Saw a post on a forum where someone posted about VAs developing a niche and he sent a post with the subject heading above and included the following line: A Virtual Assistant who doesn't have a clearly defined niche is a poor virtual assistant. I don't know about you but I really take exception to that comment. Perhaps he meant well but he was promoting a 4 week teleseries he provides which is free. I haven't gone exploring to see what else might be on offer to make it worth his while to get … [Read more...]
Pick up the phone!
I forget that new people coming along all the time won't have the knowledge or experience I have and so, sometimes I need to repeat the same information because there is a new audience. A new VA contacted me recently because she was concerned that a client wasn't responding to her emails and work had been regular and now she wasn't receiving any. She wanted to know if she should keep sending emails or perhaps phone him - she was worried about making a nuisance of herself. I advised her, … [Read more...]
What do you see?
There's been a recent promotion here in Melbourne on the radio about 'what do you see?' and a description is given of needy children. This is about sponsoring a child. My husband, Graham and I, have been sponsoring children through World Vision since around 1993 or 1994. We currently sponsor 3 girls - it’s always been girls as we have 5 daughters of our own so we feel a real connection for the needs of daughters. One of the girls we have sponsored in the past could have almost passed for a … [Read more...]
Forum on Virtual Assistance June 2009
All Virtual Assistants are invited to the next Forum on Virtual Assistance (FoVA) next June in Canada. Even more exciting because I am going too! I was thrilled to be asked recently to present a workshop and facilitate a forum at the event and I accepted. But to give you the details direct from the organiser, please read on! Extraordinary plans are being made for FoVA ’09 and I can tell you that we have an incredible program shaping up for you! Mark your calendars! FoVA ’09 will … [Read more...]
Seek a professional when you need them
I can't emphasise it enough. So many VAs come seeking advice at the VA forums that really should be taken to their Accountants, Solicitors or others. I agree it is good to learn about what others are doing and how they're set up but each has different situations relating to experience, their financial commitments and so on. It's really, really important that you take the information you have relating to your situation and take it to the professionals who can advise you correctly. Anything … [Read more...]
Friday Finds
Google Reader has become an excellent tool for me to use and over breakfast each morning I can glance through all the latest posts that have come in the past 24 hours. You can even read forum discussions and then go and participate if there's a topic of interest to you. Or, if like me, you like to find out about the Top 100 Hot New Releases at Amazon.com you can also check their feed daily. That's how I found out my own book had reached #23 for its genre late June - it happened overnight … [Read more...]
Longest job I’ve ever had!
I was chatting online the other day and we were discussing how long we'd stayed in jobs before starting up our own businesses. I'd always been someone who moved on after a couple of years because I either got bored and needed new challenges or the path for advancement was blocked by someone who wouldn't move on. And yet, here I am, in my own business well after 14 years! When I related this to my husband he quipped that I was pretty much unemployable these days too! He also added it helped … [Read more...]
What You Think About…
... you are drawn towards. I had this told to me by a doctor in Psychosomatic medicine many years ago, prior to starting my own business. Peter told me that this can work for both good and bad. It's also known as the RAS, or the reticular activation system. Your mind works like a magnet or radar and you are automatically drawn towards things that are on your mind - and it doesn't have to be foremost, it could be in the back of your mind. Late in 1993 I won Secretary of the Year for my state … [Read more...]
More about scams online
Further to my post on Friday, I recently received an email in my spam filter thanking me for my enquiry and application for this: VA CERTIFICATION APPLICATION I had never heard of the group sending the email, I don't know who they are and I certainly didn't apply. Just so everyone knows (especially those new to the industry) - it's you who approach networks and training groups to do things for your business - not the other way around. If they approach you they're either desperate for members … [Read more...]
