One of my favorite virtual assistant related blogs is called Virtual Moxie written by Anastacia Brice.
When I saw today’s Moxie Tip come through my inbox I had to ask Anastacia if I could share it with you all. She agreed and here it is. Please don’t just read it once…but savor it twice. It’s a goodie.
Moxie Tip 229: Chasing the Work
Despite what you might hear, there is no single hard skill you need to know to serve clients well, be valuable to them, or earn more money. What that belief does is create urgency within you, keeps you chasing the work (as opposed to letting you ever settle into an especially comfortable place with your practice, your offerings, or the value you create for clients), and gets you to put yourself on a gerbil wheel of your own design (although fueled by others). It’s a sure-fire path to adrenaline addiction, which is incredibly dangerous to your health and well being. Robots can do hard skills. Monkeys can do hard skills. If you want to differentiate yourself, don’t chase the hard skills to chase the work. Instead, improve your soft skills and use them to pull clients toward you.
An added extra: Anastacia has agreed to be part of the interview series so watch for her upcoming interview.
Great job. I would love to know what the “soft skills” are.
Great question, Cindy. Soft skills are “people skills” often having to do with how people relate to each other: communicating, listening, engaging in conversation, giving feedback, cooperating as a team member, solving problems, contributing in meetings and resolving conflicts. Hard skills are the technical and administrative procedural types of things related to the core of business. Hard skills are those learned skills that are studied in school or via other training platforms.
The soft skills play a big part in setting yourself apart from the competition — identifying your unique value proposition (UVP).