Posts by Caroline
The Approved Virtual Assistant Scheme – VA Standards
SVA came into existence in 2005 to: Promote best practice in the virtual assistant industry; create industry wide VA standards; and Help UK VAs find clients. As part of this we run a FREE listing for all VAs who abide by the following rules. More information on how to comply can be found on the…
Read MoreSocial Media Strategy Document for Virtual Assistants
This one is a little gem of a document for guiding you through the social media jungle… Basically it contains a list of questions to establish where you are now with your social media presence, a few leading enquiries to find out where you want to get to, and some ideas on what to do.…
Read MoreVirtual Assistant Subscription Box
Ever wanted a regular reminder to keep on track with your business? A little inspiration in a box? Well that’s the idea behind SVA’s Virtual Assistant Business Box subscription. The idea behind virtual assistant subscription box: I was lamenting recently that I never get anything nice through the post – junk mail, bills, dull, boring,…
Read MoreTypists: Having trouble opening DS2 files in Express Scribe?
I’ve been having some hassle with DS2 files on Express Scribe. Now I am a big fan of Express Scribe’s programme – it opens more file formats than any other so is very flexible. But they’re clearly not listening to their customers. I’m not the only one experiencing problems their support forums are littered with…
Read MoreVirtual Assistant Business or VA job?
Many people dream of becoming a virtual assistant, being their own boss, and having the freedom to only take on clients and projects they love. What they don’t realise, though, is that there is a huge difference between building a virtual assistant business and being self-employed as one. Business owners scale their income. Self-employed people…
Read MoreHow many billable hours in your Virtual Assistant business?
Billable hours: As a solo virtual assistant, how much of your time is billable? In other words, if you work a 40 hour week, how many hours do you charge out to clients, and how many hours do you spend on your own admin and marketing? e.g. if you work 40 hours and bill 20…
Read MoreChoose the best virtual assistant course
Virtual Assistant Training – what to look for If you’re a newbie VA, one of the first things you’ll look at is finding the best virtual assistant course or some virtual assistant training. I am probably going to get very nasty emails about this post – I know there are going to be good friends…
Read MoreMinimum prices for virtual assistants
Ah, the thorny issue of rates! We get asked all the time about minimum prices for virtual assistants; whether those charging low prices are devaluing the industry; how we can support people who do charge low rates etc. Why doesn’t SVA simply declare a minimum price for Virtual Assistants? We get asked why we don’t…
Read MoreAll in one website package
A big part of getting your VA business up and running is getting a website live – and this is generally a very steep learning curve for most VAs, as they’ve never had to build a website, deal with hosting etc. (Am I speaking in tongues? If so, check out our dummies guide to websites!)…
Read MoreEssential Virtual Assistant Software
We haven’t compiled a list of essential virtual assistant software for a while – mostly because the same ones pop up frequently: MS Office, Express Scribe, etc. Shockingly, the last time we did it was 2014! A lot has changed! Companies merge. They will move from a free to a paid model and restrict access…
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