characters.

Try and buy the .com and local.

You also need hosting for your blog. You can search in Google for hosting and it should only costa few pounds a month

The power of blogging should not be underestimated and you really are missing a trick if you aren't already doing it.

Here are some benefits of business blogging; * It is a platform to create preeminence and expertise * You can capitalise on relationship marketing * You can improve SEO by creating a steady flow of keyword rich relevant content * You will increase incoming links * You can increase your pagerank * And overall increase traffic to your business website

Think for a moment: what are your aims for YOUR blog?

There are pros and cons to each solution and to make an informed decision you really need to decide what you want your blog to do.

Here are some things you may hope to achieve; * * * *

Improved SEO (search engine optimization) Incoming links Improved pagerank Regular readers (relationship marketing)

Step 2 - Making Design Decisions It's now time to decide on the look of your blog and the layout. Search for ‘wordpress themes’ in Google – there is lots of choices. Make sure your blog looks good but don’t forget functionality – Is it easy to navigate? Is the content nicely presented? Is there space for advertising and/or an email sign up box?

Step 3 – Building Your Blog Once you’ve made decisions on how you’d like your blog to look it’s time to get it built. We outsource this to a tech person as they will be more efficient than us. Check out www. tametechy.co.uk. It should only cost a couple of hundred pounds or so depending on whether you want your site customised or not.

about the author

Erica Douglas is the author of The Complete Mum Blogger eBook and the Mum Blogger e-Course. She runs a range of online courses helping businesses achieve success online and headlined at the recent VA Conference held in the UK. Erica’s blog consistently ranks in industry lists (Cision, Tots100).For more information and training on blogging and social media please visit www.aceinspire.com

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twenty seven

Personal development

How to be remarkable

WRITER

Fiona Humberstone

(and why you can’t be all things to all people) about your strengths and the work that inspires you, the more easily the right work will come.

Being a VA can be both a blessing and a curse.

Because you can work anywhere, it’s hard to pick out a type of client you want to work with and really focus your attention on being irresistible to them. Because you have a wide range of experience of working with all manner of delightful and less delightful individuals, you show a wide range of target clients and fail to really pull at the heartstrings of any of them.

Excitingly, there is an inspirational breed of VAs are doing things differently. Who are confident enough to raise their heads above the parapet and really define what they want to be known for. And in being focused, they are truly remarkable.

Feel like everyone else is getting the work you want whilst you’re struggling to get your business out of the starting blocks? It’s probably down to perception. Theirs and yours.

Being unremarkable, blending into the background, being all things to all people – not the recipe for a successful business model is it?

And yet still we persist in promoting ourselves as being able to do a “little bit of everything” because we worry about putting off potential clients.

Actually that thinking is counter-intuitive. I’d like you to consider that by getting yourself incredibly focused on the work you want to do and the clients you want to work with you’ll be more inspired, more fulfilled and more profitable.

The more focused and confident you become

VA’s that have caught my attention (and I know there are more of you out there, I just haven’t met you yet!) are Alyssa Aldersey, also known as the Sidekick VA. Alyssa has a fabulous website and brand identity and has been incredibly clear about both what she is best at and who she wants to work with. My lovely old VA, Rona Wheeldon created a brand, The Organised PA, that perfectly played to her strengths and complemented mine.

Creativity and organization rarely mix – that’s my excuse and I’m sticking to it! So Rona was like my right arm. My Special PA provides VA support to creative businesses. I could go on but you get the picture. In being focused they start to become remarkable. And that’s really step one in becoming remarkable.

Be clear about what makes you different.

I’m not just talking about the clothes you wear or where you went to school! What are your strengths, what work inspires you? What would

you do all day long if you could? What work feels like play? When you do the work you love, it doesn’t feel like work. You start to inspire the people around you and it all becomes easier. And we could all use a bit of that couldn’t we?

Who do you want to work with?

Think about your current clients, who do you love working with? Who values what you do and is prepared to spend what you want to charge? And who are the clients that you dread receiving an email from, the ones where something always seems to go wrong: no matter how hard you try?

What would it take to get more of the clients you love working with and ditch (slowly and kindly!) those that don’t inspire you? A bit of focus most likely…

How do you make yourself irresistible?

Once you know what you want to be known for and who you want to work with, the next bit is simple. Communicate with flair and passion.

Invest in your brand identity and have something created that’s both distinctive and remarkable.

Use colour, type and oodles of creativity to create something that really connects with your ideal client and compels them to pick up that phone and do business with you. I realise I make it sound very simple, but the exciting thing is that it can be – just once you’ve got yourself focused!

Good luck. And do let me know how you get on!

How to be remarkable in three, oh so simple, steps 1. Be clear about what makes you different 2. Focus on making yourself irresistible to those people you really want to work with 3. Embrace your strengths and communicate with flair and passion

about the author

Fiona Humberstone is an author, blogger, speaker and Managing Director of Flourish: Brand Stylists who specialise in creating powerful websites and brand identitiesthat create an emotive reaction. Fiona’s Branding Masterclass which starts on 7th May will help get you focused and inspired to create a truly remarkable brand. VA Magazine readers can receive £20 off the booking fee with code GROW. Full details at www.brandingmasterclass.com You can find out more about Flourish’s work at www.flourishstudios.co.uk

Twenty eight

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KEY SKILLS UPDATE

writer WRITER

Marsha marsha Egan egan

Little Things You Can Do to Greatly Reduce the Amount of E-mail You Receive

People complain about all the e-mail they receive and how much work it is for them to handle. And it is true, the number of e-mails being sent is definitely on the rise and adds an incredible amount of work to our already overflowing plates.

The reality is there are quite a number of things that you can do, personally, to keep your e-mail distraction to a minimum and greatly improve your productivity. After all, the less email you receive, the less you will have to handle. Here are a few tips: Be very clear. By making sure that the content of your e-mails is very understandable, you can avoid people e-mailing you with questions.

Taking a small amount of time on the front end to read through the e-mail you are about to send can go a long way in avoiding a return question.

Make the subject line detailed. By including detailed information in the subject lines, your recipients will be able to sort and respond with the right priority. The detailed subject line will also help YOU sort and handle responses.

Use only one subject per e-mail. The reality is that most people skim. If you put two requests in one e-mail, there is a strong likelihood that only one of the requests will be responded to. It is more effective to send two e-mails with different subjects than to incorporate two subjects into one e-mail. This practice

is also helpful for people who want to file the messages.

Copy only the people who need to read the message. For every extraneous person copied on an e-mail, you have potential to receive a response. Therefore, both parties lose productive time—they waste minutes in responding to you, and you waste time with their reply. Pretend that each copied person costs you $100 – then decide if they really need to receive it.

Send less e-mail. While this may seem a nobrainer, e-mail begets e-mail. Sometimes it is better and easier to pick up the phone, or to just not respond. The more email you send, the more email you’ll get. Period.

Have a detailed signature line. By having all of your contact information in the signature line of every e-mail you send, you enable efficient communication. If someone needs to call you, fax you, or mail you something, they will have the information they need and not bother you with an email requesting this contact material. Remember to include your email address – people copy your signature into their databases.

Use voting buttons. If you need to ask several people a yes or no question, use the voting buttons that are in your e-mail program. The e-mail program summarizes the responses, and reduces the amount of time you need to spend coordinating the information.

Make it a group standard to use the electronic calendar. When everyone places all of their appointments in the electronic calendar, they make it very easy for people to schedule meetings. This avoids multiple and annoying e-mails going back and forth with questions such as, “are you available next Wednesday at 2:00 p.m.?”

Avoid controversial or argumentative e-mailing. When you engage in an emotional discussion via e-mail, the e-mails will fly.

And most likely, they get heated. Emotional issues should never be handled by e-mail; a phone call or person to person handling of the situation is best—for time reasons, as well as office dynamics. Just remember, email is for facts, not feelings.

Create a company/group blog or chat room.

When you are requesting feedback and opinions, a blog or a chat room is much more effective at showing each person’s response all in one place than trying to coordinate opinion responses from multiple emails.

While each one of these may save only a small amount of time and reduce your e-mail only by a few, collectively, they have potential to vastly improve your control over the number of e-mails you receive. E-mail is here to stay; the sooner you develop productive habits regarding its use, the more time you will have for what is really important in your life.

about the author

Marsha Egan, CPCU, PCC, is CEO of the Egan Group, Inc., Reading PA. An ICF Certified Professional Coach, she is a leading authority on email productivity. She works with forward thinking organizations who want a profit-rich email culture.

Her recently released book, Inbox Detox and the Habit of Email Excellence can be found at http://InboxDetox.com

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twenty nine

personal development

3 Ways To Write More Clearly, Concisely & Effectively in Any Language Many of us were taught to write as though we would become novelists, playwrights and other literary creatures although we were much more likely to need to write like journalists.

Fifteen years of teaching corporate writing around the world convinces me that most of us are better writers than we think, and we share an affliction: we write the way our teachers taught us to write. We were taught to write term papers, when we needed to be taught how to write clearly, concisely and effectively.

Thinking our way into a business document is seldom a speciality among writing teachers, especially creative ones. The evidence I see in companies worldwide is that many of us had wonderful creative writing training but most of us were never taught to think as business writers.

Write Upside Down We’ve gone through the torture, learned grammar and how to organize documents, artfully crafting a beginning, middle and end. Lo, the business novelette. Our common writing affliction: we type while thinking, and eventually “come to a conclusion.”

Novel-writing is found throughout the business-writing spectrum - administrative, engineering, sales, marketing, research, quality control, compliance, financial, human resources, web copy.

Turn it upside down and edit for wordiness and you have: journalism. As global corporate writers, we are mass media professionals. How does your favourite newspaper or news portal organize world events so that you can find the information you want in seconds?

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Think “Action” The first question most of us ask when opening emails is, “What do you want me to do?” Many email writers put requests, with action verbs, in the subject line. There is no general rule.

You must decide. Sales and marketing writers often dance around this one: will I offend you if I tell you to buy something, or am I safer suggesting you click to “Save 20% Now.” Outline first - use a scratch pad, your imagination, some brainstorming software, whatever is best for you. Think about what you want your reader to do. (If you are not requesting an action, use “FYI” to let me know I don’t have to do anything. I’ll thank you for saving me the time it takes to find a possibly hidden request.) In this way, you can identify your action first, where readers can easily see it.

This tip alone reduces or eliminates complete rewrites, cutting your writing time by up to half. Never put important information in the subject line without repeating it in the beginning of the letter. Some people’s mailboxes are set up so they only see the first few characters of their subject line. And some people habitually ignore the subject line anyway.

Write a Lead Lead is what journalists call the first sentence in a news story.

Envision a triangle with a flat side on top and a point at the bottom. This is journalism’s inverted pyramid - a news writing style traditionally used in newspaper, radio and television news-reporting. The classic hardnews lead includes the Five Ws: who, what, when, where, why, and sometimes how.

(Feature, or “soft news” stories are different.)

WRITER

peter sauerbrey

The lead goes on top where important information belongs.

Journalism is usually informational and seldom calls for action (with the exception of editorials and op-ed pieces). In corporate writing, we must add the action part, which often, depending on our audiences, comes first.

Let’s look at how to turn a boring engineering report into a sizzler using simple language and a little bit of thinking.

In a two-day Burger Writing seminar at a global commodities-manufacturing company, I worked with 24 engineers who wanted to write better production reports. Participants brought their most recent monthly production reports to our workshop; they all worked different shifts as engineer/plant supervisors.

Most of the reports were long. One droned on for 28 pages, which generated lots of discussion and good-natured laughter. While all engineers/plant supervisors were expected

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personal development

nothing to implement. Eyes lit up as fellow engineers saw a great idea being born. All felt the author had a profitable idea. A quick calculation showed a potential US$3.7 revenue benefit - at no cost. The reluctant author got a round of applause. We all wrote new leads and compared them. Mine went something like: To increase revenues by $3.7 Million - at no additional cost - I recommend we: • Increase the temperature on line B…

were. Look into any company’s files and you’ll find evidence that writers are still writing to the teachers who once required them to write 500-word (or longer) papers.

The people you write to today aren’t looking for stylistic or literary value. They just want you to tell them what they need to know and what you want them to do. You must give them what they want, as quickly, clearly and directly as possible.

and • Adjust A-B line flows.

We broke with company policy and used the first-person/I in our rewrite, agreeing that idea people should be recognized for their brilliant suggestions. We also redirected the document to include an audience that does not normally read such reports: senior corporate management. We anticipated that the document might be forwarded to higher levels, including top financial management.

The plant manager forwarded the report up the line to senior management as we expected he would. Soon after, the author-engineer discovered something special in a letter from the company president: a bonus check for $30,000.

Keep It Simple

to have read all others’ reports, none of them had. In the author’s Recommendation and Conclusions section at the bottom - where valuable information is safely concealed in most of the engineering reports I’ve seen - I noticed the author’s gentle hint that a couple of things in the plant “might need a little tweaking.”

I asked the author what he meant by “tweaking.”

He dismissed my question as irrelevant. I asked why he put irrelevant information in the recommendations-and-conclusions section. He confessed that he hated to write these reports and would just as soon move on to someone else’s document. Finally, after I pestered him a little bit more, he said he thought a “tweak or two” might increase plant efficiency. “How much of an increase?” I asked. “Two-and-a-half to three percent,” he said, then described his recommended adjustments. The first involved a simple ratio mixture, the second called for a slight temperature change - that would cost

In global corporate writing, many of our readers know English as a second or even third language. Use the simplest words, and the simplest constructions to convey your message accurately and meaningfully. Fancy language is generally viewed as pretentious. Unfortunately, most of us have been trained to choose our words to impress rather than communicate,” wrote the late Robert S. Burger, journalist, Dartmouth College professor, and founder of Burger Writing Courses. If our education was typical, he said, most teachers liked our writing best if we used a lot of Latin-and-Greekderived words, and the longer the better. So instead of writing “use,” “get,” “buy,” “spend,” we dug into the thesaurus and came out with “utilize,” “procure,” “purchase,” “expend.”

That doesn’t mean you should try to write strictly in one-syllable words. Rather you should always use whichever word tells your story best.

We’ve all read how-to books to help us write better but never learned to think. To customize your documents to your readers’ point of view, without formulas, you must first think. When writing to multiple readers, think a little bit harder to create a lead that welcomes different audiences. You can write a better document than any expert because you know your audience better than anyone else. That’s nice to know. It’s also lot of work, and your readers won’t do it for you.

about the author Peter Sauerbrey presents Burger Writing Courses at companies in North America, Europe and Asia. He clients have included DuPont, Merck, Pfizer, BASF, Basell, Bayer, Siemens Healthcare, Exxon-Mobil, and The New York Times.

He has been editor and chief of corporate publications for ABC Inc. and ABC Television Network in New York. He was a speech writer for the presidents of ABC and USA TV Networks and chief publicist for ABC’s “Good Morning America,” “World News Tonight” and “20/20.” Peter has a degree in communications from Boston University.

Contact: peter.sauerbrey@gmail.com or visit

Sweet brevity was seldom applauded while you were in school; long-winded dissertations often

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thirty one

personal development

WRITER

Susie kay

SUCCESS – IT’S ALL ABOUT PROFESSIONALISM

There probably aren’t many people who would disagree that we have had a difficult couple of years. Even with a combined will to find new or better ways to make an impact on our current circumstances, it is likely that each of us will probably be required to do more with less, while still being expected to make a positive impact and provide high-quality services.

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personal development

That’s a big task so how can we make it happen? How do we go about having that positive impact and how do we make the most of what we have at our disposal in both our personal and work lives?

for potential improvements in everything you do.

An unavoidable truth is that people like to work with people they like, so managing relationships is a critical aspect of your professionalism. And, unsurprisingly, manners matter. Thoughtfulness and a smile are incredibly powerful tools and make people want to work with you. Small gestures also matter in our busy lives. Remembering personal details about those you work with,

Professionalism’s real importance is in the way that it helps us deal with the challenges we all face, bringing benefits to an individual’s day to day work and leading to increased satisfaction and success in the workplace.

The many attributes of professionalism fall into three categories: attitude, behaviour and character. Although too many to be listed here, finding ways to make professionalism work for you in the workplace is not difficult. It can be incremental, implementing small differences each day and then, after a while, finding that you have been an agent for change, not just for yourself but also for those around you.

“If we all did the things we are capable of doing we would literally astound ourselves”

To make a start, put a ring around today’s date on the calendar and make one fundamental decision – to choose excellence. Your role already means that you provide quality results every time, always taking responsibility for your actions. You are already a problem solver and don’t expect that someone else will come up with the answer to your issues.

From today you will not accept anything less from those around you. Your expectations and your delivery will be about finding ways to do everything better. You will go the extra mile. You will adhere to an ethical standard and a professional code of conduct and exceed the expectations placed on you by your role or position. You will be proactive and look

Thomas Edison

being responsive and returning calls and emails promptly, even if it is only to say I will have to get back to you soon, make adifference.

Acknowledging and thanking someone for a job well done and offering your support to colleagues also helps.

Your belief in yourself is underpinned by your competence and a commitment to CPD [continuing professional development].

You should always present yourself in an appropriate and professional way. Tatty jeans and flip-flops will not convey the right message, no matter how accomplished you are.

Although a suit may not be the required dress code for your place of work, you should always dress in a way that demonstrates that you have made an effort.

switching off your mobile phone during work appointments, or understanding if colleagues are under external pressures. Earn respect for yourself by being known as someone with integrity, who is dependable, honest and trustworthy.

One of the magic ingredients is empathy – although we can’t see what others see when they look at us, we can see the results of our interactions with them. Before each and every interaction try to envisage how it might feel to be on the receiving end and plan your approach and response accordingly.

You should also be prepared to amend those interactions if you perceive a negative result and can establish why it happened.

Planning (in the short, medium and long term), managing your time and being well organised are critical tools for being as effective as possible. To maximise productivity and delivery, start each day with a concise to-do list and be sure to consult it if intrusions occur.

Only you can know if new tasks are important or urgent enough to replace something already on the list.

Managing impressions and taking control of managing yourself and your relationships will ensure that you are noticed for all the right reasons and thereby enhance your reputation.

And that’s a great place to start!

This article has been adapted from Professionalism: the ABC for Success

by Susie Kay

Treating others with respect is not just about deferring to their status, if appropriate. It is also about arriving on time for meetings,

about the author

Susie Kay is Founder of The Professionalism Group, an advice and consultancy organisation working withindividuals, students, businesses and professional institutes, focusing on the benefits of professionalism. She is a speaker and writer and is happy to run workshops within your organisation. Professionalism: the ABC for Success by Susie Kay is published

by Professionalism Books and is available at www.professionalismbooks.com and www.amazon.co.uk Contact details: www.theprofessionalismgroup.co.uk and www.theprofessionalismblog.com

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thirty three

Marketing RUNNING HEADER

Seven Touches - How to Make Your Marketing Work for You and Your Clients

If you are trying out new types of marketing and looking for new audiences you can get a disappointing response with your first few attempts and be discouraged from continuing. In this article you can find out about the ‘seven touches’ concept and learn how to ensure that your target audience sees your messages repeatedly and takes action.

How effective is your business marketing? Do you always repeat the same tried and tested methods of promotion: flyers, emails, or adverts in the local paper perhaps? Or are you keen to reach out to new audiences and find ways of bringing in new business? It can be hard when you are marketing your business to make sure that your efforts bring in the necessary number of new clients and are cost effective, yet the simple concept of ‘seven touches’ can help you plan effectively and have realistic expectations for your marketing campaigns.

What’s more, the skills you learn are ones that will be truly useful to your clients: learn more about marketing and you can offer valuable new services and charge premium rates.

It is estimated that most adults are subjected to over 2,000 marketing messages a day. Given this huge amount of potential information overload, it is little wonder the brain filters out most of it.

As a result, a great deal of marketing never gets

THIRTY Four

WRITER

Antonia Chitty

noticed, and even less gets acted upon. So how can you get your message across? The starting point is to make sure its communication is relevant to the target audience. This usually means talking about benefits – in other words, what’s in it for the person? But there are two other aspects of effective communication that need to be adopted. The first is to use a multitouch approach. The more that different media methods are used at the same time, the greater the likely impact. Using a multi-pronged attack increase the chances of getting past the brain’s information filter, so creating awareness and possibly a response.

The more a potential client sees your business, the more likely they are to buy. This effect applies to all the marketing you do. If you are targeting different audiences with a marketing campaign you need to ensure that each group will have up to seven ‘touches’ from your campaign, up to seven chances to see your message. A co-ordinated marketing campaign could therefore use letters, advertising, leaflet drops and local public relations to promote a consistent message. The second part of effective communication is to repeat the message - again and again. Successful marketing usually needs the reinforcement element of repetition to get a message noticed. So whilst the first message may not get through, the third or fourth might.”

As an example, if you want to reach out to business people in your local area you should consider advertising in a relevant publication that might be picked up by commuters and radio adverts that run during drive time. Repeating each advert over a period of time would give an individual a number of chances to see your message. Add in a door to door mail shot to the right sort of area with business properties, so that next time someone is browsing the Yellow

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marketing RUNNING HEADER

Pages or searching on the internet and looking for office support your business stands out to them as they are already familiar with your logo and branding. Placing just one advert in the local paper is very unlikely to produce any results. It takes a campaign of repeating the advertising over a reasonable period of time to create awareness.”

As long as you have coherent and positive branding and promotional messages, the cumulative effect of advertisements, media coverage and promotional and marketing materials will see wavering consumers turn into buyers. It is amazing, then, that so many business owners are disappointed when a single advert or marketing activity fails to realize the results they hoped for.

The idea of contacting a potential buyer seven times is a longstanding marketing basic, and if you are planning any sort of marketing, you’ll need to build this into your plan. Include advertising, public relations leading to media coverage, online promotion and direct sales in your plan order to ensure that your target audience gets as many chances to view your message as possible.

More ways to ‘touch’ • a visit to your website, • an email • a phone call • a recommendation by word of mouth • a newsletter • meeting one of your team at an event • an advert Once you realize that not everyone will see every marketing activity that you do, you’ll begin to understand why just one, two or even three promotions may not get the results you need.

What’s more different audiences see different media in different locations at different times.

Some promotions may be picked up by some age groups more than others. Use ongoing regular promotion, focused on distinct target audiences as the best way to get results.

comprehensive, planned and ongoing?

Marketing communications need to be relevant, repetitious and multi-channel in order to get noticed and generate a response from the target audience. This in turn requires planning and a sufficient marketing budget. Once you have your own marketing cracked, take time to consider your strengths and specialisms, and how you can offer this to clients.

Cold contacts? Warm them up!

People who haven’t heard about your business yet are ‘cold contacts’: those who have signed up for your newsletter, sent an enquiry, or purchased from you are ‘warm’.

It is much easier to get warm contacts to buy again than to get cold contacts to buy, and much more cost effective too, so make sure you nurture your current contacts and customers with ongoing marketing. A great follow up or ‘customer management’ system makes this much easier and more effective: Your follow up system This is an example of one way that a business can promote its services.

Have a strategic marketing plan that you continually update. Include ways to evaluate what is working, and systems to make sure that enquiries are followed up. Of course, ‘Seven touches’ is not an exact science. If you get your marketing messages just right, you may convert some people to buy with your first contact, while others take much longer.

Nonetheless, creating a campaign of regular adverts, media coverage, email and postal communications with your prospects is the way to build relationships and ensure that people trust your business, know what you offer, understand the benefits and choose your business for virtual support.

• Generate enquiries – through advertising, PR, competitions etc • Gather contact details from enquirers • Add contacts to the mailing list – remember to select focussed areas of interest, or invite them to do so themselves • Send regular newsletters: email makes this easy and low cost, print newsletters work better for older people • Include regular time limited promotions and ‘calls to action’ • Invite people to book an consultation • Add information on purchases into contact management system so relevant offers and news can continue to keep people ‘warm’ to your business.

Finally, some marketers have estimated it can take as many as 30 touches to convince someone to buy: does this help you see what your marketing efforts need to be

What follow up systems do you need to develop for YOUR business?

about the author

Antonia Chitty is an award winning entrepreneur and author who writes on business. She is author of A guide to Promoting Your Business (ACPR £15) and Marketing: The Essential Guide (Need2Know, £9.99), both of which will help you if you need to know more about effective ways to promote your business.

Find out more at www.acebusinesstraining.com

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THIRTY Five

personal development

The Latest Innovation is You

WRITER

julie perrine

Innovation isn’t just for technology - it’s the key to your career future.

Take a look around any office and it’s not hard to find the latest innovations in software, electronic devices, and furniture. But as innovative as those things may have been when they were first purchased, they quickly become obsolete because another idea inevitably follows, resulting in the latest and greatest thing everyone has to have.

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The same thing can happen to us in our administrative careers. If we don’t stay on top of our game and consistently engage in strategic activities to develop and advance our thinking, we’ll become obsolete over time and risk replacement as well. To avoid extinction, we must become innovative admins.

I love innovation because it’s a new way of doing and thinking about things. It’s how we take common, ordinary things and make them better.

It’s how we make ourselves better. The goal of innovation is positive change - improvement.

But often, we don’t allow time for innovative thinking, nor do we create the environment

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personal development

required to inspire a transformation. As successminded administrative professionals, we must!

What is an innovative admin? An innovative admin is an administrative professional who consistently introduces, creates, or applies new or renewed ideas or methods of doing things to the office environment. This is someone who is actively doing, seeking, and implementing; not someone who is simply maintaining the status quo or coming up with ideas that are never acted upon.

The terms innovative thinking and creative thinking are sometimes used synonymously.

However, creative thinking and innovative thinking are not identical. Creativity is the mental ability everyone has. Innovation comes when you can actually implement the ideas you generate. Innovation involves taking action on your creative ideas. It’s the process we use to convert the creative ideas into realized results.

Creativity is important; but becoming an innovative thinker doesn’t stop with creative thinking alone.

Before we look at some of the specific strategies you can apply to expand your innovative thinking skills, we need to look briefly at four components that are key to your success in this endeavor: • • • •

Choosing an innovation mindset Understanding how innovative thinking works Connecting and collaborating Knowing yourself inside out

Choosing an Innovation Mindset In her book Mindset, Dr. Carol Dweck identified two mindsets that prevail: the fixed mindset and the growth mindset. I refer to these mindsets as the status quo (fixed) mindset, and the innovation (growth) mindset. Here’s how Dr. Dweck defines each mindset: ‘The fixed mindset believes that your intelligence is static, your qualities are carved in stone, and it creates an urgency for you to prove yourself over and over. The fixed mindset leads to a desire to look smart and therefore a tendency to avoid challenges, get defensive, and give up easily when obstacles appear, see effort as fruitless, ignore useful negative feedback, and feel threatened by the success of others. As a result, they may plateau early and achieve less than their full potential.’

‘The growth mindset however, believes the hand you’re dealt is just the starting point for development. Intelligence can be developed, which leads to a desire to learn and therefore a tendency to embrace challenges, persist in the face of obstacles, use effort as the path to mastery,

learn from criticism, and find lessons and inspiration in the success of others. As a result, they reach ever-higher levels of achievement. It’s based on the belief that your basic qualities are things you can cultivate through your efforts.

Although people may differ in every way – in talents, personality, aptitudes, interests and temperaments – everyone can change and grow through application and experience.’

Admins who want to become more innovative must commit to the innovation mindset for the long term. This isn’t a one-time activity; it’s a lifelong pursuit. Just like it takes time for a seed to grow into a blooming flower, professional growth takes time, too. The innovation mindset gives you permission to realize you haven’t learned everything yet, you haven’t arrived yet, and that’s okay.

Understanding How Innovative Thinking Works In order to get a better feel for the innovative thinking process, it’s important to understand how innovative thinking works. Mike Docherty, CEO and founder of Venture2, a leading open innovation professional services firm, authored an article on Innovation.net entitled: Creating an Innovation Mindset, which brilliantly illustrates how the innovation mindset adoption curve works. Mr. Docherty identifies five innovation mindset stages: dreaming, doubting, quitting or persevering, transforming and championing.

As I’ve applied these stages to my own experiences, here’s how these five stages look: •

•

•

•

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Dreaming – This is where the process begins – with that great big idea that I know is the next best thing. I’m so excited about giving it a try, there’s not much that could possibly stop me. Optimism abounds.

Doubting – Inevitably though, things don’t go as I had planned, and I face the potential of a failed idea. It’s never as easy as I thought it would be. What’s important to realize at this stage, is failure is a natural and useful element of innovation. It forces me to learn from my failed effort and adapt the original idea or to determine that it’s time to try something else.

Quitting or Persevering – This is the stage that truly separates innovators from dreamers. Am I willing to keep trying different strategies to make my idea happen if I believe deep in my gut that the idea still has potential?

Transforming – When I persevere and don’t quit, I gain all of the benefits and rewards of the transformational experience of having worked through the challenges.

My confidence is then built upon depth of knowledge and experience.

•

Championing – When I repeatedly put this much effort into fighting through the challenges that lead to these transformational events, I always gain confidence!

Typically, a healthy dose of recognition follows from my peers. But as Mr. Docherty points out in his article, this gives me the unique ability to champion continued innovative thinking in myself as well as those around me. As I experience the implementation of my innovative ideas again and again, I gain a recognition and calmness about the trial and error process that is inherent in innovation.

And, I develop a clearer sense of when to pursue an idea further or move on to another one.

Mr. Docherty’s model helped me wrap my brain around the mental stages we all go through as we train ourselves to become more innovative admins. Learning to persevere through failed efforts, overcoming self-doubt, having confidence in yourself, facing fear head-on and persevering through it all, is part and parcel of developing an innovative mindset. It’s very easy to get discouraged or disheartened; to begin doubting your abilities; to even be tempted to quit or abandon an idea or initiative if you don’t realize what the process looks like to take an idea from concept to completion.

Sometimes you have to develop a real depth of knowledge on a topic or idea before you discover the concept that becomes the innovative idea. Only then can you implement the idea with confidence. Innovative thinking takes time — time for ideas to percolate, time for experimenting with them to see what will work and what won’t, and time for them to become fully brewed and ready to serve.

Collaborate to Innovate One of the other key discoveries to becoming a more innovative thinker is the power of collaboration. The more you share knowledge, information, and ideas with others, the better your own ideas will become. Innovation develops when we exchange ideas between and among a diverse set of minds. It’s the old adage, ‘Two heads are better than one.’

Innovative thinking is a collaborative way of thinking; it’s not territorial. You can’t be an information silo where all knowledge, ideas and creative thinking is exclusive to you. It has to be shared. You must cultivate an innovative environment around you at the same time. If you want to attract other innovative minds to you, you have to be fully willing to collaborate and share with them also. Your unique DNA becomes more powerful as you collaborate and share ideas with others and others share ideas with you.

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personal development

Knowing Yourself Inside Out Knowing yourself inside out is also an important component. The more you know yourself, the more you know where you excel, where you have gaps or blind spots, what your strengths are, where your weaknesses lie, and how you normally behave in ideal settings or stressful situations. This is vital information to have, because it helps you identify the support, motivation and inspiration you may need to see the innovation process through. The better you know yourself, the more specific you can be in seeking resources to support what you’re trying to accomplish. This is powerful data!

Top Five Things You Can Start Doing Today You can train yourself to become more innovative. In my new book, The Innovative Admin, I share a lot more detail and a much longer list of strategies that will facilitate your transformation into an innovative admin. Here are my top five strategies to get you started immediately:

Then honor your commitment to this time to refresh your mental capacity each day. Be sure to keep that journal handy to capture your good ideas!

3. Find or Re-engage With a Hobby Do you have any hobbies? When was the last time you spent any time enjoying that hobby?

If you don’t have any hobbies, it might be time to find something you enjoy doing outside of work. Here’s why: published research has shown that hobbies are actually brain-building activities. They not only add enjoyment to our lives, but they jump-start chemical changes in the brain that trigger the imagination and help us solve problems. Just like any muscle you exercise in your body, the more you exercise it, the stronger it becomes. Hobbies affect the way your brainwaves function, so not only will your mind work more efficiently while you’re enjoying the activity, but your brainwaves will continue to behave that way after you stop.

Plus, we all need some FUN in our lives, and hobbies can provide a very positive, healthy and much needed change of routine that refresh us both mentally and physically.

1. Start Journaling Journaling can be an important learning tool. When you capture on paper your ideas, thoughts, experiences, feelings, hopes, fears and even opinions, you have the ability to review those reflections, work through them, expand on them, analyze them, and learn from them.

Innovative thinking requires time for thoughts to solidify and for good ideas to brew. Sometimes you have an idea but you don’t know what to do with it. Over time, as you continue to reflect on it or research it, it evolves into something even better – an innovative idea that you can implement. But unless you capture that initial idea somewhere – like a journal — it’s likely to escape and disappear permanently.

4. Develop Your Innovation Network It’s important to surround yourself with wise, innovative thinkers if you want to become a more innovative person yourself. Co-workers, colleagues from professional associations, friends, those you follow on the web, or even family members can inspire you to view things in different ways. Who challenges you to pursue new opportunities? Who do you admire and why? When you need solid advice and productive feedback, whom do you call?

Who causes you to think differently about the challenges you face? These are people you should consider spending more time with either in person or virtually. Innovative thinking is contagious.

2. Create the Environment for Innovative Thinking If you want to become a more innovative thinker, create a physical and mental environment where innovative thoughts can develop by building recharge time into your weekly schedule. You can read, take a walk, do online research, or just sit quietly with your eyes closed thinking about ideas on your mind.

Even if it’s only five minutes a day, schedule it!

5. Learn How to Take Initiative – IMPLEMENT! Initiative starts with you and what you can do.

You must be able to take action and get things done without waiting for someone to tell you what, when, and how to do it. When you have innovative ideas you want to implement, you need to take the initiative to implement them.

But, like anything, if you aren’t comfortable doing this, or if you work for someone who

doesn’t encourage you to take the initiative, it can be challenging. In this case, you need to start small by gently asking or making a recommendation at the appropriate time. As you gain confidence over time, you shift toward sharing what you intend to do and reporting back after it’s implemented. Eventually your awareness of your environment will tell you when you need to get approval first and when you can just simply take the initiative and implement. Throughout this evolution, trust builds between you and those you support, you become more self-empowered with each new level you step into, and you have the power to positively lead and influence others with your innovative ideas.

In my personal experience, I’ve found that often I receive credit for an ‘ingenious’ idea simply because I took the initiative to act on my idea – in other words I implemented! When I searched for a great travel itinerary template for my executives years ago, I kept coming up short. I took that as an opportunity to create one that still gets rave reviews. My executive did not ask me to create one, I just did it and came away looking brilliant.

If you want to become more than just the secretary or administrative assistant…if you want to become an administrative leader in your organization, you must learn how to think innovatively and take action. As the economy continues to change and evolve, you don’t need to be afraid of the future. You can remain vibrant and successful if you commit to leading yourself to becoming a more innovative admin.

If you’re ready to transform your thoughts into innovative thinking that will transform your career…let’s get started! Unleash the power of innovative thinking in your administrative career and become known as The Innovative Admin!

about the author

Julie Perrine, CAP-OM, is the founder and CEO of All Things Admin – providing training, mentoring and resources for administrative professionals worldwide. Julie applies her administrative expertise and passion for lifelong learning to serving as an enthusiastic mentor, speaker and author who educates admins around the world on how to be more effective every day.

Learn more and request your FREE copy of our special report From Reactive to Proactive: Creating Your Strategic Administrative Career Plan at www.AllThingsAdmin.com.

Follow Julie on Twitter: www.twitter.com/julieperrine.

“Like” All Things Admin on Facebook: www.facebook.com/AllThingsAdmin. thirty eight

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Communication

WRITER

Helen Jacobi

Collaborative Working The Executive VA is expected to be a Jill/Jack of all trades, but there are times where you need to call on the expertise and advice of others. The key to success? Effective collaboration with your peers. you to share yours with others. By playing to each other’s strengths, everyone wins.

The person right next to you could know which Excel macro would make your life so much easier, or the perfect Parisian restaurant with a great view of the Eiffel Tower. Equally, you maybe a master in time management or know of an industrial action that could scupper the most carefully crafted travel itinerary.

All too often we find it difficult to wave the flag of surrender and ask for help, concerned that we will be perceived as being unfit to do the job, or fearful that others will see it as a weakness. On the other side of the coin, knowing a colleague was struggling with a particular challenge after the event, when you knew all along how to get around it, can be frustrating and we wish they had only asked our advice.

As obvious as it may sound, all too frequently it is easy to soldier on and struggle with a difficult project or task rendering you overworked, stressed and feeling out of control. By creating effective strategic alliances with your colleagues and seeing each other as an asset rather than a threat, the burden can be shared and the goal achieved with benefits for all involved.

Collaboration is a hot topic in businesses at the moment - and for good reason. As increasingly greater demands are made on both our time and the delivery of deadlines, having an established, supportive network of fellow collaborators is a smart move in any business environment. Not only is it a more effective use of your time, rather than hours spent trawling the internet for a solution, it can also bolster your skills and enable

Good collaboration often occurs organically within larger organisations, where VAs naturally network to share problems and issues. In other companies the VAs finds herself isolated, with little or no appropriate network to connect with. There is an enormous amount of resources available to all within the VAs community, both off and on-line by way of forums, networking groups and help tools.

In larger organisations, a more formalised collaboration structure may be appropriate, drawing on the menagerie of resources available in-house and shared via an intranet, team meetings or more informally one-to-one. For smaller organisations, external on and off-line networks maybe more appropriate.

Collaboration shouldn’t be bound by geography either. There are huge advantages to be gained in networking globally, drawing on the specific inside knowledge and cultures of other countries.

The benefits of collaboration: • Being part of a community that is

• • •

supportive of its members and facilitates the concept of sharing.

Giving something back by contributing your skills base and knowledge.

Adding more strings to your bow and your continued professional learning.

Helping get the job done quickly, more efficiently and with the most desirable end result.

There are several important factors to consider that will hinder good collaboration: • Time constraints: declaring there are not enough hours in the day, or breaking a promise to help someone. A broader perspective is needed here – if you give a little, you will gain a lot.

• Protectiveness: an unwillingness to share knowledge is prohibitive and can have destructive consequences. In the more extreme cases, a desire for personal success and recognition over that of your colleagues will thwart any attempt to develop effective collaboration.

• Confidence: low self-esteem and a sense that you don’t have anything to give are more common than you might think, often amongst PAs who either work alone, or who are geographically isolated.

• Lack of communication: the linchpin to any successful collaborative endeavour.

Clear and concise communication by all parties will ensure the success, or failure, of the team.

Fundamentally, strong mutually beneficial collaboration can reap huge rewards for both the individuals and the organisation as a whole, thereby making you more successful and valued within the commercial environment.

Any finally, saying thank you goes a long way in business. Always ensure those who you choose to partner with are acknowledged for their contribution – whether publically, bringing it to the attention of your boss (and theirs), or in the form of a gift.

about the author

Helen Jacobi has been an Executive Assistant for over 20 years working alongside boards in large corporations and with successful entrepreneurs. She took the plunge and started The Inspired PA in 2009, which offers Virtual PA and business management solutions. Working on the basis that flexibility and adaptability are critical in challenging economic times, the Virtual PA business model struck a chord across various industries and types of businesses. Having a team means that The Inspired PA can offer completely tailored solutions to clients, depending on need and requirement. The Inspired PA team value high levels of service and professionalism – all delivered with a calm, methodical and friendly approach.

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thirty nine

Social Media

Beginner’s guide to Linkedin

While LinkedIn may not have the popularity of Facebook or Twitter, it has been around longer than both. It can be a key tool in expanding your professional network and building your personal brand. LinkedIn is not just for high-level executives and sales managers.

Administrative professionals have a strong presence on the website - as do those in nearly every profession and career stage.

So what is LinkedIn, exactly? In a nutshell, it is a professional networking website with over 90 million registered users. A new member is estimated to join every second in order to stay in touch, reconnect with past coworkers and classmates, make industry connections, find job opportunities, exchange information with other professionals and create a global presence online. There is often an impression that the

FORty

website is simply an online Rolodex or online resume, but it is so much more than that.

Start with a Purpose & a Plan Before you join, consider first what you want to accomplish by joining LinkedIn. Are you joining just to join or are you looking to build a network to help further your career? If it’s the former, then it won’t be worth your time.

If it’s the latter, then it will require effort. Who do you want to meet? How do you want to be viewed professionally? How much time will you spend on the website each week?

Filling Out Your Profile Completely fill out your information: job title, company, education, work history (including volunteer positions), awards/ honors, certifications, skills, etc. Sounds like

WRITER

kim callahan

a resume, doesn’t it? Well it is, so treat it just as you would a paper resume with proper capitalization and grammar. Be honest and be specific. Unlike a resume however, you don’t have space limitations. So, add all prior jobs and be detailed in what your responsibilities and accomplishments were. Note that you can use the “upload resume” feature, but many have trouble with that feature and it’s just as easy to type or copy & paste the information since you will probably need to edit the information anyway. Also, be sure to add a professional head shot of yourself. While there are different levels of privacy settings, I recommend - especially for job-seekers - making as much of your profile public as you are comfortable with.

LinkedIn is more than just a static electronic resume, however. Consider it your professional

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Social Media

advertisement to the world. It should be compelling. It should be strategic. It should make people visiting your profile take an interest in you, want to connect with you and more importantly-want to hire you! Your “headline” - what appears directly underneath your name - is automatically generated based on your current job position. However, you can edit this. Look for the edit button that appears next to your name. While you may see members who have email addresses, phone numbers and other extraneous information in their headline, it actually violates LinkedIn’s User Agreement so don’t do this.

Take the time to craft a knockout personal “summary”. Let your personality shine through (don’t be too “cutesy” though). It may take several revisions until you find something you’re happy with. Also, be specific when filling out the “Specialties” and “Skills” sections (eg. “Microsoft Office”). An interesting new feature recently introduced by LinkedIn allows the Skills section to be searched, thus hiring managers can more easily find professionals with specific abilities.

When entering your job positions in the www. executivesecretary.com “Experience” area, watch for the drop-down menu that will appear as you enter your employer’s name. For larger companies, chances are it already appears in the list. Click the name when you see it and you will be added to the Company Profile page.

This will make it easy for your co-workers to find you and for others to find information about your employer.

If you are looking to be found by recruiters, then you will want to use “keywords” in your profile-for example terms like “Microsoft Office” and “Administrative Assistant.” This is another reason why it is important to spell out words and triple check your spelling! Think like someone hiring for the position you want - what types of skills and experience will they be looking for and how does that match up with your resume? Don’t overdo it, but be conscious about the words you use in your profile. For example, if you type in “exceptional administrative assistant” in the People search - the top ranked person is... me. Think about

how you would like to “brand” yourself. “Super Secretary”? “Outstanding Office Manager”?

Just be sure your skills, experience and reputation back it up.

Start Connecting To add your first “Connections”, you can import your email address books. I personally don’t recommend importing your contacts unless you have hundreds of them. Even if you know the person well, you should write a brief note to everyone before you send the invitation rather than the default text. The import feature does not give you this ability. It sends a generic invite. This is critical for people you may not know as well-remind them who you are and why you want to connect with them. In order to get this personalization option, you mustclick on the “Connect With…” link on the person’s actual profile. Take the time to search for friends, family, colleagues, associates, etc. Be sure to read through their profile too.

This is a great way to build up your network quickly. Don’t fret if someone doesn’t respond right away since some people have let their accounts go stale, rarely check in, or simply have a different purpose on LinkedIn. Recommend & Be Recommended Once you’ve got some of your colleagues and business associates as Connections, request “recommendations” from LinkedIn users who can offer a legitimate professional reference.

Also give recommendations to those you have worked with. I strongly suggest you don’t give or receive recommendations from people you wouldn’t be comfortable having a potential employer contact.

Join Groups There are tens of thousands of Groups you can join. Start by joining local and professional groups. There are dozens of groups for administrative professionals including the official IAAP group and the Executive Secretary Magazine group. Post an introduction in groups where appropriate (who you are, what you do, why you joined the group etc.) and participate in the discussions. Don’t respond just to respond or post excessive promotional posts. Focus on finding “good” groups rather than joining a ton of them. One benefit to

joining groups is the ability to send a message to members. This is a great way to meet new people and expand your network. If there isn’t a group for your geographic area or particular interest - consider starting one!

Answer Questions The Answers section can be found under “More” on the menu. Look for “open” questions and respond to those you can meaningfully contribute to. You can ask 10 questions per month, but can respond to an unlimited number of questions. Dozens of new questions are posted every day. This is another great way to interact with other users and become active in the LinkedIn community.

Useful Tips Associate all of your email addresses to your account. To do this: click the arrow next to your name in the upper right hand corner and choose Settings from the menu that pops up.

Scroll down to Email Addresses. You can even add emails you no longer use.

Personalize your LinkedIn address. In the edit profile mode click the edit link next to the Public Profile address listing and change to something shorter and easier for you share with others. Then add it to your email signature, business card and resume.

Take time to read LinkedIn’s User Agreement if you breezed passed it during the registration process. There is a list of “Do’s and Don’ts” as it relates to your profile. The link is at the bottom of your screen.

To download the free LinkedIn Guide for Beginners by Kimberly A. Callahan, CPS visit her LinkedIn profile at: www.linkedin.com/in/kimberlyacallahan or go to www.box.net/shared/z1srecn736

about the author

Kimberly A. Callahan, CPS lives in Springfield, Missouri where she is an administrative assistant at Missouri State University in the College of Business Administration. She is an active member of the Springfield Metro Chapter of the International Association of Administrative Professionals (IAAP) and has earned the Member of Excellence designation three years in a row. Additionally, Ms. Callahan works with the City of Sacramento Access Leisure program in Sacramento, California and operates the Women’s Basketball Online website. She has been in the administrative field for 14 years.

She can be reached via email at kac044@yahoo.com or through her LinkedIn profile.

www.thevamagazine.com

Forty one

personal development

Why your personal brand is a vital tool for your career Ever considered what people say about you behind your back? How they describe you in a few words, how they recommend you to others?

If not, you’re missing out on a vital tool for managing your career opportunities as effectively as you can. What people say and feel about you quite simply IS your personal brand.

Much the same as any product brand – how we feel about a branded product makes us buy or not. Take Apple as an example – many people say positive things about their experience of the brand (service and products), this reputation spreads and creates a very powerful and positive brand image for the retailer and their product range and service.

See how honestly you can answer all these – how well are you managing your Personal Brand and Profile? Is there room for improvement?

We have developed 7 Big Strides to Personal Branding

In our business world today, it really is about people - employees who count when it comes to customer loyalty, market share and profitability. Some organisations recognise it more than others, even though many say they do. The smart ones are putting significant effort into providing employees with programmes to ensure they are the best they can be.

Stride 1 – Who You Really Are

Perhaps you consider that a personal brand is more appropriate for entrepreneurs, high profile individuals or senior management?

No – it is becoming an integral part of career progression for anybody wanting to maximise his/her career and opportunity potential.

However, for these programmes to be really effective, they have to be focused on the individual and provide tools for them to be authentic also. Nowadays, the famous McDonalds “have a nice day” slogan, would just be laughable. It’s mechanical and not genuine. Today we look for trust and credibility and authenticity when dealing with people, and studies show us that many people are still trying to be someone they are not in the workplace.

Consider These: • Do you get appreciated or recognised for the strengths you bring to your role?

• Do others really understand what you bring to the table?

• Do you get overlooked for promotion or exposure?

• How visible are you? Do people really know who you are, what you do and what you’re great at?

• Are you considered and referred to as “the Managing Directors PA” or as a brand in your own right?

I believe that the only way you can provide effective coaching and training tools to individuals, is to make it about them; relevant to them and practical to them. That’s why I developed Walking TALL as a methodology for personal branding for today’s business professional.

I have captured here an abridged version of the methodology to give you some tools to use to define, package and project your personal brand.

forty two

Sounds simple, but let me challenge you to compile a short sentence that defines what it is you stand for and bring to the table. What is your real value set? What are the principles you stand for in life? What strengths do you have – remember what you are good at is invisible to you therefore you don’t value it.

Think hard….. Imagine a hypothetical mirror in front of you – how would you describe what you see? Keep it positive! Write a few words down.

Stride 2 – First 7 seconds It has become a cliché that we never get a second chance to make a first impression. It has therefore disappeared into forgotten depths with most of our communications. But it is powerful and lasting – in fact it will be there long after you have delivered your presentation, spoken in a meeting or been questioned in an interview. Take time to consider how you come across in the first few seconds – it is time well spent. Take time to think about how you will appear when you enter the room… handshake, smile and great eye contact for starters!

I often refer to the halo or horns effect for first impressions. If you have a positive impression of somebody on first meeting, you will subconsciously look for other positive things to back up your initial impression or intuition. So

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personal development

WRITER

lesley everett

know? If not, you’re not managing your visibility as well as you need to. You need to manage your exposure and visibility more consciously and effectively if you are to maximise the opportunities around you.

Think about how you might do that update presentation in a meeting; write that article for the intranet or your sector media. How well do you know your communications department? Make sure they know what you might be able to contribute to publications.

How about putting yourself forward for panels at conferences for example?

Build your own visibility plan and work with it.

Stride 7 – Each time, All the Time

it will gradually grow. However the same will happen with a negative first impression….. so beware.

Stride 3 – Dress like you mean it Whether you like it or not you are judged on the clothes you choose to wear. Not fair I know, but a fact. Your clothes should be an extension of you and your personality and not get in the way of your true qualities and abilities. How do you come across on those dress-down days?

Still retain your professional credibility? Take your work wardrobe as seriously as you take your career and reputation, and dress for the job you want.

Stride 4 – Silent Indicators Have you ever been told you look “detached” or perhaps “disinterested”? And in fact you feel energised and engaged? This could be to do with the silent messages you are giving off with your body indicators and facial expressions. Be aware of your non-verbal communication and get feedback. How is

your handshake and your eye contact? You will be judged…….

Stride 5 – Speak Easy Have you ever considered your voice to be part of your brand? People judge you on this every day, and in your role I would bet you spend a lot of time on the phone to internal staff and external clients. How is your brand being projected over the phone? The only way you can really know this is to ask – get honest feedback and act on it if necessary.

Consistency is vital – without this people don’t know clearly what your skills and strengths are, and how to describe you or recommend you. You cannot be consistent 100% of the time, however unless you are clear what your brand is you will be missing the mark and offmessage most of the time. When you don’t quite deliver to normal expectations it should be considered a blip rather than another example of inconsistency.

So what are you going to do today to start building a strong and consistent personal brand? Think of it as an essential tool to get you to where you want to be in your career and life in general. Good luck and remember to Walk TALL!

Stride 6 – Be Interested and Visible Simple tip – being interested in other people will make you a more interesting person.

People always love you to be interested in them, so it’s a great way to build your visibility and be memorable. I’m not suggesting you’re not authentic here however.

Ask yourself this question – how visible am I? Do the people who need to know who I am, what I do and what I’m great at, really

about the author

Lesley Everett is an international speaker and expert on Personal Branding and Executive Presence. She is a media personality, author and executive brand coach and has delivered her message in 18 countries across 4 continents. www.lesleyeverett.com You can follow Lesley and Walking TALL on Twitter www.twitter.com/lesleyeverett and Facebook www.facebook.com/ walkingtall www.walkingtall.org Tel: 01344 427977

www.thevamagazine.com

forty three

A to Z of Virtual Assistant Tools

A to Z of Virtual Assistant Tools – A is for AnyMeeting WRITER

HELEN STOTHARD

The first in a series from Helen Stothard looking at what technology is available for Virtual Assistants.

AnyMeeting is a free web conferencing tool which allows you to run webinars, video meetings or online conferences for up to 200 attendees. (AnyMeeting is ad supported but you can remove these for a monthly subscription).

I’ve tried several online webinar systems, all of which have their pros and cons; the ones

Forty Four

that work for me always tend to come with a high price tag, which, if you’re offering free webinars, isn’t cost efficient.

products. The hour goes so quickly that clients cannot always remember everything we have covered.

When looking at webinar products I’ve always preferred one that allows me to record the webinar so I can let delegates have a copy after the event; this is particularly helpful when I am carrying out one–to-one training on online

The beauty of AnyMeeting, other than the price tag, is that it allows me to use it for several different events. Some of the features of AnyMeeting are:

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A to Z of Virtual Assistant Tools

•

•

•

•

•

• •

You can hold a one-to-one video meeting with a client – it’s much more stable than Skype and you can have up to six attendees using their webcam in the one meeting; this is much more personable than a telephone conversation as you can see each other.

One to one screen sharing training session with a client – again, more stable than Skype and allows me to record the session; you can choose to share your whole screen or just the one application.

Free webinar with up to 200 attendees – normally to have this number of attendees you would pay upwards of $69 month for software.

Meeting scheduling – this is something that is missing from several of the free options that I have looked at previously; being able to send a scheduled invitation is much more professional.

No complicated downloads – unlike some of the webinar/conferencing software I have come across, AnyMeeting appears to work on any machine or platform, both PC and Mac. The ads are not ‘in your face’ – I hardly notice them when using AnyMeeting.

No separate telephone dial-in required – delegates simply use the microphone and speakers connected to their computer.

This way there are no hidden costs (in the

•

•

•

•

•

•

•

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past I have received large phone bills after events as the telephone number advertised was an additional hidden cost for me). You can use a dial-in phone number and pin number option if required.

Polls – I have not found another free product that allows you to carry out live polls as part of your meeting.

You can sell tickets to your paid-for webinar event using the customisable registration form and the integrated PayPal solution.

Use the built-in social media integration to promote your event on Twitter and Facebook.

You can personalise your AnyMeeting public profile –attendees can register for upcoming events and connect to your Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn profile.

Follow up – you can create a custom survey or test to send to your attendees after the event to see how effective your meeting was.

Review meeting reports – you can see who attended your meeting, view the text chat log and review the results of any polls carried out.

Send attendees a recording link – quickly send attendees a link to the recording of the event or just a follow up email.

How to set up your meeting Enter your meeting name, date, time and duration (ensure you select the correct time zone for your event – when registering, your attendees can see what time the event would be in their time zone.) There is a tick box to complete if this will be a recurring event.

You can now populate your email list if you wish to invite specific attendees, and you have the option of selecting email addresses from previous events.

You can personalise the email invitation subject line and body text.

You now need to select whether you wish attendees to be able to share their screens as well as the presenter and if you wish to make your attendee list public.

Now decide if you would like your audio to be the built-in microphone and speakers or the telephone option. If you choose telephone your microphone will be muted throughout the presentation.

Now decide if your event will be private or public and if you would like to enable Facebook users to be able to connect and comment on your meeting.

Forty Five

A to Z of Virtual Assistant Tools

Under Additional Options you can cap the number of delegates who can attend and require password protection of your meeting if you choose.

The next page brings you to your survey page which is sent to attendees after the meeting has taken place.

You can edit the header text, standard fields and custom fields.

You now need to give your meeting a topic title and then a brief description.

You can schedule your meeting now, or using the next button, you can create a registration form for your meeting.

If you choose to create a registration form the first thing you will need to do is create your header text. This will appear at the top of your registration form.

You can now choose to add some additional fields to your registration form which cover such things as town, country, business name etc.

meeting via PayPal. When you charge for your meeting or recording via PayPal there will be no advertisements shown, however, on top of your PayPal fee you will be charged an AnyMeeting fee. For example a $10 ticket price would attract a $0.53 PayPal fee and a $2.00 AnyMeeting fee.

The minimum sales price is $5.

You now have the option to send notifications and reminders about your event to delegates and can select from 1 week before, 1 day before, and 1 hour before, as well as receiving a notification yourself every time a delegate registers.

The survey questions can actually be configured to test your attendees on the content they have just viewed as you can ask questions with multiple answers and score the correct answers. You can then automatically advise attendees if they passed or failed.

Once your meeting has been set up you are taken to your meeting screen, where you can view the links for the invitation, registration form and survey you have just set up.

If you have set up your profile to connect with Twitter then your event will be automatically shown on your timeline, and if you have connected your Facebook business page the event will be posted on there as well.

You can also create your own question to ask your attendees by using the custom fields.

Now choose the text you would like to display on the bottom of your registration form using the footer text box.

Let your attendees know if there are any terms of service they need to be aware of before attending your webinar by using the optional terms of service box.

The next option is PayPal - complete this section if you would like to collect payment for your

about the author

Helen Stothard has been running her own successful VA business, HLS Business Solutions http://www.hlsbs.com, for over three years. In 2011 she founded intelligentVA, http://www.trainingforvas.com a website designed to help VAs start or move their businesses forward through training, knowledge sharing and collaboration. Helen is the author of the ‘A to Z of Virtual Assistant Tools’ and ’30 Day Setting up as a Virtual Assistant Challenge (without breaking the bank)’ and lives in North Yorkshire with her husband, daughter and two cats.

Helen can be found on Twitter at http://www.twitter.com/helenstothard

Forty six

www.thevamagazine.com

Client Management

What makes a working relationship dynamic?

I

have been in several relationships at the same time over the past eleven years. Some I have stayed with and some I have not. Although I don’t co-habit with my clients, there are many of the same qualities involved in maintaining a healthy working relationship. Sometimes personalities gel and sometimes they don’t.

How do you complement each other? How do you satisfy each other’s needs and demands?

How do you set boundaries in a job that has little description? I’d like to share with you some of my secrets of how I keep my working relationships healthy and professional.

When you are invited to work inside someone’s home, you are not working in a regular office environment, you are in his or her personal space. And you must never treat it as a regular office space. I put myself in their shoes when I go to work, so I treat them and their home the way I would want me and my home to be treated. I wouldn’t want them to be there as a friend, but I would want them to be personable.

I wouldn’t want them to sit there and wait for me to give them tasks, I would want them to see what they could be getting on with. And if I were on a call I wouldn’t want them sitting quietly, able to hear every word.

Respecting the client’s needs and thinking ahead to what would make their personal lives run more smoothly is the role I see myself doing as their ‘personal’ assistant. For instance, if they have been away working or on holiday, I make sure they have a full fridge to come back to so they don’t have to think about what to feed the family after a long journey. Or thatwhen they return home and switch on the lights that all the bulbs are working.

My clients and I grow together as our lives change – we may get married, have children – and so needs change and we have to adapt. We have to learn to trust and respect each other. My clients trust me to make the correct decisions on their behalf and I trust them to not abuse my desire to do the best job I can. It is also important to be honest with each other and confident enough to raise any issues that may come up.

There are invisible boundaries in the client relationship – there are certain things neither of youshould ask of the other. Being able to say ‘no’ is something you and your client should find as you grow and mature. However if you do feel uncomfortable with something, you need to be diplomatic in your approach and

WRITER

Donna Coulling

gauge the situation. Timing is crucial -it is no good suddenly deciding that you don’t want to do something that you’ve been doing all along.

It really helps to have a thick skin in this business. Don’t take everything personally.We all have off days and busy days when we can’t give others our full attention. Keep your sense of humour and professionalism with you. Be confident and positive in yourself. Sometimes you have to give without expecting anything in return and that will be what makes you a great personal assistant to someone.

However, it is always useful to remember that all personalities are different and in the same way that you can’t force a friendship, you may not be able to force a working relationship.

Don’t think it’s the end of the world if yours doesn’t gel, think of it as an experience (as with all relationships) and move on to another.

Finally, no PA is an island. Forming relationships with other PAs is crucial, not just for your sanity but also to share information that will make you better at your job. If you are interested in becoming part of my community and learning useful tips you can find out more on www.donnacoulling.com.

about the author

Donna trained as an actor at the Italia Conti Academy. After appearing in various productions around the country she settled on more behind the scenes roles including her current one as PA to Helena Bonham Carter, Rachel Weisz and Sir Derek Jacobi.

Donna is known as an expert in her field, has made many television appearances as a Celebrity Personal Assistant and she is seen regularly as a guest presenter for QVC. She is highly sought after as a speaker and feature writer across the PA sector.

Donna is currently launching her own website www.donnacoulling.com and a series of seminars and books.

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FORTY SEVEN

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