SVA put together 10 baby-steps to becoming a VA – a must-read for any aspiring assistants! Continue reading
Marketing Friday: Get more clients now!
Here are five ideas which you can work on today – Marketing Friday – to get more business next week! Continue reading
Top tips for Outsourcing: Test Your Virtual Assistant
Clients and VAs often complain to us about the quality of outsourcer there is out there… Here at SVA we want to promote best practice so that it reflects well on the whole industry, so we put together some tips on how to outsource your work safely. Continue reading
Virtual Assistant Blogging Ideas for May:
Each month we’ll be posting a few ideas about what you can blog about – please feel free to add your own ideas below in the comments (or include a sneaky Googlicious link to your own blog!)
Virtual Assistant blog ideas for May Continue reading
Global VA Week: The Blog Hop 2013
During Global VA Week, we’ve selected a variety of excellent virtual assistant themed blog sites for you to visit… If you like what you see, don’t forget to comment: Continue reading
Choose the best virtual assistant course
If you’re a newbie VA, one of the first things you’ll look at is finding the best virtual assistant course. I am probably going to get very nasty emails about this post – I know there are going to be good friends who think I’m being unreasonable, picking on people who offer training, and who cut off all contact with me. I had second, third and fourth thoughts on writing it, but felt it needed to be said:
What to avoid in a Virtual Assistant Coach
Now I am going to put a disclaimer here:
VA coaching can be very, very good – I’ve paid for some myself, I have been lucky enough to review a few others, and there are some extremely competent coaches out there who will shortcut your journey to running a successful VA business. I also believe that people’s time is worth money, and if they are teaching you how to make more money with your business, that has a value which you should pay for. I’m definitely not anti-coaching, nor am I anti-capitalist – everyone deserves to make a living.
I occupy a fairly unique position in the VA industry – I make money from my VA business and SVA is run as a side project which( just about!) covers its costs via people donating time and money to help, buying the SVA products, buying our recommended reading via our Amazon link, accessing the SVA Premier content, and joining us in the Big Meet. I freely list any event or product which might be useful to UK VAs, and I’m happy to help anyone who is out to improve the industry. Therefore I can say the things which a lot of people won’t admit (see The 6 Figure VA)
But there are coaches out there who are, quite frankly, charging for professional advice which is (at best) misguided, and (at worst) downright erroneous. I am not naming any names here – but if you recognise yourself, think again about marketing your services to SVA members, because they’ll be asking you some difficult questions after reading this article! It contains some essential insider info for those entering the industry – given freely and without strings. Continue reading
Marketing Friday: Ideas for your VA Marketing Plan
Here are five ideas which you can work on today – Marketing Friday – to get more business next week! Continue reading
Protected: SVA Premier May 2013: Finding blog content
Marketing Friday: Market your Virtual Assistant Business
Here are five ideas which you can work on today – Marketing Friday – to get more business next week! Continue reading
Society of Virtual Assistants: May Newsletter
Global VA Week is here! Join in all the fun events – from “How To Build your Business in 10 Queen Songs” to coffee mornings and online UK specific OIVAC sessions…
If you enjoy the Blog Hop please comment and let us know?
Caroline Continue reading
Typing Tips: Specialising in a niche
If you aspire to be an excellent virtual assistant offering typing services, we’re running a series of tips on how to impress your clients. This is the last in the series, but if you’d like to read more just click TYPING on the right hand category menu!
- Specialising in a niche
Being in a niche market is excellent – it makes it easier to target prospects and it allows you to name your price as a specialist. However, beware of only having one niche… Imagine if you’d specialised in property mortgage reports in 2008 – you’d not have a business overnight! Your specialist niche (or indeed any one client) should ideally not be more than 30% of your business income, so that if they go bust or the bottom falls out the market, you have a backup plan. It’s not always possible, and as your business grows you’ll inevitably go through periods where more than 30% of your income does come from one client or one industry, but it’s a very good rule of thumb.
