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Celebrating 14 years in business, and how it all began

After launching My Virtual Assistant in March 2009, in the middle of a recession, I spent the first 12 months doing bits of work for a few supportive friends and ex-bosses, but with no ‘real’ clients to speak of. I worked incredibly hard in that first year, doing research, commenting on VA industry blogs, writing media releases, attending networking events and promoting my business wherever I could. But still no clients.Frustration took hold and I seriously considered hiring a Wond...

2022 New Zealand Virtual Assistant Awards

Wow! What a hugely fun night out, at the 2022 New Zealand Virtual Assistant Awards, held at The Verandah Function Centre in Hamilton, on Saturday 24 September 2022. My Virtual Assistant is very proud and extremely humbled to be recognised by the NZ VA industry, by being presented with the Virtual Assistant Legacy Award!​The VA Legacy Award celebrates long standing Virtual Assistants, who have been in the industry for 10 years or longer, flying the flag professionally and contributing to t...

Introducing the whole team at My Virtual Assistant

I had been thinking about using video to promote my business for quite a while, but it takes TIME! Time to make the video, time to edit the video and time to post that video… and that’s only if you have any idea what to even take a video of! So, I started off by writing a big list of ideas, which turned into two full pages of ideas - so that meant no more excuses for video content - and then I simply I took the plunge.My video introduces the whole team at My Virtual Assistant, and ...

DeskBoard Buddy (unofficial) review

So this arrived yesterday... So exciting! After seeing a few adverts pop up on Facebook recently, and noticing some of my fellow Virtual Assistant peers already had one of these in their hot little hands, my FOMO got the better of me and I couldn't help but get one for myself! It arrived yesterday and it’s way-cool!After so many years of having post-it notes dotted all over my desk and sometimes finding them stuck to other pieces of paper that they weren’t related to, I am now...

Don't forget to look up, because you might see New Zealand in the Sky

Covid19 and its variants certainly threw us a curve-ball and disrupted our regular lives more than any of us could have imagined.Now with 2020 and 2021 firmly under our belts, we are all hoping 2022 will be the start of returning to some sort of normality. Even though life is unlikely to return to how things used to be, that new normality will be something we will all get used to and accept as being our 'normal' lives.In the meantime, I hope your Christmas and New Year break was a lot of fu...

Inaugural NZ Virtual Assistant Awards To Go Ahead Despite COVID-19 Restrictions

Press Release by My Virtual Assistant...

2021 New Zealand Virtual Assistant Awards

Amazing to think that the New Zealand Virtual Assistant Awards 2021 was supposed to be a 'live' Awards Night held in Hamilton, for Virtual Assistants from all over New Zealand.Accommodation and flights were booked, the excitement amongst the NZ VA Industry was rising, and it was going to be a chance for us all to get together in the same room for the very first time.You might be interested to know that it was back in 2012 when the last VA Awards were held in New Zealand, and My Virtual Assistant...

Does your website 'get' your clients?

Recently, on a local Facebook page, I saw a post about a new website that had been launched.Below the post were a few comments congratulating the site owner and the site builder, saying how great the website looked.​Of course, as someone who builds websites, I took an interest and clicked on the link to the site. Straight away I was 'blinded' by the overly-bright choice of colours along with little to no white space to help give the eyes a break.Large, clear imagery was good, except for the pi...

Celebrating 12 years in business

On 13 March 2021, My Virtual Assistant celebrated 12 years in business.As I head into my thirteenth year of working in my 'virtual world', I am extremely proud to say that I still absolutely love what I do! Extremely grateful for all the business referrals I've received over the years, which have come from my existing clients, friends, family and the super-awesome ladies in my networking group.When looking back at my business journey, I feel proud and blessed to have achieved so much and my bigg...

Do you keep a record of your renewal dates?

Do you know when your website hosting and your domain name (website address) are next due for renewal?When you are late with your website hosting payment it can cause the link between your website and your domain name to break.A connection break, even for a short time, can be very detrimental to your search engine ranking.It’s all very well relying on your domain name registrar, website hosting company or site designer, to send you a renewal notice, but what if your site isn't due for renewal ...

Good service, bad service and a sticking keyboard

Within a space of 48 hours, I recently experienced two extremes of customer service.At 7.15 am on a Sunday morning, I received a text and email from my bank. Thirty minutes after initial contact, they phoned me.They were alerting me to the fact that three fraudulent payments were transferred out of my bank account overnight (that’s not a credit card, it's an actual bank account, which is way scarier!)They asked me to complete a virus scan on my computer and iPhone, which I did and found nothin...

Coronavirus disease (COVID-19)

What a crazy world we are living in at the moment.I wanted to take a moment to acknowledge what's happening in New Zealand and around the world.Like you, I have been watching as the Coronavirus Pandemic has unfolded, and it has been a topic of discussion everywhere I go.With businesses closing their doors, many people are figuring out how they can work from home, others are having to isolate themselves after arriving from overseas, and then there are those who are working extremely hard in vario...

Unblock your website's blockages

When it comes to getting a website for your business, especially when you are in the early stages of setting up your business, chances are it all feels a little overwhelming.And even if you’ve been in business for a while and you already have a website, when was the last time you took a good hard look at it?Whether you’re a business newbie or not, when it comes to your website there are questions you should be asking yourself:Does your website target your ideal customer?Do you actually know ...

Networking at it's finest - it really does work!

Being part of a networking group like Venus, is definitely great for a business owner.Whether you're a start-up business or been around for yonks, the connections you make can last for a very long time.When I launched My Virtual Assistant, back in 2009, I hadn't ever heard about networking groups, and if I had I didn't give them much thought because I'd never need to find my own clients before.One of the main objectives for networking is to ultimately increase sales.  However, the purpose o...

Having a go at video!

After receiving some awesome feedback from people who receive My Virtual Assistant's monthly newsletter, I decided to dig out my old, but never used, selfie-stick and have a go at making a video.Response from a video draw I did, to announce the winner of My Virtual Assistant's 10th Birthday competition, was very encouraging! A few people commented as to how much they enjoyed watching that video because they felt it showed the 'real me', and they said they loved how engaging I was.  Som...

My Virtual Assistant celebrates 10 years in business - that's a whole decade!

It's 13 March 2019, which means My Virtual Assistant is celebrating TEN YEARS IN BUSINESS!Thanks also to my amazing clients, business associates, networking team, family and friends for your support over the last 10 years.  Onwards and upwards... bring on the next ten!What a fabulous response to My Virtual Assistants' 10th Birthday celebration competition.  Thank you so much to everyone who entered the draw.I am now excited to announce the winner, drum roll please...The competition win...

Why I love doing what I do, so much

The other day I was chatting with an acquaintance and they asked my why I love doing what I do, so much. My initial reaction was to laugh-out-loud and say, ‘for the money, of course!’Back when I worked full time in the ‘real world’ I was on an extremely good income, in a great job with an awesome boss and worked with a fabulous team of people, some of which are still very good friends to this day. My next reaction to the question was, ‘why wouldn’t I love what I do?  I...

Who is your business celebrity?

If your business was a celebrity, who would it be?Which celebrity personality would you identify with your business? This was a question asked of My Virtual Assistant recently, and after some thought, this is what I came up with...My Virtual Assistant's main focus is building affordable websites for start-ups and small to medium-sized businesses, so my prospective clients could probably have the following traits:They are possibly nervous - because they haven’t been in business very longPr...

Woohoo! It's here and it's live!

My Virtual Assistant is excited and proud to announce the launch of a brand sparkling new website... for My Virtual Assistant!All websites could do with a revamp or a big birthday every now and again, and My Virtual Assistant's own website was no exception. It had been looking rather dated for quite some time and really wasn't a great representation of the kind of work I can do for you.  With all the amount of work coming in from clients, meant my own website had to be put on the back ...

How to gain Facebook likes for your business page

Getting people to 'like' your brand-new Facebook business page isn't as easy as people think and in many cases it can be a rather slow process to grow your followers.Here are a few things you can try...Actually ask your family, friends, networking peers, business associates, clients, and any other contacts you may have to 'like' your business Facebook page. When your page is brand new it's a great time to ‘announce’ it on your personal FB page (include the link to your new page in the post)....

Another year in business

Thirteen March 2018 marks another year in business for My Virtual Assistant - and that makes it 9 years so far!Crikey, how time flies! Over the years, the promise of friendly customer service has never waivered and neither has the importance of providing my wonderful clients with valuable business support for things like newsletters, brochure/flyer design, editing/ proofreading, and more.Website creation has taken on a life of its own as the years have gone by and become the main focus of M...

Top 10 rules for success

Simon Sinek is such an inspiration and I recently stumbled across this fabulous video, which I couldn't resist sharing with you."He's an author, speaker, and consultant who writes on leadership and management. He joined the RAND Corporation in 2010 as an adjunct staff member, where he advises on matters of military innovation and planning. He's known for popularising the concepts of 'the golden circle' and, 'Start With Why'."Now, go and pour yourself a cuppa, sit back, and enjoy watching Simon S...

Getting customer feedback and how to use it

These days customer feedback is oh so important! Compiling all your testimonials in one place on your website makes things easier for your potential clients to read what others think of your services and of you. Use short versions of your client feedback on every page of your website, to showcase the good work you have done. This will give potential clients a clear understanding of what they can expect from you before you even begin working together.  Client testimonials can ...

Have you really looked at your website lately?

As I write, My Virtual Assistant has built over 70 websites and it saddens me when I open up a website which has so obviously been 'home-made' by the business owner or built for them by a friend or family member.A tell-tale sign of a 'home-made' website is often a massive image, with no text and no clickable links to other areas of the website. No obvious links or calls to action on a website Home page are an incredibly missed opportunity.A telltale sign of a 'home-made' website is often a massi...

Something to celebrate

Over the last 8 years, My Virtual Assistant has written articles for VA training manuals, been interviewed on national television, sponsored various fundraising events, appeared in magazines and newspapers, won an award, launched over 60 websites, rebranded the business, and answered hundreds of questions from potential Virtual Assistants about becoming a VA.At the beginning of my VA journey, I had no experience of working as a Virtual Assistant from a business point of view.  Every m...