resources for virtual assistants Archives

Blogs with Info for Virtual Assistants

April 2, 2015 By Alicia Jay Leave a Comment

I know it’s easy to go into information overload when you’re starting your virtual assistant business. There’s so much out there online. Who can you trust?

I’ve given you a helpful list before of websites that you can check out for our industry, filled with people I feel you can trust who also give really good business building information. I do my best to keep that list updated.

Well, imagine my surprise when I found out that someone else made a list like that and my blog is on it!

I am honored and excited to tell you that NewVAAdvice.com is listed as #3 in Wisestamp’s post entitled:

9 Best Blogs Virtual Assistants Should Follow in 2015

Take a minute to check it out because there are some other really great blogs listed, some of which you’ll also find on my original list.

Are there any that you’d add that you don’t see listed?

Best of the New VA Advice Blog 2014

December 30, 2014 By Alicia Jay Leave a Comment

I’d never considered writing a “best of the best” for the year type of post before. But then I saw that Kelly McCausey at SoloSmarts sent out a little challenge, asking readers to put together a top 10 list of their favorite posts from their blog for 2014.

Instead of just choosing my favorites, I really wanted to cover your favorites. So I took a little trip into Google Analytics and came up with your top 10 favorite blog posts at New VA Advice for 2014.

Here they are!

♦This is a guest post series on taking care of your health while working from home.

The Healthy Work at Home Woman Series

♦This is a series of posts where I had a cross blog conversation with another work-at-home solopreneur mom about time management, illness, work/life balance, income streams and everything in between.

A Peek Into the Lives of Two Work at Home Moms

♦This post is about a handy little tool that turns your email signature into free marketing for you.

Cool Tool: Wisestamp for Email Signatures

♦The series posts seem to be quite popular! There is a set of them where I interviewed successful virtual assistants and asked them for tips and advice for someone just getting started. These two posts in that series were very popular:

Start up Stories: Michelle Mangen

Start up Stories: Tess Strand

♦This post talks about what we cover in the live version of the General Transcription Bootcamp course.

General Transcription Bootcamp: Learn a Valuable Skill to Increase Your Business

♦I think the title of this next post makes it pretty self-explanatory.

What Tools Do You Need to Start Your VA Business?

♦In this post, I give some action steps to get you moving forward if you’re stuck while building your VA business.

What’s Holding You Back?

♦These last 2 posts are some of the oldest on the site, but still some of the most popular. I update the resources in them every couple of months.

Websites to Help Virtual Assistants

Forums and Groups for Virtual Assistants

There you have it! Do you have any posts you would add to this list or any thoughts on what you’d like to see more of in 2015?

How to Avoid Scams When Starting Your Virtual Assistant Business

August 3, 2014 By Alicia Jay 1 Comment

When you’re first starting your virtual assistant business online, it can be scary not knowing who to trust, where to go for credible information or what courses to purchase that are worth the investment. I understand because I felt this way when I started online. I didn’t know anyone in this field, much less anyone working online for a living.

I had to weed out the scammers the hard way until I found some trusted people online to ask for advice. Since one of my goals is to be one of those trusted people for you, here are some tips on how to avoid scams.

Do Some Research. When I started my online job search, I found an easy way to discover the scams. Google helped me! For example, when I first found Loretta Oliver’s Transcription Crash Course, I wasn’t sure if it was real or if she could be trusted. So I Googled her and her products. I did a couple of searches that looked like this: “Loretta Oliver scam,” “Transcription Crash Course scam” and “Transcription Crash Course reviews.” Searches like this about a product or company will yield plenty of results. I’m happy to report that I found nothing but good information on Loretta and proceeded to buy her products.

Get Personal. If you’re interested in a product or program but you want to know if the person is real, send them a message. They should have contact info listed somewhere on their website or product info. Drop them an email with some questions and see if you get a response. Legitimate businesses want to be helpful to you, so a real person should have no problem answering your questions.

Avoid companies that ask you for money up front. It’s one thing to invest in your business when you’re starting out, but you may come across a company offering VA services and you think it might be a good idea to work for someone else to get your feet wet and build your confidence. If any of those places ask you for an up-front investment in order to get started, don’t fall for it.

Check out the resource links below for more information on avoiding scams.

Resources to Help You Avoid Scams:

Detailed Article at Work-at-Home Success about Avoiding Scams

Article That Includes Trusted Courses/Classes for Virtual Assistants

Trusted VA Website Resources

Trusted Places to Ask Questions

Websites to Help Virtual Assistants

August 30, 2012 By Alicia Jay 1 Comment

(This post originally appeared on my other site, Transcription e-Services.)

Below is a list of 10 websites that I’ve found very beneficial as a Virtual Assistant. No, this is not a list of all of my best friends! It is a true resource list of sites with TONS of information on how to run your successful VA business. Whether you’re just starting out in this industry or you’ve been doing this for a while, there will be something in here for you. Some of these are my affiliate links.

Websites for VAs

There are several of them, so if you don’t have lots of time just pick one or two and dig deep. Many of them have blogs full of great free information as well as members areas and forums to help you tackle all of your questions. Take a look!

I hope you find this compilation helpful. These sites have provided me with some fabulous resources.

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