Branding Yourself as the Most Expensive… Good or Bad?
August 24, 2008
I’m not a Wal-mart, I’m a Holt Renfrew.
That’s the one statement that started off this blog post. I was thinking the other day about pricing and branding and how we turn ourselves into exactly what we decide we want to. What I mean by that is that your pricing strategies, your branding strategies, etc. define you in a simple yet powerful statement.
My statement is the first line… I’m not a Wal-Mart, I’m a Holt Renfrew. Now, let me explain what I mean by that. The first part about not being a Wal-Mart means that I am not setup in such a way to cater to everyone’s needs. I’m also not here to serve the masses. Instead, I run my business selectively. I price my services so that only serious entrepreneurs will move forward with our company. For me, serious entrepreneurs means that we’re going to get focused on the core issues around delegation and why they need a VA more quickly.
Setting yourself up to serve the masses may be appealing because that might lead you to think that you are going to get more customers. While this might be true, can you truly serve that many people in a service-based business (trading time for money) and do it effectively? That answer may be no. If it is, consider setting yourself up to serve fewer people in a more niched format. You could do this via pricing, you could do this in terms of what services you are going to provide or you could target one particular industry or a subset of people.
Now, let’s examine the second part. I’m a Holt Renfrew. For those of you who are not Canadian, Holt Renfrew is the equivalent in most cases as Barney’s or Saks Fifth Avenue. It’s the department store for the elite and the wealthy. They have limited product, high price tags and pride themselves on over-the-top customer service and overall customer experience. When I was thinking about the differences, this is where I wanted to fit into.
So, I’m making it my goal to make my company the equivalent to a Holt Renfrew and I’m going to work really hard at upholding these standards in my business. Catering to fewer people means that I’ll have less stress and be able to do a super stellar job for those people who become our clients.
What’s your business motto? Do you have one and if not, create one! Think about what you want in your business and what you want in terms of a lifestyle. Decide what is most important and write it down!
Technorati Tags: Virtual assistant, virtual assistants, virtual assistance, VA, VA Coach, virtual assistant coach, virtual assistance coach, Erin Blaskie, BSETC, Wal-Mart, Walmart, Holt Renfrew, marketing, business, branding, pricing, pricing strategies, marketing strategies, motto, business motto
Amazing Line-Up of 42 Speakers in 1 Month… Are You Registered?
July 21, 2008
I HAD to blog this today because starting August 1, 2008, we’re featuring an amazing line-up of 42 speakers in one month (well, technically less than 1 month as we’re not including weekends!)
The Summer Speaker Series features speakers such as James Roche, Viki Viertel, Christina Merkley, Sheri McConnell, MaryPat Kavanagh, Amber Miller, Tara Kachaturoff, Pam Ivey, Lou Bortone, Lynn Scheurell, Allana Pratt, Kristi Pavlik, Alexis Neely, and SO many more.
Find out more and sign-up NOW (we start August 1!) at www.summerspeakerseries.com!
We’ve got two tracks… One for entrepreneurs and one for virtual assistants. You can also sign-up for both tracks and get the best of both worlds! We have seats only or seats and audio downloads so you don’t have to attend each call to learn all of the tips and tactics!
So, here’s the deal… Simply read through the Summer Speaker Series webpage and view the speaker line-up. If it interests you, scroll to the bottom where the big yellow box is and choose your package. Then, register your seat and prepare for an AMAZING month!
Find out more and sign-up NOW (we start August 1!) at www.summerspeakerseries.com!
You can get each event for $3.50 (at one of our package deals!)… You can’t beat that! We’re also giving away door prizes to those people who sign up so register NOW! Oh, and the first 100 people who register also get access to our special bonus track!
Find out more and sign-up NOW (we start August 1!) at www.summerspeakerseries.com!
So join me and my guests in the month of August. You will NOT be disappointed!
(P.S. - Don’t want to attend? Why not consider promoting the event? You can earn up to $60 per sign-up. See the page above, scroll to the bottom and click on ‘Affiliates’ for full details…)
Technorati Tags: Erin Blaskie, virtual assistant, virtual assistance, VA, virtual assistants, Summer Speaker Series, James Roche, Christina Merkley, Sheri McConnell, Viki Viertel, Carla Young, Amber Miller, Pam Ivey, Kristi Pavlik, MaryPat Kavanagh, Lou Bortone, Tara Kachaturoff, Lynn Scheurell, Charly Leetham, Allana Pratt, Kathie Thomas, Debbie LaChusa, Wendy Weiss, Jody Gabourie, Janet Foust, Rebecca Zwar, Julie Maloney, Alexis Neely, Terri Z, Allison Nazarian, Donna Gunter, Diana Ennen, Michele PW, Alicia Smith, Carol Deckert, Mari Smith, Erik S. Olson, Blog Squad, The Blog Squad, Patsi Krakoff, Denise Wakeman, Dr. Sally Witt, Sally Witt, Mary-Lou Ashton, Kristen Beireis, speaker summit, speaker series
Get More Clients: Learn How to Talk About What You Do
July 18, 2008
You know how business coaches are always telling you to perfect your “elevator pitch”? That 30-second description of who you are, what you do and how you benefit your clients and customers? Well, DO IT! 
It’s important to know exactly why someone will benefit from working with you and hiring you on as their virtual assistant before you go off and network or market your business. The thing is, if you don’t know how to explain what you do, how is anyone going to grow interest in your business?
Because of the nature of our industry, virtual assistance is picking up steam in terms of how well known we are and people are getting an education on what a virtual assistant is and isn’t but it’s still up to you to convey a great message to someone in a short amount of time.
Here’s an example:
I am a virtual assistant. I work with small business owners, coaches, speakers and internet marketers to streamline their operations and grow their presence on the web through internet marketing, social networking and other current marketing methods.
While that may not suit you per say, it’s important to hone in on your benefit to people rather than just hmm’ing and haa’ing over this mystic world of virtual assistance we’re in.
If you’ve honed in on a message, what is it? Share it below in the comments!
Technorati Tags: The VA Coach, The Virtual Assistant Coach, The Virtual Assistance Coach, virtual assistant, virtual assistance, get more clients, elevator pitch, VA, Erin Blaskie
Get in the Face of Your Ideal Client at Least Once per Day
July 15, 2008
One of the questions I am asked most often by my coaching clients is, “How do I get more clients?“ This can be an easy answer or a difficult answer depending on you. If you’re the type of person who likes a small amount of work to do, you’ll receive a small return. If you are willing to spend the time, you’ll receive a higher return. The way that I answer this question easily for both groups is like this: get out there and in the face of your ideal client at LEAST once per day. Every day. No exceptions.
Here is a short list of ideas around this:
- Join Facebook and look up groups that contain your ideal clients. Real estate VA? Then join some real estate groups and give advice. The trick here is not to come across as pushy or ’selly’ but rather just build relationships and showcase your expertise.
- Sign up for a free Twitter account and tweet about the things you do. Using Twitter can be an amazing tool to further showcase your talents, expertise and what you are up to. When people see this and have a need for it, you can partner with them.
- Join some industry-specific forums or message boards. Again, look for the forums and message boards where your ideal clients hang out and join in the conversation! Just remember, it’s all about relationship-building and creating win-win scenarios.
- Write articles and press releases often and submit those. While this isn’t a daily thing, having these things on the web will generate traffic regularly thus increasing your reach.
I also have a short document on how to get clients. If you are interested, please send me an e-mail to info@thevacoach.com and I’ll send it over - free of charge.
Technorati Tags: virtual assistant, virtual assistance, va coach, virtual assistant coach, Erin Blaskie, BSETC, finding clients, getting clients, how do I find clients for my virtual assistance business
Featured on ABCNews.com!
July 15, 2008
The VA Coach was mentioned in an article on ABCNews.com! Check it out by clicking through this link.
Here’s an excerpt:
Virtual Assistant
When it comes to the skill set of virtual assistants, anything goes. In the past, I’ve hired virtual assistants to help proofread and publicize my books, return my e-mail and phone messages, even update my blog. But other VAs dabble in bookkeeping, database management, web design, transcription and any other support service that you can think of.
“Rather than seek out a VA training program, find courses that focus on the specific skills you would like to develop and sell services in,” said Christine Durst, co-founder and CEO of Staffcentrix, a virtual assistant training firm based in Woodstock, Conn.
Your community college is a great place to find these classes. Additional resources that can help: AssistU, The 2-Second Commute and The Virtual Assistant Coach.
Technorati Tags: Virtual assistant, virtual assistance, virtual assistant coach, va coach, Erin Blaskie, BSETC, ABC News, ABCNews.com
The Perfect Potential Client Phone Call
February 11, 2008
Let me set the scene. You’ve received an e-mail from a potential client requesting a telephone call with you to discuss your services and their needs. The phone call is set and you’re excited about this new prospect. The day of the call arrives, you pick up the phone, call the potential client and the call, for one reason or another, bombs. You hang up feeling disappointed, frustrated and angry at yourself for not delivering the perfect potential client call.
So, what happened?
Well, a number of factors could have played into it but most of the time it boils down to two things. Confidence and knowing what to say.
The confidence part can be worked on by practicing these phone calls. Practice with your colleagues, friends and family before making these calls to figure out what to say and what not to say. You can also gain confidence by doing other speaking opportunities. Join your local Toast Masters or host a teleseminar where you deliver free content to an audience.
The not knowing what to say part is a little easier to master. Here are a few of the most commonly asked questions you’ll get from a potential client and how to answer them.
(1) Tell me about yourself.
This is probably one of the most asked questions that I get and it’s easy to get a bit sidetracked with this one. When the potential client asks this, it’s not their way of trying to find out everything about your life history. It is their way of asking about your professional history. Start with when you started your business, your attitude towards your work and anything else about your work ethic you think they would like to know.
(2) What do you do?
This question is the client’s way of trying to find out what you do for your existing clients and the services you provide in your business. Even though it might be tempting to just say ‘Virtual Assistance’, don’t. It’s too generic and your client won’t see the benefit in it. Instead, say ‘I help my clients increase sales and decrease their operating costs by managing their marketing campaigns.’ While that is just an example, it’ll help show your client exactly what it is you do rather than just list out a myriad of services.
(3) I need X, Y and Z done - how much does that cost?
Since you don’t know the client or the business well enough yet, it’s always a good idea to estimate the approximate time it may take but be clear that since you don’t know enough about their specific project needs yet, you can’t guarantee those times. This way, the client can’t come back to you later if something takes one hour longer. You’re protecting yourself while giving them an estimate.
These are just three of the top questions but I hope it gives you some insight into how to start answering those potential client calls. I’ll do another feature on this at a later date.
Technorati Tags: Erin Blaskie, virtual assistant, virtual assistance, VA Coach, The VA Coach, virtual assistant coach, virtual assistance coach, potential client, potential client call
Contact Forms & Contact Info Virtual Assistant Websites
January 20, 2008
I was doing some research tonight to find Savvy Virtual Assistants on the web to consider for my new SVA Award (Savvy Virtual Assistant). While doing this research, I couldn’t help but notice that there were so many websites that made their contact information really hard to find.Here are a few tips I have to ensure that you aren’t losing business due to obscurely placed e-mail addresses:
- Create a page called ‘Contact’ on both your website and blog. Don’t call it anything but ‘Contact’ or ‘Contact Us’. People visit websites expecting the same thing from every site. Easy to find information and most people associate contact information with the word Contact.
- Don’t use contact forms exclusively. They can be used but make sure to at least have an e-mail address somewhere on your website that people can use. Contact forms annoy me to no end - especially if I have an attachment I want to send someone. I very well can’t do that through a contact form so either trash the contact form or add your e-mail address.
- Make sure to have a phone number visible somewhere on your site. Why? It gives people a sense of security and trust in your business. Without it, you don’t necessarily look like a legitimate business.
What else am I missing?
What do you feel are some ‘rules’ around contact information on a website? Also, check your own site. Is your contact information easily found in five seconds or less - especially to someone who has never seen your website before?
Technorati Tags: virtual assistant, virtual assistance, VA, VA website, virtual assistant website, virtual assistance website, Erin Blaskie, The VA Coach, website contact information, contact information, website standards
Ideal Clients & Target Markets
December 14, 2007
In business, you often hear the term ‘ideal client.’ If you’ve often
wondered what exactly an ideal client was and how to find one, read on.
One of the first things you want to do when you set out to do marketing
is determine your target market. A target market, for those who are
unfamiliar with the term, is the group of people you plan to market
your services to. The more specific you are, the more successful you
will be.
The reason you want to do this is because you can target your
services, your writing and your marketing efforts to one group of
people. A lot of virtual assistants don’t target a specific market but
as the industry becomes more and more saturated with VAs, it’s going to
be important for VAs to get specific and choose a target market.
Here is a simple exercise you can do at anytime. I want you to grab
that pen and for the next few minutes, I want you to write about your
target market. Now, don’t just do a specific group. I want you to think
about your ideal client, that one person you want to market to and I
want you to write about them. A short example would be:
Bright woman entrepreneur in her thirties who is on a
path to success. She enjoys her work her fashion and loves to take time
off to travel the world. She’s technologically savvy and understands
the power of delegating.
The key is to be specific. Don’t hold back and describe everything
about your ideal client – your target market. The more specific you
are, the better. Describe the type of business they would own, what
talents they would have, whether they are male or female, etc.
The reason we get so specific is because from this point forward,
everything you will do will be to make THAT person, that ideal client
you’ve described, want to buy your services. When you are writing your
website copy, write it as though you are speaking to that person. The
more personal you are and specific you are, the more you will sell
because when people meet you, read your website copy, read your
materials, they will feel as though you are speaking to them.