No matter how established your VA business is, you’ll always need new clients. If you’re a new VA business, you’re looking to find clients for your VA business to get those first clients on your books. Established VA businesses also need new clients too, to keep their books full and to utilise any Associates they may have.
But knowing where to find new clients for your VA business can be confusing, especially if you’re new or have relied on one marketing method for any length of time. It’s easy to get stuck in the mindset that you don’t need to market, as your clients are always referring you, or your existing avenue is sufficient for your needs.
Because marketing avenues and platforms can change. What was working for you, may no longer work. Clients may not want others to know they’re utilising the services of a VA or they may not want to share you!
Therefore, you should never get complacent about the need to market your own business. If you’re looking to find clients for your VA business, here’s 10 places you can utilise.
#1: Ask existing clients for referrals
If you have existing clients, let them know you’re looking for new clients. Get them to help spread the word and recommend you to their network. No only is it a great way to get new clients, word of mouth is a trusted way for businesses to share valuable resources with others – meaning it’s highly respected too.
#2: Find clients for your VA business by following up on past quotes and enquiries
How many quotes and enquiries have you dealt with, in the past month, that didn’t immediately turn into a paid client? How about the past three months? Just because they didn’t go ahead at that time, doesn’t mean they’re not interested now. Situations change, circumstances improve, so follow up on those past quotes and enquiries. If you want to find clients for your VA business, always be actively following up on past quotes and enquiries. You’ll be amazed at how many business owners neglect to follow up on previous quotes and enquiries – potentially leaving a lot of money on the table.
#3: Get in touch with past clients
It’s the same with past clients. Clients leave for any number of reasons and, most of them have nothing to do with the service you provided. If a client was happy with your service in the past, it’s safe to assume they will again in the future. Get in touch and see if there’s anything you can help them with now.
#4: Find clients for your VA business with offline networking
Contrary to the rumours, offline networking is far from dead! Many business owners still consider face-to-face interaction to be the preferred way of doing business. So, make it a point to attend a regular networking event near you, you never know where it will lead and who it will enable you to interact with.
(Okay this is a little weird for the moment as that offline networking is currently taking place virtually – however, Virtual Assistants are still getting clients from this method of networking so DO IT! In fairness, the fact that this offline networking meetings are happening virtually opens more options for you to network. Some organisations have taken their offline networking online and removed the fee for now – so get out there and get talking to people!)
#5: LinkedIn
LinkedIn is one of the top business-to-business online networking platforms available to us. If you’re looking to find new clients, make sure your LinkedIn profile is up-to-date and that you’re actively marketing yourself to other businesses on there. How? By posting valuable content, engaging with new contacts and reaching out to those connections you already have. Let me ask you, when did you last update your profile? Be that the profile image, the headline, the description of what you do. So often, I have a conversation with a VA and they say – oh but that’s not what I want to do now or who I want to work with. To me, LinkedIn is the low hanging fruit – it’s the easy option for being visible and actually all it costs is your time to update your profile and be active on the platform.
Not sure how to update your profile – I suggest you have a look at https://topdogsocialmedia.com/linkedin/ – and have a read of her blogs over a cup of coffee and see what snippets you can pick up – her stance is more measured that some of the other LinkedIn trainers – and she is one of my favourites. This is the one blog that I read each week / month etc to stay ahead of the game with respect to LinkedIn.
#6: Twitter
A popular social media platform, Twitter can be a valuable tool in your getting clients arsenal. It not only gives you the opportunity to connect with other business owners, it also enables you to actively search for potential clients. Not only can you search for your ideal client by location and niche, you can also search for questions to answer, as well as for those actively asking for VA referrals.
#7: Industry conferences and shows
Another offline opportunity, industry conferences and shows are a great way to make connections and grow your network. In some instances, you may want to have your own stall at a trade show and actively seek out new clients. For others, you may prefer to build your network and ask for referrals etc.
#8: Participate in Facebook groups
If you’re looking to get new clients from Facebook groups, you need to be very careful with your strategy. Going in only to promote yourself, will get you nowhere and is often against the rules of the group. You need to look at groups as a way to build relationships with the other members. They’re about helping others and offering help and advice, whilst raising your visibility. If you go in cold with a ‘here’s what I sell’ mentality – you’re going to get the cold shoulder. I suggest you choose 2 or 3 groups and get yourself known for the right reasons, after 3 or 6 months review and if all you get is crickets – move on!
#9: Partner up with another (VA) business
Partnering up with another business is a great way for both businesses to build their client lists. It helps you both offer additional value to your clients, whilst putting you in front of a bigger audience. Added to this, people are more likely to trust a business that’s been personally referred to them.
#10: Your own email list
If you’re not actively building your own email list, you’re missing a trick. It’s a great way to find new clients for your VA business! Your own mailing list gives you a shortlist of people who have already raised their hand to show interest in you and your business. If you take time to build a relationship with those people, you’ll not only stay visible to them, you’ll also be at the front of their mind when they are ready to hire a VA. Here’s a blog that we wrote in 2020 about 5 reasons why you need to create a mailing list.
Finding clients doesn’t have to be confusing or stressful. If you’re looking to find clients for your VA business, take any of the above 10 tips and add them to your existing marketing strategy, you’ll be increasing your visibility whilst also increasing the likelihood of finding new clients for your VA business! You might also find the 30 easy ways to market your VA business blog a useful read.
As part of the VA Membership we are often sharing ways in which you can get in front of your ideal clients as well as sharing great job opportunities where we have been asked to help source a VA. The VA Membership is the only UK VA business accelerator that’s designed specifically to help you build and grow your VA business, to help you create recurring revenue and consistent growth through regular and consistent action. With over 100+ hours of courses, weekly co-working sessions, weekly group coaching calls, a private support group and the ability to pay as you go – when you’re ready to grow or scale your business online come and join us in the VA Membership.
The VA Membership has the option to upgrade to more one to one coaching and mentoring support as part of the Luminary VA coaching and mentoring options. If you would like to see / learn more then please do check out The VA Membership.