Welcome to another episode of the podcast that teaches you how to be a ridiculously good virtual assistant.
Today I want to talk about restarting your marketing for your VA business, if you have let’s say, taken a break.
Today’s Quote: The best marketing doesn’t feel like marketing. – Tom Fishburne
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Connect with Tracey D’Aviero, VA Coach and Trainer
Episode Notes:
There are a lot of reasons why you might stop marketing your VA business.
Usually, it’s because you get a few clients and then you get busy working with them.
Sometimes it’s because you have taken an actual break in your business.
Or sometimes it’s because you get burned out from trying all the wrong things, and you give up.
In any case, let’s talk about how to restart.
I’ve stopped and restarted my marketing a lot over the years that I’ve been in business. I’ve also helped a lot of other VAs get started again – it just takes a few steps.
And you should not feel bad if you haven’t done anything in a while. We will just start now!
Today we’ll talk about reframing your mindset, refreshing your online presence and profiles, and rekindling past connections – and then talk about how I can help you put your plan together to move forward.
Shift Your Mindset for Growth
The first thing you have to do is get into the right mind space.
You might be feeling guilt or hesitation of some sort if you dropped the ball at some point, but you have to move out of that in order to embrace the kind of growth mindset that you need to take a step forward.
Restarting is just a means of getting going again – and you have the opportunity to do it better this time.
Think about where you want to go, and think about what made you stop what you were doing to begin with.
If it was getting busy, that’s okay.
But maybe it was the process you used, or the time it all took.
What were the reasons that you stopped?
What did you feel like right before you stopped: How about right after?
It’s important to figure those things out so that you don’t just go back to the same routine or with the same mindset and then end up quitting again.
Next, what have you learned since you last were doing good marketing? You will also want to incorporate that into your new strategy.
One of the things I tried was Facebook Ads. I tried and tried, and they just didn’t work for me.
I know I wasn’t doing them right for one reason or maybe a lot of reasons, but when I got back to marketing again, I knew that I wasn’t going to try them again.
I recently watched the series Maid on Netflix, and the lead character Alex leads a writing group where they write about their happiest day.
This is a great exercise for your business as well – being able to really think about where you want to be, and see yourself there – often helps you to then map out the steps you need to take to get there.
If you are feeling stuck, I can help. We can work together to assess and reshape your mindset, and create your new strategy and plan to get people looking at your VA business again.
Leverage Your Past Successes
It is really important when you have identified the mindset that you need to move forward, to also consider the successes you have had in the past.
Because you have had successes!
It’s important for your mindset, but also important for your content.
I always say that you have to believe that you can help your clients before your clients will believe it.
Working on your mindset is the first step, and then really understanding what you have done before that helps your clients is next.
It also makes creating content easier because you have so much to draw on. You can share client stories, or even just actual stories about how you worked before and how you work with clients.
Focusing on the benefits that clients get from working with you is key – not just the services, but why it’s important for them and their business.
When you focus on the client instead of you, they notice that. It works.
Make as big a list as you can of how you have helped people and work through it to create content and help your clients visualize what you can do for them.
That’s a really important piece of marketing your business.
The more clear you can be about how their business and their life will be different by getting help from you, the better.
You need to focus on building trust and credibility, and that’s easy to do when you are focused on your clients.
I teach things like Features and Benefits that help you see the real value that you are bringing to your clients, and that’s the messaging that should be carried into your marketing and your networking conversations.
If you don’t think you have stories or past successes, I can help you uncover them. You see, I already know how awesome you are – you tell me all the time! – so let’s leverage that so that some great clients can figure that out too.
Refresh Your Online Presence
Next you want to update everything you have online. It doesn’t matter if you aren’t going to use all your profiles again – you still need to make sure whatever you have out there is current.
People check you out, or at least they should – and you need to make sure that what they see is what you are currently doing.
Outdated branding or information can make you appear inactive.
First impressions are everything, and you can easily make sure that yours is still working well for you.
Go through your website first and make sure that everything is current and working. Update the service offerings or the other information that you have on your site that tells clients how you help them.
Then go to the social media profiles that you have connected to your website and make sure that your bio and bio links and stuff are current as well.
Then do all of the other social media profiles you have, even if they aren’t connected to your website.
Consider branding – update your profile pics. I advise you to use the same profile pic on all of your platforms. That’s a simple way to ensure that your brand can begin to get recognized by the people you connect with on various platforms.
If you need help auditing and updating your marketing language or content on your website or social media platforms, I can help. We can look it all over together, talk about what you want your potential clients to see when they check you out, and create the content that you need to publish.
Build Your Network with Intention
The people you connect with will either become clients, or could be people who refer clients to you.
Sure you will meet others, but you want to focus on building relationships with those two types of people.
It’s possible that you didn’t do that last time you were marketing, and you got burned out from wasting time marketing without any results.
The relationships you cultivate and nurture are the backbone of your VA business.
Start with reconnecting with past contacts, old clients, colleagues, and any other people that you know. It’s the closest people to you that can help you get the word out quickly.
Once you have reconnected with your old connections, think about who your new ones will be.
You want to network intentionally. Like anything that you do, you want to maximize the time that you spend doing it, for the return that you get.
That’s where strategy and plan come in to play.
With your marketing you are looking for visibility. Where have you marketed your VA business before? Were those places good for you? If yes, great! If not, why not?
Be sure that you don’t dismiss a community because it didn’t work well last time.
It’s true that sometimes a community isn’t right for you, but many times it didn’t work because of mistakes that you made with your plan.
If I were to help you, we would assess those things and decide where the best place or places are for you to spend your time. And we would build a plan of what to say, and work with an actual strategy to reach the goals you set for yourself.
When you are looking to build visibility, you need to engage regularly in relevant groups and build genuine connections with potential collaborators or clients.
Create a Simple Marketing Plan
Finally, you need a plan.
With anything, simple is best.
But having a clear marketing plan is really essential to your success with it. You need structure, focus, framework, strategy, and action steps so that you get the most out of the time you spend doing it.
The last thing you want to do is create a huge plan that takes all kinds of time, and you get burnout trying to make it work.
You set your goals, you set deadlines for them, and you decide what you need to do and where. It’s going to be a combination of networking, content creation and showing up every day to help people that will help you get to where you want to go.
Concentrating on just a few marketing channels is the best bet – and really being invested in them is key.
If you don’t know where to begin, need help building your plan, or want accountability to make sure you implement your plan, I’m here to help.
Marketing itself is not hard. But knowing what to say, where to say it, and how much time to spend doing it – are the things that we often lose track of, or sight of.
Let’s help you get behind yourself for your marketing.
I’d love to help you restart your marketing – the right way.
It’s easy. Joining the 50K VA bootcamp will make that easy. We will definitely be working through lots of marketing tactics.
Let’s circle back to today’s quote: The best marketing doesn’t feel like marketing.
When you are trying to restart, it’s important to get your messaging right. You want to be in the right place, say the right things, and you want to do it efficiently so you get maximum return on investment of your time.
It’s time. I’m here to help. It’s the only reason I’m here at all, is to help you become a ridiculously good VA. But it’s you who has to take that first step.
If you want more information about the program, drop me a PM. I’ll share more info in the coming weeks across all of my social channels, but I’m available to answer any questions you have right now too.
Thank you again for trusting me to teach you and to guide you. I truly love to be here for you every week.
If I could ask you a favour – to subscribe to the podcast or leave me a review if you haven’t already. That’s something I should say every week and I never really do. But it matters and it will make sure that I know you are finding value in what I create just for you every week.
Do You Need Help?
If you are looking to build the kind of business I’m talking about – a 50K and beyond VA business, that’s where I can help. I am here to help you become a ridiculously good VA.
I have helped hundreds of VAs who are stuck get moving through private coaching, group coaching, and live and self study trainings. If you want to talk about how we can work together, let’s connect on a Cut to the Chase call. You can book yours at YourVAMentor.com/chase
Thanks for tuning in this week! I’ll see you next time!
What You Need to Do Next:
PRIVATE COACHING: Let’s work together privately to get you to your really big goal. It’s the fastest way to get results and we can start right away. Learn more about private coaching here.
GROUP COACHING MASTERMIND: The Virtual Circle is a group coaching mastermind option that costs less than private coaching, and can help you achieve the goals you set for yourself. . Check it out here: The Virtual Circle Group Coaching Mastermind for Virtual Assistants . We’d love to have you join us!
50K VA GROUP COACHING PROGRAM: If you have been struggling to build your VA business, get in on this live coaching program where we will help you create the framework for a business that can earn you 50K a year and beyond. LAUNCHING FALL 2024, stay tuned!
MONTHLY EMAIL MEMBERSHIP: I also have a brand new low-cost monthly membership program that will help you build your VA business – and it doesn’t require you to be on social media! It’s an email membership that I call The Virtual Toolkit! Every Monday morning you’ll receive a lesson and a downloadable resource in your inbox, that you can use to take a step further in your VA business. Get more details and sign up here now!
SELF STUDY PROGRAM: My self study program Getting Started as a VA can help you get your VA business started easily and quickly too. You can sign up right away and be on your way to getting clients by the end of the program, with all the right foundations in place. Check out the program here.
COMPLIMENTARY CONSULT: Reach out to me if you need to talk about where you are stuck and what the right option might be to get you moving. It’s literally all I’m here to do is help you get to where you want to go. Book a complimentary Cut to the Chase call with me here.