OIVAC 2012

OIVAC 2012, the only online convention that you can attend while sitting in your own office. OIVAC is an online convention already in it's 7th year, a convention not to be missed. You can network and meet VAs from across the globe. This is a great learning opportunity for new VAs and established VAs, there is a something there for everyone. Our theme for this year is Innovation - Integration - Motivation.
Innovation: taking the lead or initiative in showcasing ideas to assist with the development of your business.
Integration: incorporate the ideas and newest technologies, processes and services into your business.
Motivation: incite  you to take action to achieve goals throughout 2012 and beyond.
May 17th to 19th.
The convention closes with the celebration of International Virtual Assistants Day, 19th May, this is an event not to be missed, a great networking event and a chance to win prizes.
This convention is a must attend for all VAs. You will learn lots from the workshops and seminars which you can take away and apply within your own job.

http://oivac.com

New Section added

Hi everyone thank you for visiting my blog. I have added a new section/page VA Business Plan Information, I hope you find it helpful. Thanks to everyone who takes the time to leave a comment on my blog, all comments are really appreciated and its great to see that my information is helping.
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Compliment to the year 2012 to you.

OIVAC 2012

Innovate. Integrate. Motivate, OIVAC Convention 2012, 17 to 19 May 2012 Register at http://oivac.com/register/


A Low-Stress, High-Value Convention that Efficiently Gives You a Top-notch Learning Experience with Spirited Networking, Up-to-the Minute Training and Motivational Interaction – We Guarantee It! OIVAC 17 to 19 May 2012, http://oivac.com

Clients contacting you for a Quotation

When a client contacts you and asks for a quotation please do not simply email back with a price/rate. Firstly contact the client, find out the requirements, ask for details and as much information as possible

Prepare for yourself as part of your business plan a company schedule/procedure for answering clients who require quotes. Have a form ready with everything you need to ask a client and then all you need to do is fill in this form and base your quotation on this form, keep them handy in a file on your pc or printed out on your desk, ready to use if a call or request comes in.

Always prepare a company quotation on company documentation and attach this to an email, this is much more professional then just sending an email with a rate. Your quotation must have your contact details and include your terms and conditions and any information that you have agreed to do for the client. Submit your quote as a pdf attachment to an email, and refer the client to this in your email.

Remember the faster you send that quote in the quicker you could be to getting the client to contact you further and you can beat the competition. With quotations it’s all about beating your competition. Make sure your wording is right, make sure you are inviting the client to contact you further.

For a client looking for a virtual assistant or transcriptionist to partner with, they are usually not looking at price, they are looking at your skills and experience in the business. Some times when putting in a quote it can be months later when you hear from the client again, some clients take that little bit longer to decide if they really do need a virtual assistant especially so when it’s for regular work.

For once-off/adhoc jobs it’s often the case the client will take the cheapest or near to cheapest quote, that is the way the industry is at the moment. It is up to you to decide is it worth quoting a low rate for the job. But, think before you quote what is involved with that job, how long will it take and decide your quote on that, that is the best way to quote. Going in on a low rate sometimes you will find that once you get the job it’s not worth doing as it is costing you more to do it than what you are getting for it, there is no profits to be made with doing jobs that way.

Using Subcontractors and Subcontractors Contracting Out

Transcriptionists and Virtual Assistants are using subcontractors. Often when the VA or Transcriptionist have work that is too large for them to do, or they are busy and need assistance with tasks, or they themselves cannot do the task, they will ask for assistance from subcontractors.

 

For VAs or Transcriptionists who are newbie’s in this field, one of the best ways to learn about this business is to contract yourself out to other VAs and Transcriptionists. It is a great way to learn, and this gives you a good start in the industry as to how things work and the kinds of work that is available for you to do. But while you are contracting out to another VA don’t forget to still do marketing and networking for your own company/business. The aim must always be to get your own clients as you are running a business.

 

When a Subcontractor works for a VA/Transcriptionist that VA/Transcriptionist is her/his client, you need to treat that VA/Transcriptionist as you would a real client. You keep in touch, you need to communicate about where you are with the work, and if you cannot cope with it, you tell the client (VA/Transcriptionist) and she/he can make a plan. Do not leave communication to the last minute when the work is due back, communicate within plenty of time ahead of that deadline so that the client will have plenty of time to find alternative routes to get this work done and still meet there deadline, one reason is if you are no longer available to complete the task. Deadlines are important they can determine whether the VA/Transcriptionist keeps or loses their client.

 

Guidelines to follow which are important:

 

• The VA/Transcriptionist you are assisting is your client; they should be treated like clients. This is an important point to remember as often subcontractors don’t think of the VA/Transcriptionist as their clients. 
• Follow the client’s (VA/Transcriptionist) instructions to the letter; do not do your own thing. You are assisting another VA therefore you do as you are asked.
• Communicate with your client (VA/Transcriptionist) and let them know how you are doing, keep them updated, it is their clients work you are doing and they need to be informed of your progress, because clients have deadlines to maintain and often clients like to know what is happening.
• Proofread your work, before sending it back to the client (VA/Transcriptionist), it is your responsibility to make sure that your work is proofed as surely your reputation is at stake if you send back shoddy work.
• Make sure you get clear instructions from your client (VA/Transcriptionist) if they are not clear ask to repeat what the instructions are and ask for it to be sent to you in an email.
• If for some reason you cannot complete your task on time, contact your client and let them know you are running late and ask can you extend your deadline, or ask for assistance. Also let your client (VA/Transcriptionist) know if you have power failures, storms that mean you must switch off for a period of time, etc. as this can cause delays.
• The Client (VA/Transcriptionist) must make sure she has all the contact details available for the subcontractor. Subcontractor, make sure your client (VA/Transcriptionist) has all your contact details, be available on Skype, messenger, cellphone, sms, whatsapp, Facebook chat etc.
• If you cannot perform a task and you know you will not have it ready for the deadline, do not take on the work in the first place.
•  It is up to you to keep in contact with the client (VA/Transcriptionist), clients don’t have time to run around after you for the work, they are busy that is why you are assisting them. Communication is very important.
• A subcontractor will earn in the region from 30% to 45% of the actual fee that your clients (VA/Transcriptionist), client pays them.
• A subcontractor might have access to the client’s business information; you are not to abuse this information. A subcontractor can be sued for abusing client information. You cannot as a subcontractor, now that you have the details go and contact that client, this is a big no in the industry, and you could be sued for doing this, so please note this
• A Contract Agreement should be signed between Client (VA/Transcriptionist) and subcontractor to cover both parties in the event of things happening.

The contract must state payment terms and conditions. It could be a good thing to place wording in the contract to cover the situation whereby the client does not pay the VA/Transcriptionist then the subcontractor cannot be paid, this situation should be covered in the contract so that the subcontractor will know what the procedure is, if no payment is forthcoming for the job/task. Often with large jobs clients are very slow in making the payment, this fault lays with the client not the VA/Transcriptionist. All the VA/Transcriptionist can do is to contact the client nonstop and keep reminding them of this payment.

 

The client (VA/Transcriptionist) must communicate to the subcontractor what payment terms will be with each job. The subcontractor needs to know when they can expect to be paid.

 

The norm is that when the client pays their invoice at the end of the job/task then the subcontractor will be paid their portion.

 

Often there is a problem with payments as some clients will not pay immediately on receipt of invoice, this happens a lot, and it can be very often out of the client (VA/Transcriptionists) hands, all they can do in these circumstances is to keep contacting their client and asking for the payment. The only way is to pester the client no end, as payment is deserved upon receipt of the work and invoice. Again communication comes in here as the client (VA/Transcriptionist) must let the subcontractors know when they are having problems retrieving payments from clients.

 

Another thing that can be done to sort of help a bit with payments is to get a 50% to 75% deposit up front. You provide a rough estimate of your invoice and the client pays you before the job is started, work commences on payment of deposit. This is a good way to go with all new clients, there is no reason why this cannot be negotiated up front with your client, and it can be part of client liaison, terms, and conditions. Payment details must be worked out before any work is started. Do not just take the job on because the clients says it is urgent make sure you work out payment terms beforehand. Nothing is more urgent than your payment at the end of the day it’s all about money.

 

Everyone at some time or another battles to get payments from clients, when it happens to me I just contact the client nonstop and use the means necessary to communicate. I have not taken other routes like small claims court which can be used in these circumstances.

 

I have gone over and over on some points here, but it is because those points are important.

 

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Payments and Clients

As part of your business plan you need to write up a procedure for dealing with your clients and payments.
How do you want to receive your payments?
When are you going to invoice your clients?
With once off jobs/tasks I would suggest you start of by asking for a 50% deposit before starting work, then on completion of the task and the client has came back to say they are happy with the work then you send an invoice. Do not start the work no matter how urgent before receiving your 50% deposit. Your payment is also important as is the clients work.
My clients have 10 days to pay me from date of the invoice. If that client has not paid me I then follow up and keep following up until payment is received. With once off clients you invoice on completion of the job, not at month end. You point out your payment terms to the client and ask nicely when you can expect to receive payment, especially so when you work with subcontractors as those contractors need to know when they will be paid.
If I take on a client and they become  regular clients I then move the payments to monthly payments. I try to get my invoices out around 28/29 of the month, I try, its not always possible as often I can be too busy. Invoicing is important and I try to maintain that (try).
My monthly clients either pay on receipt of the invoice or within a few days. If the clients dont pay I send a friendly skype or email reminder. Our clients can also be just as hectic as we are.
Note: we will get the clients that do not pay, that is an accepted part of the job and part of every business.
Have payment terms on your invoice and as part of your terms and conditions in your clients contracts.
There is no need to be afraid of invoicing your clients, its is part of dealing with clients and part of doing the work for clients, you are a business owner and you must think as one.
Keep track of all your invoices, payments in and out, its important to know how much you earn and what profits you are not making or are making. You need to know where your company is financially at all times. Your basic bookkeeping must be part of your monthly procedures for your business.

How to get Clients?

The big question every VA asks is how do  I  find clients. Let me give you a few pointers to do this, I will take from my  own experiences of how I do it as I have no problems finding clients.
Watch this space.

Tips for Newbie Transcriptionists

PRODUCING HIGH QUALITY TRANSCRIPTS

I suggest that you join a forum aimed at VAs and transcriptionists. For South Africans I would recommend TAVASA. Working from home can be a lonely experience and trying to sort out technical problems can be very daunting. By joining a forum you will be in contact with people who understand exactly what is required and can assist with questions.

Best of all, this is where the more established people post their requests for assistance with overflow work. Having secured a shot at subcontracting this overflow work bear the following in mind:

• Obtain a template from the contractor and STICK to it – every comma, every underlining, every space. Do not get creative and do not try to improve on the template.

• Often the contractor will send a sheet through with his or her typing preferences and requirements. Read it carefully before you start typing and again before you proof your work and ensure you abide by the instructions.

• Communicate – if you are having problems with the recording it may be a bad recording. On the other hand, if you are the only typist experiencing problems then it is probably an incorrect setting or your equipment may be faulty. The only way to find out is by asking the contractor about the recording quality. Do not go merrily ahead and turn in a transcript littered with [unclear], [inaudible], etcetera.

• Make notes as you go, especially for names and words that you are not sure of. Should these become clear as the transcript progresses, it makes it easy and quick to do a global replacement.

• Proof your work thoroughly. Put those earphones on and go through the whole transcript – this is time-consuming and quite often expensive – it takes a long time to type your very first transcription and it can be quite discouraging in terms of your hourly rate, but you would be amazed at what you pick up on the second run-through. Words previously indecipherable will be clear once you are familiar with the context of the transcript.

• Spell and grammar check – spell checking is an absolute requirement but adding the grammar check function is very useful in picking up mistakes other than typos. Bear in mind that transcription is usually rendered verbatim and the most common grammar mistakes are made in speech. Do not be tempted to tidy up the speaker’s grammar unless specifically requested to do so.

• Google is your friend. If, for instance, you pick up a name and a designation but not the company name, chances are you will find it on Google. Many terms are industry-related or, in the case of medical transcription, the names of patent drugs, etcetera, are unfamiliar to most people. It is not enough to spell a word phonetically, add a question mark and move on. In the long run your efforts will be rewarded.

• Ask questions. We were all new at this once and I believe we would rather answer a dozen seemingly insignificant questions rather than receive a badly-typed transcript.

The above steps are very, very important. It is as well to remember that not only do contractors offer the jobs that will get you started as a transcriptionist but that they often recommend – or not – typists to other contractors. Shoddy work will put a halt to your career before you start. Commit to producing high quality transcription from day one.



Michele Johanson is based in Cape Town and owns Good Hope Transcription and Typing Services http://goodhopetranscription.weebly.com which offers general and legal transcription, typing, article and content writing and editing/proofreading functions. Recently we have added recording of small meetings to our profile.

What is it like being a Virtual Assistant

I have been doing my job as a Virtual Assistant now for 10 years. No two days are the same. I think my job is harder now than what it was as a secretary. It is not easy running your own business, there are many things involved that have to be fitted into your schedule. Not only do you sit and do the clients work but you do the many tasks that have to be done with running a small business. There is the marketing, networking, advertising, debt collecting, liase with clients and virtual assistants, keep up to date with what is going on with virtual assistants on the many forums I belong to, keep up to date with VA newsletters that I subscribe to. I try to do online marketing a few times a week, just adding my details somewhere new, often looking for places where there is no VA's advertised or where there is just a few advertised. Keeping up with social media, that is very time taking, but its something that has to be done as its part of keeping your business fresh out there in the corporate world. Updating my website and blog, adding new content or changing a word here and there. Every opportunity I get to network with other people and tell them about my job as a virtual assistant is worthwhile, as you never know when that person may pass on my details to someone further who may need my services. My phone, skype and email are busy non stop, I get enquiries from Virtual Assistants and potential clients all the time, I always try to assist when I can. Monthly administration has to be done, no matter how busy I am, schedules need to be kept of work coming in and going out, schedules need to be kept of monthly expenditures in and out etc, invoices need to be done monthly and also for adhoc jobs as they are completed.
Being a Virtual Assistants is my career choice its hard, difficult but its a job I love doing.