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Interviewed by Stan the Man!

I recently had the privilege of being interviewed by Stan Relihan of The Connections Show on the Podcast Network. Those of you in LinkedIn will know him as Australia's most connected man. Stan has a great sense of humour and I've enjoyed getting to know him over several months now. So I was delighted when he decided to add me to his lineup of impressive interviews - I hope you like it! TPN :: The Connections Show - Episode #022 [17:55m] Running a Network of Virtual Assistants : Kathie … [Read more...]

Providing Website Support to Clients

I did a post sometime ago about VAs whose websites had been copied. Today I want to discuss the other side - creating websites for clients. Recently I had a client send me a whole lot of text for a website I am putting together for her. I copied and pasted the text into the various pages, formatting as required, and then noticed that the words 'contact' and 'email' were hyperlinked. When I checked to see what they were linked to, they led to totally different domains. I went and checked the … [Read more...]

Looking at Loose and Lose

I get rather frustrated when I see regular bloggers, or VAs chatting on forums, using the wrong word or spelling incorrectly. Particularly those who otherwise have great writing skills. Granted there are different spellings for words depending on what country you live in and which version of English you use. And I was beginning to think that perhaps the word 'loose' meant the same as 'lose' in some English speaking countries because I see it used so often. I had to go look up the … [Read more...]

Problems with your webhosting?

Several members of my VA team are experiencing problems with the webhost theyâ€™ve been using and their websites and email have been down for several days now. This is a real problem for anyone who runs their business online. In fact when I research this particular company online there are a heap of warning messages on forums about them currently. A shame because from what I can gather they've had a real problem with their hardware and are trying to get things back up and running again. I have … [Read more...]

How Are Your Skills Today?

When you first set up your VA business, hopefully you look at your existing skills and choose to only offer services that match your skills and abilities. I do often see new, and some not so new, VAs asking at forums about offering services they know nothing about. It's quite obvious otherwise they wouldn't be asking how to do ....? for something that might seem basic to those already experienced in that skillset. That aside, I want to encourage you to think about where your skills are … [Read more...]

7 Weird Things About Me

I contemplated putting this on one of my other blogs but it seems this is a meme that's been passed from VA to VA so in keeping with that, here it is. I got tagged by Terry Green at MyFastType.com. Thanks Terry! Before I get started, here are the rules: 1. Link to the personâ€™s blog who tagged you. 2. Post these rules on your blog. 3. List seven random and/or weird facts about yourself. 4. Tag seven random people at the end of your post and include links to their blogs. 5. Let each person … [Read more...]

VA Network News

At the beginning of January I announced a new community service for the VA industry. I am thrilled to say that service is now in operation and it is called VANetwork News. The plan is that a weekly newsletter will go out to those interested in the VA industry. At this stage the newsletter will be monthly till it gains momentum, but already we have hints and tips for our next issue and the first one went out Monday this week. So we might even get an issue out in two weeks! We want you, the VA … [Read more...]

Back Up Support Strategies

This was in my recent ACS Newsletter but thought the information relevant here also. When VAs are on leave, have emergencies, or whatever, there are other VAs they can seek support from to keep things going. A client of mine and I were talking recently about backup support, particularly for when I'm not around. I've been away on a few trips in recent years and I know that some clients can get anxious if they know I'm not going to be around. So having a backup strategy for ongoing support is … [Read more...]

Barefoot Executive Summit and Other Shows

I've been invited to speak at the forthcoming Barefoot Executive Summit. In fact, over the past month I've done a number of Teleseminars for US audiences and recorded two interviews for a Radio Show in the US. I have set a goal to obtain speaking engagements (in the flesh) in the US for this year so I was thrilled when each of these opportunities arrived in a short space of time, over a period of a few weeks late last year and early this year. Good preparation for my arrival in the US, when it … [Read more...]