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What's a Virtual Assistant?

A Virtual Assistant is a business owner who provides administrative support and specialized services to assist businesses and executives with their overflow. A Virtual Assistant can handle any task that is usually handled by an in house employee, but unlike an employee, a Virtual Assistant shares your goals to succeed in business -- we only succeed if our clients succeed.

How Are You Getting the Word Out?

Using a marketing campaign assists in getting all types of clients. Using the right marketing campaign will assist in getting the right clients for your business.

There is a variety of ways to market your business and we will discuss a few of those. Remember, though, marketing techniques that someone uses to target Real Estate businesses may not work for someone who is targeting individuals in construction --- the old saying “What works for one may not work for someone else”.

So, let’s look at some marketing techniques that you might think about using:

Press Releases
If you are starting a new business, planning an event, having a seminar, or anything that you think is newsworthy, write a press release about it. Not only does a press release get the information out about your announcement, your business name gets out there too.

Depending on your target market, you can send your press release to local newspapers or go online and submit it to specific geographical areas or internationally. There are a number of free press release sites online that you can submit to.

Internet
Market your business online by getting a Website. The cost for a domain name and a host is not a huge investment considering the advantages. You can also have a very simple site made at a very low cost too. If you have products that you are selling, add pictures of them to your site so that your target market can actually see them. At the very least your Website can act as an on-line brochure that you can direct your target market to.

Direct Mail
Direct mail can be a little costly as a marketing tool, but it can also be a very effective tool. Sending a personalized introduction letter, and maybe adding a small token, can get potential clients to remember you and your business. Just remember a very important rule of direct mailing is to give people a “call to action” or reason to keep your mailing and follow up with you.

Answering Machine Messages
Even though you may not be able to answer your phone, potential clients are still going to call you. Leave a message promoting your products or services or giving them a reason to actually leave a message.

Business Cards
Whoever you know or meet, hand them a business card. No! Hand them two business cards --- one for them and one to give to someone they know. If you hand two business cards to 25 people, you now have 50 business cards out there marketing for you.

Referral Rewards
If someone refers your business to someone and they become a client, offer the referrer a reward. It can be a flat dollar amount, a percentage from an invoice, a gift certificate, or maybe you offer them a certain number of hours free of your services. People are more likely to promote you and your business if there is something in it for you.

License Plates
Next time you order plates for your vehicle, why not do something catchy? For example, I could get a plate that says “ABLE-VA” for my Virtual Assistant business. You never know what you can come up with that people might remember.

Some other examples of marketing techniques would be:
- advertising in the yellow pages
- having a booth at a trade show
- advertising in the newspaper
- a sign on your vehicle
- cd-rom business cards with a presentation on the cd about your business
- and so many more!

Make sure that you also find a way to track your marketing efforts so that you know where your dollars are being best spent. Just don’t overextend yourself --- one good marketing campaign is better than several mediocre ones.

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