Operating a VA Business | VA Directory

Keep abreast of their industries

In my last post I mentioned I get a regular enewsletter for the professional speaking industry. I provide virtual assistant support to a number of professional speakers, both here in Australia and in the US. I believe it's really important, as a service provider, to keep abreast of my clients' industries and what is happening for them. So when I can, I register for ezines and newsletters, join their discussion forums or even register for events. Sometimes the clients ask me to subscribe so I … [Read more...]

Practical Advice for Social Networking

I get a regular enewsletter called Speakernet News. As a Virtual Assistant for Professional Speakers I like to keep abreast of what's happening in their industry. The following came from their most recent newsletter and I sought permission from the author to republish it here. The article makes really good valid points about using Social Networks and setting up profiles. Social network tips - RJ Garis There is no point in having a MySpace, Facebook or any other profile unless you are going … [Read more...]

To test or not to test?

That is the question. A discussion at one of the VA forums I belong to raised a query about being 'tested' by doing small jobs for free at a site before being accepted as a VA for potential clients. I find that sometimes clients come via my jobleads request form and attempt to do the same thing. Give 4 or 5 (or more) VAs a small portion of the task to be done just to 'try them out' and before you know it, they've gotten the whole job done free and not paid anyone. That's not on! As was … [Read more...]

Do I need a business name?

That's a question I see asked at VA forums often, or a variation on it, asking for suggestions on business names. However, do you really need one? If you don't have a focus, i.e. have no idea what your specific service offerings may be at the start and you're just feeling your way, then a business name may not be necessary. It's probably best to work under your own name till you have some idea. Why? Because when you register a name that's just the beginning and there are a number of … [Read more...]

Spelling – doesn’t it matter any more?

I can't get over the number of VA forums I belong to where members don't appear to check what they've typed before publishing it to the (board) forum. Or make use of the Edit function for corrections. Or, do they think that in a closed community it really doesn't matter? If that's the case, I beg to differ. Many VAs outsource to other VAs and the way you present yourself in the typed word is the very first impression others get of your abilities. How often do we see typed VA's instead of … [Read more...]

Are you making it complicated?

You may be aware I run a Virtual Assistant training course and in the process, students are required to send me their homework from each week's lesson. One thing that has really stood out to me is that sometimes they try to complicate things when in fact it should be kept simple. What do I mean? Well, for example just creating client files. Some have thought of some security measure, others have used different filing systems other than alphabetized, some use codes and so on. What they are … [Read more...]

When the work load is low…

... what do you do? Believe it or not, it has happened to me, just as it has everyone else at some stage. Why does this happen? I believe it's because we get complacent when we are busy and we stop networking, stop marketing and we stop connecting with people. The momentum is hard to establish at the beginning but once it is going, it's best not to let it stop. Because around 3 months later work will start to dry up and things get quiet again. You have to keep feeding the funnel that you … [Read more...]

Social networking – good or bad?

We've recently had a very interesting discussion on the VA forum about the use of photos on websites and that then grew into a discussion on social networking. Is SN good or bad? Is it necessary or time wasting? Does it work? And then recently on LinkedIn a question relating to the same thing was asked and I thought I'd share with you my response there and some of my response at the VA forum. "Spam is probably the 'worst' part about it. Geez people/spammers, get a life! But apart from that … [Read more...]

Can a Virtual Assistant make a good income?

On the weekend just gone there was an article published in a couple of major Australian newspapers in the My Career section about our industry and based on an interview I had with the journalist. A comment was made on one of the forums I moderate that 'it will take a long time and hard work to make money, if any at all' and I want to address that comment here. I agree that to establish a good VA business (or any business for that matter) it takes a lot of hard work and it does take time - the … [Read more...]