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Each day I will work on getting those pesky administrative tasks out of the way, as well developing our policies and procedures for the business.  If I support you in a Business / Project Management role, I could be doing anything from focusing on the strategy of the business to keeping our Standard Operating Procedures up to date, and helping you manage the virtual team within your business.

We will converse daily usually via a messenger service like Slack, or via email — whatever we find to work most effectively for you and your business. Especially as we acclimatise to each other, I would recommend that we also speak 2-3 times a week, with a view to reducing this to once a week, when we feel we truly understand each other and our workflow becomes natural.

My fees are based on an hourly rate, and although they are pretty standard, how much my service will cost really does depend on the work we do together.  The retainer fee is paid in advance, around the 25th of each month for the following month.  For international clients, I accept payment via PayPal on a recurring payment schedule, and for UK-based clients, bank transfer via a recurring standing order is the available choice. 

I work full-time as a Virtual Assistant, which means I am typically at my desk from 9am-6pm GMT.  But there is also a reason why I chose this career :  the flexibility it affords me so that I can work around life when I need to.  When we have contracted to work for a certain number of hours a month, that is what is available to you, so I will always be there for you during the general parameters that we set. I will always give you ample notice of when I will be away, and always work towards a goal of you never needing to be reaching out to me in a rush, in case I cannot be there for you.  

And that is the real question.  Before we work together, we need to know: how do we fit as a professional team? Can we shoot the breeze? Do our working methodologies synchronise? Am I enthused by who you are and what you do?  Do you see great possibilities in our working relationship?  My assessment process is designed to root out these points to allow us both to make a well-informed decision about the success of our work together.

It all depends on our retainer agreement.  I work for a minimum of 15 hours a month for each of my clients.  This minimum is broken down into approximately 30 minutes to 1 hour a day.  I like to be involved in your business daily, but depending on how you work and what you want me to do, that may not be necessary. Definitely, I will work on your business at least 3 times a week. Obviously if our retainer is larger, then I will be involved in your business a lot more.  I tend not to engage in retainers over 30 hours a month; if you think that is what you need, I would be happy to look at what is required and help you to get additional and appropriate assistance to cover those hours.  This kind of advice and support automatically comes as part of my operational and business management.

I have thought about this over and over again. And still yet may change my mind in the future.  But for now social media really has no ROI (Return on Investment) or even ROV (Return on Value) for me as a Virtual Assistant. I know how to make social media POW. I have a good sense of what works well, and where the markets are. I have a keen marketing mind and instinctively know how to help my clients make the best use of their social media. I am also a killer at metrics. Let’s plan the activity, watch how it grows, and learn from it.  This is all very exciting to me. This also means that I also understand and can identify that in some circumstances social media is just not incredibly effective. For my particular practice, as a Virtual Assistant, I work only in long-term, retainer relationships. I do not need to regularly attract prospects as my clients tend to work with me for 5+ years. (Of course, it does not always work out like this, but invariably that is what happens, and definitely my ideal).

Even the most basic, but well organised and effective social media presence easily takes 1-2 hours per week especially when you are doing it all on your own. With a brief calculation, this is 52-104 hours a year to attract a new client once every 3 years at most? And on a much deeper level, my ideal client will be looking for more than what my online persona says, but more with who I stand to be, and how I work.  And looking at those lovely metrics I have found over the years that undeniably my most effective form of marketing is word of mouth, networking, and the AssistU Registry. Do you see why it is just not the best use of my time?

Also, what does this show you about me? It shows that I have a strategic and sound business mind and know how to objectively look at the best option for every situation without simply doing what the rest do, because they do it! Now isn’t that the best kind of support professional to have in your business!