Hiring a Virtual Assistant (VA) is going to be a really important step in your business growth. Therefore, you need to make sure you’re hiring someone that understands you, your business AND what you want to achieve… and that’s before you’ve even got started on what you want them to do for you! Continue reading “Questions to ask a Virtual Assistant BEFORE you hire them”
Category: Top Tips
Creating a newsletter
A monthly newsletter is a great way to keep in touch with your subscribers. It helps you to build on your authority status, whilst (hopefully!) raising your likeability with them.
Building a monthly newsletter doesn’t have to be time-consuming or difficult. If you have a free opt-in for your website and are currently using an autoresponder/email marketing platform to build your list, then you have all the tools you need. Continue reading “Creating a newsletter”
How to construct a blog – top tips!
When you’ve made a decision to start a blog it can seem like a daunting task. There’s the worry about what to write about, as well as keeping it interesting AND committing to actually write content on a regular basis… and that before you’ve even started to think about how to actually construct a blog! Continue reading “How to construct a blog – top tips!”
Become a VA: Step 7 – Social Media and Your VA Business
For the past 6 weeks, I have shared 6 tips that I hope are helping you to launch, grow and boost your VA business.
Are you putting them into action? Which has been your favourite? Which have you found the easiest or the hardest to apply?
This week I want to talk about ‘How to use social media to boost interest in your VA services’.
Regularly when I ask VAs or Business Owners in general why they are on social media, they tell me its because someone else told them to be on it. A lot of them think Social Media is a waste of time, or they say “I don’t have time to get round to doing it”. But are just doing it for the sake of it.
Well the reality is, if you think about how many people you could get exposed to, online, it’s actually far greater than what you would be able to achieve in terms of the number of people you would meet if you were going to your local networking meeting. As an example, when I look at my 576 LinkedIn connections, I could be connected to over 11,411,482 business connections world wide and that doesn’t take into consideration Twitter or Facebook. The potential is far reaching.
Although I say, you rule social media and social media doesn’t rule you. It is imperative that you are consistent in your approach and have a strategy of what you are trying to achieve with your interaction. I always recommend having a social media strategy and a social media plan, so that you know what you are writing about every week.
There are literally hundreds of social media platforms available but you don’t need a presence on all of them. Think about where your ideal client is and the platforms they are using and then use those platforms.
Facebook
Facebook is an ideal platform for Business to Consumer type businesses – it’s a great way to showcase your expertise, link to helpful articles and build relationships with potential clients. Your posts have great longitivtiy and visual content works well on Facebook. However, it can be a slow process to build your likes and gain traction, so remember this is part of the long game and not a short term social media platform.
Twitter
Twitter is great for Business to Business interactions and Business to Consumer. It can be fast, fun and addictive and a great tool for signposting individuals to your other platforms. You can ask advice, give advice and share articles. Business colleagues of mine, recently described Twitter as “going to the pub and being able to ask the silly questions”.
LinkedIn
Someone new joins LinkedIn every second. It is seen as the number one social media tool for Business. Often regarded as the more formal social media networks, it is used by professionals in all fields. It encompasses the ability to give and receive recommendations. LinkedIn works really well for relationship building. I recently wrote a guest blog for the Virtual Assistant Coaching and Training Company on the subject of 15 steps to creating a professional LinkedIn profile. I also posted a post about why you need a company LinkedIn page which I thoroughly recommend.
So feel free to connect with me on the Social Media Platforms mentioned by clicking on the name of the platform below (it turns into a hyperlink) and if you connect after reading this blog please do tell me:
Have you enjoyed the Blog series? Has it left you thinking that you need more information about setting up as a Virtual Assistant before you make the transition?
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Is this you?…
- Are you a PA who’s a mother, soon to retire or being made redundant and now interested in becoming a Virtual Assistant and yet you are not quite ready to go ahead?
- Have you conducted lots of research yet still not sure if becoming a VA is for you, perhaps you are a little scared of setting up your own VA business or are nervous about taking a leap of faith?
- Is this a venture you are looking to start in a few months’ time yet want to get a full understanding before you are ready to get going?
- Do you need to know the basics first before you fully commit to any full training or business building?
- Do you want someone who is an experienced expert to guide you towards what is essential for you to know, prior to getting started, so that you start on the right footing avoiding the costly mistakes many makes? Hindsight is a wonderful thing!
Join us in London for a Taster Session on Thu 4 Dec at 1330, Premier Inn Meeting Rooms, Euston. To learn more or to book click here.
Become a VA: Step 6 – Become a Networking Success Story
Do you worry about Networking? Even seasoned Business Owners occasionally worry about networking, so don’t worry if you have that feeling of dread right now. But get networking right it can make a massive difference to your positioning in the business market!
Before I share some tips for getting your networking established, here are some of my favourite quotes about networking:
It isn’t just what you know, and it isn’t just who you know. It’s actually who you know, who knows you, and what you do for a living. – Bob Burg
“I’ve learned that people will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel.” – Maya Angelou
Networking – What to Consider
Would you do business with someone you don’t know, or didn’t like or trust? NO! So in turn how can you expect people to do business with you if they don’t know you?
Building relationships with people is important because, not only do you see whether your first judgements were correct, you grow to like, trust and respect that person and want to support them as well as the fact that you want that person to get to know you – so they can support you also. It all goes hand-in-hand doesn’t it?
People do business with those they know, like and trust.
Be clear on who your want to connect with
As part of your networking strategy become clear about the type of contacts you want to connect with.
If you have a niche, start to investigate where your niche do their networking. There could be industry related organisations, which hold events such as exhibitions or conferences. There could be meet-ups around the country. Source them and then attend as a visitor to get a feel for them.
Not Making the Time to Network – Big Mistake!
Working for yourself, time is of the essence, however, sparing the time to go to networking meetings every month will help to put your business on the map, help you develop your presentation skills; build your confidence in presenting your business to prospective clients and in yourself.
Ring-fence the time in your diary and respect your own business – it will only continue to grow if you continue to lay the foundations and grow your connections.
Your clients should respect that you are a business and are a growing one; any client who values their business should understand this. Have updates with your clients and plan ahead with them when you are out of the office, even better, organise your associates to support your clients when you are out for the day.
On a slightly sour note, you need to go networking as what happens if you lose a client and need to fill that space with another; if you haven’t taken the time to network – its much harder to fill that slot.
Networking Online
Networking online should not replace networking in person, although many VAs take on clients having only ever met via social media.
However, there still has been the process of building the trust. Get clear about the outcomes you want to achieve as a result of attending networking meetings over a period of time, perhaps work over a three month period at a time and ensure that online networking forms part of your strategy.
What Do You DO? – Get Clear About What You’re Offering!
I don’t think I know a single VA who has not been stumped by this question as some point in their networking. When promoting your expertise at a networking meeting you need to be clear about the benefits of using your VA services not the features so that you are answering the question “What’s in it for me?”.
When at a networking event and someone asks you what you do, be careful that you are not going into sales mode with them and start telling them what they could need…what they want to know is, who you work with, what services you provide and how your clients benefit from all of this.
Follow Up and One to Ones
The key to any good networking is in the follow up and in getting to know each of the other person in more in-depth. If someone has shown an interest, offered you a referral or you have offered to send them a piece of information, make sure you follow up. Otherwise it doesn’t create the best impression and you could end up losing business to another VA.
You can also follow up with them by connecting and conversing via social media. The more the two of you understand about one another’s businesses, the more likely the trust builds and referrals are generated.
You might also like to read my 3 Tips for Successful Business Networking blog.
Next week, we will start to look at Social Media and how you can use it in your VA business.
Amanda Johnson of Your Executive Secretary Limited is a licensed Trainer of the VACT. If you would like to book yourself on the next Taster Session in your area then please click here or if you would like to book a free 30 minute breakthrough call then click here.
