Lesson 10: Make use of your tribe!
Following on from Lesson 9 and the importance of networking is – use your tribe.
Don’t underestimate the importance of people who know you well already. Tell people including your family, friends, old bosses and work colleagues what it is you are doing now, the benefits of outsourcing to a professional VA and then ask for referrals – especially from bosses.
My very first client was the chairman of the board of my old workplace. He was a solopreneur executive director who worked from home without any administrative support so was my target market. As soon as I told him what I was doing he signed up and referred me to two of his colleagues who also signed up based solely on his referral. That’s how I became full-time within 18 months.
If work is dropping off ask existing clients to refer you to their colleagues. As we know, people like to work with those they know, like and trust. Well they are also more inclined to use someone a friend or colleague has referred than to sign up with someone cold calling them or whose flyer they saw in the paper, and who they don’t really know, because they know, like and trust THAT person!
Don’t be afraid to ask for what you want – sometimes you’ll get knocked back but every now and again you hit a winner.