Many of us who work virtually, have a keen awareness about the benefits of balancing family life and work life. It is not necessarily easy, but it is manageable if you are organized and have a strong commitment to the profession. However, for those with school-aged kids, the summer months can push the limits of balance and patience. Our work schedules suddenly have to compete with kids who want/need our attention during daytime working hours.

Here are some useful tips to get you through what we like to call the summer -“time shift”.

Plan daily projects for your kids:
Depending on the age of your kids, try to have a daily project that requires little to no supervision which will occupy them for at least an hour. While the kids are doing their project, you can get some work done on your laptop or within ear shot of them.
Some project ideas include:

• Quiet reading time
• Writing letters to grandparents
• Coloring or drawing pictures
• Playing educational games on the iPad
• Watching...

Assisting with event planning is a service many clients need help with.  There are many parts of the event planning process that can be done with the help of a virtual assistant.

Events planning can include online events, video based or webinar style events, and events that are held in conference rooms, hotels, or event centers.  In this blog we will be discussing tips for planning an event or training at a physical location.  Regardless of what kind of event you are helping to execute, there are a lot of questions you should ask your client early on in the planning stage in order to assure a successful partnership.

Listed below are some key questions you should discuss with your client before starting to work together.

1. What is the projected date and location for the event?
2. How many guests will attend the event or what is the attendance goal?
3. What is the budget for facilities rental?
4. Will there need to be catering or other food/drink services?
5. Will there be...

As a virtual assistant it is important to share your services in a variety of ways.  Having a website is great, being on social media is important, but don’t forget to share what you do during normal daily activities.

Talk to the person working out next to you at the gym, share your skills at kids’ school activities, at church, at social gatherings, etc. You never know who may need your services.

It is important to have specific examples of how you can help someone make their life easier. It also can help that person identify someone who may need your services if they don’t.

You can discuss how you are:

• Skilled in social media marketing
• Great at transcription
• A numbers person with a strong accounting background 
• You may even have to explain what a virtual assistant is and how you started working as one

Be sure to give a way for people to contact you – email, visit a website, connect on social media, etc. if they or someone they know wants to...

As the new year begins, virtual assistants who own and operate their own business or who are working as an independent contractor will  need to work on organizing receipts and tax-related expenses. 

• Did you keep records of your expenses from 2013?
• Do you have your expenses organized?

If you are having trouble answering either one of the questions above, do not worry…here are a few tips and tricks on helping you get on track for tax time!

Understanding what type of expenses can be applied to your business as a VA, can best be determined by an accountant.  However, here are a few examples of everyday expenses that you should be tracking throughout the year.

• Telephone call made to contact your clients – whether it’s a land-line and/or cell phone
• Internet connection in order to communicate with your clients
• Copier and fax
• Business cards and any marketing material
• Did you use a car  to visit your clients – if you did, expenses...

It is hard to believe that December is here and we will be welcoming in the New Year very soon.  Many of your clients still have things they need to do before changing the calendar to 2014 that can be outsourced to a virtual assistant.

Here are 5 things you can do to help with the end of the year push.

1. Communicate!  This is a busy month, and time is flying by.  Be sure and reach out to your client by email, phone, or Skype to remind them that you can help wrap up administrative tasks.
2. Website Review. Offer to make sure all information on their website is updated with new business testimonials and photos, so that the website is refreshed and ready for visitors in the new year.
3. Organize Emails.  Many of your clients would really appreciate starting 2014 with an inbox that isn’t cluttered.  Offer to create or purge both their active or reference-only emails.  With a little guidance from your client, this can be a great project to help them with.
4. ...

This is a great time of the year to offer virtual assistant services that are geared specifically towards the holidays.

A busy executive may not know that a virtual assistant can:

• book their holiday travel
• brainstorm gift ideas and find the best prices
• create digital photobooks
• order and mail holiday cards
• help with marketing holiday promotions
• handle emails and/or phone calls while they are away

Remember, the status quo is not always the best way to retain or attract customers.  Being a virtual assistant allows you a lot of flexibility and creativity in the kind of services you can provide to your clients. Take advantage of this busy time of the year and realize that most business owners can use an extra hand with a task that is holiday related.

Your goal should be to help your client have a stress-free holiday so that they will not think twice about referring more work to you throughout the coming year.

It’s never easy being a mom trying to juggle a work at home job with a family life.  15 years ago, most people never even heard the acronym WAHM (work-at-home mom).  Women usually had to make the decision to stay at their 9am-5pm job and find childcare or become a stay at home mom without any additional income.
Luckily, a question today’s Moms can ask is “What kind of work can I do from home?  According to parenting.com the desire for family flexibility is the number-one reason most Moms want to work from home.
Working as a virtual assistant (VA) is a great option for today’s WAHM.  Having an administrative, marketing or accounting background is very beneficial to the current demand for virtual assistance.  However, there are many other professional skills that can be done virtually.  Working as a home-based VA can be a very rewarding and profitable venture when considered thoroughly and executed strategically.

So what will help...

What do I charge for my services?!? This has to be one of the most frequently asked questions by virtual assistants. And unfortunately there is not an easy, straightforward answer. It depends.

A VA’s rate is often dependent on the niche she is serving, her skill and experience level, what she needs to make for income, and what she believes she is worth. This answer leaves a LOT of gray area.

If you like to make decisions from a factual, numbers based approach, the rate calculator here may help: Freelance Hourly Rate Calculator.

You are asked to take 5-20 minutes to enter your personal and business costs, profit goals, hours you want to work, and a few other things, and the calculator gives you an hourly rate to target. It’s a good starting place, especially if you charge by the hour.

I encourage you to use the rate calculator as just one tool. Remember to take into account the other pieces that come into play when making your decision on what to charge – your...

A business email is essential.
You want something professional rather than [email protected] or [email protected]. If you don’t have a business name, at least use your name.
Other than your specific domain name address ([email protected]), Gmail is the most popular and professional email these days. Please retire your AOL address – they scream outdated and technologically challenged. Same with hotmail.The challenge with using email addresses that your service provider gives you (Verizon, Cox, Comcast, etc.) is that you lose the address if you ever change services.
A business phone number is ideal, but not always financially possible for VAs when just starting out. A dedicated line for business lets you have a professional voicemail and security that the phone will always be answered in a professional manner.

• If you choose to have your home phone be your business line, here are some tips:
  • Have a professional sounding voicemail greeting
  • Do not...

If you ever coordinate events for clients (or yourself) you need to know about EventBrite. The website allows you to create an event, let people register, sell tickets, and even accept payment online. It’s a fantastic tool that is free (other than the payment portal) and greatly assists in tracking attendance and communicating with attendees via email. Check it out for yourself at EventBrite.