Thoughts & Insights

Blog

On software development, web technology, and building for the web.

8 Feb 2017

Open All Hours? Setting Client Expectations

Are you open all hours? Have you set client expectations? I have a friend who runs networking events in the evenings. He has a lovely VA – I know her personally and she is efficient and conscientious. At one of his events he was agitated and angry and complaining loudly about his VA. “She always …

Interviews & FeaturesTutorials & GuidesVirtual Assistants

Read article

6 Jan 2017

MailChimp Subscriber Popup

How to help build your email list with MailChimp Subscriber Popup. We’ve been looking at list building, specifically subscribers to our online Virtual Assistant magazine; VA Life. So I thought I’d share a MailChimp tip that we use to help grow our subscription list. You will have noticed a popup when you visited this site inviting you …

Interviews & FeaturesMarketing & BusinessVirtual Assistants

Read article

15 Dec 2016

13 Easy Ways To Speed Up WordPress

WordPress is a great platform. Having said that without proper care and attention it can become quite slow. If you don’t take the right precautions, you could end up with a site that’s not only a hassle for visitors but will cause you to lose subscribers and customers. In this post, I’ll cover some of …

Interviews & FeaturesTutorials & GuidesVirtual Assistants

Read article

16 Nov 2016

Is Email Killing Our Productivity?

Is email killing our productivity? If the first thing you do, once you’ve sat down at your desk in the morning, is to head to that little email icon, click it and leave the application open all day long then the answer to this question is most likely; YES. Can you remember how you managed …

Interviews & FeaturesMarketing & BusinessVirtual Assistants

Read article

6 Oct 2016

The Successful Virtual Assistant State of Mind

One of the most important factors to becoming successful is in the way we think. We’ve all experienced those days where one bad thing escalates into another, and before you know it, you’re in a negative mood. Warning, red alert, people detect such an irritation by your body language or tone of voice. So why …

Interviews & FeaturesMarketing & BusinessVirtual Assistants

Read article

10 Sept 2016

Smarter Networking Without Business Cards

So you walk into the room, within the first five minutes you’ve collected half a dozen business cards already, and they all came with the promise of something great! The issue is; the humble business card is a tool, and a simple one at that, for sales / marketing, and, like any tool, it should be used …

Interviews & FeaturesCommunity & EventsVirtual Assistants

Read article

21 Jul 2016

EU-U.S. Privacy Shield

European Commission launches EU-U.S. Privacy Shield Finally, the European Commission launches the EU-U.S. Privacy Shield, which has gone through a lengthy process to replace Safe Harbour. What was Privacy Shield again? Privacy Shield is supposed to put transatlantic exchanges of personal data for commercial purposes from Europe to the US on a new legal framework …

Interviews & FeaturesMarketing & BusinessVirtual Assistants

Read article

4 Jul 2016

Clare Clarke – My Journey as a VA… So Far!

I first entered the world of ‘virtual’ business support in 2010, having started employment as an administrative assistant, up to PA to an HR Director and then moving into Project Management, spending 3 years as a Consultant PRINCE II Project Manager implementing HR and Payroll software for the likes of Starbucks Coffee Company and Whitbread …

Interviews & FeaturesVirtual Assistants

Read article

4 Jul 2016

UK Virtual Assistant National Survey v7

The latest UK VA survey launched this week – this contains all the data you need to write a new business plan or expand your existing business. Compiled by Society of Virtual Assistants, it acts as a snapshot of the industry, which is looking very healthy! With over 1,600 VAs currently working in the UK, …

Interviews & FeaturesTools & ResourcesVirtual Assistants

Read article

24 Jun 2016

What does Brexit mean for Virtual Assistants?

With the news breaking that the UK will leave the European Union what impact will this have on individuals providing freelance, remote and virtual assistant services? Ed Molyneux, the CEO and co-founder of FreeAgent (an accounting service for freelancers, so on the pulse of not just startup culture, but also those with less secure incomes) …

Interviews & FeaturesMarketing & BusinessVirtual Assistants

Read article

22 Jun 2016

The Little Black Book of Virtual Assistants

I’m a VA and I’m looking for a Virtual Assistant who specialises in _______ to work with me on this latest project. A very similar statement to the one above was the subject of a recent discussion in our Virtual Assistant Facebook Group. The conversation continued with people adding to a ‘wish list’ of ways …

Interviews & FeaturesMarketing & BusinessVirtual Assistants

Read article

2 Jun 2016

The 60 Second Content Marketing Quiz

So what’s this ‘content marketing’ buzz anyway? How do you rank in the Content Marketing world? Are you a Newbie, a Rookie, maybe a Ninja or even a Content Superhero? Take our 60 second quiz to see how your company measures up in the content stakes. Still a little unsure where to start with your …

Interviews & FeaturesMarketing & BusinessVirtual Assistants

Read article