Tag: new clients

Collaborate With Other Virtual Assistants and Add New Clients

Posted on by Sue L Canfield

collaborate with other virtual assistantsIn a previous post we talked about adding new clients to your roster and how it might be possible. One way is to collaborate with other virtual assistants. How can you collaborate with another virtual assistant and how does this help you add new clients?

You may not feel you can add a new client because your workload is already at its limit. But if you had someone to help you out with the workload, you could add another client. There are other virtual assistants who may not have a full workload and could handle some of the work for you. These “sub-contractors” are great to collaborate with, usually get paid a fair but affordable rate, and provide high quality work.

My good friend, Colleen Schultz, has been a subcontracting virtual assistant for years. She writes a lot about subcontracting, how to become a subcontractor, and how to find a subcontractor. Visit her website, Savvy Subcontracting, to find out more.

I’ve been in both positions – both as a subcontractor and as a VA in need of a collaborator. It’s always been a win-win situation. It allowed me at one time to have nearly three dozen clients at one time and that year my business grossed more than ever.

Have you ever subcontracted or been a subcontractor? I want to hear from you!

 

Add a New Client Each Month This Year

Posted on by Sue L Canfield

Add 12 New clients to your virtual assistant business this yearMy first suggested goal for your virtual assistant business this coming year is for you to add a new client each month. That’s 12 new clients in 2014!

  • Is that realistic?
  • How can you go about finding new clients?
  • Can you handle the additional workload?

The answers to those questions depend on your specific business as it stands now.  Perhaps you are just starting your virtual assistant business and only have one or two clients. In that case adding 12 new clients this year may be just the thing you need. On the other hand you may already have your plate full or nearly full of clients. In that case you may have a goal of just adding one more client to your roster this year.

Even if you have a full plate, I strongly suggest you add one more to your roster. Why? We all know that clients can come and go quickly. If you have a bit more than you can handle right now, we’ll talk in another post at a later date about how you can collaborate with another virtual assistant and still be able to take on a new client. Then if you do lose a client during the year, you’ve got one that can fill that spot.

It is possible to find new clients. That’s the question most newer virtual assistants ask me when they come to me for coaching services: “How do I find new clients?” I’ve written lots about this before. My number one suggestion: ask your existing clients for referrals. Almost every client I’ve ever had knew a friend, business colleague, or someone else who needed some assistance. Ask your clients to refer your services to anyone they know and as an added-value, provide them with a free report to pass along when they refer your services. As an example, I have a free report I created for business owners who wonder how a virtual assistant can help them. It’s called 11 Ways a Virtual Assistant Will Help You Get More Done. Please download it for free and feel free to use it and pass it along.

So, if you get a new client every month, can you handle the additional workload? Putting systems and procedures in place to streamline your work will be very helpful. Additionally, collaborating with other virtual assistants can be just the key to having a large roster of clients. As I mentioned previously, I’ll be writing about that in another post at a later date.

Do you have other questions about adding a new client each month this year? I want to hear from you. Please use the comments section below to send me your thoughts, suggestions, and questions.

Watch for other tips in upcoming posts for your 2014 goals!

Getting New Clients through Word of Mouth Referrals

Posted on by Sue L Canfield

The first thing many newer virtual assistants wonder is how to get new clients. We’ve talked about this before in other blog posts and in our group coaching calls. I wanted to share with you what happened to me this week. Perhaps my story will help you understand how you can get new clients through word of mouth referrals.

I’ve connected with many great virtual assistants at FindVirtual. I’ve chatted via email or on the forums with many. One of the great VAs I’ve connected with is Vickie Turley. In fact, she’s even quoted in our book, The Commonsense Virtual Assistant – Becoming an Entrepreneur, Not an Employee.

Vickie recently released her book, What’s Love Got To Do With It?, How To Have The Perfect VA-Client Relationship. I contacted Vickie to ask her if she’d like to contribute copies of her book for the Client Communication Clinic for Virtual Workers in Vancouver. After several emails and a couple of phone conversations, we realized how well matched we were and that even though we are ‘competitors’, we could refer work to one another.

During the course of our conversations it came to light that Vickie needed a backup plan when she was unavailable to clients. All VAs should consider putting in place some sort of backup for when they need to go on vacation or are unexpectedly unable to handle their client work. After more conversation, Vickie and I came to an agreement and she hired me to be her backup as needed. In fact, she needed someone immediately since her client needed work done and Vickie was going to be leaving on vacation. So I now have a new client, as a backup for another VA, from connecting with Vickie.

Now her word of mouth referral has resulted in yet another client. Vickie told me about another VA who needed some assistance. Deb Howard Greenleaf needed some assistance with a variety of tasks so she could continue focusing on her tax and accounting business. Since Vickie and I had talked and hit it off, Vickie referred me to Deb. Deb and i had signed contracts for more than one project within a day.

So develop relationships and start referring people. You’ll find that you start getting new clients also from word-of-mouth referrals.