VA Business – CanDoVirtualAssistant

Six reasons to hire a Virtual Assistant

11th December 2019
by CanDoVA

Using a Virtual Assistant (VA) can give you back so many hours in a week but it’s sometimes difficult to know what tasks to give away right?

The VA industry is growing and there is a wide range of expertise out there. It shouldn’t be too hard to find a VA that fits your organisation.

Entrepreneurs can use VAs for a myriad of things from handling email and making customer calls to writing copy and managing social media accounts.

They can become an important member of your work team who just so happens to work remotely.

If you have ever thought about hiring a VA but don’t know where to start, here are 6 ways you can utilise one to improve your business.

Social Media Management

As much as some of us dislike social media, it’s here to stay as a tool for promoting your business. Building a virtual presence takes time. It also takes a lot of planning and knowledge about how the different platforms work. It is time consuming so give it away.

Managing Email

You know the amount of email you receive can be overwhelming. A VA can filter your important emails and respond to less urgent ones on your behalf. This is an easy task to do remotely. Just make sure that you brief the VA and give guidance on responding to different kinds of queries.

Online Research

Do you need to find information on new products, vet potential companies or business contacts etc? Keep up to date with industry news and developments and stay current and relevant.

This is a great task for a VA. Just make sure that you provide clear instructions and give the VA the necessary usernames and passwords for speciality software and tools.

Database Maintenance

Have you met a lot of new business contacts and potential clients recently? How do you find their information quickly when you need it? Do you have a current database and if you do, is it up to date?

This can be a mind-numbing and incredibly time-consuming task that you could give to a VA.

Travel Research

Planning the minute details of a business (or personal) trip is something you don’t want to get wrong. This is a perfect task to give to a VA. They can find hotels, book airfares and navigate the tricky time-zone details that can make or break a trip.

Scheduling your Calendar

How long does it take you to deal with meeting invitations, scheduling appointments or co-ordinating events? Too long I’m guessing. This is a perfect VA task.

I’ve had discussions with potential clients who have been reluctant to give away the tasks that are holding them back from growing their business. I can understand that. I’m a details person and if I’m honest, a little bit of a control freak when it comes to how I want my own things done. It’s hard giving control over to another person who you think can’t love your business the way that you do.

When I take on a job, I put myself in the business owner’s shoes. If it’s a business that relies on outstanding customer service, I also put myself in the customer’s shoes. From those angles, I can use my own high expectations to help me provide the service to others that I expect myself. I have found that this works very well. Most of my work has come from recommendation.

If you’re considering hiring a VA, please give me a call.

Contact me

CanDoVA

My experience and skills are varied: an executive PA in London and Australia; I have worked exclusively in a Secretariat co-ordinating Board meetings, agendas and minutes and parliamentary enquiries; campaign executive for an animal welfare NGO in Singapore; an interior decorator consulting for a large paint company and have project managed 2 large personal renovation projects.

I am also a professional Artist and still practice and exhibit. My Art company is called “Ocean Sun Design” and you can check it out here https://www.facebook.com/OceanSunDesign/

My interests include marine conservation and cetacean advocacy. I have been a Scuba Diver for years and am qualified to Rescue Diver level (meaning I’m fabulous to have in a tight spot and I don’t panic – trust me!). I also love reading, writing, cooking and hiking.

Diploma in Public Administration
Certificate IV in Interior Decoration and Design
Diploma of Visual Arts
Advanced Diploma of Creative Product Development
Diploma of Justice.

VA Business

What is a Virtual Assistant?

7th October 2019
by CanDoVA

There is still some confusion out there in the business world about what a Virtual Assistant, or VA, actually is.

In the last few years, the VA industry has grown quickly. There have also been big advances in technology.

When the industry began around 20 years ago, the Internet was a new thing. There were dial-up modems (oh that sound!) and sending and receiving documents took forever. A VA generally worked from home and clients tended to be local.

It’s a different scene altogether now!

Sending and receiving files is easy to do. Storing files is easy with cloud technology. Having a website is something that business owners take for granted and they don’t have to be built by someone with a technical degree. There is software now for every conceivable business need.

As technology has expanded, so has the need for business support.

VAs need to keep up with technology and nowadays many choose to specialise in areas like Social Media Management, SEO, Online Business Management etc – and that’s only a fraction of the areas.

A VA is their own business. They provide support to other businesses and allow owners to focus on business and income growth. It really is that simple.

To see how I can help support your business, click here.

CanDoVA

I am also a professional Artist and still practice and exhibit. My Art company is called “Ocean Sun Design” and you can check it out here https://www.facebook.com/OceanSunDesign/

Diploma in Public Administration
Certificate IV in Interior Decoration and Design
Diploma of Visual Arts
Advanced Diploma of Creative Product Development
Diploma of Justice.

VA Business

From 1st January 2020, we are losing the name…

3rd October 2019
by CanDoVA

We’ve had the question asked a few times now, “are you called Ardent Secretariat, or are you CanDoVirtualAssistant?”

We agree, it’s confusing for potential clients, current clients and business associates so we’re going with the name CANDOVIRTUALASSISTANT.

We’ll be rebranding in the New Year and we look forward to working with you.

Jacquie Kyle, Director

CanDoVA

I am also a professional Artist and still practice and exhibit. My Art company is called “Ocean Sun Design” and you can check it out here https://www.facebook.com/OceanSunDesign/

Diploma in Public Administration
Certificate IV in Interior Decoration and Design
Diploma of Visual Arts
Advanced Diploma of Creative Product Development
Diploma of Justice.

VA Business

What are Secretariat Services and how can you use…

23rd August 201923rd August 2019
by CanDoVA

If you are a Not-for-Profit (NFP), Charity or a small business and you rely on precise and factual record-keeping then having a Secretariat is crucial.

There are a lot of tasks and responsibilities involved in managing a NFP and if you’re relying on volunteers, systems and processes can be unreliable. It’s essential to have someone who can help run the daily administrative side of your organisation.

If you’re wanting to grow the organisation i.e. memberships, followers and subscribers, and foster a professional brand, you need someone who can assist in giving you that extra support.

As a Virtual Assistant that specialises in Secretariat, I can help you with the following:

Being your front-line office without the costs and responsibilities of employees and premises.
Answering calls, responding to emails, and dealing with mail.
Managing enquiries, databases, subscriptions and renewals.
Preparing Newsletters for distribution.
Co-ordinating meetings, minuting meetings and preparing agendas.
Assisting with the promotion of events.
Assisting with Social Media and Website content.
Managing Social Media.

Virtual Assistants like myself, are business owners. We provide our own office space, software and equipment. We invoice for an agreed number of hours per month plus any additional expenses such as postage, stationery and travel costs.

If you would like to find out more, please check out the details on my website for packages. https://candovirtualassistant.com/virtual-assistant-secretariat-social-media-manager-services-belgrave-melbourne-victoria-australia/

CanDoVA

I am also a professional Artist and still practice and exhibit. My Art company is called “Ocean Sun Design” and you can check it out here https://www.facebook.com/OceanSunDesign/

Diploma in Public Administration
Certificate IV in Interior Decoration and Design
Diploma of Visual Arts
Advanced Diploma of Creative Product Development
Diploma of Justice.

VA Business

Grammar and ‘The Person’

6th August 20197th August 2019
by CanDoVA

I love words and I love reading. I have always been a prolific reader sometimes having two or three books on the go at once.

When we’re writing anything be it a book, copy or a letter, we need to be aware of ‘the person’ we are writing in.

Proofreaders and writers already know a thing or two about grammar but getting the grammatical person wrong throughout any piece of work makes it look unprofessional.

In grammar, I like to think of the ‘person’ as a perspective. The different persons demonstrate different things like the audience being addressed or the person who is speaking. These persons are demonstrated by the use of pronouns and there are specific pronouns for each person.

Let’s look at them individually.

The First Person is the point of view of the author. I am demonstrating this person in this article. We (that’s a pronoun) use words like ‘I’, ‘us’ and ‘me’. The writer is therefore talking about their own point of view or their own experiences. So we use the first person when we want to show something as a personal experience or opinion.

The Second Person is used to address an audience. This will involve using pronouns like ‘you’ or ‘your’. It’s not used as much as the first person or the third person but it is needed when appealing directly to a reader or listener. It’s used mostly if the recipient is someone we know, for example, a colleague or a friend.

Now we move on to the Third Person. This is a standard grammatical tone that is used in the academic and business world. In reports or papers, the first person would generally be too subjective unless a person was describing their role in a project or experiment. The first person can also be used if a writer is comparing their viewpoint with that of other people.

Generally however, academic papers particularly relating to science or business reports, require to give the reader an objective viewpoint. The spotlight is on the content of the paper not on the person or persons who wrote the paper.

I hope that you’ve found this article useful. I’m a stickler for these details because I so often got this wrong in primary school! But practice makes perfect right? Please feel free to contact me about proofreading or writing work.

CanDoVA

I am also a professional Artist and still practice and exhibit. My Art company is called “Ocean Sun Design” and you can check it out here https://www.facebook.com/OceanSunDesign/

Diploma in Public Administration
Certificate IV in Interior Decoration and Design
Diploma of Visual Arts
Advanced Diploma of Creative Product Development
Diploma of Justice.

Category: VA Business

Six reasons to hire a Virtual Assistant

Social Media Management

Managing Email

Online Research

Database Maintenance

Travel Research

Scheduling your Calendar

What is a Virtual Assistant?

From 1st January 2020, we are losing the name…

What are Secretariat Services and how can you use…

Grammar and ‘The Person’​

Grammar and ‘The Person’