We get great questions from new and practicing Virtual Assistants all the time. I just read and responded to this one on our Facebook group page. If you have a Facebook profile you can join us here and here. Just type “Your Virtual Assistant” or “Denise Griffitts – Virtual Assistance Industry Expert in the search box. This particular question was posted by Natascha on the group wall and I thought it needed to be shared here:
Now, I am not asking you to part with any of your closely guarded professional secrets here, but I would like to know:
‘What are your best sources of clients/business?’
-This could include your preferred methods of advertising, online, otherwise, networking etc etc the list goes on.
- This is intended to help myself and others in this group
Thanks,
Natascha
I wrote:
Hi Natascha,
Both my Virtual Assistance practice and my Web Development company makes very effective use of social media marketing such as Facebook, LinkedIn and Twitter. But the most effective way to find, and retain high quality clients is to build a very solid reputation as a highly competent and extremely dependable Virtual Assistant, Web Developer (insert description here) and create a “fan base” who will consistently refer your services to friends and colleagues. Both of my businesses are 100 percent referral based at this point and that is absolutely the best position to be in.
I hope this helps!
BTW, you are invited to join our FREE Virtual Assistance Community at http://virtualassistanceindustry.ning.com/
You can build your professional profile, upload images, videos, your blog, join and start groups and network with other online professionals. Hope to see you there!
Denise Griffitts
So my question is to my readers, do you have business building tips and advice to share? I would love to hear them!
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Denise Griffitts, "Your Partner In Success", is a Virtual Assistance Industry Expert, Web Developer and Social Media Marketing Professional who leads a large team of internet savvy professionals. We become your strategic partner and work with you to build and grow your online presence.
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Hi Denise,
I agree that building a solid reputation is important, but I’m curious about what you found to be the best methods of finding clients when you were just starting out?
Denise, nice post. Joining you on Facebook.
Some established virtual assistants sub contract it to make their life easier. Google Adwords is the good source of finding new client.
Amanda
Virtual Assistant
HI Jackie — As a long time Web Developer I was in the great position of already having a warm market for clients. I actually began my Virtual Assistance practice as a way to add value and additional services to my web development company. It was a natural fit and my client base evolved from work that I was already doing both for myself and for my clients. I also embarked on some very serious networking on Facebook which was tremendously helpful to me. In fact, all clients that came from outside of my web development company came from either Facebook or LinkedIn and I will tell you that 98 percent of them came from Facebook.
Amanda made a great point in her comment on this post about contracting to practicing Virtual Assistants. It is an excellent way to begin getting some work while you are building your skill and confidence levels. Once you have built a solid relationship with another high-level VA they will likely be very happy to refer work to you that they either have no interest in, or that better matches your skills.
Hope this helps and have a great day!
Denise Griffitts
Thanks for the insights Denise!
Jackie
Very informative! This would really help new and aspiring virtual assistants find some clients.