Question of the Week – Transitioning Into Virtual Assistance

Q.  Does it hurt your marketing or brand if you do work initially off of www.Elance.com or www.Guru.com until you complete your training and are established in a real virtual assistant business? Are there any drawbacks to doing that?

A. The number-one question I have received since I started EAtoVA.com is, “How do I get clients?”

I often recommend that people just starting out try out Elance, Craigslist and Sologig.  I don’t think that it’s going to hurt you, your reputation or your marketing efforts.  It’s perfectly fine to start there.  When you’re just starting out, it gives you the experience of working virtually, proposing solutions to clients and learning how to work with them to solve their problems.  I definitely don’t think there’s anything wrong with you pursuing this route in the very beginning.  It could lead to other opportunities.

I don’t see any cons to doing that from a business perspective. The only downside is that the rates aren’t competitive.  You certainly won’t earn as much there as you will in your own practice when you’re marketing to your ideal clients and working with them one-on-one.  However, this is part of the process of learning how to market yourself and price your services.

Having said that, I STRONGLY recommend that you quickly learn how to market your business effectively.  You will be happier, more successful and more profitable if you are only marketing to and working with your ideal clients.

Here at EAtoVA, we have a number of resources to help you do just that.  First, read all of our marketing focused blog posts:  https://www.eatova.com/category/marketing/.  You’ll find a lot of insight here which will help you to develop the proper marketing mindset and build your confidence.

Next, visit our “Free Marketing Tools” page, https://www.eatova.com/marketing-coaching/ and sign up for your FREE “Get Ideal Clients NOW!” Quick Start Pack.

Finally, feel free to visit “Get Expert Advice” (https://www.eatova.com/virtual-assistant-support-consulting/) and register for a 1-on-1 consultation.  During this consultation we can identify your ideal client and start putting together a marketing plan specific to your business.