Transcripts
1. Intro: In 2014, I became a
Virtual Assistant. Within three months, I had so many clients that I had
to start turning them away. Hi, my name is Billie. I am a VA mentor and
Skillshare teacher. I'm also the founder
of Desire to Done and the Introvert VA Club, a membership for introverted
Virtual Assistants. The most common question I hear from Virtual Assistants is, "How do I find clients?". This is definitely a
legitimate question because no clients
mean no money! On top of that, they
either don't want to use social media to market their business or it
hasn't worked for them. In this class, I'll
share six ways to market your business that don't
require hours on social media. There will be no Instagram
stories or TikTok videos. Instead, these
techniques will help you build connections
and relationships, which will create
a strong network of people who want
to work with you. And no worries if you're
an introvert like me. These techniques are
introvert-friendly. There'll be no awkward
networking events, I promise! I'll also cover four
marketing terms you need to know and which ones are the quickest and
easiest to start with. I created a workbook
for you to help you brainstorm ideas based on the marketing
strategies I share. It also includes a spreadsheet to help you keep track of
people you reach out to. This class is for new
and established VAs, service providers and
freelancers looking for clients. Are you ready to get some clients? I'll see you in class!
2. Your Project: Your class project is to
create an elevator pitch and share it in the project
section of this class. An elevator pitch is a quick and snappy
explanation of what you do. So you can quickly tell people is going to come
in handy in this class, which is why I want you to
create one for your project. Your elevator pitch should
include who you help, how you help them, and the
benefits of your service. Let's dive into each of these
elements. Who do you help? Is it busy bloggers,
health coaches, women entrepreneurs? What type of services
do you offer? Is it Pinterest management,
Instagram, admin? What are the benefits
of working with you? Do you help increase
traffic and sales? Help your clients get more
exposure on social media? Do you focus on your
zone of genius so your clients can focus on theirs? Think about what your client can gain
from hiring you. Here are some examples
of elevator pitches. I help busy bloggers
manage Pinterest so they can increase
their traffic and sales. Here's another, I help
health coaches get exposure by managing and
growing their Instagram. Here's another example. I do admin work for online businesses so they
can focus on other tasks. No need to over-complicate
your pitch. Keep it simple,
easy to understand, and easy to remember. You'll find an elevator pitch
worksheet in your workbook. I want you to fill
it out and then snap a photo and upload it to the project section
of this class. If you're on the Skillshare app, you won't be able to
see the workbook. So I recommend opening up Skillshare in a browser
on your phone or desktop. Then you can download
the workbook and print it or fill
it in digitally. I look forward to seeing
your elevator pitches.
3. Marketing Strategies: Hello, I'm happy you decided
to join me for this class. In this lesson, I'll be covering four different marketing terms you need to know and which ones are the best to start out with. I'll be covering warm
leads, cold leads, short-term strategies and
long-term strategies. Let's start with
warm and cold leads. Warm leads are people who already know you or have
been referred to you. It could be people you know, in person or online. It could also be
current or past clients or a referral from a client. The great thing about
warm leads is that they are easier to convert to
clients than cold leads. Cold leads, on the other hand, consist of people who
don't know you yet. And therefore, you will
need to pitch your services and communicate the benefits
of working with you. It's good to do both of these strategies when
marketing your business. But it's always best to start first with warm leads
because it's the quickest. We'll be using techniques
in this class that focuses on both warm
and cold leads. Then there are short-term
and long-term strategies. Short-term marketing strategies
produce quick results. They usually involve some sort
of urgency to take action, like a discount or deadline. With short-term
strategies, you'll see immediate sales or clients. Some examples of short-term strategies
are emailing people directly or pitching your
services to someone in person. Then there are long-term
strategies, which I like to think of
as planting seeds. Typically you won't
see immediate results, but they will pay off over time. Some examples of
long-term strategies are social media, newsletters, blogging, and SEO-ing your website so that people
can find you on Google. Long-term strategies are
fantastic, and I'm a huge fan. But when you're first starting out or if you need clients fast, short-term strategies
are the way to go because the results are quicker. In this class, we will
be only focusing on short-term strategies. Before you start promoting your business, there are a few things
you want to do first. I'll cover them
in the next lesson.
4. Set Yourself up for Success: Before you start
promoting your business, you'll need to have a
few things in place. This ensures you
are organized and ready when you start
on-boarding those new clients. First off, you'll need
to know your services, pricing, and ideal client. Knowing these three
things will make promoting your business
a lot easier for you. I cover these topics in my other Skillshare class called Create
Services That Sell. If you don't know
these things yet, I recommend checking
out that class first. You'll also need a
simple website, PDF, or Facebook business page to share with potential clients. Don't spend too
much time on this. You just need a place to send people when you
promote your business. Just have the basics
like a picture of you, what you offer, how
you can help, pricing, and how to reach out to you. You can create a simple
temporary website using Canva. I've also seen VAs create
slides or e-books that have all their info and then send the link to
a potential client. You can create a PDF in a Google Doc and send
someone a link to that, or create a business Facebook
page with all your info. If you're offering
creative services, you'll want a sample
of your work. This can be on
your website, in a PDF, or on your Facebook
biz page. If you don't have any
clients yet, it's okay. You don't need them before
creating a portfolio. You can create samples for
fictitious businesses. You don't need a ton of pieces, either. Just three or so, to give people an idea. Later, once you get
clients, you can add to it. You'll want to have your client processes and systems
in place as well. There are four client
processes you'll need. The pre client process
is the steps you take to determine whether a
prospective client is a good fit or not, and if so, turn them
into a new client. This usually includes having a discovery call to get to know the client and their needs. The onboarding process happens when you and the client
decided to work together. It includes getting paid, signing your contract, and getting organized
to start your work. The service process is the steps you take to
complete your work. If you help clients with
a variety of tasks, you might not need this process. But if you offer a specific
service like Web Design, Pinterest, or social media
management or book formatting, you will need a process with all the steps for
doing that task. This ensures you don't
forget any steps. The fourth client process
off boarding includes the final steps you take to
wrap up your time together, like getting feedback,
asking for testimonials and referrals, and possibly sending
a thank you card or gift. You can write out
your client processes in a Google or Word doc. Once you figure out
your processes, you'll need to set up
the tools for them. For instance, PayPal
to send invoices and HelloSign for
contract signatures. In the next lesson, I'll cover one more
thing you need to do before you start
marketing your business. It's something that can really make or
break your success. See you there.
5. Change Your Mindset: Promoting your business can
bring up a lot of fears. So if you're feeling scared or apprehensive, you are not alone. One way to squash these annoying fears is to change your mindset
about marketing. Having a healthy
mindset about promoting your business is very
important to your success. Let's go over a few
things to keep in mind. The more you promote
your business, the easier it becomes. I've noticed this myself and I've heard other
VAs say the same thing. The first time will
likely be the scariest. Just get past the first
time and keep going. You're not an impostor. If you're feeling scared
because you don't have as much experience
as you'd like, it's okay. With time, you'll gain
confidence in your services. The thing is you
simply can't feel more experienced until you do
something over and over. You're not being salesy or pushy if you promote
your business. A lot of people have
this fear that they are going to push their
business on someone, or they feel uncomfortable because they're
asking for money. Remember, when you approach
a potential client, you are offering them value. You're not just going
around asking for money without giving
anything in return. You're offering a way to make
your clients lives easier. You're offering a solution
to their problem. You were offering your help
and people need your help. Yes, money will be exchanged if they hire
you, which is good. But you are not just
willy-nilly asking for money. Having a mindset shift from "I'm trying to get
people to hire me," to "I'm getting in front of
people who need my help" can make a big difference in how you feel about promoting
your business. If you pitch your
services and someone says no or doesn't
respond at all, it doesn't mean they reject you. People say no for many reasons. It could be that
they're not mentally or financially ready to
hire a VA at this time. Or maybe they already have a VA and don't need
another one right now. Don't let the fear
of rejection stop you from connecting
with more people. These connections
can really come in handy in ways you don't expect. For instance, the person you
reach out to may say no, but they might turn around and refer you to someone
who will say yes. Affirmations are your friend. Find some affirmations
that really speak to you and have them handy
for when you need them. Some of my faves are, let it go. just breathe, and done
is better than perfect. People are looking for you. There are people out there who are thinking
about hiring a VA, but haven't looked for one yet because they don't
know where to start or they don't know where
to find a good VA or they haven't had
the time to search. Many VAs, including myself, have reached out and offered
our services to people who were ecstatic that
we contacted them. Okie dokie. Now that you
have your mindset right, in the next lesson, we'll hop into
marketing technique number one.
6. Technique #1 for Finding Clients: Now that you're organized and
ready to take on clients, let's dive into some
marketing techniques. The first marketing
technique I want to cover is especially for
you beginners out there. The very first thing
you want to do to promote your business
is to tell everyone you know. It doesn't matter if they have
a business or not. Your goal is to tell people what you do and encourage
them to refer you. You never know who needs your help or knows
someone who does. Consider telling
family, friends, neighbors, ex-coworkers,
ex- bosses, local businesses. Think hairstylists, dog groomer,
shop owner, accountant. Think of the places you go
to regularly and consider reaching out to those businesses and asking if they
need your help. A lot of times people prefer working with those
they've met in person. Also consider telling
people you know online. Maybe there's a Facebook
group that would allow this. Or maybe you've purchased an e-course that has a forum that would allow you to
share your new business. These are only suggestions. Some VAs are afraid to
announce their business to family and friends
out of fear of judgment or negative feedback. If you feel this
might happen to you and that it might affect
you and your progress, just skip those people. I love this technique because it's the
easiest to start with. Remember, warm
leads, know you, are familiar with you, and are
easier to convert into clients. It's also a wonderful
source for referrals. People love helping
people they know. So, they are usually willing to
spread the word for you. It takes the least amount
of research and effort. You can reach out to
people through email, text, or a phone call. You can tell people in person. You can announce on your
personal Facebook page, message people on social media, or share in Facebook
groups where allowed. What should you say? First of all, keep it casual and be your wonderful self. No need to sound
formal or stuffy. Tell them you have
exciting news you want to share, that you started
a new business. Or if you're not a new VA, that you have an
existing business. Share your elevator pitch so they have an idea
of who you help and how. Let them know you're in the process of
looking for clients. List your services,
share your website, PDF, or Facebook
business page, and ask if they'll
spread the word and reach out if they
have any questions. That's it. Easy breezy. You can do this. Announcing your biz
to everyone you know, Check! The next lesson I'm going to cover a powerful technique to
help you find clients.
7. Technique #2 for Finding Clients: The second marketing
technique I want to share is super powerful and effective. It's something that can
be done on autopilot, which means less work for you. What is it? It's referrals and creating
a referral system. Referrals are
recommendations from people who are happy
with your work. Let's say you hire a landscaper. You might ask your friends and neighbors who they
use and recommend. The same goes for VAs. Business owners are constantly asking other business owners
who they recommend hiring. It's word of mouth marketing, which is one of the most convincing marketing
strategies out there. That's because people
are more likely to purchase something that
is recommended to them. Think about it. When you're on Amazon, do you read the reviews
before purchasing? I do. And it can sway me from
hitting that Add to Cart button or clicking away
to find another option. People want to lower their risk when purchasing
a product or service. They want to know
that whatever they are buying is of good quality. The same goes for services. Business owners
want to know that the person they're
hiring does a good job. Referrals are powerful because they can lead to quick results. When someone asks for a
referral or recommendation, they are typically ready
to buy right away. That means if you can create
a solid referral system, you could have potential clients
approaching you left and right, wanting to work with you because they've heard
great things about you. Alright. So what's a referral system? A referral system is a process
for getting referrals. It includes finding people
who will refer you, possibly offering a reward for referrals, and keeping
track of it all. How do you find people
who will refer you? There are people out there who will automatically refer you without you even asking
them too, which is awesome. But that's not the only
way to get referrals. You can reach out to
people and ask them for referrals too. And no, it doesn't have to
be only people you know.
Current and past clients. These people are warm leads. Why? That's right? Because
they know you and are familiar with
how amazing you are. Reach out to them and
tell them you have space in your schedule for new
clients if they know anyone. Other VAs in your niche. Okay. Wait, what? Why would you
reach out to other VAs? Well, because you
never know that VA could be fully booked
and turning people away, wishing they had someone
to refer people to. Or maybe they want to
pivot their business and are looking to hand
over some of their clients. Just reach out,
introduce yourself, and let them know that you have space available for
new clients if they happen to be fully booked or looking to refer clients out. You can also reach out to
VAs in different niches. Introduce yourself and tell them who you help
and what you do. Then ask if they'll refer you, if they come across anyone
looking for your services. Tell them you'll do the same. You can reach out to VAs, who offer complimentary
services to yours. Let's say you format blog posts. You could reach out to a blog writer and
introduce yourself. Tell them you'd
love to refer them, if they could do the same. You could even
collaborate in some way. You can connect with other freelancers who work
in the same industry as you. For instance, if you help bloggers write and
format blog posts, you could reach out to a web designer who also
works with bloggers. Introduce yourself and tell them you have space in your
schedule for new clients if they would kindly refer you. Let them know
you'll do the same. Offering a small
reward or commission is a nice way to encourage
people to refer you. There'll be more
likely to look for people to refer to
you since they're getting something out of
the deal too. A reward could be something like a
$25 Amazon or Starbucks gift card, or a $25 finder's fee that you send through PayPal. When you reach out to people, make sure you tell them to notify you when
they refer someone. That way you can
compensate them if you offered a reward. You can also give them ideas
for getting referrals, like sharing your website on
their social media channels, in Facebook groups, or
in their newsletters. I included a spreadsheet
in the workbook for this class that you can use
to keep track of referrals. Be sure to jot down
who you reached out to, the date, the
reward you offered, and if you've got any
referrals from them. It's not cool to offer a reward and then not
follow through with it. So you'll want to keep your referral info
organized and up-to-date. Having a referral system
for your business is great because it helps you build connections with other
online professionals, which can pay off as referrals
and new friendships. And it creates an
automated system of people looking out for you, which means less time marketing your biz on social media
or in Facebook groups. Don't feel nervous about
asking for referrals. It's very common for
businesses to ask for them. Even though most people will be more than
happy to refer you, offering a small reward can
help you feel less nervous because the other person is getting something
out of it as well. In the next lesson, I'm going to cover one of my favorite client attracting
techniques out there. Can't wait to see you there.
8. Technique #3 for Finding Clients: This marketing technique
is a bit controversial. I've heard other VA
mentors advise against it, but I have to
disagree. What is it? It's giving away free work. Giving away a sample of my services before offering
them to the public was one of the most important
steps I took to attract clients when I
started my VA business. Not only did it allow me to
practice my new services, but it also helped spread
the word about my new biz. And once I took on a
few practice clients, I had referrals pouring in. You don't have to be a new VA to use this
marketing technique. However, it can be a great
way for established VAs to get people to try out their services and hopefully
become paying clients. There is a right and a wrong
way to go about this though. We'll dive into
those details soon. But I first want to cover the many benefits of
offering a free sample. The phrase sample technique helps you get your
name out there. Giving away free samples works great for Costco and
other businesses. Why not for VAs? I mean, how many times
have you received a sample of something that
made you went to purchase it? We can apply this concept
to marketing your business too. Free samples can help
warm up a cold lead. You'll eventually run
out of warm leads. When you do, it's time to start warming up
those cold leads, or people who don't know you. Offering a free trial is a
fantastic way to warm them up. Offering a free sample takes the fear out of
working together. People can be leery about working with a VA
for the first time. Offering them a sample
helps reduce that fear. If you're feeling nervous about
working with someone new, this will help calm
your nerves too, because this is a trial
not a paid service. Free samples will help
build your confidence if you're a new VA or if you're
offering a new service. Doing a free trial takes the pressure off of
you and allows you to try your service and work out the kinks
before charging for it. Also, if you're a new VA
or offering a new service, doing a free trial will help
you decide whether in fact, you enjoy doing the
service and whether or not you want to
continue offering it. Offering a free sample is a great way to get testimonials. Testimonials are gold. It's social proof that someone was happy
with your service. You can share your amazing
testimonials on your website, social media, and in
your email pitches. Your free trial might
become a paying client. This is, of course, a big reason why a
free trial is great. But if they don't
become a client, there are still other benefits
that make it worthwhile. It might lead to referrals, whether they hire you
at the end or not. If they're happy with your work, they'll likely refer
you to other people. It's an opportunity to
get valuable feedback. It's a great way to get
feedback on what a client likes or what they think might
make your service better. And it gives you clarity
about your pricing. You might find that it takes you longer than you thought
to do a service. Therefore, you can tweak the price or maybe
raise your rate. Now that you're psyched to
offer a free sample, let's go over how
to do it properly. You want to offer a sample. I want to emphasize that this
is a sample of your work. Don't give away ten hours of free work or
anything like that. You want them to take
your services for a spin so they get an idea of what
it's like to work with you. For example, if you're
social media VA, you can offer to write three posts and design
three matching graphics. If you're an admin or tech VA, you could give two
hours of free work. You need to give a deadline. Deadlines motivate people
to take action instead of pushing your offer aside to another day and
then forgetting it. I recommend giving a deadline of three to five days from
the date of your offer. If you don't hear from them by then you can reach
out to someone else. You should only pitch a small
number of people at a time. I recommend offering
the free sample to three people at a time. You don't want to send
several offers at once and then have several
people contact you at once. You might want to
send to 1 - 3 people, see what happens, and then
send out 1 - 3 more offers. You need to tell them
what you want out of it. Ultimately, you want
them to become a client, but you don't want
to say that yet. Instead, you'll ask
for feedback and a testimonial in exchange
for the free work. Don't make this
offer to the public. You don't want to put this free trial offer
on your website, Facebook biz page,
or social media. Instead, you want to strategically choose the
people you offer it to. For example, offering
a free sample can work really well if you pitch
someone with a large audience. When I first started
out as a VA, I reached out to a woman who had a big following and offered to do some free work in exchange
for a testimonial. We didn't continue working
together after the free trial, but she referred me
to a lot of people. So don't be afraid to reach
out to social influencers, bloggers, and businesses
with big communities. You can even ask them to share your bids on social media
in exchange for free work. If possible, try to
find people who are experts in their industry
and have a big following. This helps with referrals. So, how do you make this a pitch? I usually recommend
through e-mail, but you might want
to make the offer in an Instagram DM, or
through LinkedIn. Either way, this is what I recommend you include
in your pitch. You'll want to say
hello and mention something that's going on
with them in their business so you can connect. Tell them you are trying out a new service and
would like to offer them a sample and exchange for their feedback and testimonial. Outline what the free
trial would include and give them the deadline
to accept this offer. Be sure to share the
link to your website, PDF, or Facebook business page. Encourage them to ask
questions if they have any. Once you complete a
free trial for someone, you'll want to
follow up with them, tell them you've completed
the work and that you have a spot open if they'd be
interested in working with you. Link to your sales
page and tell them they can check out your
rates or packages. Mentioned that you love a testimonial if they
were happy with your work and that you'd appreciate feedback
on the service. Remember, this was part of the agreement when
you pitched them. So don't feel
awkward about this. You can create a survey with specific
questions if you like, and send that to them. Tell them regardless
of whether you continue working
together or not, you enjoyed working with them. Let them know that if they know anyone who
could use your help, you'd love a referral. You can even offer a small
referral gift if you like. Remember, even if you don't end up working
together right away, they may reach out later
when they're ready. They may also refer
you to others, and hopefully they gave you a testimonial and feedback that you can use
on your website, social media, and other pitches. Okay. But what if you don't want
to offer a free trial? There are some instances when
you might not want to offer a free sample and
instead want to offer a discount on a service. For example, when I created
a new Pinterest service, I offered it to people at a
highly discounted rate for one month instead of
a free trial. After the month was over, they were charged
the regular fee. If you build websites or do any other type of
extensive work, you may want to charge
a small fee to. It all depends on your goals. What are you wanting to
get out of the experience? Build your portfolio,
gain experience, test your processes,
get testimonials. If you have a lot
of experience and a skill and are able to
share examples of your work, you might want to consider
charging a small fee. Keep in mind, it's
easier to get people to say yes to free than a discount. But if you choose
the right people to pitch to give a steep discount that's hard to refuse, it will be easier. If however, you are testing out a
new service or skill, you'll probably want to offer your services for
free to get people to say yes, and give
you the experience. For example, when I
did my free trials, I offered two hours of
work a week for one month. And I offered it to three people. That was enough to
get my name out there and have a full client
list in no time. Keep in mind, you can offer free samples anytime
during your VA journey. So if you've been a VA for awhile, and you've hit a slump and need to
get some clients, give this marketing
technique could try. You can repeat this
marketing technique as many times as you like
until you're fully booked. Every time a deadline
comes and goes, you can reach out
to more people. I hope you're
feeling excited and inspired by these marketing
techniques so far. In the next lesson, I'll cover a technique
that is quite magical.
9. Technique #4 for Finding Clients: Are there any online courses, books, podcasts, blog posts, memberships, YouTube videos, or social media accounts that
you thoroughly enjoy? Why not email the creator of
these things and tell them? Reach out to them and tell them how their product, service, or content has
changed your life, made it easier, happier, whatever it's done for you. People love hearing how their
product has helped others. Reaching out and sharing
your thought is a great way to get in front of people you admire and make them feel good at the same time. They'll likely be curious about who you
are and what you do. So make sure you have a
signature set up at the bottom of your email that has
a link to your website, PDF, or Facebook business page. You can set this up in whatever
email service you use. This is an introvert
friendly way to share your info without
being so obvious. Don't be afraid to
tell them what you do however. If you can somehow relate what
you're writing them about with what you do
in a natural way, do it. Another idea is to sign
up for their newsletter, then respond to their newsletters
every once in a while, telling them how much you
enjoyed their content. I did a Get Clients
Fast Challenge inside my membership,
the Introvert VA Club, and encouraged the
challenge participants to try this marketing technique. One of my members reached
out to a Skillshare teacher she admired and simply
struck up a conversation. To her surprise,
this simple outreach resulted in her getting
her first client, and she couldn't believe
how easy it was. She was determined that getting
clients had to be hard. This exercise proved
that being authentic and connecting to people can
pay off in many ways. If not a client, maybe a
referral down the road. If not a referral, maybe a new friend. Who knows? I love this technique because it helps you get your
name out there. It feels great to connect and
compliment another human. It spreads good vibes and
makes people feel good. And it might lead to
referrals or new friends. Consider creating a gift. If you do any kind
of creative work, you could create some sort
of gift for the person you admire as a thank you
and to show your skills. Just be authentic. It's all about
being authentic and creating a connection
with this person. And don't get obsessed
about the outcome. Yeah, sure. It would be flipping awesome if this person asked about your services and
becomes a client. But don't get upset
if they don't. You genuinely
admire this person, and so regardless
of what happens, you can feel awesome about sending good vibes
to another person. Plus, you'd be surprised what
good karma can do for you. I have the warm fuzzies just thinking about this
marketing technique. In the next lesson, we're going to be doing
some research while also connecting with
your ideal client.
10. Technique #5 for Finding Clients: Sometimes we think
we know our clients, but we don't truly know
until we ask them. So that's exactly what
we're going to be doing for marketing technique number five. You'll
only want to reach out to people who match your
ideal client profile. Remember, if you don't know
who your ideal client is, I cover it in my other
Skillshare class, Create Services That Sell. First, you need to
find your people. You can find them by searching Google and Facebook groups, reaching out to people you know, or on social media. Next, you reach out to them, introduce yourself
and what you do. Tell them they are your
ideal client and ask if they could answer some questions to help improve your services. Offer something for their time, like a free sample of your work, or a $5 Amazon gift card, then share your questions. Be sure to have a deadline and ask them to respond by then. Some questions you can ask are, what are you
struggling with when it comes to your business? What do you need
help with the most? What sort of tasks would you love to handover to
a virtual assistant? Doing market research
like this is two-fold. You're learning more
about your ideal client will actively getting
in front of them. Speaking to your ideal
client and learning about their needs might spawn a
new service idea for you, which could be quite lucrative. Or you might realize
what you're offering now isn't something your
ideal clients need, giving you a chance to
pivot to something else. People want a solution
to their problems. If you can create that solution, they are likely to buy from you. Plus you're creating a warm
lead out of a cold lead. It also gives you a chance
to share your services without flat-out asking
people to hire you. The cool thing is they might
anyway. Moving right along. In the next lesson, I'm going to cover the final marketing
technique in this class. This one is going to
showcase your expertise. See you there.
11. Technique #6 for Finding Clients: Marketing technique
number six is all about showing how great you
are, so that people say, "Here, take my money!" What is this magical
technique I speak of? Free consults and reviews. This is different from
offering a free trial, as we talked about in
an earlier lesson. Instead of doing a service, you're giving your advice
or sharing expertise. The goal is that once they see how smart and
knowledgeable you are, they'll want to hire you. With a consult, the
person can ask you questions about whatever
you're an expert with. For example, if you offer
Pinterest management, they can ask you any
questions they have for improving their
results on Pinterest. If you create websites, they can ask how to
improve their web design. You can set up a
20-minute Q&A call over Zoom to offer
your consultation. If the two of you click, you can pitch your services
at the end of the call. Just let them know you're
available to help with the changes you discussed
and tell them your pricing. If they're not interested, you could ask them if
they'll refer you. You can even ask for a
testimonial. With a review. you'll give feedback on how
they can improve something. For example, if you do
Instagram management, offer to review
their Instagram feed and give three ways
they can improve it. If you're a copywriter, you can offer to look
over their sales page and share three ways they can improve their copy
for more sales. You can send a written
list of suggestions or make a short video
recording and send it to them. Be sure to pitch your services
and let them know you can help implement the
changes you suggested. And if not, you'd appreciate
a testimonial and referrals. You can offer either a review or consult to as many
people as you like. That means you can
share this free service on social media and
on your website. In addition to reaching
out to specific people, it's a great way
to get in front of your ideal client and
show your expertise. Your advice will be
appreciated and may inspire them to hire you to
make the changes for them. As always, give a
deadline for when people need to respond
to your special offer. I've now covered six of my favorite marketing
techniques for finding clients. Before we wrap things up, I want to share some
final words of advice. I'll see you in the next lesson.
12. Final Thoughts: I hope that you found
this class inspiring, and you're feeling pumped to try a bunch of
marketing strategies. Don't forget to fill
out the workbook and share your elevator pitch in the project section. You'll find the workbook under the project section
of this class. Before we say bye, I want to go through a few
marketing tips with you. Remember that people are busy. Sometimes it will
take a while for someone to respond to
your email or pitch. They might be on vacation, have a sick kid, or be in mid launch
of a new program. Sometimes your email will get
lost in a crowded inbox. That's why having a
deadline can be helpful. It creates urgency. Don't forget to follow up. Usually within a week is good unless your
deadline is before then. Don't forget to mark your
spreadsheet with new people you reach out to, referral
info, and follow-ups. You'll find it in the workbook. Connect with as many
people as possible. This can lead to a
lot of referrals. Remember that you're
capable, smart, and able to connect
with other humans, and that's all you're doing. Don't psych yourself out
or over-complicate it. Be yourself and have fun. And don't be afraid
to experiment, try new things, and see
what works for you. Lastly, repeat, repeat, repeat. When you find something
that works for you, keep doing it. If you're still having
a hard time finding clients, try letting go. Have you ever noticed that when you stop hoping
for something, it actually happens? Sometimes when you sit back and relax, that's when the magic happens. Promote your business
the best you can and have faith
that things will happen for you. If you're
still having problems finding clients, consider
tweaking things. Take a look at your offerings. Perhaps people don't need the
services you're offering. Try changing them up
or adding new services. Take a look at your price. Maybe it's too low or too high. When it's too low, people tend to think
it's low quality. If it's too high,
your ideal client might not be able to afford it. Perhaps create a smaller version of your service at a
smaller price point. When I first started offering
my Pinterest services, I had a big price point. I wanted to offer everything the client needed to be
successful on Pinterest, but not everyone can
afford bigger packages. I ended up creating some
smaller packages in addition to my larger,
higher priced ones. Also, take a look
at your website. Do you explain your
client's pain points and the benefits of
working with you? Do you have spelling
or grammatical errors? Do you need to explain your
services in more detail? Try Googling website copywriting tips and learn how to create effective website copy that converts casual
readers to clients. Don't have a website yet? Perhaps it's time to create one. You can create a simple website using a platform like Wix. Just don't give up. Thank you for taking my
class on finding clients. I hope you found this
training helpful and that you are booked out with
clients in no time. If you have any questions
or want to share any wins, feel free to drop them
in the discussion area. I always like to see which marketing techniques
work for people. So please share what
worked for you. If you enjoyed this class, I'd love a review. Also, be sure to
follow me so that when I release new classes,
you'll be notified. Lastly, if you'd like weekly VA tips delivered
to your inbox, why not sign up
for my newsletter? Go to desiretodone.com/newsletter. Thanks again for watching. I hope you'll join
me for more classes.
Billie Gardner, Virtual Assistant Mentor
