Happy Birthday to me!
Welcome to the second edition of Net Secretary News. I am very encouraged and flattered by the feedback I received to last month's newsletter, so thank you to all who e-mailed me.

Net Secretary turns 1 year old this month. I can't believe how quickly the last 12 months has flown. Net Secretary started off life as "Verrall Business Services" but the name was somewhat vague in describing what I actually did. So in March 2005, I came up with the name "Net Secretary" and the tag line "Assistance from a Distance!", which I feel better reflects what I do (an internet secretary or Virtual Assistant).

It has been one of the most exciting and rewarding periods in my life, with many ups and downs and a great learning experience along the way. I do feel truly blessed to be able to work for myself, to achieve flexibility with work/life balance and to enjoy the immense satisfaction of serving my clients well and keeping them happy.

Yes that is a photo of me in the top right corner with the celebration champagne I'll be having this week. My thanks go to Chris and Rini at The Look Studios for their wonderful photography. The Look does both commercial and personal photography with wonderful creative flair and state of the art technology. You can visit their websites at www.thelookstudio.com.au or www.aussiepinups.com for more examples of their award winning work.

To celebrate Net Secretary's 1 year anniversary, I am giving away a copy of Work Smarter, Not Harder by Jack Collis. Do you want your life to be a work of art, rather than a life of work? Work Smarter, Not Harder is more than just a business book. It is a clear and effective personal strategy that can help you to make the most of, and get the most out of, your life. All you have to do is e-mail me and tell me the best business tip you have. This may be a networking tip, marketing tip, a starting-out tip, or anything that you believe has been valuable to you or your business/employment. The winner will receive a copy of this great book and a sample of the best tips will be included in a future edition of Net Secretary News. So get e-mailing!

I have updated the Net Secretary website and I have added some fantastic testimonials from past clients on the Clients/Testimonials page. Check it out when you have a moment (you may have to refresh your browser so it doesn't use the 'old' site saved in your cache!).

I hope you enjoy the October issue of Net Secretary News.

Yours Virtually, Deanne Verrall

Digital Transcription
Although not strictly new in the VA Industry, digital transcription is proving to be one of the most common jobs that progressive businesses are looking to outsource. Whether it be in the specialised technical fields of medical or legal transcription, or general fields such as financial planning, research interviews, business dictation etc, transcription is a task that can be easily and cost-effectively outsourced to a VA.

Digital transcription can be accessed in one of two ways. The first way is through a dedicated digital recording device where the audio file can be uploaded directly to your PC and then e-mailed to your transcriptionist or submitted to a server for downloading and transcribing by the transcriptionist.

The second way is to convert your audio file from a tape (analogue format) to a digital format. With advances in technology, this has been made possible by free software downloadable from the Internet called Goldwave. All you need besides Goldwave is a jack from your local Tandy or Dick Smith electrical store. Plug one end into your microphone slot on your PC and the other end into your recording device. Simply press record on your Goldwave software and play on your recording device and the tape will record as a WAV or MP3 file, straight onto your PC. You can then e-mail or upload this file to your transcriptionist for typing. Once typed, the Word document is then e-mailed back to the client.

I believe it is also possible to create digital music from cassette tapes and possibly old vinyl records and CDs using Goldwave.

Net Secretary can provide assistance with Goldwave instruction or with any queries you may have about digital or analogue transcription generally. Of course Net Secretary can also professionally transcribe your digital files and convert your standard tapes to digital if you really don't have the time or inclination to do it yourself. Contact me for further details and rates.

In the past, when you wanted to know how to do something, you had to ask someone how it was done. Either they would explain the process, or demonstrate it for you. You could also try to figure it out by means of a book, or by hacking away at it yourself, which usually just led to massive amounts of frustration. In our modern day society, helpful instructions are only a hop, skip, and a jump away on the Internet. Whenever you are curious about how to get something done, tap into the database of knowledge at eHow. www.ehow.com

The hype about Skype
Want to make free phone calls? Well now you can by utilising the latest VoIP (Internet based telephony or Voice-over IP) Technology and use your Internet connection to make phone calls. Skype appears to be the name on everyone's lips today regarding this technology. By it's own definition, Skype is "the Global Internet Communications pioneer which makes it possible for anyone to make free high-quality phone calls via the Internet to anyone worldwide". Skype is free to download and to use, and can be used to chat to or call other users who also have Skype. For an additional cost, Skype also allows the user to dial people on their landlines or mobiles at greatly reduced rates. Users can also have access to a personalised Voicemail recorded message and can even buy a dedicated telephone number to use with Skype (rather than just an ID such as 'netsecretary'). As you can imagine, Skype has started making inroads into the business world as well as that of personal users. The lure of free phone calls via the Internet is a very strong enticement.

You can also buy nifty little telephone handsets that plug into the USB port of your computer, so that you can dial people using the handset but the call is transmitted through Skype rather than your phone line. Another great idea are converter boxes for your landline telephone that enable you to make Skype calls through your home phone. Both of these products are available on Ebay.

Speaking of Ebay, the online auction giant purchased Skype last month for a whopping $2.6 billion. It is thought that Ebay plans to use the functionality of Skype in its online auction site, primarily as a means of communication between buyers and sellers.

Telecommunications companies worldwide are understandably not impressed with the popularity of Skype. British Telecom has already taken on Skype in the UK by offering calls at half the cost of Skype's add-on fee based calls. Telstra in Australia is reportedly looking into its own VoIP solution to be released in early 2006. China has apparently banned Skype and other VoIP services completely to protect it's government owned telecommunications corporation!

For more information on Skype, visit www.skype.com

'When you walk to the edge of all the light you have,
And you take the first step into the darkness of the unknown;
You must believe that one of two things will happen.
There will be something solid for you to stand upon or you will be taught to fly.'

Patrick Overton