We wanted to share with you a great initiative by one of our past clients and well-read freelance journalists Nina Hendy of The Freelance Collective
Nina writes…
Self-promotion tactics for talented VAs
Working out the best way to market yourself as a virtual assistant can be hard work, not to mention expensive.
But even if you’ve got a steady flow of regular work, the importance of marketing your services and keeping your virtual profile online is paramount, because as we know, anything could happen with your clients tomorrow.
This issue of self-promotion is a major problem for virtual assistants. Most potential clients will check out your LinkedIn profile after they’ve come across you to corroborate your past experience, but actually driving them to get to your LinkedIn profile is the first hurdle.
Self-promotion is a difficult part of the job anyway. It’s not easy to put yourself out there, particularly if you’re far more comfortable working from a home office, away from the prying eyes of the world.
This challenge of finding a way to promote yourself as a virtual assistant has prompted a small group of Australian freelancers to create a dedicated place for Australian VAs to spruik their services. The Freelance Collective is home to Australia’s best creative freelance talent, and we’ve created a category especially for Australian Virtual Assistants to also build their own profile page on the site.
The Freelance Collective is the first database of its kind in Australia – a database of quality independents for hire that enables virtual assistants to create their own profile page on the site and let clients find you.
To level the playing field, virtual assistants aren’t required to add how much they charge or where in Australia they’re based – instead, it’s a chance for clients to learn about their own individual talents, specialties and how they approach their job. Clients can search the site freely anytime they like, and contact the freelancer directly to find out whether the virtual assistant is available for a project, and how much they might charge.
The Freelance Collective does all the self-promotion for you – all you need to do is sit back and watch as the new client enquiries roll in.
Virtual assistants can join for a few months to pick up some extra clients, remove your profile if you’re swamped, or log in and update your profile anytime.
We wanted to make it really affordable to be a part of The Freelance Collective, so for $9/month, you’ll be part of it, get weekly freelance tips and advice, access to our members-only Facebook group to bounce around ideas, find collaborations and be part of the freelancing community.
Check out The Freelance Collective here.
Nina Hendy is the founder of The Freelance Collective – a dedicated home for quality Australian Virtual Assistants (among others) to spruik their services.
