SVA Newsletter: March/April 2011
Hello!
This month’s newsletter has been slightly delayed by my extensive dental work – apologies for the tardiness in responding to emails/posts, I’m getting through them as fast as possible, thanks for your patience. A grand total of 9 fillings, 2 weeks, 4 appointments and enough valium to tranquilise an elephant (and apparently I still decided to exit the chair halfway through!). Anyway, the good news is, I’m finished!
Meanwhile, the VA year is really shaping up: make sure you note the dates in your diary, as otherwise you’ll be missing out on some fantastic and valuable resources – many of which are free! We’ve got Global VA Week, the UK VA Conference and Awards (and you’ll be pleased to know I’m organising this year’s awards!) and the UK VA Survey will also be launched in the coming month or so. Keep your eyes peeled for updates.
We’re also re-launching the Approved Scheme this month – your chance to list your services for free on the SVA website – scroll down for more info!
Caroline
Dates for your diary:
16-22 May: Global VA Week
- How you can help spread the word
- Events near you – join in!
- OIVAC panels with freebie sessions and UK specific timings/subjects
May: UK VA Survey
Each year Alex of Just Too Busy organises an anonymous survey to gauge the success of the UK’s virtual assistants – it contains valuable marketing data such as the size of the industry, what services most VAs offer, their turnover, how many hours they work, standard hourly rates, who uses their services, what marketing is most effective, what equipment they use. If you’re a UK VA, you NEED this data! And best of all – complete the survey and you get the highlights for free. We’ll send the link out to the list as soon as we have it!
19th May: Deadline for the UK VA Awards
I am really hoping to see lots of SVA members taking part – the awards have been somewhat revamped this year with new categories and fantastic prizes. There’s no entry fee, and the whole process is anonymous until you are shortlisted for an award, even the judges won’t see who is applying due to a clever new entry process. The prize packages are truly useful to a growing VA business – I’m a bit jealous I can’t apply myself! Don’t put it off – do it now!
To apply click here: https://www.societyofvirtualassistants.co.uk/?p=982
Friday 17th June – UK VA Conference and Awards, Surrey
http://www.vaconference.co.uk/ The UK’s virtual assistant conference – despite the fantastic workshops and speakers, the real value in this event is speaking to all the other VAs face to face. You’ll find out what gizmos they are using, how they manage clients, and might even pick up some associate work too. For me, I love putting faces to names – it’s so nice to meet so many SVAers who I only know via their username, please come and say hello!
The Tartan Taxi rides again – coordinate your lifts and hotel rooms to keep your costs down: https://www.societyofvirtualassistants.co.uk/svaforum/viewtopic.php?t=2764
And of course, this will be the final of the UK VA Awards – make sure your entry is in!
Other dates:
OIVAC – UK times for sessions including freebies and UK specific panels – https://www.societyofvirtualassistants.co.uk/2011/03/25/oivac-changes-time-zones-well-not-really/
Approved Scheme reopens:
We’ve reopened the approved scheme – this is basically a listing for VAs who follow the SVA Code Of Practice, and it’s backed by a great Google page ranking and best of all it’s free!
The listings are first come, first served so get yours done now! However, if you put in tons of info, we’ll need to edit it down – keep it under 50 words and try to stick to the listed skills rather than adding more – if there’s a need for a new category we’ll add it in.
Once you’re listed, we’ll send you a badge so you can link your site into SVA and show that you’re committed to providing clients with great service!
More info here: https://www.societyofvirtualassistants.co.uk/svaforum/viewtopic.php?t=2757&highlight=approved
Hot Posts
A round up of the hot posts is available on Twitter or click on the Forum and see what everyone has been up to!
VA Stars: Meet the newest UK VAs and find out how they got started
Cost comparison: What to say when your client asks why you’re more expensive than a temp
Our survey says Uh-oh – how NOT to word research surveys!
Exhibiting this summer? Make sure you pick up tips from our pros on what you need
The thorn of deadlines – hit them every time
Do you have an interesting niche or location like Berni? More info: Tell us about it!