Alister Cameron did a post about his first business card which took me down memory lane. My first card came out of a MyCard machine at our local shopping centre. Pop in 4 x $2 coins, punch in the details and out popped 40 business cards - black print on white card. Expensive way to get cards I guess but that was in 1994 and I was just starting out, not even sure what I was going to call my business nor had I really defined what I was going to do. So I just had cards with my name and my … [Read more...]
Social networking for VAs
The world of networking is forever being redefined, reshaped and reborn online. And it's easy to form opinions about one particular group or another and then change your mind later down the track. That's what's happening for me. Originally I saw Facebook as a tool for family and friends but not for business, however that is changing a great deal now. There are people like Mari Smith with WhyFacebook? and Jason Alba with I'm on Facebook, now what?, along with many articles about using Facebook … [Read more...]
Don’t forget to introduce yourself!
I recently participated in an email promotion for a new book launch which was interesting to do - I have plans for a similar process for my book when it gets into Amazon in a month or so. Yesterday I received an email from someone I've never heard of to promote a book written by someone else I've never heard of and when I emailed them to find out how I got on their list, they advised I'd participated in the launch I mentioned above and they thought I'd like to participate in their's too. I … [Read more...]
Networking – Not Once or Twice But Constantly
A chance comment from a VA on a forum during the week prompted me to think about the message they were conveying. They gave the impression that they only networked now and then for their business when they ran out of work, but not often otherwise. Before I started my business I had been attending seminars and events for personal and professional development back in the early 1990s and one of the things that was constantly re-iterated, was the need for networking, in order to get ahead. This was … [Read more...]
Is your website written for an international audience?
A recent discussion at a LinkedIn forum I belong to highlighted the use of country codes when listing phone numbers in emails and on business websites. It was an interesting discussion and what was brought to light was the fact that many people in the US (at least on this forum of 8,000+ people) just hadn't realised that people outside of their country would need a code to dial their number. I found that an insight in itself. I am always having to call the US to participate in telesminars, or … [Read more...]
Challenges and Hindrances
Regular readers know I belong to LinkedIn, which is a very large international professional business network. I have met so many people there and have been able to secure new clients for my team as well. It's been a great group. A new connection asked me some questions and I thought they were so good, I would add them here. I told him I was curious to know why he asked but I answered all the same. He's a professor of Finance and Economics so it's most likely professional curiosity and/or … [Read more...]
Do you have a product or service for the VA Industry? Then read on…
Over the past few months I've had a number of approaches from people who have developed a product or service that they want to promote to the Virtual Assistant industry. Sometimes it's clear to me that they don't understand the VA industry at all and after discussing their product or service and our industry, they go away again - back to the drawing board. Other times they come at it with a focus from their country only - they forget our industry is global not nationally focused. If you're … [Read more...]
Presenting Your Business Via Email
Regular readers will have noted my recent absence but hopefully they will have known or realised I was away on leave - well and truly overdue and very much enjoyed. I went to Japan with my husband to visit one of our daughters - if you read my family blog you'll see some of my posts there with photos. Whilst I was away there was an innumerable amount of emails, even with my going 'nomail' on the chat forums I belong to, and so I did check regularly in case of important matters, i.e. family … [Read more...]
New Buzz Word?
I was at a meeting with a new client today, well, actually 3 men who represent a group and the group will be my client - if that makes sense? Anyway one of the men had mentioned he'd never heard of Virtual Assistants before and thought that one of the others had made up another new technical term, as he was prone to do. The man who had introduced me to the group has been a client of mine for over 7 years and had mentioned that the Virtual Assistant who looked after him could look after this … [Read more...]