Welcome to this edition of Weekly VA Marketing Tip! This series is specifically designed to help virtual assistants avoid marketing insanity. Every Monday, my posts will prompt you to accomplish one specific marketing action to promote, brand or position your professional virtual business.

Implement these tips each week and I guarantee you’ll sustain your marketing momentum, increase credibility and visibility in your field, build stronger relationships, boost your ‘know, like and trust factor,’ get more ideal clients looking for you, and have a consistent marketing game plan for your virtual assistant business.

You might even start to like marketing!

“What Else?”

So, last week’s Weekly VA Marketing Tip was a heavy one, so I’ll go easy on you this time ’round! (Now you have more time to continue working on your small report!)

This week, it’s really simple. I want you to send an individual, personalized email message to each of your current clients (include past clients if your list isn’t long enough) and ask this simple question: What else can I do for you?

That’s it.

It’s all about creating front of mind awareness — which also goes by its ugly acronym, FOMA.

Some may have nothing for you now, but you may be surprised what comes your way because you took the initiative. If you get a positive reply, call them right away to find out more.

Why not continue the email conversation? Two reasons:

1. If your clients are lazy anything like me, they figure it’s faster to actually do the task than to type an email about it. You calling them saves them the frustration of tediously typing out their instructions.
2. Your clients are busy, that’s why they needed you in the first place. They may not have time to respond to your email right away. You calling them saves you from playing the email reply waiting game.

Pick up the phone and get them to tell you what they need help with.

Let us know how it goes!

Have an awesome week.

As you know, I’m working through Step 2 of my Office Organization Venture — Contact Management (following Tracey Lawton‘s The Complete Office Organization System).

If I’ve been a little quiet lately, it’s because I’m working long and hard hours on this one. This second step may prove to be the most time-consuming of all four, seeing as I’m practically starting from scratch (other than Outlook and iContact for my newsletter, I’ve never taken the time and effort to put in place a reliable, automatic and regular contact management system — now I know why!).

I spent all of last and some of this week just setting up an automated Complimentary Coaching Session scheduling procedure. Here’s how the process is broken down (completed actions steps are crossed out):

1. A potential client who checks out my web site and is interested in experiencing my no-nonsense coaching style signs up for a Complimentary Coaching Session by filling out a form.
   Action: Create sign up form in iContact.
   Action: Create Complimentary Coaching Session web page.
2. The person soon receives a “Welcome to Complimentary Coaching Session” email with scheduling instructions. They must click the link in that message to access my online scheduling program. Once there, they select an available date and time slot for our call.
   Action: Create appointment type, schedule time slots, Thank You message, and reminders in Web-appointments.com.
3. After filling out and submitting the scheduling form, the program displays (and sends an email with) a Thank You message confirming our scheduled time, calling instructions and a link to a short Pre-Session Questionnaire.
   Action: Create Pre-Session Questionnaire in iContact.
4. After answering and submitting the short Pre-Session Questionnaire — that’s it. At the scheduled time, we each dial in to my teleconference bridge line and I do the rest manually (send a thank you email with link to recording of call).
   Action: Create and set up follow-up auto responder messages in iContact.
   Action: Make Complimentary Coaching Session web page live on my site and let the calls begin!!

Isn’t that a lot of work? Not only that, each step requires testing to ensure a smooth transition to the next.

Why am I adding so many steps to this particular process? It’s simply my way of filtering serious potential clients from the not-so-serious (those just looking for a freebie coaching session). Entrepreneurs who are serious about achieving their goals, want an accountability partner and are ready to go places they haven’t before will take the time to go through each step.

What’s next in Contact Management? I’m not sure it’s ever done, especially as I make more products available to you.

With the impending arrival of baby #3 this July, I’m motivated and determined to automate as many processes as possible. That means clearly outlining a marketing funnel and setting up more auto responders.

If only there was a way to automate the article-writing process for my monthly newsletter… then (most of) my woes would be a thing of the past!

How have you automated your business? What tools have been a Godsend? What would you do differently? What systems are you working on?

I love the software 37signals (the makers of Basecamp) come up with. They are “a privately-held Chicago-based company committed to building the best web-based software products possible with the least number of features necessary.” They create basic, user-friendly, intuitive, elegant web-based products to help small businesses better run their practice and do every day tasks easily.

I’ve used all their software at some point for a few years now.

They’ve done it again with their new application, Highrise.I can’t promote it better than they have, so I’ll use their words. Highrise is a follow-up tool that helps you “keep in touch with leads, clients, vendors, the press, etc.” “Highrise helps you remember who you talk to, what you said, what to do next, who to call back, when to follow-up, and more.“

The best thing about all their products, is that they offer a free version. Free, as in forever — not limited to a 30-day trial (however, if you sign up for a paid plan, you get 30 days free). You obviously won’t enjoy all the features of paid plans, but there’s no limit to how long you can use your free account, and you can upgrade/downgrade at anytime, even if you have a paid plan.

This company is the perfect example of knowing exactly who their target market is, creating products that answer their needs to a “T” and marketing the heck out of it!!

I just signed up for my free Highrise account to test it out, so I’ll let you know how it goes!!

So, while we’re on the subject, what’s YOUR favorite follow-up tool?

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As discussed in my article 3 Elements You Need To Get Clients the very first step to successfully marketing your service-based business is to figure out where you’re stuck in the marketing cycle, or what area of marketing your services needs more work.

Today, I’ll help you figure out where you may be stuck and what steps you can take right now to getting unstuck.

The Marketing Cycle
As I’ve said before, the cycle is the same for everyone marketing professional services. The stages of the Universal Marketing Cycle, in order, are:

1. Filling the Pipeline
2. Following Up
3. Getting Presentations
4. Closing Sales

Why is it important to figure out where you’re stuck? By identifying what needs more work, you’ll know where to focus and which strategies you should start implementing (and leaving other strategies for when you’re further in the cycle).

How do you know where you’re stuck? The answer is mostly instinctual. Most entrepreneurs whom I coach are stuck at filling the pipeline or following up. But if you’re still not sure, go over these questions:

• Are you a new entrepreneur? If you sat down this morning to call all your contacts, would you be done by noon (or sooner)? If you answered yes to these questions, chances are, you’ll want to concentrate on Filling the Pipeline with prospects, leads, contacts and referrals.
• Do you have a stack of business cards from people you haven’t got around to calling since you first met? Are there prospects in your database whom you haven’t contacted in the past 3 months? If you answered yes to these questions, you may be ready to concentrate on Following Up.
• Are you having a difficult time getting an initial meeting, despite repeated follow up? Are your calls ignored or quickly brushed off? A yes to these questions may indicate that you’ll want to focus on strategies that will get you in the door to Getting Presentations.
• Does one objection after another keep you from walking your client through the sales process? Do you give lots of presentations, but are having a hard time closing? If so, chances are you’ll want to direct your marketing efforts to Closing Sales.

So where are you stuck? If you feel like you need to concentrate on more than one area, choose the first one in the order given. If you’re still not sure, start from the beginning.

Now that you know which area to concentrate your marketing efforts on, you’re now ready to move on to the next step — determine which marketing strategies you’ll use to help get you unstuck, regain momentum and get more clients.

What are the best strategies for your situation? Find out next month, when I discuss the second step to successfully marketing your service-based business – choosing marketing strategies that best fit your area of “stuckness” and match your personal preferences.

Until next time, I wish you much success.

Copyright. Cristina Favreau. All rights reserved.

ABOUT CRISTINA
Cristina Favreau specializes in teaching independent service professionals who struggle with marketing, so they get more visibility, build their credibility and increase their self-confidence. Get her complimentary “12 Mistakes To Avoid in Your 30-Second Intro” ecourse at http://www.cristinafavreau.com/index.htm

WANT TO USE THIS ARTICLE IN YOUR NEWSLETTER OR WEB SITE? You’re welcome to “reprint” this article online as long as it remains complete and unaltered, including the “ABOUT CRISTINA” info above. Please send a copy of your reprint to web (at) cristinafavreau (dot) com.

Don’t feel like reading this post? Listen to it here.

Today’s marketing tip is all about gaining customer confidence. What is THE most important element in marketing your service-based business? Your customers, of course! Think about it: How can you have a business without customers?

Why, though, should you spend precious marketing hours gaining the confidence of someone who hasn’t hired you yet? It’s true that, as you build a relationship with a paying client, your reliance on each other will grow. But the foundation of trust must already exist BEFORE they decide to hire you.

Remember: The most important element in your marketing is your customers. Those of you who know me, have heard me emphasize the importance of building the know-like-trust factor in you and your services. If potential clients DON’T know-like-trust you or your service, you WON’T get clients and you WON’T succeed in your business. When marketing, always keep them in mind.

You need to answer these questions correctly:

• What do my clients really want?
• What’s most important to them?
• How can my services address their individual and unique needs?

Here are 3 ways to help prospective clients have trust and confidence in you:

1. Highlight your successes. If you’re new in business, this could be challenging, but don’t let that discourage you. Here are 2 suggestions you can use to highlight your successes, even if you’re just starting off.
   • In anything and everything you do where you get positive feedback — whether you got paid for it or not — ASK for a written testimonial. A testimonial is tangible proof that you’ve helped someone real in your field, it’s not just theory or hearsay.
   • Use your blog and newsletters to tell a story; describe the typical client experience. Descriptively tell your audience what sets YOU apart from all the others.
2. Be image conscious. You never know who’s watching, so be acutely aware of how you present yourself in every situation. It’s entirely up to you to project a sincere, positive image of professionalism, expertise, masterful proficiency, reliability, customer satisfaction, responsibility or other values you hold dear. If you’re not sure what message you’re sending, ask someone you trust to give you honest, constructive feedback.
3. Clearly communicate the advantages of doing business with you. Give them solid, tangible reasons to do business with you. Let them experience what it’s like working with you — no strings attached. Do this by offering an introductory session, by regularly following up, by sending referrals, by offering solutions, ideas and resources. (A note about follow up: Don’t settle with sending emails every once in a while; pick up the phone and call them — let them hear your voice, your enthusiasm and your sincerity.) Be proactive in any ways you can think of. Another means of communicating your advantages is by productizing — or packaging — your services. Let’s face it, services are a hard sell. You’re asking your clients to pay for something where they’ll only know the end-result of AFTER it’s been done. By productizing your services, the benefits are more easily perceived, they become more tangible and your clients will know EXACTLY what they’re getting and for how long they’re committed to.

These are just 3 ways I could think of to increase your clients’ trust in you and your services, but I’m sure you can come up with more. Remember, if your marketing fails to inspire confidence, and doesn’t help establish yourself as a trustworthy, credible service provider, they’ll be hesitant to commit, and be more inclined to check out your competition.

What do you think? What’s worked for you? What hasn’t? What mistakes should entrepreneurs avoid? Are you facing challenges in the confidence-building area of your business?

A regular and consistent follow-up program has made all the difference in the success of my coaching practice. But not everyone likes to call out, even if it’s “warm calling”.

One of my favorite books, Selling Your Services, offers a great method—an alternative to calling out—of letting past and potential clients know that you are thinking about them and reminding them that you are available should they need you: