3 Things to Do Right Now to Get Your First Clients

So you’ve decided to become a Virtual Assistant? Congratulations!

You have your business name ready. Maybe you are already working on your prices and packages.

What next?

Find your first PAYING CLIENTS to kick-start your VA business.

How do you do that? Well, that’s what you are here for!

By the end of this blog, you will have a plan of action in place to get started.

This blog is designed to help you with the three things that are the backbone for success in finding your first clients as a virtual assistant.

Landing your first few clients depends mainly on identifying your dream client & researching where they hang out online. Grab a pen and paper and let’s dive right in. Ready?

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1. Crafting your ideal client

What is an ideal client?

They are a representation of your dream client for your business. They align with your values and purpose as a service provider.

They will eagerly refer you to their friends who might need your services. Your ideal client outlines the characteristics of that perfect-for-you person.

It may include everything, including demographic data, problems they are currently experiencing, and what they’re Googling concerning your offering.

Before we go into how to identify your ideal client, let’s see why this is a crucial step that you must take.

• Understanding your dream clients and researching their needs will ensure you see real growth in your virtual assistant business. I promise it will make you show up for your business with a lot more ease and enthuse.

• Connecting with your dream clients is the most important factor that will help you feel passionate about your business.

• Using this lens of when to say yes and when to say no to other clients will allow you to build

  a steady income with your ideal tribe.

• Often overlooked, the real reason to have clarity on your ideal client is to connect with your dream client by focusing on their needs and pain points.

Now, getting into the how-to of identifying your ideal client involves asking yourself a couple of questions and answering them in as much detail as you can.

Start jotting down whatever comes to your mind when thinking about answers to these questions.

Q1. What type of business do they own?

Q2. How long have they been in business?

Q3. What is their day-to-day like?

Q4. Why do they want to hire a virtual assistant?

Q5. Are they hands-on in their business or do they have a team that they trust?

Q6. Do they have a long-term vision for their company?

Q7. What are their goals?

Q8. What are their fears?

Q9. Where do they spend their time?

Q10. Are they a part of any communities?

Myth buster:

Fixating on your target audience and producing content exclusively for them will NOT make you lose clients. In fact, and from my personal experience, deciding who I want to work with and who I am a good fit for has only increased my revenue.

Click this link - Sophisticated Sell to read how Anthropologie, a women’s clothing and home-furnishings chain uses the ideal client manifestation to get clarity on who their ideal customers are.

2. Put yourself out there

The beauty of the internet is that you can find out where your ideal clients are hanging out online while also learning about the problems they are dealing with.

The KEY is to network.

Networking is the best bet to grow your business, build your brand, and spread your message. The best clientele comes from this long-term strategy. Networking is all about meeting people and establishing a connection. It explains why the majority of my leads are referrals! The key here is to make sure as a VA you get the results that the client wants so that they recommend you to their business network. Where can you network, then?

Local events

Your ideal client might be at one of the many local events.

Facebook

Search on Facebook: Local business Facebook Groups are common in most major cities.

You can connect with hundreds of potential customers using Facebook groups! I advise you to begin by joining at least five groups. Make sure that some of these are targeted at your ideal client. Some of these may be more general, like entrepreneur groups. If your ideal client runs a page or a group, you want to participate in those discussions, too. So if your client is an active Facebook or you want to be where they are, you want to be interacting with the people within their groups and you want to be trying to catch their eye.

LinkedIn

Getting involved in LinkedIn nowadays is a must. It's the fastest growing platform for a lot of different groups of people, including freelancers, millennials, and entrepreneurs. Business-centric clients tend to use LinkedIn. You can find CEOs, founders, startups, and even coaches like life coaches or business coaches.

Twitter

Twitter is a really fun platform. However, Twitter is a challenge, that's because the

the average tweet has a life expectancy of an hour. So you need to post super regularly to be noticed. Having said that, photographs, GIFs even the right hashtag on Twitter can be a game-changer. That's because Twitter makes everybody so accessible. So although tweets have a small or short lifespan, you can tweet directly to CEOs, celebrities, influencers, and brands, and more often than not, they respond. And the key to building a quality Twitter experience, however, is engagement. Rather than posting and posting, that is if you were to tweet something informative or tweet something about your services and then leave the platform, i.e. not interact with your ideal client, not tweet at them, not interact with other people who are also virtual assistants or people who are also working in the same area that you want to break into. You're missing out on a golden opportunity.

Instagram

You're probably familiar with Instagram. It's a great visual medium, it's also a great way to connect with clients who are direct-to-consumer types. If your ideal client is selling something online and they don't have a physical store, they're very

likely selling through Instagram.

Others

Now, there are other networks that I haven't mentioned yet, like Tik Tok or Quora.

If you do some searches on these platforms, you will be surprised to see how many therapists, wealth managers, and health care workers are on the platform and sharing their expertise.

Leaders are finding interesting ways to share their expertise visually and talk is no exception. So don't be afraid to get on the platform yourself and do some searching for the keywords of people

that you want to reach.

For more specific places to find and engage with ideal client leads check out my Build Your Virtual Assistant Business Bootcamp

3. Build relationships with potential VA clients

To completely grasp how powerful this concept is, consider the following.

How would you feel if your health plan were modified and you had to find a new doctor, or (worse even) if your hairdresser relocated, or your dentist retired?

You’d be lost.

Relationships guarantee success in anything that you do.

As a Virtual Assistant, you are serving people. You are serving businesses that people run.

Real people.

People like you.

People like me.

You’ll make much more money for yourself and your clients if you think of yourself serving your friends.

Every email you write should come across as a note from a friend to a friend. In some cases, the relationship is more professional than personal. In other cases, it’s more of an interpersonal mentorship. No matter how you see it, your communication forms the foundation of a continuing relationship.

Why is it so important?

To tell you the truth, it’s selling 101.

People like to buy and deal with people they know and trust.

Don’t you?

That’s why a business is often created through relationships. What you may not realize is that each individual you reach out to has a real need to connect with someone. That’s why you must always connect with the relationship in mind and have a vision for what your customer is thinking and wants from this relationship. That way you’ll be able to get on both sides of your potential client’s mind and build a deeper and stronger bond.

The stronger the relationship, the stronger the results.