The biggest wish of most VAs I come into contact with is to have more clients … better clients … great clients.
But many times they are not doing anything to find those clients.
Look at your client list. Do you love everyone you work with?
Are there people you ‘watch’ online that you wish you could work with?
I know there are people that I would love to work with … so how do you stand out?
Be special. Get specialized. Get known for what you do best.
Think about those clients for a moment. They know what they need help or support with. In many cases, they are looking for that help when they are networking, whether it’s online or in person.
If people don’t know what you specialize in, how is your name supposed to get brought up to those who need you most?
It’s so important to stand out in the sea of online support professionals – even if you specialize in general support.
So how do you do that? Well, there are a few ways.
1. Focus your marketing message. Be really clear on what it is you put out there. Talking about everything you know how to do is confusing and will water down your overall message. Be specific when you talk about your area of expertise and it will be much clearer to the people who are listening.
2. Speak with the right people. Getting in touch with the right people is such a huge part of your hurdle in finding great clients. Research where they hang out in large groups, and go there. Connect with them. Get to know them. Make sure you are listening and asking questions to learn more about what they need. Always.
3. Find others who can help. Strategic partners can be the best way to really build your business. A strategic partner is someone who serves the same market as you, but doesn’t provide the same service as you. Looking for someone who can help you (and who you can help in return) is not only a good business practice, it’s really fun too! Referrals will always be the best way to build your business.
4. Get really good at your specialty. Need extra training? Get it. Need better procedures? Set them up. Master a step by step process to implement your specialty, so you can support the maximum number of clients easily. Make sure when you build your business that you have the right foundation in place!
Being special … and specialized … helps you to clearly convey your services to the people who will be your clients, or who will happily refer you to people who will be your clients.
So, what’s your specialty? and who knows about it?