Are you stuck in the Virtual Assistant planning zone? It might be time to stop planning and start doing. Listen, I totally get it. The internet knows all
Information Overload
I spoke to one of my coaching clients recently who told me, “I want to know everything!”. While I love the enthusiasm, my response was, “You can’t!”. You’re not supposed to know everything. Some of these specialized services take years to learn and develop.
The online presence for Virtual Assistants is growing and changing as we speak – which means the content available for us to consume is growing as well. The information you need to be an elite VA is out there. It’s on YouTube and it’s in blogs. It’s in free courses and webinars. It is so easy to find yourself stuck in planning mode. And while planning is an important – even critical – part of this business, there comes a point when we need to stop gathering information and start applying the knowledge we have. We have all these resources, and yet we aren’t being resourceful…and yes, there is a difference.
Knowing “Just Enough” is Enough
If you are in the early, baby stages of your business, hear this: You just need to know just *enough* and then you need to start. Get your foundation set and then start doing. All those resources are fantastic (definitely bookmark them for later!), but you can literally watch YouTube videos for hours a day, but if you don’t put your new knowledge into action, nothing is going to happen!
Clarity Comes in the Doing
Planning is good. Overthinking is not. We need to know how to stop. It doesn’t matter how much we know until we do it. Sometimes the clarity comes in the doing. I can hear your excuses right through my computer screen. “I’m not sure what clients I want to work with.” and “I’m not sure if these are the right services to offer.” and “I’m not sure what niche I want to work in.”
If you’ve been around for a while, you know that I think that ideal client work is really, really important. BUT, if you are a VA that is just starting out with general admin services – and you just want to get started and get some money in bank – it’s ok not to be laser-focused on your ideal client. I learned a lot by not having an ideal client when I first started. Sometimes you have to “do” so you can figure it out. If the thought of diving into creating an ideal client avatar makes you anxious because you literally have no clue what that looks like – relax. You can still start. Again, clarity is going to happen when you put the work in.
The Three Things You Need to Start
There are only three things that you absolutely have to have to start looking for clients today. The rest can follow. Seriously.
- You need a general idea of who you want to serve. It’s ok if you don’t have an ideal client avatar, but it’s important to have at least a broad grasp on the types of people and businesses that are the best fit for your skillset.
- You need a service list. What services would you be comfortable offering today? I’m not asking what you plan to offer in the future, because I guarantee your list will grow quickly if you immerse yourself in this business. It’s ok if you just have two or three services to start out. Decide what those services are and nail down what systems you will need to provide online service to your clients.
- You need a place for prospective clients to land. Websites are great, but it’s ok to just have an excellent Facebook page when you are starting out. Include a little about yourself, a clear close-up photo of yourself, and several posts about what services you can offer. Include clear information about how to contact you.
That’s it. For real. There are other elements that will become important, but you can slowly work on those things while you are actively prospecting for clients.
Three Things You Don’t Need to Start
While we are on the topic of things you need, let’s talk about three things you don’t need.
- You don’t need a logo and professional brand. If you’re not sure what you want to call your company, or if you’ve just spent 2 days in Canva trying to create the perfect logo – STOP. Pick a pretty, legible script for your name and call it good. One of the thoughts that kept me from obsessing over details like this when I was starting my business was remembering that everything that I was setting up was likely just the first of many iterations. Trust me, you’ll get a new logo, a new website, new brand colors and maybe even change the direction of your business completely. You are not meant to create a permanent logo before you even start your business.
- You don’t need a website. We already covered this a little bit already, but I see so many people getting hung up on this. Creating your own website is tricky, and if you don’t know what you are doing, it can end up looking amateur and actually scaring clients away. It’s ok to wait until you have money coming in and want to hire a developer to create a site for you, or you have time to really dive in and create an amazing site on your own time.
- You don’t need specialized skills. It’s very likely that you have skills from previous life experiences, previous employment or education that has given you some type of marketable skill. As we’ve covered, the internet is there waiting when you want to learn something new, but for now – start with what you know.
Don’t Miss the Boat
Stop hiding behind all these little details, all of the planning and learning and go out and get some clients! Don’t get so stuck in the planning that you miss the boat. Clients ARE out there. There are people out there who will pay you right now for the skills you have. In my experience, landing that first client can create a snowball effect for the rest of your business.
