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2008 September

Aiming High is Important, Recession or Not

A lot of small business owners are no doubt feeling the pinch of looming recession. But apparently so is the demand for outsourced business assistance. Our very own VAinsider Club is proving that economic downturn is no match for a virtual empire of home office entrepreneurs. In just one year 100s of virtual assistants have signed on to an exclusive network of business experts, marketers, speakers and coaches. Not to mention a very active RFP forum.

In a recent press release, our VAnetworking.com founder, Tawnya Sutherland, said this:
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Posted by on September 30, 2008 in All Topics, News | Comments closed

What’s The Worst Question You Can Ask a Virtual Assistant?

Easy…

“Can you send me a resume?”

Even though people ask this question to VAs all the time, as a general group, we don’t like it.

I think it’s because it means we’re being thought of as employees. Remember, administrative assistants don’t get paid very well and often have to take a lot of orders and abuse from bosses. When we leave that world to start our own businesses we want to leave that world far far away! Being asked for a resume is something that happens when you apply for a job, not when someone approaches you looking to hire a contractor.
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Posted by on September 25, 2008 in All Topics, General, Hiring Tips | Comments closed

Ready to Let a Virtual Assistant Hold Your Blankie?

I need to finish that darned book. You know, THE book everyone is talking about (and some are really really whining about, but more on that another post). The 4-Hour Workweek by Tim Ferriss is a must read, even if you are the type who has a hard time just “letting go.” And that would include pretty much every entrepreneur I’ve ever known in my life.
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Posted by on September 21, 2008 in All Topics, Hiring Tips | Comments closed

Make a Plan Before Working With a Virtual Assistant

When you think you’re ready to choose a Virtual Assistant to start taking care of your administrative headaches, there are some things you should do on your end to make things a bit easier for everyone.

The most important thing you can do before you get into a contact with a VA is to clearly lay out everything you would like to delegate so you know what you want done and it will be easier for your VA to dig right in and start working.
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Posted by on September 21, 2008 in Administrative Services, All Topics, Hiring Tips | Comments closed

What Did You Waste Energy On Today?

I’m willing to bet you did at least one thing today that you either rolled your eyes over or had to take a deep breath to get through. Could have been faxing an email, organizing your receipts, typing up a letter or coming up with content for a newsletter. Maybe you’re the type that hates returning phone calls or updating your blog.

How many administrative tasks did you do today that could have been outsourced to a Virtual Assistant? Or more importantly, how many administrative tasks did you not do today that could have been outsourced to a Virtual Assistant?! ;)
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Posted by on September 10, 2008 in Administrative Services, All Topics, Deep Thoughts | Comments closed

Please Don’t Paint Us All With The Same Brush!

Because Virtual Assistants are a relatively new concept to many people with this industry being so young, there are a lot of challenges we face on a pretty regular basis. Let me share a story with you.

I attended a small tradeshow about a year ago which was sponsored by a local business women’s group. I was walking around doing the networking thing when I noticed there was a VA exhibiting. I thought that was very interesting because at that time, I thought I was the only Virtual Assistant in my province. I was looking at her booth waiting to chat with her and couldn’t help but overhear the conversation she was having with another booth visitor. I heard the lady ask her what she did and she went on to tell her that she was a Virtual Assistant.
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Posted by on September 5, 2008 in All Topics, General | Comments closed

The Importance of Personality

Far more important than rates and almost equally important as skill when selecting a Virtual Assistant, is personality.

If you need website updates, assistance with your Internet marketing efforts and database management, you can find handfuls of VAs that provide those services and most will fall within the same price range.

How do you choose after you’ve narrowed it down to a couple?
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Posted by on September 2, 2008 in All Topics, Hiring Tips | Comments closed

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