Don't forget that this week I'm celebrating my 14th anniversary in business as a Virtual Assistant. If you're not yet a subscriber to my blog you could be missing out on gifts! All you have to do is enter your email address into the subscription box on the left of my blog. I'll be checking the list after 31st March and picking out recipients for the various gifts I've been offering this week. … [Read more...]
More Anniversary gifts – I’m in a generous mood
Readers will know that this week marks the 14th anniversary of my Virtual Assistant business. And a couple of days ago I announced that 6 of my readers will receive a free printed copy of one of my books. Well, I decided that wasn't enough and I thought it would be good if I gifted someone the 10 week VA Trainer course. The course is ideal for anyone planning to become a VA, or perhaps have only been in the industry a year or two and need to fill in some gaps about how a VA business is run. … [Read more...]
My Anniversary but I have a Gift For You
Today (24th March) marks the 14th anniversary of my business "A Clayton's Secretary". I have no idea where that time has gone. In some ways it just feels like last year I got started but when I look at all of my achievements, and some failings too, I can see I've come a long way in that time. So has technology. What a privilege it has been to be part of the history making of the Virtual Assistant industry - that wasn't in my original business plan :-) . My intention was to start a small … [Read more...]
VAs Canvassing For Work
I get concerned when I learn that VAs are seeking work in areas that might not really be the right source for them. What am I talking about? One of my forum members advised that a new VA was contacting senior VAs from the forum canvassing for work. I suppose I can understand their mindset - that some VAs are probably so busy they have work to spare to hand over to someone else. But their thinking is all wrong and I'll tell you why. 1. Other VAs are not your prospective clients - they're … [Read more...]
Supporting the Client
Through my years as a VA I've had lots of wonderful opportunities and have learnt lots of new skills in the process. Often a client asking me to investigate something can lead to a new service I start providing - it's expanded my horizons. But there are times when we (VAs) need to know when we can't do something for a client and that they must do it themselves. Networking for the client is one of those things. I know that some clients are so busy that they just want to hand everything over to … [Read more...]
Shifting Your Mindset
On so many of the forums I see new VAs wanting to get their businesses up and running as quickly as possible. And on these same forums I see promotions for this course, or that event, or lists to sign up with and so on. When we are in the corporate world we are so used to being told what we need to do, which courses we should attend, the events that would benefit the business the most and we're just automatically put on mailing lists for staff. But what about when we work for ourselves? How … [Read more...]
Who Are You Learning From?
I saw an article in the EzineQueen's newsletter today which I want to share here because it's something that has concerned me too. In my case it's about Virtual Assistant Coaching & Training. I see many offering coaching and training and they've only been in the industry themselves for 5 mins - or so it would seem. They don't have the years of experience behind them and many are not aligned with a coaching or training organisation. I've always been open and up front about my experience … [Read more...]
Free Training To Become a Virtual Assistant…
... were the words that greeted me in one of my web stats. I frequently check my stats to see where people are coming from and how they find me. That includes searches made on search engines. Are we truly in an age where people think they can get everything free or as much as possible? I know there is a lot of 'stuff' on the web that you can get free but often it comes with other items that cost, or limited use till a full copy is paid for, or advertising that someone has paid for (like those … [Read more...]
Looking For Work Online – A Message For New VAs
I received a poorly written email a couple of days ago from a young person seeking to join my team. I wrote back to them saying I did not believe they had read my website and that their email demonstrated a lack of ability in being able to type properly and that our clients would require that. They wrote back and said I was unfairly assessing their written English and that their skills were good and I shouldn't base it on just an email. I wrote back again and explained that their email was … [Read more...]
