This month has been deemed the month for home-based workers to don their bathrobes to do their work. Whilst I appreciate the sentiment and reasoning behind this idea, I honestly can't say I've ever worked in my bathrobe in the almost 13 years of my business. For the record, I do enjoy the freedom that working at home gives me and constantly give thanks for it. I don't know about you but I find I cannot focus 'professionally' without being showered and dressed and out of my bedroom clothing. I … [Read more...]
Business Operator or Employee?
There still seems to be confusion, at least amongst the newer entries into the VA industry, that they are looking for 'jobs' online as opposed to seeking 'clients'. The confusion of not knowing what your target market is in getting established as a Virtual Assistant will cause considerable delay in getting things happening. You can get jobs where you are an employee and are operating from your own home, but that is not what a Virtual Assistant is about. VAs are usually business owners, not … [Read more...]
VA Forums – Boards or Emails?
For many years now the VA network I manage has been using YahooGroups for its messaging to members. I had explored message boards quite a long time ago and felt that members wouldn't log in on a daily basis to check for messages relevant to them. At that time my choice was the right one and I currently moderate two VA forums with a sum total of well over 1,000 VA members. I had tried about 3 or 4 different messaging systems till we finally made a shift back to YahooGroups, which had improved … [Read more...]
Linking to lots of blogs
If you haven't heard about the 2000 Bloggers' Project, you need to head over to my blog at SOHO-Life and read all about it. If you are keen to get listed on a blog that is being listed in lots of places, then it's not too late and you could be one of the 2000. Interesting experiment. Make sure you have a photo of yourself available too - they will only link if your blog has a photo, and not a caricature or logo. KMT blogging, 2000 bloggers, blog network … [Read more...]
I Am Woman!
Over the past couple of months I've had a business directory company from another country constantly contact me to list with their website. They list all the benefits and are quite persistent. Normally I would register - it's always good to have my website listed with another service. However, they insist on addressing me as 'Mr' and Dear 'Sir' and I've told them time and again that I am NOT a man. This leads me to think two things: 1. They don't read their email and/or comprehend it. 2. … [Read more...]
Discovering Your Niche!
As the virtual assistant industry grows and develops VAs are beginning to discover that they either have a passion for a particular area, or they need to find an area to get passionate about. Whilst many do run 'generalised' businesses and offer services to a wide range of clients, many are finding more satisfaction in specialising in a particular service or industry type to provide a service to. My own interests have related to Association Management and servicing Public Speakers and Business … [Read more...]
Clothing Change
I love working with Wordpress. So many templates available with options for 1, 2 and 3 columns and a whole lot of extras. Makes changing the look of your blog almost as easy as changing your clothes - you could do it daily if you wish(the blog I mean)! And so, my new look blog - for a while at least. On my 'to do list' when I have nothing else to do :-) I might actually spend sometime learning php and then create my own template from scratch. But for now there are enough choices out there … [Read more...]
A By-Product…
Yesterday I attended an all day planning session with my coach and his other clients. He gets all his clients together regularly through the year to listen to motivational speakers and learn more about developing their businesses. Yesterday was an all day session designed to help us plan our year and then break it up into 90 day chunks so we have smaller bite-sized goals to achieve. I always enjoy days like this because it gives me 'permission' to take my mind off my own clients and … [Read more...]
A Great Looking Website Isn’t Everything….
I saw a post tonight regarding websites and their designers. Demetria emphasised the importance of doing your research and making sure you not only get someone who can do your site but make sure they also include your meta tags (keywords and description) and make your site search engine friendly - otherwise no-one is going to find you! Today I was at a planning coaching day and met a photographer who mentioned she was seeking more work but didn't seem to have much happening with her website. … [Read more...]
