fbpx

VA Directory

VA Directory - Connecting clients with Virtual Assistants

AU: +61 437 889 400

It’s all about building relationships

You know, it is worth shopping locally – not just online. Yesterday I went down to our local fruit & veg because I knew today was going to be very hot. I go there weekly so the staff are getting to know my face. The owner recently had a birthday so I asked him if he had a good birthday? I saw it on their Facebook page. Then I commented on their new website and how lovely it is. They started asking questions about me, where I live, what do I do? I explained about being a Virtual Assistant and listed some of the things I do – just 3 or 4 things. As soon as I mentioned websites the owner stopped me and asked more questions. Then he told me I need to go see the owner of the butcher next door as he’s looking for someone to do a site for him.

I went next door but the owner wasn’t there so I asked for a sheet of paper and a pen and wrote a note, introducing myself and what I do. I  shop there regularly too. This afternoon the owner of the butcher shop rang me and I’m going in to see him next week to chat about creating his website.

Relationships – it’s all about building relationships. That’s what networking is about. When people see your face regularly they feel they know you and take interest in who you are and what you do. Who do you see regularly that needs to know more about who you are and what you do?

Benefits of outsourcing locally

Couldn’t have put it better myself. Great article here published with smallbusiness yahoo November last year.

It is very true that businesses do struggle to get everything done, and if they spend their funds on employing staff and having to put in place all the things that go with that, office space, equipment, furniture, and the employee overheads of sick and holiday leave, superannuation, taxes, etc, it’s no wonder they get strapped for cash.

But it does make sense to outsource your needs.  IT, bookkeeping, administrative support, web support, graphic design and so on.   As Marina says in her article, it makes sense to outsource these things and she gave a source to go to for that. Another place to look for most of these services (but not all) is the Virtual Assistant industry here in Australia.  The Australian Virtual Assistant Association has a list of Australian VA Networks where you can request for a VA or VAs to support you in your business.

You just have to look at what’s happening to different industries in Australia to know that outsourcing to other businesses here in Australia makes total sense.  For those in other countries who are VAs I encourage you to look at what’s happening in your own countries and start to make a noise about businesses outsourcing locally in their own countries. While there are good reasons to do business with others in another country, there’s a ton of sense about outsourcing whatever you can in your own country.  For us in Australia the catch cry is ‘Buy Australian‘.

I also run a VA Network attached to this blog.  Certainly happy to answer questions in the comments below or by direct contact.

How did you get your first client?

A question I’m often asked in different places. Usually by new VAs who are dead set keen to get their first client and not sure how to go about it.  I thought I’d share how my first clients came about and encourage readers to add theirs as well.

For me it was 1994.  I was telling everyone I knew what I was planning to do… leave my job and start up my own secretarial business at home. A man at my church came and asked if I could do some typing for him and that was my first job. Only a few pages but it was a start.  I was asked if I could help with the church newsletter – that was unpaid but again, I thought that people would get to know what I was capable of doing. Not long after that a lady told me that the company she’d just started working with needed someone 2 days a week to do their typing, manage their database and prepare letters.  It meant I had to do it onsite but I was fine with that. It meant I was getting work and getting paid and spent some time learning how other people operate. Always good to get some experience in different areas. That role lasted two years.  Not long after that a Minister at the head of the church office asked if I could assist him and I would do his letters, other documents and manage the database.  That was also 2 days a week.  Things started rolling along nicely.

About six months after I began my business a lady who had met me months before at a conference rang to see if I was still doing…?  And I told her I was. She became my first truly virtual client and I did PowerPoint presentations, database management and workshop manual typing for her.

So, what can you draw from that information?  Speak to everyone you know and let them know what you plan to do, or are doing? It was the personal connections that brought me my first clients and I still maintain the effort to network locally today too.

Where does all your business come from?

This is a question asked at VA Forum recently and the person posting the question specifically wanted to know if everyone was getting all of their business via LinkedIn (where the forum is).  There were a variety of answers that responded with some saying yes and others saying no.

I believe the answer is that it would be unusual for ALL your business to come from the one avenue, even if people are using it as a networking tool.  Why? Because they should be doing a variety of networking, rather than just in one place. I’m a firm believer in face-to-face networking as well as online networking. Networking locally means you get to learn about what is happening with business locally, how local govt may, or may not be supporting small business, how locals are dealing with economic factors, you can locate local resources and services for your business (such as computer support, printer and cartridge suppliers, office supplies, Accountant, etc) and become the person that others come to locally when they need assistance. And no person should be staying inside their own four walls full time. We all need to be getting out and about, stretching our legs, getting fresh air. But apart from that, networking with others will invariably generate referrals and word-of-mouth marketing, especially once you began doing work for others.

Sometimes it’s a bit like the chicken and the egg, which comes first? The networking or the client? But the client has to find out about you first and that means you have to be visible and be heard. Only way for that to be possible is for you to hang out where the prospective client hangs out. Local social and business groups, i.e. Rotary, Lions, BNI, Chambers of Commerce, local council, school, sporting clubs, churches, other types of activities. Where people congregate they also talk, and through that process at some time, people are going to ask what you do. Make sure you spend more time finding out about what they do so you can build up a picture in your mind how you can help them through your business.  The same applies online.  But don’t put all your eggs in the one basket. Make sure you do a variety of networking in different places and spend time letting others get to know you. It will pay off!

About

A Clayton’s Secretary T/as VA Directory was established in March 1994 by
Kathie M. Thomas.

Payment Information

Most of our VAs accept PayPal, major credit cards and/or EFT for payments.

Any transactions performed from this site are via a third party SSL server to ensure your privacy.

Connect With Us

VA Directory
PO Box 566
Emerald, Vic, 3782, Australia

P: +61 437 889 400

Terms & Conditions

Please note: Anyone scraping contact details from our site for the purposes of spamming, adding to lists, etc, will be reported.

Powered by WishList Member - Membership Software