I listened in on Tony Signorelli's "New Rules of Personal Productivity" webinar today. SCORE will have a recording of the webinar on their website. Here is the link: http://www.score.org/, but I'm not sure when it will be available.

He gave many good reasons for hiring VAs to allow business owners to have more time to enjoy their business and their lives. Most of what he said came from a paper he wrote: "Why Hire a Virtual Assistant." I have not read the paper yet, but here is the link: http://www.newrulesofselfemployment....stant-v2-3.pdf

The one thing I disagreed with during the webinar was Tony stating that a VA can be hired cheaply for $10-$20/hour. He did mention that there are two categories of VAs - English and non-English speaking - and that non-English speaking VAs can be hired more cheaply than English speaking. I thought it left the wrong impression about what a VA should be receiving for their services and indicated this in my comments.

The positive aspect of the webinar was that the VA profession was being talked about in a positive manner and from a business owner's personal perspective. He uses three VAs in his business and each one has their own niche to handle.

I also suggested to SCORE that they might want to consider offering a webinar hosted by VAs who can better explain the profession, what benefits they can bring to a business owner, where to find VAs, and what they should look for in a VA.

If anyone is interested, SCORE has lots of online workshops and information that are really helpful for small business owners.

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Margaret
Helping You Build Your Empire

Margaret,

Thank you for posting this information and for sharing your experience. I have referred to SCORE's website in the past for reference information.

I shouldn't have opened this paper because nothing burns me more than to read such folly about our industry.

We will never be able to rise as an industry if experts continue to tout our work as 'cheap' and at low rates of $10 and $15 per hour.

You will note that Tony is the one teaching the VA what to do. IMO he's not hiring the right VAs. If a client has a problem with their work, then the VA knows what to do as the expert in that field. Tony doesn't really see the VA as an expert. The tone of the paper is all about hiring cheap help.

It is business owners like this who continue to confuse the public about what a virtual assistant really is!

Janine

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WRITE FAB RFP PROPOSALS & land THE VA job. WinningRFP unveils soon! SignUp www.WinningRFP.com

I planned on reading his paper this evening, but am sad to see that he misrepresents how to hire a VA and doesn't view them as experts in their field. He presented a different image during the actual webinar. I hope SCORE takes my suggestion and offers a webinar or workshop conducted by an actual VA.

IMHO it also hurts us when there are those within the profession who prefer to use different titles. If there is a lack of continuity in what we call ourselves, how are we supposed to grow as an industry?

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Margaret
Helping You Build Your Empire

Margaret,

Tony hires VAs for tasks. He doesn't hire for support. A VA is a partnership and not a subordinate position to a client. I read his paper as if he was hiring and training a subordinate and that is what an employee-employer relationship is all about.

I'd be interested in hearing what you think about his paper.

Janine

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Just thought I'd give my two cents worth here.

EmpireVirtualAssistantServices , like you mentioned, I've also noticed different VA's calling themselves Administrative Consultants among other things. I'm thinking it's in hopes of gaining more control over what kind of services potential clients may think the VA is available for.

To give the clients the "head's up" that we're not their assistant for their every whim and task but we are a ongoing support service to help their business be more successful and their administrative tasks (just for example) run smoothly and more streamlined. Maybe this could lead to potential clients understanding the higher service rates that we require.

Do you think using the term Administrative Consultant would be helpful in also making sure the client understands we are not a subordinate and this isn't a employer/employee relationship?

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L. Caroline Mills of LC Mills, Inc.
www.lcmillsinc.com

Yes Caroline. I use the designation Administrative Services Consultant and tag to it Virtual Assistant. Going in as a Consultant places you at a very different level, where the expectations are greater and therefore the pay is greater.

As a Consutant, you are not expected to simply fulfil a task, it is expected that you bring to the table your recommendations based on your experience, training and skillset. You are the entrepreneur, the Consultant.

Occasionally I might use Virtual Assistant only. In that case it would be to promote the VA industry, yet again I would highlight the value that I would add to the client's operations.

Promoting my services as a Consultant also forces me to keep developing myself so that I can be regarded as the go-to person on my clients' teams.

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Eunice
Savvy Corporate Planners+

Caroline & Eunice, we are in the business support services industry which means we are assisting other business people in their businesses. Assisting is what we do, it is who we are! Trying to call ourselves anything else muddies the waters and does not present a united industry which, in turn, hurts the industry and its efforts at growth.

It is our responsibility to set the tone in our relationships with clients. If one day you call yourself a Virtual Assistant and then on another day you change that to Administrative Consultant, what message are you sending to clients? If you occasionally use the VA term to promote the industry, why not use it all the time? You are a business owner and do not need to change your title to justify your rates! The quality of your work should do that.

Janine, I have to agree with you about his paper. It is disturbing to me that he is charging people for this erroneous information. To add insult to injury he claims that VAs have thanked him for this article "because it helps them be successful when their customers understand what is required of the customer to help the VA be successful for them." A poorly worded sentence by an individual that is clueless as to what a VA is and does for their clients. He actually uses the term "boss" in the paper. At that point my face was as red as my hair because I was so irritated.

The webinar was more about his method of finding additional time to work on your business instead of in your business. He only spent about 10 minutes on learning how to delegate to a VA and directed everyone to this paper. It makes me wonder how many of the participants downloaded and read this paper and now think that this is the right way to find and "use" a VA.

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Margaret
Helping You Build Your Empire