How to become a Virtual Assistant
Starting up your own Virtual Assistance Business can be a very exciting and daunting experience. In this current economic climate the Virtual Assistance industry is booming.
The benefits of using a Virtual Assistant (VA) are immense and businesses are recognising their value in that:
- There are no overheads, i.e. pension, sick pay, holiday pay etc.
- They only pay for the time spent on their project.
- They don’t have to find space or equipment as Virtual Assistants work from their own premises.
When I first started my business in January 2008, every networking event I went to I had to explain what a VA was. I am now finding that when I go to a networking event, business owners have either heard of a VA or have met another VA.
This means that there are more VAs out there. You shouldn’t see this as a threat and more as an opportunity. I met a VA at a networking event that I am a member of. We see each other at these networking events but will also send occasional emails to each other to see how we are getting on. We now help each other out when we have larger projects.
I would therefore recommend that you do get to know other VAs as you can share knowledge and larger projects.
The benefits of becoming a Virtual Assistant are numerous
including:
- No more commuting as you can work from home.
- You can choose when you work (you can start your business on a part time basis).
- You can fit your business around your family life.
- You can choose who you work with.
Plus many more…
You must be aware that running your business can be hard work. At first you will try to do everything yourself to keep the costs down including your marketing and bookkeeping. Over time you will realise that these tasks can be outsourced to other experts.
Some other things you should be aware of:
- It can get lonely working from home
- It can be stressful especially if you are finding it difficult to find clients
This series of blog posts will go through how to become a virtual assistant.
I will also be giving you tips on marketing and networking. I will highlight what has worked for me and what has been a waste of money.
RingCentral Virtual Phone System
RingCentral was formerly BTRingCentral. It is available in the UK, US and Canada.
RingCentral offers you the power of a sophisticated phone system but with no hardware to buy and nothing to maintain.
Click here to check out the different RingCentral Plans
When you sign up for RingCentral UK, you will immediately get your own 0800, 0845 or local phone number to use as your business’ main number. In addition, you will also receive a dedicated fax number.
Once you have got your phone number you can answer calls on your existing mobile, home and office phones, or even on your PC.
With your dedicated fax number you will be able to send and receive faxes.
Benefits of RingCentral
- There are no contracts.
- You can have an 0800 number that enables clients to reach you free of charge.
- It will give new clients the impression that your business is a larger professional company.
- If you select the 0845 number option you will have that number for life and there is no charge if you answer your calls on a landline or through the RingCentral Call Controller.
- You can send and receive faxes by email and online.
- RingCentral is completely integrated with Microsoft Outlook® allowing you to send faxes using your Outlook contacts. It also allows you to make/receive calls and you will be advised who the caller is before you accept the call.
- 30 Day Risk Free Trial on the Plus Plan and RingCentral Office (US)
Cons of RingCentral
- The Professional plan charges £4.99/mo for the dial-by-name directory.
- The Professional plan charges £4.99/mo for additional call queues.
Our Verdict of RingCentral
We have no reservations in recommending RingCentral as a virtual phone system for either your own business or to offer a call answering service to your clients.
Check out what other Virtual Assistants are saying about RingCentral here.
Here are just some of the awards that RingCentral have received over the years.
This is definitely one company to check out if you are looking for a virtual phone system.
RingCentral Discounts
5 Reasons to Try QuickBooks for Mac 2012
Do you need an accounting package that you can use on your Mac? Below are 5 powerful reasons why you should try QuickBooks for Mac 2012. You could use this accounting software to run your own business or to provide a service to your clients as a virtual assistant.
1. Free Trial Offer
Intuit are currently offering a free trial of QuickBooks for Mac 2012. Why not try it before you buy by clicking the link below?
QuickBooks 2012 for Macs – Free trial
2. QuickBooks for Mac is Easy to Use
You don’t need to have any accounting experience to use this accounting software for the Mac. There is a guide me feature that will guide you through processes until you are familiar with the software.
If you actually go on to purchase QuickBooks they offer you a free 60 minute phone session to help you get started.
3. Create Invoices and Sales Receipts
You can easily create invoices and sales receipt.
4. Easy Tracking of Expenses and Payments
It is easy to track who has paid you and who hasn’t. You can even securely download your bank and credit card transactions directly from your financial institution, and enter them in batches into QuickBooks.
The analysing tools within QuickBooks for Mac will help you to easily see where you are spending money, your top customers and your yearly income.
It comes with over 115 reports to analyze your business and show the data you need.
5. More Professional with the ability to brand
QuickBooks will help your business to look more professional. You can customize your invoices and estimates with your logo, and your choice of colors and fonts.
QuickBooks are currently offering the QuickBooks for Mac 2012 at a 20% discount. Click below for more features:
QuickBooks Organizes your Files and Makes Tax Time Easy – Save up to 20% Now + Free Shipping
Removing the Active Desktop Recovery Screen from Your PC
Have you got the Active Desktop Recovery screen as below? Have you tried all the steps and found that it doesn’t work.
Me too. I did an online search to find a solution to this problem. I came across it at http://www.techtamasha.com/how-to-remove-active-desktop-recovery-screen/109
1.Go to Run and type in regedit
2.Click this path – HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Internet Explorer\Desktop\SafeMode\Components
3.Locate the key named DeskHtmlVersion
4.Right click the key and select Modify
5.Under the label Base, select the radio button Decimal
6.Change Value data to 0
7.Click OK
The final step is to press F5 on the desktop and the active desktop recovery screen disappears before your eyes!
Aweber Review
I have used AWeber for a couple of years now and have found it extremely easy to use and very reliable.
Try AWeber’s Email Marketing Tool Risk-Free
This Aweber review will highlight how it can help your business keep in touch with your clients.
Aweber Newsletters
A regular newsletter will help you to keep in contact with your clients. You can provide them with helpful tips and let them know that you are an expert in your field.
It also gives you the opportunity to let them know what you have been up to and what services you offer. They may not be aware of all your abilities. The newsletter should provide value to your clients. They will unsubscribe if you are always pushing your services and not giving them great content.
If can be difficult to commit to doing a regular newsletter but if you don’t have the time you can always outsource the writing. There are many sites you can use including http://www.elance.com or http://www.freelancer.com to find writers.
There are over 150 easy to customize templates included. You also have the option to create a text version. There is an ongoing debate as to whether a text version or a html template is best. If you do opt for the html template I would also copy it into the text version just in case someone can’t view the html version.
Aweber Unsubscribing
It is imperative that you give your clients/subscribers the option to unsubscribe from your list.
Aweber handles all this for you. There is an unsubscribe message on the bottom of each email that is sent out. If someone clicks on the unsubscribe button then a tick will appear in the stop column and they will no longer receive emails. They can stay on your list or you can decide to delete them.
Aweber Signup Forms
Your newsletter could potentially turn website visitors into clients.
Aweber makes it extremely simple to add a signup form on your website for your newsletter. You don’t need to learn HTML or any technical stuff. Aweber will produce the code and all you need to do is copy and paste it onto your site.
Aweber is a double opt-in autoresponder. This means that once a subscriber signs up for your newsletter/free ebook then they must confirm their subscription.
You obviously don’t need to have a website to be able to use Aweber.
You can add your contacts straight into Aweber and Aweber will send out a confirmation email to your subscribers.
Some view this as a restrictive feature but Aweber wants to ensure that the people you are adding want to receive your emails. This does ensure that you are not sending out unsolicited emails.
If you think this is a feature that you would not like then check out GetResponse which has a more lenient way of importing subscribers.
Aweber Reporting
Aweber makes it extremely easy to track subscriber activity. You can segment out who opened one of your emails and send an email just to those who opened it.
It also shows you who has clicked on your links within each email. This makes it extremely easy to see who is interested in your content and what content they are interested in.
Aweber Prices
You can send emails as frequently as you like. Some email marketing services charge per email sent which can get expensive fast.
Aweber charges you a monthly fee depending on the amount of subscribers you have.
I hope this Aweber review has highlighted the importance of staying in contact with your clients. I believe that Aweber is the best autoresponder around.
Get Started Today For Only $1! – AWeber Communications
