Networking is a necessary part of owning a business.
As a Virtual Assistant, is networking something you enjoy? Or would you rather do anything else?
I talk with a lot of VAs about growing their businesses, and one of the biggest issues VAs face is where to find clients.
I tell them they have to determine who their services are best suited for, and then they have to find those potential clients and network with them.
The conversation often takes a bristly turn after that.
Networking is not a favourite activity for many VAs because we have often been the reactive type of personality. The person who is the greeter of those who enter the building. The person who answers the phone when clients call.
We coordinate. We organize. We manage.
But we don’t sell.
The thought of networking actually paralyzes some Virtual Assistants. They fear it.
But there really is no reason to fear it.
Also due to our administrative background, we are often the best at research. At fact finding. At conversation. At finding solutions.
And these are the things we need when we are networking. Almost the only things, in fact!
When you attend an event, or reach out to someone on social media, it’s simply a conversation. A fact-finding research mission, if you will.
It’s simply a conversation.
And the conversation isn’t even about you! (How much pressure did that just relieve?)
It’s about them. It’s about their business. Once you realize that, networking will get so much easier for you.
Your job in the conversation? Ask questions.
What does that person do for their business? How do they get help with the types of things that you provide as services? Have a conversation with them about it.
If you find that you might be a good fit to help them with the things they are struggling with, then you let them know.
Networking is far more about conversations than it is about heavy sales tactics.
It’s not about selling a Big Mac to someone who is not hungry, or to a vegetarian.
And it’s not about asking for money. Or a job.
It’s about offering solutions to business people who need support from someone like you.
When you reframe it like that, there’s nothing to dread is there?
So get yourself out there, meet some people and have some conversations.
After all, it’s one of the things we do best!
And remember – you are always just looking for your next client. Take the pressure off yourself and check out this article I wrote last summer while I was recuperating from surgery.