Plagiarism in Online Business

I don't understand the need some people have of plagiarising other people's work. In the recent edition of the Blog Carnival of Virtual Assistants, we had to remove about half of the submissions because they did not belong to the people submitting them. It seems that people are just taking articles published online and putting their name on them and submitting them as their own.

Why do people do this? It doesn't look good for your business if the first thing that people learn about you is that you have stolen someone else's material. Would you want to do business with a thief? It doesn't take much to Google the title of an article or blog post to see who the original author is.

Another thing that gets stolen a lot on the Web is Web site content. I must admit that when I first put up my website, I did take a couple things from another VA's site. I honestly thought that this was not a problem because they were quite generic things that I took. I was approached by the other VA and immediately changed these aspects of my site. If you make a mistake in using someone's material, correct it as soon as you become aware of it.

There are going to be a lot of things on your Web site that are going to be common with your competitors. People surfing the net looking for a particular service or product want to see different things at each site. If yours is just like everyone else's, they will just click on the next one on the list. Take a little extra time to make your Web site a reflection of yourself and how you do business. If someone else is designing your site for you, make sure that you check it for plagiarism before it is made available to the public. It is your responsibility to make sure that you have the right to use the content of your site. This goes for not just the words you use, but the pictures, videos, and even the fonts.

Plagiarism doesn't just hurt the business being stolen from, it will hurt your business even more. People won't want to do business with you if they find out you are an online content thief.

Respect that little (c) symbol. It is there for a reason.

Blog Carnival of Virtual Assistants - Tomorrow!

Tomorrow is the day. The second edition of the Blog Carnival of Virtual Assistants is coming out. It will be hosted by Angela Wills of StarVA.com.

There is still time to get your posts in. Just go to Blog Carnival Submission and fill out the form to submit your blog post.

Let's make this the VA event of the month!

7 Benefits of Hiring a Multi-Virtual Assistant Practice

A Multi-VA practice is a team of virtual assistants who provide a variety of VA services and quality work. Most Multi-VA practices have one owner who then subcontracts projects to other virtual assistants who have the skills and experience to complete the project.

There are a lot of benefits in hiring a Multi-VA practice as your virtual assistant service provider. I will touch on seven of these benefits:

1) There is always an expert available. With a team of virtual assistants available to work on your project, you are guaranteed that there will always be someone available that has the necessary skills and expertise to complete the task.

2) Large projects can be divided among the team. This allows for larger projects to be broken down into smaller tasks and, therefore, completed faster and more efficiently than if one VA was to take on the task. Many hands make light work!

3) Associate virtual assistants are usually located in different time zones. Having VAs located in your time zone as well as either ahead or behind you allows for your work to be completed at all hours of the day. Your tasks may be completed while you are sleeping and ready for you before you start work in the morning.

4) The client is in contact with one person. A virtual assistant manager usually is in contact with you. They are the one responsible that the output you receive is of the highest quality. The manager is also responsible for deciding which associate VA is the best person for the job.

5) The client is only paying for the time spent on their work. Even though there is a team of people working on your tasks, you still only pay one hourly rate. You are not paying when the VAs check their emails, work on behalf of another client, or take an extra long lunch break.

6) If a client likes the work of a particular member of the team, they can ask for them to be their VA. Most Multi-VA practices have provisions for you to work with a particular team member and even for contracting outside of the company with that VA.

7) The client is in control of what work is completed and when. Even though the team manager sets you up with the best virtual assistant, you are still in control of what tasks that VA completes and the deadlines they need to abide by. The team manager will assist you in setting out these tasks and deadlines.

In choosing any virtual assistant or Multi-VA practice you need to make sure they are the best fit for you and the work you want completed. Check them out by going to their websites and the websites of any organizations the VA belongs to. Make sure to ask as many questions as it takes for you to become familiar and comfortable with your choice.

“Odd” Job Virtual Assistants

There are many reasons that one might require the services of a virtual assistant. The following uses of their services might surprise you.

When he started his virtual assistant practice, Darrell Williams imagined himself creating documents for clients, checking their voicemails and emails, scheduling their time or other common administrative tasks. He did not expect to be finding a moving company, writing press releases and articles or finding just the right kind of sunglasses for his clients.

There are many different kinds of virtual assistants and even more types of clients. There are VAs who work for hairdressers, lawyers, doctors, writers, artists, real estate agents and even athletes. Everyone needs help with something and there are a lot of VAs that are experts in areas that clients may never imagine.

Williams, of Right-Hand-Man Virtual Assistant Services says that he enjoys the varied tasks he is asked to complete.
“I love doing different things for each of my clients. I don’t really enjoy doing the same thing over and over again, all day long. If I don’t know how to do something, I have a team of associates that I can count on to be able to do it.”

Clients and virtual assistants must make sure they are a good fit before they agree to work together. There is no sense hiring a VA and then finding out they can’t do what you need done. Some VAs would rather not take on the “odd” jobs and would rather just type documents all day long.

Many clients, after hiring a virtual assistant, find out their VA is not prepared to do what they require. They did not find out the skills and experience of the VA before hiring them. If the VA the client has hired and cannot complete certain tasks, then the client is left to find another VA that can. To avoid this, many virtual assistants are opening Multi-VA practices. With many virtual assistants with varying talents in one team, there is always an expert available.

If a client needs a virtual assistant to find a kennel for their dog while they are on a vacation that the VA has also arranged, and type the client’s manuscript while they are gone, they would either need to hire a multi-talented VA or hire a Multi-VA team with a number of VAs capable of completing one task each. Remember that everyone is an expert at something and there is a virtual assistant that can do whatever “odd” job that each client needs done.

5 Reasons Solo Professionals Need a Virtual Assistant

My latest article:

5 Reasons Solo Professionals Need a Virtual Assistant.

Having worked with a few solo professionals in my time, I have noticed a few things:

Solo professionals often bite off just more than they can chew. They do this because they want to succeed. I think that they feel that if they take on a little bit more, they will do more and, therefore, succeed more. Stop spreading yourself too thin and get the help you need.

They often forget that they can't do everything. Everyone is an expert at something, but no-one is an expert at everything. Solo professional doesn't need to mean "lone wolf". If you aren't good at something, get someone else to do it. Your clients will appreciate that the work is done well and not just completed.

Solo professionals tend to focus on too many things at once. The old phrase, "do one thing, and do it well" comes to mind. If need be, get a virtual assistant to help you mange your greatest resource - your time. A good VA can weed out those time wasting emails and voicemails. They can help you prioritize your schedule and help give you the time to spend on your area of expertise.

Solo professionals can have a habit of mixing business with pleasure. Sometimes it is difficult to keep a handle on your own finances and keep your personal money separate from your business money. Hire a virtual assistant who specializes in bookkeeping and get them to help you budget and plan how and where you spend your money. They can also handle the "divorce" of your personal and business finances.

Solo professionals are great at what they do and they get paid accordingly. They can also have more expenses than a professional that is in a partnership or firm. Hiring a virtual assistant is more cost effective for the solo professional than hiring in-house administrative assistance. Since the VA is private contractor with their own office, you don't have to put out money for more space, equipment, health benefits, and other employee related costs. Also, since a virtual assistant is only paid for the time that they work for you, there is no money lost to long lunch breaks, personal calls, or even sick days.

If you are a solo professional, and if you need some help, consider hiring a virtual assistant to partner with you for your success. You will be glad you did.

To find out more about virtual assistants and how they can help you as a solo professional take a look at www.righthandmanva.com