I thought I'd touch on the various Niches that a Virtual Assistant can work in. Today I want to touch on Social Media - a subject that is very popular in today's business climate. Social Media covers so many things but largely relates to the form of networking you might do for your business and the tools you use for it. Tools can include: Blogs LinkedIn Facebook MySpace Twitter Plurk Gist, and the list goes on. It seems that almost every day there's a new tool being developed to … [Read more...]
Start up costs for a Virtual Assistant
Periodically I see posts at forums asking about the start up costs for being a Virtual Assistant. In comparison to many other industries, the costs are fairly low, but that does not mean it should be considered 'cheap'. Too many I see on forums trying to get everything for free and it makes me wonder just how much they value what they have available to them. Being a Virtual Assistant does mean that you are in business. You are not an employee and you should not be expecting others to foot … [Read more...]
GST or no GST?
An interesting query was raised at one of the VA forums I participate in. A curly one really. A VA had sub-contracted work out to another VA, they had agreed on a rate but when the invoice arrived it had GST added onto the agreed rate. Therefore the invoice was higher than originally anticipated and thought to be agreed upon. A number of us discussed this issue. Others had had similar happen to them and in fact, when I was managing the AVAC conference earlier this year, the same thing … [Read more...]
Finding a reputable Virtual Assistant
This is a question I see quite often now in different places on the web. People posting places where you can ask questions about how to find a reputable VA. The most obvious place (to me) is to look where there at the professional networks that have been set up for the industry globally. There are networks in the UK, US, Canada, South Africa and Australia. And I believe in other countries too. I do not mean employment agencies that speak of employing Virtual Assistants. In my mind these are … [Read more...]
Super Saturday in Adelaide
Some readers will know that I use Send Out Cards for building client relationships and keeping contact with people on my database. Great system which is cost efficient and allows me to personalise them in a unique way. Also a great way of using my photos. If you’re curious about Send Out Cards and live in South Australia and you would like to learn more I can arrange for you to receive tickets to attend the Super Saturday event coming up in Adelaide on October 16. There will be a chance to … [Read more...]
Who do you listen to? Pt II
I was busy chatting at a different forum this week - not a VA forum but a Work At Home forum which has a mixture of different industries represented there. But it seems that many industries all suffer the same problem - people who join an industry, spend a short time in it and then set themselves up as authorities to those newer than themselves. Some may well have truly picked up what those industries are about and may have a training or teaching background but many don't. All I can say is … [Read more...]
My turn for the OIVAC Blog Hopping Tour!
Hi Kathie, Glad to be back in the Land of Oz and stopping by and chatting about issues facing the VA industry. I look forward to sharing my thoughts about the questions you’ve asked and reading comments from your readers. I’ll come back and respond, if anyone has additional thoughts on these insightful topics. So, what’s first -- Why should I attend the Online International Virtual Assistance Convention (OIVAC)? There are so many reasons to attend; and this year’s lineup of timely, relevant, … [Read more...]
16 years ago today…
It was 16 years ago today that I walked into a govt building in Melbourne to register my business name "A Clayton's Secretary". I was both scared and excited. Scared - would it work? Excited - New horizons. For a long time I felt like I was on holidays at home, getting to play with my computer. Don't get me wrong, I was working and earning, but it didn't feel like work because I was in charge, I was doing what I enjoyed, and I got to make the choices about how things would work. It did … [Read more...]
AVAC bookings coming in
The Australian VA Conference (AVAC) is really only 3 months away. Did you realise that? It's just occurred to me. Early bird bookings are still available but not for too much longer. It's great to see we'll have VAs from different states in Australia attending but also from overseas. What a great event it's shaping up to be. We've even had an enquiry from a freelance journalist in Turkey who plans to attend! We also have a fantastic lineup of speakers and expressions of interest from … [Read more...]