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VA Directory

VA Directory - Connecting clients with Virtual Assistants

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8 Weeks and counting

avaclogo200The Australian VA Conference in Sydney that is. It’s being held at Darling Harbour on 22-23 March.  I’m flying in from Melbourne on 21st March, as will be others from Melbourne, or other cities and states and we look forward to the fun, the catch ups, the learnings and the time out from our businesses, that we experience every year.

Each year I learn something new (usually several things), meet new faces in the industry, catch up with those I’ve known online for a long time, and get time to think about my business rather than working in it.  Attending AVAC means giving yourself permission for some time out, as well as investing in yourself and your business for two full days.  Two very full but very quick days.  That’s why some VAs choose to stay longer so they can process what they’ve learnt before going back home to their families and businesses.

If you’ve been to an industry based conference before, you’ll know full well, how valuable that is.  But if you haven’t, you may be thinking you can’t afford the time, or the cost, or both.  Well, I’m telling you, you can’t afford not to go.  So many VAs have renewed their enthusiasm for their businesses and have often birthed new ideas or new ways of doing things, after the light bulb went on during the event.

Do yourself a favour.  Check out our speakers and sponsors and Book today and plan to come and meet others who understand what you’re doing and why you’re doing it. If you get value from being a part of a VA community online, you will definitely get value from attending the 4th annual Australian Virtual Assistants Conference in March.

Start the year off as you intend to carry on

Happy New Year everyone!  I hope you had a great Christmas and New Year period, whether it be peaceful and relaxing, or exciting and adventurous!  Whatever suits your style.

My husband and I went on a cruise to New Zealand and had opportunity to just relax and sleep in, if we wanted, but some days were spent on going on tours onshore and exploring parts of New Zealand we’d not seen before. I think, for us, the highlight was visiting the Hobbiton Movie Set, which was a new tour made available while we were on the ship heading to New Zealand.  The most beautiful places were Akaroa and Milford Sound. But there were so many other things we saw and experienced that were great too. And we made new friends with 3 other couples and plan to keep in touch with them also.

Now, have you thought about the year ahead and how you plan to tackle it? Have you got plans you want to fulfill?  I don’t do New Year’s Resolutions but I do usually set goals for each year.  I haven’t done it yet for this year but will soon. I usually spend a day in contemplative thinking, and prayer, and put together a goals list for the year, print it off in full colour, laminate it and stick it on the wall in my office so that it’s in front of me all year round. But what other things can you do?  I saw this list on the recent newsletter sent by the Knox Economic Development group with City of Knox and thought it such a great list. I really can’t add to it and agree with all it says.  I thought it worthy of sharing with you.

  • Don’t be afraid to delegate
  • Learn at least one new skill
  • Become known as the expert in your field
  • Promote your business regularly and consistently
  • Understand your businesses financial statements
  • Make business planning a regular event
  • Invest in one new customer touch point
  • Refresh your website
  • Set realistic goals
  • Social network in the real world
  • Give something back to your community
  • Put time for you on the calendar

Sourced from www.advancewesterndowns.com.au.

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I loved the point ‘social network in the real world’ :-).  I think, as Virtual Assistants we can often get so caught up in wanting to do business virtually, that we forget that we don’t have to do everything virtually. We can actually get up, go outside, and meet people face-to-face.  If you haven’t been doing that, I encourage you to do so. Much of my business was built by face-to-face networking in the early days of my business (1994-) and I still do it today.  It’s great meeting new people and getting to know them.

Looking forward to catching up with many of you real soon!

 

Stationery Junkie

Is anyone else like me? A stationery junkie? I know there are a few VAs that feel the same way.  I go into raptures every time I walk into Officeworks, or a similar store.  Just the clean reams of paper, or an untouched notebook, all the play things in the tech section, new pens and pencils.  So many things. I just love seeing everything and even touching some of it.

And I particularly like a brand new clean diary. A promise of the new year to come and the promises that new year holds.

I just bought my new diary for next year and am savoring the thought of starting to use it.  I know that I could record everything in Outlook or on my phone (and I do) but I can’t put pieces of paper, invitations, letters or anything else inside my computer, other than scan them. And it just doesn’t look or feel the same.

I love putting papers I’ve received that are relevant to an appointment, special dates, or simply slip in notes written on lovely note paper to make sure I don’t miss seeing them.

I’ve tried a number of diaries over the years and these days prefer an A5 sized diary that has one day to a page. I write my appointments, my list of things-to-do, notes to myself and a number of other things. The smaller size means it’s easy to pop into a handbag or backpack so I can carry it with me if I need to.

My diary for 2013 has a lovely hard cover that is red and looks, feels and smells like leather. I was really surprised at the low cost of it.   It has the usual things at the front, year calendar for the past, present and following year, school terms, public holidays, conversion tables and a year planner at the back.  I looked at several before I chose this one. The layout for the days had to be ‘just right’.  It had to be a diary I would feel comfortable writing in.  I needed to be able to read the text printed inside it – some are far too small these days.  It had to feel good in my hands, even though it will spend most of next year lying open on my desk.  The pages had to fall open the right way, and not try to close up again when I’m using it.  And it had to be pleasing to look at. Yes, I’ve made my choice for another new year.

Soon it will be time for me to sit down with my new diary, make friends with it, fill in important dates (not negotiables such as the 4th annual Australian VA Conference next March and family birthdays, etc) and make it mine with my writings through it.

Tell me, are you like this too?

About

A Clayton’s Secretary T/as VA Directory was established in March 1994 by
Kathie M. Thomas.

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