For VAs

There is a big difference between knowing everything and knowing that you can figure out anything.

Many service providers believe that they “have to know it all” before they can provide any value to their clients.

And that if they don’t “know it all” yet, then they aren’t ready.

So they don’t put themselves out there. They get caught in an endless loop of learning and taking courses. They lose sales because they bring their “I don’t know enough yet” mindset to the conversation, and essentially talk themselves out of clients.

The drive to “know it all” is a dangerous trap, not only because it’s impossible to achieve (I have yet to meet someone who knows it all!) but because it’s not really what your clients want from you.

Your clients want someone who can drive the work and get it done.

They want someone who is going to own their part and take responsibility for their work.

THAT is what will get you hired. The attitude of “I may not know it all, but I know MYSELF… and I know that I will do whatever it takes to fulfill on my promises and serve my clients.”

It’s the difference between “I don’t know it all yet so don’t hire me”VS”I don’t know it all yet and I can figure it out where needed.”

This might mean learning on the fly. Doing research. Hiring someone else to help you. Reaching out to a community of trusted colleagues for advice.

And to be clear – this is all based on the assumption that you have a foundation of expertise and knowledge. If you’ve never built a website before and you tell a client you have… that’s not figuring it out. That’s lying.

If you’ve taken a training in your area of expertise but don’t yet have a tonne of experience… be upfront about it! Just say “I don’t have a lot of direct experience doing X yet, but I have invested in myself with training and am committed to doing whatever it takes to fulfill on my promise to you. I have a community of colleagues I can turn to and am not afraid to roll up my sleeves and figure it out when needed.”

Take a moment and consider – where do you feel like you have to “know more”? And where does it hold you back?

Think of a time where something came up that was new to you and unexpected. How did you handle it? I suspect your “figure it out” muscle is stronger than you might even realize.

All things are possible when we know OURSELVES – not when we know it all.

Tina

Original Post January 1, 2009

When it comes to hiring I’m reminded of the philosophy:

How you do anything is how you do everything

As an OBM I’ve done my fair share of hiring virtual professionals over the years, and I’ve found that you can learn A LOT about someone from the very first moment you connect with them (which is usually by email). How people respond to you from day one can be a good reflection of how they would actually be on a project.

There are a few things you can pay attention to that may help filter out some potentially unsuitable people along the way:

• How quickly do they respond to your emails?
  I expect a 24 hour turnaround time when I send someone an email (except on weekends/holidays of course). If I send someone an email saying ‘Hey, I’m interested in hiring you’ and I don’t hear from them for 3 days I will most likely not consider them further. Most of our projects require a 24-hour turnaround in communication, and if I don’t see that right away it is a red flag.
• Did they provide what you asked them for?
  If you asked them for specific information, did they provide it in full detail? I’m actually surprised how often I will get¬†a response from a potential hire and they didn’t include half of the information I requested. If they have a lack of attention to details in these early stages it makes me wonder how much would be missed on the job.
• What is the tone of their response?
  Are they casual or do they take a more professional approach to their writing? (depending on your needs you may prefer either one). How is their spelling & grammar? The actual tone of their response can be very telling Рfor example, if you are hiring someone to respond to customer service emails and their spelling/grammar is poor that may not be a good fit.
• Do they follow up with you?
  If you haven’t responded to someone in a day or so, do they follow up with you? I’ll admit that I sometimes do this on purpose – not respond to an email for a couple of days just to see if the person will follow up with me to check in. If someone is eager/excited about the opportunity they should send a follow-up email to check in with you (even just to ensure that you received their last message).

Original Post September 4th, 2009

What makes someone a great Online Business Manager? That’s a bit of a loaded question, and of course, a big discussion all on its own as there is a myriad of things to consider. However, one thing I know to be true is this.

A good Online Business Manager will present you with solutions and not just options.

Let me give you an example. Let’s say you are Bob, a business owner who is looking for some help with picking a new broadcasting system for your newsletter. You aren’t happy with the one you have now and want to change it.

You ask a member of your team, Suzy, to look into this for you. Here are two potential responses that I’ve seen in this type of situation.

Response #1:

Hi Bob

I did some research and found some broadcasting systems that look pretty good. Here is a list of what I found:

[insert big list of URLs here]

Which did you want to use?

Suzy

Response #2:

Hi Bob

I did some research and found some broadcasting systems that look pretty good. I found a number of systems and these are the ones I took a good look at:

Option 1 is great because of ABC, however they don’t have D which I wish they did. Otherwise I quite liked it, would be easy to import and start using.

Option 2 could totally work, they do have D but don’t seem to be quite as robust as Option 1. Plus they have a pretty stringent re-opt in requirement when importing a list which could mean losing subscribers.

Option 3 could work as well, they seem to have great features however i’ve heard of some deliverability issues with them so I hesitate to use them.

My suggestion would be to go with Option 1 – I know of a number of people using this system and they are quite happy with it.

Let me know your thoughts? If you agree I can get started on a plan to move the list of Option 1… or if you have further questions I can look into those as well.

Suzy

Now put yourself in the shoes of Bob – which response would you prefer to receive? I’m guessing you picked #2, but of course. ?

The difference in these two responses is obvious – and the reason why this is so important is that you are making it EASY for a decision to be made. Theoretically yes, the second response could (and in a real response probably would) go much deeper… however, you can see in the example the focus on providing the best solution.

Business owners already have enough on their plates – and when you send a response of options (such as in #1) that just gives them more work to do. That kind of response is asking me to go to each site and check things out on my own… which most business owners don’t have the time or inclination to do!

In response #2 everything has been laid out, so that I can take a quick peek and immediately be able to respond with “yes, let’s do it” or “hmmm, what about X… can you look into that for me?” No more work on my plate and progress is made.

I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again (like a broken record, hehe). The role of the Online Business Manager is to take things off the business owners plate, so they are free to do the things only they can do in their business (marketing, strategy, development and such.)

And this includes lightening the ‘burden’ of making decisions as well as regular ole to-dos. Present your clients with solutions so that the decision-making process is quick and easy. Don’t let them get ‘buried’ in having to figure things out on their own (and run the risk of not making a decision at all.)

Comments, thoughts?