The 4 Part Strategy for Finding Clients

Today, let’s discuss the 4 Part Strategy for Finding Clients. I’m asked many similar questions from virtual assistants about getting clients using social media, whether they’re new or they’ve been at this for a while.

It usually goes something like this:

Where do I find clients online?

How do I find clients if I have a small marketing budget?

Where do I find more of my ideal clients?

So how do I find time to market to clients while I’m still working full time?

How do I connect with people online if I don’t know them?

What’s the most effective way to get people to notice me?

What I’m about to tell you in this article answers every single one of those questions.

It’s one of the strategies I’ve used to successfully build and grow my VA business.

This strategy is relationship marketing. What?

You heard me… it’s all about building RELATIONSHIPS!

It’s about finding and meeting your potential clients where they are online, developing a relationship with them, and then offering a solution to their problems. It’s a simple fact.

This method works, but it takes time. It takes consistency, and you need to be genuine. You are building the know, like, and trust factor. I know you’ve all heard this before, but it’s true.

You also don’t need a big marketing budget for this strategy since you’re connecting with potential clients on free social media platforms.

But if you take consistent action on this plan, you will develop relationships. And those relationships could turn into clients.

But before you start this strategy:

Before using social media to develop relationships, you must have covered some essential foundational pieces of your business.

You need to know what you have to offer (your services) and who you serve (your market).

If you still need to figure out your services, click here.

If you still need to figure out your market, click here.

Here’s one thing you need to remember, DO NOT LET FEAR GET IN YOUR WAY!!

RISR

Once you’ve finished those pieces, you can move on to the strategy. We use the acronym RISR Research, Interact and Share, Reach Out for our relationship marketing strategy.

What does that stand for?

Research – To find your target market online.

Interact and Share – Interact with them, share their posts and share your own.

Reach Out – Reach out and connect with potential clients via message and, ultimately, a phone call.

Let’s get into the details of each piece.

Research

You need to do some research and find out where your market hangs out online and be present there.

When it comes to social media, you don’t need to be everywhere.

Use some keywords to search and see if your audience is hanging out on that platform.

Choose the platforms that you enjoy using.

Start with two to reduce overwhelm.

Learn everything you can about using those particular platforms properly.

Then start following those in your target market on the social media platforms you chose. Send them a friend request and follow them on Facebook. Add them to a list of potential prospects on Twitter or your notebook. Connect with them on LinkedIn.

Example: Get specific when doing your searches to decide which social media platforms you want to use. If you’re going to work with business coaches, use the words “business coach” in your search on Twitter to see how many you find on that platform. Scroll through the options to see if they meet your ideal client criteria.

Interact and Share

Start creating your brief content posts on social media. Create small snippets that help solve a problem that your target market faces. Share a helpful tool or a tip that will save them time or money. The idea here is to start creating a presence online and establishing that you know your stuff. Use a product like Buffer to schedule your content posts to save yourself some time.

Then choose some time each day, or three days a week for a half-hour, to be active on your preferred social platforms live. Engage, interact and thank people for sharing your info.

Share other people’s info.

Join online groups where you find your market, not just groups of other virtual assistants. Yes, you can and should join those groups for networking and getting answers to your questions—they are precious. But then also find groups where your target market shows up.

Answer their questions. Be helpful there.

Subscribe to their blog, podcast, and YouTube channel. Share their posts and tag them. Leave insightful comments.

Example:  At the beginning of my VA career, my target market was business coaches. I joined an online group specifically for business coaches and those who served that market. Being one of the only VAs in the group, I could jump in and answer questions. And boy, did they have questions!

They had questions related to the services I provided. They recognized that I was knowledgeable about these subjects and ultimately turned to me when they needed a VA, all because they knew me in the group.

Reach out

Make the above actions a regular part of your weekly marketing activities. Then, create a list of potential clients based on the people you interact with in the groups where you belong.

Do your research to make sure you’d be a good fit for each other. Maybe you like the way they run their business. Are their values the same as yours?  Can you see how your services would solve a pain point for them?

Then start reaching out individually to the people on that list. Private message them or send them an email. Introduce yourself and explain how you know each other. Perhaps you’re in a LinkedIn group together. Then make a personal connection. Maybe you both love cats, or you both have kids in Jr. High. Explain what you do and why you love working with people in their industry. Finally, be clear about what problem you can solve for them and invite them to have a conversation with you to talk more.

That’s relationship marketing in a nutshell. Relationship marketing is something you can do on a small budget. It’s something you can do on a busy schedule. If you’re short on time, schedule a half-hour per day to perform these activities.

Just be consistent about it.

Consistency is key here. If you continue with this strategy, create that potential client list and consistently reach out to them, you will start forming those relationships.

Check out our Relationship Course on Teachable. You’ll find more ways to build relationships to create your successful business.

Did you find this information helpful? Let me know in the comments below.