It pays to be cautious

I recently had a request on my website for some research to be done relating to photographs of people wearing jewellery and to report back to the client. One of my team queried that wondering just what the guy might have been up to – I suggested she investigate him to make sure he was a legitimate jeweller – he is and he just wants to be able to let his clients know who is seen wearing his jewellery.

Her cautious approach was correct though and it is always best we check things if something doesn’t sound quite right.  A little while ago I was contacted by a new client and asked if I could retype a resume that had faded and was old – it was a faxed copy. I agreed as I knew it would be a short job and I could fit it in.

However, once I had the job I discovered it wasn’t even this guy’s resume and I wondered what game he was playing?  I completed the job, put a big fat ‘DRAFT’ across the centre of each page in the background and printed it to PDF then emailed it to him for approval and completion. I’d noticed the resume stopped at 1971 so asked him if there was more to be added?

His response?  He’s a ghost writer and writes biographies and this is one way of researching who he’s writing about.  duh!  Why didn’t I think of that?  The client went further to explain he’s a former TV producer with a station and is moving into DVD biographies and wanted to know if we could work together on future projects as he felt I could provide him the services he needs.  Who knows where that might lead to?  Naturally I’ve said ‘yes’.

It pays to be cautious and ask more questions – you want to make sure you’re not contributing to something that isn’t legal.  In reality you just want your own conscious to be set right – and you are protecting your client and your future business as well.

virtual assistant, client support,

Kathie Thomas

Kathie is the former owner of VA Directory and is former past President of the Australian VA Association. She founded the Virtual Assistant industry in Australia in the mid 90s, having already been operating a home-based secretarial service. Today the VA industry covers a multitude of office-based services for clients worldwide.