A VA can be more than an Admin

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Hi, welcome to the podcast that explores what virtual assistants want business owners to

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know when they start asking themselves the question, hey, do I need a VA?

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I'm Rachel Davila.

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And after 18 years as a virtual assistant going it alone, I experienced the steep learning

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curve from the other side of the VA client relationship when I hired my own assistant.

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Joining me on this podcast is a group of friends and colleagues who all have their own take

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on what busy entrepreneurs need to know to find, hire, and work with a virtual assistant

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and mindfully answer the question, hey, do I need a VA?

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Let's get this episode started.

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Hey everyone, welcome back to episode two of season two of Hey, Do I Need a VA?

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The Podcast.

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I'm your host Rachel Davila and with me is Sydney Hubbard, Bri Bivi, and Leanne Oremli.

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And we're excited, second episode, season two.

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Woohoo!

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The episode today was spawned by a question that I came up with for last episode, but

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makes more sense for this one.

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It's a VA can be more than an admin.

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So basically, one of the questions I had was what services or tasks do you do or offer

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that may never be added to your services page that aren't quantifiable as VA work, but that

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we do and we bring within ourselves and our skill set to every client we work with.

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For some of us, that could look like a marriage counselor, therapist, an accountability partner,

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a business coach, or just a business to business brainstorming mindset.

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So I'm going to open it up to everyone here.

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If VAs can do more than just admin work, what would you say you bring to the table that

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you can't necessarily quantify or explain in a regular discovery call?

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I'll start with Sydney.

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Yeah.

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So this is an interesting question.

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I had to kind of think back for a second.

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But the beginning of my business and my initial name was Rose Design and Tarot.

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Like I did tarot readings for clients and that was a big part of what I wanted to do.

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Since then, I've kind of shifted away.

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But if a client asks me, I'm always down to give them a tarot reading.

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I think it is on my website if you dig a little bit, but it's not on my virtual assistant

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services, even though the clients who come to me for virtual assistant stuff are the

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same ones who would receive tarot readings.

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And I love tarot.

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There are other professional tarot readers who do quantify and are like, well, this many

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minutes for this reading and I'll give you it.

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But I think for me in my business, it doesn't make sense to kind of market it like that.

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But yeah, I think that would be my service that I bring and provide to clients that isn't

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necessarily lumped in with my other skills.

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Cool.

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And sign me up.

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We'll schedule something.

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Free, how about you?

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Spark something for me that I'll add now.

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Thank you, Sydney.

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For me, I think what I bring is a lot too of like that collaboration and that like getting

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the really deep knowledge and really wanting to connect deeply with you and your business

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and what you do and being able to emotionally invest in your business.

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So like I'm in it.

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I want to like be there with you through the ups, the downs and figure it all out together,

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figure out what we can change, what we can improve, how we can tweak things and bounce

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ideas off of each other.

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And quite often the feedback I get from a lot of my clients is that they just love having

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somebody who knows their business, who is passionate about what they do like they are

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and be able to bounce ideas and talk about it with somebody who's in it and not just

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nodding along or being there as a sounding board because they feel like they have to,

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but somebody who's like, oh, and this or bringing ideas that I tried with other clients and

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being like, hey, you know what, I have three other clients to do something similar.

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We tried this for two of them and it went over really well.

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I think it would fit for your audience.

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How do you feel about trying that?

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Or we tried this platform or this.

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And I've also brought in, similar to Sydney, I'm also a Reiki master and I also have, I'm

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a cultivating safe space facilitator.

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So I bring in those things and those tools as well.

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I've gone to retreats and speaking things where my clients been the speaker and I'll

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go and they've asked me to Reiki the room or Reiki them or calm them down and things

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like that to keep the room grounded.

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I've also taught clients and stuff like things from the cultivating safe space framework

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so that they can use that in the work that they do as well and supporting them in other

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ways that may not seem obvious that they could go in and be applied there as well.

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That's so cool.

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Leanne, how about you?

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I don't think I have as cool skills as Sydney and Brie.

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So a lot of my clients come back to me and say, yes, you're a tech savvy VA.

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You do a lot of tech stuff, but you put it in English.

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I can understand.

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So I think one of the things that I can't really figure out how to put it on a website

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is being able to explain the technical stuff so you can actually understand it and getting

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people to learn technology enough to at least have some clue what their business is doing

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in the technical side.

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The other thing that a lot of my clients have discovered is that I'm a good sounding board

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for them.

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They'll say, what do you think about this?

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And I'll say, well, okay, for your clients, that's not quite right.

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Let's adjust this way.

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And I understand their demographics and their clients or their business.

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And I'm able to tweak things like I've had quite a few people who write articles and

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they want to come up with the right title.

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That'll actually get the clicks.

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So I wordsmith some of that stuff for them to sound board some of their ideas and go,

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let's change that.

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This is to this way.

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Let's move it.

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And some of those things, you just can't put on a website.

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It just doesn't, I mean, what do you call that as a service?

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It's not quantitative, as you say.

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You can't just really come up with it.

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Yeah.

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So those little hidden things that it, and when we talk about fit, when we talk about

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looking for qualities beyond your handoff list, this is where those things kind of show

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up because if you're a potential client and you want to calm energy or you are into Harrow

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or Reiki or alternative kinds of mindset and modalities, then you may want somebody who

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at least has that open, that feeling.

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Like I get called calm.

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I get, you know, people like how calm I am.

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I can't put that, I can't say I'm calm.

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That's why you should hire me.

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But when people want that feeling, they get that from me.

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I'm also a cheerleader, a nudger.

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They get accountability.

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You know, I hired Sydney because I needed the accountability and it wasn't something

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that I would expect Sydney to put on their website that they offer that.

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But even just having somebody who you're answerable to creates that accountability.

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But like in the other side of my business, I offer accountability days and I give that

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to my clients because so many of them just need the time to do the work.

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And so after like body doubling, which is like, let's just work together because otherwise

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they won't put the time and effort into doing any of the tasks they need to do without having

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that piece.

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That's on my other business side, but maybe I should put it on my VA side because you

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don't know what you don't know until you like say, oh, I need that.

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So how do you communicate these or do you just leave it as a general feeling and see

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how things go and you just bring it up in the moment?

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So in my case, I just bring it up.

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It just happens to say that I can explain technology in plain English sounds really

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odd.

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At least it does to me.

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So it just happens.

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Same thing with the sounding board kind of coming up with titles and stuff.

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I just kind of pointed out when I see it and go, hey, maybe we should work on this kind

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of stuff.

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Yeah, for the most part, it's always just in the moment for me.

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Do you mention it on my inquiry call and in my onboarding call that these are things that

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I do?

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And I also give them permission that if it's not for them or that's not something that

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they're looking for to let me know, because I don't also want to assume that because I

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feel this way or I do this with other people, that it's something that everybody's looking

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for.

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So I kind of periodically put it out there and stuff to you.

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And I know that where Rachel is calm, I get very excited.

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And then like even right now, I'm like, don't talk really fast, Free, because when I get

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excited, I know that I can kind of title way people.

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So remembering to like slow down and like, we'll talk about these few things now.

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And if you want, I have ideas that we can share later.

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And I also do some of that, like, let's do some co-working stuff.

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I know that you're having some blocks.

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Where can we take out the blocks?

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There's some stuff that we just can't do.

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Some of the stuff has to come from the client, right?

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So how can we get past those roadblocks?

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And sometimes it is like, let's do a co-working spot together where we can talk it through

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and do it that way, too.

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Those kinds of things come up as we run into those roadblocks.

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It can get as animated as you, Brie.

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I could talk.

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I could talk a lot.

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So but that that's usually like after the fact.

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Or if I'm very, very excited.

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So I don't think it's I don't think it's just a calm or energetic.

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I think we can be calm because you're calm too sometimes.

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But yes, I definitely think that I think as we VAs grow and get more comfortable in our

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business and what we do for clients and build those relationships with clients, I think

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the things that each unique client needs from us when the fit is right, we naturally kind

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of step into those roles that they need.

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I can't speak for anyone else, but I feel like that I just am like, oh, you need this.

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Even if it's on like an intuition, like they're not asking.

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I'm not offering, but I just kind of go, hey, how about this?

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Or hey, what about we do this?

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Sometimes you have to baby step them and try something new or have a pitch an idea to try

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it before you find the thing.

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That's true.

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Yeah.

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For me, I think that when at the beginning of my business, I'm more clearly marketed

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what I do in terms of tarot.

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But as time went on, it just kind of fell to the wayside.

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Even in like discovery calls with clients, it's not something that I think to talk about

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or mention.

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Although I like what Bri was saying that it's like, yeah, like in a discovery call, I might

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as well mention it and be like, if it's not for you, then it's not for you.

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And that's fine.

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I think my main, I guess, fear was that I would bring it up and that would make people

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be like, oh, no, no, no, thank you.

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But I like Bri's approach.

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And I think that that would be a good way if I wanted to kind of reintegrate it into

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what I do, would be a good way to do that.

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I think that brings up if a VA brings up something that doesn't feel right for a potential client.

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Like if you brought up tarot and it wasn't right for the client and it turned them off,

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would you think we're not the right fit?

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You know what I mean?

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Like there's some things that we can offer and a client might just be like, yeah, I know

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that's okay.

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And like in my mind, okay, then how can I support you finding someone who feels better?

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It just becomes a quality that doesn't mesh.

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So I'm wondering if, does anyone hide anything or share something to kind of determine fit

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like in an interview?

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Because when Bri said how energetic it got me thinking and I'm like, do I get excited?

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Do I share all the things that I share and do all the things that I do?

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Because it's like, here's who I am.

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Here's who I am.

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Like me or don't and we'll be, we'll either fit or we won't.

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And I kind of feel like if I show who I am all at once, then you won't be surprised down

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the road if I like start doing that.

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So I'm wondering, does anyone else feel that way?

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That's a good question.

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I think mostly for me, I have the instinct to kind of mesh into whatever the client wants

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and to fit with what the client needs.

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I think that's part of being really new.

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I think what I really respect about all three of you is that you show up with a client and

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if the client isn't a fit, then it's not a fit.

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And none of you take it personally and you're like, okay, moving on.

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I think for me, I have the drive to just to kind of like people fleas, but to like, to

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like do the best to be able to do the work that a client wants.

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But I think that that's something I would want to integrate is like, is something that

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would fully show up as myself in my business to be able to determine fit.

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And if the client sees everything and is like, no, thanks, then that's okay.

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I think I'm like flexible to the point of not necessarily having something that determines

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fit.

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But I think that that would be something for me to think about.

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Yeah, because it goes both ways, right?

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We're interviewing clients as much as clients are interviewing us.

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So if we show up as our authentic self and the client's like, no, then in turn, that

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means, okay, we're also standing for ourselves because we want clients who get us who look

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at our business as something that they support and encourage.

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You know, it goes both ways.

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Business to business, it's not employee to employer.

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It's we're both coming with equal footing.

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So finding finding that fit, I feel is like super.

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Yeah, I was just gonna say, I don't necessarily like jump into an inquiry call and be like,

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and I'm a Reiki master and I do Cultivating Safe Spaces.

233
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The Cultivating Safe Space stuff is on my website.

234
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So like, if they were to go there, they would see it.

235
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But if it happens to fit the conversation or it's similar to work that they're doing

236
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that would show that I have knowledge and it's relatable, then it would come up.

237
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Sometimes it comes up throughout the working relationship.

238
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And if it applies, it applies.

239
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But I feel like because especially we offer so many different services that I try to keep

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it more focused on the virtual assistant services that we can provide.

241
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And if it comes up in the rest of the ways, then I share it.

242
00:17:17,320 --> 00:17:22,160
But the other thing too, is that sometimes you don't get the hit right away off of just

243
00:17:22,160 --> 00:17:24,520
the inquiry call, whether or not it's a fit.

244
00:17:24,520 --> 00:17:29,200
So sometimes it's just like also putting in, let's try on a trial period for a couple months

245
00:17:29,200 --> 00:17:34,260
and have that as the feeling out period as well that I've had clients where it's like

246
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by the third month, I'm like, we don't work in the same way.

247
00:17:37,160 --> 00:17:40,420
And I don't feel like I can support you the best way that could.

248
00:17:40,420 --> 00:17:43,600
Let me put you to Rachel or somebody else who might be able to help find somebody else

249
00:17:43,600 --> 00:17:46,560
that can help support you better for various reasons.

250
00:17:46,560 --> 00:17:51,600
Yeah, just like Bri, sometimes you just don't know right away if you're a good fit.

251
00:17:51,600 --> 00:17:56,680
I've had clients where I've been like, I really got to get rid of this client.

252
00:17:56,680 --> 00:18:01,200
But just because we work differently, they're night owls, I'm not.

253
00:18:01,200 --> 00:18:05,680
They didn't, you know, we have boundary issues, whatever it is.

254
00:18:05,680 --> 00:18:14,200
But one of the things I've learned over time is if I don't show up as me, I'm miserable

255
00:18:14,200 --> 00:18:15,200
later.

256
00:18:15,200 --> 00:18:18,880
So, you know, yeah, sometimes clients walk away.

257
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It's like, okay, yeah, that's we weren't a good fit.

258
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That's fine.

259
00:18:22,240 --> 00:18:25,280
So don't panic, Sydney, you'll get there.

260
00:18:25,280 --> 00:18:31,320
I remember the first time I fired a client because when the fit's not right, I overthought

261
00:18:31,320 --> 00:18:40,160
the whole thing in my head for weeks before I was like, no, this really just is not like

262
00:18:40,160 --> 00:18:43,940
the person the client was wonderful, amazing.

263
00:18:43,940 --> 00:18:49,600
We could talk one on one, but in the working relationship, it wasn't right.

264
00:18:49,600 --> 00:18:58,600
And Sydney, it took years to get to the comfort level to be like, okay, I can trust my instincts

265
00:18:58,600 --> 00:19:01,520
about how it's going.

266
00:19:01,520 --> 00:19:08,280
And clients don't always know or they may know that we're that we're not the right fit.

267
00:19:08,280 --> 00:19:18,640
And so it's okay to say we're not the right fit and either side can end the relationship.

268
00:19:18,640 --> 00:19:20,720
My dad told me he's like, you can fire clients.

269
00:19:20,720 --> 00:19:23,120
I'm like, you can?

270
00:19:23,120 --> 00:19:25,320
Who would do that?

271
00:19:25,320 --> 00:19:33,440
But you guys, she capitalized everything and put the entire request in the subject line.

272
00:19:33,440 --> 00:19:38,360
I thought she was yelling at me every time I got an email and it my stomach hurt.

273
00:19:38,360 --> 00:19:42,800
And I was like, you don't really know what you don't know until you're faced with it.

274
00:19:42,800 --> 00:19:48,760
And then it starts to become a boundary or a hard no.

275
00:19:48,760 --> 00:19:51,660
So I'll bring that question up.

276
00:19:51,660 --> 00:19:59,920
How has an experience with any of this helped you to create a boundary or a hard no when

277
00:19:59,920 --> 00:20:03,160
it comes to a task or a client or mine?

278
00:20:03,160 --> 00:20:06,440
My hard no cold calls and wiping people's butts.

279
00:20:06,440 --> 00:20:11,440
I don't do those because now I got people to do all the other things I don't do like

280
00:20:11,440 --> 00:20:14,880
data entry and research.

281
00:20:14,880 --> 00:20:16,480
Yeah.

282
00:20:16,480 --> 00:20:19,000
My hard no has been for a very long time.

283
00:20:19,000 --> 00:20:20,440
I don't do bookkeeping.

284
00:20:20,440 --> 00:20:23,160
I did at the beginning because I can do it.

285
00:20:23,160 --> 00:20:26,240
I'm capable, but I really hate it.

286
00:20:26,240 --> 00:20:31,840
So yeah, no, that one's a hard no for me that and like you said, Rachel, cold calls.

287
00:20:31,840 --> 00:20:35,800
Not doing cold calls.

288
00:20:35,800 --> 00:20:37,120
Cold emails, not so bad.

289
00:20:37,120 --> 00:20:38,120
Cold calls.

290
00:20:38,120 --> 00:20:39,120
Yeah.

291
00:20:39,120 --> 00:20:42,200
How about you, Bri?

292
00:20:42,200 --> 00:20:46,080
Yeah, for me, one of my boundaries is working.

293
00:20:46,080 --> 00:20:51,520
I don't want to work in urgency on tasks that we don't need to like newsletters or social

294
00:20:51,520 --> 00:20:52,520
media posts.

295
00:20:52,520 --> 00:20:56,200
Like if it's something continuously where it's like we've known about it, we've set

296
00:20:56,200 --> 00:20:59,560
the ideas for a couple of weeks, but every time we go to do one, it's like I'm not getting

297
00:20:59,560 --> 00:21:02,800
stuff till the night before and then it's like, why isn't it ready?

298
00:21:02,800 --> 00:21:03,960
That doesn't work for me.

299
00:21:03,960 --> 00:21:06,960
That's that ball in my stomach that I just can't do.

300
00:21:06,960 --> 00:21:09,920
And don't get me wrong, urgency things come up and they need to be dealt with.

301
00:21:09,920 --> 00:21:13,920
But if it's like day to day tasks that we can avoid, then that's one of the ones for

302
00:21:13,920 --> 00:21:14,920
me.

303
00:21:14,920 --> 00:21:19,600
And also like one of the ones for me is like the bookkeeping and ads.

304
00:21:19,600 --> 00:21:23,280
I don't want to do Facebook ads or Google ads or anything like that.

305
00:21:23,280 --> 00:21:27,480
I'm like, let me hook you up with somebody in my network that can do ads because they

306
00:21:27,480 --> 00:21:29,280
will do them so much better than I will.

307
00:21:29,280 --> 00:21:33,320
I can help with the graphics or the planning of what the flow is and stuff like that, but

308
00:21:33,320 --> 00:21:35,360
actually doing the ad stuff.

309
00:21:35,360 --> 00:21:36,360
We've learned a lot of things.

310
00:21:36,360 --> 00:21:38,240
There's some things that I'm like, I'm capped out.

311
00:21:38,240 --> 00:21:40,560
I would like to keep in these zones now.

312
00:21:40,560 --> 00:21:43,280
Sydney, you got a hard no.

313
00:21:43,280 --> 00:21:49,640
I think similar to Bri, I don't like to work in urgency.

314
00:21:49,640 --> 00:21:55,560
I don't like having do a ton of stuff the night before a client needs it because I wasn't

315
00:21:55,560 --> 00:21:59,400
getting the stuff that I needed to do it, especially because my schedule is already

316
00:21:59,400 --> 00:22:06,200
so packed that with the work that I'm doing, I don't really want it to be piled on like

317
00:22:06,200 --> 00:22:07,200
that.

318
00:22:07,200 --> 00:22:17,960
Because I think I expressed this in my business contract, but a hard no of not being paid.

319
00:22:17,960 --> 00:22:27,240
That's pretty low standard, but I think there's got to be a boundary somewhere.

320
00:22:27,240 --> 00:22:32,960
I think at first when I was working and there wasn't that boundary, I was like, oh wait,

321
00:22:32,960 --> 00:22:39,480
there does need to be something hard there that's like, okay, this is how I invoice and

322
00:22:39,480 --> 00:22:47,480
this is when I need to be paid or else if I'm not being paid, I can't work.

323
00:22:47,480 --> 00:22:54,920
I'm sure more boundaries will come up as I continue to work, but in terms of the services

324
00:22:54,920 --> 00:22:58,360
I offer, I'm pretty flexible.

325
00:22:58,360 --> 00:23:00,560
I would prefer to not cold call.

326
00:23:00,560 --> 00:23:03,880
That's just really not like within my skill set.

327
00:23:03,880 --> 00:23:08,960
I'd prefer to like work within my skill set, but I've never had someone ask me to cold

328
00:23:08,960 --> 00:23:11,800
call, so it hasn't really come up.

329
00:23:11,800 --> 00:23:14,600
I think that's a generational thing.

330
00:23:14,600 --> 00:23:22,480
When we all started, we didn't have as much internet.

331
00:23:22,480 --> 00:23:27,840
I was already in business when Facebook came online, so it wasn't really like we had other

332
00:23:27,840 --> 00:23:28,840
alternatives.

333
00:23:28,840 --> 00:23:34,720
Leanne mentioned in another episode about how people would send her the stuff on a disc

334
00:23:34,720 --> 00:23:39,200
or fax it to her and she would send it with a disc.

335
00:23:39,200 --> 00:23:43,800
Cold calling was the way to do it when you could send an email and stuff.

336
00:23:43,800 --> 00:23:49,800
I guess maybe that's where it's come up.

337
00:23:49,800 --> 00:23:57,280
Having gone through clients, learning what skills you bring to the table that aren't

338
00:23:57,280 --> 00:24:04,720
necessarily quantitative, how has this improved your business or working relationship with

339
00:24:04,720 --> 00:24:08,800
a client or how has it derailed you?

340
00:24:08,800 --> 00:24:11,120
We'll start with Leanne.

341
00:24:11,120 --> 00:24:15,080
Yeah, make me think on the spot.

342
00:24:15,080 --> 00:24:16,840
You're welcome.

343
00:24:16,840 --> 00:24:22,560
I don't know that it's derailed me as much.

344
00:24:22,560 --> 00:24:29,520
I think it's actually helped build my business in a direction I wanted it to go.

345
00:24:29,520 --> 00:24:35,240
Some of the stuff that I do, it works with the clients I work with.

346
00:24:35,240 --> 00:24:39,680
If it isn't their cup of tea, then they weren't really my client anyway.

347
00:24:39,680 --> 00:24:42,240
I feel like looking back, it's built the business I want.

348
00:24:42,240 --> 00:24:44,600
At the time, it may not have felt that way.

349
00:24:44,600 --> 00:24:51,440
I think we create our boundaries and our no's based on experience, based on what we learn

350
00:24:51,440 --> 00:24:52,440
as we go.

351
00:24:52,440 --> 00:25:00,000
I think it does naturally go and pivot and shift.

352
00:25:00,000 --> 00:25:03,120
They say the path to success is never a straight line.

353
00:25:03,120 --> 00:25:06,560
It's full of ups and downs and squigglies and all of that.

354
00:25:06,560 --> 00:25:11,320
I think we can look backwards and be like, that's why I put the things in place that

355
00:25:11,320 --> 00:25:17,160
I did, but you don't see that going forward.

356
00:25:17,160 --> 00:25:24,440
I think for clients too, the road to working with a VA may not be smooth sailing.

357
00:25:24,440 --> 00:25:37,000
It may have those pivots and squiggly U-turns, but each person you work with, each thing

358
00:25:37,000 --> 00:25:43,920
that works or doesn't work gives you that block in your foundation.

359
00:25:43,920 --> 00:25:48,600
I hear from a lot of people, they're like, it didn't work.

360
00:25:48,600 --> 00:25:49,600
That's it.

361
00:25:49,600 --> 00:25:50,600
I'm not working with a VA.

362
00:25:50,600 --> 00:25:55,520
It's like, no, give us another shot.

363
00:25:55,520 --> 00:25:56,860
Maybe the fit wasn't right.

364
00:25:56,860 --> 00:25:59,200
Maybe you had the wrong kind of VA.

365
00:25:59,200 --> 00:26:05,120
Maybe you didn't know what you didn't know, but now that you know better, you can ask

366
00:26:05,120 --> 00:26:06,260
for more things.

367
00:26:06,260 --> 00:26:10,120
You can guide the relationship a little bit better.

368
00:26:10,120 --> 00:26:14,040
But I think the road is never straight.

369
00:26:14,040 --> 00:26:16,640
It's always that way.

370
00:26:16,640 --> 00:26:20,440
Bri, how about you?

371
00:26:20,440 --> 00:26:24,000
Like Leanne said, I don't know that I've had it derail my business.

372
00:26:24,000 --> 00:26:30,840
I think it's been more of an asset and that it's become something more that I've gotten

373
00:26:30,840 --> 00:26:35,960
more referrals and stuff because of it, because people are like, no, she takes the time to

374
00:26:35,960 --> 00:26:40,680
get to know you and having somebody who gets to know you and your business and then hear

375
00:26:40,680 --> 00:26:45,640
what your goals are and asking questions to try and are we still, is this still the goal

376
00:26:45,640 --> 00:26:47,360
or what's the next goal?

377
00:26:47,360 --> 00:26:50,040
We're kind of getting at the three month mark and we haven't really checked in.

378
00:26:50,040 --> 00:26:52,320
What do we want to keep working towards?

379
00:26:52,320 --> 00:26:56,220
Having that somebody who can kind of step out and ask you those questions has become

380
00:26:56,220 --> 00:27:02,600
a really big asset for me and keeping us on track and that people find value and you get,

381
00:27:02,600 --> 00:27:06,680
I find I have deeper relationships with my clients because we have those deeper conversations

382
00:27:06,680 --> 00:27:11,160
and things on a more regular basis so that a lot of them become my friends.

383
00:27:11,160 --> 00:27:14,760
I'm not really good at not having dual relationships with most of my clients.

384
00:27:14,760 --> 00:27:18,560
In fact, I'm visiting in Victoria and I have clients in Victoria and on the island and

385
00:27:18,560 --> 00:27:22,880
so I go hang out with them and we go have lunches or we go to the beach or we have weekly

386
00:27:22,880 --> 00:27:25,520
calls just to check in on each other and chat.

387
00:27:25,520 --> 00:27:30,920
And so I feel like it's developed into something different and that it's become more of an

388
00:27:30,920 --> 00:27:33,400
asset and thing to be known for.

389
00:27:33,400 --> 00:27:34,400
Nice.

390
00:27:34,400 --> 00:27:35,400
Yeah.

391
00:27:35,400 --> 00:27:37,960
I like the friendship too.

392
00:27:37,960 --> 00:27:42,800
The long relationship, not the project.

393
00:27:42,800 --> 00:27:45,560
I want to know my clients business.

394
00:27:45,560 --> 00:27:49,480
I want to get in there and be like, okay, how are we going to make this grow?

395
00:27:49,480 --> 00:27:50,480
Because if you grow, I grow.

396
00:27:50,480 --> 00:27:51,480
Let's do this.

397
00:27:51,480 --> 00:27:52,480
It's funny.

398
00:27:52,480 --> 00:27:57,520
Actually, some of my clients, now their kids are friends with my kids and they like connect

399
00:27:57,520 --> 00:28:01,160
and chat and it flows down.

400
00:28:01,160 --> 00:28:05,960
Well, that's how I got Sydney was from a client.

401
00:28:05,960 --> 00:28:09,000
Sydney, how does it show up for you?

402
00:28:09,000 --> 00:28:16,440
Yeah, I think me being flexible and having a lot of stuff that I don't necessarily put

403
00:28:16,440 --> 00:28:25,040
on my service page, I think that it's more, I mean, there's a derailing aspect in that

404
00:28:25,040 --> 00:28:33,640
I haven't really focused in on one thing and I haven't really decided like, okay, going

405
00:28:33,640 --> 00:28:38,480
forward in my business, what are the main services that I want to market?

406
00:28:38,480 --> 00:28:43,880
I haven't really decided that, but I also think that at this point in my business, I

407
00:28:43,880 --> 00:28:46,760
don't need to have made a decision about that.

408
00:28:46,760 --> 00:28:53,680
So I think that it's been more of a growth factor in terms of me learning different skills

409
00:28:53,680 --> 00:28:57,000
and learning more of what I like to do.

410
00:28:57,000 --> 00:29:03,360
Yeah, I definitely feel that's right, especially for you.

411
00:29:03,360 --> 00:29:08,560
There is this growth, let me learn everything.

412
00:29:08,560 --> 00:29:17,320
Let me take on every client because there's not that experience threshold and the only

413
00:29:17,320 --> 00:29:22,240
way to have that experience threshold is to live it.

414
00:29:22,240 --> 00:29:28,560
I mean, I can't speak for anyone else, but I've had clients where I was like, why did

415
00:29:28,560 --> 00:29:29,640
I take you?

416
00:29:29,640 --> 00:29:30,640
Why?

417
00:29:30,640 --> 00:29:36,720
Because it could have been a moment of a thought pattern of scarcity.

418
00:29:36,720 --> 00:29:38,200
I needed to fill my business.

419
00:29:38,200 --> 00:29:39,800
I did do that once.

420
00:29:39,800 --> 00:29:41,840
I was like, my husband lost his job.

421
00:29:41,840 --> 00:29:46,600
I was building my business and I was like, we need money, we need it now.

422
00:29:46,600 --> 00:29:52,320
I need to fill this business and I took on every client and did all the work.

423
00:29:52,320 --> 00:29:57,360
I was like, that wasn't right.

424
00:29:57,360 --> 00:30:06,920
But then I eased out and eased into what was right, but it took time to learn and everything.

425
00:30:06,920 --> 00:30:13,640
I think in one of the previous episodes, we talked about the different kinds of VA's and

426
00:30:13,640 --> 00:30:21,160
I'm starting to see that there is a third option because we've talked about doers and

427
00:30:21,160 --> 00:30:23,440
we've talked about collaborators.

428
00:30:23,440 --> 00:30:32,400
I'm seeing in some VA's that I'm meeting that there are doers who are building the experience

429
00:30:32,400 --> 00:30:34,560
to become collaborators.

430
00:30:34,560 --> 00:30:41,080
They're in that transition period to where they have enough experience to know what's

431
00:30:41,080 --> 00:30:50,400
not working and learning the experience to what is.

432
00:30:50,400 --> 00:30:57,720
I think have that transition period and I think it does come from experience and doing

433
00:30:57,720 --> 00:31:04,480
the work and learning what works and what doesn't work and having all of that.

434
00:31:04,480 --> 00:31:11,200
Does anyone else have any stories, thoughts to share about how a VA can be more than an

435
00:31:11,200 --> 00:31:12,200
admin?

436
00:31:12,200 --> 00:31:18,480
I don't know if it's necessarily towards that, but I just wanted to also highlight that similar

437
00:31:18,480 --> 00:31:23,880
to Sydney is also where a lot of our clients are and knowing that that's kind of part of

438
00:31:23,880 --> 00:31:27,200
how we all do our business journey and that that's okay.

439
00:31:27,200 --> 00:31:30,280
Whoever you are, whatever point you're at, that that's part of the process is trying

440
00:31:30,280 --> 00:31:35,200
things on until you figure out what you like.

441
00:31:35,200 --> 00:31:39,440
How does a VA help a client through that journey?

442
00:31:39,440 --> 00:31:46,440
I know how it shows up for us in learning what we like and don't like to do for clients,

443
00:31:46,440 --> 00:31:51,320
but from a client perspective, how do you think it shows up?

444
00:31:51,320 --> 00:31:55,400
I know for me it's part of those conversations when I hear a client saying repetitively,

445
00:31:55,400 --> 00:32:01,240
I really have to do this again or I'm creating this thing and I'm like, you don't seem very

446
00:32:01,240 --> 00:32:02,400
excited about it.

447
00:32:02,400 --> 00:32:04,720
Are we sure that like what's the purpose?

448
00:32:04,720 --> 00:32:06,400
What's the motivation behind doing it?

449
00:32:06,400 --> 00:32:10,280
Is it because something that we're shitting on ourselves or is it something if somebody

450
00:32:10,280 --> 00:32:14,300
told us we should be doing or is it something like in my experience, if you're not excited

451
00:32:14,300 --> 00:32:17,560
about it, when you talk about it, people feel that right?

452
00:32:17,560 --> 00:32:20,960
So kind of being that check in point, like why are we doing this?

453
00:32:20,960 --> 00:32:22,340
Is this actually an alignment?

454
00:32:22,340 --> 00:32:23,340
Is this what you're wanting to go?

455
00:32:23,340 --> 00:32:25,360
Is this going towards those goals?

456
00:32:25,360 --> 00:32:27,760
And if not, maybe we check in on it.

457
00:32:27,760 --> 00:32:31,240
Maybe it's something we repurpose in a different way or maybe it's something we delete because

458
00:32:31,240 --> 00:32:36,000
we tried it and it wasn't the thing.

459
00:32:36,000 --> 00:32:41,080
And that's how a VA is more than an admin because an admin wouldn't bring up any of

460
00:32:41,080 --> 00:32:46,680
those points or questions.

461
00:32:46,680 --> 00:32:51,800
Adding to what Brie said, the other pieces, even if they find out they need to or should

462
00:32:51,800 --> 00:32:56,840
be doing something, they may not have to be doing it, which is that last little piece

463
00:32:56,840 --> 00:33:03,160
of okay, client, I have clients who are like, I've got to do this.

464
00:33:03,160 --> 00:33:05,960
I'm like, but do you?

465
00:33:05,960 --> 00:33:08,200
Do you have to do that?

466
00:33:08,200 --> 00:33:09,760
Can we make somebody else do that?

467
00:33:09,760 --> 00:33:13,180
Is that the best use of your brain?

468
00:33:13,180 --> 00:33:18,560
So asking that piece too, and I've had clients go, thank God, you mean I don't have to?

469
00:33:18,560 --> 00:33:23,400
I'm like, no, there's people that we can bring in or I can do it.

470
00:33:23,400 --> 00:33:26,120
You don't have to do all this.

471
00:33:26,120 --> 00:33:30,760
Some of the things just, I had a client who could not write their website content.

472
00:33:30,760 --> 00:33:33,840
I'm like, you know we can get a ghostwriter, right?

473
00:33:33,840 --> 00:33:35,520
They're like, we could?

474
00:33:35,520 --> 00:33:40,800
And just the whole conversation changed and getting people to understand that even if

475
00:33:40,800 --> 00:33:44,640
it's their business, they don't have to do all of it.

476
00:33:44,640 --> 00:33:47,600
And it doesn't have to all be on their shoulders.

477
00:33:47,600 --> 00:33:50,320
Hey, admin, do all this for you.

478
00:33:50,320 --> 00:33:51,320
And they're like, no, no, no.

479
00:33:51,320 --> 00:33:55,320
Let's have a discussion and figure out the pieces that you want to do because you want

480
00:33:55,320 --> 00:33:59,160
to do them, the reason you got into business, and let's fix all the rest.

481
00:33:59,160 --> 00:34:05,000
Either I do it, we bring in somebody else, sometimes hire, you know, if you have a kid

482
00:34:05,000 --> 00:34:09,000
that wants to make a little bit of money and it's easy data entry, okay, fine, here you

483
00:34:09,000 --> 00:34:12,120
go, kid, go do that.

484
00:34:12,120 --> 00:34:16,960
Those kinds of things help the clients, especially when they don't know.

485
00:34:16,960 --> 00:34:20,720
They don't realize I don't have to do this.

486
00:34:20,720 --> 00:34:26,120
The fact that even having to mention a ghostwriter, someone did write your copy for you, I thought

487
00:34:26,120 --> 00:34:31,960
that was like a common knowledge, but I've had clients go, that's an awesome idea.

488
00:34:31,960 --> 00:34:38,520
Like, yeah, there are a few of them out there.

489
00:34:38,520 --> 00:34:41,000
That whole you don't know what you don't know, right?

490
00:34:41,000 --> 00:34:42,560
Yeah, yeah.

491
00:34:42,560 --> 00:34:46,880
Thank you so much for being here today for episode two of Hey, Do I Need a Ghostwriter?

492
00:34:46,880 --> 00:34:53,040
Do I Need a VA the Podcast, where we talked about how a VA can be more than an admin.

493
00:34:53,040 --> 00:35:00,520
If you have any questions about today's topic or anything else, reach out to us at heyvapodcast.gmail.com

494
00:35:00,520 --> 00:35:06,920
or use our Linktree link to contact any one of us with a specific question or comment.

495
00:35:06,920 --> 00:35:08,840
And we will see you next time.

496
00:35:08,840 --> 00:35:10,960
Thanks for joining us.

497
00:35:10,960 --> 00:35:15,800
Thank you for joining us on this episode of Hey, Do I Need a VA the Podcast?

498
00:35:15,800 --> 00:35:20,680
If you found this episode helpful, please leave a like, comment, or review.

499
00:35:20,680 --> 00:35:25,640
And feel free to join our Facebook group, Find, Hire, and Work with a VA for more tips

500
00:35:25,640 --> 00:35:26,640
and tools.

501
00:35:26,640 --> 00:35:32,680
If you have any questions, please email them to heyvapodcast.gmail.com.

502
00:35:32,680 --> 00:35:46,320
We'll see you next time.