Virtual Assisting has become one of the most exciting and rewarding home-based businesses.  What a privilege it is to be a part of such an evolutionary industry that continually grows and offers new opportunities and rewards for those coming into the business and those veteran pros as well.  Marketing your Virtual Assistant business can be a rewarding adventure, providing you with permanent clientele and additional profits.

Here are some marketing ideas to help grow your virtual assistant business:

Tip #1 – Fill a need. Be aware of what your clients need even before they tell you.  What can you do that will make their business better? What skills do you possess that sets you apart that would meet the needs of your potential clients?

Tip #2 — Find a mentor or a coach. Find someone who already has gone before you and knows what works and what doesn’t.  Why make the same mistakes, when you can avoid them and learn the best ways to do things.

Tip #3 – Market to Your Existing Clients:  Your existing clients already know the caliber of work that you do so let them market for you.  Always do your absolute best for them and they will keep you around for a long time and they will tell others.

Continually tell them of new services or features.  Send out a newsletter or even a tip of the week to keep your name in front of them.  And when was the last time you called or emailed them ”Hey, how are you doing?  How’s business going?”  A personal, “What’s been happening” call can or email can make a very favorable impression.

Tip #4  - List Tips on Your Website: One of the ways to prove your expertise is to list on your website the things you know.  This shows your clients and potential clients that you know what you are talking about.

Tip #5 – Get involved on Social Networks:  Getting active on Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, and others not only helps you connect with others, but puts you front and center to potential clients.  Provide useful information and post regularly.

Tip #6 — Add a P.S. to your Signature Line: We all know how important that signature line is for your business success. Here’s a simple way to make it even more profitable–Add a P.S. to your e-mail messages. You can offer your clients additional discounts or let them know about a new service.  Did you just get a new VA certificate?  Tell them! This can be a perfect opportunity to perhaps toot your horn a little.

Market your way to success in your business!  And lastly, enjoy your marketing.  When clients see that you enjoy what you’re doing, they want to do business with you.

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Diana Ennen and Kelly Poelker are the co-authors of numerous books including Virtual Assistant: the Series, Become a Highly Successful, Sought After VA and accompanying Virtual Assistant the Series Workbook, and Virtual Assistant – The Series: Working Virtually, A Guide to Working Remotely as an Employee.  For complete information on starting your own VA business, stop by  http://www.virtualwordpublishing.com.  Article is free to be reprinted as long as the author’s bio remains intact.

We all realize how Virtual Assistants have revolutionized the way we work today.  Most businesses now count on their Virtual Assistant the same as they used to count on their secretaries, only so much more.  VAs are a prized and respected part of their client’s team, and unlike secretaries, who often were taken for granted, Virtual Assistants are praised for their professionalism and skills.  Most businesses today can’t imagine where they would be without their VA.  And as the potential for success in a virtual assistant business continues to explode, so does the need for good Virtual Assistants.

Today’s Virtual Assistants need to take pride in their business and also to learn as much as they can about their niche, which is the specialty they have chosen to specialize in. One niche that I highly recommend is to offer publicity and marketing services to clients.  This is an area that is growing in leaps and bounds as more and more authors, businesses, and other professionals realize the need to market their business to get good publicity.  A business can expand tremendously when hiring a Virtual Assistant to help them spread the word about their products or services.  Also, authors today aren’t aware that once they write a book, that’s when the real work begins.  They need to get the word out about their book in order for it to be successful.  That’s where a good Publicity Virtual Assistant comes in.

Publicity and marketing is thrilling to say the least.  There’s such a great rush when your client gets recognized in national magazines, or a TV station wants to do a segment on them and you helped them achieve this success.  Or better yet, when your efforts start resulting in substantial increased sales for them.  Clients will not only keep using your services, but also tell others about this new positive addition they have to their business. And best yet, you too get to feel that satisfaction as you are helping them achieve their goals.

One of my most successful tips is learning how to effectively use any publicity that a client receives.   When clients get national attention in a magazine, newspaper, or TV Segment, or even on a popular website, it’s important to make sure that everyone is aware of this. A press release should immediately go out to announce their accomplishment.  This release should be added to their website and also should go to all their local papers, radio stations, and TV networks.  Media loves to highlight a success story of their locals, so make sure you get this out there as soon as you can.  And you don’t have to wait for the publicity to happen.  If your client lands a major TV segment, you can start sending this press out beforehand in order to get more media for when the event happens. You just want to make sure that the client is fairly confident the segment will air.  Also, don’t worry if the segment gets bumped back, that often happens as breaking news takes priority.  This can almost be a blessing, as then you get to do more publicity before the airdate.

It’s also important to follow-up with the reporters and let them know how much you appreciate the acceptance of your quotes for an article.  When you go the extra step to show them your appreciation, they remember you when the next article comes up and they need help with more expert advice.  Many reporters work for multiple magazines so one good ally can lead to lots of media exposure.  Always keep your PR hat on.  Learn to take any situation and turn it into good press for your clients and your business as well. Stay on top of current events and see if you have anything to offer. Whenever a story hits the press that any of my clients would have a connection to, I’ll send it right away.  Having press releases already prepared for clients on their business is always a great help.  How do you know about these events?  Sign up for Google Alerts under the topics of interest and then whenever a story is written,  you can follow-up with your press release or article to the reporter.  It works!   I also use ProfNet from PRNewswire, which allows me to get daily leads from major news outlets.  You can also consider PRLeads.

It’s also important to learn how to write a good press release and article and also where to send those.  Make sure that your press releases and articles are newsworthy and also something that interests the readers.  When I write a release, I always think would I read this release?  Would it interest me?  If not, I doubt your target audience would be reading it either.  Plus, be careful to sound too promotional.  You can easily get your message across without sounding like an ad.

Publicity is a great niche for Virtual Assistants.  To learn more stop by my site at www.virtualwordpublishing.com or contact me for a free 10 minute call on PR tips or my free PR Informational Package.

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Diana Ennen and Kelly Poelker are the co-authors of numerous books including Virtual Assistant: the Series, Become a Highly Successful, Sought After VA and accompanying Virtual Assistant the Series Workbook, and Virtual Assistant – The Series: Working Virtually, A Guide to Working Remotely as an Employee. For complete information on starting your own VA business stop by http://www.virtualwordpublishing.com and http://www.vatheseries.com.  Article is free to be reprinted as long as the author’s bio remains intact.

Want to have the best relationships with your clients? As your grow your virtual assistant business, it’s important to build solid business relationships with your clients.  Then these clients will not only keep coming back, but also refer others to you.

Here are ten fun tips to help you establish a great working relationship:

#1 – Come Again? It’s critical to establish right from the beginning how you will handle the communications with your clients. If e-mailing, what is the standard turnaround time that you respond back to emails.  If phoning, what are your hours?  Once a client knows when they will hear from you, then they can plan their day and work accordingly.

#2 – No Surprises – Nothing is worse for a client than to discover four hours before you leave that you are heading out on a week-long vacation.  That’s stretching it a bit and you probably wouldn’t do that, but think about other ways you might be surprising your client and not giving them the advance notice they need.   Keep in mind that they are probably under pressure too to get their work done.  Always give as much advance notice as you can when things will disrupt the business flow.

#3 – Where’d She Go? For building good client relationships, try not to disappear off the radar screen.  Check in with your clients often.  When a client writes and they don’t hear back from you for days (or weeks), they fear the worst.  Even if you are working on a large project and the deadline is weeks away, e-mail them and let them know “All is going well.”  That builds confidence and security.

#4 – OOPS, Where Did That Come From? We’ve all been there.  You get the email from the client saying they found a typo or typos.  Ouch.  We can’t be perfect, but try and be as close as you can.  Proof and reproof your work.  Also, if possible wait until the material is fresh and reread it again.  Determine the time when you are at your best, and use that time to do your proofing.

#5 – Super Size It Please - Always give your clients more than they ask for.  You will be rewarded with not only more work, but lots of word of mouth referrals too.  And there are so many ways to do it.  For example, 1) Set up an Autoresponder for them so they can sell more products; 2) Set up Google Alerts under their topic or target audience so you can find websites or blogs that will help them spread their message; 3) Help them produce a newsletter or blog; 4) Send them more clients or referrals; 5) Ask them directly what you can do to better the relationship; and 6) Most importantly, listen to what they say. It’s so easy to get busy and listen with half an ear, or try and talk too much about your business.  Being a good listener is a valuable asset.

#6 – Short and Sweet – Make sure that all e-mail correspondence is typed accurately and is short and to the point.   With everyone having busy schedules, this helps your clients save valuable time. One thing you’ll discover is if you write too long of an e-mail often your main points will be missed.  This isn’t to say that you shouldn’t strive to get the answers you need, but keep in mind that their time is valuable and to use it wisely.

#7 – You Need it WHEN? – Determine exactly when work is to be completed or when the order is to go out.  This will save a tremendous amount of problems down the road if everyone is in agreement.  It’s also good to have a written contract. Be specific.  Once everyone knows what is expected, things run so much more smoothly.

#8 – My Dog Ate It – One thing you want to do is always try and make your deadlines and avoid excuses.  We all know that things come up and that’s okay if it happens occasionally.  However, if you make it a habit of needing additional time or not finishing projects, that client will fear sending you more work.  Not a good thing.

#9 – Saved by the Bell – Make it a point to back-up your work on a regular basis.  And test those backups.  Can you imagine even losing a week’s worth of work?  Your clients are counting on you to protect their work so you want to make sure it is.

#10 – Howdy Partner – Remember that you are establishing a partnership relationship with your clients.  You want to help their business grow because as you do, your business grows too.  Let them know you value them as a client and are glad that they have entrusted you with their work.  In other words, you appreciate them.  Also, let them know that you appreciate referrals so that they can help in your success.  It can be a two-way street with this partnership.

And finally, enjoy.  Start a friendship with your clients and let them know that you care about them.  Most of my clients today are good friends.  This isn’t to say that I’m not professional and don’t conduct myself professionally, as I do. However, I let them know that I’m also interested in them personally and how they are doing.  I take time to know their birthdays, their kid’s names, etc.  Think how you feel when something lets you know they care about you.

Hope you enjoyed these ‘fun” tips.  As our Industry continues to thrive, it’s important to earn the respect and trust of our clients and also fellow Virtual Assistants.  When you set up your business with the goal of doing a fabulous job, you’ll end up with fabulous clients, and fabulous friends.  It’s a win/win for all.

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Diana Ennen is the President of Virtual Word Publishing, www.virtualwordpublishing.com and the author of numerous books on starting a virtual assistant business including Virtual Assistant the Series: Become a Highly Successful Sought After VA and accompanying Workbook and also Corel WordPerfect’s Office Ready Virtual Assistant Solution pack.  E-mail her at diana@virtualwordpublishing.com to receive your free Business Informational Package.  Article is free to be reprinted as long as bio remains intact.