Are you looking for new Virtual Assistant clients?
In business, you should always be looking for new clients, even if you are at capacity.
But if you are a VA and you don’t have enough clients, it is stressful.
I’ve been there. Most of us have been there at some point.
You can’t have a business if you don’t have clients.
So what do you do when you feel like you are looking all day, every day, and still coming up short?
You need to reassess your strategy. (It’s not working!)
If you really think you are spending all day looking for clients, and you are not getting any, then there is something fundamentally wrong with what you are doing to find them.
Here are the 3 things you must have in place in order to get clients:
Clear Service Offerings
No matter how many things you can do, you need to focus on a certain set of service offerings that a group of people needs now. When you try to be all things to everyone, your message gets clouded and people do not hear what you are telling them. When you are very specific about what it is you can do for someone, they hear it – and either they need it, or they don’t.
Think about marketing campaigns that you see over and over again on television or online. Think Wendy’s Baconator, or the Old Spice Guy. One clear message, repeated in a variety of ways. Either you need it or you don’t. But you know exactly what they are selling.
Your marketing needs to be the same. Be clear and you will be heard.
Simple, Value-Based Pricing
Setting your rates is one of the things that stops many VAs in their tracks. Does this happen to you?
We can be so afraid of asking someone to pay us to do work for them that we often undervalue ourselves, and undercharge. You must get clear on the value that you bring to the client, so that you can feel confident charging appropriately for it.
Think of it this way: the client wants to know two things: what you can do for them, and what it will cost them. These are the two things you must determine before you can market your business.
All consumers work on this principle. Your clients are no different. For the most part, I don’t care how my car was built, or what makes it fuel efficient or comfortable. I want to know what colour it is, how it feels to sit in, how good the gas mileage is, and how much it costs.
Your clients are no different. Don’t sell them on the great reasons you are a VA. Tell them how you can help them with their business, and how much it will cost them. It’s all the want to know. And when you can convey that clearly to them, they will want to work with you.
Target Audience
You need to target an audience that you want to market to. I know, you say you can help lots of people. So can I! But marketing is different. In order for you to maximize the time and energy you are putting into it, you have to choose a market and talk to them.
If they are not hearing you, then you choose another one. But when you try to speak to the whole world at once and hope someone hears you, your message becomes a drop in the pond of noise that we all hear nowadays.
When you have these three things in place, you are ready to reach out to people. Here’s how:
The 30 Day Plan
1. Choose a place to network with people. This can be an online social media group or platform, or in person networking group). There should be a lot of your potential clients in that place.
2. Make a plan to reach out to a specific number of people every day. I usually choose to connect with 2 people daily because that is very easy to manage. And over the course of one month, you will reach 40 to 60 people (depending on whether you do it on weekends or not).
3. Track the people you are connecting with and what you are talking about. Numbers are essential in this strategy. The more people you speak with, the more you practice your conversations and your message becomes much clearer.
4. Focus on asking questions about their business, and guide them to your solutions as necessary. Talk to them about their business. Never about yours. Unless you have a solution for them. But never lead with that. Ask questions. It’s the key to all great conversations.
5. Follow up with people you have connected with. Ask at least 10 of them to have a sales conversation with you during the course of the month. Send resources or information to people that you aren’t ready to chat with yet. You are moving them along a conveyor belt. Not everyone is ready to chat, but everyone is always good for follow up.
6. Monitor your numbers. If your message is clear, and you are clear on your pricing, you should be able to close at least 3 of those people (ie they will become your clients) on those 10 sales conversations. 3 out of 10 is actually quite low!
And that’s how you do it. It’s really as simple as that.
It’s all about the numbers, and the focus.
Whether you are struggling to get your first client, or you are looking to grow, a focused strategy like this will help you to fine-tune your messaging, and reach out to real prospects regularly.
The routine and commitment of connecting with specific people daily is the best way to grow your business.
Focus on the group you know you can help. Reach out regularly to them where they are already hanging out. Be helpful. Ask questions. Offer resources and solutions. When the time is right, invite them to have a call with you.
For more indepth training about how to get 3 clients in 30 days, grab my free training session here.
And if you want ongoing support to build a better marketing routine, you might be interested in my Inspired Action VA Mastermind group. It’s a goal setting and accountability group just for VAs.
We are a tight knit group of professionals who are getting things done in our businesses because we have the support we need to do it. It’s a (very) low-cost, high-value coaching alternative. Read more and register here: www.yourvamentor.com/
We’d love to have you join us!