GDPR – crowdsource…

GDPR data protection

GDPR Compliance: So we are all scrambling around at the moment trying to make sure all our suppliers are compliant in terms of storage and  security for GDPR.  There will be a million different apps, programmes, suppliers and programmes which VAs store personal information in and which should be assessed for data liabilities…And I’m sure […]

Subcontractors looking for work…

subcontractor VA

We’ve had a few requests recently to put a call out for subbies – there’s a few people who happily regularly hire subcontractors in their businesses, and would be happy for people to approach them looking for work…  We’re collecting these in and we’ll be publishing soon – feel free to skip any parts which […]

Virtual Assistant Skills – unique to the industry!

Love being a virtual assistant

Virtual Assistant Skills:  “I’ve been a PA for 26 years – I don’t need told how to write a document” – except this aspiring virtual assistant most definitely did need told, because she had just completed our virtual assistant skills spelling test and had spectacularly failed it leaving in misspelt words, inconsistent formatting and hadn’t […]

Is “virtual assistant” going out of fashion?

virtual assistant alternatives

The USA tends to be about 5 years ahead of us here in the UK when it comes to the virtual assistant world… (Check out the history of the virtual assistant! https://www.societyofvirtualassistants.co.uk/2013/07/08/the-history-of-the-virtual-assistant-2/) But one trend I’ve noticed is that increasingly VAs are distancing themselves from the term “virtual assistant”.  A variety of words are now […]

So you want to be a subcontractor virtual assistant?

average subcontract virtual assistant rate

(Or how much a VA’s virtual assistant gets paid!) “They’re paying HOW MUCH for a virtual assistant subcontractor???”  Yes, the outraged exclamations on Facebook Groups for a subcontract virtual assistant job this week raised a lot of eyebrows…  But you know, the virtual assistants doing these subcontract jobs aren’t necessarily doing the same job as […]

The Longest Ever VA Business Set-Up?

The Mourne Mountains In 2005 I found myself living at the foot of the Mourne Mountains in Ireland with my husband and children who were then 4, 12 and 14 years old.  Of course, having a young family and moving away is always a difficult time and I wanted to do something other than applying […]

Becoming a new VA

“So what do you do as a job?” Since becoming a full-time V.A. in January this year I haven’t quite worked out a satisfactory reply to that question. So what do I do? Data entry, creating websites, researching CRMs, testing software, social media management, event planning, project planning, everything planning. Well, I do it all. […]

Outsourcing Masterclass

Virtual Assistant outsourcing subcontractor pack

Hiring Your First VA – Outsourcing Masterclass When I hired my first VA, I made mistakes – BIG mistakes.  It took me hours and hours and hours to set her up.  It seemed like I was wasting time by explaining how to do stuff, and it would be quicker if I just did it myself.  […]

Office* – Virtual Assistant Myths!

virtual assistant working mums WAHM

Virtual Assistant Myths Here is our presentation from Office* 2017 – this year for the first time incorporating the PA Show and the VA Conference and Awards.  Many thanks to John Palmer and the BeMyVA team for inviting me to present and launch the UK VA Survey data collection appeal! We had a really interesting […]

7 Habits of Highly Effective VAs

Shamefully stolen from Professor Stephen Covey’s book, these are a few habits that I’ve noticed successful VAs have in common – and I don’t think it’s by accident!