Next month (24th) marks the 16th anniversary of my business "A Clayton's Secretary". It's no co-incidence that the Australian VA Conference is being run next month as well - I like to have something special happening around the anniversary of my business. But I want to make sure that others are benefiting from my celebrations too, so I have a number of gifts available to my readers. 1. Double the affiliate payment for the top affiliate in March 2010. Why not sign up today so you can get set … [Read more...]
Agency VA or Self-Employed VA?
Saw a comment recently on a well-known blog post about the use of Virtual Assistants. Perhaps the biggest problem with them was that after putting in my dues to get acquainted with the VA and 'training' them appropriately, they got promoted or reallocated and I had to start from scratch. This happened at least 3 times in a less than 3 months. Unfortunately, I can see that happening at other firms as well. It might be tough, but see if you can ask your VA company to commit to the same VA for some … [Read more...]
Join an active VA community
The Virtual Assistants International Group (VAIG) has been an active VA community forum since 1998. It was shifted around a bit to find the right place to host the group and we eventually settled at yahoogroups in 2003. The group is like one big family - many of the core or regular contributors treat each other like sisters and brothers, or perhaps really close friends. Yes, we occasionally have heated discussions but for the most part we're about sharing information, sharing ideas and … [Read more...]
Using networking tools for VAs
At one of the VA forums I belong to a member asked if someone could explain how a small home transcription business can grow their business using Facebook, Linked-in or Twitter or is it more for the merchant business? My answer was brief - there's a lot to cover for each of these tools, but hopefully this will help answer it for others thinking the same thing. Facebook, LinkedIn and Twitter work quite differently but often with similar results. I'll try to explain briefly here: Facebook helps … [Read more...]
VA Project – Who have you helped this week?
This week the recipient of my help was not a VA but rather a professor from a university in India. He'd approached me to write some articles for their publication on the topic of Virtual Assistance for their students. I felt honoured to be asked. However, I did find his initial email to me rather confusing and I had to read it several times to really understand his request, or rather it seemed like a demand. Instead of ignoring it or getting annoyed by the email, as I sometimes might do, I … [Read more...]
When you are cold calling…
I know that many decide to cold call to get extra business, or even just to start out. Personally I've found that a very disheartening way to do things but I know that some really do excel at this type of communication and successfully achieve their objectives. So, if you're considering using cold calling as a form of drumming up business, may I suggest you learn from the following? I just had a phone call from a guy (whose accent was difficult to understand and he spoke way too fast) wanting … [Read more...]
Starting out as a Virtual Assistant
It was several years ago I began this journey of developing a business at home. 16, in fact, next month. That time has flown by. My daughters are all now adults and no longer needed a mum at home but I must admit I have no inclination to go back out into the traditional workforce. I love my surroundings, my comfortable office and the line of work I do for my clients. However, I know many feel totally overwhelmed when they join the Virtual Assistant industry and have no idea how to start … [Read more...]
VAProject 52 – Who have you helped this week?
One of my VA team members is going away overseas on a holiday soon and she was keen to find out what I did to protect my business and my clients when I was away last year for a whole month. I was able to share with her what I did, how I outsourced the work and ensured my clients were happy and any lessons I'd learnt during that exercise. Fortunately I'd been away on leave before, for shorter stints, so have learnt along the way the things I need to set up and do prior to going on holidays. … [Read more...]
The Importance of Self-Education
Recent posts at a VA forum has made me wonder just how much do Virtual Assistants (and other self-employed) value the importance of their own self education. It is oh-so-easy just to quit and give up and move on to something else if it doesn't work out. When in reality, if people were just prepared to take the time to learn and listen from others who are more experienced, they may well succeed. To quote one long-term VA from the forum: A lot of VAs have started and quit early because they … [Read more...]
