Think about the tasks that you take care of for your various clients.

Are they supporting the daily maintenance of the business?
OR
Are they supporting the growth of the business?

Maybe it’s a combination of both? Or maybe you’re thinking – what’s the difference?

Today’s video shares more about why you want to be focusing on the tasks that contribute to the growth of your client’s business, what’s this means and more.

Check out video and let me know – which are you supporting? The daily maintenance or the growth? Post your comments below and let me know what action you will take to either change or strengthen your tasks.

Business owners of all kinds, not just the Virtual Assistant industry, have troubles with selecting a target market.

But this question made me smile ... I've had a few people ask me "Cindy, can you just tell me who to select as my target market?  Can you pick for me?"

Check out my response and a tip in this video ...

Let’s say you’ve had your first meeting with a really great potential new client – either in person or via the phone. You took inventory, you  demonstrated your business mindset and also your marketing mindset.

They were impressed by you and are now eager to get started. You are excited about working with them also (you didn’t feel the pit of the stomach feeling and didn’t have to exercise using the word No.)

How do you get started? Where do you even begin?  (Once all the contract details are looked after of course.)

Well, see the great thing is you took inventory (right??). So you have a great place to start.

If they answered your questions, then you know what some of their immediate priorities are and you also know what their long term goals are.

So here’s what I would say “in our call, you mentioned one of your biggest priorities was to do ________________. How about we start with this?”

And because you know how to apply your business and marketing mindset, you can TELL them how to get started.

You can say something like “You mentioned you want to finish your ebook. Well how about we create a deadline together. I can help with keeping you accountable to that deadline – I’ll check in with you every couple of days to see how you’re doing. If you get it to me by DATE, then I can review it, format it and get it back to you to finalize. In the mean time, why don’t I connect with a few graphic designers to have a book cover designed. And we should also confirm how you’re going to sell the ebook – and confirm you have all the technology in place to automate the process so it’s really professional.”

If you have this kind of discussion with a new client, immediately they will get excited about how you can help them. Just look what you’ve covered in a few minutes!

The other nice thing about this is you’ve given your client a ‘safe’ place to get started with you. By starting with a project like this, you’re offering to support them in finishing something they’ve been wanting to do, you’re using your initiative (rather than waiting to be delegated to) and you will not be interacting with any of their clients/customers etc. This gives them to get to know, like and trust you a bit more before you have a ‘presence’ within the business.

Another piece to this challenge is to consider other ‘starting’ projects that may attract your potential clients. Remember, business owners “don’t know what they don’t know”. Many business owners in different professions don’t even know what a Virtual Assistant is. If they have heard the term, they may not really understand what one can do. And even if they have a general idea of what a VA can do, they don’t really understand how it will help their business.

So if you know of some ‘easy’ projects that allow you to easily get started with a client – items they often struggle with, have sitting on the side of their desk (or in a big pile in their office!), then you make it even easier to connect with them and likely get started!

I’d love to hear from you … how do you get started with a new client? What has worked well for you.

The number one question we receive from Virtual Assistants is "How do I find clients?" and we're actually tackling that challenge head on in our "3 Clients in 30 Days" Program right now! Finding clients is one part of the puzzle when it comes to building your VA business.... yet it is just as important to make sure that potential clients fit the description of your Ideal Client.

How would you describe your ideal client? Can you tell within the first 10-15 minutes of meeting with a potential client (either by phone or in person) whether they fit the description of your ideal client?

After talking to literally hundreds of business owners looking for a VA, we've come up with a set of criteria that allows us to know - within a quick 10-15 minute chat - whether a business owner fits the description of our ideal target market.

So to help you out - we've created - tada! The Ideal Client Comparison Chart for you. With the number of potential new clients out there you really should not be working with anyone other than those that you really want to work with!

The point of this chart is to help you quickly identify who is ready to work with you, who is a great match for you and those who aren't (you know, the ones that give you that 'pit in your stomach' feeling.)

Use this tool to help build relationships with the RIGHT kind of clients for you. Enjoy! Click here for PDF.

Got a burning need or desire for a tool you'd like to see created, for the benefit of the Virtual Assistant industry and yourself? Just hit reply to put in your request.

© 2009 Virtually Successful.com. Adapted from the book "Virtually Successful: 8 Simple Ways to Find (and Keep) Clients" by Cindy Greenway. Reproduction permitted with full attribution.