I recommend a local networking group like BNI (Business Network International). I've been a member about 15 years and get about half of my business directly or indirectly through BNI.
Make sure you have a good looking website. If you can afford SEO, hire a good one. My blog has some ideas on how to choose a good one. https://goo.gl/xXQYjc
Make sure you have a business page at Facebook, Google My Business, Yahoo & Bing and that your NAP (name, address & phone) are consistent across all of them. Get citations across as many sites as you can ... for a good list to work from run a free scan for yourself at https://goo.gl/kvvQLn
Finally, ask delighted clients to review you at Facebook, Google My Business, Yelp, etc.
I started my virtual assistant company two years ago and especially in the first year, 90% of our business was coming from in-person networking. I joined a business networking organization called BNI (worldwide organization) and was spending 3-4 hours per week focused on getting to know business owners in my area. I attended the main BNI meeting every Wednesday and set up one-to-one meetings with at least one member of the group each week (usually two or three one-to-ones per week early on). My goal with these meetings was always to learn about their business and see how I could send referrals to them. The philosophy of BNI is "givers gain", and it truly did work for my business.
Virtual assistant services are needed at some point by nearly any business, so the key is just making people aware of your services and doing everything you can to be helpful. They will remember that when they need some admin help.
Also, someone else already said this, but having a good presence online is critical. Even those that are interested in working with you after they met you in-person are likely going to look at your website or social media. Make sure they can find information about your services and see that you are active on social media. Make sure it is easy for people to contact you. I placed a button on my website to "Schedule a Free Consultation" and linked it directly to my calendar/scheduler making it super easy for people to set up a call with me to learn more about our services. At first I'd have maybe one call every few weeks, then one call per week and now we are scheduling 5-8 calls per week.
Heading into our third year of business, we are just now regularly receiving leads and new business opportunities via Google searches or click throughs from Facebook. Generating leads online takes longer and I think only comes after you have enough people recommending you to others.
On that same note, ask current and past customers to write reviews for you on Facebook, Yelp, and Google. Put testimonials on your website as well.
Speaking of Google, one easy thing you can do to help is to create a Google My Business account. I just learned about this in June and when I set up my page, I immediately saw more traffic to my website. You can set up your free account here: https://www.google.com/business/
If you have any questions, I'm happy to help. Feel free to email me at [email address] and learn more about our growing VA company at trustyoak.com.
I encourage you to have your customers do reviews for your services on both your personal LinkedIn page and your company's Facebook page. And if you can persuade your existing clients to record a video about their experience of working with you then you can also post that testimonial on your company's website. And you can ask your existing clients who are pleased with your services for referrals. If I can be of further assistance, please contact me at [email address].
John O'Neil - Integrity Technical Services, Inc. & Froggerjobs.com
I have been a technical recruiter and business owner for the past 30 years and my advise to you is to Network with everyone and anyone. Promoting yourself and your business is a 'Full-Time JOB". Utilize social media! Join the Chamber of Commerce and the Society for Human Resources Management (SHRM) and other business organizations that promote and support businesses. Most organizations hold monthly meetings and you need to attend as many as your schedule allows. Also, many of these are looking for speakers; a sure fire way to drum up some business leads. However you choose to promote yourself, you have to stand out in a crowd and have something to offer that has value. A "can do" attitude goes a long way! When the opportunity presents itself to promote what you do, take advantage of it. Best of luck and let us all know how you are doing going forward.
John O'Neil - VP
Integrity Technical Services, Inc. a Professional Staffing Firm for Engineers, Engineering Support & IT personnel
Where's the best location for a restaurant? Go where the hungry people are!
As someone who uses (amazing!) virtual assistants, I highly recommend joining online groups (Facebook, LinkedIn, etc) where the people you want to serve hang out ... especially Digital Entrepreneurs.
Paula Washington's comment was spot-on: Niche down. What's your specialty? Cater to those people.
People don't necessarily want to work with a "virtual assistant" but they would love to work with someone who's a Virtual Social Media Specialist, Virtual Data Management Specialist, etc. Plus, you'll have the benefit of commanding higher prices as a specialist vs. being a generalist.
Hi Lorraine, I am also a Virtual Assistant/Online Business Manager and am just starting out myself. After many years as a manager in the corporate world, I want to leverage that knowledge and work for myself. It is tough finding clients though... especially the first ones. I haven't had much luck with Upwork (although some here indicate they have so maybe will go back and look at that). I am networking and volunteering to get my name and face out there. I look at part-time job postings too but as most say, most of their business is through referrals.... which are hard to get until you get some clients under your belt :-) I am also going to check out some of the VA sites listed in the answers. I am in the process of closing a deal with my first 'real' client which is very exciting ....my advice is to just keep on keeping on. Get out there with a smile on your face and things will come.
Although I am on social media and have a website, my clients come from face to face meetings and word of mouth. Every person with whom you come in contact is a potential client. Be positive, kind, compassionate and caring in all your dealings and you will be given opportunities to talk about your business and yourself. People are attracted to positive, caring, compassionate and kind people.
Networking is better than advertising, but only if it is done the right way. Find your target market for referrals, collect members of that market and only keep them if they allow you to share who they are, what they do and what makes the best referrals for them. Once received, they will allow you to do the same.
During this sharing, an offer of thanks can be given, as an example, free virtual assistant services for a week or two, just to say thank you for the conversation.
Then, you can teach them how best to deal with referrals, like you do by finding them through business conversations, telling the referral that you have permission from someone that they should talk to, and you are able to provide theur name and number right now if they are willing to share their contact information immediately with you, so you can pass it along.
Then, once they agree, thank them and say, "Well I guess it is a contest now as to who will contact who first!" This is a, "Call to Action," and it usually works very well in getting the two parties together quickly.
It is all about giving with no thought to receiving. being grateful and working hard at it all.
Of course referrals are always the best way, but I use anything and everything I can find as well. I write articles on my business Facebook page, which links to Twitter and my personal Facebook page. I use Craig's List, and it gets an occasional qualified prospect. Network, network, network. And make sure your website is SEO optimized, so local searches show you on the first page. Good luck!
You have an open heart to learning. That's the first step. I've been in business for about three years and I've found that letting your community understand what you are doing by volunteering at church events to talk about your skills or other places where your services can be referred out by others. And don't forget"branding". For instance what can you do for small businesses like mine or the others that has responded to you. Many of us have been where you are and some of us are still trying to get in the right door although many doors have opened up for us.
Keep at it, I am! Lula Bridges Innovative Sobriety Solutions
Join Your Local
Business Network
Connect & get quality referrals
from Small Business Owners
Answers (1-10)
Concrete steps:
I recommend a local networking group like BNI (Business Network International). I've been a member about 15 years and get about half of my business directly or indirectly through BNI.
Make sure you have a good looking website. If you can afford SEO, hire a good one. My blog has some ideas on how to choose a good one. https://goo.gl/xXQYjc
Make sure you have a business page at Facebook, Google My Business, Yahoo & Bing and that your NAP (name, address & phone) are consistent across all of them. Get citations across as many sites as you can ... for a good list to work from run a free scan for yourself at https://goo.gl/kvvQLn
Finally, ask delighted clients to review you at Facebook, Google My Business, Yelp, etc.
I started my virtual assistant company two years ago and especially in the first year, 90% of our business was coming from in-person networking. I joined a business networking organization called BNI (worldwide organization) and was spending 3-4 hours per week focused on getting to know business owners in my area. I attended the main BNI meeting every Wednesday and set up one-to-one meetings with at least one member of the group each week (usually two or three one-to-ones per week early on). My goal with these meetings was always to learn about their business and see how I could send referrals to them. The philosophy of BNI is "givers gain", and it truly did work for my business.
Virtual assistant services are needed at some point by nearly any business, so the key is just making people aware of your services and doing everything you can to be helpful. They will remember that when they need some admin help.
Also, someone else already said this, but having a good presence online is critical. Even those that are interested in working with you after they met you in-person are likely going to look at your website or social media. Make sure they can find information about your services and see that you are active on social media. Make sure it is easy for people to contact you. I placed a button on my website to "Schedule a Free Consultation" and linked it directly to my calendar/scheduler making it super easy for people to set up a call with me to learn more about our services. At first I'd have maybe one call every few weeks, then one call per week and now we are scheduling 5-8 calls per week.
Heading into our third year of business, we are just now regularly receiving leads and new business opportunities via Google searches or click throughs from Facebook. Generating leads online takes longer and I think only comes after you have enough people recommending you to others.
On that same note, ask current and past customers to write reviews for you on Facebook, Yelp, and Google. Put testimonials on your website as well.
Speaking of Google, one easy thing you can do to help is to create a Google My Business account. I just learned about this in June and when I set up my page, I immediately saw more traffic to my website. You can set up your free account here: https://www.google.com/business/
If you have any questions, I'm happy to help. Feel free to email me at [email address] and learn more about our growing VA company at trustyoak.com.
I encourage you to have your customers do reviews for your services on both your personal LinkedIn page and your company's Facebook page. And if you can persuade your existing clients to record a video about their experience of working with you then you can also post that testimonial on your company's website. And you can ask your existing clients who are pleased with your services for referrals. If I can be of further assistance, please contact me at [email address].
John O'Neil - Integrity Technical Services, Inc. & Froggerjobs.com
I have been a technical recruiter and business owner for the past 30 years and my advise to you is to Network with everyone and anyone. Promoting yourself and your business is a 'Full-Time JOB". Utilize social media! Join the Chamber of Commerce and the Society for Human Resources Management (SHRM) and other business organizations that promote and support businesses. Most organizations hold monthly meetings and you need to attend as many as your schedule allows. Also, many of these are looking for speakers; a sure fire way to drum up some business leads. However you choose to promote yourself, you have to stand out in a crowd and have something to offer that has value. A "can do" attitude goes a long way! When the opportunity presents itself to promote what you do, take advantage of it. Best of luck and let us all know how you are doing going forward.
John O'Neil - VP
Integrity Technical Services, Inc. a Professional Staffing Firm for Engineers, Engineering Support & IT personnel
&
John O'Neil - President / CEO
Froggerjobs.com, a National Jobs Board
Hey Lorraine,
Where's the best location for a restaurant? Go where the hungry people are!
As someone who uses (amazing!) virtual assistants, I highly recommend joining online groups (Facebook, LinkedIn, etc) where the people you want to serve hang out ... especially Digital Entrepreneurs.
Paula Washington's comment was spot-on: Niche down. What's your specialty? Cater to those people.
People don't necessarily want to work with a "virtual assistant" but they would love to work with someone who's a Virtual Social Media Specialist, Virtual Data Management Specialist, etc. Plus, you'll have the benefit of commanding higher prices as a specialist vs. being a generalist.
Hope that helps!
Hi Lorraine, I am also a Virtual Assistant/Online Business Manager and am just starting out myself. After many years as a manager in the corporate world, I want to leverage that knowledge and work for myself. It is tough finding clients though... especially the first ones. I haven't had much luck with Upwork (although some here indicate they have so maybe will go back and look at that). I am networking and volunteering to get my name and face out there. I look at part-time job postings too but as most say, most of their business is through referrals.... which are hard to get until you get some clients under your belt :-) I am also going to check out some of the VA sites listed in the answers. I am in the process of closing a deal with my first 'real' client which is very exciting ....my advice is to just keep on keeping on. Get out there with a smile on your face and things will come.
Although I am on social media and have a website, my clients come from face to face meetings and word of mouth. Every person with whom you come in contact is a potential client. Be positive, kind, compassionate and caring in all your dealings and you will be given opportunities to talk about your business and yourself. People are attracted to positive, caring, compassionate and kind people.
Networking is better than advertising, but only if it is done the right way. Find your target market for referrals, collect members of that market and only keep them if they allow you to share who they are, what they do and what makes the best referrals for them. Once received, they will allow you to do the same.
During this sharing, an offer of thanks can be given, as an example, free virtual assistant services for a week or two, just to say thank you for the conversation.
Then, you can teach them how best to deal with referrals, like you do by finding them through business conversations, telling the referral that you have permission from someone that they should talk to, and you are able to provide theur name and number right now if they are willing to share their contact information immediately with you, so you can pass it along.
Then, once they agree, thank them and say, "Well I guess it is a contest now as to who will contact who first!" This is a, "Call to Action," and it usually works very well in getting the two parties together quickly.
It is all about giving with no thought to receiving. being grateful and working hard at it all.
Of course referrals are always the best way, but I use anything and everything I can find as well. I write articles on my business Facebook page, which links to Twitter and my personal Facebook page. I use Craig's List, and it gets an occasional qualified prospect. Network, network, network. And make sure your website is SEO optimized, so local searches show you on the first page. Good luck!
You have an open heart to learning. That's the first step. I've been in business for about three years and I've found that letting your community understand what you are doing by volunteering at church events to talk about your skills or other places where your services can be referred out by others. And don't forget"branding". For instance what can you do for small businesses like mine or the others that has responded to you. Many of us have been where you are and some of us are still trying to get in the right door although many doors have opened up for us.
Keep at it, I am! Lula Bridges Innovative Sobriety Solutions