Developing a Virtual Assistant Niche / Expertise A...

When you setup your VA business, one of the things you will quickly hear people talking about is the idea of a niche or a target market. There are two schools of thought when it comes to virtual assistance businesses.

The first says that choosing a niche is smarter – that you will be able to focus on a specific target market, industry or client type and attract more business.

The second says that targeting a wider audience will bring you in more business and that instead of diversifying your niche, diversify in your service offerings. For example, becoming known as a creative firm versus an administrative one.

I prefer a combination of both.

It is important to develop an idea of your ideal client and create an ideal client profile. That way, when you develop your copy, website offerings, etc. you can write it to a specific person versus an unknown person.

If you haven’t yet, create that ideal client profile and tape it or post it up somewhere in your office. Then, re-read your website copy and your marketing materials to see if it effectively speaks to that ideal client. If not, make some changes in your business now.

Increasing Visibility for Your Virtual Assistance ...

Help your business be found from miles away...

One of the questions I am asked most often by virtual assistants is, “How do I find more clients?” This question has many answers but the one I want to focus on today is this: be everywhere.

Being everywhere means making yourself accessible to clients in a variety of ways and in a wide range of places. Most people, when they setup their website, market to one or two avenues. Some choose a social networking site whereas others go to offline marketing methods.

However, the real key to success is embracing many different options in your marketing mix and making yourself known in as many places as possible.

So, what does this look like?

When you set out to market your virtual assistance practice, you want to take into consideration the following avenues to both market your business and make connections. Not every location is going to lend itself nicely to a marketing and sales pitch. Some avenues are better to simply create a presence in and form relationships.

Here are some of the places you need to be in order to be marketing your business effectively.

• Social media (Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, etc.)
• Blogging (create your own blog on WordPress to start and ask other bloggers if you can submit a guest post to them)
• Article submissions (write articles about delegating and submit them to EzineArticles.com)
• E-mail marketing (build your own list so that you have a captive audience to send messages to over and over again)
• In-person networking (attend local events to drum up local business)

If you aren’t doing some of these things in your business, start today! Create a monthly marketing plan and implement at least one method per month.

VAs: Learn to Rock the Blog Tour, Establishing You...

Once again — before I start writing this — I just have to say how much I love Erin Blaskie. There is a whole back story here. Some years ago, I joined Erin’s team as her transcriptionist. What happened was I listened to all her teleseminars and webinars on creating a multi-VA practice as I typed out the pages. Think about this – she actually paid me to do that, when I would have done it for free! The knowledge stuck. I became quite Internet marketing-savvy myself and branched out into the niche of assisting authors with their online publicity efforts. Buh-bye transcription!

A lot of you might think it is very glamorous and fun to work with bestselling authors. Guess what? It is! Collaborating with these creative and talented writers is truly a joy, and I’m grateful I had the foresight (and a loving push from a wonderful author friend) to enter the field of assisting authors. And just a note here. Not every author I work with is a bestselling author. But in coordinating their publicity efforts, it’s certainly a goal I aim for.

What is the best tool to use in obtaining online exposure for a new book that’s been released? In my experience, it’s the book blog tour. A blog tour, in a nutshell, consists of scheduling a predetermined number of blogs to feature that book for a period of – let’s just say – about a month with reviews, author guest posts or perhaps q&a with the author. Let’s not forget a book giveaway to the blog’s readers as well! Some studies have shown that online word-of-mouth (WOM) is more effective than even social networking. While you want your authors to be on Twitter and Facebook as well, you definitely want them taking advantage of the exposure a blog tour affords.

But how do you really rock the blog tour? Hint: it’s in your relationships with the bloggers. These relationships begin the moment you pitch them, i.e., send them an email query asking them to consider reviewing your author’s book. I’m going to give you one solid tip here for you to always remember when writing out that pitch. Never, ever address these busy book bloggers as the dreaded “Dear Blogger.” If you take out time to research the blog – as you should, including carefully reading the Review Policy to check that the book you’re pitching is indeed in the genre the blogger enjoys – believe me, you’ll find out the blogger’s first name. Personalizing the pitch goes a long way towards developing a pleasant professional dialogue with discerning bloggers.

If you enjoy reading and working with creative types, or just want to add to your skill set, consider adding author assistance services to your offerings. I’m so glad I did, and have never once looked back.

VAs: We’re Going to Have a CONTEST!

Diane is going to give away one copy of her e-book, “Best Practices: Pitching Book Bloggers” to someone who comments on this blog post!

Just leave a comment about how the content of this book would help you in your business by Friday, May 21, 2011 and Diane will pick one random winner from that list!  Not sure how it would help?  Click on over to her e-book page (link above) and find out more!

Be sure to leave your e-mail address along with your comment so we have a way to get in touch with you!

About the Author

Diane Saarinen can be found at the Saima Agency (http://saimaagency.com) which specializes in author services such as book blog tours, virtual assistance, copywriting and book trailers. Their ebook, BEST PRACTICES: PITCHING BOOK BLOGGERS is available at http://bit.ly/et5fWu.