Services I should not have offered as a Virtual Assistant is easy to say when I look back at my career. When setting up your own business as a virtual assistant, one of the first things you have to decide, is what services should you offer. Like most businesses, this can be one of the fun aspects of starting from scratch and being your boss. However, at some point, you’re going to need to earn money, and this is when your creative skills are going to have to come to the forefront.
When I started as a virtual assistant in 2005, I was determined only to do the jobs that I wanted to do. I’d worked in the corporate arena for many years. I knew the majority of office tasks that businesses would need. I also knew the tasks that I didn’t particularly enjoy doing. It was therefore easy not to offer those tasks.
Nevertheless one of my first clients asked if I would undertake telephone answering for him. Having no income coming at att at this time, I jumped at the task. It is only with hindsight that we can look back upon the tasks that we do and decide whether they are good or bad. The decision to answer his phone calls directed the way myPA operated ever since.
Services I should not have offered as Virtual Assistant
My client wanted me to answer the telephone for his business when he couldn’t. That meant I had to be in the office from 9 a.m. until 5 p.m. On the whole, for a small business that sounds like a good idea. I am at my desk, growing my business and earning money. However, offering a telephone answering service that only pays when you answer the telephone is hugely limiting. I found that I was sitting in my office and the phone only rang once a day. That meant that I was in the position to invoice for one telephone call. If I charged £250 per call that would be fantastic and I earned £250 that day. However, the majority of telephone answering fees are circa £1 per call. That meant I was sitting at my desk all day waiting for a telephone call and earnt £1.
Task Limitations
As a result of this contract, I had to find other work, which would mean I earned an income while I stayed at my desk, nine till five. This meant that I answered more telephone calls for additional people. I was, therefore, making my desk job financially viable. However, as a small business, I need to go out and network and earn more money. That meant I had to employ staff. Employing staff means paying national insurance, holiday pay, sick pay and now pensions. All these increases in outgoings meant that they had to earn more incoming. It then becomes a vicious circle. I employed staff to answer a phone when I wasn’t there which meant I had to go out and earn more money to pay the salaries of the staff I was employing so that I could go out
What services should a Virtual Assistant offer?
Those that you enjoy and are good at. Those that will give you a good return for your hard work and are profitable.
I’m not saying that answering telephones is a bad service to offer, but you do need to make sure you have the infrastructure in place to make sure that the service becomes financially viable for you. Selecting the services, you offer as a virtual assistant is vitally important. You need to understand the ramifications of their services. Having said that, if the infrastructure is in place and you offer a time-consuming service that requires additional staff and you make a decent profit then the service is of benefit to you and your business.
When setting up your virtual PA business always remember that the first client is your business. The services you offer hax to be rewarding to you and your business emotionally, financially and suit your skillset.
Have you ever been asked to take the minutes of a meeting and then started to worry about missing the important points when taking minutes. Don’t worry, this is always the first question I get when I start to run my Minute Taking Training Course.
The first misconception of taking minutes of a meeting is that the entire responsibiliyt rests with the minute taker. This is just not the case. The Minute taker is the first line of defence when taking mintues, but then the chiar is there to check the minutes are a true and accurate representation of the disucssion of the meeting. Finally the delegates of the meeting also agree and check the mintues. All of these people form part of a team, the meeting team.
Missing the important points when taking minutes?
So please, if you are the minute taker and worry about missing the important points in a meeting don’t. Here are my Tips for Preparing for a Meeting so that you won’t miss anything.
Tip One – missing the important points when taking minutes?
Read the last three months (or if a weekly meeting read the last 6 copies) of meetings. This is to that you can get an understanding of the language used, the projects underway and the topics you will be reporting on.
Tip Two – missing the important points when taking minutes
Meet with the Chair 10-15 minutes before the meeting to discuss any items on the agenda
Tip Three – missing the important ponts when taking minutes
Sit to the left of the Chair, unless the Chair is left handed then sit on the left. You, as the minute taker are there to support the Chair and you can only do this if you can discuss any issues that may arise during the meeting.
Tip Four- missing the important points when taking minutes
Take a bottle of water into the meeting with you, you need to stay hydrated and alert.
Tip Five – missing the important points when taking minutes
Take some boiled sweets or fruit with you so that you can keep your sugar levels up. Remember when taking the minutes of a meeting for 1 hour it is the same as taking a 3 hour A level maths exam.
Tip Six- missing the important points when taking minutes
Practice your listening skills especially Active Listening.
Tip Seven – missing the important points when taking minutes
Practice your Critically thinking processes.
Good luck and try and enjoy the process of taking minutes of a meeting. Remember you are your companies Historian, you are a paid voyeur.
Do you want to change the signature image in Outlook 2016 to make your emails look professional, elegant and smart? With more and more options in MS Office and outlook, sometimes we just need a few hints along the way. To make sure your signature image in outlook 2016 is perfect then just follow these very simple instructions.
Instructions to resize a Signature Image in Outlook 2016
Open outlook as you would ordinarily do select the option to create an email as you would typically do.
A new email window will then appear.
Select the option Insert and then Signature.
A list of all the current signatures installed on your computer will appear. At the very bottom is the word Signature. Select this option, see below.
A new window will appear.
Select the email signature you want to edit, if you have not created an email signature select the option New, see above, in this example I will collect Corrigo free trial. Enter the narrative you wish to have on the signature in the box provided. Then add your image by selecting add picture icon, see above. This will then require you to find the location of the image on your computer or server.
Once the image has been selected, it will appear in the dialogue box. See below.
Using your mouse, click ONCE on the image. You will notice little squares appearing on the image, see below.
Once these little squares appear, press the right-hand button on your mouse and click once only.
A new screen will appear. Select the option Picture, see below.
This will open another window, see below. On this window select the option Size, see below.
The following screen will appear. It is from here that you can now resize your image. Please make sure that the Lock aspect ratio option is selected. If you have decided that 7.63 cm would be perfect, enter 7.63 in the Height option and press the enter button only. This will automatically adjust the Width.
Once the image is of the right size, please copy this narrative and place it under the image. Then select OK.
Does it cost money to take someone to Small Claims?
Working out the interest on a Small Claims request
You’ll have to go to court if…
After the Hearing
1 Introduction – Small Claims
You can take court action against someone who owes you money and won’t pay. This is known as making a court claim. It can also be known as taking someone to a ‘small claims court’. You usually have to pay a court fee, and you may not win your case or get your money back.
2 How to take Court Action
The government has tried to make the process as easy as possible. The easiest way to claim it be completing the form online
3 What happens next in a Small Claims application?
If they deny owing you money, you may have to go to court.
You can get the court to order them to pay if they admit owing the money or don’t respond.
If they still won’t pay, you’ll need to ask the court to take extra steps to collect the money – e.g. using bailiffs. This is called enforcing a judgment.
4 Does it cost money to take someone to Small Claims?
Yes! It costs money to go to submit a small claims application.
The fee is based on how much you are claiming + interest
Using the Money Claim Online is cheaper than sending in the form.
amount
Sending the form to court centre
Using Money Claim Online
Up to £300
£35
£25
£300.01 to £500
£50
£35
£500.01 to £1,000
£70
£60
£1,000.01 to £1,500
£80
£70
£1,500.01 to £3,000
£115
£105
£3,000.01 to £5,000
£205
£185
£5,000.01 to £10,000
£455
£410
£10,0
00.01 to £100,000
5% of the value of the claim
4.5% of the value of the claim
£100,000.01 to £200,000
5% of the value of the claim
You can’t claim using Money Claim Online
More than £200 000
£10 000
You can’t claim using Money Claim Online
5 Working out your small claims interest
The interest you can charge if another business is late paying for goods or a service is ‘statutory interest’ – this is 8% plus the Bank of England base rate for business to business transactions.
You can’t claim statutory interest if there’s a different rate of interest in a contract.
After you have submitted your small claims
The person or business who owes you money must respond to your claim within 14 days of receiving it.
If you don’t get a response, you’ll have to ask the Court to order them to pay. You do this by continuing with the Money Claim Online form.
If you do get a response – YIPPEE!
Tell them you are withdrawing your claim and also tell the Money Claim Online help desk.
6 You’ll have to go to court if…
The person or business says they don’t owe you any money.
They disagree with the amount.
You can’t agree on how the money will be repaid.
The court will send you a questionnaire asking for more information on the case. Fill this in and return it to the court.
This will incur additional costs.
If your case is a small claim, under £10,000, it can be dealt with using written evidence, and not need a hearing.
If there is a hearing you can:
Represent yourself
Pay for a barrister or solicitor to represent you
Ask someone to speak on your behalf, like your partner or an advice worker – you must get the court’s permission
7 After the Hearing
You’ll receive a letter from the court, stating its decisions, and any actions you need to take.
Additional Resources
I highly recommend using your local Citizens Advice Bureau for additional advice and support.
At PA Tips and Secretarial Support, we want to give you all the information you need to keep ahead of your boss and those around you. To help you stay ahead, we have created a number of posts that will help you understand some of the technical terminologies that are being spoken about in the press and workplace. Today we would like to talk about Computer Ransomware.
So, What is Computer Ransomware?
It is a specific type of computer virus that is made to trick people into paying money to have the virus taken off of their computer. However, there are several types of Ransomware, and some are much more serious than others.
Types of Computer Ransomware
Encryption Ransomware – These viruses will encrypt some or all of a computer’s hard drive, and it is often not possible to get the files back until a person has the decryption key. Encryption Ransomware is the most severe form of Ransomware as it can cause people to lose data on their computer.
Lock-screen Ransomware – Lock-screen viruses will lock a person’s screen after their computer boots and tell them that they need to pay money to access their computer.
Scareware – Scareware is designed to scare people into believing that their computer has a more severe virus. The resulting in a payment to remove the infection. These are usually fake antivirus programs that tell people their computer or laptop has a number of viruses.
How do you get Computer Ransomware?
You get Computer Ransomware on your computers in the same ways that you get other computer viruses. Ransomware normally affects a computer after you have opened an infected file. These usually come in things like email attachments, but they could also be files that you have downloaded off of the Internet.
How do you know you’ve got it!
You will usually find out that you have Ransomware on your computer when a screen pops up that tells them they need to pay money to have a virus removed. A pop might take several forms depending on the type of Ransomware utilised.
Preventing and Removing Computer Ransomware
To avoid getting Ransomware on a computer, it is best to run antivirus software all of the time.
Also, you should make sure that all of the software that your browsers use is up to date. This includes things like Java and Flash.
After determining that Ransomware has infected a computer, it is best to run an antivirus check. Then remove any viruses found and inform your IT department.
If a computer is completely locked down, it is recommended that the computer is started in Safe Mode. Alternatively from a flash drive and run a virus scan from there. This should clear up most Ransomware viruses. However, those who are unlucky enough to contract a virus that encrypts their file system may be forced to reformat their hard drive and reinstall the operating system. When this happens, you will lose all of the files on the hard drive. Because of this, regular backups are essential. Report any such virus or attack on your computer to the IT Department immediately.
In Conclusion, Computer Ransomware is nasty
All of us at PA Tips and Secretarial Support think that Computer Ransomware is a nasty piece of code. It is created by people who just want to cause trouble and extort money from us. Gone are the days when someone would rob you in person, now they want to extract money digitally. The perpetrators may see this as a victimless crime, only attacking companies or big organisations.
However, at PA Tips and Secretarial Support, we have one question to ask. When was the last time you heard your boss say, ‘Yes we have lots of money lets just buy…’. We don’t as businesses are struggling and now we have to take into account extorsion. Alternatively, everytime your company spends money, it could be your bonus or pay rise they are spending. This is just my opinion, but I hope you will agree with some of it.
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I am a great believer in having an email signature on all my emails. I am also a great believer in keeping up with modern work techniques and changes that take place. Which is why I started this blog giving PA Tips and Secretarial Support.
When I started school things changed every decade, then the age of computing arrived, and things changed every 18 months, and now, with the aid of social media, they seem to change every minute. As a consequence; I attended a training course myself to find out what changes may be occurring over the next few months in our industry.
What is an email signature for?
To my utter amazement, it seems to be with emails and email signatures. It is one of the strangest changes and I would never have thought about 12 months ago. To be fair, even last week. The standard convention has always been that when you send a business email, you add a signature. The signature tells the recipient your name, your job title, and contact details. Quite often there is a legal disclaimer. The disclaimer will state that the information provided is for the recipient only and if misdirected, please delete the email. Then, of course, there is the small advertisement about the company or a testimonial telling prospective customers or clients how good your business is. As I said, this is the standard, but each company may be different and offer different guidelines. My company abides by the above, and I have been pleased with this style of format.
Never the less, it has come to my attention that large organisations have started to remove surnames from people’s email signatures to have a generic email address. When I have called organisations and the person on the other end of the phone has given me an email address that is generic I am told that they will receive the email or that their first name is sufficient, and the message will reach them. It is not something I have given much thought to in the past.
However, it has been brought to my attention that the reason for this is that many staff (especially ladies) have found that during their working day they have given out their name, their email, and works telephone number. All useful forms of communication for a client or customer to contact them. This is where it gets interesting. Some of those people have then been stalked out of the office by the clients or customers. The client or customer has been able to locate them from the minimal amount of detail they obtained from the regular communication they had during a working relationship and then taken it one step further.
Facebook is an excellent tool for communication, as is Twitter, Instagram, Pinterest etc. However, we know there are risks associated with our personal data on these sites. For example, I have never put my birthday on social media or any reference to the day or month. I don’t put my address or house number, including photos of my home that could identify where I live. I have even found that I moderate my Facebook posts and opinions when using the various social media platforms. A form of self-restriction.
It only takes a few minutes for someone to find out those details, and you could have lost your identity or find that you are the proud owner of a new credit card that owes circa £10,000 worth of debt. It has never really occurred to me to extend some of that security to the emails I send, and the details people can glean from that.
In Conclusion, what will my email signature look like
As I said at the beginning, I had never thought about an email signature in this contex. It is fascinating when you spend a few minutes thinking about how vulnerable we have, and are becoming, digitally. So, the big question. Will I change? My email address only uses my first name, so there is no change there. What about my signature? You know, I think I may get the ladies in my office to change there’s. As the owner of a business and advising about PA Tips and Secretarial Support, I have put myself forward as the face of my company. I don’t feel I can then hide behind a title. I will, however, take a little more care about what I put in my emails and the amount of details people could glean from them.
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Welcome to our online magazine from Julie and the team. If you have been on one of Julie’s training courses, you know she is passionate about PA, EAs and Secretaries being the best they can be. She also has very strong opinions about what a PA, EA and Secretary should and shouldn’t do. If you have a question, or would like to add an article, please get in touch. We would love to hear from you.
