What is all this ridiculous stuff that makes no sense that comes in spam? Is it some kind of secret code that only the exceptional few know and understand? Perhaps there's some global thing happening where groups of people around the world are planning things and the information is disseminated by the code in the spam? Who knows? Spam is bad enough at any time but it used to make some sense - it was pretty much trying to promote something or lure you somewhere to suit the sender's needs. But … [Read more...]
Help! Someone has copied my website!
Some of the VA forums I belong to have recently had discussions about new VAs who are copying the content of more established VAs and placing it on their website, unchanged. It is plagiarism and as far as I know, that isn't legal. It certainly isn't moral and can be very upsetting for the owner of the content. Why does this happen and what can be done about it? Well, it happens for a number of reasons. People like what they've seen and want to copy it as it will make them look more … [Read more...]
Troubleshooting Software
The other day my husband was having a challenge with an update of software on his computer. Normally he can sort out software problems as he spends his work days working with the technical side of software design but this particular one was proving troublesome. The help files on the provider's site was not useful at all and so I suggested that he check to see if there was a chat forum somewhere related to the software, or the hardware that the software was being used for. He did that - and … [Read more...]
Promoting Your VA Business
Regularly on the chat forums, I see new VAs seeking advice for getting clients. I recently posted the following on one of those forums. As with any business, marketing is an important part of what you should be doing regularly, at least weekly. This could be in the form of paid advertising, networking, calling people, going out and meeting people, doing leaflet drops, registering with directories online and so on. I've never found advertising in a local publication useful but that can differ … [Read more...]
A Day To Work On My Business, Instead Of In It
If you've had any contact with a business coach, or if you do a lot of reading about operating a business, you will be familiar with the need to work on your business, instead of just in it. Michael Gerber mentions this in his book - The E-Myth as well - I read his book many years ago. When I first started my VA business many years ago I did anything that came along on any day it came - even weekends and evenings. As my business picked up, so did the hours I was doing and for quite some time … [Read more...]
What Do VAs Do?
I came across a blog entry today regarding Guy Kawasaki and the fact he had hired a virtual assistant but struggled with the discipline of being able to get things done. He spends a lot of time blogging and writing these days (seems an addiction many of us have!). I posted a comment and the owner of the blog responded to that comment asking about VAs - which gave me the opportunity to explain what I do for my own clients as an example of some of the things we do in our industry. Although … [Read more...]
Starting With the End in Mind
This relates to something that happened to one of my team members, but it is an important note for all in any regard. A client came through us last year seeking someone to set up a database in Excel for him. Originally it started off being a simple database but grew more complex as the client thought of more things they needed. This then proved a difficult task for the team member who did the job because she didn't have the knowledge / experience required for the complexity that developed and … [Read more...]
Getting Out Amongst the Clients!
I am constantly amazed at the number of people I come across who want to operate a business online from home - but not put in what's required to meet their target audience! You can't just put up a website and say 'here I am world, come to me!' because that just doesn't work. You have to go where the people are and that means a number of things, depending on what your business is. But here are some suggestions: Find out about local business networks and attend networking events - it's worth … [Read more...]
Are You Really Operating Globally?
A recent post at SOHO-Life was about telling your (global) audience about your business in global terms. Today, my daughter and I have been trying to fax a horse stud in South Africa. She's booked to go there for a working holiday but is having no success with responses to recent emails. The owners may have been away on leave but there are no autoresponders to let people know that. We tried faxing this morning our time and the first time the phone just rang and rang. The second time the answer … [Read more...]
