Like any income-generating activity, the virtual assistant profession requires to make its skills profitable. To live comfortably and perpetuate its business, it is necessary to know how to sell and sell itself. The freelancer must know how to find his first clients.
However, when you are just starting out and have no experience or address book, it can be difficult to get by. And this is understandable.
In this article we will look at 5 practical tips to enable any virtual assistant to get their first clients quickly and to keep the referrals coming.
What to do before you start
First of all, understanding that the virtual assistant market is competitive is an advantage. This allows you to get ahead by specialising in specific niches.
Before starting out in the business, it is important to bear in mind that you are No Name. And the best way to get noticed is to be different.
Next, make a list of services you are good at that companies are looking for. Knowing your skills is useful for collecting targeted leads. It is not necessary to have any kind of certification or degree, the most important thing is the knowledge and experience that goes with it.
Finally, it is a good idea to examine your market, as this is crucial for knowing the rules of the game and the usual formalities.
Knowing the wages in your chosen field will enable you to offer your services at a coherent rate.
Now that we know the basics before starting to find clients, let’s see how a virtual assistant can do it in practice.
5 tips for finding your first clients
The above tips are not standard, but should be adjusted to your own context and professional situation. For more efficiency, regularity and taking action are the key words.
1) Registering on freelance platforms
This is the easiest solution when approaching your first clients. Freelance platforms put companies and freelancers in direct contact.
They can help you to find easily and quickly because they are marketplaces and the rates are more or less affordable in terms of labour, hence the influx of companies. There are many such as Nyamga which is an excellent platform for finding assignments.
2) Work on your visibility
This consists of creating a connection with your audience. To have visibility, you need to create a website that will serve as a showcase for your services. This will attract the target audience if it is well optimised, and writing articles and webinars will demonstrate your expertise and show that you exist.
Social networks are also a good way to show your added value, posting daily will build a community that will see credibility in the content.
3) Paying for advertising to make yourself known
Advertising is an important marketing strategy to get known. It produces sales quickly if the campaign is captivating and leads to a purchase by prospects.
A beginner virtual assistant will not hesitate to inject some money in this lever to find his first customers:
- Facebook ads
- Google ads
4) Highlighting customer recommendations
That’s it! In marketing, showing the results of your work with satisfied customers is a social proof. In marketing, showing the results of your work with satisfied customers is social proof. The recommendations you get will lead to other customers in need to use your services.
5) Participate in networking events
Participating in networking events, going to business fairs or any other friendly moment will allow you to meet good entrepreneurs!
Always have your business card ready to be drawn.
Word of mouth really does work, and using it can bring in clients.
Encourage your contacts to talk about you and recommend your services.
Starting a conversation, no matter how small, and getting noticed as a digital assistant looking for opportunities is a good thing.
By Nyamga
This Post Has One Comment