Every blogger loves to have readers and subscribers and I really do appreciate you all. But please, if you subscribe, do not do it with an address that has to have an autoresponder attached to it. By that I mean, consider having a separate address for subscriptions to blogs, newsletters, listservs and forums, and so on and keep your main address for your business. I get heaps of autoresponders every single day to say that Jane, or John, have received my latest post, or that they've received the … [Read more...]
Is your website written for an international audience?
A recent discussion at a LinkedIn forum I belong to highlighted the use of country codes when listing phone numbers in emails and on business websites. It was an interesting discussion and what was brought to light was the fact that many people in the US (at least on this forum of 8,000+ people) just hadn't realised that people outside of their country would need a code to dial their number. I found that an insight in itself. I am always having to call the US to participate in telesminars, or … [Read more...]
A Client Surprise
Some people have 'wordless Wednesdays' on their blogs and just post a photo. Well, I have a photo to post and it's Tuesday and I won't be wordless about it either. I want you to drink in this beautiful sight. The doorbell rang and I thought it was a client who was overdue and I called out 'I'll be there in a minute.' When I got there, no-one was at the door but looking down there was a beautiful arrangement of flowers. My immediate thought was my husband - I'd been getting over some dental … [Read more...]
The Tale of Two Assistants
Saw an interesting post a little while ago with the title 'The Tale of Two Assistants'. It was apparently about an 'actual assistant' and a 'virtual assistant'. I wasn't sure what they meant exactly by the 'actual assistant' as it seems that the 'actual assistant' had other clients anyway, so it would seem they were not an employee but someone they outsourced to. So, I wonder what made the difference between the AA and the VA? They were able to prove that the VA they hired was more efficient … [Read more...]
Developing a niche in the Virtual Assistant world
I often see VAs talking about developing a niche for their practice. This is a good line of thought, however it's important to consider that it could be awhile before you even know what your niche is. Some know straight away and others have no idea. I was in the latter category when I started my business. All I knew was how to type and that meant I would do documents in Word or WordPerfect and I could do data entry into spreadsheets. That was the limit of what I thought I could do in my own … [Read more...]
How often are you backing up?
Having a discussion with some writers at a forum recently it became obvious that many were not backing up their computers at all, or their websites online. Consequently if they got a virus that affected their computer and put it out of action, they ran the risk of losing all of their material and/or not having access to it for awhile. A couple had had their websites hacked and destroyed and they had no way of replacing their websites quickly. Having a secure web server is a must, but that's … [Read more...]
What’s in a name?
I really feel for the new Virtual Assistant as many are struggling to develop an identity, and with that, a name for their businesses so that they can be seen as inviduals and not copycats. But sometimes I think they have got it a bit confused or in the wrong order. A business name does not have to be established at the beginning of your business - it can be done later. As far as I know, in most regions, you can legally operate under your own name - which is individual for the most part, and … [Read more...]
National Secretaries Day – when is it exactly?
Around the world this day has different names: Administrative Professionals Day National Secretaries Day National Admin Professionals Day National Professional Admin Officers Day and many others. And it has different dates around the world too. In Australia radio stations and florists often get it mixed up, but this isn't entirely their fault. The calendar publishers also get it wrong - taking the date from the US instead of checking with the originators of this special day here in … [Read more...]
What Dictionary Are You Using?
I saw a post recently by someone online who was discussing the differences in the meaning and spelling of a particular word - one of the variations had an 'e' on the end. They were saying the two words had two different meanings and I would have loved to leave a comment but the blog in question was closed to comments. I looked up the word in question and found that the word, both with an 'e' and without still had the same meaning - it just depended on which dictionary you checked and also … [Read more...]
