How to Start Your Virtual Assistant or Freelance Business

THE 7 DAY BUSINESS JUMP START PLAYBOOK

• Day one- Decide 3-5 services you can offer

• Day two- Decide on a price point

• Day three- set up your website and purchase your URL

• Day four- set up your Linked in & either submit for one remote virtual assistant position or reach out to someone you think might need a VA

• Day five- Make it legal

• Day six- Promote Promote Promote

• Day seven- Download the brochure, customize it, and get it mailed out to as many local businesses that you can!

If I focus solely on my "ideal client" or "target market' does that mean I miss working with everyone else?

Absolutely not!

Just like the story in the video points out, knowing exactly who you're talking to makes it easier for your dream client to say yes!

Be sure to check out the downloads and do your homework. It might feel cheesy, but it is so important to know who you are marketing to.

I would argue LinkedIn is an even more valuable tool than having your own website. Frankly, if I need a new client, I know I can market myself hard on LinkedIn and have a new one in a week.

You have a few options when doing this; you can send out cold messages (I have done this and actually been successful, so don't knock it 'til you try it!). I also left you a cold email script in the downloads, so be sure to check that out!

Or you can apply for jobs in the jobs section that I show you in the video. Once you have your profile done, applying is really easy, and many places allow you to submit for projects using one click with "easy apply" (Not all jobs use it, but some do!)

*However, do not use easy apply if your profile is not displaying you and your services, as the recruiter or potential client will be sent directly to your profile for review.

Another LinkedIn tool you can use is LinkedIn's Sales Navigator. This will allow you to type in your ideal client's attributes (e.g., female, CEO, entrepreneur, etc.), and SN will give you a list of all the people on LI that fall under your filter, so you can personally reach out and see if they need any help with their business!

^^A word of warning about Sales Navigator, however, is that it costs about $50 or more a month. That being said, you do get your first month free, so I would recommend utilizing it to find leads for your business for your first month and canceling before your trial expires.

Your local Chamber of Commerce is SO HELPFUL for new businesses. They want you to be successful, and they will have tons of networking opportunities so you can start meeting your ideal clients!

I recommend reaching out to them ASAP!

https://calendly.com/

^^ Link to join Calendly free.

There are tons of platforms that allow you to schedule posts to social media for your clients. This allows you to do all the scheduling in one day instead of logging in to their social accounts and posting daily on their behalf.

The top social media scheduling platforms I have used are:

Tailwind, Hootsuite, and Agora Pulse. However, there are TONS that a client can choose from. However, they all more or less accomplish the same things, offering the ability to schedule to social media.

However, something to note is that Facebook has its own scheduling tool available to business accounts, so if your client has a business account you are managing on FB, you can schedule posts to both their FB account and their Instagram account.

Click funnels and Get Response are both email marketing platforms that are very popular. There are many others, but they are all similar in function, and it's one of those things where if you know one, you know them all. Other email marketing and funnel sites include:

• Active Campaign

• ConvertKit

• Mailchimp

• Constant Contact

With all these sites, you can create what's called an email sales funnel as well as just sending out emails. "An email funnel is a representation of how a subscriber goes from prospective lead to a customer through educational and promotional email communications. For effective email funnels, marketers have to anticipate the subscriber's needs to send an email at the right time to elicit action."

Your client will utilize their email funnels to nurture their relationship with their audience. More than likely, your clients will delegate these tasks to you.

A few terms to be familiar with include:

Form: A form is an opt-in box embedded on your website or set to pop up on pages.

Landing page: a landing page is a single page that customers are sent to for content.

Autoresponder: An email marketing tool that automatically follows up with your customers with a series of emails sent at scheduled times.

Conversion funnel: is an eCommerce term that describes the different stages in a buyer's journey leading up to a purchase.

Tracking the hours that you work accurately is, as you can imagine, a huge draw for potential clients.

Clients and potential clients will be concerned about being billed accurately, so the most important thing is NOT the software you choose to use, but that you have a clear method of tracking time and can explain that clearly to a client.

I personally use a program called Tsheets by Quickbooks. I use this one because it is free for many entrepreneurs (depending on the services they offer their clients), and it integrates perfectly with Quickbooks. (the accounting software I use for myself and my clients)

However, there is absolutely no right or wrong when choosing your method and software, as long as it works for you!