Wednesday, June 24, 2015
Tuesday, June 23, 2015
Saturday, June 20, 2015
Start from Scratch VA Training Program
Start From Scratch Training.
In this Start Your VA Business From
Scratch training program, I’m sharing my step-by-step system – the same system
‘n use for my personal coaching clients - and lay out exactly what to do to and
how to do it, to start a VA business from scratch and turn it into a lucrative
venture.
PLUS: I’m giving everyone who
invests in the training the complete VA documentation pack to help them save
time with developing all their day-to-day-documentation.
PLUS: I’m opening up time to answer
all their questions via live Q & A calls. For further information contact:
Francis at
francis@createclientchemistry.com
Thursday, June 4, 2015
Monday, May 4, 2015
Thursday, April 2, 2015
Working as a Virtual Assistant
Wouldn’t it be nice not have to work. But as some of us have to work
what better job than being a Virtual Assistant, we get to work from home. We
get to work the hours we want to, we can wear what we like for work if we are
not seeing clients, we can even do our work in PJs. We can schedule our day to
suite us and our own way of working. We can listen to music while we work.
The reason lots of
people want to become a Virtual Assistant (VA) is because they think it will
give you more time to spend at home with your new-born, small children and
families. In reality if you have a full business of clients then your spare
time is spent doing the admin work that is required to keep your business
going. You don’t just to the actual work but you do the business administration
as well. You have to continually market your company, your books need to be
kept up to date, you need to advertise to show other businesses that you are
out there and also need to get potential clients attention.
You have to work
and meet deadlines. Most of the work we get in is deadline related and that can
mean long hours, working weekends and public holidays. A deadline must be met,
simple as that. Our work does not stop like corporate hours and this is not the
sort of business you can run on corporate hours, it simply want work. You have
to be here as your clients demands to a certain extent.
We work hard as VAs as we have to meet deadlines but at least with
working long hours we are working from our own virtual offices and do not have
to travel backward and forward to and from work at all hours.
I love the fact that I don’t have to travel far to work every day, it
takes me a minute to get to my desk and the best part is I don’t have to clear
my desk every night because the cleaning ladies will be coming into the office
at night. I can simply leave my desk exactly as I left it and pick up again in
the morning.
I am glad in the winter when it’s cold that I don’t have to travel on a
very cold bus for an hour or more to get to work and even in the summer when it
is too hot on the bus as its hot outside, and there was nothing worse than
coming home and getting off the bus in a thunder storm and have to run home to
get out of the rain. Now I can sit and work even though there is heck of a
thunder storm outside. I can sit in my office working and look out of the
window at the storm and know I am warm and dry inside.
If you work in a corporate office you have to invest in working clothes.
As we work from home offices we can choose our dress clothes and only really
have to wear and dress nicely if we are seeing clients. We can dress casual and
be comfortable working in any weather when working from home.
I don’t think there is any job which matches working for yourself,
working from home; it must be one of the best jobs to have.
Friday, February 27, 2015
What is a Virtual Assistant?
Being a Virtual Assistant is about running
your own business. Owning your own
business, you are not working for
someone else. You are not an
employee, therefore, you do not use a CV, instead you use a company profile, your website, Linked in, Facebook etc.
You
are a business owner, your own boss. You do not work for clients, you work with
clients, you do not work for other VAs, you subcontract to other VAs or you
can work as an associate in a multi VA practice.
I find a lot of people who want to become Virtual Assistants actually have no idea what a Virtual Assistant is and what we do. We are service companies; we offer our skills and experiences to clients. We work as any business does but we have to do our own bookkeeping, administration, marketing, advertising, networking, fixing our own office equipment etc. We run our business like every other small business, doing the same tasks.
If you would like more information about Virtual Assistants in South Africa please contact me at amftyping@mweb.co.za or alison@amftypinh.co.za
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, and friendly.
Virtual Assistants are Business Owners, who run their
own companies, do their own marketing, networking, bookkeeping etc.
Becoming a Virtual Assistant is a career choice
within a worldwide industry.
Wednesday, January 28, 2015
The differences in Typing and Word Processing etc
Typing
You have to look at what
the typing is, is it just copy typing of text say a 1st to 3rd
year student assignment, a book with text etc. Contracts, agreements, etc they
are plain copy typing with tabulation for the bullet points. A document with
many bullet points or staggered bullet points is just plain copy typing.
When you type for
students doing MBA, Masters or Ph.D etc then there is much more involvement
with the typing, references need to be a set in a specific way, the manuscript,
dissertation etc, university guidelines must be adhered to like the Harvard
Business Method or APA 6th Edition style. Some of these students are
given bursaries which covers their typing, proofreading and editing costs.
But not all typing is
plain copy typing; often you get documents with tables, charts, graphs,
graphics. You have to look at what is the best way to do these, how long does
it take to do a page, what is involved.
Word Processing
Word Processing covers many tasks - from graphics to graphs, tables,
flow diagrams, most things that you must create that are not plain copy typing,
this is word processing and it can be very work intensive and time consuming.
Can you create the chart in Excel and
then copy it across into Word, can you do the graphic in word or must you go
and create it in Photoshop etc and then copy it into word etc. Sometimes with manuals you may need to use the services of a Graphic
Designer and these often quote per graphic involved, depending on what must be
done to that graphic. So beware and don’t under quote if graphic design is
involved, as you will need to cost in their charge too. You will need to ensure
you explain this to the client. Sometimes you might have to scan a graphic and
copy it into the document. Just check what is involved before doing the work.
A complicated table, chart or graph might take some time to create. When you start looking at the item
you must create, then you need to look at the length of time it takes, is it
viable to charge say R20.00 per page, if the job is going to take you long, no,
it’s not viable.
Flow diagrams can take an
inexperienced person a few hours to create, but someone experienced in doing
flow diagrams then it can be done very quickly, even big complicated flow
diagrams, so again you need to look at how long it takes you to do the job,
what is involved.
Maths typing, typing of
equations, signs and symbols is time taking but you need to look at the manual
as a whole and work out how long you think it will take you, what is involved,
you might do the work using maths software or you may use MS Word Equations
etc.
With most typing work
look at what is involved, there is a difference in time with experienced
typists and new typists.
These days with the
economy being what it is you need to look at the client, what, do you feel in
your gut that a client can afford to pay. Don’t push the boundaries too low to
get the work where it is not cost effective to do the job, also don’t push the
boundaries and charge the client too high a price, you simply want get the job.
Bulk Typing
Manuals are bulk work so
you could very easily go down to R15 to R20 per page or a price per manual,
taken on how long it will take you to do. When you do manuals, check out what
is involved; often you can give a lower price because it’s bulk work for you.
Formatting Documents
The best
way to go for formatting is using your hourly rate. You never know how long it is going to take to
format a document till you start working on it. A document that has been set up
by someone other than yourself can often give all sorts of problems; let the
client know this as its often not straight formatting. Often when you start
everything will jump out of alignment, tabs etc so it can take twice as long to
format than it would to retype.
Columns, tables, graphics tend to come out of alignment. Table of Content can become completely messed up and that can take a while to unravel and put right so make sure you give yourself plenty of time to work on formatting documents. Keep track of your time and charge hourly. If you charge per page you will find some pages can take much longer to format than others and you really have to look at the time that is spent formatting to price this properly. You can charge per page but might be better to go via your hourly rate.
Columns, tables, graphics tend to come out of alignment. Table of Content can become completely messed up and that can take a while to unravel and put right so make sure you give yourself plenty of time to work on formatting documents. Keep track of your time and charge hourly. If you charge per page you will find some pages can take much longer to format than others and you really have to look at the time that is spent formatting to price this properly. You can charge per page but might be better to go via your hourly rate.
Quotations
With all work, never quote blindly, how can you quote when you have no
idea what the job/task is, you have no idea how long it will take you or what
is involved. Ask the client to send you a sample. How can an architect quote on
a job he has not seen! You need to look at the task at hand then decide what is
involved, how long it will take you and get a full description of client
requirements before quoting. No matter how urgent a job is, surely the payment is the most important thing in the end, the job is important
to the client but they should understand that you do not quote blindly, ask for an example first, check it out, see if you can do the job in the time frame given, you can also negotiate as you know, how you work and how long jobs take. My advice would be do not take on an urgent task without seeing what is involved first as its quite easy to undercharge. Make
sure you clarify the clients’ requirements and write them down/record them or
get the client to email you further, as clients often forget or change their
mind and lay the blame on you. Email them a copy of their requirements and get
them to reply before you go ahead that everything is ok.
PDF
Do not PDF a document unless your client’s specifically asks you too. Do
not think that by saving to PDF that you are forcing the client to return to
you, that is not the case, they can simply get it done elsewhere, simply
convert it online and edit it themselves. Most clients want the work typed up
and then they want to be able to edit it themselves.
All comments are welcome.
All comments are welcome.
Tuesday, December 30, 2014
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