It's amazing how wrong people can be about the Virtual Assistant industry. Quote from their video page: Virtual assistants are being called on to unsnarl people's lives. WSJ's Sue Shellenbarger has the pros and cons of a virtual assistant, and Profitably.com CEO Adam Neary shares how a virtual assistant helped him get his life back. The interview started off right. Yes, Virtual Assistants began as administrative support. But from there the interview went downhill. No, we don't organise … [Read more...]
How do I become a Virtual Assistant (VA)?
This is a question I see asked at VA groups and forums from those who want to enter into the industry. It's quite easy really. You simply make a decision and then start acting like a VA. But to do that, there are some things you need to have set in place: You must have a good command of the skill set you want to offer as a service. No point in offering word-processing and data entry services if you can only type 20wpm. You would need to be much faster (at least 60wpm) and have around 98% … [Read more...]
Profile or Page when using Facebook?
I know people get confused about what the difference is when creating an account with Facebook. They hear they need to get a Facebook Page for their business but then, in setting up, get confused as to which is which and what the differences are. If you plan to use Facebook for your business, then you must set up a Page, not a Profile. The two most immediate differences are this: Adding someone as a 'Friend' or allowing people to 'Like your Page'. If you use a personal profile for your … [Read more...]
Do you have a book inside you?
A few years ago I published my very first paperback. It was such an exciting feeling. Months of writing finally coming to fruition. And a nervous time too. Would others want to read the book? Would it sell? I already had a blog on the same topic that was well received and had many, many visitors every single month. Usually thousands and at May each year that easily doubles. Why? Because the topic relates to women working at home, primarily mothers. And the subject matter is searched for … [Read more...]
Warning re ‘Tell a Friend’ script
If you are getting responses to emails you haven't sent or people querying the email you just sent, you may well have hackers accessing a script on your ecommerce site without your knowledge. I've recently experienced this problem and know another person who has also. The reason for this is the spammers/hackers have accessed the 'Tell a Friend' script on your commerce site. For my part I didn't even know that script had been installed so it came as a bit of a shock as I've always been against … [Read more...]
Investing in your business
Business is so different to what it was say, 20 years ago. At that time we didn't have the Internet to promote our businesses and to buy a computer often required getting a loan if we didn't have that much cash available at the time. Not to mention purchasing a printer (colour was often out of reach), a fax machine, answer machine and a number of other items. They were all individual items and not like the multifunction items we have available to us today. However, with everything being so … [Read more...]
8 Weeks and counting
The Australian VA Conference in Sydney that is. It's being held at Darling Harbour on 22-23 March. I'm flying in from Melbourne on 21st March, as will be others from Melbourne, or other cities and states and we look forward to the fun, the catch ups, the learnings and the time out from our businesses, that we experience every year. Each year I learn something new (usually several things), meet new faces in the industry, catch up with those I've known online for a long time, and get time to … [Read more...]
Is it time to engage a Virtual Assistant?
Do you find yourself with too much work at the end of the day and not enough hours? Do you get frustrated because you always have admin stuff to be done but can't charge that out to any client in particular? Do you find yourself wishing you knew how to use certain software programs or understanding online processes better? Do you simply just find yourself in overwhelm mode and wish you could get it together like everyone else you've met seems to have done? If you answer 'yes' to one or more … [Read more...]
Start the year off as you intend to carry on
Happy New Year everyone! I hope you had a great Christmas and New Year period, whether it be peaceful and relaxing, or exciting and adventurous! Whatever suits your style. My husband and I went on a cruise to New Zealand and had opportunity to just relax and sleep in, if we wanted, but some days were spent on going on tours onshore and exploring parts of New Zealand we'd not seen before. I think, for us, the highlight was visiting the Hobbiton Movie Set, which was a new tour made available … [Read more...]
