Scratchpad Secretaries. We're easy.

When I was starting this virtual assistant business I contacted various organizations and (I thought highly respected) individuals within the industry with a few questions. After all, I thought they were the experts.

Ok, if truth be told, I didn't actually contact them, I tried to contact them. I left emails, voice mails, Skyped them, but to no avail (granted I'm sometimes guilty of forgetting to change my Skype status to "away" if I'm not at my desk as well). Out of 10 contacted, only 1 got back to me.
ONE.

They're not easy.

A great quote I found the other day, "The difficulty lies not so much in developing new ideas as in escaping from old ones." (John Maynard Keynes) Yes, moving from corporate to small business owner takes a bit of a rewire of the brain, but one thing I'll always keep with me, one thing I've learned is the value of being accessible. Have various ways to be reached. Return phone calls! Return emails! And so I do this with gusto. Within 24 hours I'll get back to you if I'm not able to be reached on first try.

In this day and age, you've got to be easy.

Scratchpad Secretaries. We're easy.

Mind Your Manners

Two words: Thank You.

They go so far and yet are so underused. Do you thank people for taking the time to chat with you? For acknowledging that you may be someone they would like to do business with? Heck, maybe they simply find you interesting and would like to get to know you better. If people are taking time out of their busy day to connect with you, that deserves recognition in itself.

Case in point? Twitter. I follow people because I find them interesting. They may say something absolutely hilarious and I'll dig their humour. They have opinions. Someone recommended them. I have something to learn from them. Or I know them. Either way, I'm following 118 people right now, and only FIVE said "Hey there, thanks for following me".

Only five.

If somebody is taking the time out of their day to acknowledge me, in any way, I'll definitely take time out of my day to say, "Hey, thanks." At a traditional networking event, you DO say, "It was nice to meet you", don't you? Or do you just pass your card and off you go? (I've seen it happen - people have done it to me).

I still see it all the time in online networking circumstances as well. I've recently joined a social networking site based in the UK who "practice" getting to know the members on a more personal level before pitching them your business. I have received message after message as soon as I signed up, with people pitching me. I mean right away. Not one "welcome to the neighbourhood" message, just pitches. And pitches that have absolutely nothing to do with my business.

And when someone comments on your blog? Send a thank you note. When someone follows you on twitter? Send a thank you note. When someone welcomes you to a forum or social networking site? Send a thank you post. Other than being polite, it's a great business move. I've got two clients just by sending a polite Thank You when they followed me on Twitter. It simply started a conversation.

There's absolutely no downside.

Thank you for taking the time out of your day to read our blog!