As a service provider, online marketing is a necessary part of your Virtual Assistant business.
Without it, you risk running out of clients and will lack the ability to grow your business. Unfortunately, many business owners are so busy providing their services that they overlook this crucial step.
While it’s understandable that it’s difficult to put the time in to market your business when you’re already so busy, it’s important to keep in mind that it’s that marketing that will help you stay in business.
Here are a few tips to help you easily and effectively market your skills online:
1. Join a related forum or discussion board – If you offer a service of use to online business professionals, a good first step is to join a marketing discussion forum. You can start slowly and make contributions to the group where you feel appropriate. This will help you get your name out there, and other business owners will see your website link and potentially click over to learn more about your services.
Joining a marketing forum as an online service provider puts your business directly in front of many potential clients. Always remember to follow the forum guidelines and basic rules of etiquette when joining any discussion. First impressions do count, so keep in mind that while on the forum you are always representing your business – make it work for you.
2. Join a networking group– Networking with others in your field is important. Not only does it allow you the opportunity to bounce ideas back and forth between people in your industry, but it can also be a great source of friendship and support.
Networking groups also help you in other ways. If a fellow VA is too busy to take on extra work, she or he may pass the referral on to you. Likewise, you may be able to return the favor in the future. A good networking group is a fantastic way to get support, advice and even more business.
3. Become an expert – People trust and like experts. And as a Virtual Assistant you can become the “go to” expert in your industry. An easy way to do this is to write related articles for business owners to read. List them on your website, be a guest blogger and also submit them to the article directories online.
You can create an educational area on your VA website. This area can provide tips and articles related to your services. By conducting yourself as an expert in your industry, you let others know that you are knowledgeable in your field. If a potential client then visits your website and reads through your content, they are more likely to contact you for support.
Marketing your skills online is important. It is potentially the lifeblood of your business. And although your schedule may be busy, try to pencil in a little time each day for this important task. This simple step can make all the difference to the success of your virtual assistant business.
I find success in establishing myself as a expert by using social media to further market my services. I regularly offer my knowledge through Twitter, Linkedin and my Facebook page.
This is an excellent way to establish yourself as an expert by marketing through the social media realm. Once you get known as an expert in your service field on Twitter for example, you’ll receive more followers which opens you up to more opportunities to find new clients
I not only join networking groups around my trade industry but also join many networks within my clients industries. One of my clients was a musician and I joined a forum that many musicians frequent. I started answering questions surrounding business there and soon enough I had picked up a few clients who had read my posts and contacted me privately.
This has led to many word of mouth referrals within that network for me.
Good marketing strategy to join networking groups and forums that potential clients are hanging out in.
Word of mouth from previous clients has always given me the best clients.
Word of mouth referrals from your clients are the best ones to get. Especially clients you love working for because chances are that their friends are fun to work for too taking into consideration the law of attraction 😉
Being found in the search engines for my keywords is a large source of the traffic to my website. I recommend hiring a skilled SEO provider to organically optimize your website for some keyword phrases that potential clients will be searching for. I know it costs a bit of money in the beginning to do this but once you are ranked you usually stay up near the top. I have tried Google Adwords with not much luck as the term “Virtual Assistant” is highly competitive and costs some money to rank high for. Saying that, I’ve had good luck with Facebook Ads.
I agree totally about hiring a SEO expert. Most of my traffic comes from the search engines although quality isn’t as good as word of mouth. Good to know about your success with Facebook ads.