Periodically I get requests from prospective clients who are seeking work to be done at a really low rate. Sometimes I have to turn them away - I wouldn't want to even ask my team to consider the job. Other times I take great pains to explain to the prospective client why our rates are above those of the high school student down the road, but should I really have to explain? After all - the high school student might know how to type, but they don't have the years of experience, knowledge and … [Read more...]
HBB TV
I recently appeared on a WebTV program recorded for HBB TV (home based business). This interview is about my new book and also my business - I thought you might like to see it. The recording is just over 8 mins long. … [Read more...]
Webinar or Teleseminar?
Recently a VA was asking whether she needed a long distance phone plan to attend a webinar. I responded explaining that there is a difference between a webinar and a teleseminar, i.e. sometimes a teleseminar will have a web based presentation but generally webinars don't have the phone involved (at least not those I've been involved with and I've attended quite a few!). A webinar is just that - it's on the web. So you don't need a long distance phone plan. Usually you are given a web address … [Read more...]
When You Don’t Meet the Criteria
I recently had a wannabe Virtual Assistant email me seeking advice and help. She very much wants to become a VA but doesn't have the 5 years minimum experience that many of the VA networks advise members should have and she wanted to know my thoughts. Below is my response to her. The criteria for 5 years is a guideline and owners of the VA networks use it to ensure that their members have the skills and abilities needed to operate a VA business, particularly if they're going to operate under … [Read more...]
Blog Carnival of Virtual Assistants
Welcome to the 3rd edition of the Carnival of Virtual Assistants. This month we’ve had some great submissions. I am delighted to be your host for this particular session! Do you know your computer software? Just how much should a Virtual Assistant know and understand their computer and software? I believe it is really important that we make an effort to know and understand as much as possible about the care of our computers to keep them running at an optimum. If we were dependent on our … [Read more...]
Are You Real?
I had a young woman ring me the other day. She sounded a little nervous on the phone but the reason for that soon became obvious. You see, she'd signed up for a typing job at home on the web sometime back, paid out money and then nothing happened. She lost her money and felt 'burnt' and was nervous about trying again. However, she'd been researching the Virtual Assistant industry and was very keen to work at home with a genuine role, and anxious not to get caught by something bogus. So, she … [Read more...]
7 Keys to Successfully Work At Home
I want to share with you an article one of my business coach clients has written. I often speak about the same things to the VAs I chat with via forums, but this information is for anyone who runs a home based business. If you like what you read here, why not drop over to her site, read her blog and sign up for her newsletter? She has lots of valuable ideas that will help make you more productive on a daily basis. Increasing workloads are forcing people to spend more time in the office, even … [Read more...]
What Version Software?
When new software becomes available many new VAs are keen to upgrade as soon as possible, or buy the latest and greatest. But I want to encourage you to stop and think for a moment. Will this mean that you are no longer compatible with prospective clients? Will this cause some difficulty in clients being able to read files you send to them? Not always, but there are times when it will cause problems, and if the client is not very computer literate the challenge for them may prove too … [Read more...]
Is a job offer by email genuine?
If you're like me, you get lots of job offers by email. Let's face it, as soon as your email address is on display anywhere, it's going to get grabbed and used by others. Or even if you send an email to someone who has an infected machine, the address can then be picked up as well. A new member at one of the VA forums I belong to recently posted an email, asking about a particular group who had emailed her about a job. She wanted to know if anyone had heard of them and whether it was … [Read more...]
