I wish you a very Merry Christmas and hope that the New Year ahead will be a great one for you.

See you next year …

Fiona

p.s.  In the end I did decide to get Christmas presents for my clients.

Do you buy Christmas presents for your clients?

I have had some personalised Christmas Cards printed with my business name and I will definitely be sending a few of those out to my clients, and also to other Virtual Assistants I have worked with, or been in contact with over the past year.

I read a post recently on Flying Solo which talked about whether Christmas presents for clients were hot or not.  I’m still undecided, but probably leaning towards providing a little bit of Christmas cheer to my clients to let them know I’ve appreciated working with them this year.

How about you?  Will you or won’t you?  I would love to hear your thoughts …

Fiona

It’s always good to reflect on your business and the year just past (or still passing as the case may be here).

I started my business in June of 2008.  I have gone from a “potential” business to a “thriving” one which has been wonderful.

Part of the reason for starting my own Virtual Assistant business was to be available and involved with my children.  I didn’t want to be “tied” to a job where I “had” to go to work on days I would rather be attending something special at school, or going on an excursion etc.

My focus in looking forward to 2010 has therefore been on making sure that I have this flexibility, whilst maintaining accountability and excellent service to my clients.

I will be doing a bit of juggling with my schedule, and choosing clients who I know will allow me to be flexible with the hours I work.  It’s great to be busy – but not if it’s at the expense of your personal life.  As a sole business owner, it is easy sometimes to get sucked into the “busy is best” mentality, but you can fall into a trap of neglecting your family and your own personal well being if you are not careful.

So 2010 will see a few changes for Swift Online Secretarial, but also a return to some “me” time and I hope a bit better balance between my business and personal commitments.

How about you?  Are you planning ahead for 2010?

Fiona

The latest was on Wednesday night, and when I turned my computer on yesterday – I had no internet connection.  Oh no!  Running a virtual business without being connected to the internet is a bit like trying to bake scones in an oven with no electricity.

I rang my service provider, who is always very helpful (thanks Westnet), and it seemed my modem was malfunctioning.  We tried turning it off and on again.  Then we tried plugging it into a different phone jack in the house.  Still no joy.  The technician suggested I take it to a friend’s place to see if it would work on their phone line (otherwise to call Telstra out would cost $105 if it was found that the modem was faulty, not the phone line).

I left it for a while, then decided to try the modem again in its second location later in the day.  It worked perfectly?!  So I plugged everything back in, rang my provider and got it all reconfigured and up and running again.  Phew!

However, this morning my modem was fine, but I had no internet access again.  I went back to the service provider and we did a few things differently, and hopefully we have fixed the problem for good now.

It brought up a few issues for me though.  I don’t know if it was a coincidence that my modem went out the night after some very big lightning strikes nearby?  I was speaking to a computer friend and he said it’s generally busy for him after an electrical storm with people’s computers being fried because they’ve been left plugged in and turned on.

I have a heavy-duty surge protector board which I plug my computer in to, and I turn everything off at the wall whenever I’m not using my computer.  However, my friend pointed out that I should really unplug the board from the wall as if you get a massive lightning strike on your house and all that voltage surging through your electrics – one small switch turned off might not be enough to stop the damage.

So I’m now unplugging the surge protector from the wall each time I turn the computer off.

How about you?  Do you have systems in place for protecting your computer and electrical goods?  It’s definitely worth thinking about… better to be safe than sorry!

Fiona

Here are a few tips which might help other VAs to work with new clients:-

• Have a contract which sets out exactly what you will be doing for your client.  Be especially clear regarding time constraints for particular tasks, the business hours you are available and contactable, your rate of pay and preference/s for payment.
• Ask lots of questions.  Be clear about what the client expects from you.  If you are unsure – ask for further detail or explanation.  There is nothing worse than starting a job and getting half way through, then realising you are on the wrong track and need to pull back to start again.  It’s much better to ask questions in the beginning to ensure you understand the task/s you need to perform.
• Be honest.  If a client is overstepping the boundaries  – particularly regarding the time you are available – tell them;  “I am available between 9am and 5pm each day.  Please don’t call me outside of those hours.  You are welcome to email me, but understand that I won’t be checking my emails outside of my business hours”.

• Cut Ties if you need to.  Sometimes the VA/client relationship just does not work.  There can be many reasons for this; personality differences, work ethic differences or unrealistic expectations.  If you are not enjoying your role with a particular client, tell them that you are sorry but it’s just not working for you.  Be honest, and gently let them go.  This will free you up to find a more suitable client.  Your “gut feeling” is often spot-on, so be aware of it and take action when required.

How about you?  If you are a VA, perhaps you might like to leave a comment with a tip for building relationships with new clients.

Fiona

In March next year, the inaugural Australian VA Conference will be held in Melbourne, Australia.

It’s probably unlikely that I will be able to make it, as I have a trip planned to Canberra that month; but I’m sure it will be a fantastic event, and a great way for VAs to mingle and learn from each other.

You can read more about it here at the official blog for the Conference.

Fiona

Some VAs favour on-line software – and there are quite a few free options available.

One system I trialled was myHours.com.  This was a very user-friendly application with great reporting facilities – but they often seemed to be off-line for maintenance which was very frustrating if you were working for a client and needed to keep track of time.  It’s hardly worthwhile if you have to resort to pen and paper to keep track of tasks then enter them into the software later!

Now my preferred Time Tracking Software is Time Stamp.  It’s rather basic compared to the bells and whistles you get with myHours, but the thing I like about it is that the programme is downloaded straight to your computer, so there are no problems with the software being “unavailable”.  You can print basic reports to keep for your records, or to give to clients should you need to.  I do legal transcription and find Time Stamp is excellent to keep track of the amount of time I spend typing for my clients.  Once the transcription is completed, I produce an Invoice relating to the time spent for each particular job.  It’s great.

If you use different, free Time Tracking Software in your business, I would love to hear about it – please leave me a comment.

Fiona

I had previously used the Auto Correct options in Word for saving shortcuts when I was typing. The only problem I had with this was finding and backing up the file where the shortcuts were saved to – and a few times I had problems with my computer and ended up losing all my data.

I purchased Shorthand for Windows about a month ago and absolutely love it. It saves me heaps of time in typing repetitive phrases when working for my clients, and the data file is easy to find and back up.

At US$30 per year I think it’s money well spent in the time I save using shortcuts when typing.

Fiona

It’s on again, the Annual Virtual Assistant Industry Survey which is run by Virtual Assistance Chamber of Commerce in the USA.

If you are a Virtual Assistant, be sure to go and fill in the Survey.  It’s quite detailed, and the final report makes for interesting reading.  Remember to enter your details after completing the Survey, so that you will receive a copy of the report once it’s finalised.

Fiona

These pink daisies are Everlastings, sometimes also referred to as Paper Daisies because they rustle when you touch them and almost feel like paper.

This is a Tall Triggerplant (often known by its genus name Stylidium)

Fiona