When I talk to VAs about how their business is going, the biggest struggle I hear is that they are having trouble finding clients.
So we dig a little deeper – to find out why they are having trouble.
The main cause that usually comes up is that they are not marketing their services to anyone in particular.
In fact, they are wasting a lot of their networking time because they are not being specific enough.
There is the fear that if they are too specific they will have to turn away business from potential clients. That’s not true. You are welcome to work with anyone you want to!
Marketing to a target industry is just good business planning – because you are talking to a larger group of people who have similar needs.
For instance, if I offer a service like newsletter production or email marketing, would it make sense to approach a financial professional, a home party specialist, a travel consultant, a business coach and a real estate agent? Or would it make more sense to determine which of these five markets would be the best market to approach – one at a time?
The logical answer is to determine which of them need your service (now!) and then find a larger group of those people, and market to all of them at once.
It’s about reaching a larger audience.
There are three secrets to building a great clientele:
1. Become an expert – by targeting a market to work with, you can tailor your service offerings specifically to them. You can bring in clients that will grow with you. You can stay on top of trends in their industry and grow with them.
2. Prepare procedures – when you are working with a target market, your procedure documents will help you to build solid standards for how you do things, and they will be applicable to more than one client (because they have the same needs). This also helps you to expand and get team members to help you when the need arises.
3. Foster a relationship – repeat or long term customers are the ones who will sustain your business for years to come. By really investing an interest in your client’s business, you will be able to take a proactive view and become a partner more than a support person.
There are many reasons to decide on your target market right now – but the bottom line is that it simply makes your marketing easier. And when your marketing is easier, you just do more of it. And when you do more marketing, you will get more clients. It’s really as simple as that!
I’d love to hear your comments about this – leave them on my Facebook page: www.facebook.com/yourvamentor