Entrepreneur, web designer, and co-director of Shake It Up Creative, Meg Fenn, was sick of late payments from clients and having no time for administrative tasks to run her company. So, she met a virtual assistant, but at an unlikely place and time - read more from Meg on how she delegates tasks and what advice she has for other virtual assistants when it comes to networking:
What inspired you to start working with a virtual assistant?
A couple of things inspired me to seek VA help - lack of time for doing admin tasks and frustration with chasing up late payments.
Tell us a little about what you have delegated and how you work together?
I have delegated invoicing, email communications and following up and late payment notices. We actually don’t have many late payments anymore since the invoices are sent from our VA who is officially our office administrator and has a company email address. She also helps with research tasks, list inputting and CRM tasks. It’s all virtual. Mostly via email, sometimes via Skype, text and Whatsapp.
How has working with a virtual assistant supported your business, and you personally?
It’s definitely helped free up my time which I can spend on designing which is one of my roles within my company. I’m a director and take care of our own website, social media, content writing and marketing plus networking and project management. I spend a lot of time with clients either via email, phone/Skype, in person meetings or at networking events. Having a VA gives me peace of mind that admin tasks will be done but I won’t have to fit that time into my busy schedule.
Did you experience any challenges? How did you overcome them?
Only challenge was getting the right systems in place for us both and getting used to the arrangement. We are both very flexible so it tends to flow smoothly. If you’re open minded and willing to try new things, then it can work well for both parties.
What advice would you give to aspiring virtual assistants looking for new clients?
Network offline as well as online. You might pick up work by using Facebook business groups and linkedIn - for sure use those. But your chances of gaining new clients will be stronger if you network in person too. I met my VA in person through networking and at the time, I didn’t need one. It wasn’t until a few years later that I needed one and immediately thought of her. Since then we’ve only had one in-person meeting and the rest has all been virtual. I do feel good about having met her in person first though. That will probably vary from business to business so definitely keep an open mind to opportunities both online and offline!
Meg Fenn is co-director of Shake It Up Creative Ltd. She is a web and graphic designer, business woman, author, award winning blogger and mother of three. Her design and marketing company, Shake It Up Creative, provides graphic design, website design, marketing and PR services to companies, small businesses and individuals in all industry sectors in Sussex and across the UK. To learn more about Meg and her company, visit their website, or follow them on Twitter or Facebook!
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