Very excited to announce that I have been shortlisted as Virtual Assistant of the Year Award Northern Ireland 2020.
Lots of hard work, self development, learning curves along the way since starting out but the journey has been amazing! I have never regretted becoming self employed and I wouldn’t swap it or the people I’ve met along the-way for all the gold at the end of the rainbow!
Virtual Assistant collective with global clients, the upcoming event by VA Heroes promises to open your eyes to the depth of services offered by such companies.
The VA Heroes are delighted to be guest bloggers for Sensei who help you communicate better with your clients and teams, in person, on paper and online
Editor: This month, we welcome Alison Matthews as our Guest Blogger. She is one member of a local, boutique Virtual Assistant collective with global clients, VA Heroes, whose upcoming event promises to open your eyes to the depth of services offered by such companies.
My casual observation on the rise of this new type of laptop-toting, location-agnostic entrepreneur is that Administration seems like the obvious choice of services to offer: like the traditional PA, managing diaries, booking travel and accommodation, and running events. But, the latest wave of VA has wider ambitions. We’re seeing seasoned professionals with skills in marketing, IT, data management, HR and other surprising niches. Think again. Could VAs provide a solid, credible asset to your existing team?
What is the VA Heroes?
They say the most powerful conversations are a result of just four people chatting together. In our case, after a throwaway comment about the lack of female superheroes and the magical powers of Virtual Assistants (VA) to organise everything from scheduling social media posts to planning events, ‘VA Heroes NI’ was born.
Caped crusaders the VA Heroes NI!
The VA Heroes The VA Heroes
The VA Heroes are a collective of four experienced Virtual Assistants, based in Northern Ireland. We have clients across the USA, Europe and Australasia.
Collaboration Not Competition
The beauty of this collaboration is that while we are all working in the geographically small area of Northern Ireland, we all hail from different backgrounds and offer very different services and expertise.
We’ve replaced competition with collaboration. Our reasoning is very simple:
• First, we all have very different specialities, and therefore can refer work within our group.
• Second, the nature of what we do enables us to work with anyone, anywhere.
• Finally, and perhaps most importantly, all of us started our businesses because we were all already in the business of collaboration. We love helping busy entrepreneurs by giving them back their time, saving them money back and ultimately Saving Their Sanity!
Who are the VA Heroes?
It’s time to meet the heroes!
Gayle Alexander is a creative professional who focuses on video and digital marketing. Her visual and branding services business is called AVA Alexander Virtual Assistance.
Wendy Cree is a specialist in Executive Assistant Services, and works closely with busy MDs and business owners. Her business service is called Ambriel Ltd.
Ellie McBride is an experienced expert in software workflows, tools and systems, and social media support. Her business is called Calibrated ConceptsCalibrated ConceptsCalibrated Concepts.
Finally, Alison Matthews – that’s me! My expertise lies in automating and streamlining processes and data management. My business is called VirtuAli Administrative Solutions.
Save on Sanity Event
Are you getting worn out by having to do all the things wearing all the hats? Let the VA Heroes Save your Sanity!
Save on Sanity Event 5th June 2019
Who Should Attend?
The event we are organising on 05 June is aimed at any business owner who is simply worn out with the responsibility of having to do everything by themselves. We want to educate busy entrepreneurs on the value of hiring a Virtual Assistant.
We have also extended the invitation to other VA’s in NI because we want as many entrepreneurs solopreneurs and start-ups by professionals of all ages to grow their businesses efficiently.
What You Will Learn
• How to automate and systematise your business to give you more time to grow your business and to give space for your personal life
• Tips and tricks to manage your time better
• How to take charge of your to-do list (and your life)
• What a VA actually does and the many ways they can help you
• What types of tasks you can, and should, hand over to a VA
• How to engage a VA
• The advantages of hiring a contractor
Don’t spend the rest of this year stressed out, overwhelmed or drained. Let the VA Heroes come to your rescue!
If you are curious and want to supercharge your business, register at the link for our next event. Depending on how magical your own superpowers are, you may even catch a glimpse of us in our superhero capes!
Further Info & Booking
BookBookBook to attend the next event, Save on Sanity on 05 June in Clockwise, Belfast, Northern Ireland.
Follow the VA Heroes Online:
Facebook Facebook Facebook and Facebook Messenger
InstagramInstagramInstagram
TwitterTwitterTwitter
Snapchat
LinkedIn GroupLinkedIn GroupLinkedIn Group
PinterestPinterestPinterest
YouTubeYouTubeYouTube
Follow the activities of VA Heroes using the following hashtags: #powerof4 #saveonsanity #superpowers #vaheroesni.
Photo by Gabriel Beaudry on Unsplash
This week I’ve researched venues for Christmas dinner, put together course materials, made travel arrangements for a business trip, taken the minutes at an HR investigation case and make lots of diary appointments. Does this sound like pretty much your average day too as a PA? The big difference for me is that I’m self-employed; I completed these tasks for several different clients and I didn’t have to beat terrible traffic to go to work because I’m a Virtual (Personal) Assistant, a “VA”.
There are 4 questions that people already in administrative industry invariably ask me when I tell them I’m a VA:
Q1: How does being a Virtual Assistant work in practice?
A1: Well, I use all of the skills that I’ve gained over last 17yrs of my career as PA and as a Project/Export/Sales /Travel -Administrator but I work virtually i.e. I use latest cloud-based technology to share tasks/documents/calendars with my clients from my own office and note I say clients rather than boss! I work for several different clients who are all small business owners (mostly sole traders) with very diverse occupations and I work from my own office.
Q2: How do I find clients?
A2: Through lots and lots of hard work! Joking aside it means building up a strong brand and trust, targeted quality networking (face-to-face and on social networks) and lots good word of mouth referrals.
Q3: How does it work in reality re. pricing ?
A3: I agree on tasks based on my client’s needs (on an ongoing or ad-hoc basis), we draw up a contract and I charge per hour or at an agreed project rate if applicable.
Q4: Have you had any special training?
A4: I did a 1day workshop called from ‘PA to VA’ and referred to a wealth of online courses and resources. (I have a modern language degree and a post-graduate diploma in business administration). In the past, I have completed several PA courses but it is experience and common sense that is the most important ingredient (most VA’s are aged 35yrs+ and have 8yrs+ admin experience in senior roles)
Advantages for me of being a VA:
If you are an early bird like me-you can get up as early as you want and as a night-owl vice versa!
Advantages for my clients:
The term Virtual Assistant first appeared back in 1995 in Australia and western states of the USA primarily due to the large geographical distance to travel to work. The industry began to grow with the creation of the Internet, search engines, the cloud and smartphones which meant that people were no longer restricted to one fixed abode to work in. 1,300 Virtual Assistants were recorded in UK helping 7,700 clients in 2014 and VA Industry is continuously on the rise here in NI with the ever-growing number of self-employed business owners needing flexible but professional administrative support.
I became a Virtual Assistant in April 2014 after 9yrs abroad working as PA to a Director in a European institution, I wanted to move back to N. Ireland and I wanted a role that was flexible, interesting, creative and not restricted to one industry/sector but I just couldn’t see a job that particularly interested me. Then I saw a workshop for Virtual Assistants advertised and had a light bulb moment as it let me put all my skills to use (co-ordinating others, diplomacy, maintaining confidential data, IT skills) but with the added advantage that I’m also my own boss and that of course brings its own set of particular challenges!
Challenges:
I could paint a very rosy picture of good points of being a VA but in reality being self- employed and being responsible for every aspect of running your business is Very Very hard work. You are the Finance, IT, HR, Marketing department all rolled into one! And I tell you there are days I sadly miss having those people at end of the phone. Though saying that, these days PA roles are often very demanding and many of us are already used to such multi-jobbing.
The biggest challenge for me has been learning to switch off and ‘allowing’ myself to relax. Even though as a freelancer you have the flexibility to work when you want, it’s hard to get into that mindset after so many years ‘working 9 to 5’ as Dolly sings.
There is also the isolation which is a big factor. As a bit of an introvert working by myself doesn’t bother me but it’s important to get out from behind 4 walls of your own office from time to time (for business and sanity purposes). I’m a member of several networking events but I particularly enjoy coming to Personal Best NI PA Forum. A forum event for the banter and to see what new developments are happening PA world.
Monday past I worked 8 am to 8 pm but then it meant that on Tuesday when the sun was shining I was able to go out on my bike for a few hours. On other occasions, I’ve shifted my working patterns around to take my mum to hospital appointments or pick up errands for my sister (who works 9-6pm).
I love being a Virtual Assistant as no 2 days are the same and as I’m working with people from lots of different industries, I’m constantly learning. It’s also very interesting to connect with Virtual Assistants all over the world but most of all I love the flexibility and challenge of being my own boss. When I left my former employment, a colleague commented ‘ah you want to be CEO of your own life’ and I couldn’t have put it any better! If you are at the stage in your life that you need flexibility that your current employer can’t or won’t give or you just want to find out more about being a Virtual Assistant don’t hesitate to drop me an email at alison@virtuali.uk
Alison Matthews
VirtuAli Admin Solutions
http://CEO of your own life ? PA’s looking for a change? Published LinkedIn 19th August 2016
