Scams are Everywhere!

I recently responded to an ad in the local paper to conduct research survey from home. I went to the compny's website and filled out the form for more information. A few days later, I received an envelope in the mail from this company. Inside was a bank draft for $2,500.00, a letter explaining what to do with the bank draft and a customer survey to complete and send back.

I was supposed to cash the bank draft and go to my local Western Union office and send $2,100.00 to a certain person in Ontario and keep $200.00 for myself and pay the fees to Western Union. The first thing I noticed in the letter was that Western Union was miscapitalized in various ways throughout the letter. Then I noticed that the corporate logos at the bottom of the letter, from companies they supposedly have done reseaarch for, were all a little bit off. They looked real at first glance but when you looked closer, they were obvious fakes. My proofreading skills actually saved me from falling for this nasty scam.

I contacted the police and found out that a lot of local people had applied for this job and got the same response. One person actually cashed the bank draft and will be liable to the bank for $2500.00. These bank drafts are FAKE. They will get by the local teller, but when they get to the sorting office, they are found to be counterfeit and sent back.

The good news is that I did not cash the bank draft. I contacted the local television news department and they came and interviewed me today. I just don't want anyone else to fall for this scam. It comes in many different business names, but if you receive a bank draft or cheque in the mail and are asked to send some of it back, DO NOT CASH IT!

Page 1 on Google - "Virtual Assistant Services"

I have finally made it to the first page of Google. If you search for "virtual assistant services" my website is at the bottom of the first page. This has taken a year of hard work, but it is worth it.

How did I do it? I didn't pay anyone to help me, but I did put out numerous press releases and quite a few articles. I added my site to many directories and joined a bunch of social networking sites. I used keyword and website optimization software to help me decide how my site should be designed and what words were the best to draw people to my site.

It does take a lot of work, but you can do it to. If you need some help, hire a VA to give you a hand.

Administrative Professionals Week

Administrative Professionals Week starts today. It is an international celebration of the hard work and value that administrative professionals bring to the business world. It is celebrated during the last full week in April with Administrative Professionals Day falling on the Wednesday of that week.

If you are an administrative professional, celebrate yourself this week and the accomplishments you have had in the past year. If you are the recipient of the hard work that your administrative professional does, celebrate him/her every day, but especially this Wednesday.

Do you know what a Favicon is?

I didn't know until today that a favicon is that little logo beside some website addresses in my address bar. I decided I wanted one.

Believe it or not, it is very easy to do. I found this website, http://www.chami.com/html-kit/services/favicon/ and all you have to do is upload a graphic and it will make the favicon for you. It then gives you the one line of script you will need to insert into your website html file.

It is a great visual aid for people who have a lot of sites in their favourites, which is where the "fav" in favicon comes from.

You can see mine at http://www.righthandmanva.com.

Virtual Assistant Anniversary Sale

ANNIVERSARY SALE!

New clients receive 1 hour FREE with every 5 hours paid!

Valid until May 6th, 2008

Regular Rates:

Due to the high Canadian Dollar our basic rate is now only $25.00(CAD) per hour (+5%GST for Canadian Clients)

Billed in 15 minute increments.

• Starter Package -5 hours - $112.50 (10% Savings!)
• Entrepreneur Package - 10 hour - $225.00 (10% Savings!)
• Small Business Package - 15 hour - $318.75 (15% Savings!)
• Solo Professional Package - 20 hour - $400.00 (20% Savings!) Best Value!

• We offer a 15% discount for non-profit organizations, home school families and organizations!
We accept cheques, cash, bank drafts, and money orders. We also accept credit cards through Paypal.

• Billing is done in 15 minute increments.

• A deposit of usually 25% is required prior to the start of a project.

• Payment is due upon receipt of an invoice.

• There will be a $25.00 service charge for any NSF cheques.

• Clients will be billed for incidental expenses incurred on their behalf. These include, but are not limited to – photocopying, postage, stationery supplies, shipping, long distance phone charges, etc.