1) Thou shall not take on a new client without a deposit and a signed contract. Period.

2) Thou shall be tolerant when viewing a $4.00 an hour overseas virtual assistant advertisement. Plenty of work is available for all VAs at every rate.  Establish yourself as an expert and you will attract those clients willing to pay your rate.

3) Thou shall be patient when applying for a VA position through a Request for Proposal (RFP) particularly when the potential client (PC) never acknowledges the submission. Follow-up once with a PC and then move on. Early signs of poor communication may be a red flag that the client may become difficult later on.

4)  Thou shall not believe thyself to be an employee of the client. If the client treats you as an employee, set the record straight immediately. If this explanation does not change the relationship, then terminate that relationship. As difficult as it may appear to lose the income, there is nothing worse than feeling miserable having been labeled as subordinate. You are a business owner and you are in business to partner with clients. You are not an employee. You set the rules.

5) Thou shall take not plagiarize another virtual assistant's website. Period.

6) Thou shall join an industry-related forum such as Virtual Assistant Forums http://www.VirtualAssistantForums.com and participate frequently to help others.

7) If thou finds that thee does not have any clients, this is the time to look up and forward and NOT down and out. Use this slow period to redo a website, create a blog, and engage in social media discussions or better still... volunteer your services. There is no better means to gaining experience and exposure than to offer your time to other virtual assistants and/or non-profits while expecting no reward in return.

8) Thou shall set a goal that thee will, in 2012, do the work thee only truly LIKES to do. For new VAs, if you are  performing uninteresting client work, as only a primary means to 'pay the bills', use this time to garner testimonials and referrals from those clients.  So do your best work!  Your goal is to eventually take on only the work you will enjoy.  This may mean 'biting the bullet' at start-up and accepting work that is not interesting but always do so with a positive attitude knowing in the end you will eventually accept projects that are enjoyable.

9)  Thou shall hang a sign above thy computer with the name of the target market thee wishes to reach.  Remind yourself daily that your blog posts, your social media posts, and your discussions will be geared toward the interest and the needs of that particular market. Your client base will increase.

10) Thou shall ask for help. There is no shame in asking another VA to assist, however, first do the legwork yourself. Check Google, YouTube and industry sites for answers. If you just want other VAs to tell you what to do, you will never learn. Clients want to partner with VAs who are willing to dive in deep, find the answers and offer well-researched suggestions. This is how VAs build long-term, trusting relationships with clients.

About the author:

Janine Gregor, MSM is a social media and internet marketing virtual assistant. In business since 2006, she helps speakers, authors and coaches promote brands, products and services using modern-day technology coupled with old-school writing and relationship marketing techniques. Janine's highly anticipated publication, "The Virtual Assistant's Guide to Writing a Winning Request for Proposal (RFP)" is due to release the summer of 2012. Sign up here: http://www.WinningRFP.com.  Janine dispenses her VA wizardry on her blog http://www.YourVirtualWizardBlog.com, website http://www.YourVirtualWizard.com and as social media contributor on the business blog, Business Darlings. www.BusinessDarlings.com/socialmedia