Hi-
I'm new to this business, so I know I'll spend the lion's share of my time marketing at the beginning. This could be a full time job in it's self, so I'm curious to hear from you all how much time you spend each week (or month) on your business marketing once you're established.

Thanks in advance,
Teri

Hi Teri, Shelley in Fair Oaks here! I have been working on getting things set up for about a month now and I tell ya what, every waking minute it seems I am thinking of new ways to market. I have 2 networking groups to go next week so this week I am getting all my stuff together and making my marketing folders. Every day is different. Some days I spend a couple hours posting on different social network sites, some days I have spent literally all day just making the marketing materials (its a learning curve).

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www.sageva.com
Shelley Halpain,

You are right Teri it could be a FT job in itself. When I first started my business I was marketing at least 4 hours a day. Now that I have attracted all the clients that I want at this time I still make sure that I actively market 10 hours a week in various ways.

I devote one day solid for my business where I focus on my systems and processes. By having this one day it also helps me come up with new marketing ideas as well.

It's all about keeping that funnel full!

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Dawn Riley
A Virtual Assistant in Paradise
Our business is about making yours better

Teri,

I try at least one hour a day (usually more) since I have enough clients now I still keep active marketing for keeping leads in the pipe. However while I was building my clients I marketing three to four times that.

The important part is to do what works for you so that you are not wasting you time. If something is not working, move on. If you are shy then you may want to try social medias. If you get stuck there is terrific advice all over the board and if you ask you will get even more.

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Lee Drozak
My Office Assistant

I am a newbie and market all the time. If I don't have client work I market or study. Every day I start with looking for RFPs that I can apply to. I only can apply to a few since I don't have the skills yet for what clients are asking for. Hopefully that will change as I finish my online courses I am taking now. But clients sometimes move on, get fired, etc and then they must be replaced. So I guess I will never stop marketing though I would imagine that when I do get enough clients I will still be marketing only less.

Thanks to you all for your helpful advice. I knew marketing myself would take every waking minute & had a moment of panic about the balance of current client demands verses future client pipeline.

Thanks again,
Teri

The key is to be consistent and keep doing it, even when you have clients.

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Tamika R. Johnson, MBA, Principal
administrative partners, llc
www.administrativepartners.net | http://adminpartners.blogspot.com

I spend about an hour a day intentionally marketing.

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Lanel Taylor, CVA ~ Virtual Bookkeeper
Taylored Office Solutions
Custom fit solutions for all your office needs.

Once I start researching, I seem to get lost in all of the information out there. One thing leads to another, and so on and so on. Before I know it, hours have gone by, and I've accomplished nothing (or at least it seems that way). This can be extremely frustrating. So I had to set up a schedule and stick to it. For me, it was best to allow 2 hours on 2 workdays, and 3 hours on Saturday morning.

Does anyone else feel lost with all the different marketing techniques out there? Sometimes I feel like my head is spinning - and I've been a VA for over 7 years!

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Kelly Minton
MySavvyVA.com

Time is the biggest problem. VA has been a sideline for years and the only marketing I've done is 3 mails (the last a year ago), each of which gained me work. Today a new client dropped in my lap as a referral from a guy I do a small format job for every few months. I know lots of work is right there, but the time to market isn't there at all for me right now.