In my blog post on how to choose a laptop for your Virtual Assistant business, I mentioned that I use a Chromebook in addition to my main laptop. This interested quite a few of my readers and, because they wanted to know if a Chromebook was a viable alternative to a Windows laptop, I thought I’d tell you more about Chromebooks and how they work.
One of the most popular questions asked by members of my VA Handbookers Facebook group is what laptop they should buy. Because I thought it would be easier to have a source to point people to when they asked this question, below is a comprehensive list of all the things you should consider when choosing a laptop for your VA business.
I’ve said it before but Gmail is just invaluable for VAs. One reason is that they have a whole section called Labs where you can find useful add-ons to make your inbox a lean, mean productivity machine. Some are simply handy, some are just for fun and others are absolute lifesavers that will make you bow down and worship at the alter of Google!
Many people have told me that they thought they needed to get an office or have a ‘proper’ desk set up before they could be a freelancer, so I want to show you that this is complete and utter nonsense. Virtual Assistants can work from anywhere they like and you shouldn’t let the lack of an office prevent you from setting up your business.
Once I needed to remotely show a client how to do a couple of things. My client had lost an email and I thought they might have accidentally clicked the ! icon which means ‘report spam’. So I took a screenshot of my Gmail inbox with this button highlighted in order to ascertain if they had indeed done this – and I actually drew arrows on the screenshot. Here’s how:
When I’m trying to talk a client through a task it always helps if I can either see what they’re looking at on their screen or they can see what’s on mine so I can show them what to do. A really easy way to do this is to use the free screen-sharing facility on Skype.
If you’re a Virtual Assistant who charges by the hour then you’ll need a way of recording your time. Clients need to know they’re paying solely for the time you spend on their task, and it kinda helps if you know how much to bill them for! If you charge by the project then you probably won’t need a time tracker, but if you charge an hourly rate then you will.
Effectively and efficiently managing email accounts is a vital skill for any Virtual Assistant. From the multitude of emails you personally receive, to the ones for and from your clients, if you know how to firmly take control of all the different accounts and emails, you’ll not only be a better VA, but your clients will adore you.
