You’re a VA, and like it or not, there are thousands of VAs… Notice I didn’t say, “There are thousands of VAs just like you” because that’s not true. However, if you present yourself like everyone else or play it safe in your marketing, then you might as well be just like everyone else.
The key to attracting high quality clients and to having a profitable VA business is to stand out from the crowd.
You do that in two ways:
1. Market authentically
2. Reveal the true you
The cool part is that both those things go together.
If you’re truly marketing authentically – what feels right, what you believe in, what you stand for, what you’re passionate about, what services you offer that really solve problems – then it’s going to reveal the true you. And if you’re a tad bit vulnerable and let people see the real you, then you’re marketing authentically.
So, what gets in the way of marketing authentically?
1. Fear that you’re going to turn people off. You’re not for everyone. You’re not everyone’s ideal VA. (And everyone is not your ideal client.) It’s better to quickly weed out those who are not a good fit and really home in on the ones who are. What you really want is for people to go, “She so gets me! I want her!”
2. Fear that people will think you’re too pushy. Marketing sometimes gets a bad rap, but that’s only if you’re marketing in a smarmy, manipulative way. Letting people know how you can help them is not being pushy. Giving them real information is what they want.
3. Fear that you’re not including everyone if you narrow your marketing. This is actually a good thing. It’s much harder to write a single marketing piece that appeals to all genders, all ages, all professions. Once you narrow down your market, it actually makes marketing so much easier.
4. Fear that you’re a fraud. You have something to offer. You aren’t like every other VA. You can do tasks A, B, C that other VAs can’t do or can’t do as well. Or you have a specific set of skills and past experiences that you bring to your VA practice and your clients – every day. You deserve to claim your brilliance.
If you can get over these four fears, your marketing will be easier, more productive, and maybe even fun. And then it all snowballs, and you’ll see those results in your business.
Here’s to the real you!
Contributed by: Dawn Goldberg