All posts in Email Marketing

6 Wildly Effective Ways to Grow Your VA Business and Get More Clients

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6 Wildly Effective Ways to Grow Your VA Business and Get More ClientsThe Virtual Assistance industry is consistently growing. Each day, new, optimistic VA’s are hyped and excited about what this lucrative industry may bring them. Unfortunately, through experience, I know that success in the VA industry is comparable to others in that it takes diligence, skill, expertise and a few “tricks”. There is numerous ways to grow your virtual assistance business online and offline. Although most VA’s understand the importance of gleaning clients and potential clients through online methods, few have been able to successfully “ace” it. Most spend countless amounts of hours per day, week and month, in a never-ending battle of “spinning their wheels”. Through trial and error, I’ve discovered 6 key ways that have proven to be highly effective for growing a virtual assistance business online and can also be used with other industries as well. Without ever having to leave the comfort of your living room chair, you can build your client base by strictly using the internet and or virtual means.

Number 1: Blogging

I love blogging! Its relaxing and a great stress reliever but its also a GREAT way to drive traffic to your website. The key is to create posts that will attract your target market or the individuals that benefit from your services the most. By using targeted keywords, creating and providing great content and blogging on a consistent basis, your ideal client will definitely find you.

Number 2: Articles

Although there is currently a discrepancy within the VA community as to whether article writing is still relevant, I continue to be a firm believer of its importance. Through sites such as My.EzineArticles.com, GoArticles.com and other high PR article sites, you are able to create awesome, high ranking links to assist in improving your overall SEO. Furthermore, utilizing these platforms can assist in target clients finding your website and services that you have to offer.

Number 3: Email Marketing

Email Marketing can be very tricky but its a must have of every marketing campaign. With the VA industry, email marketing can be considered to be a ‘holy grail’. There are numerous, popular quality email marketing platforms including Aweber, Constant Contact, Getaresponse, IContact and MailChimp. I currently use MailChimp for my newsletters, email marketing and autoresponders. It’s an inexpensive way to grow your email list and client base. With proper usage, email marketing can bring you new, exciting and eager clients.

Number 4: Social Media

Although there are many social media sites, whereas a new one is being created each day, the ‘big 3′ still remain; Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn. In addition to these, Pinterest is ever-growing statistically. Most VA’s get discouraged through the use of their Social Media campaigns because they fail to see a return on their time investment. The key to optimizing your social media campaign and actually gain clients from it is to focus on ‘socializing’, not selling. Social Media is a social venue and most participants are there to socialize, have fun and or obtain vital info. By focusing on helping your fans, followers or connections, and providing them with useful info to better their business, life, etc., they will love you for it and remember you. So the next time they are in need of a WordPress design, support task or other, they will consider you above all. Also, join various networking groups on these sites, answer questions, start conversations/discussions and institute other networking actions.

Step 5: Teleseminars/Webinars

One of the best and most popular ways to build your brand is through hosting Teleseminars and Webinars. With it, you can build a loyal client base as well. I know it may seem astounding at first or even intimidating but to combat that, consider hosting your first one with a skilled and experienced guest speaker. Once you start scheduling these, your followers and potential clients will start to see you as an industry expert. Becoming an industry expert is needed to truly build a competitive, lasting brand and client list.

Step 6: Outsourcing

You might see this one and wonder, “Outsourcing, I don’t understand how that will bring me more clients?” From experience, I can tell you that one of the best ways to grow your business is by outsourcing and subcontracting. You are limited to the amount of time, energy and work that you alone are able to do. By building a team or outsourcing, you have more time to spend on targeted areas of your business, building your client base, marketing, networking and more. We as virtual assistants should take our own advice that we oftentimes give to our clients and appreciate the importance of outsourcing. Some mistakenly believe that by outsourcing, they lose money. This is far from the truth. Also, by subcontracting for other VA’s in the industry, providing quality work and service, you are able to build a brand name among other VA’s who are often able give you work, referrals and more!

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Great Tool for Email Marketing – Newsletters

Great Tool for Email Marketing NewslettersAs a small business owner it is imperative to keep your company name in front of your current and potential clients. In fact, in marketing there is a rule called the “seven times factor”, which states a customer must see your product or company name at least seven times before they will even consider buying from you. This means it’s up to you to get your name out there without alienating your prospective clients. Email newsletters or E-zines (as they are commonly called) are a great way to start!

There are many benefits to using email newsletters as part of your marketing campaign. The top 10 are:

  • Builds Relationships: It’s clear that building a relationship with your clients is of paramount importance in these high tech times. The more technology plays a part in marketing the more important it becomes for you clients to feel you are a “real person”
  • Informative: Keep your readers/clients up to date on your latest business information.
  • Convenient: Your newsletters go directly to the client’s main information source. Their email inbox.
  • Timely: Clients receive information about your customer just as it happens, no delay.
  • Viral: People can forward your newsletters to others, getting your name/products in front of even more eyes.
  • Low Cost: The cost of sending an email newsletter in minuscule. It is a fraction of what it would be to send a newsletter with first class stamps.
  • Targeted Audience: It is crucial that you are targeting your marketing efforts to maximize your sales. An email newsletter is particularly targeted because your subscribers have opted-in, they have asked you to send them more information.
  • Tracking: With programs such as Constant Contact, AWeber, Mail Chimp, you can track any number of variables, from how many people are opening your newsletters to how many are clicking on links, and which links they are clicking on.
  • Customer Retention: Most businesses don’t lose customers because of pricing, but because customers don’t feel important. Staying in touch with customers via email newsletters will give you the personal touch needed to make your customers feel important and remain loyal to your business.
  • Immediacy: The speed of email is a wonderful asset. You can decide to have a “one day sale”, send out a special newsletter and have a successful sale, all in the same day.

Newsletters are an extremely valuable piece of the marketing puzzle. We produce successful newsletters for many of our clients!

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Open Sesame! – How to Get Your Newsletters Opened and Read!

Open Sesame! – How to Get Your Newsletters Opened and Read!So you have outwitted the SPAM Filters and the IT virus protection systems of the world . . . your newsletter got through. Now, you just have to make sure that the viewer actually opens your email – and reads it! Most email users subscribe to more than one email newsletter, but many do not actually read them.

Various factors determine your “open rate”. They are:

  • The “From Line” makes a difference. This may be the name of your company, or the name of an individual contact (like you – the owner, or your chief business development or sales person). You should test various From Lines, so that you can measure the relative open rates for each.
  • The Subject Line does matter. Curiosity beats familiarity. For example, instead of a Subject Line like “ABC Company November E-News,” a Subject Line that mentions a newsworthy item will get more attention and higher open success rate. Try not to make your subject lines general or vague. They should persuade, intrigue, or promote specific benefits.
  • Valuable, meaningful content is key. Make sure your content speaks to the needs of your customers – both current and potential. Provide nuggets of information, but do not give away your business. How do you know what your customers want to read about? Ask them, using a survey in the newsletter! As far as copy goes, you can position your newsletter three different ways: 1) towards a specific product, service, or application; 2) educating by delivering information that positions you or your company as an “expert”; or by 3) conveying any type of update or news related to you or your company.

In addition to the above suggestions for increasing the open rates of your newsletter, provide the opportunity for readers to share your newsletter with their friends and colleagues. Do this by using a click-through button or a forwarding function. This is an excellent source of free marketing and nothing speaks to your credibility like referrals. Don’t forget to also include several social media share buttons so readers can easily share your content with their Facebook, Twitter & LinkedIn networks.

Once your newsletter has been executed, consider archiving it on your website or blog. Past newsletters can be a valuable resource for your clients. You can allow access to your past newsletters to clients only (having them in a private, client-specific area of your site), or leave them open to all (this is what I would recommend).

In order to keep your readers “coming back for more,” be sure to reference the subject of your next newsletter at the bottom of the current one. This means that you might need to draft an editorial calendar for the year, which is easy to do. Develop twelve subjects that you would want to share with your customers (perhaps your business is seasonal – if so, this should be easy for you to do). Also, try including a call to action in your newsletter, such as a “click here” or “vote yes or no.” This will allow you to keep your customers engaged, and test the success of the newsletter’s effectiveness as each month progresses.

In order to further the success of your open rate, programs like Constant Contact are very helpful. Not only do these programs let you see the “success rate” of your campaign (which, by the way, if you can get 33% of your readers to open your email, you have succeeded!), but they let you see which links they clicked through to, or if they visited your website in tandem with reading your e-newsletter.

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