If you're like me, you spend time exploring different social media tools. Of late, I've been using Instagram so I can understand it, and I must admit, I've gotten quite hooked. However, I've not been using it for my VA business, but rather photography that I do on the side. I’ve seen posts about how to use hashtags but it’s not always clear why. Hashtags are used for search purposes. They’re effectively a search tool. Instagram is big on them and you can use up to 30 different hashtags (30 … [Read more...]
Are you operating a VA business in Australia?
I wrote a post recently about how many clients you might have? There was a reason for this and it's becoming evident from the number of newer VAs I'm speaking to. I say 'newer' as some have been operating for well over a year but they still fit into this category. And what is that? Only one client and earning a small amount per month. The reality is that still isn't a business and could be viewed as a hobby by the ATO (I'm talking the Australian Tax Office here) and therefore may explain why … [Read more...]
How many clients do you have?
This isn't meant to be a competitive question at all, but designed to make you think about how important your business is. If you're running a business then you MUST have more than one client. There are all sorts of reasons why. For example, if that one client didn't want to do business with you anymore, or lost their business, or passed on, then you'd no longer have a business, would you? However there are other good reasons, including being able to prove to the tax dept that you are running a … [Read more...]
Upscaling your LinkedIn Profile
I've been on LinkedIn now for just over 10 years and have seen a lot of changes during that time. When I joined there were only 14million members worldwide, now I'm connected to more than that at third level connection. In 2012 I received a certificate stating I was in the top 1% most viewed profiles. At that stage there were 200 million members. That meant I was amongst the top 2M people but it still sounded impressive. I had that certificate laminated and show it when doing presentations on … [Read more...]
Did you see the article on the weekend?
The one that says: Per head of population, Australia leads the world in online work and is the world's biggest supplier of online freelance workers – according to a 2014 report by Elance-oDesk The article was in the business section of The Age on Saturday and was highlighting the VA industry, with a great interview of Ingrid Bayer, a fellow VA and member of AVAA (Australian VA Association). I hadn't seen that stat before so was delighted to see it. Was also good to get a mention towards … [Read more...]
Need more work?
I belong to a number of VA groups, as I'm sure many of VAs do too. One of the things that saddens me is seeing (desperate) posts from some almost begging for work from other VAs. Usually it means something has happened in their life and now suddenly it's become urgent. Often they've been a VA for awhile but have just been coasting along. As most of you know I've been doing this line of business for over 20 years and I have to tell you that yes, I've had desperate times, especially in my … [Read more...]
Do the locals know you exist?
I see many (new) VAs asking on different VA forums how they can find clients, or if anyone can give them work. Often, when asking questions about what they've done, they've got their office set up, created a Facebook page, set up a website or some kind of web presence, created a LinkedIn profile but it's rare to hear they actually go out networking face-to-face. How many businesses local to where you live actually know you exist? What makes you think they'll know you have a website or a … [Read more...]
What’s in a name?
We often see discussion in the VA forums about what to call ourselves when operating in the Virtual Assistant Industry. Many do call themselves VAs whereas others like to use BPO (Business Professional Operator (or similar)), and other terms. Some don't want to use the term 'virtual assistant' as the public get confused about what that might be based on the information that is being bandied around 'out there'. It probably doesn't matter what we call ourselves and may very much depend on the … [Read more...]
Things that VAs don’t do
It may come as a shock to you but Virtual Assistants (VAs) don't do everything! Despite what you read out there. Take it from someone who works inside the industry and has done so for over 20 years. VAs don't do everything individually, but we do a lot of things collectively. Originating from the administrative/secretarial field in the 1990s, the Virtual Assistant Industry evolved with the introduction of the Internet and the development of new technologies. Consequently today you'll find … [Read more...]
