Posts by Caroline
Today’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 MoreDo I need an office address as a virtual assistant?
We had a few people recently asking why they need their full mailing address as part of the SVA Approved process… There’s quite a few legal obligations which mean you MUST have a contact mailing address on your website: Why virtual assistants NEED a proper mailing address https://www.gov.uk/online-and-distance-selling-for-businesses – so if you are selling products/services…
Read MoreFind an Approved VA
Society of Virtual Assistants have over 2,500 virtual assistant members in the UK. We aim to raise the standards of those VAs and help connect them with clients. These rules form the basis of best practice for virtual assistants. SVA pioneered virtual assistant standards in 2007 by establishing what was the minimum that professional VAs…
Read MoreTackling Late Payments
The Small Business Commissioner, Paul Uppal, has been tasked with tackling late payments for small businesses… We all know the pain of juggling cashflow because a client has been late to pay. The knock on effect means you can’t pay your own suppliers – or maybe it means you are late paying household bills? Getting…
Read MoreOIVAC earlybird offer!
Every year international virtual assistant veteran Sharon Williams (The 24 Hour Secretary) pulls in favours from her little black book of virtual assistant contacts and gets everyone online for 3 days in May at the Online International Virtual Assistant Convention (OIVAC). OIVAC Virtual Assistant Conference – what you get: You’ll learn a variety of skills,…
Read MoreAnti Money Laundering Regulations for Virtual Assistants
If you offer bookkeeping or accountancy services, you should be registered for Anti Money Laundering Regulations. Over the course of the last 18 months or so we’ve been working closely with VAProMag and HMRC to achieve two aims for the VA industry: Clarity surrounding who needs to register – including consistent advice when people call…
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