I got a big surprise when I received my mail yesterday morning. A letter from the National Australia Day Council congratulating me on my nomination for an award this year and a certificate to mark the occasion. What an honour. I had no idea I'd been nominated and I spent the day re-reading the letter to make sure I'd read it right. I don't know who it was (or perhaps a few people) but I am really grateful and thankful and want you to know this. You can read the press release here and my … [Read more...]
What do you think of when you hear….?
Virtual Assistant or VA? What does that term conjour up for you? I ask this because my team and I were discussing the recent posts by a couple of business operators who had been promoting the use of admin and secretarial support through sites such as elance. Both these particular people know our industry and also know several VAs personally but they still promote getting a VA through elance via their websites and blogs. So it makes me wonder what it is they think of when they hear the term … [Read more...]
Advice on becoming a VA
I recently received an email from a woman who is thinking about become a Virtual Assistant. She'd tried her hand at a couple of businesses and had found it hard going and then was offered a good job and took it. Much later she discovered the VA industry and wished she'd known about it before. She has since been offered fulltime work by a man who wants her to become his VA and she wrote to me for advice. I had concerns about this possibility for her and below is my response which I hope will … [Read more...]
College Graduate or Experienced PA?
Saw a post at WebsitePublisher.net about someone who is seeking to use a VA. But the guy has got it wrong - he's seeking college graduates who just don't have the required experience he requires. I followed through to his blog and found a post there where his VA has written to him asking if they can take on other work whilst they wait for him to provide them with more work. Come again??? Is his VA an employee or an independent business operator? Why would they have to ask permission to take … [Read more...]
Announcing a new service for the Virtual Assistant Community
A new resource for the Virtual Assistant industry. I’m putting together something along the lines of SpeakerNetNews. If you’ve ever seen it, it is a newsletter sent out weekly to the public speaking community worldwide and speakers get to suggest items, tips, products, services that they’ve found useful in their business and want to share what they’ve found with others. The newsletter is not meant for promotional activities, i.e. big-noting the speakers and telling of their success … [Read more...]
New Year’s Resolutions or Goals?
Do you set New Year's Resolutions? I found that often the resolution wouldn't have enough meaning for me and would get forgotten in the busy-ness of life. But some years ago I got the idea to start setting goals for the year - part of ensuring my business plan would get reviewed and actioned. I probably read about it somewhere and started to do this each January. Last January (2007) I set aside a whole day to think about what I wanted to do and to set goals that met both personal and … [Read more...]
So, you want to be a Virtual Assistant?
The end of a year and the start of a new one will often lead people to think about what they want to do for the next 365 days, or in this case, 366 days with a leap year in 2008. It's at this time of year that I hear from many who would like to leave their corporate jobs and come home to work, so they can be with their family and get a better work/life balance. Sometimes they email me before deciding to join my team of VAs and others ring because they want to hear a 'real' voice before making … [Read more...]
Seeking Advice in the Right Places
Frequently I see new and experienced VAs seeking advice at the forums for things that probably should be obtained elsewhere. In particular, advice that needs to be sought from Accountants - the VA's accountant. And if they don't have one, they better do something about that very quickly. Discussions regarding the type of business to set up (i.e. sole proprietor, partnership, LLC, bonding, etc), whether or not to register for an ABN (Australian Business Number), GST or other service taxes … [Read more...]
Putting The Word Out There
At this time of year people are naturally looking to see what changes they will make for the New Year. I often notice an influx of new people entering the Virtual Assistant industry and one of the things they do is start sending messages to the VA forums they've joined that they're open for business and seeking work. But they really are promoting to the wrong audience. Most forums are about learning how to operate a VA business and how to work with clients. Some of the forums do provide … [Read more...]
