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VA Network News

Issue 2, August 2008

Editors: Kathie M. Thomas

Well, a long time between issues but I believe it will improve from here!

Thank you to everyone who has subscribed - it was great to see you all join us! Please do feel free to forward this newsletter and invite others to subscribe as well. Let's all join together to make this a wonderful contribution to our industry as a whole. It is you, the reader, who will help this grow if you participate as mentioned below.

Your dues for this free newsletter is to submit two tips a quarter. As the tips increase we hope to send this newsletter out every two weeks. This is a newsletter for the Virtual Assistant Industry by Virtual Assistants so we look forward to your contributions and it will be the contributions that keep this newsletter happening.

Do you have tips you can share with the VA industry regarding technology, resources, sales & marketing, PR and other areas? Share your tips here, maximum 250 words (the shorter the better), with just your name and email address. No URLs or other promotional wording please.

Powerpoint Tip - Lara Nieberding, The Data Digger

A Virtual Assistant recently asked via a VA forum about her PowerPoint presentation and why the audio would not play when she transferred the file to her client.  Slideshare allows people to share their PowerPoint presentations online publically or privately.  The service also allows for audio to accompany the presentation. With Slideshare, anyone or everyone can see your PowerPoint presentation!

Tips For Your VA Business - Jeannine Clontz, Accurate Business Services

1. Have at least 2-years worth of your normal income set aside to support you while you're establishing your business.  The last thing you need is feeling a pinch in your bank account when trying to buy groceries or make the house payment.  You'll want to devote all your time and energy into starting and promoting your VA practice.  Having this cushion can go a long way in helping you stay focused on your business, and not on where your next meal will come from!
   
2. Watch your marketing budget when you first start your business.  Marketing will be the most important part of getting your business off the ground.  While you want to devote most of your available funds to this aspect of the business, you also want to spend those dollars wisely.  Check with other seasoned VAs to get ideas of how they have marketed their businesses, and especially find out what types of marketing ended up NOT returning the desired results.  Also, get your hands on any of the Guerilla Marketing series of books from Jay Conrad Levinson – there are fabulous low to no-cost ideas for marketing a new business.

Accepting invitations to social networks - Kathie M. Thomas, A Clayton's Secretary

Social and business networks seem to be exploding on the web and it is easy to get gripped by the excitement of these. But stop and think for a minute. Some simple questions will help you determine whether you should be accepting every invitation that comes your way:

1. What is the aim of the network that you've been invited to? Is it for business or for social experience and will membership benefit you in some way?
2. How well do you know the person who invited you?
3. Just how many networks can you join and be effective in? Inviting everyone you know to each and every network can be time consuming and others will wonder whether you're genuine about your commitment before jumping to the next one.
4. Will the network you've just joined want access to your whole address book on your computer and do you want that to happen?

Many unsuspecting innocents accept an invitation and next thing they know they have unwittingly sent out invitations to their whole database. It is worth exploring the system first and ask questions of the person who invited you - what has been their experience and have they found it beneficial? If in doubt, don't accept and in fact, just ignore - often the invitations time out, although you may get some prompting reminders for a short period of time.

Do you want to know how to do something or where to find something? Why not ask here and we'll compile a list of answers to send out in an issue in the following month.

Question: Should my rates be showing on my website? Shy VA.

What is your answer to this question? Please give us your answer at our Comments section - please include the question that you are answering.

Virtual Assistant Survey

Every August marks the time of year when Virtual Assistants can contribute to the statistics and body of knowledge that is improving the industry's understanding of itself and the education of its market. Sponsored by the Virtual Assistance Chamber of Commerce, over 10,000 Virtual Assistants from around the globe are invited to participate.

Created by Virtual Assistants (the folks who know the industry best!), the Virtual Assistant Industry Survey is the most comprehensive and in-depth survey in the Virtual Assistant profession. With 101 questions, the survey includes detailed cross-sectional data that represents every area of the industry. It offers unprecedented information about individual and business demographics, market data, and services.

The 2008 Virtual Assistant Industry Survey is open to all professional Virtual Assistants. A copy of the 2008 Virtual Assistant Industry Survey Report will be provided at no charge to every participating Virtual Assistant at the end of the survey period. Virtual Assistants can participate by visiting http://www.virtualassistantnetworking.com/survey.htm

This month's topic is Setting Goals for a new year, or perhaps a new business. Share your tips here for this topic. Please put 'Topic of the Month' in your subject and send to the Editor.

- Amanda More, Personal Finance Coach

Why set goals?

Setting goals is one of the most important things you can do to ensure financial success, but it is usually the last thing people think about. If you don't set goals, how do you know if you are actually being successful? If you are going to get to where you want to be in life, you have to know the path to take. Goals are your roadmap and if you set them up right, they will take you from point A to point Z with as few detours and as little pain as possible.

How to set goals

The key to goal setting is to make your goals concrete and measurable and to make meeting them automatic. By this I mean, your goal should have a date and amount associated with it. You don't just say “I want to pay down my debt.” You say "I want to reduce my debt by $5,000 over the next 12 months." By giving yourself a set dollar amount and date to meet, you will be able to judge whether you are actually meeting your goals or not and make adjustments accordingly.

By making it automatic, I mean using technology to your advantage. Set up automatic payments for all of your bills so that you are never late. Set up an automatic deduction from your pay check that goes directly to your savings account so that you are paying yourself first and will be less likely to spend the money instead of saving it.

Just doing those two things: 1) Making your goals concrete and 2) Making them automatic, will drastically increase your chances of success.

Do you have a service or product that you've found excellent for your business and would like to tell others? Share the details here.

Want to add your Virtual Assistant Blog to our blogroll? Send the Blog address and name to us here. Please note: Your blog should be active, i.e. has regular posts added to it and is updated at least on a monthly basis.

Motivational Quote

You believe that if you had more time you would have more peace
But it's the other way around
If you had more peace
You would have more time
Creating more time is not logistical, but attitudinal
- Alan Cohen

Contributed by Karen Nankervis, My Beechworth Secretary

A word from the editor.

The goal for VANetwork News is to provide you with useful information for the Virtual Assistant industry. Postings will be edited and checked carefully to ensure they meet our guidelines.

VANN is not affiliated with any particular VA network or forum, but rather is for the VA industry as a whole.

VANN is not a place where VAs promote themselves or their services, but where they can learn about things of value to them in their industry.

Send comments or suggestions.

Quick notes:

• If a poster was requesting information please respond direct to them, and not via the Editor.
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About your editors:

Carmen MacDougall is an internationally renowned corporate and VA coach and trainer. Carmen, is one of the industry's leading authorities, author and speaker on What it Takes to be a Remarkable VA. She has personally trained over 600 VAs across the UK, Europe and the Far East, is the Business Development Manager and VA Trainer for the International Association of Virtual Assistants (IAVA.org.uk) and is also the president and founder of the National VA Conference & Awards now in it's 2nd year (19th April 2008, UK).

Jeannine Clontz, a 10-year veteran of the industry, holds numerous industry designations and is an author and professional speaker on business topics and business ethics.  She shares her expertise and knowledge in her co-authored book, Entrepreneurial Freedom:  How to Start and Grow A Profitable Virtual Assistance Practice and is an avid volunteer and mentors aspiring VAs. Jeannine is also a past-president of the International Virtual Assistants Association (IVAA) and continues to volunteer in many aspects with the Association.  She has been nominated for and achieved numerous awards. 

Kathie M. Thomas pioneered the Virtual Assistant industry in Australia in 1996 and is also a VA Coach & Trainer. She has written 3 books for the industry and mentored hundreds of women worldwide. Kathie is an active member of the OIVAC steering committee and participates in many VA forums. She is also a member of National Speakers Association of Australia (NSAA), International Association of Coaches (IAC) and the Australian Institute of Office Professionals (AIOP).

Copyright 2008, VANetwork News. Other than your own copy, permission must be granted for reprinting of any item in this newsletter.