While the Virtual Assistant industry may sound like it's one for 'younger' people the reality is that those who are of a mature age with good administrative skills are well placed to be a Virtual Assistant. Perhaps you've been made redundant, had to leave your job due to ill-health, or you have elderly parents or a spouse that needs to be cared for. You have time on your hands, need to bring in more income and have good computer-based skills, good administrative skills, reasonable … [Read more...]
How much does a VA cost?
"How much does a VA cost* and is there normally a minimum number of hours? E.g. could you get someone to do an hour every now and then / as you can afford it?" This was asked at a forum I participate in recently and it is a common question. I thought I'd share my answer with you all. There is no set hard and fast rule with VAs. They originally came from the home-based secretarial field and have evolved from there. Some work with an hourly rate, some work with monthly retainers. Some … [Read more...]
VA Story – Lyn Prowse-Bishop
I began over 16 years ago when I discovered there was little likelihood of getting a full time daycare place for my baby on the way. I was on maternity leave from my full time job and had to get back to work six months early for financial reasons. I put together a proposal to my boss about how I would get the work done and meet KPIs two days a week on site (the only daycare I could secure) and three days off site. He didn't go for it so I left. Then I wondered why couldn't I work like this full … [Read more...]
Motivation to get the work done
I saw a VA post on a forum that she's struggling to get motivated because it was such a lovely day outside and she wanted to know how others coped. She'd mentioned the word 'job' too, so I thought I'd give her my thoughts and what I do. The answer follows. Please note - this would equally apply to anyone running a business, not just VAs. First things first, this is not a 'job'. It's a business. And you need to treat it that way :-) You also need to give yourself some flexibility. Unless the … [Read more...]
VA Story – Gai Hook
My story with ACS goes back to 2009 I believe Kathie? It all seems so long ago now but being part of the VA Directory in conjunction with face to face networking definitely set me on my way to building my own business. I had been managing sales teams since the 70’s for corporate, government and small to medium businesses and wanted something different in my life. I began managing large scale trade shows for organisers such as Reed Exhibitions and Expertise Events prior to setting up Virtual … [Read more...]
Reasons for engaging an Australian VA
This post is directed at the Australian business community, but if you're in another country, then simply insert your own country where relevant. I get asked from time to time, why should someone engage the services of an Australian VA instead of looking offshore? Those answers, to me, are quite straightforward and cover important things for each business owner to think about. Intellectual Property, IP - do you have something that you want/need to protect? Would you feel uncomfortable with … [Read more...]
Calling all NFPs
NFPs or Not-for-Profits are usually run by a group of volunteers who take on the role of committee members with an executive: President, Vice President, Treasurer and Secretary as well as a number of general committee members. Last time I looked at an Association Directory there were over 800,000 such groups here in Australia alone. There comes a time when some of these NFPs feel that managing the association gets too much for the volunteer committee and they have to bite the bullet and employ … [Read more...]
VA Story: Glynis Moland
Another in our series on VA Stories. My name is Glynis Moland and I’ve been a VA for the past 8 years. My businesses are Secretarial Service of WA and Diamond Planning. I do not work from home but I have an office in a beautiful old mall called London Court based in the heart of Perth’s beautiful CBD. Whilst in Perth on holiday around 1998 I visited London Court and was very surprised to see a Secretarial Service in the heart of the City – in a very unusual setting based on an old London … [Read more...]
Facebook – profile or page?
Is your Facebook profile set up in your personal name or your business name? I want to give a warning as two people I know here in Melbourne, Australia, in the past week had their Facebook accounts suspended and they had to prove who they were. One was using a nickname coupled with his real name and the other was using a business name, instead of their personal name. Both had to change their profiles back to their personal names only and had the inconvenience of their accounts inactive for a few … [Read more...]
