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| My Services and About Me |
SERVICES - Or What Can I do for you?I am an ex Career Personal Assistant with a secretarial/admin/writing background spanning over 25 years. I provide the usual V.A. services such as:
MY ‘NICHE’ SERVICES (and these are my favourite activities) INCLUDE:
I do not offer website maintenance or Shoppingcart services, but I do have experienced and professional VA associates who do and I would happily recommend.
Yes, you can hire me for one off projects, but I do prefer to establish long term partnerships with my clients.
My fees are based on an hourly rate but I will negotiate a set figure for certain tasks, too. For ongoing work and a regular number of hours per month, I will be pleased to offer a discount. I accept payment via Paypal - which enables you to pay using your preferred card - or via direct debit to my bank account (which is my preference).
You can email me at Donna@A1VikingVirtualServices.com
SAMPLES OF WRITINGOn a professional level, I have ghostwritten articles, newsletters, blogs and even book chapters for clients.I have also had over 12 short stories published in women's magazines (no, not romances - I'm not into romances), and I used to write for Suite101.com, an online community. Those articles were just for fun and my amusement - that they appealed to a wider audience was just a bonus. You can read some of these on this website - go to link above.) You will also find articles here on ezinearticles.com: http://ezinearticles.com/?expert=Donna_Eliassen 
ABOUT ME I have over 25 years corporate experience in Australia, including a couple of years international experience. I've been a private secretary, a Person Friday, a Personal Assistant, and a Travel Consultant. I started my career as a junior secretary and worked my way up the ladder. I have experience in reception/customer service, administrative/clerical tasks, general secretarial services, Executive Assistant level services, and finally Personal Assistant to CEO’s, General Managers and State Level Managers.My strengths are in customer service, writing and editing.
Most of my work experience has been in Australia, but I also worked for a couple of years for a shipping organization in Oslo, Norway.
One of my most memorable career-related experiences involved a week spent at a Norwegian ski holiday resort as the secretary and minute taker for an international group of shipping and legal experts who had gathered for a special 7-day conference. Seated around the table were representatives from various shipping and legal organisations, including representatives from The IMO and the United Nations. These businessmen came from all parts of the globe: Norway, London, Paris, Amsterdam, New York, and Greece. I used to be a very fast and accurate professional Stenographer - the reason I was singled out for this assignment. And it was the ultimate experience for me, spending several hours a day in a room with men from different countries with different accents, taking down every word spoken. (Oh yes, I was well rewarded!)
I have travelled to Northern Europe, the UK, Asia and the west coast of the U.S.
In addition to my many years office experience, I worked for an Airline for four years, which made international travel affordable for me. In the days when it was Singapore and not Bali that Aussies travelled to for shopping, I used to pop over to Singapore a few times a year for shopping sprees.
Throughout my office career in the various companies I worked, I found myself proofreading and editing other people’s work. As time went on, this progressed to initiating correspondence, letters and reports – and the executive staff would simply sign whatever I produced without bothering to read it.
This led to editing and managing various company in-house and client newsletters, and when I worked in Norway, I was entrusted with research and writing articles for various shipping publications produced for an international audience.
Back in Australia... I was the Editor of several company newsletters and instigating correspondence and reports was a 'given'. I was also called on to proof and edit company board reports and various publications before being sent to print.
I retired from the corporate "rat race" in mid 1997 when my daughter was born, and in the same year, started looking for ways to use my skills and experience working from home. For the first few years, I dabbled in my hobby (fiction writing) and scored the odd freelance job. By 2001, I was set up as a full time Virtual Assistant.
I took one and a half years off (2007-mid 2008) during which I returned to the corporate “rat race”, which freshened my skills, widened my perspective, brought me up to date, and more importantly, reminded me why I quite the rat race in the first place. (Too many rats!)
Mid 2008, I decided to return to my VA business permanently - changing my name from Viking Secretarial Services to Viking Virtual Services.
Why "Viking"? My paternal Grandfather hailed from Oslo, Norway, as does my husband. Prior to becoming an Eliassen, I was an Andreassen. I also lived and worked in Oslo for a little over two years. And like any decent, self-respecting "viking", I am full of determination and never back down from a challenge (or is that called 'stubborness'?)
I live in Western Australia, in a coastal town approximately 1 hour’s drive south of the state capital, Perth. I am married (to my Norwegian) with one daughter. I also used to be the "mother" of 3 Irish Wolfhounds, who are now in doggy heaven. Somehow, now we have ended up with 3 cats of different pedigree (Ragdoll, Russian Blue and a Persian Chinchilla), AND a Great Dane/Bull Mastiff cross.
I am reliable, friendly and have a wacky sense of humour… or if you are in the U.S., read “humor”. I am accustomed to writing in U.S. and U.K./Aust. English.
As your personal assistant, I would give you the royal treatment... but don’t just take my word for it… here are a few sample references from people who have worked (and some still do) with me in my capacity as a VA:
REFERENCES:
“Donna has worked with me and been a key member of my team. She has always gone above and beyond and impressed me with EXTRAordinary skills, given me her all and served my clients, students and potential clients fully. They all rave about her. She is not only an assistant, she has been a valued team member. Her talent has led to product creation, sales, new clients and programs and she has gone way beyond what a typical assistant can do. I fully endorse Donna and am jealous of whoever gets to play with her ;) “
~ Terri Levine, CEO, The Coaching Institute “Donna, You are probably one of the most creative writers and down right genius Marketers that I have met in lifetimes..... thank you for doing this...
love Pamela”
~ Pamela Harper RN, CCH, CAC
Founder & President of University of Masters "I’ve known Donna Eliassen for several years, as a client. She is absolutely the most delightful VA I’ve interacted with. Not only can I count on her for prompt responses and attention to detail, but she does so in a very cheerful, enjoyable, and friendly manner. She has a way with words that make me feel like I’m someone special. I wish I were in a position to hire her myself!"
~ Joel Remde
Business/Life Coach
(Note from Donna: Joel, you ARE someone special!)
“Donna,
You are skilled, talented, a great writer and a real team player. I have really loved getting to know you in the virtual world. I think that is one of your gifts—you make things go so smoothly and seamlessly, we forget that we are in fact all relating to each other in the virtual arena. I was shocked when I attended Terri’s first live event in Philly and discovered that you were not like in the adjoining office but were actually in a very different time zone. I also always felt your efficiency. I could send Terri an e-mail before bed, and by the time I got up in the morning, you had answered it. It was amazing. Then when I learned you were in Australia, I said, “wow! What a concept!
All the best for your future plans!”
~ Mary
Mary L. Heidkamp, CEO/President
Dynamic Insights International
If you'd like more references, please feel free to ask. Likewise, if you'd like an emailed copy of my full career C.V., please email me.
Meantime, I would like to say thank you to these exceptional people who so kindly offered these comments over the past years. I am humbled in their presence and consider myself the lucky one for having the pleasure and privilege to work for them.
Anything else you want to know that I've not covered here? Feel free to email me at:
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