Good question - we get asked this a lot! We have detailed posts about WordPress and Squarespace, which we highly recommend you get familiar with first. They will give you a good grounding in each. As to which one to choose, that will depend on what your tech skills are like, what your design skills are like - and what you want to do with the site. Let us tackle these scenarios: I'm not ... Read on
Ask TPs
Double the Hustle
According to the Australian Taxation Office, you can conduct any number of businesses/activities under the same ABN provided they all operate under the same business structure. If your second or subsequent business operates under a different structure, you will need to apply for a new ABN for your virtual assistant business. While the requirement to update your ABN if your main business ... Read on
Testing the Waters
In short, no you don't. In saying that, while you aren't busy with clients, now is the perfect time to get set up and work through tasks that many VAs (including us!) wish we had spent more time on before we became fully booked! It's free and easy to get set up and apply for an ABN if you plan on operating your virtual assistant business as a sole trader. You will need to seek personal ... Read on
Does my Australian VA business need insurance?
We had already started researching insurance for virtual assistants before your question came through, so this is great timing! We were starting to think that we'd never get a straight answer on exactly what type of insurances were essential for virtual assistants… Now we're happy to report back to our network with our Insurance for Virtual Assistants training, as well as a contact for you ... Read on
Mission: Find a Copywriter
Nice one! We asked a brilliant copywriter we know, Rachel Smith, to help us answer this one. Rachel can be found at RS Copy + Content and she’s also the founder of Rachel’s List, a leading jobs board that connects job-posters with copywriters, content producers, journalists and other creatives. -- There are lots of different types of writers out there – from journalists to PR writers, ... Read on
The virtual assistant that could
Yes! You can't do it natively in Google Docs... but you can still be the virtual assistant with all the answers. As you've probably figured out, all hyperlinks in Google Docs default to blue, and you can manually change the style of each hyperlink (individually 🤕 one. by. one. 🤕) as you would for normal text... but we're addicted to efficiency and tech, so we've got something better for ... Read on
Rome wasn’t built in a day
Ugh, we totally get this. Even though you’re planning to run a self-employed, one-person show, getting your VA business up and running from zero to hero is a momentous task. So, the key thing here to remember is that everything doesn’t need to happen at once. You know that saying, Rome wasn’t built in a day? Neither was your VA business. It’s a marathon, not a sprint, and the only person ... Read on
What’s in a name?
What’s in a name? A rose by any other name would smell as sweet, so why does it matter? Let's make this very clear - you do NOT need a clever trading name to get started as a virtual assistant or become fully booked with clients! Many very successful VAs use their own names and sole trader ABNs with no trading name. Others simply use their first name, full name or nickname with ... Read on
It’s nice to be niche – but is it?
Here’s the thing about niching up - it’s great if you have specialised experience and a background in a very particular industry. It can be a very efficient way to fast-track your success, align with clients and practices whose struggles and operations you implicitly understand, and broaden your skills even further. But here’s the other thing that matters here: it’s your business. Your baby. ... Read on