When you're starting out in business it's exciting to plan and design your business card so that it reflects what you want it to show. But don't despair if you don't get it right the first time. Opt to get only 250 or 500 made at first and see how they go and then get more made further down the track. If you're regularly attending networking events, meeting people, or even including your card whenever you send any correspondence or pay bills by post, you will soon go through them. The cards … [Read more...]
Networking – a life skill
I wrote recently about Robyn and networking - a client I really enjoyed working with. Tonight I had the privilege of meeting another great networker, and that is Ivan Misner, Founder of Business Network International (BNI). I was attending a "Meet the Founder" function in Melbourne, Australia, along with many other leaders of BNI here. It was a great evening, filled with information because we had a Q&A session where we could just fire questions at Ivan and he answered them. I took lots of … [Read more...]
Guest Blogger invitation
I've been invited to be a guest blogger at The Small Business Blog by Stefan Töpfer of Winweb. Stefan and I began conversing just before Christmas 2005 and have met twice since then - once in London and then again in Melbourne a few weeks later. We both just happened to be travelling in the right area for meetings to take place in our own home cities. Winweb has a natural synergy with what Virtual Assistants can achieve for their clients online and so it is worth checking out. So is The … [Read more...]
Interview On Another Blog
It's always good when another blogger makes reference to what you've been doing and on this occasion, I've been interviewed by Donna Hamer of WealthyOnlineWomen. Why not drop over to her blog and see what she has to say? Like me, Donna is an Australian Woman Blogger and we found each other via another Australian blog site that was talking about the top Australian blogs - we'd both noted the lack of Australian women mentioned. But that's another story... … [Read more...]
Posting on Chat Forums
I belong to a number of chat forums, some relate to the VA industry, some are other business related, some software, and a few more that are connected to personal interests. What disturbs me the most is that on any of the chat forums that are business related in some way, people continue to post to the forums just like they sending an SMS to a friend or carrying on a phone conversation with a family member. They forget they are in a business forum. Things I recommend you do when … [Read more...]
Marketing Your VA Business
I was asked over the weekend by a new VA, the following two questions: 1. How do you know how many potential clients you should market yourself to? In terms of income I would perhaps prefer to have one particular client that I work for on a regular basis and then pick up other work as and when I can. and, 2. Should I simply saturate the market with advertising material - on the flipside if it does get busy I might end up turning clients away. Kristen First Legal Support Solutions Email: … [Read more...]
Networking – Information and Relationships – TAMT
One of the things I love about networking the most is how relationships can develop. Good friends, good information, good business. Developing a business as a VA requires networking both online and offline. It's important to get a good mix of the two. Some are so desperate for the 'virtual' thing to start happening that they overlook the importance of laying foundations - and often those foundations need to be on solid ground, not cyber space. Getting in the middle of the networks that your … [Read more...]
Network, Network, Network!
Virtual Assistant Posted: Wed Nov 02, 2005 4:37 pm Post subject: Network, Network, Network -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- There is nothing like networking to give your business a boost. It is a bit like planting a seed, watering it and then watching it take root - it can take a few months before the first nibbles come in, but when they do - it is usually worth it! You've heard the saying 'it's not what you know, but who you know'? and in … [Read more...]
Should I join a network?
There seem to be lots of virtual assistant networks on the web. How do I know which is the right one and whether I should be paying for a membership or not? There are a lot of networks and each has its own culture. Some do charge membership fees and others don't and this is really a measure of what they provide. Some provide a free chat forum, others have the chat forum and directory listing on the web. One or two provide yellow pages advertising in various countries, several provide job leads … [Read more...]