Virtual Assistant – THE Blog About Our Industry

About the Virtual Assistant industry for VAs and for clients

Monthly Archives: May 2009

Women’s health and VA work

One of the members of our VA forum was doing research for a client on women’s health issues in the mid-life years and asked for suggestions to be added to the list she’d compiled.  Many came back with additional problems and then discussions took place on how old or young each feel and various problems different ones had.

One member gave advice to the younger ones about the importance of keeping active.  As I read it I was reminded of my grandmother, whom I adored.

My grandmother passed away at the age of 98 years. She spent the last couple of years in a home because her body was failing her and she couldn’t do the housework and stuff. She had an incredibly active mind and was very alert.

Her recipe for long life?

Never stop learning. She told me when I was 14 ‘the day I stop learning is the day I die’.  I have never forgotten that piece of advice. She used to teach herself a new word a day out of the dictionary – she loved crosswords and other word puzzles.  She played the piano and loved to hand write music – she spent hours copying music because she loved doing it.

Never stop doing. She was always gardening, and walking and in her younger days was a horse rider. She drove everywhere and only gave up her license in her 80s when a car crashed into her robust FC Holden sedan – hardly any damage to her car. But she recognised it was the lack of quick reflexes that meant she couldn’t avoid someone hitting her as she came out of a shopping car park (mind you it was on the rise of a hill and very hard to see if there was any oncoming traffic till you were actually out on the road).

I loved and admired my grandmother and she was strong, healthy and after having cataracts removed from her eyes in her 70s was able to go without glasses again and drive at night-time, something she’d not been able to do for years.

Because we (Virtual Assistants, both male and female) all work at home, and in front of computers, it is important that we make the effort to get up off our seats and get some exercise.

Lack of Vitamin D can be another problem for those of us indoors all the time.  My renewed passion for photography has gotten me back outside in the fresh air and walking miles in the countryside, always looking for that special shot.

We all need hobbies or something that will get us out and about – particularly those of us who aren’t running kids around!

Virtual Assistant or Employee?

There are other adjectives I can think of but I won’t use them here.

I saw a post advertising for a Female Virtual Assistant/Content Writer that says, and I quote:

You’ll be writing about 3-4 250-350 articles per hour based on the keywords I will specify.

I am going to expect you work full time (only for me and not anyone else) (my emphasis)

You have to have experience in article writing.

Amongst other things.  The ‘virtual assistant’ had to be living in the Phillipines too.  I left a comment but not sure if it will get published.

I don’t know about the tax laws in that country but where I live if providing services for only one person I would be seen as their employee because the bulk (or all) of my income came from them.  That would be a problem for both the client (employer) and myself.

Virtual Assistants are self-employed business owners who provide services to a number of clients but it seems that many ‘clients’ still don’t get that and think they have to have the VA entirely to themself.

The majority of VAs are experienced at juggling many things and often had to report to several people in the corporate world. They are used to organising themselves and prioritising jobs.    Before I started my own business I was reporting to 8 Project Officers and was their only PA – fun by busy job and all 8 Project Officers thought they were the chief!  But I managed and thrived on the busy-ness.  Most VAs I know are the same and love the variety.

Checked your spam filter lately?

I was concerned recently when I received several emails from a lady who had registered for my VA Trainer course but hadn’t heard from me.

I had responded to every single email she had sent me but still her emails kept coming, upset that I’d not responded.  This concerned me a great deal. There was no other contact information with her emails and she’d just signed off with her name.  I looked up her phone and fax number from the form she’d filled out and tried to ring and fax her – with no success.  I then contacted someone I knew in her country to see if they could contact her.

In the meantime I kept trying to email her, from different addresses.  Finally I got a response – she’d received one of my emails.  I asked her to check her spam filter and there she found all my other messages.

Why did I persist in trying to contact her? Because she is keen to learn about our industry and if she perceives me as someone not interested in her she may feel that the industry at large is not what she thought it was.  So I had to make the effort and try since she had emailed me on several occasions.

This is a lesson for us all though.  Have you had challenges getting someone to reply to your emails?

What other ways have you tried to contact them?

Do you make it easy for others to contact you in more than one way?

Other than email what other information do you provide when emailing them?

A signature block should include more than one method, whether it be a website with contact information, a phone number, fax number, alternative email (If you aren’t using a signature block then I urge you to create one so people have get an idea of who you are).

We all need to make it easy to contact each other and provide more than just an email address.  And if you don’t get a reply after the 2nd or 3rd email – pick up the phone, send a letter or fax a note.

My signature block is below – just as an example but yours does not have to be so comprehensive, a simple version is fine.

Kathie M. Thomas, AFAIOP, MVA, ASO, Author, Speaker, VA Coach
Award-winning Virtual Assistant Services and Network, Est. 1994

“A Clayton’s Secretary”®, PO Box 2918, Cheltenham, Victoria, 3192
Ph: +613 9585 5780, Fax: +613 9585 3785
kathie@vadirectory.net, www.vadirectory.net

Join me at FoVA: http://www.forumonvirtualassistance.com
VA blog: http://www.vadirectory.net/blog/
***************************************************************

A great line up for FoVA

Message from Barb who is organising this event:

What do these people all have in common?

Kathie Thomas
Michelle Jamison
Jeannine Clontz
Mary Lou Ashton
Pam Ivey
Tawnya Sutherland
Yvonne Weld
Stacy Brice
Dawn Goldberg
Danielle Guerin
Frances Palaschuk
Kristi Pavlik
Lauren Pibworth
Rob Neilly
David Hansen
Mitch Solway
and me… Barb Lang

They are coming from all around the world to be in Niagara Falls Canada June 4-7, 2009.

Each of these incredible people has put together a one of a kind workshop or clinic style session, to help FoVA attendees take their VA businesses to the next level in a very hands on and practical way.

If you are coming to FoVA’09, be ready to work hard and have fun. Of course this list doesn’t even begin to scratch the surface on the talent that is coming to FoVA as participants. That’s the beauty of FoVA! You’ll be in the room with some of the most successful and generous VA’s in our industry who are there to learn and share with you. You just can’t beat that kind of opportunity!

I invite you to visit www.forumonvirtualassistance.com to learn more. FoVA is the place where VA’s Meet, Learn and Grow.

I hope to see you in June!
Barb

Advertising Advice for Virtual Assistants

Recently a VA posted a question to a forum I moderate asking for advice about the advertising she had been doing. She listed a number of sites she’d registered with and wanted to know what else she could do.  My response to her is below.

I see you’ve joined social networking groups but you haven’t mentioned if you’re active in them.

A large percentage of my clients have come through personal networking and getting to know people over time.

I began my business before the internet so attended lots of face-to-face networking events, some on a weekly basis and others on a monthly basis.

It wasn’t unusual for me to attend 6-8 events a month. It paid off over time but it was probably about 6 months before the enquiries started to come in with comments like ‘do you still do….?’  After that word-of-mouth referrals came in as different people told others about my services.

Today I network a lot online too – participating in discussions and getting to know people. I use a signature block designed for whatever that group is about.  I belong to a couple of professional speakers networks (as I support professional speakers and coaches), a couple of photography networks, writers’ forums and so on. Wherever I think my target audience belongs so they get to know me and trust me and eventually ask about my services.

I also advertise in the Yellow Pages and that brings in enquiries every single week and has done so for years.  Google Adwords is also effective.  I’ve never tried craigslist or other similar sites.

Basically you need to find out where your target audience may hang out and then go and join them.  If you don’t yet know who your target audience is then perhaps look at the skillset and services you have to offer and think about what type of industries would benefit from those things. And then go and look for industry based forums and networking groups.

Participating in Virtual Assistant forums is an excellent way to learn from your peers and gain knowledge but to get the experience with clients you need to venture out and mix and mingle with prospective clients.  Finding out where they hang out is the best place to be.