Ten Handy Tools for the Savvy Virtual Assistant
Technology is vital for virtual assistants. But what tools are out there? This handy article gives ten fantastic tools for the modern VA that promise to transform your working processes.
By Crystal Redhad-Gould
If you are just getting started as a virtual assistant you should prepare a list
of tools needed to get your business up and running. Over the years I have found
a lot of new innovations to make my life as a virtual assistant as trouble free
as possible. I have a completed list of over forty tools that I use at some point
or another. For the purpose of this article I have listed my top ten – these
I use almost daily.
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Skype
I have to admit that this is one of my all-time favorite tools. It’s quite
a bundle wrapped in one small package. You get an instant messenger, free video
calls, free calls to people on Skype, cheap SMS, cheap calls to phones worldwide,
conferencing, and much more.
Microsoft Outlook
I use Microsoft Outlook as an email client. It is superb for organizing, calendars,
has solid spam and phishing filters, and seamless integration with to-do lists
and scheduling. You can also create virtual folders, a great tool for keeping
emails organized and the search feature makes finding emails a snap.
EverNote
EverNote supports several notes templates, which allows you to add to-do lists, Excel-like spreadsheets for expenses (that automatically calculate a total), phone notes, contact information and shopping lists, in addition to regular text notes or handwritten notes (via mouse or pen tablet). All that plus the ability to search through your notes! The bottom line is I use EverNote for everything. There is a Pro version but I personally never felt the need to upgrade: the free version meets all my needs.
CutePDF
After trying several other print-to-PDF packages that left watermarks or other
nags, I finally found CutePDF and have discarded all the others. It is freeware
and contains no nags. It does require Ghostscript to be installed as well but
both installs are straightforward, and I just take all of the defaults. Once installed,
it is maintenance free. Just select CutePDF from the list of printers, click OK,
give the output file a name and folder, and you are done.
SmartFTP
A virtual assistant needs to have some sort of FTP software to update websites
and to accept and transfer files. I use and recommend SmartFTP. Simply put, this
is the best FTP software you can acquire for free. I was having trouble connecting
with other programs, so I decided to try SmartFTP. Best decision ever! The interface
is very “user-friendly” and it connects on the first try. The ability
to click and drag and have multiple sessions open is also extremely helpful.
Wordpress
Every virtual assistant should seek to set up a blog. I recommend Wordpress as
the platform for your blog. It’s free, easy to install, and you can find
thousands of high quality themes and plugins.
Timestamp
A virtual assistant must have a means to track client hours. I use Timestamp,
a very simple reporting utility that helps you stay on top of working time. It
also comes with a handy reminder, letting you know when its time to go home!
MyFax
MyFax lets you send and receive faxes through email from as little as $10 per
month and includes one hundred faxes free per month. The price is standard and
the support is terrific.
Groove Virtual Network
Groove Virtual Network is a great tool for keeping in touch with clients far and
wide. Maintain a sense of teamwork between yourself and your client as you can
do virtually anything in Groove. You can hold online meetings, store files and
folders, save threaded discussions, scribble on whiteboards, share calendars,
and track project information and timelines – very important to my clients.
There you have it, ten handy tools that you can easily access, and most of them are free. For an up-and-coming virtual assistant, it doesn’t get any better than free.
Crystal Redhead-Gould is the managing principal of Five Star Executives, a virtual assistant practice. Crystal is a frequent speaker at small business forums across the Caribbean and the author of Unwritten Rules: Become an In Demand Virtual Executive. More can be found out about her work at www.fivestarexecutives.com and www.caribbeanassist.com.
