Wishing all my lovely clients a wonderful Christmas and a relaxed, enjoyable break and I look forward to working with you again in 2009.

If you enjoyed this post, make sure you subscribe to my RSS feed!

Microsoft patches IE, but Firefox is still safer

There has been a lot of buzz in the media these past couple of days about a serious security flaw in Microsoft IE. I don’t use IE anyway and haven’t done for two or three years (wouldn’t touch it with a barge pole!).

This is not the first time this has happened with IE. Back in 2005 there was another security flaw in Microsoft’s browser version IE6 - I wonder how many times it has to happen before people get the message that hackers will always try to infiltrate widely used programs, like IE. This problem is not applicable to the beautiful and very fast Firefox (the Bomb of all Browsers - read the above article on how to customise it to act like IE with certain websites including Active X controls) or Chrome, Opera, Safari etc.

I would suggest get out there and download one of the alternative browsers, give it a good go for a week and I’m confident you will never want to go back to the ‘dark side’ of MS IE. I’m quite sure you can import your bookmarks from IE too. No excuses folks - protect your personal information and say ‘no’ to IE!

If you enjoyed this post, make sure you subscribe to my RSS feed!

Angels of the office

I found this interesting article in my daily Google Alerts as it mentions virtual assistants and echoes my previous blog post about the importance of Virtual Assistants during an economic downturn.

If you enjoyed this post, make sure you subscribe to my RSS feed!

We’ve all heard the doom and gloom stories in the media about the economic crisis facing the US and slowly filtering into other countries, including Australia. Well I for one am not overly worried as I think Virtual Assistance is pretty much a recession proof business. At a time when businesses may be shedding employees because they can no longer afford the spiralling costs and overheads. Virtual Assistance with no overheads and a "pay as you go" mindset offers a viable and attractive alternative to businesses who may be doing it tough. I personally have never been busier and I enjoy finding ways to save my clients money and/or time which goes beyond merely providing admin support and is more ‘big picture’ and strategic in nature. This type of support has never been more critical and I’d like to think a Virtual Assistant can help to ease the pain of these tough economic times. 

If you enjoyed this post, make sure you subscribe to my RSS feed!

Happy birthday to us! Net Secretary turned four years old in October and wow, that time has really flown. I am so proud and pleased to still be working in this industry (in fact thriving!) four years after starting my virtual secretarial business. I recall that I was quite apprehensive and not confident at all and I look back and see all the achievements I have made since then and the direction I’m heading in for the future. My skills have increased, our services have expanded and my confidence and knowledge with it. I know that I never dreamed I would be where I am today. I would advise new Virtual Assistants to stick at it, get that word of mouth out there and do as much subcontracting to other Virtual Assistants as you can because it’s a great way to learn and build your business while having steady income coming in. Being a Virtual Assistant really is the best ‘job’ in the world!

If you enjoyed this post, make sure you subscribe to my RSS feed!

Yesterday and today, I have been busy packing up my main street office in readiness to move it back into my home. I am moving to a new home in a few weeks time which has an ideal outside room which is going to be converted into office space for Net Secretary and I am very excited about that. Having premises has been good for me and Net Secretary and a welcome learning experience for me - but I don’t require it to do what I do best. Most of my clients are virtual anyway and I’ll be saving on overheads, as well as regaining some of the flexibility I have lost in having an off-site office. I think it will allow me to concentrate better on my new business model also, that of Online Business Manager, and in the end provide better service to my existing clients.   I have gone full circle - virtual business to bricks and mortar business back to virtual business - and I like that.

If you enjoyed this post, make sure you subscribe to my RSS feed!

Facebook | Erin Blaskie’s Notes

Today I purchased this book - Becoming an Online Business Manager - as recommended in Erin Blaskie’s Facebook blog. It was a timely purchase as I’ve already been thinking about the direction I want to take my business in next year. An Online Business Manager actually aligns with the thoughts I have for Net Secretary and its future direction so I am eagerly looking forward to receiving this book and absorbing the information within. Net Secretary has transitioned from a Virtual Assistant business to more of an online management business, where VAs are provided for clients to help manage their business and myself as the Online Business Manager overseeing the performance of the tasks. I am very excited about this new phase in my business and I look forward to sharing more of my discoveries.

If you enjoyed this post, make sure you subscribe to my RSS feed!

WebWorkerDaily » Archive Open Thread: Do You Use a Virtual Assistant? «

Firstly, apologies for not writing in this blog for most of June and all of July. I have experienced a large increase in workload which has been great for Net Secretary but has meant that I am time poorer than usual. That said, I need to organize my time a little better so that I don’t neglect my blog.

I happened upon the above website today and have left a comment. It is a common question I get asked by potential clients - what tasks can I outsource to a Virtual Assistant? My advice is to write down all the tasks you do daily, weekly, monthly etc and perhaps all the things that you would LIKE  to do. Then go through the list and circle those items that you hate to do/don’t make you money/involve working in the business, not on the business/tasks that you don’t know how to do or don’t do well. These are the items that you should be outsourcing to a Virtual Assistant.

Outsourcing these tasks to a Virtual Assistant will free up your time immensely to allow you to concentrate on building your business and doing those things that you are an expert in, not things that take your time away from your business.

Virtual Assistants specialize in different areas so it may be that you require more than one assistant for different tasks (i.e. a VA skilled in websites for updating your website and another VA for your document formatting). Or you can have one VA be a one-stop shop and allow them to source a web skilled VA and manage the workflow on your behalf.

If you enjoyed this post, make sure you subscribe to my RSS feed!

I’ve decided to get certified! Microsoft Office certified that is. I have worked with the Microsoft Office suite of programs throughout my working life (most of my 20 years in the workforce and prior to becoming a Virtual Assistant and starting Net Secretary) and continue to work with these packages daily in business. I am an expert in the packages of Word, Outlook and Excel and train others in their use. I’m pretty good at Powerpoint and Access too, although the latter I have not used for a few years (and it is true what they say - you lose it if you don’t use it). So I have decided to turn this personal expertise into recognisable qualifications in these packages and I will therefore be sitting the MOS exams over the next 12 months for each of the packages in the Microsoft Office suite. I am currently in the process of taking trial assessments to see if I am ready to sit the real exams. (I’m confident I will be in Word at least)

These certifications are helpful for one’s business in that they are an internationally recognised standard for expert status in the world’s most popular office productivity software. It’s all well and good to say "Yes I’m an expert in Word" but until you actually have that certificate, it can be difficult to substantiate that claim. Certification adds credibility and authenticity to one’s claims of expert status in these areas and I think it is something that is going to be great for Net Secretary and good for clients in the long run also.

If you enjoyed this post, make sure you subscribe to my RSS feed!

I received an email today from a Virtual Assistant colleague who is pursuing business in another direction and is relinquishing her clients, one of whom she is referring to me. I have known and worked with this VA over a number of years and we have developed a good working relationship, plus she is just a very nice person!   I was thrilled that she thought of me for looking after her client for her and told her that Net Secretary would treat her client with the same care, courtesy and attention to detail that we treat all our clients with. Networking with this VA has helped us both over the years, assisting each other during busy times and giving advice and help where required. A referral has now come about but this was certainly not the intention of my relationship with this VA - it was more about what we could do for each other as business women and this referral has been just an unexpected but welcome bonus.

I do wish my VA friend all the best with her future endeavours (she has not yet told me what she will be doing - its all very secretive!) and I am sure she will do exceptionally well in whatever field she chooses to pursue.

If you enjoyed this post, make sure you subscribe to my RSS feed!