25 Top Marketing Strategies for Reaching New Clients (Part 1: Offline Activities)

In this current economic climate, many Virtual Assistants and online business owners have experienced the highs and lows in their businesses over the past couple years. In fact, you yourself may have cycled from a time of abundance with great “high-value” clients to a drought where you have struggled to fill retainer clients that you may have lost for one reason or another. The ebbs and flows of a virtual business can cause a lot of stress.

During these times, it’s important to evaluate your virtual business activities and ask yourself some key questions:

•    What marketing strategies are you currently using to connect with new clients?
•    What strategies or activities have been successful for you? What has not gone well?

As we’re focusing on virtual business marketing this week, we’d like to take some time to share some top marketing strategies for reaching new clients. In our free event on March 17, “Virtual Business Marketing Makeover in One Hour,” one of the things we’ll be talking about is the fact that you must market every single day even if you have enough clients now. So, to start off our list, here are the first seven tips for how you can consistently market your business and connect with new and potential clients through offline activities.

Offline Activities:

1. Join or start a business networking group in your local area – This activity can actually happen both online and offline. Through Meetups, Tweetups, Chamber of Commerce or Local Business Associations, you can connect with like-minded individuals for collaboration purposes or to get connected with your target client audience.

2. Do a presentation for a local business group or association (i.e. local hospitality association, real estate association, small business owners) – For example, you could do a social media presentation that demonstrates how restaurants can use social media to draw in more customers. In a previous blog post, “Social Media Goes Local in 2010,” we talked about how restaurant owner Joe Sorge uses Twitter to engage with customers.

3. Attend a business fair/conference in your local region – These conferences and fairs are a great way to have face-to-face encounters with people who might potentially hire VAs.
4. Host a local event in your area (e.g. Social Media for Hospitality Businesses) – This activity requires some planning and maybe a bit of a budget, but it can be very effective as a form of networking.
5. Research and target local business clients with a one-on-one presentation – You could visit certain restaurants or spas you want to target to see how they could use social media to grow their businesses.

6. Publish an article in a local newspaper or trade magazine – This activity requires a certain level of writing skills, but can be very effective in giving your business more visibility.

7. Send targeted mail-outs to business lists through an association like the Chamber of Commerce – This is not the number one strategy we’d recommend because it isn’t very measurable, but it could definitely lead to multiple client opportunities in the local business community.

Stay tuned for our next post, where we will talk about tips for marketing your business through online activities (our favorite kind of strategies here at VAClassroom :).

And in the meantime, let us know if you have any questions or comments about these offline marketing strategies. Have you used any in the past and found them successful? Please drop us a comment in the box below!

5 Awesome Technology Tools You Wish Santa would put in Your Stocking This Year

It’s the holiday season, and many children around the world are looking forward to Santa coming down the chimney and filling their stockings on Christmas Eve. If you have kids, you might have already hung their stockings up in anticipation as they write letters to Santa.

Well, in the spirit of the season, we thought it might be fun to hear from a Santa that Virtual Assistants and online business owners can relate to. Check out this video:

So if this Santa were visiting your house, what would he put in your stocking? Here are five technology tools you might want him to bring for your virtual business:

1. Apple iPad – What can we say? The iPad is one of the hottest gifts around this year… and it’s pretty cool too. In a recent blog post, “The iPad and The Marketing Professional”, Mitch Joel quotes Steve Jobs, Apple co-founder and CEO, as saying that the iPad is “the device that lies in between your computer and your mobile device.”

So why would you want it in your stocking? Well, iPad apps can also make this a powerful tool for business professionals. Some examples that Mitch Joel recommends are Dropbox, iA Writer, FlightTrack Pro and Flipboard.

2. Google Apps for Business – Speaking of apps, if you aren’t already using Google Apps, you should really consider asking Santa for it. For only $50 per year, you can subscribe to a suite of secure web-based office tools, including Google Docs, Google Calendar, and many more.

The benefit of subscribing to this solution is that you don’t have to purchase any additional hardware or software, and you receive 25GB of email storage per person, so no matter how large your team is, you will save money and facilitate better collaboration between team members. It will also save you the time and headache of having to host and maintain your own communication and collaboration tools.

3. iPhone with TimeScroller widget – This is a handy technology tool that can help you find an appropriate time for an overseas phone call or conference, especially handy if you serve clients who live worldwide.

TimeScroller for iPhone and iPod touch is available at the App Store. Here are some features listed on the TimeScroller website:

•    Simple, compact display shows up to 9 cities without needing to scroll.
•    Takes into account daylight savings time for all cities.
•    Configurable to show different colors for different times of day – for example, “green” for normal office hours, “amber” for the evening, etc.
•    Unique suggest time feature.
•    Draft email listing times.
•    TimeScroller does not require an Internet connection.

4. Skype – This is another tool that we highly recommend at VAClassroom, especially for those accessing our live teleseminars outside of the U.S.  Skype is a software application that enables users to make voice calls over the Internet. Calls are free of charge to other users within the Skype service, while calls to landline telephones and mobile phones are paid for using a debit-based user account system.

Other features include:

•    Free video calling
•    Send files
•    Screen sharing
•    Conference calling
•    Voicemail

5. Virtual Gifts – For the Virtual Assistant who has everything, another great stocking stuffer is a virtual charity gift. For example, World Vision, an international relief and development organization, has launched a Facebook Page called “The True Spirit of Christmas”. Here you can send your Facebook friends a free virtual gift from the World Vision gift catalogue to “help spread the word about a great way to change children’s lives.”

In addition, there are many sites worldwide where the proceeds of purchasing a virtual gift benefits a certain charity, like the WWF Adopt an Animal charity gift.

We hope you are having a wonderful holiday season! We’d love to hear what’s on your wish list this year! If you have any suggestions, please comment below so that Santa knows what to put in YOUR stocking!

Meetup Groups – Bringing your Virtual World into the Real World!

Here are a few telling signs that you may need more offline social interaction in your life:

•    You start talking to the computer like it’s a real person.
•    Webinars are the social highlight of your week.
•    You call your pajamas your “work clothes.”
•    You’re so starved for human contact you go to the grocery store just to have real people to talk to.

•   The only way you know what the weather is like is by watching the Weather Channel.

These are extreme examples, but can you relate to a similar experience? While working from home as a virtual assistant or online professional provides great flexibility and convenience, it can sometimes be a little lonely. That’s why it’s crucial to have social outlets and a way of connecting with people who understand your profession and can support you in what you do.

Meetup groups are a great way to have offline events where VAs can meet socially and professionally with like-minded people in their industry to give each other moral support and help each other grow, build skills, and connect with clients.

These events can be organized through Meetup.com, a website that allows you to become a host of a Meetup group and plan offline events for members. For example, Ana Lucia Novak is the organizer of the Silicon Valley Virtual Assistant “sm” Meetup group, made up of local San Francisco Bay Area/Peninsula Virtual Assistants who live and work in Silicon Valley. These members meet once a month and have the opportunity to hear local speakers share their expertise about topics like Social Media Marketing, web design, virtual assistants and small business management.

Marit Fox, a member of this Meetup group, comments on the benefits of these monthly meetings:

“We are individual business owners that work solo. Frequently, our only outside communication is with clients. Connecting with peers within the industry gives me an opportunity to talk about things I deal with in running my business or in the work I am doing. I know my peers can relate and that has a lot of value. We may work alone but we are not in business alone. ”

So the next time you find yourself feeling isolated or looking for a way to network and meet potential clients, check out Meetup.com and see if there’s a group near you. If there isn’t, consider starting one up yourself. The Meetup.com website makes it very easy to create a group with a step-by-step process. A great starting point could be to connect with fellow Virtual Assistants through a social network like our VAClassroom Social Marketing Club and find out who lives in your local area.

Getting connected “in person” with like-minded colleagues might just be what the doctor ordered for your virtual business!

Planning For The Unplanned In Your Virtual Assistant Business

For those that follow my blog, you probably noticed that I have been “Missing in Action” for over a week! Well my life went into a temporary “tail spin” early last week as I needed to fly back to Canada to attend to an urgent matter. Needless to say, all my priorities and important business activities were shelved for the week!

Have you ever had one of those weeks, where you had a full plate of work priorities, tasks and deadlines only to have them to swept by the wayside as a result of an emergency or sickness?

Well, after this week, I realized that I have never really given a lot of thought to “Planning for the Unplanned”. As a Solopreneur, I have built my business around “me” and so when emergencies happen, work tends to not get done as I have not put in place the proper contingency plans!

So, the million dollar question…. How can you truly plan for those “unforseen events” in your life so that your virtual business stays on track?

Well, after processing this one a bit…. here are a few principles or ideas to consider when “Planning for the Unplanned”:

1. Find a “Delegation Buddy”.

For those of you that own a Virtual Assistance practice, it is good to align yourself with another virtual business owner who offers some similar services as yourself so that you can “scratch each other’s back” when those unplanned events surface in your lives. Yes, you might lose some earnings during that time, but the important thing is to continue to maintain a high quality service for your clients.

A “Delegation Buddy” might also come in handy during those fast-growth times in your business when your client base and projects are growing like crazy.

2. Define your Weekly Priorities.

A few weeks ago, we hosted an event with Freshbooks CEO, Mike McDerment titled, “Virtual Nirvana – How To Remain Inspired and Productive When You Work Alone“. In this webinar, Mike talked about the principle of laying out your weekly priorities on Sunday Evening before the week gets going. You want to clearly define what work activities are most important and MUST get done this week. I usually like to break my work tasks up into “Must Do” and “May Do” lists. The May Do would be great to get to, but not imperative that they get done that week.

Let’s say an emergency hits you on Monday (as it did with me last week)…By knowing those priorities that must get done, this helps you to know the minimum that you need to accomplish or possibly delegate to someone else. Of course, there will be times where this is not possible and you need to be honest with your clients that that the project deadlines just have to be pushed back temporarily.

3. Prep your “Emergency Email”.

Now, this might come across a bit “anal-retentive”, but you might want to go as far as prepping a “generic email” that basically says an “Urgent Matter” has arisen and that you will be out of the office for a specified period of time. Believe me, when a crisis or urgent matter hits you, it is hard to think and it is nice to have an email template in place to you can just copy and paste to your clients. Something to think about…

At the end of the day, emergencies and urgent matters will happen in your life, so you want to be prepared and ask yourself: “How would I keep my business moving in the right direction if I suddenly needed to step away for a week or so?”

These are things we just don’t think about until unforseen circumstances surface in our life.

Food for thought….

Honey, I Ran Over My Laptop!

Well, it is Friday and I thought I would finish the week off with a story that might amuse you or possibly horrify you. All events in this story are in fact TRUE!

Have you ever had one of those days where you find yourself a step below “ROCK BOTTOM”? I had one of those days about year ago. I was one week away from launching a brand new web business and had ton of things flowing through my mind in preparation for the big launch (At least, that is my excuse now:))

One fateful Friday night, we were visiting with my in-laws at their house and I had brought my laptop along to give them a tour of our new website. Just as we were about to head home, I remembered we needed to pack a couple boxes into the back of our van. Now, I had my laptop bag over my shoulder as I was carrying a rather heavy box. It was dark and I placed my laptop bag on the ground so I could open the rear door of our Van and load the box. I then went into the house to grab one more box, loaded it and shut the Van door. Now can pick up what I am missing at this point?

I jumped in the van, started in up, kicked it in reverse (to head home) and started to back up………

Then I heard THE NOISE!! It was a gut-wrenching sound – CLUNK! My wife immediately yelled “STOP, I think you hit a cat or something”. As I was opening the door to go to back to see what I hit, a VERY dark and horrifying thought filled my mind……..

I JUST RAN OVER MY LAPTOP  – AHHHHH!

Now, remember, I am one week away from launching a new business and ALL my plans and important docs/ files are on this laptop. The first question you probably have: “Did you back it up?” YES, I had about a week prior, but had loaded some important docs on it in the last couple days.

My wife came around the back of the van to have a look. She kept saying…. “I can’t believe you ran over your laptop”.

After a minor meltdown, I collected myself, put things into perspective and headed home!

Now, here’s the principle…….Don’t run over your laptop – it is not fun!

No, but seriously…. here is the principle….. In your Business, you WILL face adversity and set-backs that temporarily discourage or even crush you! It is OKAY to have a minor meltdown at that moment – totally natural. But after your meltdown, the next response is the one that matters! Are you going to give up? Not a chance! It is not the point of adversity that defines you or determines your future outcome, it is how to choose to respond to the adversity that matters!

Interestingly enough…. I took my “pancake” laptop to my computer guy and surprisingly he was able to recover my hard drive:) Buy Toshiba – they apparently can handle being run over by a 1 ton van!

I remember saying to my wife after I had run over the laptop  – “Let’s keep this between the two of us”! Well, only a VERY small group have ever heard this story, but I was having a vulnerable moment today and thought I broadcast it over the NET:)

Enjoy your weekend and be sure back up your computers!

Obstacles Virtual Assistants Face While Working Alone

As many of you know, we are running a “much anticipated” webinar event tomorrow (Thursday, August 7th at 2pm EST) with Freshbooks CEO, Mike McDerment titled:

“Virtual Nirvana: How to remain inspired and productive when you work alone.”

Over the past week or so, we have been asking Virtual Assistants about the obstacles they are currently facing as Solopreneurs and have received some very interesting responses such as…..

- Concerns over getting new clients (a very common one).

- Learning to put plans on paper rather than “Flying by the seat of my pants”.

- Time Management issues – when I am “at home” , I am not at the office and feel like I need to be always working (Common work/life balance issue)

- Challenges getting my name out there.

- Challenges deciding where to focus my marketing efforts and sticking to it.

- Struggles in filtering the noise with all the things I need to do for the business.

- Confidence in abilities (new Virtual Assistant).

- Isolation, distractions within my home office.

- Feeling that my virtual work intrudes on my spouse, my home – hard to get away from work, spend more time working than enjoying life.

- Challenge keeping track of “To dos” and priorities.

- Worry too much about client work (Should I have done this , Are they going to be happy with this etc – mind never slows down…).

- Take on too much and then get overwhelmed.

- Keeping motivated

Can you relate to any of these obstacles? I sure can! I have been working as a Virtual Business Owner and have had to certainly overcome a few of these obstacles in the past few years.

We have taken all the feedback we have received and have incorporated it into tomorrow’s webinar to make it as relevant as possible. We also want to make the event as interactive as possible, so bring your questions!

Oh, one last thing… Freshbooks will be providing a $25 discount coupon code to all participants on the call towards one of their small business billing software packages. PLUS, we will be giving away one “Pure Digital Flip” camcorder sometime during the call.

Here is the link to our webinar page – hope to see you there!

VAClassroom Event Page

VAClassroom Teleseminar for Virtual Assistants, Solopreneurs and Small Business Owners

I just wanted to let you know of an exciting free webinar event we are hosting at VAClassroom on Thursday August 7th at 2pm (EST) of this week.

I have to say that I am unusually excited about this event! Let me tell you why…

My friends at Freshbooks have graciously loaned their CEO Mike McDerment to us for an hour so he can share some powerful insights on:

“Virtual Nirvana: How to Remain Productive and Inspired When You Work Alone.”

You see, Mike is a serial Entrepreneur who has already led two successful Internet start-ups before his roaring success with Freshbooks.com. When he first started out he was not as fortunate to have the talented staff he now has with Freshbooks – he was a “Lone Ranger.” Mike has experienced firsthand the “Good, Bad, and Ugly” of working as a Virtual Solopreneur, like many of you!

Our intent with this webinar is to help re-charge your Virtual Business batteries and keep you engaged and passionate about the work you do!

Now, Mike and his Team at Freshbooks.com have graciously offered a $25 discount coupon on their small business billing packages for every participant on the call, which is awesome.

Also, our team at VAClassroom will be giving away a “Pure Digital Flip Camcorder” to one of the webinar participants on the call, so be sure to stick around until the end! I own The Flip and have used it for all my videos on YouTube – excellent tool!

To claim one of the 300 spots for this webinar event, just sign-up at the below link:

http://www.vaclassroom.com/teleseminar.aspx

Also, you will be able to access this event via the web at:

http://www.vaclassroom.com/instantteleseminar.com

This is going to be a great event and we look forward to seeing you there!

The “Time Tracking” Challenge for Virtual Assistants

Over the past couple weeks, we have received many responses to our question (on the optin form at VAClassroom), “What is the greatest challenge facing your Virtual Assistant Business today?” We will be reviewing these common challenges in the next few posts to come.

A couple subscribers admitted that one of their ongoing challenges is effectively tracking time for the different clients they work with. You might be thinking… tracking time is a piece of cake – just wear a watch, use a stop clock and you should be fine…

Yes, it may seem simple, but with short Instant messenger chats, calls on your cell phone, quick email questions from clients, the tracking of time can start to become a little murky, especially if you are a busy VA with multiple clients and projects on the go simultaneously! I know with the VAs I work with, I will often “Skype” them a quick question and have a little chat – they need to keep track of these little chats, calls, emails that they do on a daily basis for many different clients.

Well, here are three ideas to help manage this time tracking challenge…

1. I would recommend being upfront with your clients on your minimum time intervals for any task or inpromptu question they may have. In other words, you might set a minimum time interval of 10 minutes (or whatever you decide), so if you have a quick skype chat with a client, you will bill them at a minimum of 10 minutes of work. Again, it is important to be clear on this with client’s upfront so they don’t think you are padding the invoice:).

In the name of building long-term relationships with clients, you might also consider not charging for that occassional quick chat – that could go a long way to keeping a happy client as along as it does not become too frequent!

2. Another strategy for managing the time tracking issue is to shut off MSN, Skype, Cell Phones, PDAs when you are working on a specific client’s project in order to make your time tracking a little more cut and dry. I know this is easier said than done at times, but do you best to focus on one project or task at a time – this will help to maximize your productivity as well.

3. Invest in a Time Tracking Solution. There are a number of cool time tracking applications you can use to keep track of clients’ works on a minute by minute basis. I personally like FreshBooks as it also offers the billing and payment features for managing your clients invoices and payments.

FreshBooks enables you to track time across specific client tasks and projects as well as tracking the time of any staff you may have working on the same project. This is particularly useful for Multi-VA firms. I also like the accountability piece in which you can provide your client access to your Freshbooks account so they can monitor their budget and project activities. I think this adds a level of professionalism and credibility to your business efforts.

If you haven’t already, be sure to sign up for our “VA Business PowerPack Contest” at VAClassroom.com as we have included a one year subscription to Freshbooks!

Virtual Assistants “Lessons Learned” -Interview #1

I want to introduce a new interview series we are launching called : “Virtual Assistants – Lessons Learned“. This series will feature experienced Virtual Assistants discussing their current successes, challenges and the lessons they have learned along their Virtual Journey thus far.

Now, I don’t know about you, but I never get tired of listening to industry peers share some of their successes, failures and lessons they have been taught. I have personally been involved in Internet Marketing for the past five years and I love to listen to webinars or podcasts from other marketers sharing their stories – some of the best “ah hah” moments I had in my business came from hearing others talk about your experiences and challenges!

So, without further adieu, I want to introduce our first Interview with the founder of UltimateBizAssistant.com, Frances Palaschuk. Frances has been working in her Virtual Assistant business for less than one year, but has been able to quickly build a thriving business due to a couple key strategies she discusses in this interview. So, take a listen to the below interview and please leave all your comments and feedback – we love to hear from you!

Virtual Assistant Interview 1

The Intrinsic Qualities of a Successful Internet (Virtual) Business Owner

In my previous post, we talked about the wonderful freedoms of being a Virtual Business Owner. While we have certainly enjoyed many freedoms, there have also been a good share of challenges and “gut-check” moments that have stretched my skills and intestinal fortitude beyond what I thought was possible.

I am always fascinated by the rise and fall of Internet Start-up companies and why some succeeed and others fail. The same applies for Virtual Assistant Business Owners – why do some VAs seem to experience a continual dose of growth and success in their business where as other flounder and float along? Well, there are certainly many reasons for this, but today I want to specifically look at a few of the intrinsic qualities or elements that are commonly held by successful Internet (Virtual) Business Owners. (Again, there are ALWAYS exceptions to the rules, but this is what I have seen based on my own observations and experiences).

1. A Significant Purpose

For those embarking on the volatile journey of starting an Internet Business (Virtual Assistant Business), I believe there has be a highly significant purpose, motivation or expected outcome for starting this new business. Without a clear purpose or motivation driving the Internet Entrepreneur, I believe that when the “storms hit”, they will be more likely to crumble, then the entrepreneur that has a clear purpose that defines what they are doing.

For example; your purpose might be tied to the new found freedoms and opportunities a Virtual Assistant Business might have for you and and family. You might see this Internet opportunity as providing some financial stability in your current situation. A significant purpose whatever that might be will give you what you need to successfully navigate the stormy waters that often comes with new Internet Businesses. Again, with no significant purpose, I think the endeavor is more likely to falter. (IMHO!)

Now, here’s an interesting debate…..Is the desire to be filthy rich and famous a significant purpose that drives the succesful Internet Entepreneur? While I am sure that some Internet Business Owners have been driven to success solely by their ambition for wealth and fame, no doubt…. I personally don’t classify the ambition for wealth as a significant purpose. Furthermore, I think that many Internet Entrepreneurs with that sole focus of making money may not effectively handle the stormy waters when they come, as they won’t have any significant purpose that propels them to rise above their adversity. Again, people might disagree with me on this, but that is my perspective and experience.

2. An Extraordinary Portion of “Sticktuitiveness”.

Now, this certainly can be tied to #1, but from my own experiences, I believe the successful Internet Entrepreneur has an extra measure of perseverence (sticktuitiveness) to overcome the obstacles that can often come with starting a new virtual business. “I give up” is not really apart of their vocabulary and they seem to actually have the ability to increase their focus and intensity when the going gets tough.

I am an avid sport fan and love watching athletes that have the rare ability to elevate their game to new heights when faced with adversity. If you have ever watched Tiger Woods go into the 4th round behind at a major PGA event, you will see a mental toughness and focus like very few people have as he single handedly propels himself to the winner circle. Similarly, I believe that successful Internet Entrepreneurs have an extra measure of mental toughness and focus to effectively manage the set-backs, disappointments and everyday adversity they experience in their businesses.

3. Clear Recognition that Pitfalls are a part of the Journey.

A successful Internet Business Owner does not have a “pie in the sky” mentality, but is realistic about the inevitable pitfalls that will come along the journey. For many, their ability to overcome some of the big pitfalls or setbacks has served as a springboard, catipulting them towards great success. I know from my own experience, the set-backs we have overcame in early days of our first Internet Business were real milestones and “defining moments” in our journey.

It is important to keep clear mental notes of the little and big victories you experience in the early months and years of your Virtual Business as they will help to sustain you during future set-backs and disappointments.

4. Ability to Adapt on the fly.

A successful Internet Business Owner needs to be pliable like clay and easily adapt to new challenges, changes and opportunites in a rapidly evolving Internet Landscape. This rings true for the Virtual Assistant industry as the needs of your Internet Clients continue to evolve at rapids rates and you need to continually learn new skills in order to remain competitive!

5. Adopting a Internet Business Champion

So, what do I mean by that? Well, from my own perspective, I believe that Virtual Business Owner needs at least one person that champions their business endeavor. This person will be their #1 encourager, supporter and regular supplier of “reality checks.” For myself, this person is my wife. I certainly have a share of family and friends that have been hugely supportive, but my wife has been the stabilizing force and champion for our business endeavors especially during a few of the dark days. While some entrepreneurs maybe so independent they don’t require a “Champion”, I think the average person needs a sounding board or individual they trust that will give the encouragement and support they need to endure some of the difficult times. I can honestly say that without my “Internet Business Champion”, I am not sure I would have been able to overcome a few of the obstacles we experienced!

So, those are just a few of the Intrinsic elements that make up a successful Internet Business Owner. I am sure there are many more and I would love to hear from you as to some of the other qualities and characteristics that should be added to this list.

The Freedoms of Virtual Business

Check out our video on some of the freedoms we are currently enjoying in our Virtual Business. Send us your thoughts!