Simplicity Virtual Assistant Services

How important are new customers to you?

2008-02-24T12:33:00.000-08:00

Let me ask you a question. How important are new customers to you? If you say fairly important let me ask you another question. Do you have a website for your business? If your answer is no then I have some very sad news for you indeed.

Imagine my disappointment today when I pulled up a search engine and proceeded to search for gyms in my area and found that not one of them has a website to advertise their classes, equipment, opening hours, location, staff profiles etc.

The end result you may ask? Well, without the information I desire I'm going to continue attending my current gym (despite it not offering the aerobics classes I'd like) and the twenty odd gyms in my locality are going miss out on my custom. Makes you think doesn't it!

Time Intensive Tasks?

2008-02-10T16:49:00.000-08:00

Do you have a few time intensive tasks laying around that you will one day get around to completing? If so have you considered delegation? That's right, farm those tasks out to someone who has the time and inclination to get them returned to you completed and formatted as you've always intended to do yourself.

Take for instance Michelle & Brett of Fakenham, England, both would dearly love to move to NZ, but with 2 school aged children they needed the peace of mind of knowing which schools their children would likely be able to attend upon arriving. That's where Simplicity VA Services came in. They simply asked Simplicity VA to research primary schools in the area that they would like to relocate to. Two hours later they had a detailed list of schools, their ERO results, location, contact details, websites and recommendations. From that list Brett & Michelle were able to make a selection of five schools and contact each school individually. Now that's smart delegation!

Go on don't be shy! Email us today to see just how much we can make your life easier!

Replying to Emails the Smart Way

2008-01-16T13:40:00.000-08:00

Some times it is easier to illustrate how to do something by explaining how NOT to do it. Here is one example.

Bay of Plenty man John Middleton (and member of the opposing political party) emailed Micheal Cullen (New Zealand Labour Minister of Finance) to express his concern at the number of New Zealanders who are choosing to move to Australia. Michael Cullen replied rather abruptly as you can see.

Michael Cullens biggest mistake was replying within 2 hours and 59 minutes of receiving John Middletons email.

He received an email that lets face it wasn't particularly flattering and replied relatively quickly instead of spending the time formulating a more constructive reply e.g.

Dear Mr MIddleton

Thank you for bringing this article to my attention.

Yours sincerely
Michael Cullen

When it comes to Replying to Emails the Smart Way in this instance, the golden rule is don't reply to emails when angry, frustrated, hurt or insulted. Instead give yourself a cooling down period in which to formulate a constructive reply that may resolve or minimise the damage that can be wrought.

Mandy
Virtual Assistant
Simplicity VA Services
www.simplicityva.co.nz
Making Your Life Easier - Providing Administrative Solutions
Contact us today to obtain a free no obligation quote

Backpackit - Is Simplicity Itself

2008-01-05T15:49:00.000-08:00

Do you have post it notes scattered around your office?
Do your 'To do lists' become start to cascade off your desk?
Have you got computer folders full of images with elusive names like 0034.jpg, 0140.jpg etc and no idea what the actual photograph is of?
Would you like to get organised?

If so then Backpackit may just be what you are looking for! It allows you to:

Make To-do lists
Organise photographs
Set reminders to be sent to your cellphone via txt
Keep a calendar
Share pages with friends/family or colleagues and
Store data

Embedded below is a podcast (approx 5 minutes long) which demonstrates the features of Backpackit

Happy Organising!

Mandy
Virtual Assistant
Simplicity VA Services
www.simplicityva.co.nz
Making Your Life Easier - Providing Administrative Solutions
Contact us today to obtain a free no obligation quote

Creating Tables in Microsoft Word

2008-01-01T21:17:00.000-08:00

Have you ever wondered how administrators format documents for both practical and display purposes?

Chances are that a table has been used in the background of the document to align data. To illustrate just how this is done we we have written a tutorial entitled Creating a Table in Microsoft Word just for you!

Mandy
Virtual Assistant
Simplicity VA Services
www.simplicityva.co.nz
Making Your Life Easier - Providing Administrative Solutions
Contact us today to obtain a free no obligation quote

Mind Mapping & Radial Diagrams

2007-12-28T16:56:00.001-08:00

Today's post is on two topics, the first being Radial Diagrams, of which I've used to illustrate the second topic of Mind Mapping.

Radial diagrams are typically used to show relationships of a core element and are extremely useful when you would like to present a concept to a large group of people by way of say a programme like Microsoft PowerPoint or GoogleDocs web based Presentation software.

As for Mind Mapping, the diagram above illustrates not only how to mind map but the advantages of doing so.

The above Radial Diagram was created in Microsoft Word (and can be created just as easily in Excel). To learn how to Easily Insert a Microsoft Excel Graph/Chart or indeed a Diagram into a Document visit Simplicity VA Services

Mandy
Virtual Assistant
Simplicity VA Services
www.simplicityva.co.nz
Making Your Life Easier - Providing Administrative Solutions
Contact us today to obtain a free no obligation quote

Work Life Balance IV - Photography

2007-12-26T23:57:00.000-08:00

These delightful pieces of art were photographed on a recent trip to Taupo here in New Zealand.
I have provided a map showing exactly where Taupo is below the photographs for those not familiar with NZ.

View Larger Map

Blogging Inspiration

2007-12-22T16:56:00.000-08:00

I stumbled upon a an article called 101 Great Posting Ideas That Will Make Your Blog Sizzle over at I Help You Blog and thought it was worthy of sharing with my blog readers.

With gems such as 'Change up your posting style (e.g., tutorial, reviews, etc.)', 'add to a list started by another blogger' and 'create a huge list of your best posts' Philip Liu certainly has some great advice to bring out the blogger in everyone.

Happy Blogging Everyone

Mandy
Virtual Assistant
Simplicity VA Services
www.simplicityva.co.nz
Making Your Life Easier - Providing Administrative Solutions
Contact us today to obtain a free no obligation quote

New Years Resolutions

2007-12-20T16:00:00.000-08:00

I recently read the results of a small poll on New Years Resolutions with interest .

50% of people polled indicated that they no longer set New Years Resolutions to 'give up' vices like smoking or alcohol . Preferring instead, to resolve to achieve something for themselves in the coming year.

One person polled shared how she had taken an interest in gardening and turned it into a lucrative career by committing to studying horticulture the first year, article writing/journalism the next, photography the third year and finally editing the fourth year. She aims to write articles on gardens & gardening for syndication by the end of 2008. I found her achievements to be somewhat inspirational.

The reasoning behind this approach seems to be solid and is based on common sense, after all its far easier to take up a new pass time than it is to give up an old one.

Do you have any New Years Resolutions? I'd love to hear about them!

Mandy
Virtual Assistant
Simplicity VA Services
www.simplicityva.co.nz
Making Your Life Easier - Providing Administrative Solutions
Contact us today to obtain a free no obligation quote

A World of Colour Exists Out There

2007-12-18T23:31:00.000-08:00

Colour (color), whether it be for interior design, business branding, website design or charts & graphs plays an important part in business marketing.

With this in mind I was delighted to find the following website called Instant Color Schemes which shares some fantastic colour combinations.

This particular site stood out to me because it provides each colours hexidecimal code. With colours broken down into categories that have names such as 'City Sidewalk', ''Elegant Opulance' and 'Red Hot Sun' you are bound to find a color scheme which appeals.

Happy viewing!

Inserting Excel Charts & Graphs into Documents Easily

2007-12-18T00:58:00.000-08:00

Have you ever wanted to insert an Excel chart or graph into a newsletter, PowerPoint presentation, website or company report easily?

Yes? Read how to here on Simplicity VA Services website.

DIY Website Advice - The Actual Cost of Building Your Own Website

2007-12-16T15:50:00.000-08:00

DIY vs Professional Website Design

Have you ever calculated what your actual hourly rate is as a business owner? Lets say for arguements sake your time is worth $150.00 an hour to your business, working on the premise that every hour you take off from your core business activities costs your business $150.00 and you spend 10 hours reading up on html, fighting wysiwyg applications to put the content and graphics where you want them not to mention naviagtion, researching & registering domains etc... that's an investment of $1,500.00 alone you've made just in initial design, this dosen't include content management , validation, accessibility, shopping carts etc...

Compare the costs above to having a site developed by say a designer like canzdesign who can have a basic CMS 5 page website up and running for you starting from $450.00.

Sometimes it just makes sense to hire a professional.

DIY Website Advice - Just Because You Can...

2007-12-15T16:00:00.000-08:00

You've decided to take the plunge, brought yourself wysiwyg software (What You See is What You Get) like frontpage or dreamweaver and you're away. You upload your site to your domain and then the muttering starts.

The pages don't load fast enough, they render badly, links break, the content becomes stale, customers disregard your business because of the image your site projects.... I'm sure you're catching my drift. What was a money saving exercise is fast costing your business potential customers, turning into a living nightmare and you're left wondering 'where did I go wrong?'.

I'm sorry to say it's very easy to underestimate what is involved in developing and maintaining an effective online presence.

So how do you know when you need a professional designer or not?

Chances are if you haven't heard of the following phrases (and it's not an exhaustive list) it's time to call in an expert:

Accessiblity
Validation
Content Management Systems (CMS)
Cascading Style Sheets (CSS)
Hypertext Markup Lanugage (HTML)
Search Engine Optimisation (SEO)
Browser compatability

One last thought before I sign off, have you considered how much it is actually costing you to build your own site? I'll englarge upon that in my next post.

Introducing Snap Shots from Snap.com

2007-12-13T23:16:00.000-08:00

I know I said 'don't do it' in my earlier posts about widgets, gadgets and java but I have just installed a little tool on this blog called Snap Shots. That's the fun thing about knowing the rules - sometimes you get to break them.

You see my reasoning is that Snap Shots allow you to see a small visual preview of the destination site, perhaps helping you to decide whether you want to visit the site being linked to. So in the spirit of 'Simplicity' try it out.

Should you decide snapshot is not for you, just click the Options icon in the upper right corner of the Snap Shot and opt-out, I promise I won't be offended.

Work Life Balance III - Photography

2007-12-13T20:59:00.000-08:00

I absolutely love this photo which was taken at Waimarama Beach

Another shot taken at the Point in Ngaruawahaia

Bear Island at Waimarama Beach, East Coast New Zealand

The Importance of Office Systems & Apologies

2007-12-13T19:16:00.000-08:00

Imagine my horror when I opened an envelope today to a document that wasn't intended for me, worse still the document I had in my hand was full of confidential information.

Upon approaching the person responsible for the mail out I was met with beligerence. No apology was forthcoming nor recognition of their rather serious error.

Now I'll put the lack of apology down to being overworked and the silly season being upon us, however the lack of systems being in place to protect confidential information is of great concern.

So I leave you with one last thought. Do you have office systems in place to protect your clients confidential information?

Work Life Balance II - Photography

2007-12-13T00:41:00.001-08:00

Napier in New Zealand around the Soundshell area

The two shots above were taken in Ngaruawahia at

the Point where the Waipa and Waikato Rivers merge.

To Google Docs or Not? That Is The Question!

2007-12-12T01:53:00.001-08:00

Alas poor Microsoft Word I knew it well. Well perhaps it's not quite that drastic - just yet. Having recently started using Google Docs I must admit to being slightly impressed.

The ability to share documents easily with other Google Doc users is definitely handy.
Document management is easy in that all files are able to be filed away into user defined folders.
Document editing is a breeze with documents showing clearly:

who the creator was,
when it was last used & by whom, and
who has been granted access to the document.

The formatting abilities remain intact and usable: i.e. bold, italic, underline, bullet point & numbered lists.
Styles are clearly accessible along the top toolbar with superscript, subscript & strikeout attached to the drop down list for good measure
Previewing, emailing and printing is available
Left, right and center align is there.
Revisions are accessible, understandable and a great tool for group collaboration.
Tables, pictures (photographs), special characters, links, comments and bookmarks can all be added to documents.
Exporting to Rich Text File (RTF), HTML (zipped), Word, Open Office, PDF are all possible.
Find and Replace is still experimental at this stage
Publishing to google.com (with it being assigned it's own unique url a bonus) and directly to your blog is possible.
Cut, copy & paste are there as are the undo and redo buttons.
One last boon (at least for those of us brave enough) is the ability to code directly into the html of our document.

As a Microsoft Word Expert I can say that there are functions which I just cannot live without such as the 'show all' tool and the ever so handy TOC. Having said that Google Docs certainly has grabbed my attention. I look forward to putting it through it paces and watching the team at Google develop it further.

This article is based on document abilities of Google Doc (the Spreadsheet and Presentation functions remain yet to be studied indepth)

DIY Website Advice III - Colour/Color

2007-12-11T12:16:00.000-08:00

Did you know that colour (or color depending on where you are in the world) has a psychology all of it's own? And it impacts on your websites visitors!

When thinking about your websites colour your branding should definitely come into your design however it pays to keep in mind what effect colours are perceived to have on your sites visitors.

Purple is considered luxurious, blue loyal and black submissive, white is clean and neutral with green being easy on the eye and pink is supposed to be tranquillizing.

And to throw you into confusion even further colours can have different meanings to different cultures. Source: http://www.infoplease.com/spot/colors1.html

Now onto colour itself. When researching the design process you will (I hope) come across Internet Safe Colours - these are colours which are represented primarily by a hexidecimal code such as #660099 (a good tool for getting hex codes is here).

These hex colours are colours that are perceived to be rendered the same way by different browsers such as IE, Firefox etc and various monitors, and as such are referred to as 'safe' (remember my previous blog entry on testing your site in different browsers, screen resolutions etc? You'll be glad you used hex colours - trust me!).

One final hint a darker grey text is considered easier on the eye to read on screen than black which can be jarring on a white background.

So it's safe to say that colour can convey meaning, affect mood and plays a large part in website design.

I wish you great success on your DIY Website journey.

DIY Website Advice II - Navigation

2007-12-10T18:13:00.000-08:00

I thought I'd expand a little more about website Navigation in todays post.

Working on the KISS theory (Keep It Simple Sweetie) website navigation doesn't have to be a headache.

Generally speaking navigation is how your sites visitors move from one page to another. By setting out your navigation in a clear and easy to understand way you automatically make their lives easier and win brownie points!

"How do I set it out then?" I can hear you asking. If you surf through various sites on the World Wide Web you will start to notice that most of the navigation has been placed either along the:

Top and left hand side of each page
Top and right hand side of each page
Top and bottom of each page
Left hand side and bottom of the page
Right hand side and bottom of the page

To all intents and purposes these five layouts have become the 'Best Practice' way of setting out navigation.

A lot of sites use text links and others use graphics (buttons, icons, clip art & banners). What you choose will come down to personal preference. I prefer text links simply due to the time it takes to download graphics (yes I am one of those people I wrote about in my previous post who doesn't have much of patience for graphic heavy websites).

One more hint, keep your navigation layout consistent. If you start using one layout for your navigation, use that layout for your entire site, don't confuse your visitors half way thorough by changing the navigation.

Work Life Balance - Photography

2007-12-09T18:06:00.000-08:00

I enjoy photography as a hobby and thought I'd share some of the shots I've taken on my travels around the North Island of New Zealand

Napiers Blossom Parade 2006 Happy Birthday Float

The shot above was taken on the beach alongside Marine Parade in Napier

The shot above was taken at the lake in Rotorua.

DIY Website Advice

2007-12-08T11:33:00.000-08:00

Did you know that you risk alienating your potential customers if you have a website that is badly designed?

To get a professional look it is important to keep a few things in mind:

Navigation - Always work on the KISS theory (Keep It Simple Sweetie) when deciding on the navigation of your site, make it clear to your visitors how to move around your site, let them know where they are as they browse and you have half the battle won.
Java applets such as falling snow, rippling waters, flying butterflies, cute cursors, smiley faces, flashing banners, scrolling text and guest books all have their place on the world wide web but not on your site if you are in business.
Consistency - keep your sites layout consistent throughout, give a thought to your visitors state of mind and don't throw them into confusion by changing the layout half way through their visit.
Large graphics or an over abundance of graphics can hurt your site, making the difference between a visitor staying& browsing or closing their browser in disgust because your page is taking too long to load.
White/grey text on black background is not typically reader friendly.
Content is important:

What exactly is your business about?
What does your business offer? If products do you have a secure shopping cart?
Where are you located?
How can I get in touch with you?
What are your operating hours?
Does your business come across as approachable?

Have you cross browser tested your site? It looks great on 600 x 800 screen resolution in IE but how will it look and behave when a viewer who is using Firefox on 1024 x 768 or a 19" screen, there are many variables that you need to be testing as you design.
SEO (Search Engine Optimization) - have you given a thought to how your site will be found by potential visitors/customers? If they cannot find your site it's a moot point having one. I'd suggest hiring someone like Lynn at Canzdesign who is experienced, knowledgeable and definitely approachable.

My final piece of advice - if in doubt, ask an impartial third party to look over your site and critque it for you - you'll be glad you did!

Good Document Management Practices

2007-12-08T00:20:00.000-08:00

In days gone past (and a few very recent indeed) I have had the misfortune to encounter organisations with offices where the maxim seems to be 'if in doubt file it' when it comes to their document management practices.

Now I'm not talking about invoices, receipts, bank statements, cheque book stubs etc those must be kept in a safe place filed according to your organisations filing procedures and kept for the legally required period of time (in New Zealand I believe that time to be approximately 7-9 years).

Nor am I referring to Minutes of Meetings (very important documents indeed if you are part of an organisation governed by a Board) or building deeds, articles of incorporation etc...

What I am referring to are such things as that particular branch's Board at the time keeping the Regional Boards General Minutes of Meeting from 1972 or the odd receipt and invoice from 1982 - I kid you not.

Recently having been asked as a volunteer to sort and file a non-profit organisations documents I was amused to find the above as well the odd copy of Minutes of Meetings spanning back sporadically over 30 years, wage books from 1982 and various other little gems 'filed' (and I use that term loosely) into four cardboard boxes. My brief was to keep items of 'historical value' oh and if I stumble upon the deeds to the building it'd be appreciated if I could pop them to one side.

This experience invariably got me thinking about Good Document Management Practices. And here are a few tips I have for those whose filing cabinets are 'fit to burst!'

When filing any documents of more than two pages DO NOT use staples or paperclips - they will rust over time!
Set aside a time religiously every 3, 6 or 9 months and methodically work through each file in your cabinet and as you do ask yourself the following:

Do we still have the item that this warrenty/manual applies to? If not out the warrenty/manual goes! (Don't forget to check that the item has been removed from the Asset Register if your organisation has one)
Does this newsletter you prepared sent out and then filed a copy of 18 months ago pertain to the next 3, 6 or 9 month period? If not and you have a digital copy out it goes!
Is this suppliers catalogue still valid? If not and you have their contact details recorded in your Outlook contacts for future reference out it goes!
Does your branches parent organisation issue edicts, regional minutes of meetings, newsletters or memos? Chances are after 20 years their edicts, newsletters and memos are safe to be disposed of (assuming of course that the parent organisation will have kept their own copies - if in doubt check).

Do you keep a tickler file? How long ago was it since you last cleared it out? My advice is to clear it out at least every two weeks if not more often - filing that which must be kept and binning the no longer needed documents and notes.
Documents of historical significance can be of great interest to future generations but it can be hard to define exactly what will be 'of historical significance' so if in doubt check with a superior before throwing a document out.
And finally when clearing out your cabinet if you are dealing with outdated confidential information ensure you 'destroy' the documents adequately.

The last piece of advice I have to offer is to do with those small pieces of paper that used to frequently be handed to me at reception, once handed that small piece of paper handle it only the once. Deal with it then and there and then dispose of it! You'll feel so much better without that piece of paper floating around your desk!

Invariably I have found that 'Yes' it is indeed safe to dispose of that piece of paper, infact I'd go so far to say that it may well be good for your health to do so!

Disclaimer: Advice in this blog is for information purposes only. Readers should make their own enquiries before implementing any of the information contained herein. Mandy nor Simplicity VA Services shall be held responsible for any loss or damage caused by following the information in any article contained herein.

Definition of Simplicity

2007-12-06T22:02:00.000-08:00

Simplicity
n. the quality or state of being simple; absence of complications; easiness.

The English Pocket Dictionary 1997

Creativity

2007-12-06T14:31:00.000-08:00

Every once in awhile I set out to do something creative! Below are photographs of two of my recent undertakings with a Christmas theme.

The Art of Simplicity

2007-12-05T16:41:00.000-08:00

I was going to give you a stock standard dictionary definition of the word 'Simplicity', instead I found the following quote which I think is more apt.

"Our lives are frittered away by detail; simplify, simplify."
Henry David Thoreau (1817–1862)

Sourced from Wikipedia - Simplicity

I firmly believe that life can be much more complicated than perhaps it needs to be. Often the right answer is in fact the simplist answer.

Projects Your VA Can Accomplish In One Hour Or Less*

2007-12-05T01:23:00.000-08:00

Do you start work on a task only to be interrupted by phone calls, visitors and other deadlines? Pulling your hair out with frustration? If so here's a list of tasks that Simplicity VA Services can complete in one hour or less.

Perform mail merge for 1-100 letters and prepare them for mailing.
Create 1-100 mailing labels
Copy type 4 pages of handwritten text
Enter 50 (minimum) contacts business cards into an Excel/calc spreadsheet or database program.
Create correspondence from a brief by client.
Create a newsletter from content provided by client.
Edit and proof a five page report ready for approval.
Produce a monthly financial statement for non-profit organisation.
Create a programme for your event
Update your businesses web sites content.
Take an hours telephone dictation.
Type up handwritten notes from a seminar or meeting you've recently attended.
Set up a blog for your business and link to it from your webpage and vice versa.
Manage your overnight emails - delete all spam and sort, answer, or redirect remaining messages to your inbox.
Convert document files to PDF format.
Input data into a spreadsheet and produce charts & graphs.
Organize a stack of documents, file them with appropriate labels, package them and ship them back to you for placing directly into your filing cabinet.
Open and sort a weeks worth of mail.
Prepare and distribute an agenda.
Collate brochures, business cards, notes for your upcoming seminar or presentation.
Create a template to reflect your company's branding i.e. a business letter template.
Convert company documents to PDF's format
Add a new page to the company website and link it from all other applicable pages.
Locate and report on supplier options for service or item that is required.

*The list above serves as a guideline only as each project is unique

Thanks goes out to www.virtialassistantforums.com for this topic

What Exactly Is a Virtual Assistant?

2007-12-03T18:43:00.000-08:00

What exactly is a Virtual Assistant?
A Virtual Assistant (VA for short) is an experienced professional who has taken the big step of moving away from the typical nine to five, 40 hour working week and gone into business for themselves.

What does a Virtual Assistant Do?
A Virtual Assistant provides administration services from their own office to their clients who may be in the same town, across the state or in another country entirely. Exactly what services offered are highly individual to the Virtual Assistant in question however to give an idea of what Virtual Assistants can do I have listed a few services below:

Database management
Copy typing
Data entry
Word processing
Reminder service
Website development
Website updates
Email management
Internet research
Telephone Dictation
Appointment Scheduling
Answering incoming calls
Document formatting
Proof reading
Article editing
Spreadsheet design
Database design
Mail merge
Mail outs
Resumes & Curriculum Vitae preparation
Preparing Correspondence
SOP Manual preparation
Designing promotional material such as business cards, flyers, brochures, newsletters
Financial services such as book keeping, invoicing and sometimes accounting
Dental insurance services
Arranging clients travel needs such as itineraries, air travel and hotel/motel bookings
Event management

Some Virtual Assistants specialise in areas such as medical, real estate or legal administration. I myself am experienced in Office Management, Microsoft Office products, the NZ Public & Education Sector and as a Returning Officer for Board of Trustees Elections. Now having said that I'm open to learning and am prepared to consider (read tackle) anything not too highly specialised such as medical and legal administration. If I was approached by a client who required those services I would refer them to another Virtual Assistant experienced in those specialities

How do Virtual Assistants provide services from their own office?
Virtual Assistants are typically consultants/small business owners who work from their own office and service their clients needs virtually. How I hear you ask? Again how is highly individualised to the Virtual Assistant, but can include:

Phone Calls
Email
FTP
Google docs
Instant Messenger
Courier (UPS/FedEx)
Post

What benefits are there in hiring a Virtual Assistant?
The benefits of hiring a Virtual Assistant are again many and varied. I've listed a few below and I'm sure you can think of a few yourself (if so leave me a comment and I'll add your ideas to this post!)

No more having to pay for expensive software, hardware, equipment, furniture and providing valuable space for an office.
Pay only for the time it takes to complete the tasks - no more having to provide paid lunch & coffee breaks for employees or wages during quiet periods.
You can forget about holiday pay, sick pay, PAYE, GST, FBT (those readers in NZ will know what the last three acronyms mean), maternity/parental and bereavement leave.
Leave the administration tasks to an experienced professional and free up your time so that you can focus on business or family.
Make professional development costs a thing of the past.

Announcing the Launch of Simplicity VA Services!!!

2007-12-02T20:09:00.000-08:00

Thats right 'Simplicity VA Services' has officially been launched. With that exciting news now out of the way I'd also like to introduce myself and the purpose of this blog.

First a little about the purpose of this blog. It occured to me that sharing what it means to be a Virtual Assistant as well as imparting tips, ideas and knowledge would be a great idea.

A little information about me? My name is Mandy and I reside in the Hawkes Bay in New Zealand. I enjoy aqua jogging, gardening and working. Yes Administration/Office work is my passion.

Having been employed in Administration Assistant, Office Manager & Office Administrator positions here in NZ over the past 6 years I have a wealth of experience on which to draw on. From formatting those pesky word documents (did I mention I'm a qualified Microsoft Office Specialist Expert?) to creating charts in Microsoft Excel, Microsoft PowerPoint presentations, copy typing, word processing, data entry, proof reading, html coding, email management, article editing .... well I'm sure you get the idea!

Please feel free to leave comments and I'll do my best to answer them.