If you are making the leap to becoming a full time virtual assistant, the first thing I want to say to you is congratulations. It’s not easy to leave a steady job in order to branch out on your own, but you may very well find that it becomes the best decision you ever made. There’s a lot involved with getting set up as a virtual assistant, and not the least of these is finding your first few clients. After all, you can have all the experience in the world, the best home office equipment, and the most detailed business plan, but unless you have people paying you for your services it’s all for naught.
The first thing you have to understand is that the profession of virtual assisting is very, very competitive. This is a career that has practically exploded onto the scene over the course of just a few short years, and as a result there are plenty of people out there who are trying to make their way as a professional virtual assistant. The good news is that the demand is high. The business has always been there in the form of small businesses, entrepreneurs, and even corporations, and they are really beginning to understand how beneficial it can be for them to have a virtual assistant on the payroll that they can trust.
One of the easiest ways to find clients as a virtual assistant is to make a website for your services. This will serve as a home base for all of the traffic that you attract through other methods, and will center your business plans around something tangible (so to speak). It’s incredibly easy to make a professional looking website these days, even if you have no experience with HTML or Javascript coding. Hosting costs for websites are often as little as $3 per month, and domains cost between $10 and $20, depending where you register the domain. Most will allow you to install something simple like WordPress as a content management system, and with this you can install free templates that will give your website flair and professionalism.
The next step is to get the word out, and this can be done by connecting with potential clients through social media networks. Facebook and LinkedIn are especially beneficial to freelance professionals, and if you can build up a rapport with some of the members of these sites you may find that most of your business comes through qualified referrals. Also, don’t be afraid to ask any of your clients to refer a few of their friends or business associates. You can even go so far as to offer a discount if they refer someone to you.
This builds a working trust and ensures that you attain clients who are serious about using your services. Bringing in organic traffic through Google or Adwords is great, but it leaves a lot of chaff that come to the site, look around, and in the end don’t want to hire you.
Michelle O’Barbara is a certified virtual assistant trainer and also she runs a Virtual assistant business. If you would like to know more about Michelle’s virtual assistant services or her assistants, please log on to her website.
