You want to work as a Virtual Assistant but don’t know where to find your clients?

There are websites and blogs that list jobs and companies that need a VA. Take a look at “How to Find Work (You’re Good At) as a Virtual Assistant,” where I list some of these sites.

But, let’s say you’ve been applying to these sites and you’re not getting as much work from them as you’d like.

Do you need more?

Maybe you need to look somewhere else.

Maybe something closer to home.

Take a look around you.

Because, you may (and most likely do) already know your first client.

Look at your contacts.

What contacts do I look at?

You know people everywhere!

Look at your:

1. email contact list
2. Facebook friends list
3. Church friends list
4. LinkedIn connections
5. past employer’s connections (both bosses and co-workers)

And, you don’t want to only look at those you KNOW first-hand from these lists. In fact, the ones that may need you more would be those 2nd-connections. They are the ones that are not in your direct circle of friends but are rather ‘friends of friends’. They don’t know you personally so they don’t know you’re looking for clients whereas those that know you personally may already know. Make sense?

Go ahead and download my free guide “How To Exit The 9-5 And Work From Where You Want.” This will talk more about obtaining clients.

Look at your community

Something I often forgot when I was just starting out was that just because I work virtually, doesn’t mean I can’t have clients that are local. Most of my clients came from other states and other countries. However, I should have been thinking locally as well.

There are tons of small business owners and entrepreneurs in your town that could use an assistant but can’t afford someone full time or sitting in their house with them.

That’s where you come in. You can:

• attend the monthly meetings
• be a guest speaker explaining what you do at one of their events
• stop by their business, in person, explaining what you do (more about that in a minute)
• email them
• call them.

Be creative in how you reach these members of your community.

Look at your local:

1. Chamber of Commerce
2. Better Business Bureau
3. Working Spaces for Entrepreneurs (they are becoming more and more popular)
4. Restaurants
5. Small Businesses (dentists, accountants, lawyers, etc.)

Once you recognize all of the possibilities around you, the question might be what do you tell them?

What do you sell them?

What do you do?

I have a very easy and “non-invasive” technique I used when I first started out.

Create a flyer of information and distribute it!

The first obstacle you’ll probably need to overcome is explaining what you do for these contacts and businesses that are not familiar with a V.A.

They have never had a Virtual Assistant.

They don’t realize the benefit that comes with hiring a Virtual Assistant.

And they definitely don’t understand the cost savings vs. benefit that comes from having a Virtual Assistant.

Your job is to show them your value!

How?

By creating a flyer for your services.

Your flyer should:

• be as creative and beautiful as you want.
• match your niche of services, your personal style, and how you want to be perceived.
• be attractive. You can have it professionally created by a graphic designer if you want. Fiverr or Upwork will have designers at all different levels of cost and they are very good. Or, you can use Canva which is a free program for designing anything you want. If you are gifted in design (or are just the ‘do it yourself’ type of person), Canva would be the way to go.
• include your services and be sure to explain how you can be a benefit to the person or the company.
• be about how you help them – not just your past experiences. This is important.
• include a picture (a professional one, if possible) on the flyer. It is always necessary for them to see you and know you’re a real person.

And then distribute it EVERYWHERE!

You can:

1. Send it in an email to your email contact list
2. Post the flyer on Facebook for your friends to see and share
3. Send it in an email to your LinkedIn connections
4. Send it to past employer connections (the good ones ha)
5. Take it, personally, to the local groups in your community
6. Take it, personally, to small businesses and entrepreneurs in your community
7. Post it on business boards
8. Call for mailing addresses of businesses and mail (the old fashioned way) the flyer to them.

Basically, future clients could be all around you.

Ask for referrals from those you talk with.

Everyone knows someone that could use you.

You just have to get out there and let them know you exist.

They can’t find you if they don’t know about you!

Talk Soon!

Stephanie