Virtual Assistant – THE Blog About Our Industry

About the Virtual Assistant industry for VAs and for clients

Monthly Archives: May 2010

Being a Virtual Assistant gives flexibility

Operating as a Virtual Assistant gives flexibility to the way we work and also to our lifestyle.

Over the years I’ve had clients appreciate that I could juggle things to meet a deadline or get something happening quickly for them when they weren’t expect that could be done.  On the other hand I’ve enjoyed the flexibility that working from home in this way has given to my life and I know my family have appreciated that too.

Being a VA means we have control of our diaries – not anyone else, and it’s up to us to make sure we block in time for ourselves, our families, and our clients.  It is important to work out what’s important to you and then make sure that is reflected in your diary on a daily and weekly basis.

Looking for a mail list option to run on my server

I currently run my site on WordPress with Wishlist installed to manage members of my network. I want to bring onto my site a suitable mail list option for my members to use, instead of an external service. This is what I perceive is needed:

  • Messages to be archived so that members can view past messages at any time they login
  • Messages can be sent from any member to entire list via email (as in yahoogroups)
  • Multiple lists able to be set up for smaller groups (as can be done in ning)
  • The main list to have the ability to grow to well over 1,000 members
  • The ability to send email from Outlook or any other program without having to login to the system (as in yahoogroups – ning doesn’t let you do this)

I want to be able to run the mail list on my own server and under my own domain name rather than use an external service.   However, if there is potential for webspace or bandwidth problems, I do need to know about that.

What can you recommend?

The promise of work

Readers will know that I own and manage a Virtual Assistant network, as well as moderate two VA forums.  We get new readers here every day so I just wanted to mention that before following with this post.

Yesterday I received an email from a lady wanting to know how much work she would get if she signed up to join my VA team. This is not an unusual request and is probably one I get almost every week, sometimes more often.

In this case it was for medical typing but sometimes it’s for bookkeeping, resume writing, data entry – you name it, I get asked about it at some time or another.  Below is my response to this question and I expect very similar to what any network owner would advise.

We don’t get a lot of medical typing through our network but we do get a lot of transcription work – there’s always jobs being posted every week.

I can’t promise to keep any member in fulltime work or lots of hours but client introductions are just one of the many member benefits we have.  In joining you’ll learn about setting up business at home, how to source clients and to market to them, how to deal with clients, set rates that are right for you, handling work and juggling family and so much more.  We have several discounted services and products available to members too.

However, that’s not to say if you joined up today we wouldn’t have a request for medical typing tomorrow. We may well do and you could get that client to be your own – I never know what is going to take place from day to day. I can tell you I started working from home as a typist over 16 years ago (pre-internet) and have not regretted that decision. I’ve brought up 5 daughters in that time and am so glad I did it.

I would encourage you to join up with 2 or 3 possible sources for clients and then also spend time learning to network and meet others – even speak to local doctors in your area.  While you do have a young family to juggle, so do many of our other members, and perhaps joining our chat forum which is free and located both on the front of our website and my blog, might be the next best step for you.

I would like to add that the possible ‘sources’ for finding clients are not just VA networks online, although it is good to be a member of more than one and I encourage it – that way you get to appreciate the diversity of the industry and the various cultures that are involved.  However, other sources would be local Chambers of Commerce, local council business networks, Rotary, BNI, Leads Club, other networking groups in the area, plus anywhere at all where groups of people meet, such as schools, halls, churches, shops, libraries, post offices and so on. Wherever people meet and mingle and chat to one another, the prospects of finding a new client is very real.

So, if you’re looking for the promise of work when joining a VA network, just remember that none of them can promise you how much work you’ll get but they can promise that they will provide you with the opportunities to secure clients (if they have that system in place) and then it’s up to you to communicate with those clients in the best possible way to secure the work.  Some clients will be ‘shopping’ on price only, others on location, others on specific skillsets or background experience. Some clients will accept the first VA they come across to support them, others will be more choosey and speak to several (via phone or email) before making a decision.

Get work as a Virtual PA

Welcome to viewers of Channel 9′s A Current Affair Program.  If you’re looking for work as a Virtual PA, then you’ve come to the right place!  This blog has many articles relating to how you would establish a work from home business and the types of clients who require our services. Commonly known as Virtual Assistants, many also refer to us as Virtual PAs.

My own background has 23 years experience as a corporate PA before I launched my home based business over 16 years ago.  My business has grown with the internet.

If you would like advice, or want to know more, feel free to peruse the articles here, or join our free chat forum so you can mix and mingle with others who are doing what you’re hoping to do. And you are most welcome to look at joining our team of Virtual Assistants with the “A Clayton’s Secretary” network.

VA + NFP = Perfect Marriage

Chatting to a VA over the weekend made me realise how much a Virtual Assistant working with a Not For Profit is a perfect fit.  You could say it’s the perfect marriage.

Organisations run by volunteer committees at some time or another get to the point of overload.  The committee members have to make a decision of where to go next, they’ve come to the cross road. Some struggle or find more committee members but more often than not, many get burnt out and move on, leaving the organisation lacking in skills and experience.  Others decide to engage someone to support them but then comes the question of who, when, where, how much and so on.

Enter the Virtual Assistant who has suitable skills for this role.  They already have their own office, equipment, software and furniture and this immediately elminates the need for those items to be considered by the committee of the organisation. So, the next thing they really need to do is decide what needs to be done and how much they are willing to commit to financially.

Some organisations agree to an annual rate which is paid on a monthly basis on contract and others simply pay on invoice to the VA who supports them. I have done it both ways and for 10 years supported several NFPs, some for several years.  At one stage I was supporting 3 simultaneously and really enjoyed this line of work.

The services I provided as a Secretariat (Association Management) for NFPs are:  database management, website maintenance, membership management, broadcast emails, daily contact with members (provided a phone line), receiving and opening mail, banking of membership payments, reporting to the treasurer and president as needed, prepare agendas for meetings, take minutes of meetings and organise networking and educational events for the members.  The majority of this work was done in my own office but once a month I may have been required to attend committee meetings or networking events held for members – it really depended on the organisation.

If you enjoy working with groups of people and have a personal interest in certain areas, then you could look to see what NFPs operate in that area, for example: sport, medical, ethnic groups, business councils, specific industry groups and so on.

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