When you’re running a VA business, there’s going to come a point in time where you need to take a close look at the quality vs. quantity equation.

Providing top quality virtual assistant services should always be your priority: you don’t just want to offer basic services, you want to be the best at providing those services. You don’t just want to get the job done – it’s important to put your best effort into everything that you do so that you can be proud of your work.

Still, there’s that ever important part of running a VA business: having clients. When you’re just getting started, it’s sometimes a bit tough to tell how many clients you should be bringing on.

New virtual assistants in particular tend to have a battle of wanting to grow their businesses quickly: that’s where the quality of quality vs. quantity really comes into play. If you grow your business too quickly, you may not be able to provide the quality of service that will keep your clients coming back – and referring you to others.

Ultimately, there’s something that’s really important to keep in mind: if your services are top rate, clients will be willing to pay more. The better the quality of your services, the more you’ll be able to earn for providing them. So, that’s the question: would you rather have a lot of clients to juggle just to keep the money coming in, or would you rather have a few top rate clients who pay top dollar for great services?

It’s always important to get advice about what you should do when you’re running a VA business – that’s why you can find a number of great resources available as well as VA business training courses available.

It’s also important to network with other virtual assistants so that you know what not to do. Here are three examples of those things that you want to avoid when you’re running a VA business:

1. Overextending yourself. When you’re running a VA business ad trying to grow your business it makes sense that you’ll want to take on as many clients as possible. Just be sure that you don’t take on more than you can handle: when you do, you’re likely to miss deadlines and lose customers – the exact opposite of what you’re hoping to accomplish.
2. Underpricing your services to get your name out there. When you’re getting started, it’s common to not know how to set prices for your services. When you have a network of other VAs, you can be sure that you’re setting the right price and avoid alienating prospects by having prices that are simply too low.
3. Getting discouraged. Working for yourself is a bit challenging – especially when you’re just getting started. If you let yourself get discouraged it’s going to be even harder to get and stay ahead.

Running a VA business is easier when you are able to tap into others’ experiences; when you have a support network, you can avoid making those mistakes that will set you and your business back.

Many virtual assistants find that there are two types of clients who they will be working with. They will find that, in some cases, they will be working with clients who are looking for help on an ongoing basis; in other cases they’ll find themselves working with a client who needs help on a single project.

In either case, what a virtual assistant does is not altogether different.

For example, if a virtual assistant is working with a client on a project that needs to happen during a particularly busy period, he or she will need the details of the project and the time frame for its completion; payment will need to be negotiated and a contract developed.

In this case, the virtual assistant will then do the project – and will focus on providing the best work possible, knowing that the client could come back with another project in the future. Or the client could turn into someone who uses the services for the long haul.

When a VA is working with a client doing long term work, it remains important to be clear about the services that are being provided and the price of those services and providing quality work is essential.

As a VA, you’ll always want to put forth your best effort. Whether your working with a client for a single project or over an extended period of time, remember you’re working for yourself and with a client: whatever services you provide, make sure that you’re doing your best work.

Different virtual assistants tend to use different tools in order to meet the needs of their clients and keep their businesses running smoothly. This is particularly true when it comes to choosing the software that you’ll use in your virtual assistant business.

For example, virtual assistants who are going to be doing a lot of correspondence work are going to want to be sure that they have an office suite – a word processor, a spreadsheet program, etc. However, that doesn’t mean that you are always going to need to have the name brand, high-priced software; various open source programs can also give you access to the programs that are compatible and that will enable you to save documents in those formats without the high price tag.

Virtual assistants who provide web design services are going to find that they need access to different tools than those who provide accounting services. Those who work with real estate professionals are going to need to have access to different programs than those who work with lawyers.

Finding the right tools for your virtual assistant business is going to require a few things. You’ll need to know which services you’re going to offer. You’ll need to know what your clients are looking for. And then you’ll need to be able to talk with other VAs to find out which tools they have found to be the most valuable.

When you have the right tools, it’s far easier to ensure the success of your business, to help your clients and to simplify those tasks that you’ll be taking on each and every day.

Virtual assistants do a lot of different things for the clients that they work with. To some extent, because what virtual assistants do depends a lot on the virtual assistant you’re talking about.

So for today, let’s just consider a list of things that virtual assistants do – and take a look at some of the clients that they help as well:

1. Virtual assistants who work with real estate agents can focus on finding homes on a certain street or certain neighborhood for a house-hunter that they are working with
2. Virtual assistant can take the information that you’ve collected at a trade show and organize it into a database so that you’re able to follow up on your leads with the right information
3. Virtual assistants can cover your basic bookkeeping tasks and make sure that the numbers are all balanced out at the end of the day.
4. Virtual assistants can work with you to create content for your websites and blogs.
5. A virtual assistant can design a drip email campaign for your business so that you can be sure you’re getting the message out at intervals that work for your prospects
6. A virtual assistant can help to organize your schedule and get you prepared for meetings.
7. Virtual assistants can work with you to put a marketing campaign into place and help you to take your business to the next level – whatever that looks like for you.

What else do virtual assistants do? On a lot of levels, it’s entirely up to them.

When you’re running a virtual assistant business, one of the things that can prove difficult is marketing: specifically, what can you do as a virtual assistant to encourage your clients to help spread the word about what you have to offer.

Virtual assistant marketing is, after all, as much about word of mouth advertising as it is about having a great website. Obviously, you’ll want to include client testimonials on your website, but what can you do to get your clients to actually talk about – and hype – your services?

One thing that you can do that’s relatively simple is to offer a discount to clients who help you to get the word out. Consider offering a percentage off of your weekly rate or a set dollar amount off of a specific project (depending on how you charge for your services) to your current clients who spread the word.

If they are happy with your services, they should not be reluctant to tell others (unless they’re afraid of losing you). Offer the reassurances that your clients need that you’ll still be there for them and make sure that you’re always meeting and exceeding their expectations, but encourage them to help you grow your business with a good incentive for getting the word out.

When it comes to running a VA business many would-be successful virtual assistants get caught up in the need for perfection. I’m not talking about that perfectionism that says “This won’t be good enough until. . .” – I’m talking about that perfectionism that stops you from getting things done.

When you take on a client and make a commitment to getting a job done by a certain point in time, getting the details right and getting that project done is more important than getting every little detail perfect. There has to be a point in time when good enough is, well, good enough. Running a successful VA business is all about being able to determine when things are good enough.

That doesn’t mean that you shouldn’t proofread the documents that you write for a client, it just means that there will almost always be another change that could be made and knowing when it’s time to stop trying to find the right synonym and move onto the project. It doesn’t mean that, if you’re creating a landing page for a client’s website, you don’t want to focus on creating a solid page; it means that you need to know when the page will be successful and when making those “few more changes” is going to cause a delay in the site going live.

Having a network of other virtual assistants can ensure that, when you need feedback on a project, you’re able to find it. It also means that there will be someone there who can say, “This is good enough, it’s time to move on to the next project.”

Wanting to do your best work is a very good thing when you’re running a VA business but so is getting projects done on time. Don’t let your impulse for perfection stop you from getting things done.

When you make a commitment to becoming a virtual assistant, you’re also going to need to make a commitment to marketing your services.

When you’re using a website for virtual assistant marketing, you’ll find that you’re more successful when you look at your site objectively.

Think about these points when you look at your site:

1. Who do you want to be reaching with the resources on your website; are your messages targeted to them?
2. Is there something about your website that’s standing between you and reaching your goals? If so, is it something that you can change and overcome? If not, you may want to look at whether or not your objectives are realistic.
3. Where do you intend to go in the future? What can you put into the works now that will help you to get there when the time is right?

Those three questions might seem simplistic, but chances are good that if you’re not considering them, your website marketing is not going to be nearly as effective as it could be.

When you make a commitment to becoming a virtual assistant and running a VA business, there are some things that will be a given regardless of which skills you have, which tools you use to help your clients and what services that you provide.

When the title of this post asks what commitments you should make when you’re running a VA business, it’s not so much a question of “should I promise to have things done by a certain time even if I’m not sure I can get it done” as it is a statement of what should you, as a virtual assistant commit to for the sake of your profession; what should all virtual assistants aspire to and commit to doing.

Here are some examples:

1. When you’re running a VA business, you should make a commitment to professionalism.
2. When you’re running a VA business, you should make a commitment to only taking on projects that you know that you can complete, that you know that you have the skills for – or, of course, that someone on your team can complete.
3. When you’re running a VA business, you should make a commitment to honesty, integrity and confidentiality. If you’re working with clients who are competitors, don’t give out information about one to the other.

These commitments are what will keep your business not only running, but also thriving. They can help to ensure your success. What commitments will you make?

There’s a common perception among those do-it-yourselfer types – the same types who go into business as an independent virtual assistant – that asking for help is somehow a flaw. If you’ve been thinking about becoming a virtual assistant, it’s essential that you set aside the notion that asking for help somehow is a sign of weakness: getting and providing support are two key skills that virtual assistants much have.

As a virtual assistant, after all, the primary thing that you’re going to be doing is assisting others with their businesses – your clients are going to be people who have asked for help.

Also, though, as a virtual assistant, there are going to be skills that you have developed well and there are going to be some areas where you know that you stand a but of room for improvement. When you are a part of a VA network, you’ll know that there are always people who you can reach out to when you need a hand.

Whether you need advice for providing a “difficult client” with better customer service, or you have a question about whether or not a different software program that you’ve heard about might be more efficient, the answers are only as far away as your network.