Tips

Here are some tips on how to be a Virtual Assistant/Business Owner:

 

Act professionally at all times

 

Have the determination to succeed.

Provide a Quality service to your clients at all times.

 

Speak to your clients on the same level; you are a business owner, not a PA speaking to a Boss. Be on the same level as your client’s; do not address them as Mr Jones etc address them as Peter etc. Use first names. This immediately brings you on the same level. If you address that client as Mr Jones, this is immediately putting the client on a level higher than you; they will assume that role and treat you as a PA/Secretary which you are not.

 

If you feel you can give the client good advice and ideas on the tasks they assign you, do so, there is no harm in doing this. Show the client you know what you are doing; you know what you are talking about. Be confident and assertive in your approach to your clients.

 

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 can not 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.

 

State your business hours, state if you want to be contacted after hours or weekends, have this visible on your website, in your brochure, part of your terms and conditions. If you do not do so, clients will and do take advantage and contact you out of hours; clients will expect the impossible from you. Be in charge; be in control of your business.

 

Have your prices/rates already set before you open your business. When a client contacts you, you need to be able to get back to them quickly with a quotation. Know how much you are going to charge for each service you are going to offer. You set the price, you can be negotiable if need be, but You, not the client sets the overall price of the job, after all you are a business owner.

 

It is not easy running a VA business but if you schedule your day and especially if you have small children things will be easier for you. This is an example of what I do, I start work around 7am when the kids/hubby leaves for school/work, I then work till around 1.30pm, have lunch, then its time for the kids to come home, I assist with homework, lunch for them and then return to work around 2:30/3pm and work till around 6pm. I will come back to work after the kids go to bed if I have urgent work. I work the hours I have to work, to get my work done. If you have a husband, get his support in helping with the children while you work.

 

Keeps logs of what you are doing, always know what work/tasks you have in at any one time, this is helpful when you need to priorities. Know how to prioritise your work. Know how long it will take you to complete tasks. I know I can type 20 to 30 pages of typing a day, but if that typing has in graphs, flow diagrams, then it will be less and I make sure my clients know this. Your clients must know what you are capable of so that they can judge when giving you work.

If you want to be a Virtual Assistant, most Vas are Business Owners around the world, take on this role. A lot of VA’s in South Africa are saying they are freelance contractors or independent contractors why I don’t know, if you are a VA and running a business, doing the work, doing your bookkeeping, marketing and networking etc, then surely that is running a business, not being an independent contractor, there is a difference as there is a difference between PA and VA, if you are working from a virtual location, running a business you are not a PA. A PA is someone who is employed and as far as I am aware a VA is not employed.  Know these differences before you open your business so that you do portray yourself as a business owner and your clients will pick up on this and treat you accordingly.

 

If you can use free software to do your job, there is no harm in doing this; Open Office is compatible with Microsoft Office.

 

Make sure you have good virus protection on your pc.

 

As a VA you need to keep regular backups of your work and keep each clients work separate in different folders so that the work is easy to find when required.

 Feel free to comment on any of these tips above, I am quite happy to discuss any issues further, if you need me to.

Written by Alison Fourie, AMF Typing Services cc, © Copyright 2001 Ck2001/083866/23.  All rights reserved.

How will you manage your business whilst on holiday?

By Dee Matheson

It’s that wonderful time of year again here in South Africa, winter has started, it’s cold in the morning and evening but during the day the weather on the Highveld is fantastic, blue skies and lots of sunshine. What more can you ask for? The kids are getting excited about the July holidays and all your plans are made for that vacation you’ve been saving so hard for. 

Now here’s the dilemma, what to do with your business while on that well deserved holiday? You can’t close the doors, you need the money and you also don’t want to let your clients down.  It’s only human to stress about this when you are supposed to have a relaxing time with your family. Some business owners have very understanding clients and communicate with them regularly and have created a good relationship when it comes to taking leave but what if you’re not that lucky and don’t have the backup support to allow you to take time off? Or do you make the fatal mistake of either not taking a holiday at all and disappointing the family or trying to work whilst away?

Here are some tips to help you enjoy your holiday this year:

·        Take care of the majority of work before you go away. Make sure whatever can be completed prior to departure is done and dusted and let your clients know that all the tasks or jobs taken aboard have been completed. Plan ahead and get help if you need it to get the job done.

·        Communicate with your regular clients or customers and let them know that you’ll be on leave and when you’ll be back. Don’t leave them in the dark because it’s Murphy’s law that when you’re not available, that’s when they want you the most.

·        Have a support system in place and if you don’t know of anyone, get yourself a Virtual Assistant to ‘run’ your business whilst you’re away. Let her have all the necessary emails, contact information and current work that’s not been finalised yet. She can be your go-to person and handle things for you and also liaise with clients on your behalf so that they don’t feel stranded. Currently I’m doing this for an influential client who is overseas and it’s working like a charm. My client still feels in control of her business even though she is not in this country.

·        Be available for any emergencies. Again, this is where your Virtual Assistant comes to the fore and she will be able to assess if there is any need to contact you.  She will very likely be quite capable of handling the situation herself and only contact you if the situation absolutely warrants it.  If you still feel it’s necessary while you’re away, set a time to speak to your Virtual Assistant and run through any important issues and the outcome thereof. She will be your right-hand person and has your business interest at heart. Remember, if your clients are kept satisfied, she will be happy too because she knows she will get paid and is pleasing her client, that is you, at the same time. There is no better reassurance than having a satisfied client and a job well done for both parties. 

·        And the last but not least point, RELAX and enjoy the time that you’re away. You have now done everything in your power to make sure that all your ducks are in a row. You deserve that much needed break!

If you need support and are looking for that perfect back up Virtual Assistant, contact Dee Matheson on dmatheson@worldonline.co.za or look at my website on www.dfm-virtualassistant.co.za

 

How will you manage your business whilst on holiday?

How will you manage your business whilst on holiday?

By Dee Matheson

It’s that wonderful time of year again here in South Africa, winter has started, it’s cold in the morning and evening but during the day the weather on the Highveld is fantastic, blue skies and lots of sunshine. What more can you ask for? The kids are getting excited about the July holidays and all your plans are made for that vacation you’ve been saving so hard for. 

Now here’s the dilemma, what to do with your business while on that well deserved holiday? You can’t close the doors, you need the money and you also don’t want to let your clients down.  It’s only human to stress about this when you are supposed to have a relaxing time with your family. Some business owners have very understanding clients and communicate with them regularly and have created a good relationship when it comes to taking leave but what if you’re not that lucky and don’t have the backup support to allow you to take time off? Or do you make the fatal mistake of either not taking a holiday at all and disappointing the family or trying to work whilst away?

Here are some tips to help you enjoy your holiday this year:

·         Take care of the majority of work before you go away. Make sure whatever can be completed prior to departure is done and dusted and let your clients know that all the tasks or jobs taken aboard have been completed. Plan ahead and get help if you need it to get the job done.

 

·         Communicate with your regular clients or customers and let them know that you’ll be on leave and when you’ll be back. Don’t leave them in the dark because it’s Murphy’s law that when you’re not available, that’s when they want you the most.

 

·         Have a support system in place and if you don’t know of anyone, get yourself a Virtual Assistant to ‘run’ your business whilst you’re away. Let her have all the necessary emails, contact information and current work that’s not been finalised yet. She can be your go-to person and handle things for you and also liaise with clients on your behalf so that they don’t feel stranded. Currently I’m doing this for an influential client who is overseas and it’s working like a charm. My client still feels in control of her business even though she is not in this country.

 

·         Be available for any emergencies. Again, this is where your Virtual Assistant comes to the fore and she will be able to assess if there is any need to contact you.  She will very likely be quite capable of handling the situation herself and only contact you if the situation absolutely warrants it.  If you still feel it’s necessary while you’re away, set a time to speak to your Virtual Assistant and run through any important issues and the outcome thereof. She will be your right-hand person and has your business interest at heart. Remember, if your clients are kept satisfied, she will be happy too because she knows she will get paid and is pleasing her client, that is you, at the same time. There is no better reassurance than having a satisfied client and a job well done for both parties.

 

·         And the last but not least point, RELAX and enjoy the time that you’re away. You have now done everything in your power to make sure that all your ducks are in a row. You deserve that much needed break!

If you need support and are looking for that perfect back up Virtual Assistant, contact Dee Matheson on dmatheson@worldonline.co.za or look at my website on www.dfm-virtualassistant.co.za

 

Social Media

Years ago when VAs started out working from home they used to advertise office administration, typing and transcription as their services, today there is many more services you can offer clients. One of these services is Social Media. It is important for every business no matter how big or small to be part of social media. Cell Phones, Tablets and IPads are all centred around Social Media, being part of it is part of doing business in the world today.

You have had to set up your own business and have to include Social Media in as part of your networking and marketing so why not offer this service to potential clients, especially to new businesses/entrepreneurs etc. You have learnt enough through doing this for your business to have the experience in it to offer it as a service.
You can offer it on a package basis or on an hourly rate. You can offer social media, or offer it in separate services like Twitter or Facebook etc. You can log into your clients twitter account on a daily basis or every other day and set up tweets ahead of time, interact on behalf of your client with like minded businesses on twitter, the same with Facebook, Linked In etc. You could offer a package for social medial including all 3 the most popular social media platforms which are Facebook, Twitter and Linked In.

Today a lot of company's/businesses networking is done by joining groups within Facebook, Linked In etc. Being part of forums online. You network and interact with people and build up friendships and relationships. Networking is not about selling your project, its about building relationships with likeminded people in the same business as you and maybe business can come from this.

It is a great service to offer clients as its a much in demand service today. People cannot do business today without belonging somehow to social media.

 



WHAT MAKES A GOOD TRANSCRIPTIONIST

There are many reasons why it seems a great idea to set up as a transcriptionist – be it for health, personal or financial reasons – but it is not like driving a car. What you get out of this business is directly concomitant with what you can put it.

The two most important considerations are (a) your ability, and (b) your equipment.
The equipment is reasonably simple: a chair, a desk, a PC, good internet connection and a foot pedal (not essential – some manage extremely well using hotkeys).
And off you go...

The catch here is your ability. Dictaphone typing can be likened to transcription only in so far as one types another’s words. Dictaphone typing in an office situation deals with correspondence, reports, file notes – all of which should be familiar to you. If you work for a mining company, for instance, the subject of the above will be mining. If you find a strange name which you can't make out you can ask for assistance; if a typo slips in, somebody will probably pick it up and correct it.

In the world of transcription you're on your own and this is where the specialised skills of transcription come into play.

Spelling, grammar, punctuation
I believe I owe a client good English at the very least. You must be able to distinguish between principal and principle, there and their; to be able to hear the difference between his, he's and hiss. If you are going to attempt to obtain international clients be aware of the difference between UK and USA punctuation and spelling.

Spellcheck!
This is a tool of vast importance – it is a gift – use it.

Reliability
Take rush jobs only when you have gained confidence. A client may be prepared to grant reasonable time for you to turn into an impeccable transcript, but, if you cannot meet the deadline, the client will move on immediately. Reliability is a key marketing tool in this game.

Typing speed
This should not be an overwhelming factor. Fair enough, you need to have a reasonable typing speed but you don't need to be a whizz. There are plenty of other factors which contribute towards a great transcription.

Taking instruction
Fortunately most clients want intelligent verbatim – no err, mmm, or general babbling. Legal proceedings require keener attention to verbatim speech than interviews, for instance. It is up to you to enquire what the requirements are and stick to them. If a client sends a template don’t substitute yours.

General Knowledge and Google
Ah, don't we just love Google? But even Google can't read your mind. You will work in many different fields with a vast variety of subjects and you can't just turn in a helpless well-I-can't-know-everything transcript marred by question marks and the famous inaudible. Say, there is mention of a mine in Finland – your Finnish may be fluent but mine certainly isn't – there are ways of tracking down that name. It takes time and skill but you can usually get there.

There are of course many aspects to be considered – marketing strategy, web design, advertising, your accounting system, tricks of the trade – the list is long - but it is my belief that without the above qualities you are not going to be successful in the transcription field.

Michele Johanson
Good Hope Transcription Services
michelejohanson@yahoo.com
http://goodhopetranscription.weebly.com
Fax: 086 6021 791
Skype: Michelej6
Ph: 084 6944 307

Typing for Students

I thought I would repost this article as I am getting quite a few requests coming in from students looking for assistance in typing their Assignments.

When typing for students the first thing you need, whether doing copy typing, formatting or transcribing student files is the student’s guidelines from their professors on what they want the document to look like/layout, formatting etc. Each student receives the guidelines before they start writing up assignments.
Most students follow the Harvard Business methods and Academic writing methods with their assignements (there is copies of these documents in our Tavasa files online in our Yahoo group.

Referencing:
Referencing must be a specific way: (placing of brackets around references)

• start of a sentence, example: Malcolm Knowles (1984)
• middle of text, Lieb (1991: 1),
• end of a sentence, example: (Jarvis, 1987: 185)

University Professors are very fussy when it comes to references and students often get marked down on their referencing.
You can assist your student by checking that the references at the end in the reference list, link back to references within the document. With each reference listed within the text there must be a final reference for it at the end of the document in the reference list.

Example of Harvard Business method reference style:
Wayne, S., Liden, R. & Sparrowe, R. (2000). An examination of the mediating role of psychological empowerment on the relations between the job, interpersonal relationships, work outcomes. Journal of Applied Psychology, 85:407-416.

Put the book or journal title in italics the rest of the reference is not in italics.

The students,  professor Guidelines will give you instructions on:

• Font
• Spacing
• Underline, Bold and Italics
• Justification
• Bullet points.

Your first page which is normally the student details, student number, title, the title page is normally not numbered, hidden number, your second page onward including table of content should be in roman numerals, then the page that your assignment, thesis, dissertation starts should be on the first page number 1, and carries on with ordinary page numbering.
Any tables, figures, drawing within your document, must be listed underneath the reference list at the end of the document. Each table, figure, drawing within the document must be named underneath or above it, example, Table 1, Graph of Trends, Table 2, Three Hats etc.
Underneath reference listing you should have:

List of Tables:
Table 1, Graph of Trends
Table 2, Three Hats

The same applies to appendices.

Make sure you proof and grammar check the assignments etc. At the end of your typing always read through your work to make sure you have missed nothing and reading through gives the addition of proofing after doing a spell and grammar check.
The one thing that I find it a hassle to use is Track Changes, I never seem to be able to switch it off and every time you open the document the track change come on, you then have to Review, and Final, this then closes Track Changes until the next time the document is opened.

If you want to add anything to this article or have additional comments please email me at amftyping@mweb.co.za or alison@amftyping.co.za, or skype: amftyping.

Question and Answer

Question: I truly love your site.. Pleasant colors & theme. Did you develop this web site yourself? Please reply back as I'm planning to create my own personal website and would like to find out where you got this from or what the theme is called. Appreciate it!

Answer: Thank you for the comment. My theme is from the Blogger's own themes. All the content on the site is my own words, There may be an occasion article on the blog from a few others, it is 90% my own content. This is not a website it is a blog and I choose the template from what is available from Blogger. regards Ali amftypig@mweb.co.za or alison@amftyping.co.za

OIVAC Early Bird Special catch it before 15 April

Are You the Early Bird?  http://oivac.com/register/


The OIVAC is launching its 8th Annual Online International Virtual Assistants Convention (OIVAC) May 16; it will run through May 18, 2013.
We’re doing a shout out to all “early birds” to grab your rod and grab your seat for the OIVAC, -- before April 15--to receive a $50 discount from the original “sign up” price.
This year’s Convention, themed, Building Business Success in the Virtual World, is designed and the presenters assembled to guide Virtual Assistants at all levels of their business, so they can do their building and maintaining on a foundation strong enough to last for years to come.
Now, in case you may have forgotten even one of the benefits you’ll get in on by attending OIVAC here are some teasers for this year’s events:  http://oivac.com/register/

• 45+ hours of training, best practices seminars, networking and workshops

• Learn how to get new clients, to make your current clients happy, and how to grow your business by leaps and bounds.

• You connect with like-minded colleagues and find new opportunities to branch out

• Recordings available.

• Intro to the VA Industry session – for new VAs or people thinking about entering the industry

• Awards presented to two Virtual Assistants for the footprints they’re leaving on the industry

• Events are presented completely on line in PC and Mac compatible VoIP meeting rooms

• Pay one fee to cover the entire convention. (No hotel, travel, food, babysitting or loss of business while attending).

• Network with and exchange ideas with people from all over the world

• Sessions all hours of the day and night (across continents and many time zones)

• As the Seasoned VA sessions, a panel of experienced, expert VA

• And more  http://oivac.com/register/

If any of the above “speaks to you” and if you’re inclined to see a $50 savings in your hand, be an “early bird” and click the button now (and definitely before April 15th) to register for the 8th Annual Online International Virtual Assistants Convention.  http://oivac.com/register/
By clicking the “buy now” button, you’re not only saving $50, you’ll receive access to the Private Convention Facebook Group where you can ask questions and connect with other VA participants. Click it now, and we’ll “see you on the other side”.

http://oivac.com/register/

How easy is it being a Virtual Assistant?

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.

Written by Alison Fourie VAcertified
AMF Typing Service cc

Question and Answer

Q. Could you list of all of your shared sites like your twitter feed, Facebook page or linkedin profile?


A. I dont post info about my articles on twitter, linkedin or facebook or post the links there for articles I write. regards Ali amftyping@mweb.co.za or alison@amftyping.co.za Here is a link to go and view my website http://www.amftyping.co.za Im not that keen on social media and also just don't have the time to keep up with it.