I was privileged to be asked to contribute to a new book which was launched recently in the US. The book is called "The Business Mom Guide Book" and it is filled with stories of 'moms' in different locations who have developed successful businesses at home. The book was put together by Terilee Harrison and I received some copies last week - they were long awaited! It's a well put together book, with easy to read snippets so you can read it in small chunks, as time permits, and covers all sorts … [Read more...]
They’re here, they’re there, they’re everywhere!
Articles on becoming a VA that is. I've noticed an explosion of articles on different publications promoting how 'easy' it is to become a VA. Have a computer, have internet connection and voila! You're a VA! If it were that easy, we'd all be doing it! :-) There also seems to be a growing number of courses to do, to learn how to become a VA and I encourage you, if you're planning to take this path, that you do your research and assure yourself that those providing the courses have got the … [Read more...]
Building a Reputation
My previous post about lists prompted a discussion amongst my team and one mentioned how she'd been approached to do a joint venture with a company, which all sounded very good, until she was asked to hand over her list so the other company could contact all those people. She refused and I can't blame her. My response was this: I've had clients ask me the same thing. It's interesting you know - I was in a discussion on another forum yesterday and one of the VAs there had been asked to do … [Read more...]
Where do YOUR lists come from?
I find it remarkable that organisations I look up to, or would otherwise have a respect for, resort to spamming people with their promotions. On many occasions I've asked (whether by email or by phone) how they got my address or number, and they stumble over the answer - usually because the people employed for that reason don't have any idea. But I push the issue as it's important to me. Usually the result is that they bought the list from someone - and that someone never had my permission to … [Read more...]
How Well Do You Know Your Computer?
If you are on your computer several hours a day, for most days, you should know your computer reasonably well. To the extent that if it started doing something strange or out of the ordinary you would notice it. This helps to protect your system - don't trust that all those programs you have installed such as virus protection, spyware protection, firewalls, etc are infallible - things could still get through before updates are processed on your computer to combat new things being launched every … [Read more...]
Dual Business Names – What To Do?
I had a member of my team email me a few days ago. She was concerned because a name she had registered, seemed to have someone else operating under the same name in another state. She wanted to know what to do? Further they both appear to have purchased the same domain name (?). My response to her was this: Hi, always frustrating when this happens regarding business names, however, there is no reason why you can't continue to use it. Legally speaking (in Australia) you can register a … [Read more...]
Does Being a VA Mean 100% Virtual?
I was holding an online classroom session last night and two of the students voiced the same thought as they came to a sudden realisation. We'd been talking about advertising and marketing and I told them how important networking is. Networking locally. It was like a light suddenly went on for both of them. They had thought that by being a virtual assistant they had to get all of their work virtually and online. I told them that if they tried to do that, they were missing a potential client … [Read more...]
Maintaining Systems Saves You Time and Money
If you use your computer to make a living, how much do you do to look after it? By that I mean not only backing up your data (absolutely crucial) but also making sure your computer and its software is running well. You should be clearing out old files and the .tmp files on a regular basis, defrag, check for multiple copies of files (it can and does happen easily if saved in the wrong folder for example) and so on. Today though, I want to focus on your email program and in particular, Outlook. … [Read more...]
Speaking in Acronyms
Have you noticed how we all speak a different language these days? I don't mean cultural or regional languages but rather a language that relates to what we do on a daily basis? I mean, even VA or Virtual Assistant, is something that's common to those in the industry or those who use VAs, but what about those who don't yet know what that means? And then there's computer geek, smilies, emoticons, SMS language and so on. I sent my husband an SMS today letting him know that I won't be able to … [Read more...]
