"A Clayton's Secretary"®
Secretarial Support with Virtual Assistants
(The Secretary you need when you haven't got a Secretary)
est. March 1994

ACS News October 2002
The regular newsletter for ACS contacts

This site is the property of "A Clayton's Secretary"® ABN 76 809 078 624 
Regd. March 1994, Copyright © 1996-2002.  Updated: 13 October, 2002
LPO Box 6062, Cromer, Victoria, Australia, 3193.  Tel: 1800 033 355, +613 9583 8359, Fax: +613 9585 3785
Web: www.asecretary.com.au
We are Privacy Compliant - your name and address, if submitted to these pages, will not be used for other purposes!  
Please note that spammers have recently begun forging our address - we do NOT send spam.

Email Challenges

Over the past two or three months I’ve had a few people contact me to ask why I had not answered their email, or responded to their request?  For the first couple I just thought they must have written the email address wrong and asked them to resend.  But I’ve now had many mention the same to me – one client in particular had sent several emails to me in the one day about a job I was doing for her – and only two of the emails got through.  I knew that something must be drastically wrong.

My mail host has tried everything they can to try and work out the problem – all they can tell me is that there is an incompatibility between Telstra, Ozemail, and my mail host’s server and as such, mail seems to just disappear – it doesn’t even bounce back to the sender!  The strange thing is I receive well over 100 emails a day and so, to me, I had no reason to think any were going missing.  I did however, start to send test emails to myself from different locations now and then – some would arrive, others didn’t.

So, if you’ve been one of these people who have emailed me and wondered why I’ve not responded – I wasn’t being rude, I just hadn’t received it!

I’m currently in the process of seeking out a new webhost/mailhost.  My current provider has been an excellent webhost and their service couldn’t be better.  But the mystery with missing email has perplexed them, and me, and so we must part ways.

If you have tried to send something to me that is urgent or important, please ring me on 03 9583 8359 and I’ll give you an alternative email until I have the new service set up.  In the meantime, my regular email address is working most of the time, and once I’ve made the shift it will still be the same address – just hosted on a completely different mail and web server.

Although this has been a nuisance, it has had its value too.  It means I’ve learnt that there are a lot of new hosting services available at really good prices, and so, if you are in the market for a new webhost, or if you are planning to set up a new website, I can point you in the right direction. 

  In fact, I’m trying to choose between two services who appear almost equal in the services they provide and their related charges.  Both come well recommended.  What I particularly like is that both have an online Control Panel which means you can log in to change the way things are set up for your website and even how your mail is delivered to you.

I love today’s technologies – there is always something new and exciting to explore!

Have a great month everyone.

Kathie


We welcome the new members who have joined our ranks since last newsletter:

Lorraine Stott, Whitton, NSW, lstott@dragnet.com.au
Amber Bell, Paddington, NSW, amber@tcbbrown.com
Caroline Manly, Leura, NSW, csm363@bigpond.com
Lisa Smith, Blacktown, NSW, ronlisa@ezweb.com.au
Nena Vukovic, Maribyrnong, Vic, nena@lexicon.net
Trish Upham, Ringwood, Vic, trish@rosedalebusiness.com.au
Johanna Lemke, Greensborough, Vic, djwi@optusnet.com.au
Ballet & Co Inspirations, Dandenong, Vic, michellaskey@hotmail.com
Jenny Zhou, Beijing, China, jennyzhoujw@263.net.cn
Jean Green, Sheffield, Tas, greenmag@bigpond.com.au
Catherine Hug, Malvern East, Vic, catherinehug@optusnet.com.au
Gabrielle Herro, Bondi Junction, NSW, officelink@optusnet.com.au
Carmen Wright, Bunbury, WA, burton_carmen@hotmail.com

Each secretary has a minimum 5 years experience.  Their resumes are kept on file should a client require to view it.  They are also encouraged to continually update their skills and apply for the accreditation program we have available to them. Members may charge differently as they are independent contractors. Some specialise in medical/legal transcriptions, bookkeeping, or Internet based work and have varying backgrounds of experience. 

Useful Web Links

Awards
www.achiever.com.au
www.businessawardsaus.com

Bridgeworks
www.bridgeworks.biz

Creative Celebrations
www.creativecelebrations.com.au

Guerrilla Marketing
www.guerrillamarketing.com.au

Hampering Around
www.hamperingaround.com.au

JewishAustralia
www.jewishaustralia.com

Networks:
For a list of networks in Melbourne go to

www.whats-on-in-town.com
www.bni.com.au

Seminars
www.asecretary.com.au/seminars.htm

Small Business Support
www.homebusinessmanual.com.au  
www.mbn.com.au
www.soho-life.com

The Australian Image Company
www.taic.com.au

The Office Organiser
www.office-organiser.com.au

The Ultimate Gift Experience
www.ultgiftexp.com.au

Travel Solutions
www.travelsolutions.com.au  

Universal Currency Converter
www.xe.net/ucc

 Want to share this newsletter with others? Please forward copy of this newsletter so they can register too!!

Keep in touch with our site

Click to subscribe to acsnews


This newsletter is also sent out in html format using a list builder. If you wish to receive in this format, please register at
acsnews-subscribe@yahoogroups.com
or let us know your email address so we can add you to our database.

My email address is:  ..............................................................

     aaalogo.BMP (76338 bytes)      

 

“A Clayton’s Secretary”®
ABN 76 809 078 624

LPO Box 6062, Cromer, Vic, Australia, 3193  
National: 1800 033 355
Melb. Metro: (+613) 9583 8359
Mobile: 0414 659 142
Fax: (+613) 9585 3785
Email: kathie@asecretary.com.au
Web: www.asecretary.com.au

If you wish to unsubscribe from this newsletter:
acsnews-unsubscribe@yahoogroups.com

Current Rates apply:
Word-processing                                       $30.80 per hour
Overheads design/graphics                     $38.50 per hour
Desktop Publishing                                   $44.00 per hour
Database design & maintenance             $49.50 per hour
Colour printing                                           $  3.30 per item
O/H Film                                                       $  2.20 per item
Internet:
Research on the Internet                           $33.00 per hour
Send email                                                   $ 2.20 with text
Design, publish and register
Website with search engines                   $825.00 
(8 pages )
Webpage maintenance                              $ 66.00 per hour

Photocopying:                                            Price on asking

Laminating                                                    $4.40 A4 size
Faxes:

Local                                                              $1.10

STD                                                               $2.75 for first 5 pgs

Scanning

Image - graphics - per graphic on disk     $5.50
OCR (Character recognition)                     $16.50  minimum

Training
Use of computer and software                  $55.00 per hour
Event Management
Flyers prepared, registrations handled, bookings made-POA

All prices are GST inclusive in Australian Dollars
If something you require is not listed here, please do give me a call and I will source it for you.  Further information about ‘A Clayton's Secretary’® can be obtained through the web page address listed at the top of this page.  Rates for clients outside of Australia are ex GST (Goods & Services Tax = Base + 10%).