Virtual Assistant Forums | Work from Home

hbplifestyle · #1 (**permalink**) 07-23-2009

One thing I am finding is it takes a lot of dedication in becoming known in the VA industry. Those of you who consider themselves well known, how long did it took to get there. Was it six months, a year or years. Don't get me wrong, I realize that it's important add value to followers and it's not all about numbers.

Give us insight what to expect. What would you say was the most successful thing you did in order to get there?

Office Goddess · #2 (**permalink**) 07-24-2009

Being 'well known' is relative. I have a pretty good reputation on this forum and a few others, but there are lots of forums that have never heard of me! I wouldn't worry about being well known anywhere. I answer posts on this forum (and others) to share the things I have learned as I have grown my business and I ask questions to learn the things I DON'T know. The end result is that I have a fairly solid presence in several industries simply by being involved with them.

As far as a time line goes, it would all depend on how much time you spend and how much interaction you have in various places, whether they be online forums, face-to-face networking, or blogs, newsletters, print articles, etc. There is no cut and dried answer to that.

We recently had to change doctors, after 12 years with the same one. The hubby and I found a possible new doctor through a combination of the phone book and online searches and then scheduled a 'meet and greet' appointment. The doctor had the personality of a wet dishrag, no bedside manner, and was rude about the fact that there was nothing wrong with us to explain our visit! Needless to say, we kept on looking and found another doctor, this time through 'word of mouth', that we really like and get along with well.

After meeting our second potential family doctor (the one we liked) we asked several people if they were familiar with the first doctor we met. Talk about bad impressions! We heard nothing but negative things about the first doctor from our previous doctor's office staff, the guys at the ER (F-I-L fell in shower and we had to get him checked out), and from several other sources, including some of my co-workers. On the other hand, we heard an amazing amount of positive things about the new doc! The point about this is that had we started by asking people we knew for suggestions or if they knew someone’s reputation, we could have possibly avoided the first disappointing appointment (and the co-pay

).

The moral of the story? Socializing, networking, being involved, and getting to know people on a personal basis is, in my opinion, critical for getting an excellent reputation and becoming ‘well known.’ The more you interact, the farther your influence and reputation will spread.

Tess · #3 (**permalink**) 07-26-2009

I agree wholeheartedly with Lily. I think that there are certainly some VAs who make a point of publishing, securing speaking engagements or creating events, etc. but otherwise most of us are only known relative to those we reach out to.

If you want to become more well-known I'd recommend finding ways to help other VAs by finding answers to obscure questions that haven't been answered yet here on the boards, or sharing your expertise in response to someone's query - that's always a good start and honestly, that IS the thing I did to become well-known. I did my best to answer every single question that was posted on this board for about the first year and a half - even if it meant doing research to find the answer. I learned a lot in the process and became known for having lots of answers and for being helpful.

And if it's any consolation, I know who you are!

Honestly, I think that without VAF no one would know much about me at all.

JKVirtualOffice · #4 (**permalink**) 07-26-2009

For myself, I think maybe I felt like I was seeing more referrals and potential contacts after about six months. But I would say that time period is specific to the route I took and directly related to the amount and type of marketing or networking that I did.

Part of it is figuring out what works best for you, your personality and for what you are trying to accomplish. I did some of what Tess mentioned in that I worked to answer questions or posts on this forum that highlighted my knowledge or expertise as well as worked to connect with many of the other VAs on this forum.

As my specialty is now social media, I used that quite a bit for my own marketing needs and I believe that helped me to get known as well.

My bit of advice would also to be that you reach out to network or communicate with people other than just VAs but in your target market. Not to sell yourself, but with the intent of letting them get to know you as a person and a professional.