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Hi Everyone, Happy Mother's Day weekend this weekend. While working on making some changes for my Webinar Production Agency. I pieced together a new mission statement. Let me know what you think. Our premier agency manages all aspects of our customer's webinars and podcasts to take the tasks off their plate so they a focus on sharing their message. We provide an event team to assist with event management, moderate chat rooms, marketing, video production/editing, and bookkeeping. We put you in the spotlight so that your message can shine.

Hey there! Welcome to VAnetworking.com --> The Social Network for Virtual Assistants. I am so excited that you have decided to join the friendliest social network on earth for Virtual Assistants. Let me give you a quick intro of who I am. I am Juli and I have not been in the Virtual Industry that long, (1 year) but by being your moderator, I can relate to some of your challenges that you might possibly face that I might have gone through. I was unemployed looking for way to pay off my student loan debt and how to make money at the same time. I saw an AD on my local TV explaining how to make money online, that educated me a bit on how to make money online but through one of those freelancing sites. I was still not satisfied with only working from that platform so I went on Google and found ways how I could make money online, and this is how I found the forum and joined. Fast forward a year later I have a business in place and I am about to launch my website. So I have gone through the path that you now are on. Enough about me and more about you! One way to get to know you better on the forum is through your first introduction to us. I will outline some tips on how to get you started on the forum. First you can do a quick introduction about yourself and this can be done by clicking here http://www.vanetwork...al-Busi-f4.html If you are like me and don’t like to talk much about yourself here is a breakdown to use as a guide to ease those introductions jitters: Your Name: Your Website URL (if applicable): Years in Business: Description of your Business, including any specialties: On a more personal note: What City/Town/State/Country are you from?: Are you married? How long?: Any kids and how old? Hobbies & Interests: How did you hear about us? We love to know how you heard about us so please let us know! i.e. Google search (what keywords did you search?), article in magazine (name of mag?), word of mouth (who?), etc. Please feel free to browse around and get to know others. If you have any questions please don't hesitate to private message me or any of the other moderators here or contact us at our help desk Until then, can't wait to see your growth here and your accomplishments. Best wishes.

I'm sorry, for some reason I didn't see this before now. Yes, I used Canva. I'm quite enjoying Canva, although I still think Photoshop is better. There are some things you just can't do in Canva.

Hello Danielle, Thank you, it works perfectly the way the video shows.

Thanks Tawyna and Danielle! She will only be running a few group coaching programs. Not a lot of products at all. She does have a wordpress site. I will definitely check these options out. Glad to be back in the community

Hello, I do provide Transaction Coordination Services, I know this post was a few years ago, but just in case your looking again sometime.

Thank you for the welcome and the feedback! I truly appreciate the support. The amount of information and guidance I have already gotten from being here is absolutely astounding. Marie, thank you for introducing yourself and the support. Charlottesville is a beautiful area. I do hope you and Tawnya had a well deserve Mother's Day. (I Googled Mother's Day in Canada to make sure I was correct to include Tawnya) My decision "redesigning your career at this stage" in my life so far is a blessing in disguise. My wife and I recently (3 months ago) purchased our new home. Last month I lost my job of 7 years due to "seasonal downsizing". My wife and I took a hard look at our options. She is a career nurse that makes a relatively good income, but not necessarily enough to carry our current expenses alone. So, what to do? I have looked into getting another job, and there are a lot of postings in our area business administrators, executive assistants, administrative assistants, and small business owners are looking for personal assistants. One evening, while I was preparing a cover letter, my wife asked me if I knew how my previous employer was planning to distribute my workload? That one question coupled with what I was seeing for job postings was a EUREKA! moment. At that point, my cover letters became introduction letters for my services as a virtual assistant. Even though my previous employer was not posting an ad to refill my position, I knew he was going to need help, so I sent an email. My previous boss is now my first client! Tawnya, thank you for your response. It helped me in defining my why. I want financial freedom for my family! I will NOT be put in this position again! My plans and dreams for the future are HUGE, but that is fuel for my fire. I don't expect the journey to be easy, but it will be fun!!!

Hi Chuck, Welcome to our virtual assistant community. You are not the only male in this group. One of our admins in this group is Mark Hunter from Australia. And we have a supportive network here. I am from Charlottesville, Virginia. I am married. We have a 13-year old son. I started in 2017 with just an idea of being a virtual assistant. And with the help of Tawnya, Mark and so many wonderful people in the VA insiders group I am moving right along. Bravo for redesigning your career at this stage in your life. Our network is supportive and willing to help cheer you on. To your success. Cheers, Marie Mason PS. Happy Mother's day to your family. Also, my son's name is Charles.

I've always had issues exporting my videos in Camtasia on my Mac. I finally asked Camtasia how to fix the quality issues and here is the article they referred me to. It has fixed my issues so wanted to post it in here in case anyone has this issue. https://support.techsmith.com/hc/en-us/articles/115007279948-Camtasia-Mac-Exported-Video-Had-Faded-or-Incorrect-Color

Hello, I hate to admit this but I have been a VA insider since June and have yet to start my business. Part of the reason is that I stand in my own way and overthink things but the other part is feeling really lost on where to start. I cannot purchase the VAC program at this time which I know would help me. Where should I begin in VA insiders and VA networking to actually execute steps on starting my business?

I just recently joined the VA workforce. I'm interviewing for positions now. I am optimistic that I will land my first client soon and begin creating my portfolio of work! ______________________________________________________________________________________ Visit my site at - https://rhosecellahdasalla.wixsite.com/website

I am definitely backing away from this for now. I need to earn some real wages first. This is something I could come back to but honestly I really hate MLM type stuff. According to them I can earn a lot, as long as those I recruit don't surpass my level. I've never been very good at getting ahead w/stuff like that anyway. I'm going to reach out to some people I know. I also made some flyers to put up wherever I can. So hopefully I'll find some real clients/work soon. I'll be posting & writing new posts for my blog as well.

What do you think?

Thank you, Amber. It does help.

Site Builder is where my website is. And I really love it. So, while I can't use the images from there some place else, it suits me for now. The customization is amazing for free. I've got exactly what I need. I've done a lot of comparison. And some of the cheapest sites have poor customer service, some of the more high-end ones are too expensive, and I just can't stand WordPress. I know lots of people find it useful & simple. But I can't customize it the way that I want, not with the free version. So I've found what makes me comfortable. I need to be able to manage, maintain, and also not be frustrated w/the design. I can't be productive if I'm sitting for an hour trying to figure out how to get things to look the way I want them to. I don't like tons of time spent "troubleshooting". It's a serious drain on my energy.

Thank you Marco. But I find a big differences between the U.S. and Spanish markets.

Hey Brittany - great start on your site and congrats on having it live! Since your site is very white, I'd definitely 2 colors that you want to go with your brand and have those pop. Since you have pink in your logo, definitely go with that and then one more to really make things stand out. I think it will liven it up a bit. Since it looks like you are a solo VA, I would change some of the wording to "me" or "I". You kind of have both singular and plural and it can be confusing to users. So it's better to stick with one or the other. If you are the only person people will be dealing with, then just go with that. And lastly, I'd add a picture of you - it makes it more personable and people can relate more to someone they can "look in the eye". Good luck!

Thank you so much ladies for the great feedback! In regards to coding, I wanted to learn how to design and build websites so I could do that for others. I've done some searching though after I saw what you said, Tawnya. This is something I definitely don't need to know prior to getting my website live. I'll put that on the back burner for now. Thank you!

Hi Hannah, welcome to VAnetworking! I definitely think you could niche yourself and work in the medical field.

Thank you. A UPS Store mailbox is a very good idea.

Client onboarding is basically a phrase someone made up so they could sell you products surrounding that process. Onboarding a client is fairly simple and usually goes in this order: 1. Get them to pay your retainer upfront (usually online through Paypal). 2. Get them to sign your contract (I do this after I get their payment as once they pay it's easier to get them to sign as they want you to start working for them right away). 3. Talk to them on the phone to get pertinent contact information (contact info, passwords, etc.) to help you service them. 4. You can also send them a document stating your business protocols (hours you work, how you'll communicate with each other, how payments are made, holidays, sick-time, etc.) Each VA has different protocols. As you can see, there isn't much process to prepare to onboard a client. The hardest part is getting them to pay and sign that contract.

I am just starting my journey to start my Virtual Assistant Business. I am thinking of doing proofreading and editing. Right now I am in college perusing a Virtual Office Professional Certificate of Achievement. I have two years experience as an Administrative Assistant Intern. I need your advice on what step should I take next. It seems that people on Guru are wanting degrees and three to five years virtual assistant experience. What's your advice?

Hi all! I just wanted to introduce myself. My name is Adele. I was a VA for years and then went back into working in corporate America after going through a divorce. Life circumstances at the time just called for that kind of change. I was only a VA on a part-time basis and needed to go back to full-time income -- and quickly! Anyhow, fast-forward to the present. I am now happily remarried and in a much better position. I have decided to take the plunge and delve back into my passion. I assist businesses with their HR, recruiting, and SMM needs. I also assist in a variety of other projects when time allows, such as event and meeting planning and trade show coordination.

I chose Oceanfront VA Services because that's where I'm hoping to be working from in the next few years!

Yes, it's a lot of going back and forth and switching between projects. I found I was wasting a lot of time with admin stuff and emails. I rather focus on a few larger clients. Have you figured out how many hours you could allocate to clients? That might help you out. Don't forget to set aside time for bookkeeping, marketing etc for your own business.

I'm a retired Quality Assurance Manager who started editing part time (I'm a writer as well) and it just grew into editing, copy editing, proofreading and virtual assistance. I'm only wanting to do this part time, as I am writing novels. But jobs and projects and clients have a way of blossoming! So I network with other freelancers to spread out the work I don't want or can't do. I feel like I have friends all over the world now. Good luck in your business! Pat www.editalley.com www.pathauldren.net www.remotegirlfriday.com

I have a client who's Quickbooks online is so messed up I have no clue how to fix it. When I first took over there was years of income that he has put in undeposited funds. I moved all that out into the proper place and now it seems even more messed up. One of his client looks like he has over 300K in credit and another looks like they are behind when they are not....HELP??!! Need an expert!!

Hello Everyone! I am a Virtual Assistant based in South Africa. My journey into this awesome "Virtual World" happen with the birth of my son and the company I was working for at the time didn't want to get a temp so I set myself up at home to do everything I did in the office and that is when the light bulb moment happened Set up an office at home resigned and have never looked back, nothing better than being your own boss, determining your income and getting to be there for your kids everyday. Excited about being a part of this community and look forward to getting to know fellow VA's.

Hi there!! I'm Nancy and I am a brand new VA. My previous profession was in social services and health education and I have incorporated my experience into my new business, specializing with healthcare businesses, non profits and disabled business owners and individuals. My business is heavy on the personal assistance services and from the knowledge I have gathered, noone is providing this type of service to the disabled. Of course, I am also offering business support as well. My website is www.avirtualhelpinghand.com I did it on wix.com which is a platform I am very familiar with and I didnt realize most VA's do their sites on wordpress. Hope it's ok. On a personal note, I am divorced with no children, live in Queens, NY and love meeting new people, travel, cooking, and all life has to offer. This new VA venture has been a strong learning curve for me as I had to learn alot of programs and how to do alot of stuff most VAs do. I am still preparing my contracts and planning to learn a few more programs before I officially launch in about a month...I did send out a few cold email pitches but didnt hear anything back..I will DEFINITELY be taking advantage of the free email templates in the stocking stuffer At the moment, I am feeling very overwhelmed, feeling like I need to "do it all" and am in awe of the skills so many VAs bring to the table. Any support and feedback would be helpful. Look forward to getting to know you all better and best wishes and blessings on your own VA journeys

Thank you so much! I will be attending the VAinsiders call today.

Hi Marie, One service I think would be pretty cool as a package would be this. To extend your webinar package by offering to transcribe or create shownotes out of the content that is created. I know some marketers like James Schramko have very in depth pdfs created from their webinars, with formatting and images + transcribed text.

I know that some freelancers charge for words and or by content. So for example per word could start at.50 or $1 as an example or for the whole content at 1000 words $50.

Hi Tawnya, Thanks for all the suggestions. I did check out this freelancer website you sent me. The rates were not listed on the site you have to talk to them about it. And it looks like the rates are set at a yearly rate, not a monthly rate. Good points on the time it takes to complete this task. I need to get back with her and ask her some of those questions you asked me. Thank you for those suggestions. Have a productive day. Sorry I can not be on the group coaching call this afternoon. I have to pick up my son a little early from middle school today so he can get home and have dinner and then get some homework done before we have parent-teacher conferences tonight at his school. It's all part of back to school fun. Warm WIshes, Marie Mason Owner CM VIrtual Assistant Agency

Hey Latoyia, so great to have you here! I love how you are focusing on being a Pinterest VA. There's no need to add too much to your repertoire, as you want to make sure it's what you really enjoy doing. So just take it one step at a time and as your Pinterest business grows, then you can see what else you're good at and continue from there. I have found focusing on one thing and getting really good at that is way better than doing a lot of little things and being subpar at them. And one last thing, if you are working solo, I'd remove the "us" and just put "About" and "Contact" or put "About Me" and Contact Me". Especially since you have "Hire Me", that could get confusing. It's better for prospective clients to understand that it's YOU they are working with. Makes it more personable as well. Good luck to you!

Good Morning !! I am new to the career of a Virtual Assistant. Although I have been performing remote work for years; I have just recently made the decision to expand my skills in other areas of Administration, as well as make a business for myself. I have over 25 years in Human Resources Management; and have been an Executive Assistant for around 30. I am excited to begin this new journey of my career path. Marilyn

Good afternoon from Midcoast Maine! I just wanted to stop by and re-introduce myself as I have not been active in the forum for about 10 years now. I started a VA business back in 2007 after my third child was born. The business took off very quickly and before I knew it my plate was full with work and a new baby! This was wonderful except I didn't have it in me at the time to create a full blown business and hire help to keep the flame alive, so sadly I let it go. I had ANOTHER baby since then in 2010. Now that my youngest is off to 2nd grade and my oldest is off to college (yikes) I'm ready to do something for me, all while still being available to my family when they need me. I have been taking a few hours a day to read through all the material available to me here at vanetworking but I'm sure I'll have many more questions as I make my way back into this career endeavor. It's great to know I have a supportive group of VA's/Office Managers/Administrative Professionals, etc... to turn to for advice. Thank you for your time!

There are SO many things you can create, but let's be realistic, sometimes it can be tedious. What are a few things you just LOVE to create more than others? Feel free to show some examples! For me, I love to make custom 2D graphics from scratch and I also love to make info graphics for some reason haha. Info graphics are too big, so no samples there, but here are some 2D graphics I've made in the past in Adobe Illustrator (with watermarks).

Welcome back to VAnetworking Nina!

Thanks for the warm welcome! I'm checking the forum now for business name help. Look forward to getting to know you!

Thank you so much for the very warm welcome! I am looking forward to making great connections here!

Wave is a free accounting software that is easy to use. Quickbooks is possibly overkill for a VA business but we use it but then we also have products too. I like the Quickbooks online myself but used desktop version for years. The online version is easily accessible to my accountant at any time. There is also Freshbooks which many VAs use.

Hi everyone, I'm new to this forum and to the world of VA's. I have been working hard the last month to get everything up and running for my VA business. All that is missing is my Social Media set up and launch. And I can't for the life of me wrap my head around how to even start. This is harder than designing a website and creating content. I will be on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram but I have never even used Instagram or Twitter personally. What are some good resources on how to get started or what a good first post would be? Thank you in advance!

Awesome idea and way to keep yourself motivated. You could go take some pictures near the ocean and incorporate it into your website and branding. Could keep your colors ocean like or nautic. Sounds like a lot of fun to create actually!

Let us know when you publish it live and we can take a look. The chances of a potential client finding it right away are slim so I wouldn't worry about it being online.

Sounds good and this is my service list I have as of right now; Administrative Services Appointment Setting with Reminder Services Answering Client Inquiries Client Invoicing Document Creation Spreadsheet Creation Slide Show Creation CRM Management Email Management Online Research Business Advertising/Promoting Services Creation of Advertising Materials Distribution of Advertising Materials Tracking Advertising Campaign Social Media Management Those are all I have right now. What do you think?

If I don't have someone to personally recommend to prospect, I tell them to post an RFP at VAnetworking's job board. I explain that it's free to post there as well. I always make sure to use my affiliate link, then I get a $5 referral. I'm not sure of the best way to find VAs to outsource to. I have VAs contact me on my website all the time about working together and I usually take a look at their website to see if its someone I'd be interested in working with. Then I keep their contact info on file with what they do. I've posted RFPs myself and have found a few good connections for outsourcing as well. Maybe we should start a thread in the forum in the VAinsiders area and put our information so we can all learn a bit more about each other. Maybe something like: Name: Contact Email: Website: Who do you work with: Specialties: Or something, and we can create a little database on our VAinsiders Forum. Maybe Tawnya has some ideas on that.

Hi! I am interested in potentially pursuing a career as a VA and am looking for some advice as to how to go about it. I have done some research and am finding I get different answers everywhere I look. I am finishing up my GED right now and have lots of experience in customer service and have strong computer skills, but only a moderate amount of administrative and next to no business experience. What would be a recommended course to take? I was considering either a certificate in office or business administration to start. Is this necessary? Recommended? Any advice on best course of training would be appreciated. Either on here or contact me through email if you are willing to chat one on one. Thank you in advance for any and all advice. Stephanie

All depends on content writer, some would charge less, some ask more as per their experience and writing skills.

I have used a large number of software, but in my suggestion, Quick Books is the best accounting software as it provides a long range of options like inventory management, payroll management & sales data analysis which helps a business to get more better strategy formulation for future basis.

Hi Elizabeth! Welcome to the forums! There is a lot of great resources on the site and forums, so be sure to look around and ask lots of questions! We're here to help one another