Posts Tagged ‘virtual assistant’
Password Security and Outsourcing
I recently read a great blog post by a fellow name Bob Jenkins – also known as the Bob the Teacher. He tells a great story on why you should never rent office space from an employee and how it relates to hiring a web designer or webmaster and how they setup access to your domain name and webhosting account.
You can tell from the comments how many people have had issues of the same sort and how it affected them. And then there is the other side from webmasters and why they have this preference.
All good points, however based on personal experience I am one who recommends and prefers when working for clients that accounts get opened and setup in their name, not mine. In most cases you can add admin access as well.
Working as a virtual assistant for my clients entails a lot of trust because it requires in most cases to have password access to a myriad of their accounts. This is the norm; access to email, social media, newsletter system, website, blog and many more….however, when our contract is complete or the client and I decide to part ways I always recommend they also go and change their passwords and any assigned admin access. This can be a royal pain for the client, but really it is for their protection as well as mine (*Tip* I use Roboform to store and update my passwords – saves tons of time).
As Bob mentioned in his blog post, having password access is the same as having the key and alarm code to your brick and mortar store. If someone is no longer working there – would you allow them to keep a key to come and go when they please? Not likely. Too much is at stake – your business name, reputation not to mention the contents in the store. The same goes for your website and other accounts they have access to; your business name is your domain name, your reputation and contents of your store are dependent upon the content on your webpages, your newsletter has content and even access to email all your contacts. These are all part of your online store and should be treated with the same respect for security.
This is not meant to say that your virtual assistant or anyone else hired to work for you, anyone with password access – will go and ruin your reputation at any chance; it is meant to make you realize that having access is a risk. A risk you need to take seriously and protect as you would the key to your store.
When starting out, start right and have control of the online parts of your business that you will ultimately need to have ownership and control of. If your accounts are not setup in your name then now is the time to question the setup and change it – while you are still working with the other party.
Taking Time for You
I have been taking a course from Coach U – Building Personal Foundations – and one thing that has really been a key topic is how important it is to take time out of every day for me.
This time is meant strictly for me – not my work, my kids, my husband, friends. But me and me alone.
I made a goal of starting with 30 minutes every day and this past week I have managed to be successful with this. My biggest struggle working from home is juggling work and family schedule. Being able to optimize my time with family is big for me – after all that is the reason why I started a home-based business.
This class has really made me think about many aspects of my life – family and work life. I realize now more than ever how important it is to actually schedule in time for me. Life is hectic and busy for everyone and taking a timeout can help re-energize and rejuvenate you. It will also help motivate you in many ways – breaking away will do that. It may seem difficult at first, but you mind, body and spirit will thank you in the end.
What strategies or plans do you use to set aside ‘your time’? I’d love to hear them.
Your Domain Name – Book yours Now! Here’s why…
Soooo… Sunday I had a big scare from one of my Google Alerts. The one that got me was one for my own name.
Yes, I have an alert setup for me and my name as well as my business name. I’m not egotistical or anything, I actually recommend everyone have these types of alerts setup in order to keep tabs on when and where your name comes up in the online world. An alert, for those new to this term, is an email update of the latest Google results (web, news, etc.) based upon the search parameter you setup. It’s an effective way to keep on top of mentions out on the Web of you, or even your company or clients.
Anyhow, Sunday I open the Alert for “Kathy Colaiacovo” and come to find it is a link to a website under construction. I click on it and the fear sets in! Why? The website was www.kathycolaiacovo.com !! It was me! And I didn’t own it! Crap! That’s all I could think was “Crap!”, and how dumb I had been because I had not bothered to take the time and $10 to book the darn domain name – my name.
I was so mad! And there I was looking at the screen and reading the message that said how this website was the home of a future website. I was fuming at my desk and my stupidity – sorry no better word could describe what I was calling myself at that moment!
I decided I had to see who owned the domain name, I knew there could be another Kathy Colaiacovo out there but, OH! I was so mad at myself. I head over to the Whois registry website to lookup the owner of this fine domain name – only so I could yell at them in my mind. They had every right to buy it, since I dropped the ball. Read the rest of this entry »
Working with Trust
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.
Time to Upgrade
Well… the computer man came knocking on my door the other day. Not someone you like to see there either!!
As I have been building my business the past two years I have added more and more resources to my business. And as a Virtual Assistant (VA) my business is pretty much my computer and eventually when you keep adding to it, you run out of virtual space.
This happened to me last week. I started getting little errors that there was not enough memory to run my program and to shut some windows. Eeeks! You didn’t have to tell me twice! Even though I have two backup systems, my biggest fear is a ‘computer crash’.
I immediately sent an email to my ‘Tech Department’, a great guy named Chris. I explained what was happening and what I needed all the while looking to the future. He sent me a list of what I should look at buying and the reasons why. I picked up the items, dropped them off and in a few days I had my new computer.
Upgrading is something many people need to think about doing with respect to their professional life as well. I have been taking several courses over the past year to improve my skills. I do this for the same reasons I upgraded my computer. In many cases, as hard as it seems – changing and upgrading may be necessary for growth. Sometimes life can zip by so fast that you cannot imagine taking time out of your day for a class or a seminar. What you really need to remember is what the upgrade can ultimately do for you? How can learning those new skills help you and in turn, help your business.
Is it your Time to Upgrade? Think about what you are really missing by stopping your growth…
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