Posts by Caroline
All 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…
Read MoreRocketbook Beacons
I have been so excited about these arriving… It has been a long wait – delays in the production process meant the original ship date got put back several months. Always happens with tech products, and I was happy they were getting it right. Firstly, what are Rocketbook Beacons? So the idea is, you put…
Read MoreWebsite Cookies: Me want cookies!
Website Cookies: So we’ve just about got everyone up to date with ICO’s GDPR guidance… and along comes an update on their cookie guidance. (I’ll admit – I grimaced!). https://ico.org.uk/about-the-ico/news-and-events/news-and-blogs/2019/07/blog-cookies-what-does-good-look-like/ Not least because we had to make some changes to our own cookie notices! Effectively the new cookie rules are: People visiting your website have…
Read MoreOffering Call Answering as a VA
Call answering – how do I charge for it? We get asked about answering calls on behalf of clients often enough that we started copying and pasting the answers from old call answering threads… So we thought we’d do a blog post on it instead! The first thing I’ll say about answering phones: You cannot…
Read MoreToday’s PA Conference – Caroline confirmed as Speaker
So remember a little while back I had to keep schtum about an exciting new project? This is it! Today’s PA Conference invited me to speak at their conference in London on 16 August. I’ll be presenting as a Speaker and on their Expert Panel alongside luminaries such as: Rob Neil OBE Darren Clark Sara…
Read MoreHiring a Virtual Assistant
We often get asked by clients to guide them through the process of hiring a virtual assistant. What questions to ask your virtual assistant; how much they should pay; what checks to make; what they should expect. A lot of these questions are obvious to us, because we hire VAs all the time… But to…
Read MoreHow many secretarial skills do you use in your VA business?
Had an interesting chat recently with Rosemary Parr who runs Scottish PA Network – we were chatting about the different skillsets VAs and PAs have…and that’s why the transition can sometimes be difficult. I thought it might be useful to run a poll: Certainly on the SVA Forum there’s some debate about what is unique…
Read MoreBook Review: The Power Of No – Abbie Headon
This landed on my desk this morning – a fortuitous bonus when my recent OIVAC session included lots of VAs saying “Yes” to horrible jobs, horrible bosses and horrible rates! I really liked this colourful guide to saying “NO!” in all sorts of situations, not just work ones. So if you: Say yes to invites…
Read MoreSVA turns 14!
SVA started in 2005 and is now officially the oldest active virtual assistant organisation in the UK. Just 7 VAs got together with (the infamous!) Alan the Geek in a restaurant in Edinburgh in June 2005. The idea was to promote virtual assistance as a profession and spread the word about how VAs could help…
Read More