When we first start building our Virtual Assistant businesses we tend to concentrate on what we know best and it nearly always relates to word-processing, data entry, transcription work, book-keeping or similar. As we become more confident we start to find things we really enjoy doing and that often we can teach our clients about those things. For me in the past it has meant adding blogging to my list of services, websites and eventually setting up social media profiles for Twitter, Facebook, … [Read more...]
Who advocates for us?
Just heard on the news on the radio that ACTU wants the 1.4 million award wage earners to have a pay rise of $27 a week (in Australia). Made me wonder. Who gives us a pay rise when we deserve it, or find that we've been on the same rate for several years? We do. But do we? Probably worth looking at each year, when you plan your year and set goals (I hope you do that each year). Assessing what you're worth and how you're fairing is an important part of running your business and making sure … [Read more...]
Do you produce a newsletter?
I do. I have been since the second year of my business. That means I've been producing a newsletter for around 14 years now on a monthly basis. I missed a few months here and there in the early days but it has been monthly for quite some time now. In the early days, it was printed and posted and I would periodically hear from people who had a copy passed on to them from the recipient. That was always nice to hear. I would sometimes use a guest writer for the main article but mostly I've … [Read more...]
Do you have problems with delegation?
Marcia Hoeck writes a blog called "Breakthrough Business" and she has a lot of really good common sense articles and information. Her latest post "Are You a Victim of the “Entrepreneurial Curse”?" rang bells for me. It gives several good reasons why Entrepreneurs need to let go and delegate. In other words, outsource the things that can be outsourced so you can use your 'boundless energy' to be more creative in your business. If you'd like to know what the Entrepreneurial Curse is, then make … [Read more...]
OIVAC is just around the corner!
Welcome to those guests who have been following the OIVAC blog hopping tour! Seasoned VAs (or those that have been around for longer than 12 months) will know that the Online International Virtual Assistants Convention is gearing up for another fantastic event. I was privileged to be a member of the steering committee for the first 3 years and really enjoyed the experience but (personal) events over the last 12 months have led to my stepping down. I don't believe this to be a bad thing - it … [Read more...]
No. 8 Mistake VAs Make
Continuing on in our recent series... Using free accounts such as hotmail, yahoo, etc for their email address. Domains are very cheap to purchase and even if you don't yet have your own website, there is no reason why you can't have your own domain (to reflect your name or your business name) for your email. This assists with branding and people are more likely to remember your business or business name if you use a domain address to reflect that when corresponding with them. Show people you … [Read more...]
Has the spammer done me a favour?
I noticed this afternoon that someone has chosen to use my old email address to spam people. I got the first hint when a bounce back came to me saying it was stuck in a loop - it was addressed to my old address. Checking my spam filter shows there are heaps of returned messages there. Such a pain because it wasn't me sending them and I hate people thinking I'm responsible for them. I was checking my stats for the day and noticed a big spike in hits today - I wondered what brought that on? I … [Read more...]
Number 3 Mistake New VAs Make
Thinking that all clients have to be virtual. Just because you are a Virtual Assistant and can work virtually does not mean all your clients have to come via the web. Many do not realise that they have potential clients next door, down the street, around the corner and at local businesses. This is why networking is such an important aspect of running a business - any business. Many do not realise they can have a mix of clients that are both local and virtual and this will not happen … [Read more...]
Intel Centrino – a Notebook to play with
Over the past few weeks I've had the privilege of playing with, and testing, an Intel Centrino 2 powered notebook. It has a great easy to view widescreen, is very compact, slim and lightweight, and easy to use. This one has Windows Vista installed on it and OpenOffice suite. It also has 4gig ram. I wasn't able to carry out my normal daily activities on it as it didn't have the software I use every day (MS Office 2003, ACT!, Quickbooks, Dreamweaver) for my regular client activity and it would … [Read more...]