and that means so is the New Year. If you're a Virtual Assistant who needs some guidance or perhaps someone who wants to be a VA but doesn't know where to start, then my VA Christmas special may be just what you need! What do you get? The 10 week training course, 1 year membership with the "A Clayton's Secretary" team (providing you meet the criteria), 1 year webhosting for your website and a domain. Over $1,000AUD worth of items for just under 60% of the total price. Now, is that worth … [Read more...]
How to Use a Virtual Assistant in Your Business
There have been a number of articles written about this topic on the web over the years, and often by people who have been using a VA. However I feel it's time to add more information from someone inside the industry, rather than from outside the industry. What is a VA? First, please let me explain that a Virtual Assistant or VA is someone who works in their own office (usually at home), providing computer based or office based support to a number of clients. In other words their support or … [Read more...]
Email and Forum Etiquette
There seems to be an increasing trend of replying to a personal email or forum based email and not include the message being responded to. I find this rather annoying to say the least, not to mention time wasting. Email is still not 100% proof as we all know and if I'm interested in seeing what someone is responding to, but they haven't included a portion of the originating email, it means time is wasted trying to find the original email or be forever in the dark if the original email wasn't … [Read more...]
Keep abreast of their industries
In my last post I mentioned I get a regular enewsletter for the professional speaking industry. I provide virtual assistant support to a number of professional speakers, both here in Australia and in the US. I believe it's really important, as a service provider, to keep abreast of my clients' industries and what is happening for them. So when I can, I register for ezines and newsletters, join their discussion forums or even register for events. Sometimes the clients ask me to subscribe so I … [Read more...]
Practical Advice for Social Networking
I get a regular enewsletter called Speakernet News. As a Virtual Assistant for Professional Speakers I like to keep abreast of what's happening in their industry. The following came from their most recent newsletter and I sought permission from the author to republish it here. The article makes really good valid points about using Social Networks and setting up profiles. Social network tips - RJ Garis There is no point in having a MySpace, Facebook or any other profile unless you are going … [Read more...]
Do you produce a newsletter?
I do. I have been since the second year of my business. That means I've been producing a newsletter for around 14 years now on a monthly basis. I missed a few months here and there in the early days but it has been monthly for quite some time now. In the early days, it was printed and posted and I would periodically hear from people who had a copy passed on to them from the recipient. That was always nice to hear. I would sometimes use a guest writer for the main article but mostly I've … [Read more...]
There’s still time!
Are you a new VA and wanting to get your virtual assistant practice up and running in the new year? Have you thought about doing some training to get you moving in the right direction? There is still time before Christmas to sign up with my VA Trainer course. I have been with the industry since its birth and have watched it grow over the years. But don't let me be the one to tell you, why not see what others have had to say about my course? "I would like to say a big thank you for offering … [Read more...]
AVAC advancing
The early bird bookings will close mid November for the Australian Virtual Assistant Conference being held in Melbourne in March 2010. We are now starting to release information on speakers engaged for the event and will be adding more very soon. Make sure you don't miss out and get your bookings in now. We'd love to see you there next March! … [Read more...]
Be specific
I love the work I do as a Virtual Assistant but often find that client instructions leave a lot to the imagination. As VAs we need to help our clients and educate them in the best way of conveying instructions so that the work we carry out for them is done quickly and efficiently and correctly. There are times when I have to email back the client asking them to be more specific. If I get an email saying that something isn't working on their site I need to know specifically which page and what … [Read more...]
