Virtual Assistant – THE Blog About Our Industry

About the Virtual Assistant industry for VAs and for clients

Monthly Archives: July 2009

VATrainer Student Interview III

My next interview in this series is Christine Myers

1. What made you decide to take the VATrainer.com course and how did you find it?

christine-myersI was working as an Administrative Assistant and my boss decided to retire.  Since I was out of a job it was the ideal time to consider going into business for myself.  I read an article about a woman who was a virtual assistant in Louisiana before Hurricane Katrina.  Because she worked remotely, after she relocated, she was back in business in no time at all.
Her story intrigued me, but not knowing how to begin was overwhelming.

I scoured the internet for information.  One evening I listened to a seminar sponsored by “The Barefoot Executive,” Carrie Wilkerson, featuring Kathie M.
Thomas from “A Clayton’s Secretary.”  The VATrainer.com course seemed to be just what I needed.

2. What were you hoping to achieve after completing the course?

I was hoping to achieve a business “mindset” with a focus on virtual assistance. I needed a step-by-step approach to gain the knowledge and confidence to start a business and to market my skills.

3. Did you?

Most definitely!

4. Where are you now with your plans to operate as a VA?

I have incorporated as: Virtual Assistant Services.net and my website is www.VirtualAssistantServices.net I presently have 3 clients.  Also I have been asked to write a weekly column about Virtual Assistants in an online newsletter.

5. Would you recommend the course to others and if so, why?

Oh, yes! This course takes you from supplies and equipment, your mindset,
business plan, incorporation, charging fees, setting up a website, all the
way through to marketing, networking and more…….

6. Is there anything else you would like to share with our readers?

Yes…. find a mentor (Take a course like the VATrainer.com, join a group,
organization, forum) for learning and encouragement, develop a mindset for
your business and then take massive action… “just do it.”  Most of all
“Don’t give up!!!!

7. Please provide brief intro of who you are, along with your website link,
location and anything else of interest.

My company offers remote administrative services, which can include one-time special projects, day to day clerical tasks, and personal assistance to small business owners, private practice independent professionals and busy executives.

When I am not working I enjoy traveling, being at the beach, watching the
birds feed at the bird feeder and most of all being with family. I am
passionate for children and I am a department head & teacher for the
children’s ministry where I attend church. I have been involved, as a
volunteer, for almost 20 years. I reside in West Fort Lauderdale, Florida.

You can learn more about my services through my web site:
www.VirtualAssistantServices.net or contact me at:
(954) 496-6982 and cmyers@VirtualAssistantServices.net

Thank you, Kathie for this opportunity!

Virtual Assistants – Plan Your Work For Them

As more business owners become aware of the world of Virtual Assistants and realise the potential for getting a wide range of things to be done, there is also the potential for getting confused about who a VA is and what they should be doing for a client.

Many clients often realise at the last minute things that need to be done, or try to do something themselves and, in a panic, realising they can’t, contact a virtual assistant for (urgent) help.  They might even have a regular VA who is already supporting them and expect everything to be dropped in order to save the day (for the client) for their urgent matter.

It is important for clients to understand and realise that VAs are not employees, but indeed, business operators, just like them. And that also then means they usually have more than one client and they’re not sitting around, waiting for your work to come in.

So, if you know you have a project coming up, or an important date for something, it’s always worth while letting your VA know in advance so they can put aside a block of time for you.

I have had, over the years, many clients contact me to find a new VA because their existing (or previous) one didn’t meet their timeframes.  But sometimes I later find out it’s because things were often left to the last minute.

Help your VA to help you in the best possible timeframe by letting them know in advance what is coming up and what the potential for time requirement might be – as much as is possible to predict.  I have regular meetings via phone or email with some of my clients for exactly this purpose – to see what’s coming up in the week so I have an idea for the work potential. I also know then, that if something needed to be completed by the end of the week but I still haven’t seen it, and it’s now Wednesday, I can send an email to the client reminding them they had something they needed to get to me.

So, if you’re a client using VAs to support your business, give them the opportunity to help you in your business as much as possible and outline your timeframe for things. Don’t spring it on them at the last minute.

VATrainer Student Interview II

I’m delighted to introduce to you Kylie Short who was one of my first students.

1. What made you decide to take the VATrainer.com course and how did you find it?

short8I decided to take the VATrainer.com course because of the distinctly *Australian content. I already knew how to set up my business but it was important to me that I learn as much as I could about being a Virtual Assistant in Australia. I found it through Kathie’s website ACS.

2. What were you hoping to achieve after completing the course?

I wanted to be ready to hit the ground running and know as much as I could about being a Virtual Assistant.

3. Did you?

The course filled in the gaps in my knowledge and helped to set me up for success.

4. Where are you now with your plans to operate as a VA?

I have been in business now for three years and I am a Multi-VA in that I have a small team of highly qualified subcontractor VAs working with me on my team. I have big plans for the future and I can’t see myself being anything other than a Virtual Assistant and small business owner.

5. Would you recommend the course to others and if so, why?

Definitely. The course is delivered to you in bite sized pieces by email and I worked through the course piece by piece. It provides you with a good starting point for starting your Virtual Assistant business.

6. Is there anything else you would like to share with our readers?

Who else to learn about becoming a Virtual Assistant than from Kathie Thomas? She has been in business for 15 years and has the experience from which all her trainees benefit from.

7. Please provide brief intro of who you are, along with your website link, location and anything else of interest.

Named after her daughter, Tilda Virtual Services began as an answer to Kylie’s desire to have flexibility in her life as she actively participated in raising her children and nurturing her family. Her passion to help others is fueled by the immense joy Kylie feels in being a business owner herself.

As a testament to Kylie’s expertise, she was awarded the internationally recognised Janet Jordan Achievement Award in 2008 for her success as a Virtual Assistant. She’s continually requested for speaking engagements to help educate the business sector on how Virtual Assistants can benefit entrepreneurs.

In her downtime, Kylie loves to nurture her creative spirit by painting and scrapbooking when she’s not curled up with a book or hanging out with her husband Lincoln and their three children.

*N.B. Kathie would like to add that while the VATrainer course was written in Australia and does understand Australian related aspects to business, the course is not specifically for Australian VAs and gives advice and training suitable for any English-speaking Virtual Assistant in any country.

Keeping your email address updated

Have you changed your email address lately?

Did you notify those whose lists you belong to?

I manage a network of Virtual Assistants and periodically I’ll send out an email to the list and get many bounce backs.  There is considerable time spent tracking down each individual, either ringing or faxing them, or finding an alternative email address so I can let them know the important piece of information I was trying to get to them.

When you change your email address you need to ensure that you do update it where it’s important.  Just as you would when you change mailing addresses for your home.

You could elect to forward the old address to the new one for a period of time till you are sure everyone is up to date.

However, if you belong to several newsletter and forum lists then it is up to you to manually do the change and not expect the newsletter owner or forum moderator to do this.  There are usually links at the bottom of newsletters or forum discussions that will allow you to make that change yourself.

Remember, if you want to keep up to date with things and not miss out on the things you signed up for, you need to make sure your address is up to date and not inactive.

Mail delivery failed: returning message to sender

550 Mailbox quota exceeded

Is this something you’re in danger of sending to prospective clients and others who email you?

This is a message I periodically get faced with when emailing people and it makes me wonder how they run their business online if people cannot contact them because their mailbox is full.

If you have had this challenge then it’s time to look at increasing your mailbox or changing the mail service you use for something else.

Or, look at how you’re set up.  Do you have your mail stay on the server even when you download it? If so, that mailspace is going to fill up sometime and you need to empty it regularly.  Or do you only check your email now and then and not daily?

I prefer to keep my email program open all the time and do not have the mail saved on the server.  If you feel you do need to do that to save email that might get lost then consider using gmail or a similar service that retrieves from your server and will deliver to your inbox, but keep it online in their system also.

Whatever way you operate, there will be some kind of service suitable for your needs and there shouldn’t be a reason for people receiving this failed message because of a full mailbox.