Came across a great site this week, when helping a client organise an event he was promoting. He wanted to take bookings online and make it as painless as possible. He’d been told of a couple of sites by associates and I tried one of them out for him yesterday when sending out a broadcast email.  Very easy to use and set up, you can customise the page after setting up the initial information.

The site is called Trybooking.com and this morning I logged back in to see if he’d gotten any bookings.  He had!  He probably receives notification at his email address but you can create a pdf or printed report when you log in.  The site allows you to allocate how many seats are available and even seating positions, so if you have a theatre to book out, or a room with numbered seating, this site is ideal for it.  It will handle your payments for you, or you can simply have a ‘free’ event – which my client is running.

How much does it all cost? Very little. This page gives you the info.

The site collects all the information for you and makes it easy for those booking for your event.

So, if you’re an Aussie VA running an event, no matter what size, for yourself or a client, this site is definitely worth using. Think I’ll be using this for future events – wish I’d known before promoting AVAC this year!

I often tell my team, particularly newer members, how important it is to follow up new clients after an enquiry has been made. Often the clients are either in overwhelm mode: too much to do, or panic mode: the work needed to be done yesterday.  Consequently when a message is left on their voicemail, or an email sent, the client might not see it, or might get distracted by something else, and good intentions have gone by the wayside.  They know they need help, but they’re so stuck in the middle of it, that trying find the time to return calls, or respond to emails, can sometimes be too overwhelming for the overloaded client. The VA who was hoping to help them with what was needed, has become virtually invisible.  They (the VAs), in turn, come to me to say they’ve not heard from the client, what should they do?  I tell them ‘follow up’.

Such an important thing to do – follow up. I believe in the ‘squeaky wheel’ principle. It’s the squeaky wheel that gets the most attention. Likewise, the person who follows up the most is more likely to catch the client at the right moment and get the job that needs to be done.  You need to make yourself known.

One of my clients, Stefan Kazakis, is a business coach. He also teaches his clients about the importance of follow up – particularly in the sales arena. And I feel that what he says also applies to the VA industry, and in fact, anyone at all who is in the business of selling their services, or even their own abilities (such as job hunting).  His two articles ‘Help People Buy From You‘ and ‘Follow Up & Follow Up Again‘ are worth reading.  Make sure you go read them and apply what he recommends, if it fits the bill for you.

Exactly the question asked on a VA forum sometime ago and here is my answer:

• Find an accountant to get the advice that is needed regarding legal requirements for your business.
• Apply for whatever licenses or register whatever you need to do legally regarding the tax dept for your region.
• A business name can wait till you’ve gotten started – it’s not necessary and you can legally operate under your own name if you wish.
• Get business cards made up – doesn’t have to be a real lot, even just a couple hundred, but so you have something to give out to people you meet face-to-face.
• Set up a website – there are easy low cost options for doing this using blogger or wordpress or other systems out there.
• Purchase a domain name – they are low cost and one that reflects your name is fine for now. If you later decide on a business name you can buy a new domain and get that pointing to your website as well.
• Develop a signature block for online connection with people – that’s like your online business card.

I wouldn’t rush it when it comes to business names, logos or other things that could change 6 months down the track once you have a better idea of what you want to do and where you’re headed.

Start finding local business networks so you can meet local businesses in your area. This will have two particular reasons – 1, you can learn from others who have been in business in your area for awhile, and 2, you’ll meet potential clients. Most business owners need some sort of admin assistance.

You can also locate online business networks for the same reason. LinkedIn.com is a good avenue but there are many others.

After you’ve been in business for awhile you’ll get a feel for what you like doing and what you don’t and from there you might start deciding upon a niche or set of services you prefer to provide. At that point a business name may well come to you.

I’ve chosen not to use my mobile (cell) phone for my VA business. Why? Because I’m in my office 95% of the time anyway and they can get me via the landline and email – why do I need them calling on my mobile phone too?

I use the mobile phone for personal use only, i.e. family, friends, emergencies.  If I’m out of my office I can’t be doing work for clients anyway, as the majority of what I do is done on a computer.

And yet, it seems I’m in a minority and I think it shocks some clients when they ask for my mobile number and I won’t give it to them.  I know what will happen if I do. They’ll start using it to ring me all the time – instead of my landline number.

If I need to be hearing from them when I’m away from my office then I’ll simply divert my landline to my mobile phone to receive their calls. But chances are, that if I’m going to be away from my office for sometime (like several days or more) then I’m more likely to divert my landline to one of my VA team members to handle calls in my absence.

So, do you use your mobile phone for business, or are you like me, and reserve it for family and friends only?  Let’s face it, there’s little opportunity to be ‘disconnected’ from the office with all of today’s technologies.  I like to be able to switch off now and then – it’s good for the mind, body and soul.

I’ve been corresponding with a couple of new Virtual Assistants over the past couple of weeks. They found me via different VA forums and started emailing me for advice.

One said she couldn’t afford a website yet and was asking me what she could do to promote her business online. This is my response to her:

“What makes you think you can’t afford a website?  The reality is you could get webhosting and a domain for a year for a very minimal amount of money (I provide this service and I know that other VA organisations do too).  And if the webhost provides WordPress (which is free software) you could have a site up in a couple of hours. There are tons of free templates out there, you don’t have to know web coding – the program works very much like Word in lots of ways and you can publish online straight away.  It would also mean you would have a domain address that is yours to keep, people could look you up and learn about what you do and you can update it anytime you want. www.wordpress.org has a free support forum and many of the VA discussion groups can help answer questions too.

I’m much more experienced with WordPress now but was a beginner around 6 or 7 years ago and I love the program.  I’ve learnt enough html to tweak the coding and make changes if I want to – but you don’t have to at all. You don’t have to have a business name – you could buy yourname.com if it was available or even yourname-va.com or similar.  I’m sure you’d come up with a few possibilities if you thought of it.”

So, if you’ve been struggling with the idea of whether you can afford a website or not, I hope the above helps dispel that problem for you.

This is a comment/question I see regularly via forums, and particularly at LinkedIn.  People just starting out in the Virtual Assistant industry but not sure how to source clients and build their client base.

This question can actually apply to anyone in business – not just the Virtual Assistant industry. But since I write for the industry, I’ll focus on VAs for now.

I began my business in March 1994, pre-internet.  The way I found clients back then is still very much relevant today.  The Internet just adds another dimension and another way of doing that same thing – networking.

Networking, and the resulting word-of-mouth referrals, should never be underestimated.  Networking is a way of meeting people both online and offline, word-of-mouth referrals come as a result of people experiencing your service and telling others about it – both go hand-in-hand.

It is important to note that networking should NEVER be done just online.  You are missing a good percentage of your audience otherwise.  Locally there will be groups of people meeting for all sorts of reasons – business networks being just one of those reasons.  And because the number of people is very much smaller than the internet, you have a higher chance of being seen, heard, and noticed.

Some places you could look for networks or groups of people in your area? Local Council, Chamber of Commerce, business network groups such as BNI, Leads Club, or perhaps even Rotary, Lions, and special interest groups.

Online you can use a signature block to help people know about your business, at networking and business events, your business card is an important tool. ALWAYS carry cards with you wherever you go as you never know who you’re going to meet or where.  I’ve been known to pass on my card to a cashier when we’ve been engaged in conversation.

So, if you’re looking for clients – go out and mix and mingle with people.  Be prepared to tell them about what you do – without telling your life story.  Also be prepared to spend time listening – and not do all the talking.  People give you respect when they feel that you are listening to them.  And listening will alert you to their business needs.

If you’re like me, you may have been spending the past week still on a holiday break, knowing full well that work was just around the corner.  So, now it’s time to really take stock of what is ahead, or perhaps outstanding, to get the year started off right.  Here are a few hints and tips on things that VAs, clients and other business owners can do, to start the new year off right.

Your Outlook file. How big is it? Mine was nearly 2.5gb in size – too big!  At the beginning of each year, I usually rename outlook.pst to outlook20xx.pst for the previous year and then re-open Outlook. When it can’t find the old pst file it automatically creates a new one.  Then I go about importing my contact folders, drafts folder, and any other folders that are important to me. For my inbox, I elect to import everything for the past week (or month, whatever suits you) into the same folders as the previous file, so my preferred structure is reset up and I’m operating again.  After that I reset up my rules wizard as often that’s gotten into a mess too. Don’t forget your appointments too – make sure anything you’ve entered over the past month for the future is included too. My Outlook program is now ready for the new year.

What other things can you do?

Check all the folders on your computer.  Are there folders no longer relevant?  Perhaps for clients you no longer service, or groups you no longer participate in?  Archive, file or delete what is no longer required.

Does your computer need an overhaul? It’s gotten slow, or has software on it no longer relevant? If you don’t have the ability to do this yourself, book it in for a service with a reliable service provider.

Check the (c) notices on your websites and blogs to make sure they reflect the new year.

Basically, you want to clear out the clutter you have on your computer (and your desk) so you can start afresh for the New Year and be ready to jump to action without being held up by old messes and old things.

Do you have challenges with working out the punctuation in a transcription you’re doing for a client?  It’s not always easy to know when you should be putting a semi-colon or a colon, a fullstop (period) or a comma and so on.  I’ve heard the occasional person actually dictate when a fullstop should be used or comma, but not often.

I guess if you’re under 40 you might not have heard of the name Victor Borge but my husband and I were lying in bed this morning and something just got us thinking about him.  We googled him and were delighted to find there are many clips for him on Youtube.  Victor was a much loved Danish comedian, and a brilliant pianist, but probably more well known in English speaking countries for his comedy.  I remember growing up listening to him on my dad’s 78 records.  We used to giggle often at the sounds he made.  Victor Borge passed away in December 2000. He had made his home in the US in the 1940s.

I want to share this clip with you which demonstrates the phonetic punctuation he developed long ago. Enjoy!

Those of my readers who mix in the social media circles or forums to which I belong will know I had an accident on 12th December.  The rest of you probably don’t.   Rather than repeat it all here I encourage you to visit my photography blog to read all about it. Because, after all, I was out on a photowalk when it happened.  And if you subscribe (email) to that blog before end 31st December, you will go into a draw for a free print – I draw a prize each month at my photography blog.

The short story is I broke my leg in two places, had to have surgery and returned home after a week in hospital. I’m now on crutches (or a frame, depending on how I feel at the time) till end of January.    Not a good end to a year or a good start to a new one, hey?

So, how has this affected my business?  Hopefully, not a great deal. I had planned on taking leave over the Christmas/New Year break (I hate that word now) anyway, to spend time with my husband. We had planned on going on drives and walks, but that idea has been struck down.  Instead we both have long lie ins in the morning in bed and are rarely at the top end of the house (where the office is) till close to lunch time.  Graham is due to return to work 9th January, although he has been working at home for most of this year, recovering from his own accident back in April.  We’re hoping his employer will agree to him staying home till end of January as I expect to be back on my own two feet again then.

I notified my clients as quickly as I could and most were winding down for the year anyway.  I have a few small outstanding jobs to do which I plan to do today and then I can start afresh in the new year.

But what would you do if this happened to you? Do you have a team of VAs to refer to if you need backup support (I do).  Do you have one person you can divert your phone to in case of emergency? (thankfully I do).Are you able to contact clients quickly or do you have a contact list readily available for family, friends or colleagues to make contact on your behalf?  And would your clients be understanding if you need to have urgent time off?

These are things to think about in your business. No-one likes to take ill, or have an injury, but unplanned things do happen.  Make sure, when you set your goals and plans for the new year, you also include a plan of action in case something unexpectedly comes up.  You owe that to your business and your clients.

Have a Happy New Year!

It’s getting that time of year when many start looking at what they will do in the New Year. One of those things often means planning a change in jobs, or even branching out to run your own business.

If you have good computer skills, with a background in admin or office support based work, then you could well become a Virtual Assistant.

How do you get started? Well, you can simply set up at home and start to promote that’s what you are doing, but chances are you’re going to feel you’re not sure how to find clients, how to promote, what to charge, are you doing the right thing, what are others doing, etc, etc.

Enter the Virtual Assistant Networks and forums that are available to give you a helping hand.  It is important to note that becoming a Virtual Assistant does mean you are no longer an employee – but rather self-employed. This means you are billing the clients direct (if someone else is doing this for you and you only get a percentage of the invoice, then reality is you are not self-employed), responsible for all your own taxation and insurances and you have direct contact with your clients.  It might sound scary but it is pretty straightforward, once you do get started.

It’s also important you make sure you have the right support resources too – a good Accountant, a bookkeeper if you’re not going to do your own, IT support for your computer and other equipment, however you don’t have to have all that in place straight away.  Much better if you join a forum and start chatting with the other VAs to see what they do and who they go to, and so on.

So, are you ready to join our industry and make a start for the new year? Great!  Then I encourage you to join “A Clayton’s Secretary” to get started. And if you feel you need training to get you on track, then I encourage you to look at VATrainer.com – there is a Christmas special on right now!

By the way!  “A Clayton’s Secretary” VA Directory has been operating since 1996 – the second oldest VA Network in the world. The founder, Kathie Thomas, has been in business since March 1994.