Message from Barb who is organising this event: What do these people all have in common? Kathie Thomas Michelle Jamison Jeannine Clontz Mary Lou Ashton Pam Ivey Tawnya Sutherland Yvonne Weld Stacy Brice Dawn Goldberg Danielle Guerin Frances Palaschuk Kristi Pavlik Lauren Pibworth Rob Neilly David Hansen Mitch Solway and me... Barb Lang They are coming from all around the world to be in Niagara Falls Canada June 4-7, 2009. Each of these incredible people has put together a one of a kind … [Read more...]
Advertising Advice for Virtual Assistants
Recently a VA posted a question to a forum I moderate asking for advice about the advertising she had been doing. She listed a number of sites she'd registered with and wanted to know what else she could do. My response to her is below. I see you've joined social networking groups but you haven't mentioned if you're active in them. A large percentage of my clients have come through personal networking and getting to know people over time. I began my business before the internet so attended lots … [Read more...]
Should a Virtual Assistant Network For a Client?
I saw an interesting article today titled "Take Advantage of Social Networking with a Virtual Assistant" so of course I went and read it straight away. I have very firm ideas about what a VA should and shouldn't do for a client and networking is one of those things I don't believe we should be doing. I agree we can set up profiles for clients and hold their hand and help them through the process of learning to use tools such as LinkedIn, Facebook, Twitter and others but I strongly believe we … [Read more...]
FoVA not far away now
I can't believe it's around 9 months since I was invited to speak at FoVA. It seemed like such a long way ahead and yet it's now only 3 weeks away. I'll be meeting many well-known names in the Virtual Assistant industry face-to-face which is something I never thought would happen. You never know what's around the corner and the opportunities that will arise. If you haven't yet booked to attend the Forum on Virtual Assistance in Niagara Falls, Canada, it's not too late. And there's great … [Read more...]
Virtual Assistants and Twitter
There are quite a number of Virtual Assistants on Twitter now and with it growing groups. One of them focuses on FoVA 2009 and the group is listed as #FoVA09 if you're looking for it. If the link doesn't work try http://twitter.com/#search?q=%23FoVA09 It's amazing how a new networking tool can soon become addictive, if you let it! Where once I thought I only needed one blog and now own many (on different topics), it would seem the same applies to Twitter profiles, depending on the audience … [Read more...]
The countdown is on!
4 weeks today Graham and I will be winging our way to Canada. It will be a long flight (so we'll be glad to get there) but then we'll have almost 4 weeks visiting in Canada, with the first stop being FoVA09 in Niagara. And then 6 days later we'll head over to Vancouver to join a tour with APT to see some of Canada's beautiful scenery before spending just over a day with a friend and her husband in Vancouver and then back home again. When you're in business you don't tend to think about … [Read more...]
Increased non-billable time
As we hear more about the economic turmoil worldwide there are going to be increased non-billable time for some Virtual Assistant businesses. So what do we do about it? Make it work for us! I'm sure, if you're like me, you'll always have things that have been put aside till you have time for them. Make sure those things are in easy reach in a folder or a box or something so you can pull it out and start prioritising what's important to you and what may be income-producing once you have your … [Read more...]
VA Networks – a ready resource
When I was first growing my VA Network it soon became obvious to me that I had to find a way to put all the members in touch with each other, without having to pass on email addresses all the time or get them to remember to 'reply all'. It was around that time (late 1996) that I was invited to join an online forum for home based businesses at Boxplanet and I saw first-hand what I needed for my team to be able to chat to one another. So our forum was started and shifted to a few places before … [Read more...]
OIVAC is just around the corner!
Welcome to those guests who have been following the OIVAC blog hopping tour! Seasoned VAs (or those that have been around for longer than 12 months) will know that the Online International Virtual Assistants Convention is gearing up for another fantastic event. I was privileged to be a member of the steering committee for the first 3 years and really enjoyed the experience but (personal) events over the last 12 months have led to my stepping down. I don't believe this to be a bad thing - it … [Read more...]
