I recently had the privilege of being interviewed by Stan Relihan of The Connections Show on the Podcast Network. Those of you in LinkedIn will know him as Australia’s most connected man. Stan has a great sense of humour and I’ve enjoyed getting to know him over several months now. So I was delighted when he decided to add me to his lineup of impressive interviews – I hope you like it!
TPN :: The Connections Show – Episode #022 [17:55m]
I did a post sometime ago about VAs whose websites had been copied. Today I want to discuss the other side – creating websites for clients.
Recently I had a client send me a whole lot of text for a website I am putting together for her. I copied and pasted the text into the various pages, formatting as required, and then noticed that the words ‘contact’ and ‘email’ were hyperlinked. When I checked to see what they were linked to, they led to totally different domains. I went and checked the domains and found that perhaps my client had been using these other sites as a guide for what she should be putting on her website.
Now, this means that the text she has given me might not be entirely her own so I carefully worded an email to her, advising that I needed to be sure the content was her’s and not anyone else’s. I explained that Google can penalise websites for duplicate content and that also there is a site called Copyscape that can be used to check for someone else’s content that might have been copied.
As her designer I didn’t want to experience problems with the thought that others might think I had done any copying, nor do I want my client to have problems with people assuming the same of her. She agreed that she will revisit those sites and check her content to make sure that nothing can be viewed in that way.
As virtual providers of support to other businesses it is important that we protect our clients and their interests. After all if they go out of business we lose a client so assisting them to protect their business should be in our own best interests. Sometimes those areas may appear to be a shade of grey but we need to check ourselves and how we would feel if it was our business that a certain action was being applied. If we wouldn’t do it for our own, then chances are it probably isn’t in the best interests for our clients either.
ethics, copyscape, protecting clients, virtual assistant support
I get rather frustrated when I see regular bloggers, or VAs chatting on forums, using the wrong word or spelling incorrectly. Particularly those who otherwise have great writing skills.
Granted there are different spellings for words depending on what country you live in and which version of English you use. And I was beginning to think that perhaps the word ‘loose’ meant the same as ‘lose’ in some English speaking countries because I see it used so often.
I had to go look up the Merriam-Webster Dictionary online and back it up with other dictionary searches. But my understanding of the meaning of ‘loose’ is the same as their’s – something that is lacking, unrestrained, not holding on tight or bound together, something is on the loose, freely roaming, permitting freedom of interpretation (except interpretation of the spelling of the word we’re discussing) and so on.
‘Lose’, on the other hand, means something that can be lost, if you lose something you cannot find it – it is gone. You suffer loss, leave behind, fail to catch sense of (she lost the meaning of) and so on.
So, why is it I see very frequently on discussion forums and in blogs incorrect usage of this word? Is it just a slip up and people don’t proofread or do they really believe they’ve chosen the correct word? Or, am I out of touch and the meaning has changed? In which case the dictionaries need updating too.
loose or lose?, correct spelling, version of English, blogging, virtual assistants
Several members of my VA team are experiencing problems with the webhost they’ve been using and their websites and email have been down for several days now. This is a real problem for anyone who runs their business online. In fact when I research this particular company online there are a heap of warning messages on forums about them currently. A shame because from what I can gather they’ve had a real problem with their hardware and are trying to get things back up and running again.
I have been with the service that our hosting is provided through for over 7 years now and have been very happy with the service. Like every business we have occasional hiccups but the guys on the backend of the server are usually on the ball and attend to things quickly. That is why I feel confident in providing you a web hosting service also.
If you know someone who is experiencing web hosting challenges at the moment and cannot access their website or email, then please do encourage them to make contact with me at ACSWebservices. As long as they have access to their domain name and can make the relevant changes to point the DNS elsewhere I can have them back up in a few short hours – usually on the same day.
When you first set up your VA business, hopefully you look at your existing skills and choose to only offer services that match your skills and abilities. I do often see new, and some not so new, VAs asking at forums about offering services they know nothing about. It’s quite obvious otherwise they wouldn’t be asking how to do ….? for something that might seem basic to those already experienced in that skillset.
That aside, I want to encourage you to think about where your skills are today?
Or,
The value of many VA forums is that members often discuss courses they’ve taken, certifications they’ve achieved, awards they’ve won, things they’ve learned through reading or attending seminars and so on. This is good because it’s an educational process just hearing about new things and providing opportunity to explore, listen and learn. I encourage you to look at your current skillset and think about what else you can do to move forward with your business.
