Conors Admin Services

Online International Virtual Assistant Convention (OIVAC)

2011-05-16T09:20:00.001+02:00

Well it's been hectic planning it, but it's all coming to fruition soon. The 2011 Online International Virtual Assistant Convention is on this week. It's a great time for Virtual Assistant's to get together, catch up, exchange hints and tips, as well as learn what's new and changing out there.

Also, if you're not sure what a Virtual Assistant is, and/or what they can do for you, then why not pop along and join us in some of the free sessions. If you're considering a career as a Virtual Assistant then it's the best place to be Thursday, Friday and Saturday.

During the convention we also celebrate International Virtual Assistant Day as well as announce the winners of the Janet Jordan Achievement Award for new VAs as well as the Thomas Leonard International Virtual Assistant of Distinction Award.

What to know more then pop along to www.oivac.com and see what's on offer. Hope to see you all there.

Business Plans for Smaller Organizations

2011-04-30T14:33:00.001+02:00

Being a small business person, whether you are the Biographer or Test pilot, requires you to have more reason to be organized. While a certain amount of spontaneity is valuable and expected of a small business, a fair amount of structure is unavoidable if you will attempt to compete with what the company down the street has to offer. You should therefore really plan the scope of your business and write it down. This not only will give you a concrete idea of what your challenges are, but also what your progress is, what the vision for your business is, and how close you are to achieving them.

The first thing is to remember to get all the significant facts down on paper. This gives you a place to anchor your business, and something definite to revise if things need to be changed later on. The initial plan can make sure that you, your hired workers, and your investors are all working toward the goal you want.

The initial step in your business plan is a description of your business. This includes what you do, services that you plan to provide and what any products you plan to produce. In a word, this will verbalize the scope of your small business. While this can be enlarged later, you'll find that this setting down of your limits and terms is incredibly helpful for more development. This is also a good place to include what type of goals you have. While they can be general goals that you want to stick to, you should enlarge on it with some rough financial figures that you are want to achieve.

You small business plan next should have to do with the market, both where it stands, your market projections and the way you envision your place in the market. Why is your service necessary and how is your product going to affect the market itself? How are you going to advertise your business and what sort of impact will it have on various different types of consumers? This section essentially �proves� your business has a reason for being and gives evidence for why it should be funded, so take your time and put a good effort into it.

Finances are the next part that you tackle. Include license fees, emergency funds, general expenses and anything elseyou can think of that will require money. Because just about any bankers and investors will want to study your business plan primarily for this section, this is of utmost importance for you to work on. If you need to, look at examples from similar businesses to see what has worked. Put down an accurate view of your current business status, but remember to look to the future.

One final thing, consider management. Who is running things, and what are their responsibilities? This is a good way to keep things organized and delineate responsibilities. Like the parts of the plan that I've described above, it can be modified, but the vital thing is to have it there in the first place.

Take all the time you need to make sure that your small business plan is top notch, and you will discover that your business will start carving out its place in the market with a great deal more speed.

Freedom Day in South Africa

2011-04-27T19:23:00.001+02:00

In South Africa today is a very important day in history. 17 years ago today we as South African's united and voted in the first True, Free and Democratic elections. You would think 17 years down the line a lot had changed. Unfortunately this is not the case. In fact if anything things are a little worse.

While the number of people living in poverty and shacks may be slowly decreasing, and that is way to slow, we still have people using drop toilets etc which is a scary and sad fact. What's more concerning is the number of youth that have no idea why we celebrate today and what its significance is. This saddens me as the likes of Tata Nelson Mandela gave up 27 years of his adult life in a struggle for which these youth now take for granted.

WE need to remember the importance of Freedom Day, as well as the majority of our other public holidays that are related to our history.

Nonetheless I hope you all had a very happy Freedom Day if you are in South Africa, and hope you have a good Worker's Day on Monday.

Dream Your Life

2010-11-19T17:42:00.001+02:00

Impossible is Just a Word

Everyone, at some point of his or her life, has dreamed of being somebody special, somebody big. Who hasn't fantasized about being the one who hits the game-winning homer? Who hasn't dreamed of being the homecoming queen? And how many times have we dreamed of being rich, or successful, or happy with our relationships?

Often, we dream big dreams and have great aspirations. Unfortunately, our dreams remain just that – dreams. And our aspirations easily collect dust in our attic.

This is a sad turn of events in our life. Instead of experiencing exciting adventures in self actualization, we get caught up in the humdrum of living from day-to-day just barely existing.

But you know what? Life could be so much better, if only we learned to aim higher.

The most common problem to setting goals is the word impossible. Most people get hung up thinking I can't do this. It's too hard. It's too impossible. No one can do this.

However, if everyone thought that, there would be no inventions, no innovations, and no breakthroughs in human accomplishment.

Remember that scientists were baffled when they took a look at the humble bumblebee. Theoretically, they said, it was impossible for the bumblebee to fly. Unfortunately for the bumble, bee no one has told it so. So fly it does.

On the other hand, some people suffer from dreaming totally outrageous dreams and not acting on them. The result? Broken dreams, and tattered aspirations.

If you limit yourself with self-doubt, and self-limiting assumptions, you will never be able to break past what you deem impossible. If you reach too far out into the sky without working towards your goal, you will find yourself clinging on to the impossible dream.

Try this exercise. Take a piece of paper and write down some goals in your life. Under one header, list down things ‘you know you can do’. Under another header, write the things ‘you might be able to do.’ And under one more, list the things that that are ‘impossible for you to do.’

Now look at all the headers strive every day to accomplish the goals that are under things ‘you know you can do’. Check them when you are able to accomplish them. As you slowly are able to check all of your goals under that heading, try accomplishing the goals under the other header-the one that reads ‘you might be able to do.’

As of the items you wrote under things I could do are accomplished, you can move the goals that are under things that are ‘impossible for you to do’ to the list of things ‘you might be able to do.’

As you iterate through this process, you will find out that the goals you thought were impossible become easier to accomplish. And the impossible begin to seem possible after all.

Life Mapping - A Vision to Success

2010-11-15T10:25:00.001+02:00

A map has a starting point. Your origin is who you are right now. Most people when asked to introduce themselves would say, “Hi, I’m Jean and I am a 17-year old, senior highschool student.” It does not tell you about who Jean is; it only tells you her present preoccupation. To gain insights about yourself, you need to look closely at your beliefs, values, and principles aside from your economic, professional, cultural, and civil status. Moreover, you can also reflect on your experiences to give you insights on your good and not-so-good traits, skills, knowledge, strengths, and weaknesses. Upon introspection, Jean realized that she was highly motivated, generous, service-oriented, but impatient. Her inclination was in the biological-medical field. Furthermore, she believed that life must serve a purpose, and that wars were destructive to human dignity.

Destination: A vision of who you want to be

“Who do want to be?” this is your vision. Now it is important that you know yourself so that you would have a clearer idea of who you want to be; and the things you want to change whether they are attitudes, habits, or points of view. If you hardly know yourself, then your vision and targets for the future would also be unclear. Your destination should cover all the aspects of your being: the physical, emotional, intellectual, and spiritual. Continuing Jean’s story, after she defined her beliefs, values, and principles in life, she decided that she wanted to have a life dedicated in serving her fellowmen.

Vehicle: Your Mission

A vehicle is the means by which you can reach your destination. It can be analogized to your mission or vocation in life. To a great extent, your mission would depend on what you know about yourself. Bases on Jean’s self-assessment, she decided that she was suited to become a doctor, and that she wanted to become one. Her chosen vocation was a medical doctor. Describing her vision-mission fully: it was to live a life dedicated to serving her fellowmen as a doctor in conflict-areas.

Travel Bag: Your knowledge, skills, and attitude

Food, drinks, medicines, and other travelling necessities are contained in a bag. Applying this concept to your life map, you also bring with you certain knowledge, skills, and attitudes. These determine your competence and help you in attaining your vision. Given such, there is a need for you to assess what knowledge, skills, and attitudes you have at present and what you need to gain along the way. This two-fold assessment will give you insights on your landmarks or measures of success. Jean realized that she needed to gain professional knowledge and skills on medicine so that she could become a doctor. She knew that she was a bit impatient with people so she realized that this was something she wanted to change.

Landmarks and Route: S.M.A.R.T. objectives

Landmarks confirm if you are on the right track while the route determines the travel time. Thus, in planning out your life, you also need to have landmarks and a route. These landmarks are your measures of success. These measures must be specific, measurable, attainable, realistic, and time bound. Thus you cannot set two major landmarks such as earning a master’s degree and a doctorate degree within a period of three years, since the minimum number of years to complete a master’s degree is two years. Going back to Jean as an example, she identified the following landmarks in her life map: completing a bachelor’s degree in biology by the age of 21; completing medicine by the age of 27; earning her specialization in infectious diseases by the age of 30; getting deployed in local public hospitals of their town by the age of 32; and serving as doctor in war-torn areas by the age of 35.

Anticipate Turns, Detours, and Potholes

The purpose of your life map is to minimize hasty and spur-of-the-moment decisions that can make you lose your way. But oftentimes our plans are modified along the way due to some inconveniences, delays, and other situations beyond our control. Like in any path, there are turns, detours, and potholes thus; we must anticipate them and adjust accordingly.

Don't Steal My Information

2010-11-12T14:06:00.001+02:00

It’s important to take the precautions to protect you and your products from information theft these days, because it’s getting easier and easier for people to share digital products. Information theft is a type of computer security risk and it’s defined as stealing an individual’s personal or confidential information. When this is stolen this can cause as much damage, or possibly more then hardware or software theft. Business or home users are both at risk of information theft. One example is a malicious individual stealing credit cards so they can make unauthorized purchases on another person’s account. If information is transmitted over a network then it has a very high chance for malicious users to intercept the information. Every computer in the path of your data can see what you send, and they can also see what you send. A lot of companies try to stop information from being stolen by applying some user identification and authentication controls. These constraints are best for protecting computers along a company’s premise. However, to protect information on the Internet and on networks, companies use a handful of encryption methods.

Encryption refers to the process of converting data into an unreadable form. One type of encryption software is Obfuscated code which is a programming language that is extremely hard to read. Encrypted data is like any other data because you can send it through a lot of options, but to read it you must decrypt or decipher it into a more readable form. Throughout the encryption process, the unencrypted data or input is known as plaintext and the encrypted data, or output is known as ciphertext. To encrypt information, the programmer converts the plaintext into ciphertext using some type of encryption key. An encryption key is the programmed formula that the person who receives the data uses to decrypt the ciphertext. There are a variety of encryption or algorithm methods. However, with an encryption key formula, you will be using more then one of these techniques. Some business use available software, while others develop their own. When an individual send information online such as through an email for example, they will never know who might intercept it, or to whom it could possibly be forwarded to. That’s why it’s not such a good idea to send confidential information online. However, an individual can help protect themselves by encrypting the information, or signing it digitally. Some very popular email encryption software is known as Pretty Good Piracy (PGP) andCenturion Soft Secure Protection. Pretty Good Piracy is known as freeware, which means that individuals can use it for their personal needs but not for commercial purposes. You can download this for no cost. A digital signature is a type of encrypted code that a individual, website, or company pastes to an electronic document to make sure that the individual is who they claim to be. The code will most likely consist of the user name and a hash of usually part of the message. A hash is a type of mathematical formula that generates content from a specific message, so it is different from a message. The recipient will have to generate a new hash from the received message and compares it from the one with the digital signature to make sure that they match appropriately. The main purpose behind using digital signatures is to make sure that it’s not a deceiver participating in the transaction. So, digital signatures help narrow down e-mail scams. A digital signature can also make sure that contents of a message have not been changed. A lot of web browsers use encryption that is regarded as 40 bit encryption, and this is a very low level. A variety of browsers also offer 128 bit encryption which has a higher level of protection because the encryption key is longer. Some important places that require extremely hire security like banks, and online retailers needs at least 128-bit encryption. A website that successfully uses encryption methods to secure information is known as a secure site. A secure site uses digital certificate with security protocol. The two most popular security protocols are secure sockets layer, and secure HTTP.

A digital certificate is a notice that verifies that a user or a website is for real or not a scam. A lot of ecommerce websites will usually have digital certificates. A certificate authority (CA) is an authorized company or individual for that matter that has the ability to issue and verify digital certificates. There are several of websites that offer a digital certificate. Some popular ones are Verisign http://www.verisign.com/, Godaddywww.godaddy.com, Digicert http://www.digicert.com/, and Thawtehttp://www.thawte.com/.The digital certificate will usually contain information such as the username and the serial number of the certificate. By the way, the information in the digital certificate is also encrypted. Next, the Secure Sockets Layer (SSL) provides encryption of every detail that passes between a server and a client. SSL also requires the client to have a digital certificate, so the web browser can communicate securely with the client. The web pages that use SSL will usually begin with https as opposed to http. SSL is available in 40 and 128-bit encryption. Secured HTTP (S-HTTP) allows individuals to choose encryption for data that pass through a client and a server. When using S-HTTP, the client and the server must have a digital certificate. This makes S-HTTP more difficult to use then SSL, but on the other hand, it is more secured. Companies that have to use verify a client such as online banking companies use S-HTTP. Also, mobile users can also access computer networks through a virtual private network. When mobile users successfully logon to a main office using some type of standard Internet connection, a virtual private network (VPN) allows the mobile user to secure the connection. VPNs encrypt data as it passes from a notebook computer or any other mobile device so it won’t be intercepted. Regardless of your security method, I will highly recommend using the most powerfulness safeguard which is a backup. It prevents data loss from several of sources such as system failure for one. A backup is simply a backup of a file, program, or desk that can be used in place of the original if its loss, destroyed, or corrupted. If the files are destroyed, then you can replace them by restoring it, which copies the backed up files into their original position in the computer.

The 11th Hour, of the 11th Day of the 11th Month - Lest We Forget

2010-11-11T06:38:00.001+02:00

Why are they selling poppies Mummy, selling poppies in town today?

The poppies, child, are flowers of love, for the men who marched away.

But why have they chosen a poppy, Mummy? Why not a beautiful rose?

Because my child, men fought and died in the fields where poppies grow.

But why are the poppies so red Mummy? Why are the poppies so red?

Red is the colour of blood my child. The blood that our soldiers shed.

The heart of the poppy is black, Mummy. Why does it have to be black?

Black, my child is the symbol of grief, for the men who never came back.

But why, Mummy are you crying so? Your tears are giving you pain.

My tears are my fears for you my child, for the world is forgetting again.

Author unknown.

The Difference Between Adware, Spyware and Anti-Virus

2010-11-05T14:48:00.001+02:00

With the festive season getting ready to loom large again, I thought it would be a good time to go over the basics of Adware, Spyware and Anti-Virus protection.

Adware, spyware and computer virus share some similarities, one of which is that all three are major nuisances for computer users. Let's differentiate the three.

Spyware is software that does not intentionally harm your computer. What they do is that they create pathways wherein someone else aside from the computer owner can communicate with the computer. Normally spywares record the various types of web sites you visit which are later used by web advertisers to allow them to send you unwanted emails and pop-ups.

This is why spyware are usually frowned upon and greatly avoided. They are more intrusive than adware. Spyware have their own separate executable programs which allow them to record your keystrokes, scan files on your hard disks and look at other applications that you use including but not limited to chat programs, cookies and Web browser settings.

The spyware then will send the information that it had gathered to the spyware author. The agent will then use this information for advertising and marketing purposes. They even sell the information to advertisers and other parties.

Adware, on the other hand, are more legitimate form of freeware. Similar to spyware, adwares are advertising materials which are packaged into a software or program and are installed automatically once that particular program or software is added into the computer system. Some forms of adware, on the other hand, download advertising contents as a particular application is being utilized. It is quite unfortunate that most of the adware programs take the form of spywares that is they track and report user information to program authors.

Some signs of spyware infections include pop-up ads that seem to be not related to the site you are viewing. More often than not, spyware pop-ups are advertisements about adult contents. Also if you notice your computer slowing down, there's a big chance that spywares and its other components have found their way in your operating system. When the Windows desktop also takes a longer time to load, its best to scan your computer for possible spyware infections.

Meanwhile, viruses are destructive form of software. They were purely designed and created for one purpose alone: to wreck havoc to your computer. They destroy whatever they come in contact to and will initiate self replication and infect as many components of the computer's operating system or network as possible.

Nowadays, a lot of anti-virus software also provides spyware and adware scanning and removal utilities. Some programs, however, are focused on located and deleting or destroying spyware and adware programs. Whether is an anti-virus software or a anti-spyware dedicated scanner, they both search your computer and identify any spyware and virus installed on your system.

They then remove it as well as their components located in the system registry among other places in your computer. It is therefore, good to regularly update your virus or spyware scanner to ensure that your computer is protected from the thousands of spyware and viruses in the internet. Never be fooled from ads that claim that their products only contain adware.

These adware maybe spyware in disguised and are just waiting to be deployed for them to gather your information. Learn to setup firewall systems and always block pop-up blockers to minimize computer infection and ensure the security of all your computer files.

Adware, spyware and computer virus share some similarities, one of which is that all three are major nuisances for computer users. Let's differentiate the three.

Halloween is Almost Upon Us

2010-10-29T19:30:00.000+02:00

Firstly, to all my American clients I would like to wish you all a Happy Halloween for Sunday, and not forgetting All Saint's Day on Monday, which should go hand in hand.
As we all know Halloween is celebrated by children who get to dress up deliberately to scare themselves and their friends and go trick or treating for sweets and other goodies to eat and for most children this is where Halloween ends.
While once upon a time the idea of trick or treating alone may have been a good idea, in today's modern world, unfortunately we need to provide some protection to our children.
Some sensible tips when choosing you're child's costume are as follows:

Make sure that the mask is not going to restrict the child's breathing.
Make sure that the costume is not so long or tight that they can't move quickly and safely if the really need to.
Ensure that they can see clearly, as due to the excitement of trick or treating they may forget to look when crossing the road.
Remember to make sure that they are visible to traffic, especially if you happen to live in the Northern Hemispheree where it's starting to get dark earlier.
And if you ask me, the most important one, make sure that a responsible adult is either in tow or nearby to keep an eye on the children and ensure their safety, even if it is just from cars and barking dogs.

If you happen to be driving on Halloween please also play your part and keep a look out for children who have lost their road sense for the night.
All that being said there are plenty of people who don't celebrate Halloween and they should be allowed to have their views respected. If you know of someone in your area that doesn't celebrate Halloween encourage your children to leave them out of their trick or treating route and everyone can be happy.

New Member of UKAVA

2010-08-25T17:55:00.000+02:00

Conors Admin Services is proud to announce that it is now a member of the United Kingdom Association of Virtual Assistants.

Please check back as we will be updating the site regularly with new details.

An accredited member of the UK Association of Virtual Assistants.
The one-stop information resource for virtual assistants and their clients.
http://www.ukava.co.uk

New Risk in Elective Surgery

2010-08-13T09:57:00.002+02:00

For those of you considering having elective surgery this is something that really needs to be considered before you take the plunge.

It has been reported that Brits who have gone to India and Pakistan to have elective cosmetic surgery are returning home with a gene that can turn a common or garden bug into a superbug. The resistant gene has been identified by the medical profession as NDM-1. The gene has the ability to alter bacteria and make them resistant to nearly all antibiotics. It is most common in the E.coli bacteria, or on other DNA structures that area easily copied and passed onto other types of bacteria.

While the numbers of people currently identified with the gene remains very small the real threat of this bacteria altering gene is likely to spread worldwide with people all over the world looking for cheaper and quicker options to have elective surgery.

To read more about this superbug go to http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/197509.php

If you take us seriously, we'll take you seriously.

2010-03-08T09:24:00.000+02:00

Michele Johanson (http://goodhopetranscription.weebly.com) runs a transcription business from home,and, when not pounding the keyboard for her daily bread, writes articles on the more domestic arts, cooking and gardening in particular. Thank you to Michele for the following informative article.

One of the drawbacks of working from home is the difficulty of getting serious clients who are willing to pay what you are worth.

I enjoy working from home as a transcriptionist and I have good and loyal clients who make it possible but how does one deal with the demands of people like this?

This was posted on Get a Freelancer today:

“I need only serious transcribers who can finish up the project by today. There is totally 3 hours of audio. You can be a team or person. But you must follow the below points strictly and there wont be any excuses:-

You must finish the project with in 5-6 hours It should be with 100% accuracy

Pay will be $7 or $8 per audio hour depending on quality (If you are not accepting for this bid, then please dont apply). The completed file should be proofread, spellchecked, formatted, grammar checked etc.

There will be a continuous flow of work if you finish this successfully. Note that turnaround time is very important. Once you place your bid be online. I will hire within 2-3 hours and you should have me the files back within 5-6 hours.”

Downloading 3 hours of audio could take several hours alone. A professional transcriptionist allows approximately four hours to complete one hour’s worth of audio, and that’s just the typing. Spell-checking and proofreading is a given and is included in the rate but could somebody please tell me how to check the grammar on audio? Surely the whole point of transcription is to produce a verbatim report? I do tweak here and there, particularly if I’m transcribing a foreigner, but limit it to replacing words like ‘choosen’ with ‘chosen’. If a client specifically asks me to fix the English I have more leeway, but even then I make an effort to stick to the original.

The above-quoted job provider is particularly arrogant and unrealistic but unfortunately there are many people that think that because we run our businesses from home we are not doing a “real job” and want to pay accordingly, or not at all. The following quote was taken from clientsfromhell.wordpress.com: “ … and by the way, I can’t afford to pay you for this job, but you will be paid in karma — which is so much better and more permanent anyway.” Better for whom? Can you eat karma?

We do real jobs and provide real quality. We pay our own overheads and work long hours and stick to our deadlines.

Sadly, there will be takers for this position but they are unlikely to have English as their first language and the job provider will get what she is paying her two dollars (or less) an hour for. I would love to see what she ends up with.

michelejohanson@yahoo.com
http://goodhopetranscription.weebly.com/

The Importance of Client Contact

2010-03-06T07:48:00.002+02:00

It still amazes me that people avoid contact with their clients about seemly simply things. Yesterday I got a new client because his previous transcriptionist had gone on leave and not bothered to inform him that she would be unavailable to do work for him. How did he find out? His office manager found out when she rang the transcriptionist on Thursday evening to find out where the work was. Hence him ringing me at 7:30 in the morning.

While I am not going to get into who should look for the replacement to cover work while you're on leave as I believe that's a personal choice issue, I do however believe that you should advise your clients either way if you are going to be unable to do their work for a period of time.

While a week may not seem long to you in the life and work of a doctor that can be a long time. Whatever the reason you are unable to do the work common courtesy should prevail. If you were an employee you would ask for leave from your boss, but as a self-employed profressional you should advise your clients that you will be unavailable to do their work and the dates you will be unavailable. If you are arranging the cover then also let your client have at least minimal contact details for the person providing cover for you in case they need to get hold of them urgently.

To my new client's previous transcriptionist, I hope you had a great break and good luck with finding new work to replace what you've lost.

The Importance of Client Consultation

2010-02-16T07:24:00.000+02:00

Today I have an article from a successful UK based Virtual Assistant
When I first started out as a virtual assistant, more years ago than I care to remember, there weren’t many other VA’s around and therefore not much competition. Nowadays, a sizeable proportion of the clients I take on have worked with at least one other VA in the past. When I ask what differences they notice between how we work and what they have experienced in the past, it is often commented on that what they like more than anything is that we work as a partnership with our clients, being proactive in their businesses and looking for opportunities for them and suggesting ideas, as opposed to those VAs that just sit and wait for work to be delegated to them.

So how do we achieve that distinction? Part of it is the mindset. When you make the leap from being an employee to a sole trader or business owner you will quickly realise that if you sit around and wait for work to be delegated, you won’t get very much of it. At that point you learn to make yourself an active member of your clients ‘team’ very quickly or you will soon start to flounder.

To give a great impression straight away it’s important to ask the right questions at the first meeting with your potential client, before they sign up. You need to ascertain where you can be most useful to them. What are their weak points? What work they have to do that they continually put off either because there is no time or because they don’t enjoy it? Find out what their plans are for their business. What do they want to achieve?

Once the client has come onboard you need to maintain the momentum with scheduled meetings as an ongoing process both with regular and ad-hoc clients. By having detailed monthly catch up meetings, either in person or by telephone, you can identify what is coming up in their calendar and how you can help them by sharing some of that workload.

For some really great documents to help you with initial client consultations and ongoing client reviews, take a look at our New Client Template Pack and Client Management Template Pack.

For more detailed information about how to conduct a client consultation, download our Podcast on Client Consutation here.

Copyright 2008 by Justine Curtis

About the author

Justine Curtis is the director of her own successful virtual assistant business My Virtual Assistant which is now recruiting a team of virtual assistant licensees and founder of The UK Association of Virtual Assistants (UKAVA) which offers free resources and information to its subscribers – sign up at http://www.ukava.co.uk. Justine is the author of Setting Yourself Up As A Virtual Assistant and is proud to be able to pass on the benefits of her vast experience of the VA role to aspiring and progressive virtual PAs as a co-founder of the VA Success Group.

Bank Phishing Schemes

2010-02-12T18:52:00.002+02:00

Having just received two more of these phishing emails I feel compelled to blog about them.

In the interests of those who might not know the term phishing, it's the label given to those emails that you receive purporting to be from someone they aren't. For instance in this case my bank, claiming that my account was being accessed by a third party and that ownership was in doubt. They usually include a link or form that you need to fill in and send back. The problem is that they're really not from who they claim to be.

Usually the easiest and best way to tell if the emails are real is to look at the spelling. In genuine communications I've received from my bank via email the spelling and grammar has always been pretty perfect.

The phishing emails have spelling and grammar that would leave most First Graders pulling their hair out at how bad it is.

If you have any doubts about whether an email is authentic or not please contact the sender and ask before you click on any links.

Having had a bank card cloaned a couple of years ago I can tell you the trouble and inconvenience of having to try and resolve the matter is truly astounding. Certainly it could have been made easier by my bank if they'd given me all the information that I needed right at the start rather than in small bite size pieces.

I truly hope that none of you are or become a victim of the phishing exercises.

Otherwise I hope you all have a super weekend.

What is Honesty When You're A Virtual Assistant

2010-02-09T19:06:00.005+02:00

What is honesty you may wonder. Well in the world of the Virtual Assistant it is the ability to admit your shortcomings and areas that are not your core business. You either then need to subcontract the work out or alternatively you need to admit upfront to the client that you are unable to assist them.

I've had numerous calls over the years from clients who have had work done by people who claim to be experts at what they do when in actual fact they aren't. The classic was the one I received today. The client had hired someone to assist in finalizing a tender document to be sent to a government organization. The lady who worked all day for them actually was not as experienced in terms of the needs for the clients as she claimed to be. The client is now left with a document that needs urgent attention with a very tight deadline, the tender needs to be submitted tomorrow.

As a virtual assistant it is imperative to have a network of like-minded people to interact with. This serves a multitude of purposes. It allows for a sounding board on those days when things are falling apart faster than you can pick them up, as well as to celebrate the joys with you. The other useful factor of such a network is the ability to be able to either subcontract or pass on work to people who are better equipped, or have more experience in areas where your skills may be lacking.

If you are in South Africa, or Africa, then there is such a network and what a wonderful group of people there are on it. If you want to join then sign up with TAVASA (http://finance.groups.yahoo.com/group/tavasa/).

Never Give Up

2010-02-05T02:00:00.003+02:00

OK, now that we’re on our way to achieving our goals don’t give up. No matter what people say about how unrealistic, silly, or anything else about your goal remember that it’s yours and yours alone. If you want it you can make it happen.

There will be the people, many of which may be friends and family, who tell you that you can’t achieve your goal or that it’s unrealistic. While it’s hard to work against such beliefs you need to have the faith of your convictions and stick to your guns.

Ignore the Nay-sayers and those wishing to destroy your wish and keep going strong. Find people of a similar mindset and spend time with them. They will help you achieve your goals, rather than crushing them.

Good luck and I hope 2010 is the year that you achieve your goals.

Take Action

2010-02-01T02:00:00.000+02:00

Now that you’ve identified, prioritized, and planned your wish, it’s time to start taking action. The law of Inertia that you may have learnt about at school still has an effect on you now. Make a commitment to your goals and plans every day. If you only spend 5 minutes on it today but 15 minutes on it tomorrow that’s fine. The idea is to get yourself moving in the right direction and then the Law of Inertia will take over.

Taking the first step is the hardest but each and every step thereafter will get easier and easier. You need to create new habits in order to achieve your new goals. It takes time to create a new habit so remember to plan time each day for your goals until you no longer need to think about prioritizing the time and you just do it.

Affirmations are a great way to help you meet your goals. It really is simply telling yourself the same thing every day until it becomes a reality. Work on your affirmations as often as you need to each and every day until they become true.

While your wishes and goals are your own and personal there is no reason why you can’t get other people to help you achieve them. Not everyone has the same skill set and resources at hand, so feel free to ask and accept help in achieving your goals.

Making a Plan

2010-01-29T02:00:00.001+02:00

OK, so your wish is ready, it’s presentable and is something you’re committed too, now’s the time to start making the plan to achieve it.

Brainstorm your plan in a similar way to how you brainstormed your wish. Write “What steps do I need to take to ______?” at the top of the paper and then keep asking yourself the question and writing the answers down until you have exhausted all ideas. Now take the steps and if necessary break them down into smaller steps. This will help make your goals seem more appealing and be much easier for you to achieve them.

Remember the deadlines otherwise your plan and wish are meaningless. Remember though that the deadlines need to be reasonable. One your deadlines are set then you need to set milestones so that you know how well you are doing meeting the target of making your wish come true.

OK, now move all of the information to your daily calendar so that you can schedule the work in. If you know your deadlines and goals, it’s easier to make a firm commitment to them and set the plan in motion.

Now that we’re making progress, identify your limiting factors and identify the way to work through them.

The next step is to schedule the progress report. You don’t have targets and deadlines at work without having to report on their progress so why allow it to affect your wishes. Some of the questions to ask yourself include:

1. Have I met the milestones I planned to meet since my last progress report?

2. Do I need to change my plan to reach my milestones?

3. Do I need to change my milestones?

Making Your Wish

2010-01-25T02:00:00.001+02:00

Just like the genie in the lamp, every person has the ability to make their wish come true. All they need to do is decide on what you really want and then wish for it, just as you would if the genie in the lamp was giving you the wish. Do you find yourself drifting from week to week wondering why other people seem to have it so together and you don’t. If so, then the only thing you need to think about how you are making, or perhaps not making, your wishes.

Now you’ve decided that you want to make your wishes come true, you need to decide what it is you really want. A great way to achieve this is by brainstorming. Not the sitting round the table with a bunch of colleagues trying to come up with ideas but rather try a different approach. Write your question down on the top of a blank piece of paper, and let your subconscious mind take over.

What ever comes into your head, write down on the paper no matter how strange, odd, or weird you may think it is.

Once you’re ready to start set a time limit and keep writing for that period of time, whether it only is a minute or whether it be 10 minutes. Don’t stop writing down your thoughts until the time is up.

Don’t critique any of your ideas right now, just write them down. Your subconscious brain accepts criticism as badly as most people do.

Here is a great question to start your first brainstorming session:

What would I really want from life if I were absolutely, positively certain I would get it?

OK, now you’re ready. Go brainstorm, don’t worry about how you’ll accomplish everything on your list just write them all down. You can worry about the “how” later.

OK, so now write for at least 2 minutes. You can break the question down into areas for work, home life, hobbies etc. If you struggle to keep writing for 2 minutes, just change the answers down, changing a word here or there, or reordering the answer, but whatever happens don’t stop writing until the 2 minutes are up. If you’re still full of ideas after 2 minutes feel free to keep writing.

Once you’ve brainstormed you now need to prioritize what you have written down. A great way to do this is to number each item on the list. Now taking just the first two decide which is more important to you. Now compare the First Choice and compare it to number 3. If your First Choice changes so be it. Continue down the list one idea at a time until you get to the end and have your First Choice.

Now you need to find your purpose. If you don’t think you have one, you’re wrong! Even if there is nothing else, then your purpose is to find your purpose.

Now you’ve decided on your First Choice, identified your purpose, the only think left is to pay the price. Whether it is a figurative or real price you need to pay it to set your cause and effect in motion.

Now to make your wish presentable. Write it down, but be specific. Set yourself a time limit to meet the goal, and remember to make sure that it’s reachable. Only wish for what you can control, don’t wish for something that you have no control over or it won’t come true. Make sure that what you’re wishing for is what you really want, not something you don’t want. Make the wish emotional, start with something like “I choose”. Add the emotion to it, be brief and believe in it. The lastly take action to make it happen.

Goal Setting for 2010

2010-01-22T02:00:00.001+02:00

I hope you all had a great festive season and are well rested and ready for the year ahead.

I have a question for you. Are you ready to make 2010 the year of your dreams. There is a lot of talk of Ayoba in South Africa, what with the 2010 Soccer World Cup later this year and how 2010 is the year for Africa.

Well if you think it’s your year as well then setting goals to achieve your aims is going to be very important. So my first few blogs of the year are going to be aimed at goal setting and some hints and tips to help you reach those goals.

The first step, is to make your wish. Decide what you want. Remembering that there is always a cause and effect in everything we do so rather than setting an unreasonable goal, rather think of it as the effect that you want to cause. Once you’ve decided on it, write it down, get a picture of it, and then place it somewhere prominent so that you can look at it often during the day.

Step two is to make a plan. Create the plan of action you need to follow to make your wish come true.

Step three, take action. Start working on the things that will make your wish come true.

And lastly, step four, never give up. No matter how hard it may become finish what you start. Never give up on your dream and while it may not happen as quickly as you wish, you will reach it.

Remember that to make your life what you want, you have to set in motion the cause and the effect will look after itself.

Christmas Break

2009-12-10T21:32:00.000+02:00

While I will be working over Christmas I will be taking a break from blogging until the New Year. If you require any help over the Festive season please feel free to contact me.

Hope you all have a wondeful festive season with lots of joy and happiness and may 2010 be prosperous for all!

Working Online Scams: How To Spot Them

2009-11-23T12:29:00.000+02:00

There is always the possibility of scams in almost any kind of job, yet, it seems that online jobs are easier to scam these days. If you are vulnerable, you will easily fall for their promises, rewards, and easy hiring procedure, which all turn out to be empty. The presence of these online job scams, unfortunately, makes finding the real jobs rather hard. This is because scammers have defined more sophisticated schemes to make their phony online jobs appear legitimate. And usually, you only find that out come payment time. So how do you avoid such working online scams? How can you tell an online job is genuine or is a mere scam?

Here are some of the warning signs of online job scams. If you spot any of them in your potential job, trash it. You might be looking at a scam.

1. Asks for money. If a potential employer charges fees for more job and company information, start-up kit, training, software, or hiring you, it is most likely a scam. In the first place, you are not supposed to give money to an employer; it’s the other way around.

2. Describes itself as legitimate. If what is said about a job is more on its legitimacy but less on the company, pay, nature, and other important details, beware. This is probably just one of the marketing strategies.

3. Promises big and quick cash. Forget the job that says, “Get rich quick. Earn $1000 weekly.” Or anything of that sort. The truth is, no job can promise you fast financial success. It takes time. It takes hard labor. Such claims are typical to scams.

4. Requires no experience or skill at all. A real job needs to be done by qualified individuals. If an employer says there is little effort on your part, forget it. A legitimate employer wouldn’t entrust an important job to unreliable people. It would be a waste of their money.

5. Comes from an unsolicited email. A job posting you know you haven’t applied to and which appears in an unsolicited email message is most often a scam. Coming from an unsolicited email message, in itself, is quite suspicious.

6. Has a questionable website. A legitimate company normally provides complete contact details in its website. The absence of which might be an indicative it is a scam. If it also tells less about the company history, nature, and what it stands for, be careful.

What to do

The rule of thumb when looking for legitimate online jobs is to do a thorough research. If you find a company rather dubious, look it up in the web by typing the company name and the word “scam” in the search box. The search results can tell you whether a company is reputable.

You can also contact the employer. Ask for important details about the job such as the salary, mode of payment, and other job details not mentioned in the ad post. If the response is somewhat shady, you may want to skip that job out. An employer can tell all the job details upfront if it is legitimate.

To be more assured of the legitimacy of the job, you can ask for a list of references. It should include the company’s employees and contractors. Inquire from them how it is working for the company. Their responses should help you determine whether a job is a scam. Remember, you need to be very careful and decisive when taking on a potential job, as working online scams are growing in number.

The Benefits Of Working Online

2009-11-20T06:00:00.001+02:00

When someone tells you he has been making a decent living through online jobs, would you believe it? At first, the idea may appear a bit fallacious, especially since the Internet is now loaded with scams. But then think again. Though the legitimacy of some online jobs is questionable, there are those that are offered by reputable companies and individuals, which can provide you with new ways to earn money. The benefits of working online are also numerous. The first—and probably the major—benefit would be the opportunity to work at your own home, which inevitably gives birth to a lot more benefits.

1. More time with the family. Because online jobs can be done at home, you can set up your own home office and maximize your non-working hours by spending time with the family. You can, for instance, have lunch with your kids. Or after working hours, you can perhaps go straight to the living room and chat with your spouse rather than spend valuable time commuting. Working online, in essence, gives you more opportunities to be involved in the daily lives and routine of your family. In the end, this may mean improved relationships. Working online doesn’t mean, however, perennial availability; nevertheless, it can mean you are reachable. Of course, balancing time between family and work still depends on making a definite schedule and sticking to it.

2. Flexibility. Online jobs usually have flexible hours, with some even allowing you to work during non-standard working hours. While some might require you to work at a definite schedule, most jobs leave it up to you as long as you deliver outputs on time. This flexibility in turn gives you more control of your time. You can work into your schedule appointments and vacations a lot easier.

3. Cut down on expenses. When you work online, and therefore at home, you can save on transportation, meal, and clothing costs. You don’t need to travel kilometers and gas up. You don’t have to spend for lunch, coffee breaks, and sometimes dinner; and there’s no need for you to buy working clothes after every few weeks. And this translates to more savings.

4. Improved efficiency. Working online gives you that space and time to work alone and finish the task at hand. It is, of course, not ideal to isolate yourself from the rest of the world. But admit it, in a regular office, you sometimes find chatting with someone in the next cubicle tempting, and giving in may rob you of the time you have otherwise spent on working.

5. More job choices. There a lot of online jobs available today, from writing to data entry. This therefore means you have the freedom to choose which type of job you want to do and that which suits your skills, working style, and personality. This type of freedom is normally not available in regular jobs. In the corporate world, you often stick to one job and are not given the opportunity to explore your other capabilities.

Planning For Online Success

2009-11-16T06:00:00.001+02:00

There are too many people attracted to the idea of making it big online. Many of them probably got enticed with the multi-million dollar testimonials and the “get rich quick” scheme. It is true that there are those who found online success, given they are connected to legitimate sources, but they never made it that fast. The thing is, working online success doesn’t happen in an instant. You don’t get rich overnight. Achieving success in an online job is the same with any other career path; it takes a lot of time, a lot of work, and a whole lot of planning.

Step one: The planning stage
There’s no better way to plot your success than planning. The problem, however, is that some people are overtaken by their ideas that they tend to jump headlong without careful planning. Just a word: Don’t skip step one. Take a time out to consider your motivations and the involved risks. If you take a look at the most successful online ventures—whether a job or a business—you will see that meticulous planning was part of the whole process.

So how do you begin? You must first identify why you want to work online. Is it because you want to have additional income? Is it to replace a 9-to-5 job? Is it to gain employment freedom? Whatever your reason is, make sure it is justifiable and is not just a whim of the moment. Nailing down early on the reason for working online will also help you get motivated when the work seems overwhelming. It will help you stay focused and driven.

Set your goals. What do you want to achieve? Where do you want to go? How do you intend to get there? Write down both your short- and long-term goals. There are times, however, that you tend to draw more big goals than small ones, which can sometimes be quite unrealistic. It’s okay to have big goals, but make sure they are achievable.

Then find out ways to reach those goals. The online community, which of course has become almost like a global community, offers a lot of varied opportunities. You can choose to put up your own online business and start selling, or you can maintain a blog and earn from advertisers. Numerous companies are also hiring online workers as web content writer, proofreader, tutor, among many other things. Of course, what you should consider are the opportunities that allow you to do what you enjoy doing. Don’t just fall for those that promise quick and big cash because most likely you will feel like leaving them as soon as you feel exhausted. And doing that brings you nowhere near your goal.

Do a thorough research. Once you have identified the right opportunity, find out what is expected of you, how you can actually generate money, the necessary adjustments, the risks, and the potential income. Many failed to do this and in the end were deceived by online job scams that promised the world but delivered not even a pebble.

Step two and onwards
As you know, having the grandest plans alone won’t bring you working online success. It can only set the stage for you, and all the rest depends on your hard work. When you work, remember to double all the time and effort you put in planning when you are already in your actual working stage. If you do, success is inevitable.

Guide to Working Online From Home

2009-11-13T06:00:00.001+02:00

To be successful in working online from home, there is more you should do than just have a computer and strong Internet connection. Remember that this setup is unlike the traditional office environment. You need to make certain adjustments in your working style, schedule, and even attitude to ensure productivity. There are certain working online guides that can help you perform well. Here are six of them.

1. Have a definite work place. This can be a spare room anywhere in the house or a space in your bedroom. One thing you have to keep in mind is that your work place or home office, as what others like to call it, should allow you to function with little or no distractions. It should be well-lit and -ventilated and spacious enough to accommodate your other office gadgets. Once you have identified your work place, orient your household members about it and request them not to trudge in whenever you are working.

2. Determine your working hours. Though there are online jobs that require you to work during specified hours, some jobs allow you to work anytime of the day. Choose the time when you are most productive and be very disciplined. Just like in a corporate office, you are not supposed to leave your work when you feel like it. Keep in mind that you should maintain a professional attitude even without a prying boss or officemates.

3. Set daily goals. Doing so can help you identify your priorities and allow you to manage your time. Write your goals in a journal and see if they are met at the end of your working day. Without outlining your daily goals, you seem to be shooting aimlessly and might achieve nothing in the end.
4. Get away from online distractions. There are many of them really—social networking sites, video streaming sites, downloading sites, among many other things. Not only can they slow down your computer, they can also take much of your time. Consider this, the full 30 minutes you spend watching a video is possibly the same amount of time you need to type one thousand-plus words. And you don’t want that significant loss, would you? It’s not that you are not allowed to visit any of these sites; it’s just that you have to make good use of your working time and be as productive as you can be. Remember, there’s a proper time for play.

5. Take some breaks. The other extreme tendency in having a work-from-home online job is overworking. This is because work is just within reach and it is easier for you to spend more time doing it than relaxing. Working too much is not the way to do it, as this can potentially burn you out. Rest when you need to. Take your meal on time. Have coffee breaks. Take a day off.

6. Go out regularly. Since your job now only involves you, a computer, and a virtual community, you need to socialize and get connected with people. You can, for instance, have a movie date with your best friend or a slumber party with your former officemates. Never spend a whole week locked in the house; find a way to spend at least a day somewhere.

While these tips can help you function well, much of your success in working online from home still depends on your perseverance, dedication, and patience. This then calls you to be serious with your job.

Golden Rules For Moms Working Online

2009-11-09T06:00:00.000+02:00

Whether you have given up your corporate job to spend more time with the kids or want to augment the household income, work-from-home online jobs can be one of your best options to bring in steady profit. Setting up a home office sends the idea that you are committed to the family and your career. But as good as it is to make you both professionally and domestically functional, working online—and at home—can present some problems. What are you supposed to choose between a wailing kid and a project nearing deadline? How are the kids expected to behave when mommy’s working? And who’s going to wash the dishes? Moms working online are sometimes torn between work and household duties. So, how do you draw the line?

Families are as diverse as the individuals that make them; therefore, parenting and running the household greatly vary in style. But though that’s the case, online working moms should follow specific rules to allow productivity. Here are some of them:

1. Discuss the setup with the family. It should be agreed upon by the husband and, in case they are all grown up, the kids. If the kids are still toddlers or need close attention, decide if you are going to hire a caregiver, and if you are, identify if it’s going to be a fulltime or a part-time caregiver. In most cases, part-time sitters are more practical since mommies won’t work the entire day anyway.

2. Orient yourself, the kids, and the caregiver about the possible interruptions that you can and cannot respond. Be as specific as possible and show sturdiness. Don’t go out of your home office at the sound of a whimper; instead let your caregiver do her job. If the kids are grown up, tell them the kind of environment you need and how they can help you achieve it. Children just need to be talked to and constantly reminded.

3. Define your work schedule. It depends on your preference, family, and other duties. But whatever your schedule is, make sure everyone knows it to lessen distractions and interruptions. Setting definite working hours also gives your kids the impression that they have a space in your schedule and that they can wait for their time rather than barge in your home office any time they want. Stick to your schedule at all times, unless of course urgent events merit your attention.

4. Decide whether you will have a closed door or open door policy. A closed door policy works better if you have a hired sitter. This allows you to work with little or no distractions and your sitter to comfortably assume responsibility without your constant inquiry and checking. The open door, on the hand, is advised if you don’t have a hired caregiver. With this policy, you can instantly check how the things are going with your kids and the house. But since this can invite noise and distraction, you can close the door whenever you need extra concentration and are talking over the phone.

5. Lay out your expectations—how the kids are supposed to behave, the amount of household chores you can assume, the level of noise you can tolerate, among other things. Then, set out a plan. If, for instance, your kids are older, you can ask them to tidy their rooms on their own. Or you can work far from the living or TV room. Moms working online and their families, at the start, need to make certain adjustments.

Typing Sense

2009-11-06T09:01:00.002+02:00

I've just been busy proofing a transcription from a subcontractor and I amazed, shocked and appaled at the lack of sense that the report makes. Granted I had to listen to it a couple of times, which is a whole other ballgame, but please if you're typing at least read what you're typing to see that it makes some sort of sense in the context of what you are typing.

Some of my all time classics (bearing in mind that I do medical dictation) have been:

The person who changed gender about 5 times in the space of a dictation of 1 minute.
The person who had a short leg cast of his arm (now surely even with no knowledge whatsoever you can all work out what's wrong with that one).
The person who had a Chief Comlaint of a Right wrist fracture who had a Left short arm cast placed.

Like I say those are just a couple and are all medical related but I think you now all get the idea of what I'm talking about.

If you're a Virtual Assistant (VA) starting out in business please remember to factor in time to proof read your reports when quoting to clients.

How to Manage your Outlook Inbox with Rules

2009-11-02T06:00:00.001+02:00

If you're finding that your inbox is becoming too cluttered and you're struggling to find your important emails then you really need to set up rules to help you manage them.

Setting up rules in Outlook is very easy, quick and will work on all the existing messages that you have already in your inbox.

There are some very simple easy steps that you need to take to set up rules:

Go to Tools, Rules and Alerts,
This will then open up another dialogue box where you select the various options to manage your messages. You can select it to work on a certain email address, a certain person or with certain words in the subject or sender email address.
Once there you select where you want to move the emails to, you can create a new folder from here as well.
Once you've set up all the rules you need/want, if you click Run Rules Now, and this will process all of the existing emails in your inbox.
Once complete click OK and all future emails will be sorted out according to the rules you've created.

New Virtual Assistants and there cashflow crisis

2009-10-30T06:00:00.004+02:00

As a new Virtual Assistant (VA) you willl often have problems with cash flow until you're up and running and making a regular income.

As a new VA though, when you take on your first few clients and until you have built up a relationship with them it might very well be worth asking for anywhere between 50 and 100% upfront for the work that you are due to undertake. While this may seem stiff it is a lifesaver for many a VA.

While not guaranteed a client who has to part with some or all of their money to get a project off the ground are likely to be more reliable to work with than one who is concerned about paying you anything upfront.

The main thing though is to trust your instincts and if something doesn't seem right about a Request for Service then before you get involved in the nitty gritty of preparing a quote why not run it past some more experienced VAs and see what they have to say, they may well have had dealings with the perspective client and be able to give you some good feedback on them.

The humble apostrophy and its uses

2009-10-26T06:00:00.001+02:00

Following on from my post the other week, I see that the UK and Australia are talking about removing apostrophies from the language as it's too hard for children to learn the rules.

I personally find this quite a shocking state of affairs. The rules for apostrophies really aren't that hard to remember and follow.

Firstly, there is the apostrophy when letters are missed out when words are combined, ie. cannot becomes can't, will not becomes won't, it is, becomes it's. Note that the apostrophy is used in each case where the letters are missed out and nowhere else.

The second rule, whcih granted is harder (but not really all that much) is for them to show possession, i.e. the boy's ball means the ball belonging to the boy. However the boys' ball means the ball belonging to the boys.

Incorrectly placed apostrophies can dramatically change how the sentence reads and means. Please take the time to use them correctly after all it really isn't that hard.While this is very plainly put and I'm sure if you want to take the issue a bit further than have a look at this website which goes into greater detail about the use of apostrophies.

Admin Processes

2009-10-23T23:59:00.001+02:00

Sorry, I haven't posted for a couple of weeks, but I've been busy updating my website.
While the aim of a Virtual Assistant (VA) is to provide office support to others in many forms of admin, it's very important that the VA doesn't forget abou their own admin policies and procedures.

If as you are starting out you create a plan for your admin processes, i.e. you invoice your clients on 25th of the month, you spend an hour a day marketing, and half an hour a day filing etc, then as you business grows and expands those policies will be easy to maintain and keep you on top of the all essential admin.Your clients won't be very impressed if they get invoiced on 20th this month, 30th next month and anytime in between the third month, it just shows that you are incapable of staying on top of your own admin procedures.

While filing may not be the thing you really enjoy doing, if you don't keep on top of it on a regular basis you will find yourself swamped under paper and unable to lay your hand on that vital file when your client requires it.

While the procedures should not be carved in stone they should at least be a start point for you to work from, as and when you get busier.

Transfering Analogue to Digital

2009-10-09T08:00:00.001+02:00

Following on from my last post about the benefits of digital transcribers over analogue, I thought this would be an appropriate next post.

If you have received an analogue file it is possible to convert it to digital.

For this you will need a couple of things:

A line-in or microphone jack on your computer or laptop.
A dictaphone capable of playing the tape.
A suitable recording program, ie Wavepad from NCH (http://www.nch.com.au/), or one of the many other programs that is capable of recording digital audio.
Lastly, and by no means least, what potentially can be the most important, and yet least expensive, peice of equipment, an audio cable that is capable of plugging into the headphone socket of the dictaphone and into the line-in/microphone port on your computer.

Once you have assembled all the items and plugged the audio cable into your computer and dictaphone you are ready to go.

The first thing to do is under the recording options of the software ensure that the recording program is using the appropriate setting for where the audio lead is plugged in. Once this is sorted, then you can press record on the recording software and press play on the dictaphone. Wtih Wavepad, as I'm sure happens with the other packages, you will be able to see the sound volume moving up and down the scale as the file is converted to digital.

Once completed, save the file. The format that you save in will have an effect on the size of the file so you might want to experiment with them to see what gives you the smallest file without loosing quality.

The file is now ready to be sent on to your transcriptionist or sub-contractor to work on.

Digital versus Analogue Dictation

2009-10-05T22:49:00.000+02:00

This is often a hotly debated as to which is better, especially in South Africa where the costs of digital recorders are still quite high. From the transcriptionist's point of view however there is no real contest, if we had our way it would all be digital.

Why I hear you ask, well the answer is simple. The pros of using analogue dictation are mainly that the cost of the dictaphones are quite inexpensive. The cons however are many. The most traumatic for any transcriptionist is the faulty tape. this could be anything from the tape has stretched, broke, twisted or any of the other problems that tape is prone to. When this happens there is very little that can be done to retrieve the dictation. If you take into account that if you use your tapes often at least once, if not more a week, then they ideally should be replaced yearly the relatively low costs of an analogue dictaphone are no longer so cheap.

Also with analgoue dictation, for the quickest turnaround the dictator and transcriptionist ideally need to be in quite close proximity.

The cons of the digital dictaphone can be that they appear cost prohibitive, especially for the new up and coming business owner that wants to take advantage of them. The pros however are vast. The chances of loosing a dictation are usually pretty slim, unless you actually manage to delete it off the dictaphone yourself, therefore you won't have the problem of having to redictate letters. The transcriptionist can be and sometimes are located anywhere in the world. As long as the dictator and transcriptionist have access to one of the following (and this is just a basic list) then they can easily send the dictation and the finished work anywhere in the world), email, internet access, or FTP server. Obviously email is not necessarily secure but there are many websites that offer secure (meeting HIPPA security requirements in the US) file transfer.

Digital files can be quite large depending of the file format but they very often can be reduced in size iwth a little bit of experimenting with file formats.

Therefore, if you are interested in having work transcribed and you want to receive the best possible product then to be honest there is nothing better than going with the digital option.

Spelling and Grammar

2009-10-02T14:04:00.000+02:00

It seems to be a trending topic this week in the circles I'm in about grammar and spelling. So I thought I'd air my pet peeve as well.

There is nothing worse to me than receiving an e-mail that is so badly worded and with the incorrect use of grammar. I do understand that while English is the most commonly spoken language in the world that a number of its speakers are either second or third language English speakers. However with today's computers and the internet there really is no need for bad spelling and grammar. In fact those e-mails I get with incorrect grammar just confirm to me that the person has no consideration for what they are doing or who will end up reading their e-mail.

The classic for me was an e-mail I received for a business from China looking to get one of my clients to use their services. The opening paragraph of the e-mail reads as follows "We are a facotry about 300 workers.We have a long-standing experience in all kinds of knitting, & printing in all washes, designs, constructions & specifications. Like T-shirt, polo shirt ,singlet ,kid's wear, sleepwear, casual wear and sports wear."

Now firstly any decent spell checker would/should have picked up that "factory" is incorrectly spelt. Then can someone please explain how they can get some of the commas right and then mess up on some of them as well. What does that say to me, and this doesn't matter what language you speak, it says that you didn't even bother to read what you had typed or you would have picked up the grammar errors at the very least.

If you are not comfortable in the ability of your English when having business dealings then why not consider hiring a VA who can at the very minimum proof the file to make sure that the grammar is correct. Also please always remember to use your spell checker.

What is going to happen to the e-mail I mentioned above, well it went straight into the Deleted Items folder never to see the light of day again.

A New Career for 2010

2009-09-28T09:25:00.001+02:00

Are you an experienced administrator or Personal Assistant looking for a new challenge, or are you struggling to get into the field. If so, you could consider becoming a Virtual Assistant (VA). There are many different definitions for what a Virtual Assistant actually is but a broad definition as taken from the Virtual Assistant Networking website is as follows: A Virtual Assistant (or VA) is a solopreneur who specializes in providing ongoing, one-on-one, collaborative-style administrative support. Like other professional service providers, Virtual Assistants operate remotely from their own places of business and utilize today's technology to deliver their services and communicate with clients. Virtual Assistants are first and foremost administrative experts. Virtual Assistants sometimes offer additional, separate specialties that fall under creative and/or technical services. Having a look at this definition it is clear that not all VA’s are equal. All VA’s will carry with them a different set of skills that they are able to provide to their clients. Among the many services that are offered routinely by VA’s are transcription and typing services, data entry, web site design and maintenance, drafting of presentations, diary management, project management, internet research, proof reading and many more. The skills and services that you offer as a VA are directly linked to the skills that you have and are comfortable offering. It is possible, and many VA’s do start their business as a part time, additional business while holding down a full time job. This obviously initially places limitations on the services that they are able to offer. Once comfortable it is possible to increase the size of your business and also ultimately say goodbye to your existing full time job. While working from home as your own boss may seem idyllic there are many considerations that you need to take into account. The first and foremost thing that you need to consider is your own ability to manage your own time. If you are capable of ignoring the glorious day outside when you have a deadline to make then you can consider the option of working as a VA. If you get distracted at the drop of a hat then you may wish to consider doing a time management course before considering this as a career.

Working From Home is easy Right!

2009-09-25T05:00:00.000+02:00

You've decided that you think working from home would make you life easy, well you'd think so but you would be wrong. You would be amazed at the number of people who think that because you work from home you don't really work. You'll have the friend who stops by unannouced for coffeedbecause they're on leave for a day/week. The neighbour who doesn't understand why something hasn't been done that they spoke to you about urgently this morning. The friend who asks you to go on a shoppingspree with them, and then gets upset when you explain you can't as you're working. And lastly what about the partner who asks you to do something, and rings back 5 minutes later to check if it's been done.

These are just some of the external challenges you'll face if you want to work from hom. If you can be strict and set guidelines for friends and family and not let them disturb you when you're working then working from home can be wonderful. However, having gotten past those hurdles we come to the one hurdle that will sink any work at home career faster than all of the above put together. How good is your willpower. If you are easily distracted if you're at home by yourself or if there are other people about then working from home might not be for you.

A case in point, someone I worked with a while ago was "committed" to working from home and making some money. She however had no concept of self discipline for working at home. Now I'll grant you she had a young child, but there was also a full time nanny to help look after the child and keep an eye on the house. Her work would often miss deadlines and when queried upon why her standard answer was "I needed to do something" for the child. Breaking point for me was the day at 8:30 in the morning she told me she was just going off to pay a bill, at 6:0o that night when asked about the file her answer was "Well I was out with my husband until 5:30, then we got home and it was time to make supper, then her son needed to be bathed, and put to bed before she could start on it". Needless to say that the working relationship didn't last much longer, unfortunately, she took it personally and the personal friendship suffered a bit as well.

While this is an extreme case, if you have the willpower and committmentto work from home then you will find you don't get yourself into such situations. But it is certainly worth consideringbefore decidingwhether working at home is for you or not.

A couple of good ideas if you want to work from home:

Set rules about your workings hours. Yes they can be flexible but you do need to have some idea. It's also good for if you have clients to remind them of your hours so that you can actually have some family time.
Think about getting dressed in the morning before starting work. I don't mean getting dressed in office clothes but at least get up and get out of your PJ's, it's amazing what an effect that it will have on your mind set.
Don't run errands as they occur but rather try and keep them so that you can run them all together and save you time in the long run.

Hiring A VA

2009-09-21T13:44:00.000+02:00

A VA can be great for your business if you choose the right one. Likewise, a bad VA can be very bad for your business.

If you are bogged down with the nitty gritty stuff of running your business and finding that you're just not getting the time to grow your business then consider a VA.

When searching for a VA for your business there are many different things you can try.
You can try searching on the internet for virtual assistant, if you add in your field of expertise then hopefully you'll get a much smaller collection to choose from but they should be specialists in their /your field of business.

Alternatively, you can ask your friends and colleagues for word of mouth referrals. While this is a good way to get a referral you do run the risk that the VA you are referred to knows nothing about your business.
An important aspect to remember is that a VA is a business owner in their own right and they are not going to be willing to clock in and out iwth you every day, so long as they meet the deadlines that you set.
If the worst comes to the worst and either you or your VA do not feel that the business relationship is working well then you may well want to cut ties and start again. If you find yourself in this situation ask your VA for a referral as they might know someone who is better suited to the job.

By the same token if your VA approaches you about referrring you on to another VA this may well be because the new VA is better skilled in your area of expertise.

Don't get put off if you have a bad experience the perfect VA is out there waiting for you.

The Wonders of Digital Dictation

2009-09-18T09:49:00.000+02:00

Recently I was given access to a wonderful web server that facilitates the transfering of digital voice files to either a single, or pool of typists. They can then transcribe the documents using specialized software on their computers, and at a click of a couple of buttons the document is returned to the originator.

For those that still use analogue tapes or who e-mail or courier digital files to their transcriptionists the speed and ease of these web based services is now so advanced while remaining user friendly is amazing.
Depending on the how the web server is set up, it can allow you the ability to access your reports anywhere in the world, at any time of the day or night.

If for instance, you are called to an emergency at 2 in the morning, depending on where you and your typist are based, you could dictate and upload your file to the server and potentially have the report back on your desk when you get to the office in the morning.

If you are still using an analogue recorder, the option of moving to digital may seem exorbitant, but the amount of ease that it will allow for you and your transcriptionist to work will make the outlay pay for itself in no time at all. Also, factor in the cost of having to have two machines serviced, the costs of replacing the tapes (which ideally should be done yearly) and the potential that you may need to replace one or other of the two machines involved in the process (either your dictaphone or else the transcription unit) and really there is no comparison.

If you're still unsure about moving to digital, contact one of the many companies that offers digital transcription using a web based server and see how easy the whole process can be.

Secretarial Assistance

2009-09-15T08:43:00.001+02:00

Has your secretary been booked off work sick and youve hired a temp.

You've given them some typing to do for you and you've now spent the last two hours correcting the work, you're now wondering how long your secretary is going to be off and how long you can hold onto the typing before you have to give the next batch to the temp.

Why not instead try a VA. We offer secretarial and transcription services and are highly skilled professional administrative personnel.

If your field of business has it's own set of terminology chances are if you hire a temp from an agency they are just going to send you however is next on the list and not bother to see what skill sets you require. Also what you pay the agency is never what the temp gets paid.

When you hire a VA you pay precisely for the services you want. You don't line someone else's pocket while you have to spend time "training" a temp that by the pure nature of what they do will only be there for a short period of time. After all the other choice is that you spend hours correcting everything that they've already done and if that's the case why have them their at all.

Next time you need temporary, short term or emergency cover why not try using a VA instead.

While VA's normal work from their own office, if mutually agreed upon they may well come to your office for a short period of time to help with filing etc. Then any work that they can do remotely from their office they will take and do for you.

So like I say why not give a VA a try next time you need a temporary short term solution to your admin crisis.