AMF Typing Services cc/Tavasa (est 2001). A blog for new Virtual Assistants.

OIVAC 2012

2012-02-16T15:32:00.000+02:00

OIVAC 2012, the only convention that you can attend while sitting in your own office. OIVAC is an online convention already in its 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.

New Section added

2012-01-19T10:58:00.002+02:00

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.
If you would like to become a follower of my blog there is follow me button on the right hand side.

Compliment to the year 2012 to you.

OIVAC 2012

2012-01-04T12:09:00.000+02:00

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

2011-11-21T10:40:00.004+02:00

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

2011-11-16T12:51:00.002+02:00

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.

Figg Excel Accounting Products

2011-10-18T09:42:00.000+02:00

Hi guys,

I just want to introduce you formally to Figg Excel accounting products. I’ve become a dealer in these products

http://talkingpointmedia.co.za/?page_id=40

Essentially, this is a cheap and professional way to manage the accounts of your business. The products are based in MS Excel and include things like Cash Book, Business Plan, fully integrated products … all of them come with full back up and support and tutorials to explain what is happening. It’s accounting for non accountants. Really beneficial for small businesses and those starting out.

Take a look at the page above and contact me or click on the banner to order.

Warm regards,

Gaynor Paynter

Talking Point Media Consulting / Typewrite Transcription and Typing Services CC

Cell: +27834424689

BBM 21A23A57

Websites:

www.typewritetranscription.co.za

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You'll get by, if you smile through your fear and sorrow, smile and maybe tomorrow, you'll see the sun come shining through - for you.

Payments and Clients

2011-10-18T08:34:00.002+02:00

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?

2011-10-06T15:46:00.000+02:00

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

2011-09-26T13:44:00.003+02:00

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

2011-09-13T09:35:00.000+02:00

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.

What is Typing?

2011-08-20T11:41:00.002+02:00

Typing is the process of inputting text into a device, such as a typewriter, cell phone, computer, or a calculator, by pressing keys on a keyboard. It can be distinguished from other means of input, such as the use of pointing devices like the computer mouse, and text input via speech recognition.

The world's first typist was Lillian Sholes from Wisconsin. She was the daughter of Christopher Sholes, the man who invented the first practical typewriter.

Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Typing

Civilian Conservation Corps typing class, 1933

Typing the theory is anyone can do it, but can they. To me typing is a skill; there is a process involved therefore that makes it a skill. You can just sit and type but can you type properly. There is one finger typists, two finger typists and then you get the person who can type with all fingers like me. I was taught touch typing during my school years.

While at school many years ago I took typing classes, in those days we used old manual typewriters, the key board was very high between levels on the keypad. I was taught how to place the fingers correctly on the keypad, and how to hold your hands. We were also shown which fingers you use on each specific key. As we progress through learning we were also taught about speed typing. Paper was placed across our keys and we were taught to type fast while listening to music keeping up with the beat of the music by typing. It was fun and I eventually learnt how to be a very fast accurate typist.

This is a skill I have carried with me for years and now put into practice daily through owning my own typing company. I offer type services to clients. I can sit and type for hours and it’s a skill I enjoy providing to my clients. Anyone can type but are they accurate, are they fast.

I am what can be called an old school typist. Many people who use keyboards today don’t position their fingers correctly therefore you cannot type as quick as what you can when your fingers are placed correctly.

Written by Alison Fourie, AMF Typing Services

Does your client work all hours or do they work 8am to 5pm?

2011-07-19T15:23:00.000+02:00

Does your client work all hours or do they work 8am to 5pm?

Your clients working hours will impact on your working hours, so make sure you are both in sync about the hours you work.

The reason I am asking is because if your clients are working all hours, weekends, you will be expected to be available these hours unless you state different. I am available to suit my clients and every one of them works all hours and weekends, but that is my preference. My children are at a stage where they are not dependent on me, they can do things for themselves, my husband understands my work and the hours that are needed for my clients so both of us work around our businesses and make things work for the family.

If you want to work 8am to 5pm make sure you go for the types of clients that work these hours.

Make your availability known to your clients as part of your client agreement contract which you should both sign at the beginning of your working relationship.

If you are starting out your business and still working full time, make sure you tell potential clients that you are working full time and only working on your business part time at present, as this will affect your deadlines. An idea can be for you when starting out is to subcontract jobs out to a full time VA till you are able to go full time within your own business.

Dictaphone - Transcription - Typing

2011-07-15T10:32:00.002+02:00

Dictaphone - Transcription - Typing 'the difference'!

There is a difference between Dictaphone, Transcription, and Typing.
Dictaphone and Transcription are similar so we charge at an audio hourly rate or hourly rate and these are not referred to as typing in any way, they are both a skill in themselves and not everyone can do them. With both you listen then type up what you hear (Transcribe). This involves excellent listening skills, good grammar, english knowledge, knowledge of punctuation, and concentration etc.
Dictaphone is normally one person, could be a doctor or an attorney recording into a digital machine, recording device and then you as a Transcriptionist listen to that tape and transcribe it. This is normally quicker to do than doing a transcription of many people involved.
Transcription can be more involved, it can be a recording of a meeting with a few people present, a conference session, court hearings etc. It is usually when more than one person is speaking and the event is being recorded. Court recording are difficult to do as they can involve a lot of speakers and different language challenges and maybe a translator being involved. A focus group is difficult to transcribe as often there is a lot of people involved and cross talking all at once.
These two skills are not the same as copy typing, they are more involved and can take many hours to transcribe into a document therefore there is normally an hourly or audio hourly rate involved not a per page rate. It will normally take between 4 to 6 hours to transcribe a one hour file. Transcription of a Focus Group meeting can take a lot longer.
A lot of people have no idea that transcription and typing are not the same thing, a client can ring you and ask you to do typing and its not really typing it is transcription, make sure you verify this before quoting on the work, ask the client for an example, they can send you an example of a transcription sound file or a page taken from what they require copy typing. Ask for details/information on these tasks before quoting, the more detail you have the easier it is to quote. Do not quote blindly.
With transcription you need to listen to the file before quoting. There could be multiple speakers, cross talking, background noise, dual languages, if you listen first it can give you a good idea of how long you think you will take doing the transcript.
Typing is what it is and is not either of the above and it’s charged at a per page rate or a per word rate (sometimes students like it per word, but not often). Typing is normally when you type from written notes, PDF documents, author's books, reports, tenders, copy typing, company correspondence etc.
With typing you need to ask the client for an example, a client can say well its just copy typing, that maybe but copy typing can include graphs, flow diagrams, graphics, scanning of graphics, all these take more time to create and this must be taken into consideration when there is deadlines and you need to meet that deadline. If you scan that is time taking, if you need to do a graph or flow diagram they need to be created from scratch which is also time taking, this is not simple copy typing. A graphic can be scanned or involve being retreaved from the internet therefore you may have to find it, which can involve internet research, this time has to be featured in as part of your quote. To do a flow diagram it can take quite a few hours, remember this if you charge on a per page rate. Flow diagrams are not quick and easy, you have to build it from scratch, the layout has to be right, they can be very involved. Graphs and charts can mean that they need to be done in Excel then copied across to word into your document, this is also a process of creating and copying, time taking.
So you see copy typing is often not just copy typing.
These are just points to remember if you get asked to quote on Dictatation, Trancription and Typing.

Starting up your own VA Business

2011-07-12T10:24:00.000+02:00

Determine what kind of business you want to start, look at your skills and see what you enjoy doing, make a list of jobs you have done in your career, say you did e.g. Typing, Transcription, PowerPoint Presentation etc and that is what you enjoy doing, so start your business by offering the services you enjoy doing the most and expand your business from there as you get to learn and know other jobs.
Learn about the industry for your business, do Internet research around the world. There are many VA sites worldwide that you can visit to see what the industry is about. Search for ‘Virtual Assistants’ via Google etc.
Check out the market for your business, study your competition, speak to other experienced VAs, ask how they started up, etc. And if an established VA will assist you as your mentor, grab her and don’t let her go,
Educate yourself on running a business. Learn what a Business Owner is and what Business Owners do, you have your company books, invoicing, customer liaison, quotations, networking, marketing, debt collecting etc. There is more to running a business than just taking in typing jobs. A Virtual Assistant runs a business/company.
Join Associations, Chamber of Commerce, small to medium business networking groups, women’s business groups etc for networking purposes, locally.
Name your business, have a business name that reflects what you are doing and who you are. Design a company logo and a company slogan. This to me was one of the most exciting tasks to do when I started my company, ive been through quite a few logo's since starting and I am now happy with my current logo as it reflects what I am doing.
Perform a trademark search on the name you choose for your business to make sure no one else is using that name.
Register a domain name for your website; first check that the name you have chosen is not used by someone else. My domain name is www.amftyping.co.za, the domain being ‘amftyping’.
Design/Acquire a website/blogging (Example: site http://alison-fourie.blogspot.com/), this is a great marketing tool, you can list your website on search engines and add your website and company details to search engine listings, classified sections, and in directories via the internet worldwide. Your website and blog are your internet advertising tools; they portray you on-line, make sure your content is good and draws clients to you. If it’s not working within 3 months relook at your content and change it.
Determine business structure (sole proprietor, partnership, or corporation).
Evaluate your personal budget, know what your budget limits are, and work within these limits.
Write a business plan, list your objectives and values, create your mission statement, update as your business grows. Set up the way you are going to run your business (Procedures/structures), document it, edit, as you need to, but put it in writing.
Register your business with the Deeds Office in (for South African VAs only, VAs from other countries must check their own country regulations) Have a choice of company names; check out your company names via the internet, because if you find someone with the same business name you will have to change your name as they were here first.
Organise your office and office space.
Order signage, I have a sign attached to my gate with business name and details. Place signage/magnets on your car, as you drive around, you are advertising your company.
Obtain business tools (computer, printer, fax machine, office supplies, and fixtures, ADSL line, Broadband/wireless connection). (Make sure you have the bandwidth to cater for your job, if you are doing transcription/typing you will receive large files, you need to be able to download and upload these files so you bandwidth must be adequate.
Order/Create business stationery (business cards, letterhead, brochures, forms etc). You can create your own office stationery via your computer, it saves money.
Set a launch date.
Plan a grand opening event; create press releases, flyers, and notices. Send announcements to everyone you know that you are opening your business. Let people know about this, advertise strongly that you are opening your business, let other VAs know, report it on forums, Facebook, networking sites/social media. But get your opening information out there.
Evaluate your marketing/networking strategy/plan often and do the same with your business strategy/plan as your business changes then make note of the changes and new procedures in your business strategy/plan. Your business plan should be a working ongoing document.

Company Procedures

2011-06-01T14:13:00.002+02:00

What I find works for my company is having company procedures in place for the way I work. I fully believe that every company needs procedures.
I have a set way I do my invoicing, I have procedures that I use when I chat to new clients and potential clients, I have procedures in the way I work every day. I feel I have to be organised as if not then the wheels will drop off and I dont know what I am doing. So I run my business with good procedures in place.
Part 1
As I have had many of my clients a long time, they just send me an email, sms, skype or call and let me know they are sending work, or sometimes they just send. When I receive the work I then check out what it is, work out how long it will take me, what is involved and I then document all this on a spreadsheet. I then get back to the client and let them know how long the job will take and let them know whether I will or will not make the deadline. Sometimes jobs are too big and that deadline cannot be reached therefore I will go back to the client and let them know I can't meet their deadline, but this is the deadline that is reachable, is this ok and they always come back and say that is fine, or ask me to get as close to it as I can. It's always worth it to negotiate with your client and let them know that a deadline is unreachable. I always check what work I have at that moment and how I can work everything in so that all the work gets done, this is part of keeping records so I always know what I am doing and when. Sometimes it can get too hectic to do this, but I will do it when I get a gap.
I cannot work without my procedures in place as I just have too much work. I will follow this post and let you know my procedures and share with you some of the forms I use as I go.

Naming your Business and finding a company logo

2011-04-11T15:14:00.000+02:00

One of the most interesting tasks to do when you open up a new VA business, is to give your business a name. Your business name needs to reflect what you are doing, what your business is about. Once you find that name use that name as your website domain name, your user name. You need your business name to be memorable, something that people will connect with you straight away. I am AMF Typing Services and everywhere you will see me using the user name 'amftyping' its short and easy to use and immediately it can be connected with my company name. Make your name unique to you.
Another great task is finding or creating a logo to suit your company name, I choose a typewriter as it matches my company and user name and my main company function is typing so the typewriter is very apt. You can play around with your initials, find a good graphic and play around with it making it unique to your business. It took me a few different logo's before I came up with this one, I played around with my initials for a while coming up with different combinations. You dont need fancy graphic software to do a logo, you can do many things just playing around in powerpoint or word. Make sure you feel comfortable with the name and logo you choose.

6th Annual Online International Convention

2011-03-30T09:14:00.001+02:00

6th ANNUAL ONLINE INTERNATIONAL

VIRTUAL ASSISTANTS CONVENTION (OIVAC)

“MOVING YOUR BUSINESS FROM 1ST GEAR TO HYPER-DRIVE”

May 19-21, 2011

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

The 6th Annual Online International Virtual Assistants Convention (OIVAC) is just 2 months away! The Convention runs a continuous 16 hours, daily, and because it’s all ONLINE, you can access everything directly from your home computer! No travel or hotel costs to worry about.

If you’re interested in learning, mentoring and networking with stellar virtual assistants, speakers and small business experts, register for OIVAC from March 31st to April 2nd, during the April “Don’t be Fooled” Days registration special. And this is no prank!

Just a few of the benefits of attending:

• Access to 35 business and virtual assistant industry experts over three Convention days

• 40 different topics (with downloadable recordings) to help grow your business; including marketing, business development, technology and social media; plus networking, training, and mentoring.

• Entrance to 4 Ask the Expert VAs panels where you’ll hear first-hand how Expert VAs manage and grow their businesses, and get answers to YOUR questions about YOUR business

• The chance to win prizes at the International Virtual Assistants Day (IVAD) Celebration

• Access to Building Profitable Product Launch Systems for Your Clients! training

• A VA Goodie Bag - a stash of amazing resources

• And much more!

Don’t miss out – this AMAZING Special is only available from March 31st until April 2nd!

Special Convention Pricing

$159.00 – Full Convention – March 30th – April 2nd ONLY

After April 2nd, registration is:

$89.00 – 3 Seminar Package

$159.00 – 5 Seminar Package

$399.00 - Full Convention (with optional 2 installment payment plan, if registered by April 15)

$499.00 – Full Convention (After April 15)

Sign up now! Take advantage of the special offer NOW and plan to “Move Your Business from 1st Gear to Hyper-drive” on May 19-21, 2011.

OIVAC

2011-03-21T13:23:00.002+02:00

The 6th Annual Online International Virtual Assistant Convention is taking place on 19 to 21st May 2011, there is lots of exciting topics and speakers attending. An event not to be missed, Its a great place to network and meet other VAs from countries worldwide. See you there.

Global Virtual Assistants Week 16th – 21st May 2011 http://globalvaweek.com/
OIVAC Online Convention 18th – 21st May 2011 http://www.oivac.com/

Reaching deadlines knowing how long a task takes

2011-03-15T10:37:00.002+02:00

You must know if you can reach deadlines or not. You need to know how long each task you do will take, for example: how long will a 1 hour file of transcription take to transcribe, how long will it take you to type up 100/200/500 pages. When a client contacts you, you have to be able to let them know if you can or cannot reach the deadline they set.

You must give yourself time to proof your work, time to check the layout and formatting, make sure the grammar is good, the punctuation done, sentence construction etc. Also you need to make sure you give yourself time to take breaks/lunch and for interruptions. You need to know with interruptions, can you still reach the deadline.

When you feel a deadline is not reachable, negotiate, you will be doing the work, you know how long it will take, give yourself plenty of time to do the work and be negotiable on a deadline that you can reach. It is up to you as a business owner to tell you client ‘this deadline is unreal’ explain what is involved within the job, a lot of clients have no idea how long a particular job will take. They will give you very unreasonable deadlines. Only you know what you are capable of and you know your limits. This is often a problem in Transcription, the clients do not know how long it actually takes to transcribe and often the deadlines are tight but its up to you, as you are doing the job to negotiate this with the client, not the client to set this deadline for you, simply explain what is involved,

Do not take on jobs you have no idea how to do, a client will quickly find out you cannot do this job and they will not have confidence and trust in you again. Only take on the work that you have experience in doing, especially so when you are just starting out. If you take on a job that is new to you, let the client know it’s new to you, but that you are very willing to learn and try. New jobs will take you longer to do, remember this with deadlines.

How to Series - Work Schedule

2011-02-27T15:59:00.000+02:00

Another article in my 'How to Series'.

I keep a work schedule of every item of work that I get in. I list the date/time, name, description of work, urgent/non urgent, who does the work, (myself or contractor) proofing (I sometimes send work out to a proofreader), time/date complete and comments, time worked, price of job. I keep all this information in an excel spreadsheet and have it set up monthly.
I work for a lot of clients on a weekly basis, so keeping good records of the work helps me to stay organised and know what is going on, it assists with time management, priorising the work and keeping track when I send work out to a contractor. It also gives me the stats at the end of the month to see how many jobs I do on a monthly basis and how much I make on each job that I do. These stats are important to have as you are running a business.
As a client send me in work, i then enter that work on my spreadsheet, giving as much details as is involved, then when the work is complete I finish the entry on the spreadsheet.
I hate doing admin at month end but this is such a help when it comes to doing my invoicing which I do at month end as my clients pay monthly.
If you have any comments on this procedure please share with me, I would love to hear what you do and how you run your VA business.

OIVAC Launches Speaker Interview Series

2011-02-23T08:25:00.001+02:00

OIVAC Launches Speaker Interview Series

During the next 30 days, Ms. Lyn Prowse-Bishop of Executive Stress Office Support interviews 20 speakers scheduled to appear at the upcoming Online International Virtual Assistants Convention 2011 (OIVAC - http://oivac.com), Thursday, May 19 thru Saturday, May 19,
2011.

During this 6th annual event, virtual assistants will rev up their businesses and shift them from 1st gear to hyper drive, as they learn innovative marketing, networking, and business management strategies to assist with their business growth and development and
topics that will positively impact client relations and services, and their pocketbooks.

This week's interviewees and topics located at the OIVAC YouTube
Channel (http://www.youtube.com/user/theoivac#p/a) include:
* Kathie Thomas - The Importance of Networking.
* Annemarie Cross - Five Powerful Steps to Follow When the Product You are Promoting is You
* Ivana Taylor - How to Get Your Ideal Customer to Choose You
* Dawn Jensen - Social Media Toolkit: Managing Your Clients and Your Business
* Christine Giri - Unleash the Power of Focus
* Cindy Greenway - The Essential Secret Ingredient Clients Want From Their Virtual Assistants

Visit our convention channel today to view these informative videos, and register as a subscriber. Stop by the convention website for complete speaker profiles and seminar details (
http://oivac.com/.

Take advantage of our early bird specials and register for the convention today!

To your success,
Sharon Williams
OIVAC Steering Committee
Alliance for Virtual Businesses

Answer to comment

2011-02-17T07:27:00.002+02:00

Awesome post. Do you mind if I ask what your source is for this information?

Hi I would like to answer this question above, all the information you see on the blog is my own, it is my experiences over the 10 years that I have been AMF Typing Services. I have many clients and have many experiences with those clients. I like to share my experiences to assist others especially new Virtual Assistants.My 'How to Series' are what I do, what I go through, to show you how its can be done.
New VAs need to know how things are done, if my experiences help at least one VA every now and again then its worth my letting everyone know.
I welcome all comments on my blog positive or negative, please if you enjoy the blog leave your comment. regards Ali

How to Series

2011-02-09T14:46:00.000+02:00

Quoting on clients work.
You need to know roughly how many pages can you type of plain copy typing in 1 hour, you need to know roughly how much transcription you can roughly do in 1 hour.
Clients will say to you, I have a 250 page document for typing, how long will it take you and what will you charge, to quote on this you need to give an estimate, so knowing roughly what you can produce in 1 hour of work will assist you in gaging what you can do.
I know I can type anything from 15 pages to 30 pages per day, but it depends on what the content is, whether there is graphics, flow diagrams, graphs, drawings in that content, these will take longer to produce. I know I can do these quickly but not everyone can, each typist is different but you need to know what you can and cannot do. If it will take you a few hours to do a flow diagram that must factor in your quote and whether you can meet the deadline set.
With transcription there are factors involved that will determine how long you take with transcribing, there could be multiple speakers, background noise, language difficulties if its court transcription, a focus group meeting can take twice as long to transcribe as often a lot of people will talk at once. You should roughly be able to say a 1 hour transcription will take plus/minus 4 to 6 hours to transcribe.
Data entry, you need to see what they require, see how many entries you can do in an hour, know what you can do at all times.
Look at the job you have, work out can you do it in the deadline stipulated. Can you produce a quality job, also remember you will have to spell check/grammar, proof your work and check your layout, all these things are part of the job you need to do. If you need assistance with a quote give me a shout. My advice would be for you to ask for a sample of the work that is required before you quote, this will assist you in quoting and always ask as many questions as you can think of about the task.

Africa VAs

2011-02-03T14:50:00.004+02:00

Tavasa - Transcriptionists and Virtual Assistants of South Africa
Website: http://www.tavasa.co.za
Tavasa blog: http://tavasa.blogspot.com/
Entrepreneur Buddy ~ http://www.entrepreneurbuddy.net
African Virtual Assistants Network(Afrivan) ~ http://www.afrivan.org/
Business Without Boundaries ~ http://www.businesswithoutboundaries.net
Be Virtual Wise - http://www.be-virtual-assistant-wise.com/

The difference between Transcription and Typing

2010-12-29T15:26:00.002+02:00

Believe it or not there is a difference between Dictaphone, Transcription and Typing, a lot of VAs and Transcriptionists don’t seem to know this.

Dictaphone and Transcription are similar so we charge at an hourly rate or an audio hourly rate and these are not referred to as typing in any way, if the client refers to them as typing tell that client it is either of the two but not typing and then explain what is involved with doing it, they are both a skill in themselves and not everyone can do them.

Dictaphone is normally one person, could be a doctor or an attorney recording into a digital machine, recording device and then you as a Transcriptionist listen to that tape and transcribe it.

Transcription can be more involved, it can be a recording of a meeting with a few people present, a conference session, court hearings etc. It is usually when more than one person is speaking and the event is being recorded.

These two skills should not be the same as copy typing, they are more involved and can take a few hours to transcribe into a document therefore there is normally an hourly or audio hourly rate involved not a per page rate. Transcribing can take anything from 1 hour to up to 6 hours depending on various factors, like language, amount of speakers, quality of tape etc.

Typing is what it is and is not either of the above and its charged at a per page rate or a per word rate (sometimes students like it per word, but not often). Typing is normally when you type from written notes, pdf documents, author's books, reports, tenders, copy typing etc.

If you let clients charge you at a per page rate for Dictaphone or Transcription then you are losing out big time in time and money as these tasks take much longer to complete and are skill on their own.

It is up to us to price accordingly for these tasks and to educate VAs, Transcriptionists and clients on the differences.

Your comments are welcome.

Quotation by Brian Tracy

2010-12-27T15:57:00.000+02:00

People with clear, written goals, accomplish far more in a shorter period of time than people without them could ever imagine.

Brian Tracy

Goal: To earn a Million Rand as a VA in SA and to be the first VA to do this

2010-12-27T14:53:00.002+02:00

Have you set your goals yet for your business in 2011. I am setting smaller goals that are easier to reach than setting larger goals that can take forever to reach.
Here are a few of my goals:
My main goal for my business is to make a Million Rand, to be the first VA within South Africa to reach that goal of making A million Rand while working as a virtual assistant. I believe it can be a reachable goal, it may take a while, but i believe I can do this.
One of my smaller goals is to turn my business into a Multi VA business. There is much to be done to achieve this goal but I can break the tasks needed to make the goals smaller which are associated with this so that I can make this reachable.
Write your goals for 2011 down and print and place on your wall where you can see that goal, always keep your goals in your mind.

Quote for the day 22nd December

2010-12-22T15:43:00.006+02:00

"Desire is the key to motivation, but it's determination and commitment to an unrelenting pursuit of your goal -- a commitment to excellence -- that will enable you to attain the success you seek." --Mario Andretti

The Victor Poet: CW longenecker

2010-12-12T12:50:00.000+02:00

If you think you are beaten, you are.
If you think you dare not, you don’t
If you like to win but think you can’t,
It’s almost a cinch you won’t.

If you think you’ll lose, you’re lost.
For out in the world we find
Success begins with a fellow’s will
It’s all in the state of mind.

If you think you are outclassed, you are.
You’ve got to think high to rise.
You’ve got to be sure of yourself before
You can ever win the prize.

Life’s battles don’t always go
To the stronger or faster man.
But sooner or later, the man who wins
Is the man who thinks he can.

How to ?

2010-12-10T13:34:00.000+02:00

Hi I am going to be doing a series of articles on How to ?. To give some examples:

How to liase with your new clients
How to prepare and complete your business plan
How to prepare client invoices
How to work with clients on an ongoing basis
How to go about your marketing
How to go about your networking etc.

The things that a new VA needs to know about running a business. The things you dont get told about, the basics. So check back to the blog often.

Managing Quotes

2010-12-08T09:01:00.000+02:00

When quoting for a client, don’t just write a reply and give a price in an email, that’s not professional. Prepare a typed quotation and attach it to an email. Include with your quotation your terms and conditions and a client/VA agreement form for signature by the client. Be professional even when giving a client a quotation. Everything you do reflects your professionalism and your company.
More Information:

Never be afraid to discuss information with your client, suggest things like maybe skype would be great to use for telephone calls and send your client a link to skype so that they can go and look. Look at VOIP or VOX phones, ‘pay as you go’ cell phones they can also be good alternatives if a client requires telephone services or a dedicated line for you to use for their businesses, with these services you can also provide itemized billing if required.
Before you quote on a job, get as much information from your client. Basic copy typing is not always, most of the time basic copy. It often includes flows, graphics etc. To do anything extra is time consuming.
When a client says VA tasks, ask them to break it down, be more specific of what tasks they want, this will help you when pricing. Sometimes work can be done on your hourly rate, others the rate per task. You look at each job individually.
Never offer a service that you can not do or perform, a client will know by the quality of the work you do if you can do a service well or not.

I get the feeling from lots of Vas and Transcriptionists that they are scared their clients will not pay so therefore lower the price, this should not be the case, if you project yourself well to your client and the client has confidence in you, they will pay for the service they are getting. I have never been scared to give a client a price, if I was I would not be in this business.

Owning your own business is a great confidence builder.

If you are concerned that a client will not pay for a service you are doing for them, ask for a deposit up front. I have never done this as I have confidence in my clients that they will pay. But it is a safe guard method to use especially with new clients and for newbies starting out.

Learn about your clients, ask them for a company brochure or company website address and go and check these out. These can be helpful when quoting, it gives you a feel of what the client/company is about.

Follow up on your quotes, ask the client do they require more information etc.

Communication in the beginning stages of working with a new client is very important.

Festive Season

2010-12-06T09:29:00.000+02:00

Please note AMF Typing Services will be open throughout December and January, if you require assistance, please shout.
Cell: +27 082 871 3452, email: amftyping@mweb.co.za, alison@amftyping.co.za, skype: amftyping, messenger: alison19558@hotmail.com: office: +27 011 768 5028.

Is the Recession hurting Virtual Assistants

2010-12-03T12:54:00.000+02:00

How are you feeling as a virtual assistant during this recession, that is hitting us wordwide?
Is it hitting your business?
What affects has it had on your business?

This is my take on the recession and purely my opinion.

Companies are downsizing especially so with office administration staff, this is not just happening within South Africa but worldwide. This to me opens the way for virtual assistants and transcriptionists to find work. Companies will need their office administration done no matter what. Tasks like company invoicing, accounts, typing, company correspondence, arranging meetings etc. We as virtual assistants can handle these tasks and help keep the company administration under control.

To get these types of jobs it would be wise for virtual assistants to send out company brochures and introduction letters to prospective clients, start with the types of small businesses that could downsize easily then move on to larger corporates, what harm does it do to let companies know you are out there willing to assist in this time of recession.

Clients are contacting me around three to five times a week for quotations so that proves there are potential clients out there looking for support from virtual assistants. They are hearing about us through the continual advertising/marketing we do. But the problem is they are only hearing from a small percentage of us, a small percentage of us appear in advertising everywhere, where everyone else advertises, does there marketing, I don’t know as you are not being seen. To me if I was you I would see that as a problem. A virtual assistant’s aim should be to get her details out there so that corporates, businessmen, entrepreneurs can see her, but this does not seem to be the case. So I would say the veterans of the industry like myself are the ones who are benefiting the most during the recession. The one thing that I can do as I do have a full business of clients is contract work out to newbie’s and assist them this way, but that should not be the way newbie’s find work, they themselves should not rely on veteran VAs to give them work but should go out and look for potential clients. You will not receive full pay for a job that you would if you had the client yourself and as a contractor you will not make much money working for other VAs, so to me that is to your disadvantage. Go and find clients and make the money you could earn. Take advantage of the recession with companies downsizing that are now outsourcing and present them with your details. Get out there and be seen.

Balancing your family and your home office

2010-11-23T12:15:00.002+02:00

Organising your time is very important when working from home, especially if you have a family. You need to still spend time with your family but you also need to be committed to completing your work.

You must learn how to balance your time between your office and your family. Your office must be your working domain, away from the children, they must learn and know that this is your place of work. They must be taught not disturb your desk and equipment in any way. Maybe setting up there own little office space within your office, maybe with a little table, chair, paper and crayons could help.

A good idea is to have set times where you work in your office and times when you spend with the children, teaching the children these times and try to keep to these boundaries that you set. If possible having someone on hand to help with the children while you are working would be very helpful, maybe a maid or a Grandparent. Or an idea could be to send your children to crèche during your working hours and then have them home early afternoon and spend the rest of the day with them, if you have urgent work that needs completion, then you can start again once the children are in bed, don’t forget though that you also need to spend quality time with your husband. Another useful idea is to let hubby spend time with the children on a Saturday morning while you complete any outstanding work tasks, therefore your husband will get to spend valuable quality time with the children which he cannot do during the week because of work commitments.

Your office needs to be organized and if you practice time management skills, you will feel less stressed and more in control of your working environment. Start your day by checking first your diary to see what you have scheduled for that day, then download and check your e-mails and any mail you have for the day, then schedule all your tasks for that day on a ‘To do List’, carrying on the tasks from the previous day, add new tasks as and when you receive them onto the end of the list, use your prioritization skills to prioritize as you go. If your day is structured, your working life will be organized and less stressful. Try to keep your office stress within your office. If you are stressed this will affect the way your children behave, so remember stress stays in the office.

Try to keep everything on your desk in its own place, that way if the children have came into your office and moved anything around on your desk you will know immediately, as children do this regularly if they have access to your office. A good idea would be to lock your pc functions, screen and keys, this will stop them from upsetting anything on your computer.

Information in the VA community

2010-11-21T11:50:00.012+02:00

As a new virtual assistant you need to get as much information about your industry as you can and one of the ways is, to join the chat forums for the many VA associations/groups we have worldwide. The forums are full of questions and answers, sharing of information etc, they are a place you can go to if you are feeling happy, sad, need a chat, want to vent, tell someone your good news etc.
Join our group forum at Yahoo: Tavasa (The Transcriptionists and Virtual Assistants of South Africa) http://finance.groups.yahoo.com/group/tavasa/
Another source of information is to sign up for VA newsletters, many VAs produce weekly and monthly newsletters which are full of vital information.
Another way is to follow VA blogs. Sign up as a follower.
http://alison-fourie.blogspot.com/
http://tavasa.blogspot.com/
And yet another way is to attend the online conventions which are held yearly around the world.
A great convention to attend is the OIVAC http://www.oivac.com/. 2011 is the 6th year for the OIVAC convention which is to be held 19 - 21 May 2011.
You learn many things you do not know and you meet many new friends by attending the convention. The OIVAC convention is held online, so no matter where you are in the world you can attend.

How easy is it being a VA

2010-11-18T13:59:00.002+02:00

Being a Virtual Assistant (VA) is not all about the client sending you typing, you do the work and send it back, there is much more involved.

As a VA we do many things, there is month end administration with invoices every month so no matter how busy you are, you stop and do your invoices, it is important to be paid for the work we do. You set aside a day and get your invoices out. Bookkeeping and updating your schedules. This is just one part of our administration another part is, we need to push clients and contractors for payments and invoices, we have to battle with clients who do not want to pay, who query what we do.

One of our aims is to keep our clients happy all the time, we need to keep that client as they provide us with ongoing work so we nurture that client; our clients are our bread and butter. We need to liaise with our clients often.

Managing many clients work is not an easy task. Keep their work in separate folders also in my documents have client folders and in email. With regular clients it is best to invoice monthly. All my clients are regular so I prepare all their invoices at the end of the month and get them all out at the same time so that I can monitor payments coming in. This is where my work log comes in handy as I document all work incoming, and I check back against this when doing my invoicing for each client.

Administration as we call it is a major part of being a VA. We need to market continually, our company needs to be out in the public eye and be seen. Our websites/blogs need to be updated. We continually look for new avenue’s to market our work to. Networking is just as important, there is always the need to tell everyone and anyone what we do, who we are, get the word out there. Any person you talk to could be a potential clients or referral, that’s why it is important to talk about your business no matter where you are, when you can and who you are with. We continually need to look for avenue’s to advertise our companies.

Often we need to do debt collecting with clients who do not pay, this is not a nice part of the job but we must do it, we need to be paid for what we do.

Managing of contractors, when a VA is overloaded we then get the opportunity to help out newbie Vas by contracting to them or helping out established VAs with a bit of extra work. Contracting work out is not as easy as you think. We are on our contractors backs to get them to keep in touch, they need to meet our deadlines, what if the contractor decides she is not doing the work or cant for some reason then we need to find a replacement in the middle of the work that is time taking. Paying of contractors on completion of work.

Another favourite is quoting for work, often ad-hoc jobs come in and we need to arrange a quote, quoting is not quick we need to ask questions to be able to place a price on the work, very time consuming especially with larger jobs.

Filing must be done as with any job, the office administration as seen above is often the hardest part of our job to do, but that comes with running any company/business. There are still many other facets about being a virtual assistant, the best way to learn about doing this type of job is to talk to established VAs as they know what they are doing and they can give you valuable information.

So you see it is not all about sitting and typing, it is about running a full time business/company, and these are only a handful of the tasks we do.

It's tough being a VA

2010-11-10T15:49:00.000+02:00

I dont think people realise how tough it is being a virtual assistant, after all you are running a full time business. My admin sort of does not get done, I don't have the time. So admin falls behind, not good. My bookkeeping is way behind. I know what is going on, but need to get it down on paper and keep it updated. As long as I work from my work schedule and take the time to put every task that comes in onto my schedule and stay organised, its ok. But when unexpected jobs come in, quotations which can be very time consuming, telephone queries, email queries that all affects the day to day running.
A full time VA with many clients can be quite hectic especially so when clients give you day to day work, it really can test your coping, prioritisation, and time management skills. This is when its time to think do I expand. What is the next step a 'multi VA business'. Do I want to go this way? Can this work for me, that I don't know and I am very unsure of. Its a large step to take. I am reading up all the knowledge available to me and contacting other multi va businesses to see how they work, I have a good idea what I want to do but is this the way to go. Hmmm.

Potential Clients

2010-11-07T10:00:00.000+02:00

Often clients will take time to make up their minds about whether to use a VA or not. Some clients can take a few months after the first initial contact, be prepared for this. Don't rush the client because you want work, let the client make up their own minds when they are ready to approach you.
The same applies for quotations, a client can ask for quotations but then take ages to get back to you ,on accepting their quotes. They need to know if the budget can pay your costs, they have to get approval from upper management on whether they can use a VA for the task they require. Quotation replies can also take time, be aware of this.
By all means keep in touch with the potential client but dont push them for work.
Let the client know how you can assist them, what value you think you can bring to their businesses.
Selling the concept of what a VA is about is very worthwhile.
Ask the client what their business is about, what their aims are, for their companies, as this will also help you to work out how you can assist them.

VA Industry Survey

2010-11-02T08:12:00.000+02:00

http://www.vanetworking.com/survey/

The Virtual Assistant Industry Survey 2010

Please participate in our 2010 Virtual Assistant Survey to help provide the media with valuable up to date stats on our industry.
VAnetworking.com is constantly being bombarded with requests from local and national media organizations asking many different questions about Virtual Assistants.
The media is always wanting answers to the six questions they use as a basis for most of their stories (Who, What, When, Where, Why & How). To aid them in getting to know about Virtual Assistants better, I’ve put together this survey.
Here is our opportunity to tell the press all about us Virtual Assistants.
The survey will take about 20 minutes of your time to complete but at the end of it, you'll receive some downloadable gifts from our network to say thanks for giving to us.
http://www.vanetworking.com/survey/

Client Liaison

2010-10-29T12:38:00.004+02:00

As a Virtual Assistant I deal with clients daily, either via email, skype, cell, telephone or in person.
The way you interact with a client can make a difference on whether that client will give you the task/job or not.

Being a business owner of AMF Typing Services cc I engage with clients on an equal status. A lot of VAs are ex Secretaries or Personal Assistants and they are used to dealing with Bosses and it is often difficult for them to deal with a clients on the same level, as they think of that client still as a Boss which they are not.

Always be friendly and polite. Never sell a service that you cannot do 100%. Do not offer transcription if you do not know how to do this, as you will soon find yourself in a sticky situation when the work comes in and you cannot do it. Only offer the services that you have the most experience in and that you know you can complete.

I can now judge by the response of the client whether I will get the task or not. And when there is a task/job that I am interested in, I will tell the client I can do that task, give them a deadline when it can be done and talk with confidence about that task, within a few minutes that client will give me the task to do. I am very confident in my approach with clients but I was not always like this, my years of experience as a secretary has helped me a lot with dealing with clients today. I have got a lot of experience behind me of dealing with the best and worst of clients. I am patient, friendly and very convincing when I want to do a task for a client.

I deal with a lot of Virtual Assistants within the industry worldwide and client liaison is very important. The way you write your emails reflects on your company, the way you liaise with clients via skype and in person all makes a difference. With emails and sms’s I always sign off with my signature and contact details so any potential client will always know who I am and who I work for.

Be careful as you write up your website, as you need to make sure that website is drawing in clients or the right people who you want to liaise with, in your business. Make sure your written content, sounds right and looks right. Clients also judge you on what your website is saying to them.

First appearances and sounds always count when a VA is dealing with a potential client. I dress casual for work but when I meet a client I make sure I dress appropriately.

I am a business owner and I must come across as a business owner and know what I am talking/writing about to all potential clients.

© Copyright 2001 AMF Typing Services cc®, Ck2001/083866/23. All rights reserved.

VA Business Plan

2010-10-27T12:35:00.002+02:00

I know its very daunting start out as a virtual assistant, in fact down right scary. There is so much to be done and that horrible business plan, do I really have to write one, I dont know how, or want to know how. But its got to be done. Its the backbone of your business, without a business plan many VA and small business companies will not last long. All business even that of a VA , must have structure and procedures. How else can you work. Your business plan is like a skeleton and the pieces must fit together to work and everything is connected to your backbone, your business plan. It should take about a week to pull it together, use a template from the internet as then the categories are there and its a case of just adding your information and customising the template into your working business plan.
There are specific categories to fill in, do not rush this, think of your information, think how you want to run your business, think of the procedures that you will do for every task and document them. If you need a bit of help with this, don't struggle, give me a shout and I will asisst.
A VA business with no structure or a clear plan is doomed. Your business plan will be a working document and will change lots especially over your first year as you settle into running your VA business.

Contratulations on first VA client

2010-10-20T16:33:00.003+02:00

I would like to congratulate Celeste on getting her first VA contract.
I wish her luck with her new client and hope many more new clients will now come her way. Congratulations.

Céleste Schröder
Business Owner & Virtual Assistant
SCHRÖDER & ASSOCIATES CC
Suite 258, Private Bag X3, Northriding 2162
Tel : 011 794 1003 Cel: 082 764 9616 Fax : 086 612 7887
E-mail : sch.ass@telkomsa.net
Link to website: www.pa4you.co.za
Website: www.schroderandassociates.co.za
Skype: celeste_schroder
Delegate your Office Administration to SCHRÖDER & ASSOCIATES!

Tip of the day

2010-10-07T12:08:00.000+02:00

Proof Read your work
No matter whether you are a transcriptionist, word processor, typist, virtual assistant or secretary make it part of your job to proof read all your work before sending it to the client, this is something that does not always get done and is very important, you can do a spell/grammar check but it does not pick up everything, its always good to have a good read through and spot check each word on completion of your documents.

Newbie VAs

2010-10-07T09:20:00.000+02:00

As you start as a virtual assistant you need to think what are you going to offer clients. What are you skilled at doing, what do you like to do. The services you offer are very important. To get the type of work you would like, do target marketing it is often the way to go. If you are skilled in transcription then think what types of clients would produce transcription and dictation and market to those clients. The list is endless here.
I love to do typing and can type forever, so I look and market to the types of clients that I would get typing from.
Not every client will send you great work, some work can be boring and dull but that work still must be done if you take the work on. The client is dependent on you to complete their work. I dont mind what type of typing I get in, as long as it can be typed I will do the work, I love typing and its my niche service so I dont care if the work is boring after all it is a job and I will be paid for doing it so that to me is worthwhile and the client will be pleased with a job well done.
Everyone wants to do typing or transcription working from home well to do this you need to get out there and find this type of work, it will not fall into your lap.
As a virtual assistant you will need to have confidence in yourself to do the work and to deal and work with clients, you will need to be pro-active, assertive, get yourself out there, you cannot just sit back, you will never find clients that way, and they want find you.

To be a virtual assistant

2010-10-07T09:05:00.000+02:00

As a newbie virtual assistant you need to be like a sponge and soak up as much information as you can that is out there.
After you have gone through the various steps to start up and are ready to get out there that is when your marketing, advertising and networking begins, this is an on going thing. A few weeks of marketing will not assist you, it is an ongoing process and that is one of the problems for VAs today. They do a bit of marketing and sit and wait, nothing will happen, but you will wait, you have to continually thoughout your virtual assistant business do marketing, it is non stop. You have to look for places to advertise in, look for places that there is no other VAs advertised that you could maybe be the first one there and I can tell you there is places out there as I am in many places and the only VA there, especially so in South Africa. Get your company onto VA directories around the world, there are many VA associations. Many offer free advertising in their directories, take advantage of this and advertise there. You need to be listed everywhere and anywhere. Use your internet skills to find directories, classified sections, site submissions etc.
I marketing a few times a week, and I do not need to, but I do it to show I am out there still in business.
Join VA forums worldwide, you will be amazed at what you can learn, attend seminars, webinars etc, established VA run these and give you loads of valuable information and a lot of the time these are offered for free.
Find a good established VA to mentor and assist you, just be careful and check that, that VA is qualified to assist first, check her service in the industry, her website/blog, company profile, ask questions to test her knowledge.
Save all information that you find as it will be very useful to you as you grow into being a virtual assistant.

AMF Typing Ebook for Sale

2010-09-27T12:39:00.004+02:00

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

2010-09-27T12:26:00.002+02:00

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

2010-09-27T12:20:00.002+02:00

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.

I dreamt of running my own typing business

2010-08-08T15:02:00.000+02:00

My dream a long time ago was to start my own typing business. I decided to follow that dream and try to achieve this. I left my job in the corporate world in 2001 to start up on my own. I had no idea if this could be done, how to do this, I thought I had no business knowledge. When I started up in 2001 the first thing I did was research, this is something I would advise anyone to do before they pack in your job in the corporate world I would also advise you to start up part time rather than do this the way i did it. I would spend days, months marketing and advertising, days upon days, I just kept going. In those days advertising was for free, so if you could advertise there, I was advertised, I cant tell you where, but I never stopped looking for places to advertise. My first website was with geocities, a free website. Then I met Joan Masterson, I asked Joan many questions, and build my structure/procedures and decided how I was going to run this business, I think my first client was someone wanting a CV typed up, I had advertised in some newspaper. The one thing I believe in and have always done is marketing and advertising and networking as much as possible, even now as I run a very successful full time business I still advertise to show that my business is current and to keep my company in the limelight and being seen in the corporate world. It was hard when I started out to get clients, first you had to get out there, as you do today and been seen and I was seen eventually, and slow but surely my business took off. My website has been my best advert and marketing tool.
One person that I have admired for years is Kathie M Thomas at http://www.vadirectory.net/. I was so impressed by what Kathie was doing at that time, Kathie was my inspiration to carry on. I have always had a very positive attitude within my business, I have always had confidence in what I am doing, I knew I could do this, somehow, no matter what, I just had to keep ploughing away. And today all that marketing, advertising and networking has paid off for me. So my word of advice is keep going no matter what, If I can do it you can. My dream has come true, I am working my dream.

100 posts

2010-08-08T14:33:00.000+02:00

Hi ive just realised I have reached 100 posts on my blog, what an achievement, I did not know I had 100 posts in me to write. Interesting, I hope you enjoy reading these posts and that sometimes you get something out of them. Here is to my next 100 posts, Ali

Do you live in your Office

2010-08-05T15:51:00.000+02:00

Yes I sometimes feel as though I live in my office, I am in it for long hours at a time, more so than any other part of my house. Does anyone else spend as much time in the office?
In the corporate world we work set hours, here working for yourself, its all hours and more. How to get round it, you can't as you need to build your business on a continual basis. I can only think to take regular breaks and walks, out of the office, even a wander around the garden is a break, stretch your body, your arms and legs, move your head around a few times. If you have a laptop you can at least go into another room and sit and type, or even sit in the garden in the summer. Go make tea take regular breaks. That is one of the reasons why its good to make your office comfortable as you spend that much time in it. Make sure you have a comfortable chair, I sit on my office chair much more then i sit in the lounge. I spend far too much time in this office of mine.

Nine to Five (9 to 5)

2010-08-02T10:24:00.002+02:00

I have been thinking a lot lately on how can anyone in this type of business work 9 to 5.
If you feel you can, please let me know.
If you have a full time VA business with many clients, I think and feel you have to be there when your clients need you, if you are not available that client can move on elsewhere to another VA, who will give them the service they require. I believe in providing my clients with a quality service and that includes working the hours they need me.
Its hard, its tough and I have children 13 and 9 and a hubby.
As a VA you must meet your clients deadlines, you cant just say I will do it tomorrow, things do not work like that, you have to be available when you reasonably can be. My clients appreciate this and let me know they are appreciative of my working the hours to suit them. But with doing this I have now retained my clients for years.
I do get help and assistance from other VAs with my work, as I do, most of the time have overflow. My children and hubby are very understanding of my work and give me their full support and assistance as I need it. I think without this I probably would not manage. I work better under pressure so I thrive when I am hectic, its the way I like to run my business, somehow I manage it all, how, often I dont know, but things get done.
A lot of people think when you are working for yourself, you have it made, you can work when you like, relax when you like, be there when the kids come home, spend time with the kids, and go shopping when you like. YES WELL. That does not happen when you run your own business, you find, you work many more hours to grow that business and often you are the only person within that business who knows everything about it so you have to be available and with a VA/Transcription business you do the work as well as everything else, so there is no time. Being a VA is not the being at home and spending time with the kids this is not that type of job. Its about work and building a business. In today society where money is in short supply and salaries are low and a recession is hanging around, you have to work.
I am very interested in how other VAs work their hours, how they manage running a full time business with many clients. Drop me a comment and let me know or email me, I would love to hear from you.

2010 Afrivan VAimpact Award Winners

2010-08-01T12:03:00.000+02:00

African Virtual Assistants Network(Afrivan) VAimpact 2010 award is finally here, thanks to all those who took upon themselves to nominate deserving individuals for this year award. VAimpact yearly award is till in it infancy stage and we might not be able to provide all the perks and incentive of awards, but I believe it no excuse not to honor deserving Virtual Assistants in and around Africa for their hard work.

Afrivan hope is that as the yearly award progresses, we will have companies to sponsor the award, provide business incentive and business opportunity for award winners.

It’s my honor to present to you this year 2010 Afrivan VAimpact Award Winner, you all truly deserve it for all your hard work, dedication even in the faces business challenges and set-backs.

These award from Afrivan is to encourage you to keep on keeping on and to give more sense of feeling that you can achieve and attain whatever you set your mind and energy to accomplish in life. The sky is no longer the limit to what you achieve, the only limitation will be you and the people you surround yourself with if you allow that to happen. These award challenge you to do more for yourself and well as for others.

Visit their full bio to get to know them as both individual and business owners and leave words of encouragement on the comment page for them.

Full Name: Alison Mary Fourie

Business Name: AMF Typing Services cc

Years in Business: 9 Years

Business Website: http://www.amftyping.co.za

Location & Country: Johannesburg, South Africa

**************************************************************

Full Names: Francis van Wyk & Marietjie Steyn

Business Name: Be Virtual Assistant Wise

Years in Business: 15 months

Business Website: http://www.be-virtual-assistant-wise.com &

Blog: http://www.be-virtual-assistant-wise.co.za

Location & Country: Vanderbijlpark, South Africa

Continue Reading More of Francis van Wyk & Marietjie Steyn Bio

Interview Archie de Lara (Transcription Services)

2010-07-20T08:15:00.003+02:00

An Interview with Archie de Lara, Archie provides Transcription Services to clients, he is based in the Philippines.

Why did you choose this as a career, do you see this as a career choice?
I choose transcription because I like the nature of the work. I learn different things especially in doing medical transcription. In the Philippines, transcription is a very promising career for higher income opportunity. The fact that it can be done at home also is appealing to me.

Do you work from a home office?
I presently do home base transcription. I also plan to work office based while doing the home based transcription on my extra time.

What do you like about Transcription?
I like to hear voice recordings and be able to come up withe document over that.

What advice would you give to new prospective Transcriptionists out there?
Start transcription career right. Choose the best training and make the most over it. Let your eagerness to learn more about the career lead you to become successful in this field.

What type of transcription do you provide, General, Legal or Medical?
I provide general transcription this time.

What is the most important thing about being a Transcriptionist?
The most important thing about being a transcriptionist is the attitude towards work. Never return an audio file if it is not that discernible. Just notify your client and make the most out of it.

Do you have other plans or are you planning on staying in Transcription?
I plan to stay being a transcriptionist and i would like to become a provider for other transcriptionists.

What are the benefits of doing Transcription in the Philippines?
Transcription services in the Philippines is cheaper and is of high quality.

Do you work for companies overseas outside of the Philippines?
Yes, I work for transcription companies outside the Philippines.

Thank you, regards Ali

My pleasure.
Archie's Blog: http://archiedelara.com/category/about-transcription/

To be sick or not to be!

2010-07-18T14:40:00.002+02:00

The one thing I find with working from home, no matter how sick I am, I work, as if I am not. If I was working in the corporate world and I did not feel well, I would ring in sick, with working for myself and working means money, I find I dont, take off sick time anymore. If I dont work, I dont get paid and the work does not get done, therefore clients can complain so its easier to work the sickness off and deal with it early morning and at night and get through the days work. When you run your own business there is no place for sickness and especially so if you are busy 24/7. How do you deal with sickness in your business when you are working solo?

Wees 'n Virtuele Assistent

2010-06-25T08:43:00.000+02:00

NOU IN AFRIKAANS

Wees 'n Virtuele Assistent

‘n Riglyn vir professionele mense wat ‘n ambisie het om bo die res uit te styg
R90
33 Bladsye nuttige wenke Wat is ‘n virtuele assistent Hoe om een te word Wat om in oorweging te neem Watter beplanning moet gedoen word Slaggate Telefoniese en E-posondersteuning En nog baie meer

Deur: TANYA JOUBERT
Lid van TAVASA

E-pos Tanya by:
info@typingandtranscription.com
Of
Tel: 083 510 1181

Virtual Office Assistance

2010-06-24T16:33:00.000+02:00

Tanya Joubert
Virtual Office Assistance
Web: typingandtranscription.com
Email: info@typingandtranscription.com
Mobile: +27 (0) 83 510 1181
Fax: +27 (0) 86 655 4381

Administrative Services offered without employing additional full-time or part-time staff. We do your overload admin work from our own office.
Typing all correspondence, proposals, reports, etc.
Transcription of digitally recorded meetings/reports
Email management, database management, etc.

YOUR OFFICE AWAY FROM YOUR OFFICE

Learn about your Clients

2010-06-06T14:33:00.000+02:00

A lot of new VAs think its very daunting that they have to learn how to work with clients, deal with clients. When a prospective client contacts you, after that first initial contact, take the opportunity to then learn about your client, check out your clients website, get a feel for what the company is about, ask the client to let you have a company profile for your records. The more you get to know your client the better the relationship you will have. Ask your client questions about themselves and the company, ask about their interests and ask in which ways can you assist them further than just the work they need doing, your aim should be with each client to start a long term relationship and get regular work from that client. Aim to be there when the client needs you, treat that client as if they are your only client whether they are or not, make the client feel special and let them know you care, this is relevant in establishing a good working relationships with your client/s.

A new Career as a VA

2010-06-06T14:27:00.000+02:00

I think a lot of people dont realise that as you start out as a Virtual Assistant you are starting out on a new career path. You have moved on from the corporate world to try something new. People dont link careers and virtual assistants. Most people think that as virtual assistants we do typing from home to earn extra money, well this is not the case. It is about building a solid business, building a new career. Being a virtual assistant is about running a business, doing all the things any new business would do on start up and then to get up and running. You have to do marketing, networking, client liaison, debt collection, etc. It is a new career path.

Required/Wanted Minute Taker / Shorthand Skills

2010-05-24T15:34:00.000+02:00

Wanted/Required Minute Taker/Shorthand people, be able to take minutes or shorthand at conferences/events/meetings etc during business hours, apply to amfytping@mweb.co/za with your CVs.

Nomination for Thomas Leonard OIVAC Award

2010-04-22T15:20:00.000+02:00

Congratulations Alison!
You have been nominated to receive the:

2010 Thomas Leonard International Virtual Assistant of Distinction Award
Presented by the Online International Virtual Assistant Convention (OIVAC).

I am very honoured to receive this nomination. It gives hope to other South African Virtual Assistants.

A big thank you, you know who you are, for nominating me for this award. regards Ali

Client discontent with VAs?

2010-04-05T08:47:00.000+02:00

I recently read an overseas article about the possibility of our industry being on shaky ground. It made interesting reading, reporting amongst other things, that business owners at a conference had commented that they were not entirely happy with the service they received from their VAs. The lady who wrote the article was shocked to hear this, but also not surprised. This set me thinking because, after all, there are three sides to this that need to be considered - the client, the VA and the middle ground. As in everything in life there is good and bad on all sides, and it may be that some of the complaints were really genuine, whilst others stemmed from something that concerned an unvoiced expectation that was therefore not heard and acted upon.

Our business is really no different from any other service business, and frankly every business in the world is in service of a sort in that they all supply others with a widget and/or a service. And like every other business we do not always get it right for one reason or another. Sometimes these problems are our fault and sometimes they are the client’s fault, and sometimes they are down to external interference that we are not in control of.

Right up front I am going to say that it is a good idea to clarify what a client’s requirements and expectations are in writing. Create a standard guideline of hours etc., and hand to each new client along with a contract. This is useful for both you and your client, because if anything comes up at a later date it can be checked. It also lays out certain boundaries; your personal life being one of them.

The problem is that often clients tend to look at VAs as being available almost 24/7 – because they work from a home office. This is an expectation that you need to address right up front with any client, since this changes the whole perspective with regards to expectations being met. If you have no problem with being available 24/7 this is fine, but in reality we all have lives of our own and a client should not rule this side of your life, you should since it is your business. If you start out being available 24/7 with a client that client will expect this service all the time instead of this being a service that you might offer on a one off occasion that is mutually agreed upon. Be aware that once a client knows you will work outside normal hours they might be tempted to do this more and more.

Some of the complaints listed are that VAs do not:

• provide timely responses to their clients
• assist with the occasional request that requires quick turn around
• complete tasks before the agreed to deadline
• communicate appropriately or ask questions to clarify details
• pay attention to details - making sloppy errors regularly
• manage the priorities of all their clients well (leaving clients to feel their stuff is unimportant and at the bottom of the list)

I am sure every VA can equate with these. We are all human – not superhuman, and some of these things would for various reasons probably also happen in an office environment. If you have clients who have steadily encroached upon your own time outside of reasonable office hours the chances are that you will encounter most of these problems, thus affecting all your clients. One unreasonable or demanding client can ruin it for all your other clients as it means that you have to juggle your plates-on-sticks faster and faster to manage not just your working life but also your private life. If you have a client like this you really do need to make a decision about whether to suggest they find someone else, whether they should be considering hiring someone to work for them only, or whether to speak to them about the way their business demands have steadily but surely encroached upon your life and that of your other clients, and that you need to come to a different arrangement. Whatever you choose you need to ensure that this client understands the whys and wherefores of your decision so that you still maintain a good relationship and that they do not move on to someone else with the view that you were unreasonable.

This situation often arises from bullet point two, where you do assist with an occasional urgent turn around time, and the client takes advantage of this and starts expecting it more and more, purely because it was not set out at the start what both parties’ expectations were. Just because your client works odd hours, is an insomniac, and so on does not mean that you should be expected to as well. In turn your client has expectations that this be the norm and if you are not compliant or make mention of it you are then the one being unreasonable, since a) this has been the norm up to that point b) it was not laid out in an initial agreement as to what hours/days you were available and c) the client then becoming disgruntled and telling others that he/she is not happy with VAs. It is not reasonable to expect a contractor/VA to work all the hours under the sun. Worse still these types of clients will now have the expectation that any VA will work 24/7 and furthermore should be. You have created an expectation of the VA industry.

I think point one speaks for itself, but again you need to discuss with your client what their expectation of a timely response is. Some people check their emails all the time, others at set intervals or times, so you need to decide how this will work with your workloads, and be realistic when telling a client. If you are right on a deadline with a job and a client emails you, but you only check your emails every half hour or hour for example then you need to put this in your contract or business guideline – and stick to it. Many of us work alone and use a call answer service to pick up our incoming calls if we are working on something where we do not wish to be interrupted. This is normal practice but if you do this make sure that your clients understand, and get back to them as soon as possible.

I think that it would be peculiar if any client did not realise that he/she is sharing you with other clients, and take this into consideration in your business relationship with themselves; having said that each client obviously feels that their priorities should come first. Juggling several clients can be tricky, but if you build your client base carefully and ensure that each client knows the basics such as your hours, normal turn around times [always overestimate, never underestimate; if something can go wrong it will] and so on right at the start, then, barring a major catastrophe such as your equipment being stolen or your office burnt down or whatever, you should be able to ensure that all your clients are satisfied.

I will come back to the matter of normal working hours here, since this plays a big part in how you manage your clients. If you are continually being pushed by one or more of your clients to work outside of normal hours, over weekends, at night, on public holidays, you will inevitably find yourself battling to meet each of your clients’ deadlines and expectations. The reason? Because you have no ‘spare’ time in which to work, because you are already over extended with regards to the hours you work. This is very important because you are not only messing up your own work and private life but that of your clients too. By working all the hours under the sun you are not doing anyone any favours.

This brings me to another point that I do tend to belabour – fees. If you undercharge for your work/services you will find yourself working ridiculous hours to make ends meet. Take a step back and ask yourself, what is the point? You are living to work. You have no work/life balance. Ultimately you will be the loser, both financially and with your overall health. If you have a nervous breakdown, or lose your home, what matter is that to your clients? Your clients will move on to someone else, doubtless complaining that they did not get good service or you let them down.

Completing tasks before the agreed deadline; this comes down to agreeing deadlines. Always ensure that you get as long a deadline as possible. We do not live in a perfect world, and being a VA you should be very aware that the internet does not always play ball. Obviously some clients have extremely urgent deadliness but try and encourage your clients to let you have work early in order for you to be able to work on theirs timeously, or to resolve any problems with that work. Often clients will sit on work, maybe leaving it until the next day to give it to you or whatever. If you know one of your clients often does this then try to ask for the work; in other words chase your client. Short/shortened deadlines often mean problems in many other ways such as download times, the client giving you the wrong work and so on, and this in turn puts you behind with a deadline and also creates problems with your contractors, if you use others to assist you with larger jobs, AND your other clients. Clients do not take cognisance of this as a rule. It is a good idea to put some information regarding this in your work guideline for clients and any contract you draw up.

Having several clients can mean that you have to take cognisance of different parameters or ways of working that each of your clients like. This and working too many hours can lead to problems with making errors. There are several ways of doing your best to solve this problem. Aside from sticking to reasonable hours of work, on your computer have a file for each client and create an information document within this file that has pertinent information such as uses USA letter style, or likes follow-up hyphenated, prefers [inaudible] to [unclear] and so on. Some people keep a hard copy file too, and keep this next to them when they are doing work for that client. If the information document is clipped to the front cover or is the face page in the file it is there to hand to glance at. This is particularly important if you do not do regular or daily work for one of your clients. Always take out/open this information document and check it over before starting on that client’s work. As with most people we sometimes get a ‘blind’ mental block of odd words and can type them wrongly time after time without realising, for example.

Another reason for making sure you have agreed deadlines that are as long as possible is so that you can proofread your work. Clients do not realise this is important and that it is time consuming. Make sure always to point this out to clients in a client guideline. If they demand short turn around times you cannot guarantee the quality of your work.

If you work normal, regular hours with limited overtime, [as you would if you were working for a company], you will be more in control of your own life and your client’s work quality. You will have the time to make sure all your clients feel that they are important to you, that you care about their work. Having too many clients is detrimental all round. Again, this comes back to your fees. Make sure you are charging proper rates. I a client says it is too expensive point out that the bigger companies charge this and more and furthermore he/she is getting a more personal service. If you find that your workload is creeping up and taking over your life then maybe it is time to shorten your client list or take on someone to assist you.

Make sure you are doing the best for your client AND for YOURSELF, as well as the VA industry. At the end of the day they amount to the same thing.

© Copyright 2010 Corinna Turner. All rights reserved.
Cape Winds Virtual, http://www.capewindsvirtual.weebly.com / http://writejournalforme.blogspot.com/

Typing versus Transcription

2010-04-01T09:26:00.000+02:00

Business owners are turning to outsourcing of typing and dictation work and reaping the benefits of having virtual secretaries operating in all time zones. They benefit from not paying overheads, are not responsible for any leave pay, sick pay, medical and pension fund contributions. They do not have to provide equipment, electricity, tea or coffee or pay for private telephone calls and e-mails. Outsourcing makes a lot of financial and business sense.

What a lot of outsourcers fail to understand, however, that there is a vast difference between copy typing and transcription.

Copy typing is basically what it says – handwritten work is transformed into a neatly and accurately typed document within a specified time frame. Copy typing is not necessarily plain sailing – often the client’s handwriting is virtually undecipherable and, in the case of non-English-speaking clients, the grammar and syntax is often confusing and needs a little time and care to render into a well-written document. Once a sample of the work is obtained it is easy to quote on the job based on the complexity of the above factors.

Transcription is an entirely different kettle of fish and costs considerably more and this is where the interests of the client and transcriptionist collide. Clients often fail to understand the reasons for what appears to be an exorbitant rate but do not take into consideration the factors that underlie the need for a much higher quotation.

Even the most experienced transcriptionist works on the rule of thumb that one hour of dictation takes approximately four hours to transcribe, and quotes accordingly. This is true of best-case scenarios where, for instance, an interview or dialogue between two people is clear and audible and there is no background noise or distraction.

In reality, large and noisy meetings are conducted in what sometimes seems like a war zone with sirens wailing and traffic roaring in the background. Building work may be taking place in the adjacent office and the confused mass of voices is punctuated by regular blasts of drilling and hammering. Speakers are not introduced and the client may or may not provide a list of speakers. The microphone seems to be perched on the tea trolley, which is a fantastic idea when you really want your transcriptionist to work hard for his or her money. Throw in various accents and a few foreign speakers and now we’re all having fun. For a bit of added interest, use lots of technical and insider terms.

In this case the transcriptionist may very well have to stretch the golden rule of four to one to five or six hours as she frantically tries to Google phonetically-spelled words and technical terms or distinguish the Hungarian speaker from the Romanian speaker, the French speaker from the Moroccan-French speaker, or all four speaking simultaneously, not to mention the guy with the bad cold sitting really close to the microphone, coughing and blowing his nose, clearing his throat, etc.
So rest assured, transcriptionists are not ripping the client off; they are doing their best to produce a clear and readable transcript under very trying circumstances and should be rewarded accordingly.

Michele Johanson
michelejohanson@yahoo.com
http://goodhopetranscription.weebly.com
Fax: 086 6021 791
Ph: 084 6944 307

Charging low rates to get the client/job!

2010-03-29T10:26:00.000+02:00

Charging low rates to get the client/job

What actually do you achieve by doing this?
1. You can get the job, YES
2. Is it worth your while doing the job at the low rate?, NO

No it is not. With each job you do you need to know that job is worthwhile to do, you need to have proper rates set up and remember you are running a business.
If this is just a game to you and you are doing this just to earn a little extra, it’s still not worth it to you as you are not being paid for your worth, you are seeing money, but what can that money buy for you from that task. What about your skill, experience and time you have spent doing the job, is that worth nothing to you. Going in at the lowest rate is not going to make money for your business, it sure want make profits. You will be running your business at a loss and is that the way to do business, not really, every good business person will tell you there is a need to make money to run your business.

Even if you charge low and take in job after job you are still losing out with your expenses that it takes to do the job. A VA should know with each job they do exactly what is involved. How long the job will take, what costs are involved as no matter what job you do there is a cost to you involved, be it your time, printer ink, electricity etc, there is a cost, these issue have to be looked at with your rates.

Wouldn’t it be better to win a job on your skills, attributes, knowledge, experience than to win because you put in a low bid for that job… Surely you have confidence in yourself to know what your skills are worth… Are they really worth that low rate! Interesting eh…

Dictaphone - Trancription - Typing

2010-03-20T10:27:00.000+02:00

Believe it or not there is a difference between Dictaphone, Transcripiton and Typing, a lot of VAs and Transcriptionists dont seem to know this.

Dictaphone and Transcription are similar so we charge at an hourly rate or an audio hourly rate and these are not referred to as typing in any way, if the client refers to them as typing tell that client it is either of the two but not typing and then explain what is involved with doing it, they are both a skill in themselves and not everyone can do them.

Dictaphone is normally one person, could be a doctor or an attorney recording into a digital machine, recording device and then you as a Transcsriptionist listen to that tape and transcribe it.

Transcription can be more involved, it can be a recording of a meeting with a few people present, a conference session, court hearings etc. It is usually when more than one person is speaking and the event is being recorded.

These two skills should not be the same as copy typing, they are more involved and can take a few hours to transcribe into a document therefore there is normally an hourly or audio hourly rate involved not a per page rate.

Typing is what it is and is not either of the above and its charged at a per page rate or a per word rate (sometimes students like it per word, but not often). Typing is normally when you type from written notes, pdf documents, author's books, reports, tenders, copy typing etc.

If you let clients charge you at a per page rate for Dictaphone or Transcription then you are losing out big time in time and money as these tasks take much longer to complete and are skill on their own.

It is up to us to price accordingly for these tasks and to educate VAs, Trancriptionists and clients on the differences.

Fast response times to Potential Clients

2010-02-22T12:35:00.000+02:00

When working as a VA or Transcriptionist one of the ways to get and claim potential clients is by responding very fast. Have your email set to received emails the minute they are sent. As you receive emails asking for quotes, respond as quick as you can or even to a request to use your services, often the early bird will catch the potential client. Clients are impressed by a quick response as it shows you are ready and willing to assist that client.

If you have adsl access then you are able to sit in skype or messenger all day, you have no need to go in and out as these programs barely use any gig space/time. Often clients contact me via skype when a job is urgent, they know they will get a fast response by using this method of communication from me.

Does your clients work all hours or 8am to 5pm?

2010-02-16T10:54:00.000+02:00

Your clients working hours will impact on your working hours, so make sure you are both in sync about the hours you work.

If your clients are working all hours and weekends you will be expected to be available these hous also, unless you state different. I am available to suit my clients and all my clients work long hours and weekends, but that is my agreement with them and my preference.

If you want to work 8am to 5pm make sure you let your clients know this and make sure when you look for clients you look for the types of clients that work these hours. Working hours can be very important to some clients when they are looking for a VA or Transcriptionist.

Make sure your hours are part of your working agreement with your client.

Goals for 2010

2010-01-04T16:42:00.000+02:00

A good way to start of the new year is to set goals for your business. Look at what you did and did not achieve last year, then look at what you would like to achieve in your business for 2010. Set small acheiveable goals and then longer term goals. We have the world cup coming to SA soon, so a good goal to set is to do plenty of marketing. Goal setting is an important part of any business.

Greetings for 2010

2010-01-04T16:30:00.001+02:00

http://conorsadmin.blogspot.com/

2009-12-17T16:17:00.000+02:00

A great blog for information for virtual assistants run by Trish Donmall of Conors Admin Services. Website: http://conorsadmin.co.za/

How easy is it being a Virtual Assistant!

2009-12-07T13:46:00.000+02:00

African Language Trancriptionists/Translators required

2009-11-22T11:30:00.000+02:00

Tavasa requires transcriptionists and translators in the following african languages: Zulu, Xhosa, Sotho and Tswana. If you have these skills please email alison@tavasa.co.za or gaynor@tavasa.co.za.

VA Certification Alison Fourie

2009-11-13T10:16:00.001+02:00

Press Release:
The first Virtual Assistant in South Africa to receive this recognition.

Headline: Local Virtual Assistant Receives International Recognition from Industry Leaders Worldwide

Summary: Alison Fourie qualifies for worldwide Virtual Assistant certification at VAcertifed.com
Author: Alison Fourie
Email: amftyping@mweb.co.za
Website: http://www.amftyping.co.za
Keywords: worldwide virtual assistant certification program, VA leaders, virtual assistant, virtual assistance, specialty VA, niche Virtual Assistants, WAHM, work at home moms, business startup, virtual business, online business, work from home
-------------------------------------- ---------------------------------------------------------------------
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Contact: Alison Fourie
13 November 2009 Tel: +27011768 5028
Fax: +27 086 514 8475
E-mail: amftyping@mweb.co.za

Local Virtual Assistant Receives International Recognition from Industry Leaders Worldwide
South Africa – Alison Fourie, owner of AMF Typing Services cc announced today that she has qualified for the new worldwide Virtual Assistant Certification from VAcertified.com.
VAcertified.com is the new standard for Virtual Assistant Certification which clients worldwide can use to benchmark the services they are looking for in a Virtual Assistant (VA). The first internationally recognized VA certification, VAcertified.com offers a carefully calibrated and unbiased assessment of a VA's skills, education, professional experience and industry contributions to gain business owners' confidence in the skills of certified VAs.
To qualify for the certification, Alison was evaluated by 13 industry leaders and specialists from the four corners of the world on a broad spectrum of personal and professional traits pertaining to her expertise and professional ethic.
Alison is one of thousands of Virtual Assistants (VAs), business owners who work from their own offices providing professional support , services and skills to their clients via phone, fax and Internet-based technology. Partnering with a VA reduces stress, protects cash flow, eliminates administrative hassles and enables business people to find the success they originally set out to achieve.
As more and more businesses look toward affordable, online solutions to sustain and grow their bottom line in a tough economy, Virtual Assistants are enjoying increased demand for their services. For business owners and managers who may have considered outsourcing support tasks to a VA in the past but could not justify the understandable risk of hiring an unknown, VA certification provides an assurance that the VA in question has the skills and experience needed.
Alison specializes in typing and assisting new VA entering the industry and is a home-based administrative professional providing various online services to her clients. She started her Virtual Assistance career in 2001 to be able to assist clients with office administration and typing and to assist newbie Virtual Assistants entering the industry and to spread the word about the industry around South Africa.

My certification is important to me as I feel I have the experience, skill to be able to assist clients worldwide. I feel I can make a difference to new Vas coming into the industry by showing them how to get to the position that I am in now, I believe in sharing my experience with others to assist them so they want make the mistakes I made coming into the industry.

For more information about AMF Typing Service cc visit http://www.amftyping.co.za.
The VAcertified.com seal of approval tells prospective clients that a global panel of experts has thoroughly reviewed a Virtual Assistant's skills, experience and professional ethic. To learn more about becoming a certified Virtual Assistant or to discover the benefits of hiring a certified Virtual Assistant, visit http://www.VAcertified.com
About AMF Typing Services cc.
Launched in 2001, AMF Typing Services cc specializes in typing and office administration. Visit the website at http://www.amftyping.co.za.

About VAcertified
VAcertified.com is the go-to resource for Virtual Assistants who want credible, unbiased and international recognition for their skills, education, professional experience and industry contributions. Devoted to creating and growing a certification program that embraces diversity, VAcertified.com strives to enhance and evolve professional relationships between VA and client. Follow ( @ ) VAcertified on Twitter for up to date information about this worldwide certification for Virtual Assistants.
For more information contact:
Tawnya Sutherland
Founder, VAcertified.com
Toll Free: 866-943-6665
info ( @ ) vacertified dot com
Follow ( @ ) VAcertified on Twitter

VA Certification

2009-11-12T11:50:00.000+02:00

I am pleased to announce that I have received VA certification with effect 12 November 2009.
For more information please visit http://vacertified.com/

Countless Virtual Assistants Join Your Industry Every Day.
How Will You Prove YOU Are the Right Choice?
As the first globally coordinated VA Certification Program of its kind, VACertified.com has brought together VA leaders from the 4 corners of the world to create a one of a kind program for virtual assistants. If you’re a proactive VA seeking the ultimate competitive edge, look no further.
In these tough economic times prospective clients aren’t just looking to save money, they’re looking to partner with someone they can trust. They not only need skill and talent, they need proof that you are the kind of VA you say you are.
Can you afford to leave money on the table every time a prospective client lets doubt creep in? How can you avoid this when chances are you’ll never get the chance to look them in the eye?
You know you have what it takes to do the job.
But how do you get prospects to TRUST you?
Fact is, nothing sells better than positive word of mouth. Likewise, nothing shows you are what you say you are like a glowing endorsement from the industry in which you’re trying to earn a profit.
Peer reviewed professionals get more clients and command more money.
And nowhere is the peer review process needed more than online where anyone can put up a website, anyone can post their skills “for hire,” and anyone can call themselves a VA.
As business becomes increasingly global—even for the small business professional—securing credible outsourced help is intimidating. Many business owners are afraid to make the leap, business owners with deep pockets.
Imagine having the thumbs up from an INTERNATIONALLY handpicked board of industry leaders.
Imagine what that might say about you to the prospect that is ready to put money on the table for the “right VA?”
Be the “right VA” every time with a VAcertified Seal Just for demonstrating the talent and know-how you already have TODAY. Successful entrepreneurs have proven again and again that it’s not what you know but how you bring that knowledge and experience together in one, synergistic benefit package for clients.
When you display the VAcertified Seal on your website and in your other marketing materials, it says to prospective clients that you are the VA you say you are. Virtual Assistants who display the VAcertified seal have demonstrated to an elite peer group that they possess a unique combination of:
Professional work experience
Education and training
Demonstrated contributions to the VA industry
Think you have what it takes to become VAcertified?
http://vacertified.com/

Multi-tasking/Prioritising

2009-11-04T17:41:00.003+02:00

What do you do in this situation:

Client 1 sends you in a Business Plan to type, required today.
Client 2 sends you in 3 hours of transcription to type, required today.
Client 3 you arrange appointments for this client, so calls come in as and when.
Client 4 has a business presentation for you to type required tomorrow.

You first need to look at each task, put them into deadline date order, then put them into an order of the quickest one you can do first. Concentrate on each piece of work as you do them, do not stop and start another while you are still busy on a task, only do this if a client calls for that work and insists they have that work soon.

Then start working your way through the pile. Do one task at a time, you can stop quite easily in between to do your appointments as they come in, then quickly pick up where you left off.

Always work by prioritising and using time management skills when performing all your work. I love to multi-task. The more busy I am the more I can cope. I thrive on being busy and organised.

Feel free to comment back to me about multitasking and prioritising, I would love to hear your comments.

Dealing with clients

2009-11-04T16:58:00.000+02:00

A lot of newbie Vas and Transcriptions have a Secretarial background, so should be used to dealing with clients...

The quicker you reply to an email, sms, fax or query from potential clients, you more liable you are to secure that client.
Clients must be treat as equals, you are both on the same level, and you are providing them with a service they require.
I learnt very early on in my career to provide a quality customer services and I have always done this with my clients. I treat each client as if they are my only client and they know I have a lot of clients, but I make them feel special and make them feel as if their work is very important to me and I would say that clients appreciate this.
Never try to sell a service to a client that you cannot perform, the client will immediately pick up on this and very soon you will be caught out. Only offer the services that you have experience in.
Be confident in your approach with potential clients, the more confidence you show in knowing what you are doing, this is again a way to bag the client.
Show an interest in getting to know your client, ask for company profile, company website so that you can see what that client does, that is a great help when sending out emails, doing PowerPoint presentations and doing press releases for clients and it shows you are interested in knowing more about them.
You as a VA or Transcriptionist should be the one who gives your client a rate for the job, not the client. You should be able to negotiate on deadlines, as you know how long jobs take to do. The client does not always know and often it is the case in transcription. The client has no idea how long it takes to transcribe an hour’s work, but you do. If the deadline is not reachable negotiate with the client and tell them it is unmanageable, be honest up front, never be afraid to approach a client, you are on equal terms.
Do not address clients as Sir, Madam, and Mr Brown etc; address them by their first name, as they do you. You are working with them, not for them, the way you address the client makes a difference in how they will treat you and the level in which they converse with you on.
VA and Transcriptionists are Business Owner, so make sure you portray this to prospective clients.
If you need help or assistance in dealing with clients, please approach me. Ihave lots of experience in dealing with all types of clients.

© Copyright 2009 Alison Fourie, All rights reserved.

New VAs against Older more established VAs

2009-11-04T16:57:00.001+02:00

In South Africa at the moment there is more newbie VAs coming through but still the clients are turning towards the older more established VAs. Yes we may have the VA experience but some of the newbie’s also have lots of office exposure as much as the oldies, but not the VA experience and to get this they need to work for clients to gain the experience. So potential clients if you read this be prepared to try our newbie VAs some of them do have the experience you need, especially the older ladies that have recently in the past few years started up virtual assistant businesses.
By oldies I mean VAs that have been in the VA business over 5 years. Newbies, new VAs that have been in the business a few years and are struggling to get started, a lot of these do not have the exposure of working for clients like the older VAs have.
Working in an office is no longer what it was. There is such a saying as ‘old school’ where secretaries used to work for anyone and do many tasks, we were taught different to today’s office assistant. I feel to be a VA you need to have a good 10 years office experience behind you. You need to have had exposure to running an office, delegating, multitasking, being pro-active, assertive, being able to communicate well, without these skills many VAs will struggle.
We do need to advertise our skills and experience well to get the attention of the clients. Make our websites look and feel different from our competitors/peers. We need to stand out to pull that client towards ourselves
To me what counts in a virtual assistant is her skills and experience. If a VA can’t be proactive and think for herself she will struggle big time as there is no one there to assist her, she is working on her own. If a VA is not used to being multi-skilled, she better get used to it quickly as you will use all your skills running a VA business.

SARDA South Africa Riding for Disabled Association

2009-10-23T10:08:00.000+02:00

SARDA - South Africa Riding for the Disabled Association

SA Riding for the Disabled Association was established in Cape Town in 1973.

Address: Highveld Branch, Peter Road, Ruimsig, Roodepoort.
Tel: 011 958 5044
Email: highveld@sarda.co.za

CHRISTMAS GOODIES FOR SALE

Please order as many as you like

Christmas Cards, assorted ponies at R30 per pack of 5
Gift Tags, assorted ponies at R15 per pack of 5
SARDA Calendar, R50 for one, R80 for two, R200 for five.

Please stipulate how you wish to receive your order, either collect from SARDA stables, address above, or via your trusted SARDA friend.
We thank you for your support .

PS Regret cash only with order.

URGENTLY REQUIRED ZULU TRANSCRIPTIONISTS AND TRANSCRIBERS

2009-10-16T18:11:00.001+02:00

URGENT: WE ARE LOOKING FOR A ZULU TRANSCRIPTIONIST, IF YOU CAN TRANSCRIBE/TRANSLATE IN ZULU, PLEASE CONTACT US URGENTLY.

Being a Virtual Assistant what you can expect

2009-10-14T12:39:00.000+02:00

Its very scary starting any new business. But being a Virtual Assistant is about running a business, you need many skills:
Liase with clients, often daily
Market your services
Network to meet new potential clients
Advertise
Be resourceful
Be pro active
Being assertive
Drive and the ambition to do this
You have to sell your services and the concept of VAs to clients who have no idea you exist as a Virtual Assistant or know what a Virtual Assistant is
Be positive even when you are very down and negative, being able to pick yourself up
Debt Collector
Accountant/Bookkeeper
Web Designer for your website/blog
You need to be able to work on your own, be able to motivate yourself to work to schedule and be committed that you can be working a 7 day week
These are just a few of the skills you will need to become a Virtual Assistant, its well worth your while to do the research before you go down this path to make sure this is the careeer for you.

Business Opportunity

2009-10-14T12:20:00.001+02:00

Just to let you know if you have seen my business listed as a business opportunity, I am not selling this concept, and my business should not be listed like this.
I run a genuine business as a Virtual Assistant and I am not selling this as a business concept. The aims of a Virtual Assistant is to work for yourself from your own virtual office working for genuine clients who need your assistance.
This industry is new in our country but has been around in Australia and USA for sometime. This is a growing industry worldwide.
We provide services like typing, transcription, office administration, secretarial, event organisation, telephone management to companies, clients, businesses worldwide.
The aims of a virtual assistant is to advertise, marketing and network her business to get known in the corporate world as a means to drawing in potential clients. The aims also are to be able to run a small business and assist clients worldwide.

Stand out from the crowd

2009-10-14T12:07:00.000+02:00

It is difficult being a new Virtual Assistant or Transcriptionist or even if you have been in the industry a while and are still not established, there is plenty of competition out there at the moment, you need to make sure you stand out from the crowd.
Make sure your website content is original, keep it updated.
Create a fancy advert for yourself that stands out, making sure it is original content.
You need to sell your services hard at the moment, you need to be different, you need to stand out to draw potential clients to you.
The clients you need are not the clients who are looking for someone to do the work cheap, you are looking for the clients that need a VA or Transcriptionist to help them over and over. Original content is something that will draw in a client.
Look at your competition's websites and see what you can come up with that is different to what they have. I can still come up with new content and new looks for my blog and website after being in the business since 2001.
Make sure your adverts, web and blog look professional at all times, silly graphics will not draw a client to you, dont make your site look to flouncy, bouncy or feminine looking, your look must be professional as that is your business that you are advertising to draw in clients.
Animals, birds, butterflies dont really work or look professional. You are not selling these types of services, so why use these types of graphics etc.
Your adverts, blogs and website are all about drawing your client to you so make sure they have that professional finish and look.

Basic price List

2009-09-01T10:10:00.000+02:00

One of the things you need before you open your business to the public is a basic price list, never start your business without one, you will look darn silly to that first client with no idea what to price for their services.
Work out what you would like to earn as an hourly rate. Use this with VA services like office administration tasks. You can group many tasks under an hourly rate. You can offer a client so many hours per week or per day and work within those parameters with a client. You can use a retainer package which gives the client so many paid for hours and a free hour or so thrown in.
But not all tasks can be done via an hourly rate. Typing and Transcription are two of those services.
Typing, through my experience as my job is mostly typing, and ive typed for many many clients, a client prefers a per page price. At the moment up here in Gauteng pricing is around R20 - R30 for basic copy typing per page, with more things involve with the typing like graphics, flow diagrams, graphs, tables, etc then the price will go up as you are actually creating these additional things, so more work and time involved.
Powerpoint Business Presentations, Spreadsheets, Graphs, Flow Diagrams I start off with a basic of R30 per page, but if the tasks are more involved I then take this into account and also how long the job will take me and price accordingly.
Know how long it takes you to do a task so that you can give a client an idea of how long a job will take, but take into account, interrruptions, phone calls, etc. I can safely tell a client I can type 10 to 30 pages a day with interruptions as I know I can achieve this. Clients always want to know how long a job will take you, there is always deadlines to be met, make them reasonable and achieveable to yourself. If you know you cannot complete a task in a given period, tell the client this, they might not be aware of the length of time it takes.
With Transcription you need to look at what is involved with that file, quality of the file, how many speakers, type of transcription (court hearing, focus meeting etc), a one on one meeting is far easier to transcribe than a focus meeting and your pricing should reflect this. Transcription is a good task to have a basic price listing on, as it gives you a starting point to base transcription on depending on what its like. Know how long it will take you to transcribe, so that you can give your client some idea and if you need to negotiate on your time as you know how long it takes more than a client will, tell them if that time is unreasonable, negotiate if necessary, clients are not always unreasonable. It is up to us to education them in this task.
If you need assistance with pricing please contact me,
email: amftyping@mweb.co.za , alison@amftyping.co.za.
msn messenger: alison19558@hotmail.com or
skype: amftyping.

Newbie VAs and Clients

2009-08-10T12:26:00.003+02:00

As a newbie VA you have to go with the flow and as clients contact you or you contact them you are obliged to do the work they offer, especially so when starting out. As a newbie you can’t afford to turn work down.

1. You need to get experience of the type of work you will do
2. You need to get a feel of how to deal with clients
3. You need to have procedures in place to go through the process of getting work, dealing with the client, and invoicing that client and you need to see if these procedures work, as a newbie this is important.

You have to find a way to make that client come back to you time and again. The aim is for each client not to be a once off client but to become a regular. A way of getting your clients to become regulars is to convince them that you are the VA that can best assist them, let them know you can be an asset to their company, offer them the services/skills they need in a professional manner and convince them you can do the job and you can be trusted. Provide each client with a quality client service so that they will want to stay with you. Treat each client as if they are your only client whether they are or are not; make them feel as if they are. A client needs to feel special and they need to feel that you put their needs first, that is important. If you provide a client with a good service that client will go away and talk to others about that service and that could lead to more clients for you. Word of mouth is a great way for a client who is appreciative of your services to help you spread the word about your business.

Clients look for the following in VAs:
· Your experience and skills, (know your job)
· Your confidence in your job
· Being proactive and assertive (a client will not want a VA that says yes/no)
· Providing a quality service
· Your availability (when are you available to the client and when are you not)

As you start getting a few regular clients then maybe you could turn your marketing towards target marketing. Take a service you enjoy doing and market that particular service towards clients who you know provide this service. Also after working for a few clients you learn which types of clients you would like to work for, use target marketing to find those clients in the services that you want to work with.

Recession, downsizing and virtual assistants

2009-08-09T14:54:00.001+02:00

written by Alison Fourie

How are you feeling as a virtual assistant during this recession that is hitting us wordwide?
Is it hitting your business?
What affects has it had on your business?

This is my take on the recession and purely my opinion.

Companies are downsizing especially so with office administration staff, this is not just happening within South Africa but worldwide. This to me opens the way for virtual assistants and transcriptionists to find work. Companies will need their office administration done no matter what. Tasks like company invoicing, accounts, typing, company correspondence, arranging meetings etc. We as virtual assistants can handle these tasks and help keep the company administration under control.

To get these types of jobs it would be wise for virtual assistants to send out company brochures and introduction letters to prospective clients, start with the types of small businesses that could downsize easily then move on to larger corporates, what harm does it do to let companies know you are out there willing to assist in this time of recession.

Clients are contacting me around three to five times a week for quotations so that proves there are potential clients out there looking for support from virtual assistants. They are hearing about us through the continual advertising/marketing we do. But the problem is they are only hearing from a small percentage of us, a small percentage of us appear in advertising everywhere, where everyone else advertises, does there marketing, I don’t know as you are not being seen. To me if I was you I would see that as a problem. A virtual assistant’s aim should be to get her details out there so that corporates, businessmen, entrepreneurs can see her, but this does not seem to be the case. So I would say the veterans of the industry like myself are the ones who are benefiting the most during the recession. The one thing that I can do as I do have a full business of clients is contract work out to newbie’s and assist them this way, but that should not be the way newbie’s find work, they themselves should not rely on veteran VAs to give them work but should go out and look for potential clients. You will not receive full pay for a job that you would if you had the client yourself and as a contractor you will not make much money working for other VAs, so to me that is to your disadvantage. Go and find clients and make the money you could earn. Take advantage of the recession with companies downsizing that are now outsourcing and present them with your details. Get out there and be seen.

New Tavasa Website New

2009-08-07T16:02:00.000+02:00

It finally here. The new Tavasa Website just ready in time for our 1st birthday on 8th August 2009, I invite you to go and have a look and let us know what you think.
http://www.tavasa.co.za/

The Importance of Procedures

2009-08-07T07:47:00.000+02:00

Thursday, August 06, 2009

Hi everyone, today I want to talk about the importance of procedures to your business. Procedures are vitally important in any business, but perhaps in a virtual business they are of tantamount importance. A procedure in essence is a plan, and generally speaking, to use the old hackneyed phrase, failure to plan is to plan to fail.I believe any business must start with a business plan. Even if you don't intend to use it to obtain a loan, it would be something that allows you to clearly state your intentions about what it is that you are trying to do. It's a mind clearer. And the natural next step (or even included in your business plan) would be to plan your procedures. This means you sit down and think of eventualities and plan how you're going to deal with them. What are your steps to follow when a query comes in? What are your steps when an order comes in? How are yougoing to invoice? These are things that, I believe, every newbie VA and transcriptionist should document. Here comes the challenge, though. Your first client comes in, followed by your second, and your third. And suddenly, you're very busy. At his point it is easy to let go of procedures. And this is a danger to your established business. Much as you are tempted to go straight to bed after a 4 hour transcription, do not do so without at least blocking out some time the following day to do your admin. It's important, because doing it regularly does save you time in the long run, and consider that admin left for two or three days, or longer, can begin to make you feel overwhelmed. Procedures can also be revised, as you get busier or add new services or products to your business. But the bottom line is - stick to your procedures.

Written by Gaynor Paynter, Typewrite Transcription and Typing Services CC, Cell: +27834424689, Web: www.typewritetranscription.co.za

French Transcriptionists needed Urgently

2009-07-27T09:41:00.003+02:00

Hi everyone we are urgently looking for French transcriptionists. Please get in touch urgently if you transcribe in French or if somebody you know does, please refer them, contact gpaynter@telkomsa.net / 0834424689

Feature of the month August - Tanya Joubert - VOA

2009-07-23T16:42:00.003+02:00

Featuring for the month of August:
Virtual Office Assistance - Typing and Transcription focuses its services on typing and transcription services and extends their services in a variety of secretarial services which include email management, diary management, appointment setting, electronic payments, debtor correspondence, etc. With ample experience in working with people who are visual impaired and blind, VOA can assist professionally to prepare documents for the visually impaired, prepare it for brailling or assist people who are visually impaired to have a more meaningful experience in the office, via electronic assistance. Please visit our website: http://www.typingandtranscription.com/ or contact Tanya Joubert, owner of VOA - Typing and Transcription, can be contacted on Tel: (083) 510 1181, email: info@typingandtranscription.com, or fax: (086) 655 4381.

What are we?

2009-07-20T15:47:00.000+02:00

VA-Business Owner/Independent Contractor/Freelancer!
What are you?
I run a company with a name and many umbrellas under that company, I do accounting, marketing, networking, recruitment, deal with contractors, client liaison, debt collection, so therefore as I do all these tasks I am doing the same as any small business, as these tasks must be incorporated into that business therefore I operate as a small business owner which to me is what Virtual Assistants are. I assist my clients with various tasks and I work from a virtual office. So to me this defines what a virtual assistant is and what we do.
I am not a freelancer, if I was all these tasks above would not be incorporated into what I do.
I am not a independent contractor, contracting out my services to other virtual assistants.

Being a virtual assistant is about running a company/business and being the owner of that company/business and also doing the work to assist the clients but being on the same business level.

.

Work at Home Moms

2009-07-20T13:21:00.001+02:00

To me there is a good reason why we are called Virtual Assistants, the last thing we need to tell prospective clients is that we work from home, so having this title describes what we do and who we are, we are assistants to clients and work virtually.
Never tell clients you are a work at home mum, rather let them know you work from a virtual location in an office, this sounds better and makes what you are doing to be more real to the client. Work from home mums are not taken serious and surely if you are running a business you must be taken serious by other clients, business people, corporates etc.
Never tell the clients you cannot meet a deadline because your child is at home sick, the client is not interested, that is your business, all they want to know is can you do the work, can you meet the deadline, what happens in between this is not the clients business. Tell them a problem has arose that you need to take care of, they don’t need to know what it is.
Home, children, dogs, husband is your responsibility and not the clients so don’t tell them about these things.
Your office and company documentation must be professional, keep it fresh looking and your content and graphics business/company orientated.
Your aim is to project how professional you are in your business environment all the time and not to portray yourself as a work at home mum who plays at typing to earn extra money.

An Entreprenuer

2009-07-18T11:44:00.001+02:00

An entrepreneur is a person who has initiative and a sense of inventing.
An entrepreneur is a person who identified a need or a niche in the market and then establishes an organisation to provide the necessary products or services to satisfy such need. This is to the benefit of both the client, who has their needs satisfied and the entrepreneur who makes a profit if the venture is successful.

The entrepreneur is therefore essentially a person who sees an opportunity in the market and thinks of a way to make money out of it.

An entrepreneur’s character:
· Strong leadership qualities
· Good communication skills
· Be creative and innovative
· Be hungry to succeed
· Strong commitment, high energy levels.
· Must be a good manager and apply strong qualities of competitiveness, decisiveness and problem solving.

Entrepreneurs
· Identify opportunities to make money
· Identify the various alternatives available
· Establish plan of action
· Identify possible barriers
· Determine resources and capital that is needed
· Implement an action plan
· Actively look for new ideas on a continues basis
· Put ideas into writing, writing things done makes an idea real and workable
· Research, all the time
· Make time for creative thinking.

An entrepreneur is a brave person who seizes an opportunity and works with it, towards a goal of making money and being successful.

This to me is what a Virtual Assistant can be and work towards being ‘an Entrepreneur’ in his/her industry.

Clients and payments

2009-07-17T13:40:00.000+02:00

A good idea for newbie VAs and Transcriptionist while starting out is to charge clients 100% to 75% up front deposit for each job they do, especially so for adhoc jobs. When you take on regular clients for the first few months charge this deposit and when you get to know the client then move to a monthly rate. You need to ensure first you will be paid by your clients before comitting to monthy payments and providing monthly services for clients.

Tavasa 1 year old 8th August 2009

2009-07-17T13:24:00.000+02:00

T A V A S A
Transcriptionists and Virtual Assistants of South Africa (Est 2008)

Birthday Celebrations - 1 Year Old - 8th August 2009

It is our first birthday, time to reflect, what about our success, and what next for Tavasa.

Tavasa was founded in October 2008 by Gaynor Paynter from Typewrite Transcription and Typing Services and Alison Fourie from AMF Typing Services cc. We have run Tavasa for a year without both of us ever meeting, we liaise by using online messenger services and email, it shows we truly are virtual and are able to run a successful group this way.

We were the first group of our kind in South Africa, a Tavasa 1st. Tavasa was formed as there was a need for a support group within South Africa for Virtual Assistants and Transcriptionists.

Tavasa is heading in many directions, Recruitment, Chat Room, Support Group, Twitter, Online Forum etc; we want to be a force within the industry in South Africa.

· Provide support for people in our industries
· Bring together a group of professionals who can support each other
· Set standards for our industries in South Africa.

Because we like to have immediate access to queries that arise from our members, and because many people in South Africa still find it easier to access email on a regular basis as opposed to accessing an internet browser regularly, our main means of communication is an email discussion forum, and you can join our group at http://finance.groups.yahoo.com/group/tavasa/

Our benefits to members include:
· Potential employment – preference is given to our TAVASA members for any leads we may have.
· Information on How to start a Virtual Assistant / Transcription Business
· Templates as requested, including financial, business, etc.
· Business contracts and forms such as agreements
· Business Contracts and forms such as
· Work Templates as requested
· Private help with rates calculations
· Exposure by publication of your articles and names on our blog.

You can also have a look at our blog at www.tavasa.blogspot.com.
Clients are very welcome to contact us too! We can meet any transcription or virtual assistant requirement.

Tavasa is successful. There certainly was a need for it in South Africa. Now VAs and Transcriptionists have a place to go to look for advice, mentoring, job leads, contractor leads, letting off steam, laugh and interact with each other. It is a place for everyone to let them know they are not sitting in their offices alone/lonely, there is support in the form of Tavasa.

The Virtual Assistant/Transcription Industry’s are growing daily within the country. Our aim is to spread news about the industries within our country and to make Tavasa a household name for people who work from their own offices, within their own environment.

We provide Virtual Assistant and Transcription services to clients, entrepreneurs, and business people.
We have a lot of experts aboard Tavasa in their fields.
One of our skills is we can provide a group of expert VAs or Transcribers for larger jobs that one VA/Transcriptionist cannot provide.

We provide the following services within our group, these are some of the skilled people within Tavasa, but there are many more of us:

· Transcription Services, Contact Gaynor Paynter at http://www.typewritetranscription.co.za/, Typewrite Transcription and Typing Services CC for more information on Transcription. Dictaphone typing used to be provided by the Boss recording his documentation into a cassette recorder using a cassette tape and now technology has moved forward. This service is growing The following clients are using Transcriptionists: attorney’s, doctors, firemen, conference venues, audio visual recording companies, insurance, students, corporates with disciplinary hearings and board meetings and there is now a lot more companies beginning to realise that they can also use our services.

· Virtual Assistants (VAs), Virtual Assistants work from virtual offices providing office administration, secretarial services to clients, entrepreneurs, and business people. Many offices are downsizing due to the recession, you will still need your office documentation typed, your meetings, and appointments arranged, your telephone answered, your invoices dispatched to your clients monthly, we can provide these services and more. For more information on Virtual Assistants contact Alison at AMF Typing Services cc, website: http://www.amftyping.co.za/ and http://www.vaforhire.co.za/ Cell: 082 871 3452, Office: 011 768 5028, email: amftyping@mweb.co.za and alison@amftyping.co.za.

· Damaria Senne is an Independent Writer based in Johannesburg. She used to specialise in the ICT field, writing news articles, features, case studies, web copy, and press releases on ICT-related topics. She has now broadened her scope to include relationships, HIV and AIDS, as well as career development. Client blogs that she works on daily include the OneLove Regional Campaign (www.onelovesouthernafrica.org) and The Software Engineer, a blog for software developers run by the Joburg Centre for Software Engineering (www.jcse.org.za) Email damariasenne@gmail.com Learn more about Damaria and her work at http://damariasenne.blogspot.com.

· Virtual Office Assistance - Typing and Transcription focuses its services on typing and transcription services and extends their services in a variety of secretarial services which include email management, diary management, appointment setting, electronic payments, debtor correspondence, etc. With ample experience in working with people who are visual impaired and blind, VOA can assist professionally to prepare documents for the visually impaired, prepare it for brailling or assist people who are visually impaired to have a more meaningful experience in the office, via electronic assistance. Please visit our website: http://www.typingandtranscription.com or contact Tanya Joubert, owner of VOA - Typing and Transcription, can be contacted on Tel: (083) 510 1181, email: info@typingandtranscription.com, or fax: (086) 655 4381.

Tavasa is free to join and we welcome all new members: http://finance.groups.yahoo.com/group/tavasa/.

Rates and knowing how long it takes to do a task

2009-07-11T13:46:00.000+02:00

These are things to think about when you begin to set your rates:

What rates are being charged in your area/location, what rates are being charged around the country, check out Durban, Cape Town and Joburg.
Check with other VAs what their rates are, some VAs will be open with you about rates some not, dont take that to heart, that is just the way some VAs are and after all we are competition to each other. Look towards the older established VAs for this info, they will be more helpful.
Know what amount you would like to earn at the end of the month and work your rates towards that point, know what your monthly expenses are.
Know what hourly rate you will charge.
Have all your services you are going to offer ready with rates before that first client calls. I work from a basic rate for each services then look at each job individually and price accordingly depending on what is involved against my basic rate.
It is important to know how long a job will take you, know how long it takes you to do transcription and typing, time doing a data entry on a few basic pieces of info. Time how long it takes to type a page, statistics are always helpful when doing quotations. Time how long it takes you to transcribe 10 minutes of transcription.
Know if you can meet your deadlines, you will have interruptions during the day, the phone rings, callers visit. Always add interruption time to your overall time. Always include this little bit of extra time in each job. If you have no interrruptions when doing a particular job all well and good, its always good to finish way ahead of a deadline. Just know your time limits.

New Virtual Assistants

2009-07-11T13:43:00.001+02:00

Firstly I would suggest you do a google search on 'virtual assistant' from here you will see that it is a thriving industry worldwide. Being a VA is about owning a business, not just about sitting at home and typing, its about running a full time business. Being a VA you will take part in every aspect of running your business, typing, transcribing, marketing, networking, admin, client liaison etc. Its daunting, scary but if you feel you can do, go for it. I will support you and give you help if you need, I will answer questions you need answers to.
Attitude also plays a huge role in whether you will succeed or drowned. You have to be able to multitask, be able to prioritise, deal with clients on an ongoing basis, be friendly, and have excellent time management skills. You have to have the right personality to do this type of job. You need self discipline, you need to have it in you to get up every morning and physically go and work at your computer as you are doing a job and running a company.The VA concept is taking off in leaps and bounds within South Africa at the moment; there is still lots of work out there for everyone. The word is spreading and more and more clients are moving towards VAs and are learning about our concept. So there is work available but to get that work ‘you have to do the work to get the work’, it is as simple as that, the work will not just fall into your lap.
Today becoming a Virtual Assistant is a safer option for a women; you work from home, therefore cutting out the risks of travelling to work re high jacking, car breakdowns, traffic etc. Being your own Boss means you can schedule your work around yourself. Being a VA can become a hectic full time job working from home. If you are thinking of moving out of the secretarial arena, becoming a Virtual Assistant could be the position for you, if you would like to work from home. It could be the next step to take.

Newbie VAs do's

2009-07-11T12:54:00.000+02:00

Newbie VAs need to be professional from their very first day. Having a website or blog is so important for advertising, marketing and letting people know about your company but if your content is wrong it will reflect on you and clients want call.
Another point, answering email a day or so later, well if i was your prospective client I wouldnt work with you. Email, Skype, Messenger, SMS are part of your job and if you dont answer your email for 24 hours that is saying, your really not that interested, read the email send a quick I will get back to you shortly and do so. I am hectic, run a business full time, have a family and a dog, look after my house and I can answer email as they come in, I run deadlines but to me emails are important as the next potential clients could be in the next email, an email take a few minutes to open, scan and reply quickly, then print it out for further investigation when you are ready.
My last point here is don't open your business until you have taken all the steps first, have your documentation in place, have your price list ready, have contracts ready, you dont want to come across as unprofessional to your first client as that will seal the way for the rest of your clients. You want to come across as professional and ready to do business.

Its hard being a VA starting out but if you put all your ducks in a row, do the research, get everything ready then take that important step and open your business, things will run better and you will be better prepared.

Lower Rates/Overseas

2009-07-11T12:50:00.000+02:00

At the moment there is a big issue about rates, VAs are charging very low rates. Why! to get the job, they think if the rates are low they stand a better chance of getting the work. But what they are not realising is its not worth doing it. You can spend ages on a job and if its not priced right you are the looser in the long run, any job you do, you are using electricity, telephone connections, printer ink, time, all these factors come into play when pricing work, also what about your experience, your skill, surely that is worth something to the client. Your prices must cover your overheads surely. Why would anyone want to sit for hours on end typing up a book for say R5 to R10 a page, that is ridiculous, you are working at a loss, do the sums.
Here is something, you go to the doctor, you are in there 10 minutes at the most, when you get your doctors bill you are charged at an hourly rate, he certainly does not charge you for the seconds/mintues you were there only, no way he will charge you for the hour, whether you sat for the hour or not with him. You dont quibble about the price after all you visited the doctor and got what you went for. Dont do charging by the second billing, round off your figures, the supermarket certainly round off there pricing, look at the mark up on prices for food and clothing the things we need, Im hoping by giving you fair examples this will make you think about your pricing and not charge such low prices. Be competitive within the industry. Show the client you are worth every penny you charge, sell your skills and experience to the client, show them you know what you are doing, show you can assist the client and be dependable, trustworth and efficient. Let the client know they are getting value for money by using your services. Let the client know you can provide a much better service then the person who charges R5 per page for typing or charges very low rates for transcription.

This is not always so.

Selling yourself as a VA

2009-07-08T09:46:00.001+02:00

As a VA, to get clients we need to really sell our skills and services. I come from a secretarial background where the staff were my clients, so I always had work. I am now in a position whereby I run and own my own company and if I dont sell my skills and services I simply want get clients. I am a shy person, I hate talking on the telephone. Marketing is not my thing and yet I can market my services successfully.
When clients ring to ask for pricing/rates I need to convince that client to stay with me and not move onto another VA for pricing/rates, to do this I had a quickie speech ready that I give and by the end of it I usually can tell, I have hooked that client and its a matter of getting details and getting the work. It only takes a few minutes to convince a potential client that you are the person for the job. Selling yourself in marketing must be part of your VA business, people contact is a major playing in being a VA, that is our way of getting clients and work. If a client has trust and confidence that you can do the job they often will stay with you and become regular clients.
A piece of advice I can give is have a quick speech ready for potential clients, practice it till you know it, write it down if necessary. Use it to good affect. I enjoy the challenges of marketing and selling my skills and services and I must be doing something right as once I hook the clients they dont want to leave me.
If I can get my marketing right then so can you.

Being comfortable

2009-06-05T08:25:00.000+02:00

As you set up your own office, make sure that all your equipment is close to hand. You will spend hours in your office so your office must feel like your second home. I feel at times that I virtually live in my office as I am in here 7 days a week. Paint the walls colours that are soothing, hang soothing pictures, pictures of nature, the sky, the sea. Play calming background music but keep it low.
Be comfortable in your office space.