“Reese, my partner says I’m working all the time but our bank account doesn’t reflect it! I need a better plan, can you help?”
I remember when I started as a virtual assistant, I was SO worried about getting my Facebook page set up and having it look ALL profesh.
I was worried that my page didn’t have many followers and goodness knows I wasn’t keeping it updated because I was so busy with client work. To be honest, my FB page for my digital marketing business STILL looks this way.
A very wise woman once told me “People do business with people. Your humanity is your greatest and most unique selling point.”
That means if you’re stressed about keeping your social media accounts up-to-date with content that no one is reading, you can relax.
The best way you can gain traction for your virtual assistant business and start MAKING MONEY is to stop posting on social media and start joining conversations.
Start responding to people in groups who need help.
It doesn’t matter how many “likes” you have. It doesn’t matter how many “followers” you have. Those are all vanity numbers and those numbers don’t mean a damn thing.
Focus on ROI. Focus on making $.
That means each and every day do 2-3 things that will bring money into your bank account. Stop handling mindless tasks during your prime focused time. Start instead by writing down 3 things that will help you bring in money today.
Those three things are:
- Network
- Skill
- Scale
Let’s break these down.
Network: You have to create a large network so that you can create a wide net of potential referral partners AND potential clients. That means that you’ve got to go out and talk to at least 3-5 people. Get your name out there. I have a lot of friends who are also digital marketers like me and when they are at capacity and can’t help a new potential client, who do you think they refer them to? Yep….me. That’s because I’ve spent a lot of time developing the relationships I have with colleagues. If your answer is none and it’s not bedtime yet, go back and get it done. So, given all of this, who did you talk to today? How many people did you help today? If you didn’t get back to work.
Skill: No one stays stagnant. Not Bill Gates, not Warren Buffet, and certainly not Jeff Bezos. They stay on top of their game and are constantly learning. In fact, I think Bill Gates spends a majority of his day reading and learning and the rest of the day applying. I’d like you to spend at least 10 minutes a day learning a new skill or reading a book that has to do with your area of expertise. Ever wanted to learn PhotoShop or how to use an email marketing provider? Whatever it is, make it a #1 priority and don’t falter. Go out and find a course for a particular skill you’re looking to learn and invest in yourself.
Scale: So this is the one place that people lose their footing. Once you’ve started tasting a little bit of success, you ask yourself “what’s next?”. How can you make what you’ve built better so that you’re not chained to your desk at home and ended up hating the work you thought would be the answer to biggest dreams. Once you have a large network and you’ve acquired the right skills, it’s time to scale your business. This could mean bringing on a team, creating digital products to sell passively or creating an entirely new revenue stream from affiliate promotions (yes VAs can make a lot of money here!) There are so many ways you can scale a business but the first place starts with automation.
The most important thing to remember whether you are just starting out or you’ve been in business for a while is this.
Create processes and automation for your business so you can reduce the administration non-billable time you work so that you can use that time to generate more money.
So where can you improve? Do you need to focus more on building a network or on scaling? Hit comment and let me know.
xx, Reese
