Having worked for ten years as an Executive Personal Assistant, I started Joanne Manville Virtual Assistance in 2015. We support growing businesses by giving managers and founders the space to concentrate on what they do best. I was honoured to to win the award of UK Outstanding VA 2020 and 2019 and Small Business of the Year in the Devon Women in Business Awards in 2022.
Researching your Virtual Assistant One of the questions I was recently asked when I gave a presentation about being a Virtual Assistant, and how we help business owners, was how a business owner who doesn’t know me from Adam (or Eve) knows they can trust me. Before they became clients, I had met many of…
How does a Virtual Assistant get to know a business owner and their business? This is one of the questions that many prospective clients ask me, when we have our initial exploratory call. The answer is simple – it’s the same as you would with any new member of staff – it is no different…
How do I use a Virtual Assistant? If you have identified that you need some support in your business, to enable you to grow your business or to spend time on other areas of your work or with your family, the next step is to either take on new staff, or start outsourcing. Outsourcing is…
If you are now at the point where you are ready to outsourcing, the next step is to consider what model is going to work best for you and how you actually get started. Many Virtual Assistants work on a retainer basis where you ‘book’ a number of hours of their time on a…
What to delegate to a Virtual Assistant If you are finding that you just don’t have enough time in the day and are chasing the elusive ‘work/life balance’ that you wanted to have when you set up your business, then outsourcing the time consuming admin work is the first logical step. If you don’t know…
Who can use a Virtual Assistant? There are tasks within every business that can be outsourced to a Virtual Assistant – no matter what the line of business or where the business is based. The location doesn’t matter I have worked with clients in Canada and America as well as people in the same village…
Why use a Virtual Assistant? More the question, why wouldn’t you? It requires a lot of hard work and dedication (and guts) to set up your own business and for those of you that have taken the plunge, I am sure although it has been tough at times, you haven’t looked back. However, if you…
What is a Virtual Assistant? Whilst the profession is becoming more widely known, I do still meet new people who have not heard of a Virtual Assistant before, so what is a Virtual Assistant? A Virtual Assistant is: An experienced, self employed business professional Their experience may be from a background in providing personal…
Runner Up ‘Best Newcomer of the Year 2016’ in the UK VA Awards It is very important to establish your credibility with clients when you have a new business, and the best way to do this is through testimonials and awards, and I am thrilled to have received the Runner Up award for Best Newcomer…
Nominee – Devon Venus Awards ‘New Business of the Year 2016’ I am really pleased to have been nominated for the New Business of the Year 2016 in the Venus Women’s Awards! I attended the finalist announcement at the Holiday Inn, Plymouth on 6 September 2016 and had the opportunity to meet and network with…