Virtual Assistant – THE Blog About Our Industry

About the Virtual Assistant industry for VAs and for clients

Monthly Archives: October 2008

Will you be our 1,000th member?

In April 1996 I began the southern hemisphere’s first online network of its kind, originally as homebased secretaries and then we adopted the term ‘Virtual Assistant’ as we saw it take hold worldwide and recognised that what we were doing was exactly that – providing virtual assistance to clients all over the world.

Being based in Australia meant we weren’t originally visible to the northern hemisphere but that has changed over the years and today we have a membership that spreads to 15 countries with a chat forum which is equally well spread.

We’ve had almost 1,000 members join us in that time and I’d like to celebrate that milestone by offering the 1,000th member some gifts on me!

The gifts will be their choice of the following items (and they may choose more than one item – if they don’t yet have that item then they are welcome to it):

  • 1 year’s membership to the “A Clayton’s Secretary” team valued at $187AUD (the amount will be refunded to the lucky new member or they can choose to extend to two years for the price of one)
  • 1 year’s web hosting valued at $149.50AUD
  • Choice of ebook from my VAShop
  • 1 hour of my time as a mentor or coach valued at $97AUD
  • A Mousepad

Our numbers are in the high 900′s currently so that 1,000 target is not far away!  And to reward those who sign up in between I’ll be giving spot prizes of ebooks, a blog site hosted by me, 50% off my VA coaching course and other giveaways.

Why not pop by to see what’s involved in becoming a member right now?   And don’t forget to add in the comments section that you saw this promotion*.

* Only those who meet our criteria to join as a member are eligible for this promotion.

Virtual Assistant Forums – great resources

Over the years I’ve watched the Virtual Assistant forums grow and evolve into really active, useful sources of information, resources, lists of all sorts of things, great communities for connection.

Many hold folders of links where members can list sites that have been really useful to them in their businesses or with samples of brochures, contracts and all other sorts of materials that have helped them in business.

The forums have become a hub of very useful information discussing all manner of things from how to get their first client, to handling a situation they had not come across before, locating suitable software to support a client need, to creating their first websites and so many other things.

It is important though, to remember, that the forums are generally not for begging other members for work, contacting them offlist and promoting your own services, or bringing in discussions that really are not related to the main topic – being a Virtual Assistant.

If you are new to chat forums it would be well worth your while to sit and lurk for awhile. By that I mean just read the messages that come through and watch how others respond. Read any rules that might apply on the forum home page or the messages sent to you on joining and also go through the message archives on the forum website to get a feel for past discussions and appropriate forum etiquette.

Don’t jump in too quickly with lots of questions – watch, learn and listen. What is accepted on one forum may not be acceptable on another so rather then blunder your way in and get reprimanded or bumped off the forum, it’s much better to tread lightly at first and slowly settle into the culture of that group.  Because each group does have its own culture that gradually forms and develops as the membership grows.

I began Virtual Assistants International Group (VAIG) in 1998 originally for “A Clayton’s Secretary” members only but later opened up to all VAs – both new and experienced in 2004.  The list got shifted around a few times until we eventually settled at yahoogroups in 2003.  We currently have just under 1,000 members and although it has the appearance of being a mainly Australian group, the reality is that the most active chatty members are based in Australia but we do have members in many other countries too.

I also own and manage a mainly US based VA forum called Virtual Assistants Discussion Group. This was begun by another VA in 1998 also and was handed over to me a few years ago as she was moving on and I was one of the most active members on the list.   Again, this has just under 1,000 members with a handful of the same people across both groups.  Both have quite a different feel about them in the form of chat and culture.

It is important to note that these forums are for those interested in being a VA and are generally not for others who are curious about the industry.  We’ve had people come in from time to time and it’s become obvious that they aren’t VAs and they’re just there to promote whatever they do to the community.

I began writing this blog a few years ago to help educate the public about our industry from things learnt in the forums but also to assist new and existing VAs in their chosen career path.

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Protecting your Virtual Assistant business

Recently on a VA forum a member commented about her computer woes.  There were some things that stood out to me as possible concerns and I responded as below. She’s since been in contact with me and filled in with a bit more detail so not everything I wrote was relevant to her situation but I thought the information is important for all to see.  So, here it is:

First – were you not doing backups before?  If you’re running a computer based business then backups are absolutely essential – they are your insurance for your bread’n'butter – which is your data.  Even if just burning to CD any backup is better than none.  Losing data can also cause you to lose your business – I know of people that has happened to.

Second – anti virus programs are essential for your business, as are backups.  You just can’t afford to be without them.  But I am curious as to whether it was an opening of an unsuspecting email, downloading of programs that brought trojans with it (which children are often prone to do and I never let kids on my computer ever.  Just taking a guess here but if that’s happening, keep them off your computer) or something else?

Third, if you’re paying this guy cash can’t you still put it into your bookkeeping system? I do.  I’ve set up an account I call Petty Cash and any items I pay cash for get entered into that account with money taken from my business account. You should be tracking all business expenses whether cash or not.

Fourth, if this guy is only taking cash it sounds to me like he’s operating under the radar as far as tax is concerned.  If you do number three above chances are it’s going to put him in the highlight at some stage.  Whether or not he’s cheap, in the long-run he could become an expense if it causes tax problems for you.  You are better off going with someone who is operating legitimately – that is most important.

Fifth – it’s time you started to learn to do some things on your computer and get familiar with your systems and be able to detect when something isn’t right.  You don’t need to be a progammer or understand how the hardware is put together but getting familiar with what’s normal and what’s not, and knowing what is important to have in place to protect your system and your business are all part of operating your business.

I encourage you to start networking locally – find business networks like BNI or similar so you can find good reliable business operators who can provide these kind of backup support services and someone who might be able to teach you some basics.

Develop good housekeeping practices for your computer – updating your antivirus daily (you can set the software to do that so start exploring), backing up regularly – daily or at least weekly, depending on how busy you are in your business, and learning how things like defrag work on your system.

If you are a new VA and haven’t yet considered good practices for the care of your computer and client data, then the above should help you get started.  It’s never too soon to start good systems.

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Should I be paying someone to get work?

This is a common question amongst VA forums and one that many new VAs ask. And somewhere along the line, the thought and responses have become slightly skewed with responses like ‘you should never pay for getting work’.  Whilst on first sight this appears to be a sound response, I believe you need to look at this much deeper before answering with a ‘yes’ or ‘no’.

For example, the site you’ve visited – is it a membership based site that offers many benefits to its members?  If so, and the benefits are worth receiving, then paying to join that network is worth doing.  You are not ‘paying for work’, you are paying a subscription fee and one of the benefits may well be receiving client contacts and jobs.

However, if all the site is offering is a list of available jobs for a fee and nothing else, then it may well be worth moving on to another site.

There are many, many VA networks out there, some with membership fees, some without. All have something valuable to offer to the industry and to the individual VA and they are worth exploring. Compare their membership benefits and see if you can contact other members to get feedback. Are there testimonials on the site or can you learn from the members via a VA forum?

When seeking the answers to questions like the one above, ensure that the responses are coming from those who have been in the industry somewhat longer than yourself.  It’s those with the experience and knowledge of the industry who can often steer you in the right direction.

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Make sure you have systems in place

Regular readers and many others know the family loss I’ve recently experienced.  I want to highlight some things that I do and which you may need to think about as a Virtual Assistant/business operator for times when emergencies arise and you are unable to be present in your own business.

Over three years ago, when my husband and I began taking overseas trips I started putting systems into place to ensure I could hand over the running of daily activities in my business.  I set up a new ‘business’ phone line so that business calls came only on that number and not my home number.  That way I could simply divert my business calls to one of my VA team members and she wouldn’t be receiving personal calls as well – those could be diverted to my mobile number if necessary.

I stopped giving out my mobile number to anyone who isn’t family or a close friend and diverted my business line to my mobile phone only when necessary.  Because 98% of my work is carried out in my own office (I rarely do on site work these days) it’s not necessary for people to call me on my mobile phone but I recognise this might not be a suitable step for all.

I have an email address that is used specifically for job requests for clients and this is automatically forwarded to one or more team members to handle when I’m away from my office for periods of time.

I’ve also developed more than one income stream through my business so I’m not wholly dependent on client work to financially support my needs. Which means I could realistically have a bit of time off without worrying too much.  Mind you, it is important to plan and put away funds when you know you are going to take leave but if something unplanned came up, finances won’t necessarily be at the top of the list in your mind.

If you are planning leave I find taking it across two months, i.e. a week or two at the end of one month and a week or two at the beginning of another will allow you opportunity to still bring something in for each month.  I’ve done this in the past, but of course, when unexpected things come up, you cannot plan the timing.

I have an emergency phone list of clients and contacts stuck on the wall by my computer so that if my husband or another family member have to call anyone on my behalf, they don’t have to go hunting for that information. The sheet is updated periodically.

These are just some simple things I’ve done to ease the ‘load’ of what needs to be put in place whenever I have to be absent from my business for a period of time.  What about you? What ‘emergency’ systems have you put in place?

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