I've chosen not to use my mobile (cell) phone for my VA business. Why? Because I'm in my office 95% of the time anyway and they can get me via the landline and email - why do I need them calling on my mobile phone too? I use the mobile phone for personal use only, i.e. family, friends, emergencies. If I'm out of my office I can't be doing work for clients anyway, as the majority of what I do is done on a computer. And yet, it seems I'm in a minority and I think it shocks some clients when … [Read more...]
As a new VA, I can’t afford a website
I've been corresponding with a couple of new Virtual Assistants over the past couple of weeks. They found me via different VA forums and started emailing me for advice. One said she couldn't afford a website yet and was asking me what she could do to promote her business online. This is my response to her: "What makes you think you can't afford a website? The reality is you could get webhosting and a domain for a year for a very minimal amount of money (I provide this service and I know that … [Read more...]
Starting off the new year
If you're like me, you may have been spending the past week still on a holiday break, knowing full well that work was just around the corner. So, now it's time to really take stock of what is ahead, or perhaps outstanding, to get the year started off right. Here are a few hints and tips on things that VAs, clients and other business owners can do, to start the new year off right. Your Outlook file. How big is it? Mine was nearly 2.5gb in size - too big! At the beginning of each year, I … [Read more...]
Special offers for Virtual Assistants and their clients
You may remember my mention recently of a 'sick scam' where an affiliate was processing orders using stolen credit cards on my shopping cart on this site. Not a nice thing to happen and I'm still getting things sorted and processing refunds as people contact me. I can say the bank hasn't been as helpful as I would have hoped, given that I'm not the perpetrator but a victim too, but that's another story. At any rate, I'm working hard to recoup lost funds, cover refunds and pay additional fees … [Read more...]
How easy do you make it for your customers?
My husband is a ham radio operator. He was perusing websites recently looking for some equipment to further his hobby. He was looking at sites here in Australia as well as overseas. He found one based in Sydney that had what he wanted BUT, they had no shopping cart set up for their long list of accessories and once you were on the list, there was no link to get back to the site itself. The list was in a PDF format. Some Australian businesses are complaining about customers shopping overseas … [Read more...]
Work your database and it will work for you
Virtual Assistants! And small business owner operators! Do you have a database? You do? Do you use it? I'm a keen advocate for networking, both online and offline, as it's important to keep meeting people and to keep letting them know you exist. You need to be visible - not invisible. What amazes me is that people go out and network, and most of them admit to wanting new work, but then you rarely hear from them afterwards. What are they doing with my business card, and the cards of others … [Read more...]
Tools Virtual Assistants love to use – Dropbox
File storage and backup is an important part of the life of a Virtual Assistant. It's something we discuss regularly at the VA forums and a question that is frequently asked by those new to the industry. Enter Dropbox. I first discovered Dropbox when looking at online facilities for photosharing and storage. I wanted to be able to showcase photos I'd taken at mountain bike (MTB) races so that the participants could view their images and choose which ones to buy. The photogallery system is … [Read more...]
Tools Virtual Assistants love to use – Gmail
I began using gmail in 2009 when I knew I was going overseas for a Virtual Assistant conference. I wanted to manage my email in a web based facility and because I have several email addresses and domains, I didn't want to be logging in and out of several sites. Research indicated that Gmail could do what I wanted - pull all the emails from several locations and store it in the one place for me to review, read and respond to, and still making it available to download on my computer back at home … [Read more...]
Going on a trip?
Then don't leave it till you're at your destination to find out if you can access your email. This is something that should be organised before you leave - not afterward. When my husband and I went to Canada and Alaska in 2009 I knew I'd need to check email daily. While I had left my business in the hands of some of my VA team, I expected there would be occasional questions about how to deal with a situation or anything else that cropped up. So having daily access, even if only for 15 mins … [Read more...]
