Saw a great message in a forum last week. It was a sample of email addresses and what they say about the sender. It backs up my own thoughts about email. There is a place for 'cute' and 'silly' email addresses but when you are operating a business and participating in business forums, it's time to put away the 'cute' and 'silly' and start using 'business' or 'clever' email addresses. To quote some of what I saw: Your email address says a lot about you.... Details are key when you are … [Read more...]
Developing a Tag Line for Your Business
Recently at a VA forum we were discussing developing taglines for your business. There is a fantastic book called 'Seven Second Marketing' written by Ivan Misner who is the founder of BNI. It's about how to use memory hooks or how to make you instantly stand out in a crowd. My own 'memory hook' really works best in my own country and for those of you who haven't read my blog posts from 2006, perhaps this is a good time to explain something. My business name is "A Clayton's Secretary" and the … [Read more...]
OH&S Applies In The Home Office Too!
Have you thought about Occupational Health & Safety in your home office? It might only be you in the office but safety is still important. Do you have leads running across the floor or showing at the back of a desk that is out in the open? Do you have young children or pets that could get caught up in the leads or accidentally pull them? Do you have clients come into your home office periodically? What is lying around or sticking out that might be a hazard to guests in your home? Are … [Read more...]
Meeting with a client face-to-face
This topic was raised in my forum just recently and several team members came forward with an outline of what they'd done in the past. It is important to protect ourselves whenever in the process of physically meeting a new client for the first time. After all, in many cases, they are complete strangers to us and just because they are seeking our business support, doesn't mean that we shouldn't take precautions. Some team members reported that they meet at a neutral place such as a cafe in a … [Read more...]
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...]
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...]
Do I Have To Do Any Cold Calling?
I recently had a new VA contact me, asking for advice about cold calling. She was quite nervous about it and whilst she could psych herself up at night and write out scripts, she just couldn't get herself to follow through the following day. So she contacted me for advice. This is my response: Hi, I'm so happy you contacted me. You should never have to do cold calling - I never have. I spend time networking and getting to know people - much, much easier. Always carry business cards with … [Read more...]
Responding to client enquiries
One of the forums I belong to has had a great discussion on response times for client enquiries. This is a good topic for all to have a think about. I know that I often get clients contacting me saying they had rung someone or emailed someone before me and had had no response. There had been no voicemail message, or no autoresponder, or no-one had returned the call or replied to their email. Their contact with me is sometimes several days or a week later. Virtual Assistants are business … [Read more...]
Getting Started as a VA
I recently had a lady write to me to ask about how I got started. She'd read that I started out doing word processing and data entry and did I go do a course or did I already know how to do those things? She was wondering what training she might need to do and where to do it. My answer to her was this: I never did a course to get started. When I began I was a homebased secretary and it was before the Virtual Assistant industry had begun. I already had 23 years corporate secretary experience … [Read more...]
