Virtual Assistant Moms - Tips for being a VA and a Mom

Spotlight Interview – Michelle Dale

November 14, 2011

This is our next interview in a new series on the site – VA spotlight. We’re not looking for just Virtual Assistants – anyone that provides a service is welcome to be interviewed. That means if you’re a web designer, ghostwriter, copywriter, business coach, etc we would love to feature you! Please, fill out the form here and you’ll be contacted once your information is reviewed. This week our expert is Michelle Dale, aka Virtual Miss Friday, of Virtual Assistant Live. You will find her bio below and a little farther down the page you can listen in to her interview. Michelle Dale Michelle’s Bio: Michelle Dale is the Virtual Assistant behind VirtualMissFriday.com and now VirtualAssistant-Live.com. She developed her thriving VA Business while travelling and living in a variety of different countries, and she is still regularly on the move. VMF Ltd is now a multi 6 figure IBC. It began in 2005 when she left the UK to begin her travels in Egypt and experience life abroad, and since then she has taken it — from just herself, to a multi-VA practise, upgrading herself to a highly effective online business consultant. She is now a 100% mobile entrepreneur and

What kinds of Tasks can my Virtual Assistant Do

November 10, 2011

By Sharon

You can have your virtual assistant do pretty much any task you can think of, provided they know how to do it. Even if you are not sure if there is a task they can do, you can always ask them and see if they are capable of it. Some examples of tasks Virtual Assistants complete for their clients: - Creating presentations - Answering phones - Data Entry - Billing - Marketing - Social Media updates - Customer Newsletters - Customer Service phone calls - Website updates You can also find virtual assistants who specialize in certain areas such as web design. This type of assistant would help you with all items that would be related to your website from design, SEO, promotion, maintenance and more. Before engaging their services, ask them exactly what they can provide for you. Another specialty for virtual assistants is real estate. Your assistant can help you manage your listings and promote the properties that you are representing. If you are looking for this type of assistant, it is best to find one who has worked in the industry as then they will understand the industry better. Most people only think of virtual assistants as

Spotlight Interview – Peggy Knudson

October 28, 2011

By Stephanie Watson

This is our next interview in a new series on the site – VA spotlight. We’re not looking for just Virtual Assistants – anyone that provides a service is welcome to be interviewed. That means if you’re a web designer, ghostwriter, copywriter, business coach, etc we would love to feature you! Please, fill out the form here and you’ll be contacted once your information is reviewed. This week our expert is Peggy Knudson of Outstanding Virtual Assistance. You will find her bio below and a little farther down the page you can listen in to her interview. Peggy Knudson Peggy’s Bio: Peggy Knudson is Director/Owner of Outstanding Virtual Assistance. She has been a very active VA to a number of businesses in the US, Canada and Europe and has worked with vendors around the world since 2004. Her 30 years of experience includes a 13 year career with Microsoft in Redmond, WA. She earned the CPS (Certified Professional Secretary) designation in 1991. Peggy has taught and was on the Office Studies Advisory Board from 1993 to 1998 at Lake Washington Technical College in Kirkland, Washington. Her tenure at Microsoft resulted in her being a sponge for new technologies that can

Being a Niche Virtual Assistant

October 26, 2011

By Sharon

As a virtual assistant, you can do a variety of work. But some people prefer to stick to something specific whether it is a topic or a specific job. Maybe this is something that you would want to consider, but what exactly does it entail? Niche Virtual Assistant A niche virtual assistant means that you specialize in one type of work for your client. Maybe you have an accounting degree and want to stick to doing books for your clients. By being a virtual assistant, you can do the accounting for a variety of clients. But as a virtual assistant, you can also assist with anything accounting related for your clients that does not always have to do with the books. Maybe they run a blog about accounting and want you to write some articles or maybe they want you to create some spreadsheets for them. But you may also choose just to do accounting but for whatever industry of people that need your help. While this may restrict you a little bit, by specializing in just one area, you may find it easier to get clients as you will have more value as you are an expert at what

Spotlight Interview – Rachel Muraca

October 21, 2011

By Stephanie Watson

This is our next interview in a new series on the site – VA spotlight. We’re not looking for just Virtual Assistants – anyone that provides a service is welcome to be interviewed. That means if you’re a web designer, ghostwriter, copywriter, business coach, etc we would love to feature you! Please, fill out the form here and you’ll be contacted once your information is reviewed. This week our expert is Rachel Muraca of RachelMuraca.com. You will find her bio below and a little farther down the page you can listen in to her interview. Rachel Muraca Rachel’s Bio: Rachel Muraca has been a Virtual Assistant since 2005 and working on websites for over 10 years. With her team of Virtual Assistants, she helps small business owners in all areas of their business. She is the one stop shop for business owners. Rachel particularly enjoys working with clients on SEO and website design and maintenance. Her motto for her clients is “When YOU are successful in your business, I am successful in mine!” Find out more about Rachel at www.rachelmuraca.com. Show Notes: What made Rachel start working from home Why she loves working from home What her services/specialties are Listen

Do you work from home and have a mommy blog?

October 20, 2011

By Stephanie Watson

If you work from home and have a mommy blog, I’d love to bring your content to VA Moms. Of course, it would only be part of your feed, then to read the rest of the post, it would go right back to your blog or VA site. If you’d like to participate in this collaboration, it would look kind of like this: http://www.stephanielwatson.com This site is a blog full of feeds from all my websites and blogs, except that they would be here at VAMoms and then link back to your site to read the rest of the post, just like it works on the blog carrying my name. If you’re interested, fill out the contact form above, and give me your feed address. The benefits are that you’ll get more traffic to your site, and we’re offering a nice service to clients too, because people looking for a VA that wind up on this site will be able to see what you have to offer and say. I am only going to accept 5 at a time, so if you blog at least once a week, and you are a VA, let me know.

Donate to Charity and make Kelly McCausey Shave Her Head

October 20, 2011

By Stephanie Watson

My friend, and owner of SoloMasterminds has made an amazing goal. She always surprises me but this one takes the cake! Watch the video, and see her promise. It’s amazing, it’s toward the end. http://youtu.be/9QA5I1BxwVo, this is where Kelly announces her intention to shave her head if she raises $5000 for children’s cancer. You can donate here: http://www.stbaldricks.org/participants/mypage/participantid/473062 Let’s get this to 5000 dollars and free Kelly of her hair, and help children combat this awful disease.

Why you need a Website

October 19, 2011

By Sharon

These days, if you do not have your own website, then you pretty much do not exist. This is especially true if you are trying to do any kind of business on the Internet. Without a website, you are hard to take serious and you may have difficulty getting clients. But fear not, this is easy to solve! With a small investment, you can have a website up and running very quickly. There are many sites that will give you a website for free and they will have templates to help you get started. You may prefer to set up a blog instead which is like a website but is a bit more fluid so you can add to it easily. Depending on the types of services you are offering may help you determine which site is better for you. You should definitely get your own domain name. A free site likely has a URL such as yourname.freesite.com which does not look very professional so take ten dollars or so and get your own domain name. If you are running your business under your personal name, then it may be best to just register yourname.com but if you are calling

Marketing Yourself as a Virtual Assistant

October 14, 2011

By Sharon

Whether you are just starting out as a virtual assistant, or you have been in the business for a while and you need more clients, it is about marketing yourself correctly. Part of your marketing efforts will be used like a job interview, especially if they are elements that you are offering to do for your clients. Social Media – Are you promoting yourself via the various social media sites? If you offer to create Facebook pages, does yours show off the skills that you have and what you can do for clients? Websites – Are you creating websites for customers? Are you showing them a variety of skills that you have? While some of the things you are capable of may not be appropriate on your website, see if previous clients will let you link to their sites, especially if you have done something amazing or unique for them. You could also create some extra pages on your site to show off these skills. Writing – If you offer writing skills, can you point your customers to various articles you have written and show that you are capable of writing a coherent sentence? Referrals – Do you have referrals

Wanted to share a beautiful picture with you

October 5, 2011

By Stephanie Watson

Wanted to share a beautiful picture with you

We’re down at PC Beach in Florida for the week and I wanted to just share a quick picture with you all. It’s awesome to take a vacation in October down here. The weather has been simply amazing! Here is a beautiful Sunset form October 4th, 2011. What can truly be better than this? What’s even better is we went on this vacation without using credit, and we could go because I work from home for myself. Had I not arranged it so that all my work was done, I could work while on vacation. Our room includes free Internet! But, I did all my work in advance and took the week off for real. We have had a great time. My brother and sister in law got to come the first couple of days of the week. I also was able to attend an Alabama game with some people I went to school with at UA.. It was the Alabama / Florida Game, and it was great. (Alabama won!). If you’ve never been to Panama City Beach Florida I highly recommend it. The prices are inexpensive, there’s lots to do, and the weather is just simply the best!!!!!!