Society of Virtual Assistants News: December 2013
Hello
December already, so a couple of bits of housekeeping:
We’re almost there with the UK VA Survey – I do bore even myself – I promise if I get just 10 more entries, I will not bug you again with asking you to fill it in!!! CLICK HERE TO TAKE PART.
Secondly, we were doing a giveaway in November for Sheryl Sandberg’s book “Lean In” – delighted to announce that Natasha McCann won this. Enjoy!
If I don’t touch base before the holidays, have a wonderful time off and relax, recharge your batteries and get ready for a successful 2014!
Caroline
If you haven’t already, please fill in the UK VA Survey for 2013 – get yours in now! We are edging towards the requisite numbers – but the last few are always the hardest to get… We have over 1,300 people on the newsletter list and whilst some of those numbers have filled it in, others might not eligible or have active clients, but there’s still a fair number of you who haven’t filled it in!!!
If that’s you, put aside 15 minutes with a cup of tea today? Thank you!!!
CLICK HERE TO TAKE PART.
5 Tips for Mental Wellbeing 
Back in September I had a conversation with a VA who admitted she’d been struggling with depression – I felt awful because although she is a good friend, I had no idea since we don’t see each other or speak regularly. I’d just assumed she was busy working away…
It struck me that this is something that VAs often don’t speak about, because they are quite isolated (e.g. no work colleagues to ask how they are, no one around to notice they aren’t doing so well, possibly opted out of normal office work due to issues with stress or illness). I know 3 VAs who I work with who have mental health issues – and at least another 2-3 who struggle with their health and who became a VA as a result. But who do you turn to when things go wrong?
We all need to look out for one another, and to know where to reach out to when things go wrong – to that end, the lovely people over at Mind, the mental health charity, have written an article specifically for home workers – please share this with your networks. It’s such an important message.
The Great Christmas Giveaway…
As sole traders, we don’t have an office party to go to – but we can still have a very Merry Christmas! I have various goodies collected through the year which I will be very happy to give away – and a few VA authors and specialists who have also offered their services.
Rather than giving them all to one VA, who may or may not need all these goodies, we are going to do a little secret santa style giveaway in January… More details to follow next month…
What have we been up to this month?
Marketing Friday – Our weekly marketing ideas continue…
Get ideas to blog with – Some monthly tips on what to blog about this month.
Top Tips For Outsourcing – Our series continues.
Events
If you have an event you’d like listed on The Virtual Assistant Diary – just let me know on email [email protected]! It’s free and we’re happy to list anything which will help VAs in their businesses.
This month: Everyone is getting ready for Xmas, but keep an eye out for events being organised for next year including the Northern VA Meet and the rejuvenated VA conference…