VA Code of Ethics

Posted by execva on July 29, 2010

The VA industry is – to date – self-regulated and this is a fantastic thing for our industry. I believe it is one of the reasons why our industry is so non-competitive.

However, that doesn’t mean that VAs don’t operate in accordance with a Code of Ethics. Whilst that Code may vary slightly from VA to VA it will cover basics such as:

  • Maintaining honesty and integrity when working with clients, suppliers and colleagues;
  • Fair dealing;
  • Only taking on work for which the VA is suitably qualified/skilled and seeking to outsource those tasks for which they are not qualified/skilled to another VA;
  • Confidentiality of information;
  • Not knowingly take part in any illegal/unethical activity;
  • Commitment to continuing education/training;
  • Refrain from conduct that would bring the VA or the industry as a whole into disrepute.

Another part of a VA’s Code of Ethics is to not knowingly take another VA’s client or deliberately or knowingly undercut a colleague in order to do so. Now it stands to reason that many clients will approach more than one VA for a quote. It is important that clients realise though that once they have chosen a particular VA a contract will be entered into, part of which will no doubt state that the client will not give work to another VA that falls within the skill set of the contracted VA. So this provides a kind of ‘exclusive’ arrangement between the VA and client.

I recently had a potential client indicate that they were contracting one VA but would send me work if that VA was overloaded. It was important to point out in this instance that, since he had not contracted me but the other VA, ethically I would not be able to accept work from him directly … though it is possible that I could accept subcontract work from her if she was overloaded.

Clients generally do not work with more than one VA unless there is a project requiring multiple skill sets in which case the main contracted VA will arrange subcontracts on behalf of the client with appropriately skilled VAs. Alternatively, the VA (at their discretion) may put the client in touch directly with the appropriately skilled VA … something I have done myself from time to time in my practice.

But in this way, for the most part, the client only needs to liaise with one person although there may in fact be a team of VAs working for that client.

© Lyn Prowse-Bishop, www.execstress.com

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Australian Certified Website!

Posted by execva on July 23, 2010

Pleased to announce that the eSOS site has just been certified as an Australian Certified Website!

Whilst the organisation providing the certification is relatively new I felt that this was not as important as the spirit/intent of the service they were providing which, according to their Terms & Conditions, is:

“… established to certify websites that are operated by real people who reside and operate their websites from within Australia ….  aims to showcase websites that are Australian owned and operated … The certification will save time for Australian consumers who are looking specifically to shop in Australia with Australian owned and operated websites … The business was established for consumers who are looking specifically to shop or gain information from Australian owned and operated bodies via their website. Our website can be used as a portal for consumers who are looking for Australian certified websites as well as being able to identify a certified site by the gold logo being displayed.”

I also liked the fact that they are independent of government bodies/agencies and specific industries.

It’s important to note that this is NOT Quality Assurance and that they are certifying sites only – not businesses per se. So it’s not business certification but site certification – ie you are legitimately an Australian owned/operated site.

Why did I choose to have my site certified? I think given the issues we currently have with offshore suppliers pinching our IP this is a good way for clients to know I’m legitimate and they can be assured that the service provided is 100% Australian owned.

If you’ve used eSOS for work in the past feel free to give a recommendation or rating at the site!

© Lyn Prowse-Bishop, www.execstress.com

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On Becoming a VA

Posted by execva on July 13, 2010

Now that the VA industry has been alive and kicking in Australia since 1996 – longer of course in the US and Canada – there are more and more people out there wanting to become virtual assistants and get on board what seems to be an ‘awesome’ way to make money from home.  (Of course, being a VA is about more than that.)

Riding this wave of interest naturally comes those who offer training, coaching and other support services for the newbies interested in getting started.

A word of caution. Be sure that you investigate these training opportunities carefully. And not just the courses – but the qualifications of the person running them. Two years in business does not make one an expert – particularly given the statistics that less than 10% of businesses that start in Australia survive five years. Personally I wouldn’t be seeking advice, training or coaching from anyone who has been in business for less than five years. What you’re getting is no doubt what they’ve picked up but you can get that from any number of discussion boards, online conferences (run by highly experienced and long-standing virtual practitioners) and podcasts.

Whilst it’s highly commendable that relatively new VAs are wanting to share their ‘wisdom’ my personal belief (and experience after over 10 years in practice) is that anyone with 1-3 years in business is really still a newbie, finding their feet, learning how to attract and keep clients, and discovering their niche. This does not qualify them to run training IMHO. And in fact in some cases they most likely are sharing what they have learned at training opportunities, courses or conventions they have attended themselves. Commendable but should they charge for it if newbie VAs can attend these events themselves and learn direct from the more experienced VAs running these courses? I’m not sure of the answer to that.

My advice is to source support and help directly from people who really walk the walk and talk the talk, and who have the experience (demonstrated from years in practice) to truly guide you.

There are a number of courses available for new VAs – one of the newest Australian-run courses is VA Trainer. This is run by Kathie Thomas one of the longest-standing, most experienced virtual assistants in the country. My recommendation would be if you’re looking for local training and you’re happy to pay for it, you can’t go past this one.

Conferences abound now. The Australian VA Convention started last year and is one I would recommend for on-site learning opportunities. And of course the Online International VA Convention is coming up to six years running with an almost astounding array of learning opportunities offered over three days of online webinars.

The Australian Virtual Business Network has a library of nearly three years’ worth of webinar recordings on topics of interest to VAs – newbies and established practitioners for just $5 apiece.

And launched this year The Virtual Business Show is Australia’s first internet radio show/podcast, also covering topics of interest to VAs and other virtual business service providers, which is completely free and accessible via iTunes subscription or RSS.

So be careful. I am not trying to stop people starting up coaching/training courses or other learning opportunities. But what I am saying is be sure to source your support, learning opportunities, training, coaching and mentoring from VAs who have been around longer than a couple of years.

Clearly those VAs must know something about business success so who better to learn from?

© Lyn Prowse-Bishop – www.execstress.com

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Quoting – or Working?

Posted by execva on June 17, 2010

There’s been some discussion in the Aussie VA industry over the last couple of days about clients approaching them for quotes by getting them to complete pieces of the job, having it returned, then saying “thanks but no thanks” … then not paying for the work just completed.

Of course, this is a pretty canny way of getting your job completed for nothing – approach enough Virtual Assistants for a ‘quote’ and voila! You get the whole thing done for nothing.

So this post serves as a warning … to VAs and to clients.

If you’re a VA – particularly getting started – there’s a tendency to want to bend over backwards in order to get the work. But be careful. If you’re asked to provide a quote by completing part of the task, you’re doing the job, not working out a quote and as such you’re entitled to be paid.

You must ensure that you:

  • understand the difference between quoting a job and doing the job;
  • are clear on the client’s requirements;
  • ensure the client knows whether you are providing a quote or doing the work;
  • ensure the client knows if you are actually going to do work – even a piece of the work – that you will be charging for it;
  • ensure you get a contract in place BEFORE completing any work;
  • do not return the job until the client has paid – or return it in a format that includes watermarks or is locked for editing or printing.

Unfortunately there’s a tendency for newbies in particular to offer the first hour free or some other ‘free’ incentive to attract clients but this can have the effect of encouraging some potential clients to exploit this to get their whole job done for free.

Luckily clients like this are few and far between, but you should be on the look out.

If you’re a client who thinks they can get work done this way, be aware that the industry is a tight knit one. There are large numbers of forums globally and we all talk to each other. In this digital world it takes a split second for the word to get around.

Besides, would you take your car to the mechanic and ask them to give you a quote by completing the service, then walk away and say ‘Sorry, that’s too much’? You’d be unlikely to get your car back.

In the same way, virtual assistants are providers of a service and just because you don’t see them face to face that’s no reason to take their skills and service offerings for granted. If they do a job for you they are entitled to be paid – just as you are entitled to be paid for your service provisions.

© Lyn Prowse-Bishop – eSOS

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The Virtual Business Show is Launched!

Posted by execva on May 10, 2010

ANNOUNCING AUSTRALIA’S VERY FIRST PODCAST/INTERNET RADIO TALK SHOW:

THE VIRTUAL BUSINESS SHOW – WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW

That’s right! I have now started up our very own internet radio show which will cover topics of interest to VAs, virtual business owners, small businesses, those wanting to become VAs and those who want to work with them.

Our first episode is up covering the importance of continuing education.

You can download the podcast or subscribe so you’ll be notified of when new shows are added.

Why am I doing this? I began offering webinars to the industry in Australia via AVBN back in 2008. At that time nothing like that existed here in our timezone. After nearly three years offering these, it’s become apparent that even though they are free to AVBN financial members, $5 for our listserv members and $10 for everyone else, the take up rate is pretty poor.

There is a LOT of time involved in hosting webinars, not only running the event, but sourcing speakers, doing the training, sending out the information, collating the registrations, changing the access to the room, sending out the log in details, conducting the session, uploading the recording and managing the recording page so the download is available. My practice is incredibly busy – and the time involved in arranging and running the webinars wasn’t justified by the take up rate. Switching the format to a podcast/radio show means you can access this info but in your own time, whenever you like. It also means I can get the recording and editing of the podcast done and uploaded when I’m free and without sticking to a particular schedule and impacting my practice.

In addition, this year (2010) two other networks in Australia began offering webinars too, which means we went from zero learning opportunities in our timezone to three a month. I think it’s great that they have done this because it kind of takes the pressure off me a bit and means I can head in a different direction and offer something different and unique, giving virtual businesses here more options.

The webinars will continue through 2010 so there will be a library of three years’ worth of topics you can access.

So, check out the podcast show!

The player is also included on my site home page where you can play the episodes (clicking Play Past Episodes will give you a list of episodes to listen to) or click Visit My Call which will take you out to the show page. There you can subscribe to the call using any feedreader, or via podcast, text alerts or iTunes.

I envision the shows being podcasts followed up by a talkback show with a guest if there are questions or comments left on my Show Comments Page – either a phone in show or a webinar in the AVBN room so you can come along and get answers. The recording will then be posted as a follow up show on TalkShoe.

So, the first episode is now live so you can listen in to that, and subscribe to receive the notification of when the next show will be. I’ll also announce on the lists and the social media platforms.

I hope the industry will find this a useful addition to their learning opportunities.

© Lyn Prowse-Bishop, eSOS

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