The Savvy Entrepreneur

The Marketing Makeover series is designed to help virtual office professionals avoid common marketing faux pas that interfere with their success, put their professionalism in question and hinder their credibility.

If you don’t use Twitter as a marketing tool to build, grow and sustain your professional virtual online business, you can totally ignore this post!

This week’s Marketing Makeover is really simple.

Are you a Virtual Assistant who, on your Twitter profile, posts the following as your Location (yes, these are actual examples):

• Virtually Everywhere, Virtually Anywhere, Virtually Global?
• Globally, Global, Worldwide, International, Planet Earth, The World?
• The Internet, Online, Virtual?
• your phone or iPhone number?
• your URL?
• anything OTHER than a physical, geographic location?

If not, you can skip this post.

If yes, first I want you to know that, from the outside looking in, at the very least, it looks as if you’re hiding something. At worse it comes off as patronizing and it seems obnoxious. (But maybe that’s just me?)

So don’t do it anymore. Why? Remember, you’re asking potential clients to hand their business over to you so they can get productive and do what they do best. Right? Show some good faith by revealing as much as you can on your Twitter (and all social media sites’) profile. You’re giving prospects an opportunity to feel a sense of connection with you.

Ready? Follow these steps for a quick Twitter profile makeover:

1. Go to Twitter.
2. Sign in to your account.
3. Click the Settings tab (top left of your screen).
4. Scroll down to the Location area.
5. Enter a geographic position (you know, somewhere we can point our finger on a world map!).
6. Scroll down and click Save.
7. (If you have multiple Twitter accounts, repeat for each.)

Every part of your Twitter profile is an opportunity for potential clients and referral partners to get to know, like and trust you. Even something as seemingly insignificant as your Location is part of your marketing!

If I don’t know where you live, it makes it hard for me to refer your virtual assistance services when someone asks me “Hey Cristina. Do you know someone who could help with my admin stuff who lives in [MyTown]?”

I KNOW being a VA is about being VIRTUAL — online. I get it. But not everyone does. Remember, marketing is not about you… it’s about communicating in a way that attracts your target market

Note: If you’re comfortable displaying your city, consider including your province/state and, at the very least, your country. Not everyone (me!) knows where Suffolk or Carlisle are, and not everyone lives in your country! If you’re concerned about privacy issues, at least tell us what country you’re in!

So, I want to know. Am I way off on this one? Am I splitting hairs? Do you agree or disagree? Let’s get some real conversation going on about this topic!