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Would you be more confident learning from those who are actually running their own successful virtual assistant businesses, those that have been there, done it, and are still doing it every day? We don’t claim to be coaching gurus, we’re real virtual assistants, running real businesses, teaching real strategies to help your create YOUR perfect VA business just as we have.

There is now no need for you to start at the very bottom and find out everything for yourself. We will give you everything you need to know to get started, simply follow the Action Plan you create during the course, use the resources and systems we will recommend to you and you’ll hit the ground running straight away.

To find out more about this exciting workshop, check out www.becomeavirtualassistant.co.uk.

Keep a log of what software you have on your computer
If you need to get a new computer, it can be quite difficult to remember exactly what software you had on your previous one.  Therefore, keep a manual log (not as a document on your computer) of what software you have, whether it is a CD or download, any relevant activation codes etc.
 
Take regular back up of your emails and contacts
You should be taking regular back ups of your documents but you must also include your emails and contacts as well. 
 
Use online back up software together with local back ups
On my new PC I have started using a web based system to run in the background and automatically back up everything but I am also going to be using my laptop as an extra back up facility for all my precious photos of my young daughter and other really important documents so that I have them at hand immediately.

Have an IT person you can call upon on your team
Whilst you are out networking, build relationships with IT people who you will be able to have on your team should anything happen and you need support.

You know your own computer as you get to know how it behaves (good and bad) and what noises it makes on a regular basis.  But what do you do if it gets poorly?

I was minding my own business, working away when I realised my computer wasn’t very well – it was making some funny noises so I decided we needed to take a look.  Dear hubby came along to examine it to see what medicine we could give it to get better.  On taking the covers off it was obvious that it was overheating – fairly easy to fix or so we thought!

But then, it decided to give up the ghost for good and go to sleep…aaahh.  Didn’t want to start up as it was dead but not a problem, I have a laptop and I had dutifully backed up the data on my external hard drive.  I plug in hard drive to get the transfer started so that I could continue running my online businesses as usual the following day, but disaster strikes, the external hard drive doesn’t work!  Cue picture of unhappy person threatening bodily harm to the computer and hard drive via the nearest window.

Still, not a problem, I know a good IT repair person so we will be able to get the computer fixed or retrieve the data from the original hard drive.  Doctor comes along to take a look and advises that best bet is get a new base unit and try to retrieve the data via a clean lab – so my hard drive goes for a little holiday to Ireland for the specialists to get to work trying to retrieve the data.  I await news anxiously but feeling optimistic, bad things don’t happen to me!

But then I get the call, my data cannot be retrieved – all files, emails and photos are gone.  Picture forlorn and stressed person realising what information was actually on the hard drive – so much work gone as well as photos of my daughter from the minute she was born to her 21 months of age. 

So now I have got to start from scratch, have realised that some documents are gone forever and that my computer has gone to a better place.

Several years ago, I was on holiday at Club La Santa in Lanzarote, a sports resort where there are lots of fitness classes scheduled throughout the day. One lunchtime I was lounging by the pool in a perfect position to observe the following scene as it unfolded before me.

An aqua aerobics class was scheduled for midday. Shortly before, the instructor arrived, set up her music and waited for her participants. There had been a big party the previous night, and I did not predict a huge turnout for the class. But when it got to midday, not a single person had turned up. I saw the instructor walk towards the music system, and guessed that she was about to pack up and leave. To my surprise she started her music and started her warm up, calling instructions to an empty pool.

I was stunned. It must have taken some courage to lead an empty class. But I was also impressed by her commitment. As far as she was concerned, she had been booked to lead the class, and just because participants hadn’t turned up, that wasn’t going to stop her from showing up and doing her bit. She didn’t run around the pool trying to rally support and persuade us up from our sun loungers. She just started the class.

Years before I had even considered the phrase ‘client magnet’, I was witness to this demonstration of client magnetism. Because after a few minutes, the combination of loud music plus the spectacle of an aerobics instructor shouting instructions to an empty pool pulled a few curious observers. A couple of them got into the water and joined in. Before long at least 10 people had joined the class. The instructor didn’t care how many people turned up, she had decided that nothing would stop her from fully showing up and give 100% commitment to the class. In doing so, the instructor became a powerful magnet who had her vision of a full class manifest before my eyes.

This memory was a big inspiration for me when I was preparing for my first paid teleseminar. As the date approached, only two people had registered for the class. Of course I was tempted to cancel, but then I remembered that aerobics instructor and realised that there is something very powerful about following through on our intentions. I ignored the little voice inside that said ‘who are you to talk about being a client magnet when there are only two people in the class?’ and stayed committed. And then a funny thing happened…

On the day of the teleseminar, as I was making final preparations for the calls I received not one, but two enquiries. The second call came just 30 minutes before the teleseminar was due to start! This felt like a lot more than coincidence, and it felt like just as the instructor attracted participants through her willingness to show up, that my willingness to show up was acting as a magnet too.

Fast forward a few short years, and since that bumpy start teleseminars have become a very important part of my business. From a starting point of just 4 people, these days I’ve had over 950 people register for a single call. But I can’t help wondering what would have happened if I had given in to that temptation to cancel. Would I have ever mustered the courage to try again?

I’m sharing this story today for two reasons. First I want to ask how often do you set an intention and then cancel it due to apparent lack of interest? Are you really showing up? Or are you waiting for clients to show up first? Maybe you’re the one who needs to demonstrate commitment before you can expect clients to do so.

Second, it’s a word of encouragement to anyone who is feeling how I felt when the day of my first teleseminar approached. Keep going! Don’t give up. If you’ve said you were going to do something, then follow through on your word. Recommit to your project and trust that whatever happens is perfect for you. In my first year of business I was tempted to cancel a course because I was barely covering my costs. I proceeded anyway and one of the participants went on to refer over £18,000 of business to me over the next 12 months. The truth is, you never know what’s around the corner. But if you give up this time, you’ll be tempted to give up the next time things get tough, and the time after that.

I’ll wrap up with one of my favourite quotes, one that I live by and has served me well, ‘the moment one definitely commits oneself, then providence moves too. A whole stream of events issues from the decision, raising in one’s favour all manner of unforeseen incidents, meetings and material assistance, which no man could have dreamt would have come his way.’

© Bernadette Doyle, 2008

Bernadette Doyle publishes her weekly Client Magnets newsletter for trainers, coaches, consultants, complementary therapists and solo professionals. If you want to get clients calling you instead of you calling them, then get your free tips now at www.clientmagnets.com