Periodically I see posts at forums asking about the start up costs for being a Virtual Assistant. In comparison to many other industries, the costs are fairly low, but that does not mean it should be considered 'cheap'. Too many I see on forums trying to get everything for free and it makes me wonder just how much they value what they have available to them. Being a Virtual Assistant does mean that you are in business. You are not an employee and you should not be expecting others to foot … [Read more...]
Do they know you exist?
I was just saying to someone I met last week that often if it's not online then they lose a sale from us. Example: Graham and I frequently go away and stay at B&Bs. I can't be bothered going to travel agencies or RACV to find out what listings they have. I simply Google B&Bs in the area we're looking for and book online. If they're not online we don't know they exist. Same for a lot of services and products we buy these days. My husband and I do a lot of our purchasing … [Read more...]
A Niche Virtual Assistant
Here, there and everywhere you see discussions on 'what type of VA' are Virtual Assistants? Many have discovered (or created) a niche business by servicing a particular type of client, or by providing a particular type of service. Is one better than the other? Not that I'm aware of. My own personal focus over the years has been supporting Business Coaches and Professional speakers, as well as not-for-profits. They all need exactly the same skillset to support them through maintaining … [Read more...]
Virtual Assistant tools you use – Facebook
Today I want to discuss Facebook. Facebook has changed considerably in the 2+ years I've been using it. At first I thought of it as a program that young people use but over time I could see that businesses were utilising it and it has an important part to play in the game of networking for business. So, you can set up a profile, set up multiple pages, and set up groups. They all do different things. If you set up a profile who do you connect with - close family and friends only or clients … [Read more...]
Virtual Assistant tools you use – Twitter
I am constantly refining the way I do things and researching new and better ways to do things. So I thought I'd open up for discussion here the various tools we use as Virtual Assistants. Today I want to discuss using Twitter on behalf of clients. Because I monitor multiple accounts on Twitter I've chosen to use Seesmic as it allows me to have several accounts open all at once and I can post/tweet to any one of them or multiples if I want to. However, the version I'm using seems to struck a … [Read more...]
Virtual Assistant tools you use – Facebook/LinkedIn
Touching on Facebook, and LinkedIn for that matter, I recently installed a useful add-on to Outlook called the Social Connector. It will show you what people have been saying in both Facebook and LinkedIn, while using the program Outlook. I wasn't sure at first how useful it might be and had to play around with where to have it set up in Outlook so it's not using up valuable real estate on my screen. I now only have it showing when I'm reading individual emails and responding to them. It has … [Read more...]
Begin working as a Virtual Assistant today
With Christmas and the New Year not that far away, I know that many are looking at what they're going to do next year. Continue in their job or start working for themselves? I know which I prefer. I've had experience of both and as much as working for yourself has some uncertainty to it, I still much prefer the freedom and flexibility of making choices on the type of work I do, the clients I work with and the hours I work. While my daughters were growing up I loved that I could schedule in … [Read more...]
Where are you located?
Periodically I get requests from students here in Australia researching the Virtual Assistant industry. They want to know how many VAs are here in Australia, how long they've been in business and what type of work we do. While I can answer the last question easily and give them an indication of how long I've been in business personally, I certainly can't answer the first question and can only give them a general idea of the second one. So, I've created a very simple 2 question survey to … [Read more...]
Did you miss it?
I have a Virtual Assistant Training Course that runs over a 10 week period, delivered by email. I've had a special offer on for the past 5 days. Did you see it? If you've been thinking about doing a course to become a Virtual Assistant or to add value to your existing VA business, then this may be exactly what you're looking for. But be quick. The special offer finishes midnight AEST today! … [Read more...]
