Virtual Team Builder for Coaches: Expand Your Coaching Practice by Hiring a Virtual Assistant

ISBN-13: 978-0-692-69640-8

CONTENTS

Acknowledgments

Letter to Coaches

Before We Begin

Part 1 – Introduction to Virtual Assisting for Coaches

What Is a Virtual Assistant

The History of Virtual Assisting and Its Connection to Coaching

Is Certification or Licensing Required for Virtual Assistants

Benefits of Hiring a Virtual Assistant

Specific Benefits of Going Virtual

Boosting Your Credibility

So What’s Stopping You?

Five Types of Virtual Assistants

Working with a Virtual Assistant Is Not For Everyone

How Much Do Virtual Assistants Charge?

What Does On the Clock Mean?

What is Not ‘On the Clock’?

How Do You Manage the Clock?

What About Taxes and Such?

Types of Plans for Working with a VA

How do I know how many hours I need?

Virtual Assistant vs. Online Business Manager

I’m ready to hire but I don’t know how to pay for a VA

Part 2 – Find the Perfect VA for Your Coaching Practice

What Can a Virtual Assistant Do to Help You in Your Coaching Practice?

Is There Anything My VA Can’t Do?

Virtual Assistant Agency vs. Solo VA

Who Is Your Ideal Virtual Team Member?

The Search for Your Virtual Assistant

Interviewing Your Virtual Assistant

Beyond the Interview

Part 3 – Working with Your VA

Getting Started with Your Virtual Assistant

Ditch the Paper

Virtual Tools (including Virtual Tool Inventory)

The Virtual Honeymoon

How to optimize your VA when you are out of the office

Part 4 – Beyond the Basics

Beyond Just Getting Things Done-Time to Grow

Beyond Coaching: VAs for Speaker & Author Coaches

What If One VA Isn’t Enough?

Working with a VA as a Board of Directors

Part 5 – Guides for Utilizing Your VA to the Fullest

Create an Operations Manual

Email

Systems

Social Media and Blogging

Passive Revenue Streams and List Building

Part 6 – Checklists

Checklist for Hiring a VA

Checklist for Working with Your New VA

Checklist of Duties You Can Assign to Your VA

Part 7 – Tools & Resources

Online Tools

Are You Ready to Hire a VA? (Assessment)

About the Author

Connect with Holly Online

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

Thank you to my team for pushing me to finally get this finished. I can’t imagine doing it without you! To my clients for allowing me and my team to serve you and to learn how to best serve the coaching community.

Thank you specifically to the following folks for their contribution:

Pat Altvater

Diana Beam

Milt Fletcher

Jim Milner

Cornelia Shipley

Jim Struck

Brianna Sylver-Galvao

Lynn Zettler

Dear Coaches,

When you started your professional coaching practice, you likely imagined serene days of helping clients discover and live their path and their purpose. What you probably didn’t imagine were the hours of administrative work that running a coaching business would require. Perhaps if you had known about the amount of time you would spend reading and responding to email, coordinating appointments (both scheduling and rescheduling), and chasing after payments (just to name a few of those nagging details of what goes on behind the scenes),you may have considered your career choice differently. The great news is whether you’re just starting out or have been in business a while and know that you need the help, it’s not too late to make a change.

No, I’m not talking about a change in career; I’m suggesting you change how you run your business. By purchasing this book, you’ve taken a great step towards getting out from under the administrative avalanche through building a virtual team. Whether you use a single virtual assistant or multiple virtual specialists, with the information in this guide, you’ll be able to leverage your time in a way that will allow you to focus your time and energy on coaching.

As a virtual assistant and online business manager, most of my clients have been professional coaches, so I truly do understand the unique needs that coaches have. I’ve used my experience as well as the experience of my colleagues in the virtual world and my own team to bring you the most comprehensive set of tools and resources so that you can build a strong, effective and efficient virtual team. I know first-hand how powerful it is when you have the right support, so I congratulate you on taking this all-important step. I look forward to hearing about your successes as you build your very own virtual dream team!

To your virtual success!

Before We Begin

As with any tool, it’s important to know how to use this book effectively. When I sat down to start creating Virtual Team Builder, what started out as a simple workbook soon grew into a manual for you to use to grow your coaching practice by hiring virtual assistants and to continue to grow by using your virtual support to expand your business in new and exciting ways. With that, know that you will get a lot out of this book the first time through, but it is my desire that you will continue to use it as a resource as your business grows. Within the pages of this book are checklists and resources as well as ideas that may spark your next great adventure.

As you read through each chapter, I encourage you to take notes and jot down any questions that come up for you. Ponder what they mean for you and your business. Highlight passages that resonate deeply with you. As a professional coach, you are keenly aware that every coach has a different style and that not every coach is going to be a fit for every client. Working with a virtual assistant is the same so my intent is to help you realize the potential benefits that working with a virtual assistant can have for you and to guide you in helping discover who that perfect fit may be.

Towards the end of this journey, I’ll invite you to take a Virtual Assistant Readiness Assessment. I developed this free assessment based on my experience working with dozens of clients and observing patterns and behaviors of those seeking virtual help. Use this as a guide to help you determine your own readiness to move forward in building your virtual team.

In addition to this free assessment, my team and I have pulled together a huge list of tools that help make working virtually easier. Even if you don’t end up working with a virtual assistant right away, this list is a great resource to keep on hand.

So, get your pen or pencil and highlighter handy and let’s begin!