Leslie Auman

Certified OBM®️

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December 13, 2016

Virtual Assistants Are Business Owners, Too

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I want to start this post by saying that I come in peace. Really, I do. I want to strengthen the relationships between virtual assistants and clients, and that’s my motivation behind writing posts like this one.

But it drives me a little crazy when I see bloggers and other entrepreneurs and business owners talking badly about virtual assistants. I don’t mean in the sense of, “This virtual assistant took my money and didn’t complete the job.” They’re justified in…spreading awareness, let’s say, about that VA’s unethical handling of their working agreement. What I’m referring to is when people make claims that VAs are “just” stay-at-home or work-from-home moms and imply that they don’t have any real skills.

These are not nice things to say (understatement). These are assumptions and generalizations. Are there VAs out there who fall under these criteria? Sure. But is it fair to say that all VAs don’t have skills and aren’t worth a fair wage? Absolutely not.

If you’ve read my About page, then you know that I don’t fall into those categories. I have both a bachelor’s degree and a Master’s degree, and I taught professionally for three years. I serve a very specific niche, and I’m highly qualified to serve that niche–because I used to be them. I used to be a teacher. I know the demands. I know the schedule. I know the responsibilities. I also have the same professional education and training that they have.

So why am I a virtual assistant? Because I am empowered by being self-employed and running my own business. I’ve been mentored, and I’ve received help here and there, but by and large, I built my business myself and achieved the success I’ve enjoyed through my own hard work. I also love being able to work from home and to make enough money to contribute financially to my relationship with my husband. Most importantly, I think, is that I’ve always felt a pull to help others. Is virtual assistance next to sainthood? No, I’m not selflessly helping people–I’m getting benefit (a.k.a. I’m receiving an income). But, I’m helping busy teacherpreneurs run their businesses and expand their reach in providing educational materials that reach thousands of children worldwide.

When I first started my business, I outlined my business policies and terms. I identified my ideal client and my target market. I researched and tested different online business tools, like FreshBooks (although I currently use QuickBooks Online) and G Suite (formerly known as Google for Work)*. I set up business bank accounts and a business PayPal account. I track client time worked, I invoice clients on agreed-upon schedules, and I track my expenses. I’ve watched webinars and enrolled in online courses to help me become a better business owner and virtual assistant. I learned how to pay estimated taxes and diligently pay them each quarter. Just last week, I incorporated as an LLC to provide legal protection for my business and myself and to separate my business from myself as an individual a little bit. I have a welcome kit and contract agreement that I have clients electronically read and sign when we first start working together.

My point is, I set myself up as a business, because I am a business owner. I charge what I charge because I have training, skills, and professionalism that deserve those rates. The same is true for other virtual assistants. Even if they don’t happen to have collegiate and professional training similar to what I have, they have other skills that are worthy of being recognized as business skills and of being paid reasonable rates. In fact, many of the virtual assistants I know (virtually, of course) have been in business for years, and that alone deserves recognition and fair rates.

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So please, stop making assumptions that all VAs are skill-less. Stop making assumptions that they have little or no education or training related to the services they offer–or that they’re not actively working to learn more to better serve clients. Stop making assumptions that they’re “just” stay-at-home moms–because they very well may be stay-at-home parents (I know of male VAs, too!), but that still doesn’t mean they lack skills or aren’t running a business. Also, kindly remember that VAs set their rates. It’s their business, and it’s their service to provide, so they set their own rates. You wouldn’t walk into your lawyer’s office and say, “Well, I see that your rate is $200/hour, but I’m only going to pay you $100/hour, because that’s what I’ve decided.” A virtual assistant’s rates are not your decision, as a client. If you can’t afford the rates of a VA with whom you’ve been consulting, then you need to keep looking. Don’t ask them to lower their rates for you, because that’s an insult, and if they’re a smart business owner and recognize their worth, they’re going to turn you down. Find another VA who’s in your budget.

I hope you’ll keep these things in mind the next time you’re searching for a virtual assistant. Remember that virtual assistants are business owners, too. Treating your VA like the business owner that he or she is will do wonders for your working relationship and will help keep things positive and forward-moving. I promise. 🙂

*This is my referral link to G Suite. I will receive a small commission if you sign up for them using my links. I only recommend services that I personally use and find invaluable to running my business.

Until next time,

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A tall, vertical image with the text Virtual Assistants Are Business Owners, Too on it to be used on PinterestThis post was most recently updated in March 2019.

By: Leslie Auman Hirgelt · Filed Under: What Is a Virtual Assistant? · Tagged: business, business owner, small business owner, virtual assistance, virtual assistant, virtual assisting, what is a virtual assistant

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I'm Leslie, a former middle school teacher turned Certified OBM®. I'm here to help kick-ass womxn entrepreneurs scale their businesses with behind-the-scenes management and support. I'm glad you're here!

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© Leslie Auman, LLC 2016-Present. Photography by PAW Prints by Patti Wojtowecz. All photographs taken at Picnik Austin.
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About Leslie

I’m Leslie, a former middle school teacher turned Certified OBM®. I’m here to help kick-ass womxn entrepreneurs scale their businesses with behind-the-scenes management and support. I’m glad you’re here!

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I read them originally in Kindle version, borrowed from my local public library, but I liked them so much that I decided to buy them for myself as an early birthday gift (my birthday is in about a week 😝). There's a third book, A Crown So Cursed, due out in mid-April! 📅
I did my civic duty! 🗳️🇺🇲 PLEASE VOTE! I did my civic duty! 🗳️🇺🇲 PLEASE VOTE!
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I requested an absentee ballot because COVID is still very much a threat, and I'm an immunocompromised person. I researched candidates, issues, and the school bond issue on this ballot and made my selections. ☑️ Despite 45's fear-mongering about mail-in voting, I trust this election system that's been around for over 150 years. 📬 I'll be tracking my ballot on the Ohio Secretary of State website, and in the meantime, I'm going to make some donations to important campaigns! ✊🏻💵
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It allllllllmost passed me by, but today is my fif It allllllllmost passed me by, but today is my fifth business anniversary! 🥳💖 Or business birthday, whichever. 😂
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These past five years have taught me a LOT. I've tried and failed and tried and failed. I've felt really successful, and I've felt pretty unsuccessful. I've lived "paycheck to paycheck." I've been watching the newest season of @queereye with Husband, and the episode with Rahanna, the entrepreneurial dog groomer, made me feel so seen and comforted as Bobby and Tan talked to Rahanna about how hard the first few years of business are. Because they are. No one is an overnight success. I'm officially five years in, and I'm only just now starting to feel like I'm finally on a path to my business being profitable. 
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I'm so, SO excited and thankful to celebrate (LOL by working) today knowing I signed my first OBM-level client a few days ago! 🥳 I've also had the opportunity and pleasure of having discovery calls with a couple of other womxn business owners about my OBM services. How fitting that I'm starting off this new chapter of my business with the very recent success of "launching" myself as an OBM! 🙌🏻
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Cheers to you if you're still grinding on the roller coaster of entrepreneurship. I'm starting to see that it does all eventually pay off, and it does eventually get easier. 🙏🏻
It's finally here: OBM certification week! Back in It's finally here: OBM certification week! Back in March, I enrolled in the Certified OBM training program, created by @tinaforsyth8 and taught by @sarahnoked. After three months in the training program -- working through all of the modules and watching all of the session videos, attending the biweekly live calls or watching the recordings if I had to miss, watching/reading any supplemental materials that would help for this week, learning from sample projects, and talking with my accountability partner... We're here, at certification week. I'm nervous, but I'm ready to give it my best effort! 💪🏻👊🏻 Good luck to my fellow examinees, also on the path to becoming certified Online Business Managers! 🤗 #CertifiedOBM #OnlineBusinessManager
Yesterday, I shared about the Following Directions Yesterday, I shared about the Following Directions Test for middle school grades that's included in the #Fireworks2020 dollar💲deal event...so today I'll share about the People BINGO resource! 🤩
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This is an editable activity that makes for a fun and engaging icebreaker activity on the first day of school -- or on the first day of a new semester with a new class of students. You can customize the BINGO board to have details that best fit your population of students and what you know about them, but there's also a ready-to-print PDF version! ✅
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In light of the mandates, I do still think this is an activity best used in the classroom -- I have yet to think of an effective way to adapt it digitally, aside from doing it together as a whole group and asking students to introduce themselves and sharing something on the BINGO board that applies to them. But if you do have to go back in the classroom, I recommend having your students stay 6+ feet apart as recommended, introduce themselves to each other, and exchange a detail on the board that applies to them. They can write their classmates' names in the squares themselves, rather than trading papers to have each other sign.
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This resource is normally $3 marked down to just $1 today, so be sure to go to the link in my bio to grab it at such a great discount! Happy 4th of July! 🎆🎇❤️🤍💙
It's the first day of the $1 deal sale!!! 🥳 Thi It's the first day of the $1 deal sale!!! 🥳 This Following Directions Test for middle school (grades 6-8) is one of the resources I've marked to down JUST $1 for today and tomorrow! It's normally a value of $3.75. 🙌🏻 Head to my bio to find the link! #Fireworks2020
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⚠️ We have work to do! ⚠️ To my fellow whi ⚠️ We have work to do! ⚠️ To my fellow white people (and to non-Black POC), please give these white people a follow and start learning from them. Yes, we can and should learn from the Black community (and I will also make a post with Black people we can and should support), but the onus of educating us should not rest solely on their shoulders. We need to educate ourselves and each other, because they've been fighting this fight for a very, very long time, and they deserve a respite, at the very minimum. ❤️
. . . . .
@melissau 
@xoamandafrances 
@mrdtimes3 
@thechampagnediet 
@jazzythings 
@mikeydteach 
@melyssa_griffin 
@drazs_class 
@jameswedmore

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