As many of you know we recently had the Australian VA Conference take place in Melbourne. We had a wonderful array of speakers and also sponsors. One of those sponsors was so fired up by the conference that she has begun spruiking the benefits of using a Virtual Assistant and what takes place in our industry to her own clients and contacts and the client requests for work to be done have begun flowing in. When you think about it, a VA conference is really suitable for anyone at all who runs a … [Read more...]
Can you follow instructions?
May I encourage all new and prospective VAs out there, to carefully read web pages before filling out forms and pressing submit. Just recently I got told by a prospective VA that I was rude and she wouldn't want to work for my company anyway. Why did she say this to me (via email)? Because I told her that she'd filled out the wrong form and as a result we could not help her. She was looking for VA work and had filled out a form for clients seeking support from Virtual Assistants. The page is … [Read more...]
Virtual Assistant NFP group opens in Australia
At long last, we have an NFP setting up here in Australia for the Virtual Assistant Industry. And I am delighted that IVAA has taken this direction. This announcement was published shortly before AVAC but I was rather busy to post it at that time. Details below: IVAA-Australia - in our ongoing efforts to expand our International reach, IVAA will have a division in Australia allowing our members down under to have their own EOM's, Peer Discussions, Online and Live Summits, and Preferred … [Read more...]
Famous people at LinkedIn
I did a double take when I saw the latest selection of 'people you might know' this morning at LinkedIn. I bet you recognise some of these names too? Obviously an April Fool's joke - although it's now April 2nd in Australia. Or perhaps LinkedIn has found a way to resurrect people too. Wonder how many people try to connect to them? … [Read more...]
Whatever happened to professionalism?
aaarrghh! I can't believe how many emails I get these days where people do not sign off, or include contact details. What is wrong with people these days? Is email no longer considered a professional way of contacting others? What am I talking about? Signature blocks. I receive emails from Virtual Assistants, from service and product providers, from other organisations where people just sign off with their firstname and nothing else. No surname, no business name, no website address, no phone … [Read more...]
Using Facebook for business
As many business owner/operators have done, I've turned to Facebook for networking opportunities. When I first started using Facebook a few years ago I set up two profiles - one for personal use and one for business. I didn't want to confuse personal stuff with business stuff and really didn't want my business contacts seeing what various members of my family were chatting about. For me, that made sense to do. However, Facebook has in their Terms of Use that you should really only have the … [Read more...]
Working with a Virtual Assistant – do you know what’s involved?
I often get emails or phone calls asking me what's involved in working with a Virtual Assistant, what do we do, how can we help the caller, and how does it work? Many find it a struggle to get over the hump relating to working virtually. It's really quite simple once you know how to look at it. For me, it's like this: Think of a corporate PA who works close by to the boss, either in a room next to their office, or nearby. They converse face-to-face, by intercom and internal email. The … [Read more...]
17 years ago today…
I nervously and excitedly made my way into the city of Melbourne to register my new business. I hadn't wanted to share my business name idea with anyone, in case someone else beat me to it. Little did I know what might transpire in the years to come and how my business name would be used, not only for my services, but for the services of many others. The world has indeed changed in those 17 years. Computers have changed incredibly, so has the media we use for storing information. It is … [Read more...]
Now that AVAC’s over…
We can get back to the business of working in our businesses. The two day conference was fantastic and feedback from the delegates indicate that they were very happy with the event. I do know from the very start there was an excited buzz in the air that remained with the event all the way through. So much to listen to, so much to learn, so much to apply, excitement to be had, new friendships formed, old frienships renewed, faces to match to names we know so well. Great event and thank you … [Read more...]
