Virtual Assistant – THE Blog About Our Industry

About the Virtual Assistant industry for VAs and for clients

Category Archives: Operating a VA Business

Virtual Assistants – Network or Agency?

I often get new VAs, or those planning to become a VA, contacting me to find out whether they should be joining my VA Network, or for advice about another group they are thinking of joining.  I don’t mind people contacting me to ask these questions and I’m always happy to help and give guidance. Ultimately the decision is their’s but I like to give them things to think about, to help them with their decision-making.

Let’s look first at some definitions of these two words.  On thefreedictionary.com a network is described as: An extended group of people with similar interests or concerns who interact and remain in informal contact for mutual assistance or support.

On the same site Agency is described as: A business or service authorized to act for others.

Based on the above I’d like to give you my definitions of a Virtual Assistant Network and a Virtual Assistant Agency.

A network is a membership based group of like-minded people, learning and sharing together while mutually benefitting from their collaboration.  At a VA Network it is common for clients to make contact seeking work to be done and many of the VA members will also outsource work to fellow members. Further than that, each VA contributes something of their own knowledge and experience to help fellow VAs learn more about their industry and grow their skills. This is commonly done via a chat forum of some nature, either by email, or board based forum generally.  Each member is a self-employed business professional and while they will pay a regular membership fee (monthly or annual) to belong to that network they don’t pay the network for work, nor do they have to pay a portion of what they earn from clients they gained through the network.  The network will generally have a number of member benefits available to all its members to enhance the enjoyment of being a member of that network.

An agency is a business that is authorised to act on behalf of others. In other words they engage people who can provide the services and support the client of the agency. When the work has been done the Agency generally bills the client and then pays the service provider (VA) a portion of what has been earnt.  In other words, the VA is actually working for the agency and is sub-contracted to the client.  In some agencies the VA might bill the client direct but is required to pay the agency a portion of the fees they’ve earned from the client gained through the agency.  Often there are contracts involved and requirements on how the VA conducts their business. In this situation the VA could technically be classed as an employee via the tax department and it is most important that VAs who are registered with agencies check what the legal onus is on them with respect to that working relationship.  Should the agency be paying their taxes and providing them with sick leave and annual leave?  Are there tax forms that need to be filled out? Are there other requirements?  I suggest it would be wise to check with your accountant, legal advisor or someone else who has the relevant knowledge to be able to advise you in this situation.

So these are just two ways you can be operating as a VA but it is important that you take the onus on yourself to check what your legal requirements are and seek advice from the right people.  In the first you are responsible for your own taxes, insurance and leave arrangements being a self-employed owner-operator, and for the second you need to find out who is responsible for those things and ensure everything is in place. The second generally means you are an employee and not self-employed.

Anniversary Celebrations IV

This is the last week of celebrations for my business anniversary of 18 years, which was two days ago.  So, what can I give to any VA that they would really appreciate and value. I don’t want to disadvantage existing VAs and want to open it to all VAs, new and experienced.

I thought about it long and hard and decided that a place at the Australian VA Conference being held on 4-5 May would be ideal. This event is suitable for all VAs and will help you move your business onto the next step, no matter where you are in business.  Valued at $299.00 per ticket, I will offer one ticket to a lucky VA who leaves a message in the comments below, in no more than 25 words, why he or she would like to attend AVAC 2012.  And if you’ve already bought a ticket, you can still go in the draw – why not sell it to another VA or gift it to another VA, splitting the costs you’ve already paid?

I look forward to your comments.

Anniversary Celebrations III

By now you will have gotten the idea that a few lucky VAs have gone into the draw for various prizes (gifts) to help me celebrate my 18 years in business.

What have I got in store this week?  Jan King has been kind enough to offer a complimentary copy of her course “Virtual Assistant Speakers Course“, teaching you how to become an assistant for one or more professional speakers.  This is something I have been doing personally for many years and have been fortunate to work with some of the country’s top professional speakers.  It’s work I have really enjoyed, and you can too.  Normally $498USD Jan is happy to give a complimentary copy for my anniversary celebrations. All you have to do is leave a comment below, outlining in no more than 25 words, why you would like to do this course.

Anniversary celebrations II

Week two of my anniversary celebrations.  What will I give away to a lucky new VA this week?

You may be aware that I provide a 10 week coaching course guiding those who want to be a VA and don’t know where to start, or simply filling in the gaps for those who have been a VA for awhile but feel there’s still some information missing.

Enter VATrainer.com.  I wrote this program several years ago and it is updated from time to time. It covers things such as starting your business, what to expect, how to find clients, developing a web presence, looking at social media and coping with family and work.

So, what is the prize specifically? The course at 50% off the normal price of $675.00.  So that’s $337.50 for one luck VA.  All you have to do is leave a comment below and fill out the registration form at the training course site (linked above). I will get in touch before the month’s end to let you know if you are the winner.

Watch your language!

As Virtual Assistants we are constantly using the written word to communicate with clients, potential clients, our peers and others online.  We help our clients reach out to their clients as well and use many different mediums to achieve this. Ways to do this include blog posts and e-newsletters.

The thing we have to remember is that our audience is global – not just local.  And I find so many lists I am on forget this.  Just simple things such as saying ‘welcome to Spring’ when, in fact, half your audience is probably in the other hemisphere and experiencing the opposite season. I like to qualify my messages by saying, ‘here in Australia….’ and then go on to talk about the seasons, weather or whatever it was I was going to say.

Whilst that is purely a matter of just thinking about your audience but not necessarily a problem if you forget, there is something else you really should be very careful about – and that is using local slang in broadcasts that go out to a global audience.  What might appear to be a harmless or common word where you live, could well be a word that is rude or has a bad meaning in another part of the world.  It is often best to use the correct word for describing something rather than its slang counterpart – especially if you’re not sure that word is used outside of your own shores.  Could save some embarrassment, or even upsetting some people.  So, read through what you want to send out and think carefully about the words you use, particularly descriptive words and a good rule of thumb would be, change the word, if you’re not sure :-)

I know on the VA forum I run we’ve had fun with word games in the past teaching VAs in different countries the different meaning for the same word, i.e. a ‘thong’ here in Australia is something you wear on your feet in the summer. Not so elsewhere – just as an example.