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posted on March 24, 2013 by

Australian Virtual Assistant Conference 2013

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I am so happy to be a Virtual Assistant…

I have just returned from my first Australian Virtual Assistant Conference and I am pumped. The conference confirmed what I already knew, I belong to a very special industry.  Every person I met was open, honest, super friendly, brilliant, funny, and super smart business owners.    I have never worked in an industry where so many people are willing to help and offer support.  It doesn’t matter if we are in competition with each other – we are all unique!

The minute I walked into the conference I knew it was going to be special.

A warm welcome came from our MC Mariette Rups-Donnelly.  I instantly felt like she was my long lost friend from another life.  Her professionalism and upbeat style got the day off with a memorable start.  Our first speaker rocks up in a pair of jeans and a pair of thongs.  Who is this dude?  Well this dude was bloody brilliant!  Nick Bowditch rocked the room and for all of us social media virtual assistants we hung onto every word.  Yes I got to meet someone who works for Facebook.  The inside goss is that the terms and conditions of Facebook covers is about to change.  So if you have more than 20% text, your phone number, address, or any call of action – you had better change it fast.  Dr Nataliew Shepherd, Pam Brossman, and Terri Bell all shared some amazing advice from what type of communicator I am, what digital tools to leverage in my business, and the terms and conditions I should be using in my business.

Robyn Henderson – the networking legend took over the stage and shared some great advice on networking and LinkedIn. You’ve got to GIVE recommendations before you can expect to receive any.

I was very lucky to receive Robyn’s signed book on networking.  Thank you!

The day was flying past way too quickly.  We had the very lovely and positive Christine McKee teach us how to focus on each task and how to segment our day to get tasks complete.  Rosie Shilo who many of us know from the Virtual Assistant world took on a very brave subject about outsourcing.  I believe Australian Virtual Assistants have amazing knowledge and value to offer the Australian Business community.  Each and every VA who provided support and gave their opinions – well done.  I know each and everyone of us can kick some Australian Virtual Business arse!

 My little stash I scored from AVAC2013

The following day started off with the amazing Donna Toothaker flying in from Canada.  She shared some very powerful and critical keys for us to move from hourly based to value based business.   This week I will be moving Virtually Organised to packages.  I know you will love them.

Risk Management and Threat Assessment has a new meaning.  Thank you Phil O’Brien for your great tips.  I now have a can of fly spray on my desk.  Charly Leetham was the next speaker and boy does she know her stuff.  She is the guru of gurus for anything WordPress.  I have added Yoast and will be adding my privacy policy soon. Did you know that you should only use your keyword 3 times in every 100 words?

The day flew past just as fast yesterday with Marianne Broeng talking about CRMs,  Elissa Farrow explaining project management and Dana Skopal providing tips on time management and how to get the right balance.  I missed the last speaker due to the long drive home but I bet it would have been just as good as the rest.

I would love to take this chance to thank everyone who made the 2 days a very successful conference.

I know I have made lots of new friends including ones who sneeze, ones who live far away, ones who have been in the industry for a long time, and all the newbies.

I can’t wait to see you all in 2014!

I also think we are a pretty good looking bunch of women.  Thanks for the photo Kathie Thomas.

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Jodie

 

 

Filed Under: Blog
posted on August 29, 2012 by

Achieve balance by checking email just 4 times daily

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Man on computer in beautiful surrounds

Technology has found its way to almost all aspects of our lives. Now, people can’t live without checking their email for a day, becomes restless when they haven’t checked their phones, and spent more than half of their day on the internet.

Instead of bringing convenience to our lives, smart phones, tablets, laptops and the internet have disrupted socialisation, time spent with family, friends and with our significant others; literally making us like technology zombies.  Read more click here.

Filed Under: Blog, Business, Tips for staying organised
posted on August 24, 2012 by

What successful people do with the first hour of their work day

By Kevin Purdy

How much does the first hour of every day matter? As it turns out, a lot. It can be the hour you see everything clearly, get one real thing done, and focus on the human side of work rather than your task list.

 

 

Remember when you used to have a period at the beginning of every day to think about your schedule, catch up with friends, maybe knock out a few tasks? It was called home room, and it went away after high school. But many successful people schedule themselves a kind of grown-up home room every day. You should too.

The first hour of the workday goes a bit differently for Craig Newmark of Craigslist, David Karp of Tumblr, motivational speaker Tony Robbins, career writer (and Fast Company blogger) Brian Tracy, and others, and they’ll tell you it makes a big difference. Here are the first items on their daily to-do list.  (To read about it click here)

Filed Under: Blog, Business, Tips for staying organised
posted on April 24, 2012 by

Social Marketing Specialist 2010 Edition Certification

 

Virtually Organised announced their successful completion of the Social Marketing Specialist 2010 Edition Certification at VAClassroom.

Jodie Hodges, founder of Virtually Organised, announced that they have successfully completed the 2010 Edition of the VAClassroom Social Marketing Training Program, a cutting edge, business-building program offered to VAClassroom members seeking to develop current and competitive Social Media services in today’s market.

Since VAClassroom’s first Social Marketing Training Program was launched in November of 2008, a number of factors have changed the Social Media landscape, requiring Virtual Assistants to update their skills to stay current. First of all, Social Media has continued to grow and evolve at a rapid rate. For example, Facebook has experienced exponential growth from 200 million members in 2008 to over 350 million today, adding an additional 250,000 daily. In addition, new Social Media tools and applications are constantly emerging, and even local businesses are beginning to seek ways to leverage them and promote their brand. That is why Virtually Organised is excited to be adding updated Social Media skills to their business, having gained cutting edge tactics, tools and knowledge that they can apply immediately to their work with new and existing clients.

In VAClassroom’s 2010 Edition of the Social Marketing Training Program, Virtually Organised was given an overview on the outlook of Social Media Marketing in 2010 and beyond and learned how to perform effective Social Media Strategic Planning that addresses the current trends. They also learned how to maximize their clients’ potential in popular Social Networks like LinkedIn, Twitter, and Facebook. In addition, they received training on how to leverage Social Media for local businesses and how to build effective online Social Communities. They have also gained expertise in Social Media Measurement and Analytics, Video Marketing Strategy and Content Distribution in the Social Media realm. Most importantly, with advanced and updated Social Marketing skills, tools and strategies, Virtually Organised is now better equipped to guide their clients through the rapidly evolving Social Media landscape and can lead them to the fastest path to success.

Virtually Organised is offering a wide range of niche services, including building strong customer service via social media. Having received the Social Marketing Specialist 2010 Edition Certification, they are pleased to add cutting-edge Social Media services and tools to their business. This certification also entitles them to ongoing training as technology develops so they will continue to offer quality up-to-date Social Marketing skills to their clients.

Filed Under: Blog, Business
posted on April 16, 2012 by

Email etiquette tips

 

The subject line

In today’s age of technology people can get thousands of emails a day.  Most people decide to open, forward, or delete a message just from the subject line.  Never leave the subject line blank. When I am checking clients emails (which I do numerous times a day) I find it interesting when people put “Quick Question” in the subject line.  My suggestion would be to put the question in the subject line.  You are more likely to get a very fast response to your email if indeed the question is quick to answer.

Don’t flame

Always read an email twice before you send it. I spend a lot of time sending emails to calm a situation that could have been resolved by a more personable email in the email.  Always keep you emails polite and use a positive tone.  If you receive an email that has fired you up my biggest tip is to write a draft (let it out, get it off your chest type of email) and save it in drafts.  Go for a walk or a coffee and clear your mind and then come back to your draft.  If you still feel the same way and find no other way of solving the problem get a second opinion.  It really is amazing how someone can calm you down or provide positive feedback.

Privacy

As the old saying goes once it is on paper there is no turning back.  You never know who can intercept an email via a server or even worse that someone forwards an email to someone you didn’t want to see the email in the first place.  Never put credit card details in an email or personal details you don’t want other people to know.  Pick up the phone, you never know you just might get to have a chat to a lovely person on the other end.

Efficiency

Not sure how many times a client has sent me an email asking me to do a task and I start on it straight away and then I check my emails and I notice that I get a “Don’t worry email I worked it out myself”.  Always remember receiving an email  is almost instant especially now with the use of iPhones people can be out and check their emails.  I highly recommend my clients call me and let me know to stop what I am doing.  They can then resend and allocate new tasks without wasting time, money and resources.

Recipients

When sending a email to a group of people always use the BCC section.  There is nothing worse then receiving an email where you can see all the recipients or worse one of the recipients sends a response to everyone on the list by hitting reply to all.  Very unprofessional!

Please feel free to ask any questions or if you need someone to help you control your inbox just ask me.  I have packages available for all size accounts.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Filed Under: Blog, Business
posted on April 13, 2012 by

Lost Revenue, Less Productivity and Wasted Time

This morning I read a very interesting article about what is really costing businesses thousands.

Jessica Stanic wrote that Australia businesses spend more than 20 hours per week on average looking for lost documents, a new survey has found.

Rocheen Flaher wrote Sleep deprivation is costing the Australian economy billions every year in lost productivity according to a new sleep study.  An alarming 30 percent of employees said they have called in sick after having a bad night’s sleep, a statistics which could be costing employers millions of dollars each year in lost productivity.

Hangovers cost $5.6 billion every year and last year the humble ‘smoko’ cost Australian businesses over $3.5 billion, according to a recent survey.

If you live in capital city expect to sit in peak hour travel for an average of 200 hours per year.

Dr Donald Wemore has some very interesting facts and figures. 9 out of 10 people daydream in meetings and 1 hour of planning will save 10 hours of doing.

Filed Under: Blog, Business
posted on February 6, 2012 by

What is Pinterest

Pinterest (pronounced to rhyme with “interest”) is a vision board-styled social photo sharing website and app where users can create and manage theme-based image collections.

 

Pinterest is a visual bulletin board used via the web.  Images are grouped together on personalised boards.  Pinterest has grown from 40,000 users to a massive 3.2 millon and growing.

Why use Pinterest?  You can relate to people better with pictures and visuals.  It is just liking ripping pages out of magazines.  You can set dreams and use Pinterest as your vision board.  Use it as a marketing tool for you business.  I have a board I have called” Getting Organised”.  I have a couple of pictures that I have added that I love.

Pinterest now has a iPhone App Version 1.4

Notes direct from Pinterest – We’ve been working on changes behind-the-pins to make our iPhone app speedier, but the update also includes a new look and new features.

So when you get a chance before the holidays, we recommend updating to version 1.4 in the app store for:

  • Larger images in your feed
  • Faster search
  • Better compatibility with iOS 5
  • Tabs that drop away while scrolling for easier browsing
  • Saving pins to your Camera Roll

You can connect Pinterest to Facebook and Twitter.  Just go to the dropdown menu About and choose Goodies.  Pretty easy to add to your website without any HTML knowledge.

http://pinterest.com/jodievo/

The latest craze is the sharing widgets for your wordpress site.

http://wordpress.org/extend/plugins/tags/pinterest

 How to start using Pinterest?

You will receive an email with an invite once you have registered your interest.

Pinterest Lingo

Pin:  You can link an image to your board and add a comment

Repin: Other users can repin your content.

 

Keep you pinned with a next update soon.

 

Jodie

 

 

Filed Under: Blog, Business
posted on February 3, 2012 by

Virtual Assistant – Why choose a VA?

Need help? Ten benefits of hiring a virtual assistant

The virtual assistant (VA) sector is one of the fastest-growing ‘work from home’ industries in the world, as the promise of flexibility drives administrative professionals to set up these home-run businesses. Here’s 10 benefits of hiring a VA to help with your marketing, administrative secretarial and web-based services.

According to a survey conducted by the Australian Chapter of the Alliance for Virtual Businesses (A4VB), the VA industry is attracting professionals keen to transition from administrative, executive assistant and corporate office manager roles. 81 percent said the freedom to control their hours and income was the reason they started these home-based businesses.

With close to 90 percent possessing extensive on-the-job experience and training, the A4VB has created a list of ten business benefits of hiring an experienced VA.

1. Cost Savings – The real cost of an employee is two to two and a half times their salary! By partnering with a VA you are not responsible for: payroll tax, workers’ compensation, superannuation, sick and holiday leave, training, equipment and office space nor the cost of hiring someone to administer these things!

2. Symbiosis – The VA has a vested interest in helping your business flourish and they too are in business so well equipped to provide the support you require.

3. Commitment – The VA works for you and is committed to you and your business – not a temp agency where constant change in support can occur.

4. Productivity – As the VA works in a home-based office, precious time (and consequently your money) is not wasted on office politics, socialising around the water cooler, mandatory breaks, and personal issues.

5. Flexibility – You pay only for the time on task – the VA works only when you require so you are not paying for idle staff to gossip, play games or browse the internet.

6. Confidentiality – The VA works alone reducing the risk of unauthorised access to computer files and confidentiality of your intellectual property is assured.

7. Technology – The VA is well versed in current trends in technology and can assist you to operate your business more effieciently with the tools and resources available.

8. Sounding Board – The VA, as your professional partner can be your sounding board for all your ideas, events, products or services.

9. Access – The VA can work after hours and on weekends offering services out of hours.

10. No risk of unfair dismissal, harassment and discrimination suits.

Got something to say? Join the small business forum here at DynamicBusiness.com.au.

Filed Under: Blog, Business
posted on February 2, 2012 by

My 5 tips to staying organised

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Organise: Arrange into a structured whole; order: “organise lessons in a planned way”.

 

I had the absolute privilege to speak to over 100 women in Coffs Harbour this morning .  I was so nervous (actually I was a lot worse than nervous).

 

I was asked to speak on 5 ways to stay organised or get organised.  So in a nut shell here are my 5 tips.

 

1. Energy Management NOT time management is the key to maximum productivity.

2 The two minute rule:  If it can be done in 2 minutes do it now.

3  Stop trying to do everything at once – nothing gets done with 100% focus.  If you need to multi task write your thoughts down.  Get a list together.  Start on the most complex task.

4 Eat that Frog: Decision, discipline and determination.   Plan every day in advance.  Planning is bringing the future into the present so that you can do something about it now.

5 Ask for help and learn to say NO!   Say NO to anything that is not high value on your list.  For you to do something new you must complete or doing something old.

Off to do some of those larger tasks now and look forward to my reward of gratitude at the end.  Remember the payoff and rewards will be tremendous.  Don’t start with the low value tasks.  What can I and only I do that is done well and will make a difference.

 
Jodie

Filed Under: Blog, Tips for staying organised
posted on January 23, 2012 by

Go Aussies! We are off to Disneyland

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Julie Ross Dance Studio 2012 America Troupe

“Dreams really do come true!!”

 

Please support our talented Coffs Harbour dancers and help make their dream a reality!

In July, a very excited group of 25 dancers from Julie Ross Dance Studio (JRDS) will be representing Australia as they have been given the opportunity to perform in California, America.  They will be dancing in Disneyland, Universal Studios and on the famous Hollywood Boulevard.  Through audition, the dancers were also accepted to perform in Disneyland’s Summer Dance the Magic Parade where studios from all around the world will come together to dance down Disneyland’s Main St.  The students will also be participating in workshops at both Disneyland and at the Debbie Reynolds Dance Centre where they will be further developing their technical dance skills and performance ability.

As one can appreciate, there are many costs involved when representing Australia overseas.  The JRDS fundraising committee is seeking financial contributions from local clubs and businesses to assist with the costs of student costumes and uniforms which are required for the American tour.

We would greatly appreciate any support you are able to offer and will acknowledge your business sponsorship at JRDS Disney events and in media releases.  If the opportunity arises, our dancers are also able to perform for your corporate event in exchange for sponsorship.

Please contact our Disney Dance Director within the studio, Sally Johnson on 0429396426, if you are able to support the dancers in any way possible, every contribution whether small or large is greatly appreciated.  Please do not hesitate to contact Sally if you would like any further information.

 

Thank you so very much!

 

Yours sincerely,

 

Carol Fear

JRDS Fundraising Committee Secretary

 

www.julierossdance.com.au

Filed Under: All about Jodie
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