One of the most frequently asked questions I get about being a creative virtual assistant is how you should market it. There are so many different platforms and ways to market your business, but you might not know which are the best! While every virtual assistant business will be different, a few marketing staples are great for all levels of business.
One of the biggest mistakes I see new creative virtual assistants make is that they simply don’t promote their business. They put up one Instagram post and hope that leads come in. And while I wish that were true, the simple fact is this: you have to prove your business.
I know that the idea of putting yourself out there when you first open your business is nerve-racking. I know that it might be a little scary. When you are a business owner, sometimes you have to get vulnerable and talk about yourself. And you have to be willing to talk about your business. And you have to be willing to network! So today, I am sharing the top 5 easy ways to market your creative virtual assistant business!
Have A Social Media Presence
When it comes to picking the right social media platform for you, ask yourself, “What platform do my clients use?”. For my business, where I work with wedding professionals, that is Instagram and Facebook. For boutique owners, that might be solely Instagram. For coaches, that might be LinkedIn. Take a look at your ideal client, and be on the social media platforms they are on.
The biggest tip for this is not just putting all of your eggs in the social media basket. A comprehensive marketing strategy is not just on Instagram or Facebook. It is all about having your marketing touch various points! If Instagram or Facebook go down, would you still be able to find clients? If the answer is no, then you need to focus on other marketing channels as well.
Network Online
One of the best ways to get clients will be through networking. While this is a longer-term strategy, it is the most important. In my own business, 60% of our leads are just from word of mouth! So even if you are a brand new creative virtual assistant, I want you to focus on networking online.
Connect with your community through forums, Facebook groups, social media posts, and LinkedIn groups. One of my weekly marketing tasks in my business is to scope Facebook groups I am in for people who need assistance. Now, here is the thing: I don’t just advertise my services. I provide valuable engagement and easy solutions that people need.
For example: If a wedding planner asks how to use Pinterest, I will give a few quick tips to get them started. I provide answers again and again, so eventually, I become the expert in the group. And over time, people started to reach out for my services! We get 2-3 leads per month in my business just from Facebook Groups.
Network In-Person
Don’t discount local, in-person networking to boost your business! The more ways that you can get your name out there, the better! While in-person meetings have been difficult in the last year, many still offer online versions.
A few I love:
- Local Chambers of Commerce Groups
- Tuesdays Together
- Meetup.Com
The key to in-person networking is to have an elevator pitch ready to go, so you can share what you do and who you serve quickly. Like online networking, this is a longer-term strategy. You might not get clients right away, but as people start to spread the name of your business, you will get clients!
In my own business, the first three clients I had were people I knew in person! And thanks to my local Tuesdays Together community, I was able to get a lot more clients over the years.
Optimize Your Website + Blog
Your website and blog are essential pieces to this marketing puzzle. Your website is where you will lead your potential clients to. The goal of your website is to convert visits into paying customers! I have a complete blog post on the five things your website needs, so visit that here!
Once you have a website, you also need a blog. As I talk about in this blog post, blogging is one of the best ways to increase your SEO. Search engines like Google can “see” your website through your blogs! Search engines crawl your site, reading it to see what it is about. So one of the best ways to market your business is on your blog! Create topics around the questions your ideal audience is asking.
If they are wedding photographers looking for a Pinterest Pro, write topics all about Pinterest for wedding professionals.
If an online coach looking to grow their course, write topics around course creation and marketing.
Learn more about starting a blog, here!
4 Easy Ways To Market Your Creative Virtual Assistant Business
Whether you are in your virtual assistant journey, there is one important tip: always continue to market your business. These are all important pieces in the marketing puzzle, from talking about it in-person, to online groups, to social media, to mastering your website and blog. It’s about diversifying your marketing to cover a variety of platforms your ideal client is on!
That is why I have a complete lesson in The Creative VA School, all on pitching yourself and your business. I know it can be a lot to think about, so we cover all of the different pitches and how to write them in my course. Looking to learn more about The School? Click here to learn more!
