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 you are covering your expenses and having a bit left over for you.

Written by Kathie Thomas - Visit Website

Filed under: Operating a VA Business | 1 Comment »

I wrote a post some time ago about Free Resources Virtual Assistants love and Carla has left a comment asking about Virtual Assistant newsletters. She’s looking for a list of them.

If you write a Virtual Assistant newsletter then why not leave a link for it here in the comments so Carla (and others) can come have a look and subscribe if they like what they see?

Written by Kathie Thomas - Visit Website

Filed under: VA Education, VA Industry | 1 Comment »

Still coming back down to earth after our fantastic event, the Australian VA Conference (AVAC) a couple of days ago.  It was great to meet face-to-face the names I’ve come to know so well over the internet for some years.  And to meet new names, people I hadn’t met online before but who are venturing into the Virtual Assistant world.

However, there were many who did not come, for several reasons, and a couple who didn’t turn up, although they had booked to come.  I received emails of apologies as well.  I thought I would try to address some things here that might help them with successfully attending next year.

I know personally how hard it is to get away from your office and your business. After all, it’s your baby, and you don’t want to leave or desert it.  However it is most important you do plan to take some time out for yourself and your business, to get recharged, renewed, pick up new ideas, get rest.  We need to do this through making sure we get breaks, like a holiday and we can also do it through attending events put on that will help enhance our businesses.

How do I get away? Many know that I’ve had several holidays lasting from 2-4 weeks over the past 7 or 8 years.  The last one being in Canada in 2009 to speak at FoVA and then take a trip.  Like others, I have clients who won’t necessarily want to take a break when I do and they need to be looked after in my absence.  Here is what I’ve learnt to do, in order to prepare for time away from the office:

1. Put the dates in my diary – they’re not negotiable!
2. Make sure you block 2 days before and 2 days after the event in your diary to allow you packing time before event and unpacking and going through emails, etc after the event.
3. Start putting some funds away in a separate account so I can pay for the trip or cover bills during the time I’m gone.
4. Seek out someone who can look after my home and my pets in my absence.
5. Advise clients about 2 months out that I will be taking a break for xx amount of days and I’ll be in touch soon to find out if they will need support in my absence.
6. Contact the clients again 1 month before and find out what deadlines they might have or projects coming up that will need to be maintained while I’m away.
7. Contact other VAs I know (very handy having a network to tap into) to find out who can carry out the needs of my clients during that short period of time.  It is important to note here that you shouldn’t overload any one VA with several of your clients. They have their own to look after too. I find it better to assign one VA per client so there’s no confusion over what needs to be done for each client and so there is no sudden overload or overwhelm for the VA.
8. Report back to each client advising them who will be looking after them while I’m away and give them the VA’s contact details.
9. Give the VA templates, copies of anything that is needed, client contact information and so on.  Ask the VA to go through what you’ve sent them so they can ask questions now – not when you’re just about to go out the door.
10. Remind the client a few days before you leave that you’ll be gone from xx to xx and that {name} will look after them well.
11. Now it’s time to make sure you have everything you need to ensure a successful trip/time away from your office.
12. Enjoy!

Will a client suddenly send you something the day before you’re due to leave? Some do. I just gently remind them that I’m going to be away, as advised previously and that I can either pass the work to {name} who will be looking after them, or I can do the work on my return.  Sometimes the client decides it’s not urgent and is happy to wait for my return.

I hope this helps with your planning to come to AVAC next year, or any other event or holiday you’d like to take part in.

Written by Kathie Thomas - Visit Website

Filed under: VA Conference, VA Education | 5 Comments »

Well, by the verbal and written feeback I’ve heard/seen so far, it would seem that the AustralianVAConference (AVAC) has been a success and is definitely something the VA Community would like on the calendar as an annual event.

There was a lot of buzz at the end of each day and it was great to see virtual friendships strengthed by face-to-face meetings and new friendships forged.  A mix of brand new VAs (or those who haven’t yet begun) right through to those who have many, many years of experience behind them; there was something there for all.

The mixture of presentations covered everything from webhosting, and other website services, to SEO, Social Media, benefits of business coaching, electronic marketing, mixing family with business and looking at some niche streams for VA practices such as copywriting, resume writing and bookkeeping. We even discussed do we need niches and what are some of the types of niches out there – and whether they should be service related (wordprocessing, transcriptions) or industry related (real estate, medical) and so on.

Our keynote speaker Shelley Taylor-Smith kicked off the event and set the pace for a fantastic two days.  Our two MCs (Warwick Merry [what a showman!] on Friday and Camille Valvo on Saturday) were just what we needed to keep the day moving and we had lots of entertainment from them as well as our presenters.

Who could not be affected by the infectious enthusiasm presented by Sam Mutimer?  And what about those seat pushups demonstrated by Leanne Sklavenitis? I’ll have to make sure I’m not using my office chair on wheels for that one!  Oh, and I must bring my fit ball into the office!

And for those who have attended OIVAC for the past almost five years (has it been that long already???) we got to meet Rob Anderson from the Green Room in person!  Rob had a surprise guest for us when he demonstrated a live linkup with Sharon Williams from the US who spoke to us about OIVAC.

I was very grateful to our many, sponsors who helped make this event possible and if you visit the AVAC site you’ll see them all listed there.

Next year we look forward to our US and Canadian colleagues joining us for this event and perhaps some from the UK, France, New Zealand and elsewhere too.

I am producing a conference photobook (printed) for those in attendance who would like a copy.  Not too late to order!  But here’s just a glimpse of the event for those who weren’t there – click on the image below.

Written by Kathie Thomas - Visit Website

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Well, it’s almost here.  Can’t believe all the months of planning is now going to come to a halt with the event taking place on Friday and Saturday this week.

If you are planning to come but haven’t yet booked, it’s not too late but the cut-off is Wednesday.  So get your bookings in now. If you can’t attend both days, you can elect to come for just one day.

I’m hoping to see a lot more Melburnians attending – it’s in your home state and you don’t need to worry about airfares and accommodation – just get yourself into the city to attend!  Book now at http://www.australianvaconference.com.

Written by Kathie Thomas - Visit Website

Filed under: VA Conference | 1 Comment »

This was a question asked on a VA forum. The new VA had suggested she might go cold calling and wanted suggestions on what to do. This is my answer to her.

I would recommend, that rather go out and doing cold calling, you actually spend time meeting people and getting to know them. Networking is what you want to do, rather than recruiting. Networking is about meeting people, getting to know them and their needs, developing relationships.

If you don’t already know a number of business people you can let know what you’re doing, then find out about local networking groups where business people meet together, whether formally or informally.  Take an interest in who they are, what they do and you’ll find they will return the favour.  And if you make sure you turn up regularly they’ll get to feel they know you and trust you and will not only ask you to assist them, but will also refer you to others.

Over the years the most successful way to get a client has been through word-of-mouth (otherwise known as WOM Marketing) and you’ll find business people the world over say the same thing.

If you don’t know of any business networks, then start thinking about the people you meet/see regularly. If you have kids then this might be through a nursery, playschool, kinder, school, college, i.e. the parents – what do they do and where do they work?  Or it might be a sporting club, gym, church or anywhere else.  Be engaging – get people talking about themselves.  Because it’s through that, you learn about their needs and eventually (hopefully sooner than later) you’ll be able to show them ways you can assist them.

Hope this helps.

Written by Kathie Thomas - Visit Website

Filed under: VA Education | 6 Comments »