How to Get New Clients Weekly
I will never forget the day my largest retainer client and I decided to part ways in 2020. She wanted me to become an employee, and that was just not an option for me.
I had my own business to run! I loved my flexibility, the hours, and the freedom...there was no way I was going to become an employee ever again!
That day I lost $5,000 a month from my income. (That's $60,000 a year!)
Of course, I was bummed! That's a HUGE amount of money, but thankfully, I had a warm leads list and a secret weapon to replace that income quickly.
Today I am sharing with you a secret tool that's going to help you get clients every week. It's going to take time, it's going to take some energy, but I'm going to teach you how to do it smarter and not harder. So let's dive in.
Networking
To get new clients every single week, you have to network. Networking is the number one way to get new clients!
Networking is putting yourself out there. It's making relationships, having conversations, answering questions, doing things that you wouldn't normally do in your business, and building community. That is how I've gotten 90% of all of my cold traffic to my website.
How do you network?
When you are a virtual assistant or a freelancer, everything's online. It's not like you can pass out business cards… So, what can you do to get those virtual assistant gigs?
If you are part of the Virtually Free Academy, I give you a list of Facebook groups to join. Within these Facebook groups, people post questions and just random things all day long. If you want new clients, you go answer the questions.
Some of you might be thinking, “Why would I help my competition? “
First of all, I believe in raising other women up. That's why I do what I do. I want you to be successful, I want you to make six figures, I want you to be providing for your family, living your best life. So I'm going to turn around and help the next woman behind me. And I want you to do the same thing.
Don't look at it as if you're helping your competition because nobody can do what you do. Nobody is you! You bring a completely unique point of view and skill set to the freelance world. So be polite and answer the questions that are posted in groups as much as possible.
Clients are lurking everywhere
There are potential clients in every single Facebook group that I have given you within my program. They post when they need jobs, and they are lurking and searching for people that are answering questions. The more questions you answer, the more your name pops up. They're going to remember you when they need something.
For example, if somebody is asking, “How do I get started as a virtual assistant?” I hope you genuinely tell them how to get started, and you’ll say something like this…
“Well, friend, first you need a portfolio. I have been a virtual assistant for [X amount of years] years. Here's my website if you want to check it out!”
Be helpful because if I am an entrepreneur scrolling on these Facebook groups, and I'm looking for a virtual assistant, and I see you being helpful, and I'm seeing what you're saying, “Oh, she's been a VA for two years. Oh, here's her website. Let me click on that and see what she does. Let me check out her rates. Let me see where how organized her website is.”
So now I'm going on your website through a question that a different VA has posted!! I know it seems crazy. But trust me, this is how I've gotten so many of my clients just from communicating and talking, and networking. This is networking. It's building those relationships.
Make the Time
The next piece to getting clients every single week is getting yourself into a routine and making time to network. When I was first starting out, I would wake up, get my coffee, check my emails, go on Facebook, and go through all my Facebook groups. First, I would network, answer questions, reply to comments, and things like that. I’d follow up on leads I had seen the previous day or the previous week, or whatever it was.
I set a goal to apply to at least three positions a day. Now that might seem like a lot. But it's not, especially if you're using my templates. I make it so easy for you. You plug and play, so applying to three a day is really easy. Typically, if you apply to 15 jobs a week, you're probably going to get two to three discovery calls in addition to whatever discovery calls you might be setting up through your networking.
Replace Lost Income Immediately
When you are networking consistently, and your business changes, your income drops, you can replace them almost immediately with the warm leads you’ve gotten through networking.
That is why it is so important to be on the lookout every day for potential jobs and opportunities to network. You gotta keep your name out there and relevant and fresh. Be polite, be nice.
Ask for the Business
The final way to get clients weekly is just to ask. Be bold, and be confident in what you're doing. You're helping so many people in so many businesses, you know what you're doing, ask for the business. Ask when you're on the Discovery call, “So when do you think we can start?”
They're gonna say one or two things, yes or no…
What we do is hard, but it is fun. It is not life or death, and it is not rocket science. But it can be hard. And one of those hard pieces is getting the courage to ask for commitment. Ask for the contract. It might not always be an immediate “Yes,’” and sometimes when it's not an immediate yes, it's because they don't know what you can do and what you have to offer.
That is why your portfolio has to be so strong, so when you tell them your rates, you can back it up with a really strong portfolio.
Listen to episode three of the Virtually Free Podcast to learn what three things your portfolio MUST have to land a client!
Because trust me, I have been there, where one day I'm making seven grand and then tomorrow I'm making four because a client's needs changed or the economy changes, and you have to be able to keep those leads coming in and keep them warm.
And that is how you get one step closer to living virtually free.
