5 Ways My Students Found Clients as Virtual Assistants

Feb 13

Since July of 2022, I have taught over 160+ women how to build businesses as virtual assistants, and through that time, I have seen them gain clients from a variety of places so in this episode. A few months ago, I asked in our student community Facebook group where they found their first few clients so I wanted to share 5 of the most common places I not only recommend but the places where my students have actually booked their ideal clients from! Let’s get into it:

5 Ways/Places My Students Have Booked Clients

01. Personal network

This is SUCH a powerful channel for so everyone starting out, in fact, it was exactly how I booked my first two clients (and who evened up being two of my highest paying clients) and one of which I still work with to this day!

You really don’t know who you already know that either 1) knows someone who needs a VA or 2) needs a VA themselves.

When I started my business, I texted a couple of friends I knew in the online business space and just was like hey I am going to start this business as a VA so if you know or hear of anyone that might need support, do you mind sending them my way? That was it. Very simple, very casual. And it just so happens that both of those friends actually needed a VA themselves! I went into it thinking “Hopefully they can point some people in my direction” and came out of it with two signed contracts. 👀👯‍♀️

This is the same for my students. Several students have told me they found clients by talking with their friends about what they are doing, through posting on their personal Facebook page about what they are doing, and even getting referrals from friends and family. Because even if your friends of family don’t own businesses or need a VA at this time, when they hear that someone else does, or they even see on social media that someone is looking for one, YOU will be the person they think about.

This actually happens ALL THE TIME, I get multiple DM’s a month from people who see influencers or other people they follow looking for VAs and guess what, they send them to me because I am the top of mind for VAs and they know I have the connections to help people with getting connected to a virtual assistant.

I think people really sleep on for maybe a few reasons but a lot of the reasons are based in the fear of judgment. Afraid that your friends or family might judge you for starting this business, or feel like you are bothering them and let me stop you right there and give you a little pep talk and hard truths:

We have all heard the quote and if you haven’t, you are gonna hear it again – the ones who mind, don’t matter - and the ones who matter, don’t mind. And it’s true.

At the end of the day, if people are going to judge you for following your dreams and pursuing something that is wildly beneficial for you and your family, then the hard truth is… they were probably going to judge you regardless of what you do. So why let those people deter you from going after what it is that you want because at the end of the day, you are the one who has to live with the regret of not going for it, or the question of “what if”? You are. Don’t keep your business a secret. Step boldly into your pursuit of your dreams because no one else is going to do it for you, my friend. 🫶🏻

02. Pitching Your Services

Pitching your services to someone can sometimes sound intimidating but I promise it’s not. I mean, I have definitely pitched myself to someone as my heart was racing, my palms were sweating, and then I chucked my phone across the room and refused to look at it until hours later lol but guess what, I still did it. And tbh, it’s worked more times than it hasn't. BUT I do think there are some best practices when it comes to pitching, especially in this day in age when everyone is being bombarded with cold pitches on social media or in their email inbox.

Tip #1: Warm up your pitch

I am sure you have heard the term cold messaging or cold pitching. And I think everyone has a little different way of thinking about this but I want to share with you my definition. A cold message is when you 1) do not follow or engage with the person at all and/or 2) the person does not follow you or know who you are. This is where I think pitching can sometimes go sideways. If you don’t have any kind of relationship with someone, it’s going to be hard to establish that “know, life and trust” factor that is KEY for sales of any kind.

Now, if you have been following this person for a while and you genuinely love their business and engage with their content, and you decide to reach out and see if they need help or support and offer your services, this is not a cold pitch. I call this a lukewarm pitch! It’s not cold because you have been in their ecosystem and have been engaging or even chatting with them a bit here and there, but it’s not a warm pitch because you don’t actually know if they need help in their business or they haven’t posted that they are looking for someone.

Warm pitches (or you could even consider these, hot pitches 🥵) would be that someone you follow or have some sort of relationship with (maybe even a friend of a friend, some connection aspect) has posted or otherwise communicated that they are looking for support from a VA or from someone who offers the services you offer, and you reach out – pitching yourself.

Lukewarm or warm pitches are way more likely to convert to discovery calls or signed contracts because there is some relationship factor there, even if it’s surface level.

Tip #2: Make sure you are coming from a place of service

Aka - “How can I help someone?” > “How can this person help me?”

I know that if you are listening to this podcast you probably already know that and you do that naturally, but sometimes its important to check your heart.

Here is what one of my students Sami said about when she pitched someone:

”I actually messaged someone on Instagram and offered to do a quick project for free in exchange for a testimonial. Then she ended up wanting to work with me!”

I love this because Sami reached out and pitched herself for this quick project for free (which is such a great way to get 1) experience and 2) testimonials when you are just starting out, just make sure it is a quick project and not like a 3-month contract where you aren’t getting paid for your time) , and then she did such a great job this person wanted to hire her! You just never know what opportunities can come from these pitches so its so important to keep an open mind and put yourself out there!

03. Instagram

This is probably my second favorite place (right behind personal network) for you to find clients. I have said this before, I don’t think you “need” IG to build a business as a VA, BUT I will always recommend it.

Instagram (and other social media platforms) are FREE marketing tools for you to use to attract and connect with your ideal clients. It’s also a way for you to provide value to those people who may be interested in hiring you through your content and what you share. Not to mention, Instagram is the new Google. When people are looking for something to do, or help with something specific, they are searching it on Instagram.

Listen to this stat – according to Tint, 75.78% of consumers have used social media to search for or discover new products and brands. Almost 76%!! If you are not using social media as a way to not only market your services, but even as a way to be discoverable, you could be missing out on ideal clients.

I am planning on doing a whole private podcast series, or even a workshop on how to utilize Instagram to attract your dream clients (without being on your phone 24/7) BUT for now, if you are someone who is already on Instagram and you just aren’t seeing the traction you would like, I want to tell you about two offers I have that you might not know about!

100 Post Prompts for VAs – yep, you heard that right. 100 post ideas for you to use on your IG so that you can stop saying “I don’t know what to post” and just get to posting! It also comes with a 15-minute training on content creation and how to do it effectively alll for only $27!

And then a service I sorta secretly launched at the beginning of January (it wasn’t a secret, I just launched it at the same time our 30 Days to VA program doors opened so it was a liiiiilte cray cray and I didn’t talk about it haha) but it’s my Instagram Audits for VAs! If you are using social media to grow your business but you are hearing crickets, this is a really powerful way to get someone who has had over 6 years of experience in the online business space (hello, it’s me haha) to look at not only what you’re currently doing and maybe help you fill the gaps, but to also give you steps and strategy moving forward!

Okay, two more places where my students have found their clients, let’s cruise through these:

04. Referrals

Brittney, a student of mine, said:

“Most of my clients are through my network and referrals from other clients (which is the best, truly.)”

And she isn’t wrong. Referrals are SO powerful because when you are doing a great job for someone, they want to share that with other people! And maybe you are thinking well, I don’t have any clients right now so I can’t get referrals – wrong. Remember when we talked about your network and how you want to be top of mind when someone hears about someone else needing a VA? That is an opportunity for a referral!

Imagine this: your ideal client is chatting with a friend or on social media or wherever it is and says “you know, I could really use some help managing my email inbox or helping me with creating graphics in Canva…” and your friend hears that and thinks wait, I know that my friend Sally helps people with that because she told me she just started this business or because I saw her post about it on social media, so she tells your ideal client about you and gives them your info - boom, there's a referral.

Referrals are so powerful and it’s another reason why you should shout your business from the rooftops!

05. BTS BFF Connect

The 5th way that my students have found clients (there is def more than this but these are the 5 most common ways, remember) - is through our BTS BFF Connect program. If you don’t know what the BTS BFF Connect program is, it’s a program I put together that connects business owners with VAs who have gone through our program to not only help the business owner get connected with quality team members but provide the students who have gone through our program see success and get leads! Now this program is only available to those who have gone through our 30 Days to VA program, but this has been a HUGE lead generator for those inside and we have gotten a lot of great feedback not just from the VAs but from the business owners as well!

One business owner who hired one of our students through the program told me:

“I have to say, in my VA search/hiring process, the people who have gone through your program and truly standing out among the rest. Their approach and professionalism and how well set up their business are really stand out from the beginning and I truly trust that anyone who has gone through your program to be prepared to be the VA I need right now in my business.”

You can check out more details below! 💃🏻

Okay, that is all I have for you today! 5 ways my students have found clients as virtual assistants! I hope this post got your wheels turning a bit on where to find clients for your business and if you have any questions, don’t hesitate to reach out! 🫶🏻