From the Desk of Janet Barclay

March 2007 marked the 5^th anniversary of the Canadian Virtual Assistant Connection (CVAC), and in honour of the occasion, I arranged a VA lunch in Hamilton. Although the group was small, it was such a great experience that we planned another get-together in June, followed by one in October, and another one in February, with an increasing number of VAs coming out. It was clear that the interest was there, so we decided to formalize the group.

Our first official meeting as the Golden Horseshoe Virtual Assistants Group (GHVA) was held last month and we were pleased to receive a visit from SNAP Burlington photographer Catherine Young, and even more pleased to be pictured in the May 2008 issue which came out yesterday.

This week also marks the launch of the GHVA website. I’d like to extend special thanks to Carol Behan for designing the logo, Yvonne Wu of The YP Publishing for the initial site design, and Erika Martlew and Angela Del Corpo for developing the content.

The following release was sent out to the media today:

NEW  ASSOCIATION FORMED TO SUPPORT SMALL BUSINESSES IN THE GOLDEN HORSESHOE

HAMILTON, ON –  After several meetings with her local colleagues during the past year, Janet Barclay saw the need to form an association for Virtual Assistants in the Golden Horseshoe area. She recognized that Virtual Assistants who attended could better serve their clients from ideas shared at the meetings. Golden Horseshoe Virtual Assistants Group was formed and a web site launched. www.ghva.ca.  

The GHVA Group cross-promotes their skills and expertise to potential clients, and clients benefit by ensuring the right fit for their needs. Building relationships through the networking events can lead to referrals and sub-contracting opportunities for member VAs.

“We offer a solution that will make being a business owner the rewarding experience it should be, resulting in more freedom and less stress,” says GHVA member Erika Martlew.

On May 16 of this year, Virtual Assistants (VAs) throughout the world will celebrate International Virtual Assistants Day.

Since Virtual Assistants work remotely from anywhere in the world, they don’t often get a chance to meet face-to-face. In Toronto, a weekend long conference has been organized for VAs all over North America to network, attend workshops and share knowledge and experiences, as well as make friendships. The event runs from Friday, May 2 to Sunday, May 4 at the Delta Toronto East Hotel.

Business owners are beginning to realize the advantages of retaining the services of a Virtual Assistant. The Virtual Assistant industry has been growing rapidly over the past ten years as companies begin to understand the benefits of retaining a VA. Each VA is an independent business owner offering his or her own unique skills and talents, but one thing they all have in common is caring for the clients they work with. Ideally, a VA develops a long term partnership-type relationship with their clients, becoming familiar with the client’s business and understanding their challenges and overall goals.

Previously, companies would need to hire part-time staff or temporary workers to fill short term needs. This would require the necessity of providing work space, equipment, and training. Through the versatility of a professional Virtual Assistant, who works from their own office environment, savings can be realized as the client does not cover any of these costs and only pays for the time to complete the project or task performed by the VA.  Business owners are taking a second look at this new outsourcing alternative which has recently been mentioned in:

National Post
The Wall Street Journal
CNN
Reader’s Digest May 2007 issue
NBC Today Show
Time
Dr. Phil Show
Plus numerous regional magazines and newspapers

“In today’s business environment, the pace of keeping up with information and trends, while maintaining an edge in the marketplace, requires new ideas.  Hiring a Golden Horseshoe Virtual Assistant may just be that idea.”

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For more information and to see a listing of services offered, please visit www.ghva.ca or email janet@organizedassistant.com.

I don’t know if this is another sign of spring, but there sure are a lot of conferences going on!

Last week was the IVAA 7th Annual Summit in Charlotte, North Carolina, and this coming weekend is the Forum on Virtual Assistance in Toronto. Unfortunately, I wasn’t able to fit either of them into my plans for this year, but I am looking forward to the 3rd Annual Online International Virtual Assistants Convention (OIVAC), which is taking place from May 15 to 17.

For the first time this year, the OIVAC will include three "Meet the VA Industry" sessions, which business owners, or anyone interested in exploring the potential of working with a VA, are welcome to attend. These sessions are being held at the following times:

• Thursday, May 15th at 1:00 PM EDT
• Friday, May 16th at 8:30 AM EDT
• Friday, May 16th at 3:00 PM EDT

The exhibitor booths and many of the regular seminars will also be of interest to entrepreneurs from outside the VA industry. In addition, there are opportunities for you to participate as an exhibitor or sponsor, and market your services to both new and established virtual assistants from all over the world. I hope to "see" you there!

I have another exciting announcement – the second one this week!

I’ve been invited by the President of the Association of Online Resume & Career Professionals (AORCP) to conduct a series of teleseminars for their members, who are primarily career coaches and resume writers who market their business and/or provide their services through website technology. As I’ve been contacted a number of times about people outside my local area who were unable to attend my live workshops, I’m especially pleased that the sessions are open to non-members.  (If you’re one of them, here’s your big chance!

The topics are as follows:

• Organizing Your Home Office – Thursday, April 3, 2008
• The Four Steps to Organization – Thursday, April 17, 2008
• Organizing and Your Computer – Thursday, May 1, 2008
• Maximizing Your Time with a Virtual Assistant – Thursday, May 15, 2008
• Organizing Your Life, Your Way – Thursday, May 29, 2008
• Paper Management – Thursday, June 12, 2008

Click for further details and registration information

I’m looking forward to this opportunity to connect with some of my blog readers!

I recently had the honour of being interviewed by Marie Mushing for the People in Connection Internet TV Show. Please take a few minutes to drop by and learn more about Organized Assistant and how a virtual assistant can help you!

Other guests include:

• Art Dyck of PrePaid Legal Services, sharing information about protecting yourself against identity theft and access to lawyers
• Sharron Orovan-Johnston, author of Take the Wheels Off Your Worry Bus and the founder of Lighten Up Week (which is this week, by the way)
• Veronica Magee, explaining what Canadian Blood Services does for the community
• Christine McCombe of The Natural Way, sharing information about natural products and therapies for health and healing, such as aromatherapy

The whole show is only about half an hour long, so you can easily fit it into your day if you watch it while you are eating your lunch or taking your coffee break. If you have to, you can even listen to it while you are working on something else!

Lately two of the women whose blogs I read have made remarkable achievements.

Suzanne McLoone has been selected as one of the 3 Most Influential Women in Arizona because of her blogs, podcasts, and newsletters. Suzanne writes for several blogs, including Let’s Talk Organizing, My Personal Organizing Tools Review, Setting and Achieving Your Goals, and Fear Your Computer No More, as well as offering her Let’s Talk Organizing Podcast, Organizational Empowerment newsletter and a number of organizing eBooks. As an organization consultant, public speaker and former radio talk show host, Suzanne has worked with individuals and corporations throughout America, Canada and Scotland.

Kathie Thomas has been nominated as Australian of the Year 2008. The founder of "A Clayton’s Secretary"® and pioneer of the Virtual Assistant industry in Australia, Kathie’s blogs include SOHO-Life, Virtual Assistant - THE Blog, Workplace Ministry, God-Incidence, Mary and Martha, and Proverbs 31 Woman. She has also written a book, Worth More Than Rubies: The Value of a Work At Home Mum.

Although I’ve never met these two outstanding women, I feel that I know them through reading their blogs, and I’m reminded once again of how the Internet has opened up the world to us, to learn about people all over the world that we would never have heard of otherwise.

Please join me in congratulating Suzanne and Kathie, and don’t forget to tell the world about your accomplishments in your own blog!