Regular readers will know that I am a member of the business network LinkedIn. I've spent a fair bit of time there since Easter, getting to know people and making connections. It's been worthwhile as business has also occurred as a result of developing relationships with various members there. One of my favourite sections of LinkedIn is Answers - I find it quite addictive. You can place a question there and answer other people's questions. It's a great way for people to get to know you … [Read more...]
Type at home and tell your boss to quit!
Ever receive an email that told you that? Or what about 'Home typing out and submitting online forms'. I recently received two badly formatted emails offering me work at home 'typing out forms' and submitting them online, just doing 30wpm. Or how about the one that says you can 'make $250-$2250+ per day working only 30 minutes?. Sound to good to be true? Check out my proof of earnings above. No experience or special skills are required!' There wasn't anything 'above' for me to check out - … [Read more...]
Can Men Be VAs?
I was recently asked this question. The person asking wants to become a VA but wasn't sure if there were other men doing this and whether it would be more difficult for them to break into it. I know of a few men who are VAs, not many but there shouldn't be any reason why a man can't be a VA. In fact, I have a small number of men on my team and it is slowly growing. And I know that VANA have a number of men on their list as well. I think because traditionally women are in the secretarial role … [Read more...]
ACS News
You might not be aware that I produce a monthly newsletter from the "A Clayton's Secretary" website. This newsletter has been running since 1995, first in print format, then went to web format a few years later - the earliest one I have on the site is dated July 2000. I still have some copies of the printed ones. They've come a long way since those days and I've always looked to give information about technology, things clients are doing and interesting tidbits. With so much happening on the … [Read more...]
Are You Crossing the Line?
When setting up a new business, many VAs continue in their full-time or part-time jobs until such time they feel they can leave and work in their own business full-time. However, this means there are occasions when they feel they need to respond to email, answer calls or go out during their regular business hours to attend to something relating to their new growing business. In doing so, however, does this mean they are crossing the line? They certainly could be and ethics plays a strong part … [Read more...]
Hiring a VA
I saw a blog post discussing the pros and cons of hiring a VA and the author asked a question but does not have comments switched on so there wasn't any way for me to respond. Nor does he have any contact information available. So I'm linking to his post here and answering his question. He was asking about engaging a VA from another country and discussed that the time difference and economic value could be advantageous but if you needed phone contact with a VA that could be a disadvantage and … [Read more...]
Are You Setting Yourself Up For Failure?
I was having a discussion with a woman who has almost zero turnover of staff in her business. I told her a number of people will come through my network, and stay for less than six months and disappear again. Her response was that she also gets those type of people and she wasn't counting them as 'staff' because they were never fully committed in the first place. She starts them on a probation period and many just don't go far beyond that time period. I hadn't thought of it that way, but … [Read more...]
Lucky I’m Home!
My husband rides his bike to work every day - it's just under 21km one way. He loves to ride, get the exercise and hates getting caught up in public transport systems that rarely seem to run on time these days and are overcrowded. If you live in Melbourne, Australia, you'll have some idea of what I'm talking about - it's a common theme in the news. Anyway, I digress. Graham's been doing this trek since around October last year, so it's a good 9 months he's been making this trip. I guess I … [Read more...]
I’ve Been Tagged!
Seems I've just been tagged by Darlene at Interview Chatter. The idea seems to be to write 7 random facts about myself and tie them into my blog somehow. Mmmm. Now what to share? As a young girl I'd always dreamed of running my own business, I just didn't know what or how. Twenty years later I finally realised that whilst I was waiting for that business opportunity to come along I had developed the very skills I would need for a business. In 1993 I won 'Secretary of the Year' and Microsoft … [Read more...]
