Welcome to another episode of the podcast that teaches you how to be a ridiculously good virtual assistant.
Today I want to talk about why you are not getting clients to say yes.
Today’s Quote: With confidence, you have won before you have started. – Marcus Garvey
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Connect with Tracey D’Aviero, VA Coach and Trainer
Episode Notes:
Here is something that’s almost always at the root of the biggest struggle new and growing virtual assistants face: you’re not getting hired. A lack of confidence in what you can actually do.
Not because you’re not talented or capable. But because your confidence hasn’t caught up to your potential yet.
There’s a reason this episode is called Confidence First, Clients Second. Because it’s the truth. Your confidence is the foundation and everything else flows from that.
Without confidence, you’re going to hesitate, procrastinate, and undercharge.
You’ll be afraid to promote yourself, unsure how to talk to potential clients, and second-guess every decision you make.
When bad energy shows up in your business, potential clients pick up on it, even if you don’t realize it.
Now, I want to be really clear here. This doesn’t mean that you have to feel 100% confident before you can land your first client. That comes with experience.
But if you’re stuck in a place where you’re doing all the things… posting content, scrolling job boards, applying to RFPs, and nothing is working, the issue probably isn’t strategy. It’s probably you.
It’s hard to move forward when people aren’t banging down your door to hire you. But you have to find a way. I talk to so many VAs who are stuck in this spot.
We have one conversation and they see their potential. I’d love to think it’s me that gives it to them but it’s not! I simply illustrate what they can do, and they see it. It’s the light bulb going off over their head that I love.
Why? Because my business coaches have done the same for me over the years. When I am stuck I get help. Simply.
Drag yourself up and get someone to help you see how great you are. Then remind yourself of that every single day from here on in.
You have to believe in yourself before your clients will. Never lose sight of that!
Confidence is a sneaky thing. We tend to think it’s going to magically appear once someone hires us. Once they say yes!
But that’s actually backwards. Confidence comes first. It’s the prerequisite. Not the reward.
When you walk into a conversation knowing that you can help someone, that you bring value, that your skills are solid, even if you’re still new or figuring things out, that energy changes how you show up. Clients notice. People trust people who trust themselves.
If you’re struggling to get clients right now, I want you to take an honest look at how you’re showing up.
Are you putting your full self out there, or are you hiding behind vague language, low prices, or apologetic energy? Are you talking about what you offer with certainty, or with disclaimers and hesitation?
When I first started out as a VA I thought business was supposed to be hard. I thought you were supposed to struggle to get clients. I thought doing whatever the client needed was my responsibility, because they were paying me. Honestly!
How is that for confident? Not very! When I realized that I had expertise, skills, and that I could get paid only for what I wanted to do, everything changed.
Now I know this might sound harsh, but it’s not meant to be. This is a good thing. Because it means you’re not broken. You’re not behind.
You just have a gap to close, a confidence gap, and once you start working on that intentionally, things really can change faster than you think.
Let’s look at what happens when you flip the script, and put confidence first.
When your mindset shifts into one of belief and certainty, you naturally begin to make different decisions. You start charging what you need to charge instead of what you think people will pay.
You stop saying yes to clients who aren’t a fit. You post content that’s more direct and helpful. You reach out to people without overthinking every word.
Clients respond to that. They’re not just buying your service, they’re buying your energy. Your leadership. Your trust in yourself. If you’re not sold on yourself, it’s a big ask to expect someone else to be.
When I found my people, they 6 and 7 figure business coaches that I supported, getting clients was easy. I belonged in their community. I knew how to help them. I was good at it, and they knew it. Because I demonstrated it, but also because I believed it myself and talked about it.
It makes all the difference when YOU know you are the solution for them.
By getting to know them I nailed my rates, created the perfect packages for them and worked with lots of them, – but only the ones I wanted to work with!
It’s not about pretending to be something you’re not. It’s about seeing yourself clearly. Knowing your strengths, owning your value, and not letting fear make decisions for you.
That’s the version of you that clients want to hire. And yes, you can absolutely build this kind of confidence while you’re still learning and growing.
You may have also heard the expression what you put out there is mirrored back to you. It’s true. How’s your energy?
Confidence is built through action, not just mindset.
So if you’ve been waiting to feel ready before taking big steps in your business, that’s part of the problem.
Readiness is something you create by doing the work, one small step at a time. Every time you do something that feels hard or outside your comfort zone, you’re proving to yourself that you can. And that’s where real confidence comes from. Not from waiting for it, but from building it.
It’s pretty exciting actually. When you stop yo recognize the shift and the progress you are making, you can gain momentum.
Think about where you’ve been playing small lately. Where have you been hesitating? Where are you holding back? What decisions are you avoiding because you’re afraid to get it wrong or afraid of being seen?
I was so nervous to raise my rates. I thought for sure no one would hire me. But I was really struggling with my low rates. I had the support of my business coach to take the step, and when I realized that making a shift in my own mindset would reflect out to my clients and come back to me, it was something I really focused on.
Every interaction, every conversation, every client. Amazing what happens when you truly believe you can help people. And you can!
Who can you help?
With what, specifically?
This is what I work with you to do all the time. Clarity in messaging, brings confidence in everything you do.
Who can I help? VAs like you who are struggling to get clients.
With what? Getting really clear on your messaging, and building your confidence so you connect with the right clients, and helping you create service packages that your clients are desperate to pay you for.
What about you? You have to understand how you help to make that confidence come out. ‘I can help you with that’ should be what you are focusing on saying.
Having confidence doesn’t mean you never doubt yourself. It means you trust yourself enough to keep going anyway.
If you’re waiting for someone to tell you you’re good enough, here I am telling you.
If you’ve been applying for jobs or sending pitches and not hearing back, it’s easy to start questioning everything. But you aren’t kicking skills or experience, just how you think about YOU.
When your energy changes, your results do too. You’ll speak differently. You’ll post differently. You’ll charge differently. You’ll attract different people.
That’s why confidence has to come first. It’s the right order of things.
Imagine if you could lead with confidence for one week. What would change in your behaviour? What would you post for content? How would your conversations go? What would you stop making excuses for, or apologizing for?
Because clients aren’t out there looking for perfection. They’re just looking for someone who can help them get something done, or solve a problem. Someone they can trust. Someone who believes in what they’re offering. That starts with you. Always.
So if you’ve been spinning your wheels, trying to do more, learn more, or be more before you let yourself step fully into the role of business owner. Take a breath.
The next client you land probably won’t be because of the extra thing you added to your website. It’ll be because of the way you showed up in that discovery call. The confidence in your voice. The belief in your offer. The ease in your answers.
Let this be your reminder that confidence isn’t something you earn once you’re successful. It’s something you choose to build before success happens, so that it can happen.
And I want to leave you with this today: the real reason you’re not getting hired yet isn’t that you’re not good enough. It’s that you don’t fully see how good you already are. When you can start to see it, believe it, and act from that place, everything changes.
Clients are secondary. Confidence is the starting line. That’s the shift that turns effort into results.
Believe in you and your clients will too.
Remember that quote we started with: With confidence, you have won before you have started. Approach each conversation you have as that winner! That’s your key.
Do You Need Help?
If you need help finding your confidence I can help. It’s the only reason I’m here at all, is to help you become a ridiculously good Virtual Assistant.
Reach out to me on social media to chat about it.
And if you want to work with me, check out all of the ways you can do that, from free stuff to private coaching options at YourVAMentor.com/links
Thanks for tuning in this week, I’m Tracey D’Aviero The Confidence Coach for VAs – I’ll see you next time!