Archive for the ‘virtual assistant’ Category

My friend, client and role model, Tawnya Sutherland of VAnetworking is hosting a fabulous workshop tonight for small business owners to learn about using a virtual assistant:

Learn how to Outsource your business tasks to a Virtual Assistant

She also has an opportunity to network and meet some Virtual Assistants – virtually of course!

If you have a business and are feeling stressed, overworked and feel you never get everything done that requires your attention then …this FREE workshop is for you!

Tawnya Sutherland is VA Outsourcing Expert and founder of the world’s largest online Virtual Assistant Social Network. She will  share with you the knowledge, tips, tactics and secrets she’s accumulated over the last 10 years on the right way to hire a Virtual Assistant and make it work!

Join Tawnya tonight (Wednesday July 7th) at 6pm EST (along with many other Virtual Assistants, including me) to learn:

• How to gain more time in your business day and in your personal life
• How to become more profitable by working smarter
• How to rid yourself of that extra long to-do list that never gets done
• How to delegate your tasks to a Virtual Assistant

You can do this all and you can learn how tonight!  Simply visit this site to register for the call. You can also pick up a copy of her ebook – Finding the Ultimate Virtual Assistant for your Business.

Virtual Assistants who are VAinsiders will be on the networking session at 7pm EST (If you are not one yet, you can be by tonight – visit here to learn what being an Insider can do for your Virtual Assistant business)

Hope to see you there, whether a business owner or a VA!

Technorati Tags: efficient business, how to find a VA, virtual assistant, WAHM, Work at Home

Last year I wrote an article on how to better manage your inbox so it does not take control.  Yesterday I realized was not following my own advice lately and was reading this again to refresh my memory on what I should be doing.  Here’s the article for those who may not have seen it…

Is your email inbox, or inboxes, as many of us have more than one, full of old received and sent emails?
There are a few easy steps anyone can follow to help take back control of your inbox and emails.
Before you get started, make a point of setting aside a specific time each day to check your email.  It is so easy to become distracted by dealing with emails you lose time for dealing with other projects or work.  Three times per day is plenty; unless you are in a Customer Service role and as part of your job, you may require doing this more often. A good schedule is and hour after the start of your day, an hour after lunch and an hour before quitting time.
So, what’s the system, the simple steps?  We like to refer to it as:

1. Dump it, if it’s junk, or not fitting into one of the following categories.
2. Archive it. This means file it away if you will need to refer to it later.
   
3. Not now, later. If you’ll need time to deal with this email later, then flag it for followup and enter a reminder, so you don’t forget.
4. Get it done, now. If you can deal with it, then do so, immediately.
   

Sounds easy, but in order to make this work you have to follow a few simple rules of picking which category the emails fit into. Read the rest of this entry »

Technorati Tags: efficient business, email management

As a Virtual Assistant (VA) who works with many people from all parts of Canada and the United States, the most important factor in my client-VA relationships is trust.   It would be very difficult to be successful if my clients and I did not trust each other.

And the trust requirement runs both ways not just client to VA but also VA to client.  Working virtually requires a lot trust when there are passwords and publishing of information over the internet.  If you cannot trust those you work with – virtually or in person – it will make for very unpleasant and even stressful situations.

I get asked many questions by friends and family about how my clients pay me, how I help them manage emails, how I can setup profiles on social networks and the list goes on.  Most of the answers make the ‘asking’ party realize how much faith my clients do have in me.  It’s actually a great feeling knowing that you do have these high levels of trust with your clients.

I was reading the blog at VAnetworking the other day and there was a fantastic post about a Lesson in Trust and Outsourcing.  It has some great points, especially for those new to virtual working relationships.  I highly recommend taking a read, and if you are also int he market to hire someone virtually – the free eBook there entitled “How to Hire the ultimate Virtual Assistant for your Business” has great pointers about how and what to do during this process.

Enjoy this reading and I hope it helps answer any questions you have about how people can trust and feel comfortable working with someone they may never meet in person.

Technorati Tags: VAnetworking, virtual assistant, Working Virtually

Recently, I met with one of my clients, one who had started working with me back in January. We have had a lull in work lately mostly because she was trying to make everything perfect before handing it over. Finally at this week’s meeting she realized that this was actually holding her back in all areas of her work.

As we talked about a timeline when I would get the work and what the deadline was for some of it, she then mentioned how she was going to block off two days in a few weeks to go through all her files and sort everything out to give to me. She was also talking about how her workshop was coming up and that she had a conference out of town in 3 weeks as well. Very busy time.

So… I casually asked ” Why did you hire me?”
The answer from her was “To help me get this work done and off my plate”.
I said “Right, but look what you are doing now. You are actually thinking of blocking off two entire working days to sort the work for me; and when I get it I will have to do that to most of it anyhow.”
I paused, “Now think, how many client appointments could you book and what income would you earn from those in the two days?”
“Four clients”, she said. “And about $1,000.00.”
“And…. how much money will you pay me to do the work?” I asked.
“Argh!” was her answer. “You are so right. I will box it up right away!”

I think the stress of all she had going on, finally made her see the light.

Working with a Virtual Assistant (VA) shouldn’t be stressful – it should be the absolute opposite. As long as you have good communication and trust, you can easily give your VA what she (or he) needs and the work will get done. A simple system for assigning and handing over the work and it will get done.

You will gain what you wanted by hiring your VA in the first place… your time back to work on more important tasks and the work not requiring your special skills gets done.

Technorati Tags: office solution, Organization, virtual assistant

I received one of the best compliments the other day.  It came from a friend and fellow Virtual Assistant (VA), Tracey D’Averio, with whom I had originally connected online through the VAnetworking forum and Twitter.

We had the opportunity to meet in person after 8 months when we both attended a conference this past June and roomed together with another VA.  In August, my family and I  were on vacation in Ontario and Tracey and I got together for a visit. It was here that she passed on the compliment. A simple offhanded statement, but meant a lot to me.

The compliment?  She told me that I am “exactly the same person online as I am in person“.

Why am I honoured by her compliment? As someone who works virtually with most clients I know one of the most important aspects of my success is my ability to project my true self to my clients and other colleagues. We rarely get to meet in person so this feeling is vital to having good virtual relationships.

My business is ‘me’ and being real and authentic will ensure others can ‘see’ who I am even if we never meet in person. I try to make it work just as it would if we were working ‘live’.

The fact that Tracey told me she felt I was the ‘real me’ reassured me that indeed the person I project online is me.  I hope to keep it this way to continue with my virtual success.

How can you make sure that you remain real? Simple, act exactly as you would if everyone you encounter were standing right there in front of you and could see every action you make along with hearing every word you say. Authenticity and Transparency…that’s all it is.

Brad Paisley (sorry, I’m a country fan) has a song ‘Online‘ – great song and video but don’t follow this example, being better online won’t help you in the end. Be real.

Technorati Tags: networking, online presence, twitter, virtual assistant