Virtual Assistants Deal With High Canadian Dollar

My latest Press Release:

The high Canadian dollar may be good news for some businesses online, but for others it is causing them to rethink their marketing plans to US customers and clients.

Virtual assistants are among the latter group. For years, Canadian VAs have been able to offer competitive rates to their US clients. Now with the dollar being so high against the American dollar, they are losing money and in some cases, clients. Some American clients are finding it more cost effective to find US-based virtual assistants.

This has lead many virtual assistants to take another look at how they market to prospective clients in the US. Some are marketing more to Canadian prospects and since the Canadian market for virtual assistants is smaller than of that in the US, this is making the Canadian virtual assistant industry more competitive. Some virtual assistants are lowering their prices in response to the surge in the Canadian dollar.

Darrell Williams, of Right-Hand-Man Virtual Assistant Services has decided to lower his basic rate from $30/hour to $25.00/hour so his American clients will be able to continue to pay the same amount for his services. Williams says, “I would rather lose a few dollars an hour than lose my clients in the US. It makes sense to me to take a small loss, temporarily, than to possibly lose clients while our dollar is high.”

The high Canadian dollar is also hard on virtual assistant organizations, trainers and coaches. One of the largest VA organizations, the Virtual Assistant Networking Association (VANA), which is based in Canada, is now losing about $120 each time they sell the Virtual Business Startup System to new virtual assistants in the US.

Virtual assistants are global service providers. What happens to the economy of their country, or that of the country where their clients are based, will affect their bottom line. It doesn’t mean they will be forced into financial ruin, but it does mean they have to change to meet the challenges of their global industry.

Newsletter Mistakes

Well, I learned one big lesson this morning. DO NOT send your newsletter out through Outlook/Outlook Express. I thought when you sent an email to a group of addresses that just the name of the group showed up on the emails. I was wrong. Next time I will send the newsletter through an auto-responder.

I also realize now that I did not put in a link to unsubscribe from the newsletter. I am sure I will learn and will make these changes next time.

Maybe I should send out a newsletter about "newsletter mistakes".

Carnival of Virtual Assistants - #1

Welcome to the first ever Carnival of Virtual Assistants. We will bring you great posts from the virtual assistant industry from around the globe. Enjoy and maybe next month your post will be here along with ours.

Tips for VA Clients:
Angela Wills presents StarVA - How to Know You're Getting Your Moneys Worth From Your VA posted at StarVA.com.

Website Design Tip:
Barbra Sundquist presents How to Write a Short Bio or "About Me" Page posted at Barbra Sundquist.

How can a Virtual Assistant Help Me?
Emma Walker presents How can a Virtual Assistant help me? posted at CKPA.

Tips for Women Who Lead Men:
Alvaro Fernandez presents Top Ten Tips for Women Who Lead Men posted at Brain Fitness Blog.

Some Business Success Myths:
Bhupendra Khanal presents Top 10 Mantra for Professional Success posted at Analytics Bhupe.

Gmail Productivity Tips:
The Free Geek presents The Enormous Gmail Productivity List posted at Free Geekery.

Internet Marketing Tips:
Praveen presents My Simple Trading System: A Free Guide Recommending Internet Marketing Resources posted at My Simple Trading System.

Don't forget to leave us your comments and suggestions to make the Carnival of Virtual Assistants even better next month!

I Won, Again!

I am the first winner of, and Tawnya Sutherland says, the inspiration for a new contest at the Virtual Assistants Network Association. It's called "Blogging for VANA" and it is going to be better than "bobbing for apples"!

From the VANA contest page:
Blog with VANA and you could win a month's worth of Bronze Advertising at VANA to help you with your business advertising. Everyone is welcome to play from Virtual Assistants to clients of Virtual Assistants! We will draw one new winner for every 10 entries we receive. If we receive 100 entries, we'll draw 10 winners!

So go over and check out my ad. It is posted right beside the contest details.

Thanks, again, VANA and Tawnya!