Some time ago I announced the coaching and training program I was developing for the industry. The program is now in place and we have our first set of students undergoing the course, currently in week 5. Lessons are delivered weekly via email over a 10 week period, and the students return their homework via email. We have fortnightly online classroom sessions where students can chat with each other, and ask questions of the past couple of weeks' lessons, etc. We also have a student forum … [Read more...]
I love being a VA!
The team and I were discussing the benefits of being a VA recently and one of my team members posted her response with a list and she gave me permission to put it here. I thought it would be great to hear from others too - if they'd like to add their comments! Might even be fun to try and develop a list that is 50 points, perhaps 100 long! My post read: When I began it was typing and data entry. But my interest in databases led me to read a lot about them and learn things, and offer a basic … [Read more...]
Free Teleconferencing Service
I trialed a service with a client and a contact of her's yesterday. We held a 3 way conversation via a US number and were able to log into the web and see that each of us were on that call. It has moderating facilities and allows you to mute other callers on the line, boot people if you need to, record the conversation which is apparently available online an hour later and so on. My client's contact mentioned to me she thought it might be useful for VAs who do digital transcription. … [Read more...]
Updating Business Cards
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...]
My client said to me today…
He rang up late in the afternoon, 5.20pm to be exact. He was in his car and heading out away from some meeting when he said to me, 'do you know what I like about having a virtual assistant compared to a personal assistant?' He didn't wait for my answer. 'Because I know that the VA is still there when I suddenly realise I need something urgently for tomorrow. Do you mind? Can you manage this if I swung by in an hour to pick it up?' He told me what he needed and I was able to confirm I could … [Read more...]
Don’t Blow Yourself Out Of The Water!
When a new VA is starting out, there is the temptation to accept any job that comes along, just for the sake of having a client and work to do. But things can go awry very, very quickly, if you have no experience in that type of work, and if you don't know what you're doing. Some jobs may appear to be easy at the outset, but unless you truly have some idea of what's involved, probably best to let it pass to someone more experienced. Some of these will include: transcriptions (audio & … [Read more...]
Taking Your Business Seriously
When setting up a business at home, I find that people tend to sort themselves into one of two different groups. One group takes their business seriously, putting in the groundwork to get it established, do the research, learn about their chosen industry, mix with the people who are already doing it and basically performing a 'monkey see, monkey do' type scenario. The second group put in the mouth work, i.e. they tell people they're setting up a business, but apart from having the equipment at … [Read more...]
Welcome to the dark side!
There is lots written about the benefits of being a Virtual Assistant and particularly of working at home. You read articles, see photos of healthy looking people running on the beach, playing ball with their kids, driving a flashy car, or sitting under a tree with their laptop. The reality is very different - not unenjoyable, otherwise I wouldn't still be in a home office over 12 years down the track. But, I don't get the time to run on the beach, my kids grew up with mum at home, usually in … [Read more...]
Virtual Assistant Rates
When first starting out, one of the things a new VA needs to know is how much to charge for the services they will provide? And it's not always easy trying to work this out. Will they charge too much, will they charge not enough? What are others charging? And so, it's not uncommon to see this question being asked via VA forums. But it's not an easy one to answer either, because there are some things to consider, for example: What typing speed do they have, if the bulk of their work will … [Read more...]
