I do the majority of my work online. I have a separate "hard drive" that I save everything on and I also have an online back-up service I use. I have very little software on my laptop as I don't want my computer to slow down. The key to keeping it moving smoothly is daily (sometimes twice a day) cleaning the hard drive by defragging it as well as cleaning with a program like CCleaner. Utilizing these programs keeps it running smoothly.

Robin
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Virtually Robin

Originally Posted by Prime Admin Solutions

I'm not completely online. I sometimes go to clients' offices and I do not use online applications - I just don't trust the security aspect of it. My clients and I exchange files via email, they are comfortable with it. I've tried to get them into using a collaboration system, but they prefer not to. I'm also not entirely paperless either. I know there are VAs who prefer not to print stuff and work from online, but I feel that you can't properly proofread something on the screen. It just looks different on paper. I also print emailed instructions out so I can check off completed tasks as they go. I'm actually getting a locked shredding box delivered by a shredding company this week. I'm so sick of these crappy little shredders that Staples or Costco sell. They just don't do the job and stop too often. It's a waste of my time. Effectively dealing with confidential paper is a very important thing (in my opinion).

Wow, it's good to know that I'm not the only one out there who is addicted to paper. I'd love to go GREEN but I feel the same way you do about proofreading and emailed instructions. I've tried to go completely electronic with To Do lists but just can't do it. There's just something about clearing off the desk, sitting down with my planner (one day on each page) and actually thinking about and writing down what I need to accomplish that day and I seem to get more satisfaction out of crossing things off of a written list then checking them as done on a computer. However, I still see the benefit of keeping track of that stuff online as well and will still (probably) use an electronic form of time tracking and project management in conjuction with my written lists.

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Stephanie
New VA in the research phase :daisy:

I worked for an attorney who took his firm virtual. He closed the office and sent everyone home. All documents/work were stored electronically. First we started out with a server, and then we switched to Ibackup which was a lot easier and faster getting the files onto our desktops, and uploading finished work. We used exchange with MS Outlook for calendar sharing in order to schedule meetings etc. And, we used IM to sometimes send files back and forth instantly, but mostly used either email or Ibackup.

We did all of our filing online. Most courts and even the USPS have electronic filing systems now so that you no longer have to mail or show up in person.

Meetings were held through teleconference and instead of mailing copies to clients, we emailed them unless they had to have them snail mailed. If we needed signatures the clients faxed their paperwork back to us. We used Onebox for our PBX services and fax. So when someone called the office and pressed my extension, I was able to answer from my home.

It worked well. The only negative I remember about the whole thing was that his employees had a hard time adjusting at first. They had never worked from home before.

Originally Posted by flbirdcat

I worked for an attorney who took his firm virtual. He closed the office and sent everyone home. All documents/work were stored electronically. First we started out with a server, and then we switched to Ibackup which was a lot easier and faster getting the files onto our desktops, and uploading finished work. We used exchange with MS Outlook for calendar sharing in order to schedule meetings etc. And, we used IM to sometimes send files back and forth instantly, but mostly used either email or Ibackup. We did all of our filing online. Most courts and even the USPS have electronic filing systems now so that you no longer have to mail or show up in person. Meetings were held through teleconference and instead of mailing copies to clients, we emailed them unless they had to have them snail mailed. If we needed signatures the clients faxed their paperwork back to us. We used Onebox for our PBX services and fax. So when someone called the office and pressed my extension, I was able to answer from my home. It worked well. The only negative I remember about the whole thing was that his employees had a hard time adjusting at first. They had never worked from home before.

Very cool! I wish my boss would send me home

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Stephanie
New VA in the research phase :daisy:

Interesting how varied we are in our preferences!

I'm nowhere near completely online. I do use a few online apps for things like graphic touch-ups or conversions or calculations, but I'm more a writer than an admin asst these days. In general my work requires a word processing program, a spreadsheet, email, and a search engine. Google Docs is convenient, but the word processor and spreadsheet apps are not as full-featured (or, admittedly, as familiar to me) as my usual software, so I generally don't use them. It doesn't even cross my mind. I'm really a creature of habit!

I have to say, though, I may rethink some of my preferences after seeing some of your comments about slow computers. Is the speed difference in using online vs. hard-drive apps really that significant?

I'm not entirely paperless, either. I like having a physical dictionary, thesaurus, and style guide right in my hands. And for certain projects, it's quicker to keep printed copies of key documents instead of opening the electronic file. (I like to think I'm "green" because when I'm done with those copies, I flip them over and print again on the back.) I keep a physical copy of every legal document I sign with/for a client. And I absolutely MUST have a real, physical planner/calendar. I don't do cell phone or BlackBerry, so it's handy and portable and absolutely essential for me. I will give THAT up when someone pries it from my cold, dead hands!

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AnnaLisa Michalski, Sunny Words Writing Services

I work out of a satellite office in Bangor, ME for a NH based construction firm and use remote desktop. I'm including a link for your review. Hope you find this useful

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Remote_Desktop_Protocol

Warm regards,

Nan
Maine Virtual Business Solutions

Originally Posted by AnnaLisa Michalski

Interesting how varied we are in our preferences! I'm nowhere near completely online. I do use a few online apps for things like graphic touch-ups or conversions or calculations, but I'm more a writer than an admin asst these days. In general my work requires a word processing program, a spreadsheet, email, and a search engine. Google Docs is convenient, but the word processor and spreadsheet apps are not as full-featured (or, admittedly, as familiar to me) as my usual software, so I generally don't use them. It doesn't even cross my mind. I'm really a creature of habit! I have to say, though, I may rethink some of my preferences after seeing some of your comments about slow computers. Is the speed difference in using online vs. hard-drive apps really that significant? I'm not entirely paperless, either. I like having a physical dictionary, thesaurus, and style guide right in my hands. And for certain projects, it's quicker to keep printed copies of key documents instead of opening the electronic file. (I like to think I'm "green" because when I'm done with those copies, I flip them over and print again on the back.) I keep a physical copy of every legal document I sign with/for a client. And I absolutely MUST have a real, physical planner/calendar. I don't do cell phone or BlackBerry, so it's handy and portable and absolutely essential for me. I will give THAT up when someone pries it from my cold, dead hands!

Sorry to admit to this, but I am a pak rat and probably will never reach the "paperless kingdom" lol. But I am trying. I know my software applications do tend to clog up my computer so my answer to that is to have half on one computer and half on my backup computer. I don't need to access anything offsite at the moment since I seem to be in my office 100% of the time anyway. But when that time does come and it will, I will have to rethink what I am doing. I have to say I like it both ways: online and hard copies. Most of the software I have purchased and is stored on my hard drive except for Officezilla. I am afraid if my computer crashes (which it has) and losing everything. I have an obscene amount of files, really do, so I am not having going to tell you how many... I do backup remotely with Carbonite and the Clickfree hard drive until that stopped working. Until that is fixed, I am only backing up remotely and personally don't feel that is enough to give me that cozy secure warm feeling. I also don't use a blackberry right now I just have my inexpensive prepaid cell phone which works for me. I am glad to report though that I did cut the Verizon cord several months ago and my phone/fax are completely online now and I love it! So in summary whatever I keep in digital files I also have a hard copy of it if it is important enough.

I also have an online calender system with Officezilla.com which I like for now and it's free. But the one I go to all the time is the one I hang on my fridge. That is checked daily! But my basic organizing system consists of 2 big clipboards, one for work and one for the household tasks. I cross out a task when it is done with. Plus lots of stickies for really important things that must be done that day or immediately. This would include a daily seminar, whatever was urgent! Also as someone mentioned above, I find it easier to proofread from a piece of paper. I cannot proofread on line. This way I can proof in red which I love and make notes in the margins if I want. For shredding documents I love my Fellowes shredder which I use for business and personal documents.So far this system works best for me

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JoCarole
http://www.shoreofficeservices.com

I am still a newbie in the Virtual Assistant section, but I think I am going to work mainly online as I live in Europe and it seems most of the potential clients are from the US, which would make it hard for me to have a face to face meeting. I guess Skype could be the solution (using the webcam and headphone) so that we can "talk" on what is required as I doubt an email would be efficient enough.
Thank you all for your posts, I got the chance to write down some good advices on how to deal with online customers and what type of material I would need.
I'll keep looking for more ideas.

Samantha

I'm pretty well all online. It's been a mission of my this year to move to everything I have to be completely in the "clouds" as you'll often hear it referred to. That being said though there are still some products that don't have a reasonable equivalent available online, but I'm always on the look our for such things.

How I'm set up:

Email - managed through Google's Gmail - I use Google Apps, but with many of the changes made with the free version of Gmail it's quite easy to use it.

Finances - Managed in Freshbooks and because my business is simple and straight forward managing Revenue and Expenses I can use Freshbooks for everything

Document Management - Until Google or a third party has a good sync tool I use Dropbox to share files with clients and to back up needed documentation. I use Google Docs for much of my own documents and I'm moving away from Microsoft.

Project Management - After much struggle with which system would work best I've decided to use Basecamp. I keep coming back to it as it does what I need.

Contact Management - I use Highrise to manage my contact management, track my deals, conversations etc...

Notetaking - I use Evernote, which is online, but also has a desktop application and the two sync with each other. I use this to keep track of snippets of code I've found useful so I don't have to recreate, notes on conversations which don't need to be

I use Google Chrome for all of the applications because I am able to set up Application Shortcuts in Google Chrome which create icons (and direct links) to all of the applications.

What's not online?

- All of my development content for Wordpress and client sites
- Various Software programs that are online available as a desktop version.

For me though, if I can find a decent alternative to a desktop software I will use it. Now some may wonder about costs and yes it does cost to use the services, but for me it far out weighs my convenience. I've kept my costs to less than a $100.00 a month, including my hosting for my website and phone costs - it's a cost of business and a business expense so it's worth it for me.

As you've might of guessed this is something I find fascinating and truly interesting...

If you're interested you might find these references interesting:

- The Web is Dead
- Internet is Always On

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Renee Shupe, Become a Techie Virtual Assistant
eMail Marketing & Aweber Training Starts May 15! - Save 50% using VAFAweber

I use dropbox to manage all of my files. It has a desktop icon to access it, but it is stored online. The neat thing about dropbox is it is drag and drop and in a matter of seconds the transfer is complete. Also, you can share the files/folders with your clients. And if I'm away from home and don't have access to my computer I can sign onto any computer and sign in online and still access all of my files.

I am also fortunate to have some clients who have their own servers and I just log in to them for that work.

I recently switched to Quick Books online. So all of my accounting is now done online as well.

I do print a few things. I print invoices, client intake forms, contracts, and work orders that are longer term projects. Once those work orders are complete then they go into the shredder.

I do not print everything I do however. I store those files in client folders in dropbox and my clients have access to them there. I really see no need to print those things unless the client requests it for whatever reason, but that has not happened as of yet. I also keep a handwritten to do list. I have a composition notebook for every month. In that notebook goes my to do list and any notes that I need to do a quick jot down. I keep those just in case I need to refer to them at a later date.

I also use Outlook to create calendar and tasks lists, but I use that as a general reminder of weekly or monthly tasks and the night before I sit down right before I go to bed and create a hand written to do list for the following day and I refer to Outlook calendar, task list, and emails from clients while making the list.

I have only met one client face to face that is a local client and my only local client. We met one time before beginning our relationship and we signed contracts and such, and now we just communicate through email.

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Rhonda Holscher, Owner
Rhonda's Virtual Office - Hire a Virtual Assistant