Welcome to another episode of the podcast that teaches you how to be a ridiculously good virtual assistant.
Today I want to talk about strategy – specifically your social media content – and why you need to really focus on a strategy so that what you do, works for you.
Today’s Quote: Content is king, but engagement is queen, and the lady rules the house. – Mari Smith
Click the play button above to tune in, or choose your favourite podcast player below:
Connect with Tracey D’Aviero, VA Coach and Trainer
Episode Notes:
Today we are talking about social media, and I already feel tired just saying that.
How about you??
I know how overwhelming social media can be – putting so much effort into it and not seeing results.
I remember a long time ago I was so proud of myself for writing a blog every week – you can look back at my blog on Your VA Mentor – I’ve been blogging since 2010.
Lots of content out there, very happy and proud of that work that I do.
But I remember being at a conference with my friend Kathy Colaiacovo, who you may know is now a marketing strategist. We had been chatting at the event.
I was bummed that my social media really wasn’t getting any engagement.
At the time she was an expert on Twitter – she focused a lot of her strategy there (yeah, we are going back!) and so she said she would have a look.
We finally got some time as we were sitting in the gate at the airport, each waiting for our flights home.
I opened up my laptop and we had a look.
She immediately said ‘You’re talking in headlines’.
Huh?
All I was doing was putting my blog titles into my twitter posts, and then expecting people to engage.
If you have seen blog post titles, you know that they don’t look like conversation.
They look like blog titles. Complete with every word having a capital letter.
So it looked like I was just standing on my rooftop, shouting my blog titles at people and then expecting them to have conversation with me.
I couldn’t believe it when she showed me.
We both started laughing, and I felt sooooo dumb.
But i wasn’t dumb, I just didn’t know any better.
I thought by posting my blog post titles that people would click on it, read my wicked blog post and then post and tell me how much they loved it.
That is not the way; it works.
Yes you want them to click your blog post (or whatever call to action you put on your post), but you also want them to engage with you.
You want them to have conversation with you to get to know you, like you and trust you.
And then you want them to take action of course.
All this to say that if you are just posting your blog post titles – or crappy captions – and not seeking engagement with your community, you are probably just shouting from the rooftops too.
So what was I to change? Let’s talk about it.
Social media is a very important part of your online presence.
We work virtually and so a lot of our clients need to build trust before they will work with us.
You have to get really clear on what you are trying to use your social media for – often it’s getting clients, but think about the overarching strategy that you are trying to put into place.
Yes, you need visibility. You want to build your authority and showcase your expertise. You want to grow your audience, You want to get clients.
Doing each of these things requires a slightly different strategy.
If you are trying to do all of them at once, you run the risk of confusing your potential clients.
A confused mind says no.
A clear mind can make the right decision – the decision you want them to make.
That’s a clear call to action, based on the content you are putting out there.
So let’s ditch the random posting and get to purposely creating content that does what we need it to.
A lot of VAs think if they just post daily that their clients will see them and love them.
But random posting, or posting without a strategy, just adds to the noise that we all see out there.
You need to focus on value for your clients to spend the time to reflect on what you are putting out there.
Strategic content is cohesive and reinforces the same message to your clients.
You have probably heard that it takes 4 to 10 marketing touches for a client to trust you enough to work with you.
On social media that goes way higher, simply because of the number of touches we are getting overall.
So you really need to make an impact to be able to make your clients comfortable in initiating conversation with you, or even making the decision that you are the best VA for them.
It’s not about posting a lot – it’s about posting strategically.
Talk about the things that they need help with.
Understanding what they find helpful or inspiring, and providing that for them.
Becoming their expert in what you do – the person, the VA, they will absolutely call when it’s time to get help for their own business.
Every week I talk to a lot of VAs just like you – and you know what they tell me? They tell me that they listen to my podcast, that they follow my social media, that they are in my community – and often they tell me how long they have been doing that too.
And yet when we talk, it’s the first time. Because they have built up that trust with me, or rather I have built it up for them, and then they take the step.
It’s not instant, at least not very often. And the same thing might happen for you.
Strategy outperforms consistency – it is important to plan what you are doing.
Having a strategy saves you time, reduces stress and leads to better results than just posting for the sake of posting.
Like anything I tell you, when you write it down you can see the gaps.
You can see what your stuff looks like.
Look back at your last 10 social media posts on any platform.
What do your people see?
Would you hire you?
Would you follow you?
Of course your strategy needs to contain more than just hire me and follow me!
It doesn’t really matter how often you post as long as your are strategic.
I am hosting a content creation workshop for VAs on Dec 6 and we are going to help VAs just like you create their content strategy – and it doesn’t mean posting 10x a day to Tiktok or making 5 Instagram reels. It is about doing what works for you and making it cohesive and more effective.
‘That starts with knowing who your target market is – your ideal client – and what kind of content the find helpful or interesting or inspiring.
As Mari Smith says, engagement is key.
You can post as little or as much as you like, but if people aren’t responding to it, it’s a waste of time.
Engagement is the key – it’s more important than followers, same with your mailing list size. You can do a lot when your community engages with you.
Engagement builds that trust that you are looking for.
When your clients are going to part with their money they need to know that they can trust you to give them the help they need.
That’s also why it’s important to be authentic online, be you.
We often say it’s social for a reason- and that is the goal, or it should be, as you start to do social media better.
When you approach your social media with the goal of increasing your KLT, then everything you do leads to that goal.
Getting to know you doesn’t need to mean talking about your personal life, either.
I don’t use my FB profile for my business.
I don’t connect with any business people with it. They can connect with me in the places that I am doing business – pages, groups, and other platforms that are specifically used for business like my biz IG or LinkedIn.
And you don’t have to post about your personal life. I often don’t – even though some people tell me they would love to see it.
But you can post about your personality in your business so easily.
Just look at me on this podcast – you know me.
You don’t have to know what my family and I had for dinner last night, or who came to my house, but you know me.
It’s not that interesting anyway LOL but it creates a boundary that can make doing social media comfortable.
Because yes, you have to get to know your clients too.
In the workshop we’ll definitely talk about how to do that.
And we’ll talk about how to focus on engagement.
The thing to remember about your social media is that you are using it to boost visibility for your VA business.
You want people to know who you are, what you do, and who you help.
And when you can communicate that well in your posts, that goes a long way to your clients knowing that you can also communicate well with them in business.
When you are clear about your pricing, and your branding, and the services you offer, and who you help, etc… your messaging becomes clearer everywhere.
I used to tell people I help 6 and 7 figure business coaches with their marketing tasks so they can get more clients.
That’s a pretty clear message. A simple message.
And that was the basis of what I put out there.
You knew if you weren’t a 6 or 7 figure business coach, that my message wasn’t for you.
You knew that if you didn’t need marketing help, that I wasn’t your gal.
And because I was very clear that I helped them so they could get more clients, that was the overarching message – by working with me you can grow your business.
That’s the kind of clarity you need to get also.
If you want to get high paying clients, start talking to them online.
Not in headlines but in real engaging content!
Create a strong social media presence and get your messaging really clear.
It’s easy to do, I can help, of course.
Don’t you want your social media to work better for you? Then you have to put in the effort to figure out how to do that. To create a strategy that works for you.
Like I said, I have my content creation workshop coming up. It’s a full day of hands on work – and you’ll come out with your strategy, because we are going to talk about you and what you need to put out there. We’ll write some content and you can get feedback on it from the group too, so you know you are on the right track.
I’m super excited to help you do this.
Your social media is the window to your business – make sure your clients don’t have to pull back the curtain to see through it.
That’s your job with that – to make sure that they know you can help them, and that they like you enough to take that step!
Focus on them – your clients. Focus on how you can help them. And focus on engaging with them in the places that they are.
It sounds simple because it is. Yes, you need a strategy and a plan, but the main goal is simple.
If you aren’t sure if the workshop is for you – let’s talk about it- send me a DM on Facebook or Instagram or LinkedIn – that’s where I engage with VAs just like you!
If you don’t know your next step, that’s where I come in.
I’m right here. It’s the only reason I’m here at all is to help you become a Ridiculously Good Virtual Assistant.
You can do this. 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.
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.
I have helped hundreds of VAs who are stuck get moving forward. I offer private coaching, and a variety of group and self study training and coaching options that help them get there.
Jump into my workshop, or for ongoing support, join The Virtual Circle today. Membership starts at just $49 per month and you will get the support, training, resources and community that you need for your VA business.
Check it out at yourvamentor.com/TVC and drop me a message if you want to chat about how to join us.
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, my monthly mastermind group The Virtual Circle, my group coaching program 50K Bootcamp, and my self study trainings like my Getting Started program, my monthly email membership The Virtual Toolkit, and more. If you are ready to get my help, let’s connect on a Cut to the Chase call. You can book yours at YourVAMentor.com/chase
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.
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.