At this time of year thoughts turn to the new year that's coming. Will we continue doing what we've been doing? Will we do something new? Is now the time to make a change? For many the dream of working at home is still that. A dream. They wonder if it will ever become possible? For some it will. I've been very fortunate and have worked in my own home office for nearly 17 years. It hasn't been easy but it has definitely been worthwhile and rewarding. To spend every day where my family … [Read more...]
Niche VA – Send Out Cards
Many would have heard of Send Out Cards by now. It's an exceptional online program that allows you to pick or create a greeting card that is then printed on recycled card and posted within a short period of time. The cards are of good quality and there is a gift line available too. Now what has this got to do with being a Virtual Assistant? If you've already been assisting clients with their databases it's a natural addition to the services you have been providing. Have you ever been asked … [Read more...]
Niche VA – Social Media
I thought I'd touch on the various Niches that a Virtual Assistant can work in. Today I want to touch on Social Media - a subject that is very popular in today's business climate. Social Media covers so many things but largely relates to the form of networking you might do for your business and the tools you use for it. Tools can include: Blogs LinkedIn Facebook MySpace Twitter Plurk Gist, and the list goes on. It seems that almost every day there's a new tool being developed to … [Read more...]
Start up costs for a Virtual Assistant
Periodically I see posts at forums asking about the start up costs for being a Virtual Assistant. In comparison to many other industries, the costs are fairly low, but that does not mean it should be considered 'cheap'. Too many I see on forums trying to get everything for free and it makes me wonder just how much they value what they have available to them. Being a Virtual Assistant does mean that you are in business. You are not an employee and you should not be expecting others to foot … [Read more...]
Do they know you exist?
I was just saying to someone I met last week that often if it's not online then they lose a sale from us. Example: Graham and I frequently go away and stay at B&Bs. I can't be bothered going to travel agencies or RACV to find out what listings they have. I simply Google B&Bs in the area we're looking for and book online. If they're not online we don't know they exist. Same for a lot of services and products we buy these days. My husband and I do a lot of our purchasing … [Read more...]
A Niche Virtual Assistant
Here, there and everywhere you see discussions on 'what type of VA' are Virtual Assistants? Many have discovered (or created) a niche business by servicing a particular type of client, or by providing a particular type of service. Is one better than the other? Not that I'm aware of. My own personal focus over the years has been supporting Business Coaches and Professional speakers, as well as not-for-profits. They all need exactly the same skillset to support them through maintaining … [Read more...]
Virtual Assistant tools you use – Facebook
Today I want to discuss Facebook. Facebook has changed considerably in the 2+ years I've been using it. At first I thought of it as a program that young people use but over time I could see that businesses were utilising it and it has an important part to play in the game of networking for business. So, you can set up a profile, set up multiple pages, and set up groups. They all do different things. If you set up a profile who do you connect with - close family and friends only or clients … [Read more...]
Virtual Assistant tools you use – Twitter
I am constantly refining the way I do things and researching new and better ways to do things. So I thought I'd open up for discussion here the various tools we use as Virtual Assistants. Today I want to discuss using Twitter on behalf of clients. Because I monitor multiple accounts on Twitter I've chosen to use Seesmic as it allows me to have several accounts open all at once and I can post/tweet to any one of them or multiples if I want to. However, the version I'm using seems to struck a … [Read more...]
Virtual Assistant tools you use – Facebook/LinkedIn
Touching on Facebook, and LinkedIn for that matter, I recently installed a useful add-on to Outlook called the Social Connector. It will show you what people have been saying in both Facebook and LinkedIn, while using the program Outlook. I wasn't sure at first how useful it might be and had to play around with where to have it set up in Outlook so it's not using up valuable real estate on my screen. I now only have it showing when I'm reading individual emails and responding to them. It has … [Read more...]
