... clearing out the clutter!  In the southern hemisphere we are in the middle of springtime, the flowers are beginning to bloom, birds are waking us earlier in the morning and I'm growing aware of the clutter around me. Perhaps in winter we feel it necessary to have 'stuff' around us, to close us in, keep us warm, but when Spring arrives I want to shed off the extra weight (so I'm watching my diet more and trying to exercise regularly), shed off the hot clothing and get rid of the clutter … [Read more...]
HBB TV
I recently appeared on a WebTV program recorded for HBB TV (home based business). This interview is about my new book and also my business - I thought you might like to see it. The recording is just over 8 mins long. … [Read more...]
When You Don’t Meet the Criteria
I recently had a wannabe Virtual Assistant email me seeking advice and help. She very much wants to become a VA but doesn't have the 5 years minimum experience that many of the VA networks advise members should have and she wanted to know my thoughts. Below is my response to her. The criteria for 5 years is a guideline and owners of the VA networks use it to ensure that their members have the skills and abilities needed to operate a VA business, particularly if they're going to operate under … [Read more...]
7 Keys to Successfully Work At Home
I want to share with you an article one of my business coach clients has written. I often speak about the same things to the VAs I chat with via forums, but this information is for anyone who runs a home based business. If you like what you read here, why not drop over to her site, read her blog and sign up for her newsletter? She has lots of valuable ideas that will help make you more productive on a daily basis. Increasing workloads are forcing people to spend more time in the office, even … [Read more...]
Is a job offer by email genuine?
If you're like me, you get lots of job offers by email. Let's face it, as soon as your email address is on display anywhere, it's going to get grabbed and used by others. Or even if you send an email to someone who has an infected machine, the address can then be picked up as well. A new member at one of the VA forums I belong to recently posted an email, asking about a particular group who had emailed her about a job. She wanted to know if anyone had heard of them and whether it was … [Read more...]
When Is An Hour Not An Hour?
This is a reprint of an article I wrote in September 2004. I feel it's important to bring this topic back up since there are new VAs on the scene all the time, and new clients. The team and I had an interesting discussion online the other day, which resulted from a client and team member having a different understanding about something. And that something was the time involved, and related costs, in transcribing a recording. What the client hadn’t understood was that there is a difference … [Read more...]
Membership to VA Networks – do they add value to my business?
I recently had a new VA email me about joining the network I manage. She asked a number of the usual questions but then also asked the question which is the subject heading of this post. Interesting question and one I thought I would share here. I know that whenever anyone starts up in business they are looking for value for their money. They want to spread the word about their business as far as possible without it costing them an arm and a leg. I wanted to do the same when I was first … [Read more...]
Be Careful of the Technology You Choose
I love exploring all the things available to us in various software programs but there are some things I prefer not to use, although they were designed to make my life easier. Read Receipts for example - I don't necessarily want people to know the minute I've read their email so I have my program set not to process read receipts, even when someone requests it. Which is probably frustrating for them. I had one person contact me on the weekend and said she was using them because she wanted to … [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...]
