Monday, September 27, 2010

AMF Typing Ebook for Sale

Available Now: EBook 'How to start up a VA Business". It is full of information on starting your own business, full of tips and advice. A must for newbie VAs! On sale for R110.00. Please email amftyping@mweb.co.za with Ebook as the subject.

A few of the sections available within the ebook:

Steps to draw up your Business Plans
Client Relationships and Pricing
Rough guide on how to price
Services
List of Services/Prices offered by AMF Typing Services cc
Overseas Clients/Pricing
Transcription/Dictaphone Typing/Transcribing
Marketing/Networking/Advertising help/tips


The ebook is packed full of all the information you will required to start up a virtual assistant business in South Africa.

Definition of a Virtual Assistant

Hi as a virtual assistant, who do you think you are? I know what I am, I am a business owner and as a business owner I have the say in every aspect of my business. I know I am not a freelancer, temp, work at home mum, etc. I run a business like any other person, doing all the same tasks, only my services are different to that of say a plumber, architect, etc.
Virtual Assistant describes what I am doing, I work for many clients, providing different services, working completely virtual.

 
My Definition of a Virtual Assistant, from: AMF Typing Services
  • A Virtual Assistant is a person who works for many clients, providing office administration tasks, communicates with clients via telephone, email, Skype; we may never meet our clients face to face. A person who works independently from his/her own virtual office.
  • An office administration person, with at least 10 years of office experience as a PA/Secretary or Office Manager.
  • A person who can work alone.
  • A person with exceptional time management and prioritisation skills.
  • Someone who can run an office and liaise with clients on an ongoing basis.
  • Someone with a bit of management experience can learn quickly and who is at ease with software.
  • We have to be pro-active and assertive.
  • Virtual Assistants are Business Owners, who run their own companies, do their own marketing, networking, bookkeeping etc.

Meeting Deadlines

One of the most important thing we need to do as virtual assistants and transcriptionists is to meet our client deadlines. Clients give us these deadlines as they need the work done and back to them for whatever reasons they want to use that work for.
It is important we know our limitations and know what we can do, we need to know how long particular tasks take to do, typing up a page, transcribing 30 minutes of transcript. You need to be able to work out with each task can you do it in the alotted time given, if not tell the client this, explain why not and ask to change your deadline, if you can meet the deadline make sure you can and give the work back in time, its even better if you can come in with the work ahead of the deadline as that shows commitment to what you are doing on your part.
Keep your client updated as you go along with the work, feedback is always a good sign that you are busy with the clients work and you are providing a quality service.
If you cannot for some reason make the deadline, do not leave it to the last minute to tell the client, tell the client well in advance and renegotiate the deadline if possible, it is not always possible, but with some work you can.
When we have more work then what we can handle we can then get assistance by asking other VAs. But these VAs need to understand we are then there client and they must meet our deadlines, which will be before the actual clients deadline, because the work will need to be proofed and checked before being returned to the client. A VA who is contracting and who cannot meet her deadline must let the VA know this well in advance.
Deadlines are very important in our jobs, we need to remember this, a satisfied client will come back and maybe become a regular client.

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