Are you a new VA and wanting to get your virtual assistant practice up and running in the new year? Have you thought about doing some training to get you moving in the right direction? There is still time before Christmas to sign up with my VA Trainer course. I have been with the industry since its birth and have watched it grow over the years. But don't let me be the one to tell you, why not see what others have had to say about my course? "I would like to say a big thank you for offering … [Read more...]
AVAC advancing
The early bird bookings will close mid November for the Australian Virtual Assistant Conference being held in Melbourne in March 2010. We are now starting to release information on speakers engaged for the event and will be adding more very soon. Make sure you don't miss out and get your bookings in now. We'd love to see you there next March! … [Read more...]
To test or not to test?
That is the question. A discussion at one of the VA forums I belong to raised a query about being 'tested' by doing small jobs for free at a site before being accepted as a VA for potential clients. I find that sometimes clients come via my jobleads request form and attempt to do the same thing. Give 4 or 5 (or more) VAs a small portion of the task to be done just to 'try them out' and before you know it, they've gotten the whole job done free and not paid anyone. That's not on! As was … [Read more...]
Printing still important
In the past few days I've received emails from a couple of VAs who have had computer problems and lost some emails which were important to them. They asked if I could help by resending any emails I'd sent or help locate the person who had contacted them. They did have their data backed up but not email from what I can gather. At least not a current version. Computer problems are going to happen. Email programs are not 100% robust and they do fail, fall over, and quit when we least expect … [Read more...]
Do I need a business name?
That's a question I see asked at VA forums often, or a variation on it, asking for suggestions on business names. However, do you really need one? If you don't have a focus, i.e. have no idea what your specific service offerings may be at the start and you're just feeling your way, then a business name may not be necessary. It's probably best to work under your own name till you have some idea. Why? Because when you register a name that's just the beginning and there are a number of … [Read more...]
Spelling – doesn’t it matter any more?
I can't get over the number of VA forums I belong to where members don't appear to check what they've typed before publishing it to the (board) forum. Or make use of the Edit function for corrections. Or, do they think that in a closed community it really doesn't matter? If that's the case, I beg to differ. Many VAs outsource to other VAs and the way you present yourself in the typed word is the very first impression others get of your abilities. How often do we see typed VA's instead of … [Read more...]
Do it yourself or…?
On the VA forums I often see new VAs asking about whether they should design their own logo or pay someone else to do it, design their own website or pay someone else to do it, and so on. I know they are new and probably not earning much yet but what price is your business worth to you? If something looks home made or unprofessional that is going to reflect on your business - people will view your abilities by what they can see and assume that the rest of your abilities are as mediocre. But … [Read more...]
Who do you listen to?
I participate in many forums and see lots of 'advice' being given to newbies in the industry by others who have only been VAs themselves such a short time. Some of that advice is good and helps to demonstrate the journey they, themselves, have been travelling, but I've seen some advice that was ill-founded although well-intentioned. It is really important that VAs who are seeking advice, mentorship, coaching and training, check the backgrounds of those advising them, especially if they do get … [Read more...]
Are you making it complicated?
You may be aware I run a Virtual Assistant training course and in the process, students are required to send me their homework from each week's lesson. One thing that has really stood out to me is that sometimes they try to complicate things when in fact it should be kept simple. What do I mean? Well, for example just creating client files. Some have thought of some security measure, others have used different filing systems other than alphabetized, some use codes and so on. What they are … [Read more...]
