As part of running the UK Association of Virtual Assistants I spend a lot of time researching online and checking other virtual assistant’s website. Occasionally I see an outstanding website, but what I usually see is a whole range of similar sites, each one fairly indistinguishable from anther. When a potential client is shopping around [...]

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Keep on Networking. This is often the first thing that gets dropped when you become busy with clients work. I know; I’m guilty of it myself. But when you suddenly disappear from groups you have been a regular at, often the assumption is that you are no longer in business. Accept that networking is part [...]

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Happy New Year! In keeping with the resolutions theme, today’s tip looks at reviewing, taking stock and moving forwards. Review Your Marketing Activities. Set aside time each month to review your marketing activities. How many enquiries have you had in the previous month and where have they come from? Have a look at what is [...]

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Social Networking. If you have a profile on sites such as Facebook, Ecademy and LinkedIn, it’s easy to spend hours each day on and off the site responding to requests to link. Set aside some time each week for social networking and respond to invitations then. Also user this time to seek out new connections [...]

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Writing Your Blog. The same writing advice applies here as it does to newsletters but with the added bonus that you can schedule your posts for in advance. Write it in batches, serialise articles and schedule it to go lie on the internet, when you want it to. For more tips and resources, visit http://www.ukava.co.uk

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Create Checklists. Have checklists for every process in your business. For example, when you take on a new client, have a checklist that prompts you to check you have received back the signed contract, you have sent your Welcome Pack, you have set up an appropriate email address, you have their stationery, etc. This saves [...]

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Do Your Filing. In addition to your client files, have files for everything related to running your business. Then set aside time each week to file everything you have dealt with that week. I use the last half hour on a Friday for this. For more tips and resources, visit http://www.ukava.co.uk

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Create email templates. If you answer an email to the same question more than once, create an email template so that next time you are asked the question, you already have an email ready to send out. For more tips and resources, visit http://www.ukava.co.uk

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Sort Your Emails. Hands up who has an inbox with more than 10 emails in it? If you have, it can be a huge waste of time trying to find what you are looking for and the clutter can be overwhelming. Have files for incoming email and set up rules for all mail that can [...]

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When you are a virtual assistant, especially when your practice is becoming full, you spend a lot of time juggling your schedule so you can fit in all the needs and requirements of all your various clients. As you become more and more busy with client work, it is often easy to forget to schedule [...]

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