Virtual assistant marketing and advertising
What exactly does marketing mean? Marketing means to make a communication about a product or service, a purpose of which is to encourage recipients of the communication to purchase or use the product or service. What exactly does advertising mean? Advertising is a public promotion of some product or service. You then know what service you are offering and what your service costs and the benefits of your service and you then need to articulate this to prospective clients. How do I market my virtual assistant business?Stationery - you want to communicate with your clients in a professional manner and you can do that with your overall style in your stationery. Logos, business cards, emails, etc should ideally be matching.Getting some business cards printed up are a fantastic start. These days the cost is minimal and they can be purchased online without the hassles - see below for online printing. Always have them with you; you never know when you need to hand one over to a prospective client and you will look so much more professional if you have a card handy at all times. Also letterheads and invoices and other stationery needs are good marketing tools. But when starting out you can actually print your own letterheads and invoices out using something like Microsoft Publisher, which has great templates. Letters, invoices, etc can be sent out via email to your clients. Flyers - you can have a flyer made up. Again this cost can be minimal these days or even make your own PowerPoint brochure to convert to Adobe to send via email. Just a one uncluttered page will suffice listing your services and advising the benefits of using your service. I also had a one page flyer I used to email relating to onsite work only, as in the earlier days of my virtual assistant business I also provided on site support for several clients, in lieu of using a temp. Then I subsequently brought the job offsite as they became more confident with me. See if you can place the flyer on a community notice board. Flyers don't really have a huge strike rate, so use these for targeting strategic businesses only. Brochures - go into a bit more detail than a flyer and can look a bit more professional, but don't try to fit in too much information. Make it pleasant and informative, but target these to the specific market that you are wanting to work with or you will be throwing money away. Brochures can be brought to networking functions, business networking groups, club meetings, church groups, not for profit volunteering activities. For all stationery needs you can try online stores such as
iPrint for cheap office stationery sent worldwide
Logos - To have or not to have. Prospective clients, visitors to your website and other businesses may perceive you to be much more professional and therefore more valuable when you have your own logo. You are after all not an amateur, but a professional service provider.
Lisa Taliga, a successful virtual assistant has compiled a fantastic audio program for purchase with her marketing secrets. Here you can learn from her mistakes and she shows you 12 different marketing techniques. She also throws in hundreds of dollars worth of free material. Marketing Secrets of a Successful Freelancer
Click here! Discounts - can be another angle for businesses. You can offer a free hour of service. I saw one VA advertising this on a local community website. Offering a discount or an hour's worth of free service to attract a new client may be ok, but don't undercut yourself too much. You still have to make money remember. Limit your free service to one hour. You do want your business to be taken seriously. Letter drops - look I think they don't have a high hit ratio either. These days people just throw them in the bin and don't even take the time to look at them. I don't discourage this, but it may be better to write letters to several key specific businesses and structure the letter accordingly. So a different style letter for lawyers and a different one for doctors. You may offer transcription services to a doctor, but general typing services to the lawyer. Save your time and money on postage stamps by avoiding a huge general mail out. Promotional items - could be a bit pricey when starting out, but you can have your company name printed on all sorts of office stationery, mouse pads, mugs, pens, etc. Newsletter - you can create a newsletter to keep in touch with your clients and you can display a sign up box on your website. You may be interested in reading more about
using a newsletter to gain more clients. Advertising - in your local papers. This may work, but I'm not sure about the strike rate here. It may work in your community or it may not. If you have a website, add the URL as at least businesses can learn more about you. - advertising in your phone directory still works to a degree these days. Costs permitting this may be an angle to pursue. Networking - attend local business networking groups. These groups encompass such a diverse range of business professionals in your area that may just need your services. And needless to say virtual assistant online networks are great as you can receive job leads from the network and from other virtual assistants subcontracting work out. - get involved in your community, community projects, school working bees, school fetes, you name it. Working from home message boards and forums - join some great work at home message boards where you can discuss a myriad of issues about working from home. Some allow you to advertise your business on the boards/forums. Communication - both offline and online. Remember to practise your speech about what it is that you do for a living. Make it short and sweet and you may have to use the word freelance in your speech. I always say 'I'm a virtual assistant and I work from home'. Then I wait half a second for the blank stare and I add 'I'm a freelance secretary and .......'. - And always look professional. I know you are a virtual assistant and you may be working in your pyjamas at 7am in the morning, but when coming face to face with a potential client, it's best to look professional. No one is going to take you seriously otherwise. With your online marketing make sure you check your spelling. You are a virtual assistant of course, so try not to send communication out with spelling errors. Having said that if you find a spelling error on my website please bring it to my attention. - when you secure new clients always stay professional, maintain work ethics, etc. Even if you are busy with children's activities, tell your client you have a meeting to attend. They will then refer you to their other business associates. One great marketing technique I love, which happens by accident is that one of my clients has me update his reports and email them directly to his clients. Then they receive my email from my secretarial service. I love this, free marketing and advertising. Email signature - don't forget to set up your email signature with your business name, URL if you have one, PO Box, etc. Then all outgoing emails advertise your business and make sure to set it up for forwarded emails as well. For Outlook click on Tools, Options, Mail Format and then set up on the Signature section. Press Releases - write a press release as this is essentially a form of advertising. Send your press release to the editors of your local paper, relevant printed periodicals, free online press release websites, etc. Radio Advertising - may be an option with a station that targets your specific market. Check out costs of course. Business Coach - you may wish to utilise the services of a business coach who can assist with marketing or a
virtual assistant coach. On vehicle advertising - I've seen URL's on the back of vehicles and then a one liner underneath, eg: www.virtualefficiency.com Freelance Secretarial Services
So when you are ready for a website, make sure it's a professional looking website, but have fun with it too, we're all human and humour goes a long long way. Check out mine, it's crazy, a virtual assistant doesn't really drape herself on the couch and work off her laptop like that in real life. The website should explain what you do and what a virtual assistant is as it's still a term not known by many people out there. Explain your services and the benefits of using a virtual assistant. Have a look at the websites of other virtual assistants on the net for great ideas. But please keep your content original and do not breach copyright laws by copying someone else's content. Make sure your website is optimised for top search engine ranking. Building a website with shows you how to do this. SBI! is a site building, hosting and marketing product all in one. If you have already built a website you can sign up for free with GoogleAdsense which generates revenue on your website with targeted ads.
Blogging and writing articles - You may wish to start blogging as this is great for letting the internet community know about your business or you may wish to write an article on the industry and submit it for publication. There are so many article submission websites out there. For example check out
www.ezinearticles.com
, but there are a myriad of article websites to choose from. Check out this mind blowing link with a huge list of
article submission sites Typist or Transcription Services Directory - I personally use NCH Swift Sound's free transcription software and on their website they have a page for typists worldwide to list their services. You must have a website and participate in a link exchange with them.
Click here to go to the typist and transcription services directory
Finally when marketing and advertising your business I think it's fine to explain your years of experience as a secretary, say for example working for big business or whatever it may be, but I wouldn't send off your resume outlining this work history. Your flyers for example can list the services that your virtual assisant business offers and you may mention you have 10+ years of experience in your particular area. But don't send a resume off, you are not applying for a job, you are advertising your services to prospective clients.
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