Hi everyone! My name is Janice. I'm a new member. I'm so excited about this forum.

Hi Janice it's good to have you here! Tell us a little about yourself and how you got started as a VA!

My name is Janice Breitner. Within the last year, after a lot of research, thought and planning, I decided to become a virtual assistant. I have over 20years combined legal assisting and office managerial experience. I just recently decided it was time to get the ball rolling as a virtual assistant. I like the idea of being my own boss. You can visit my website to find out more about me.

I am very glad to be on this forum. I have a dream to make a go of virtual assisting. I'm afraid that if I don't at least try it, I will regret it the rest of my life. So here we go...

Love the excitement and your slogan!

This forum is great and actually helped me make the decision to take the same step!

We’re glad to have you here!

Hey Janice!!! Totally excited about having you here!! You sound like you have tons of experience!! Keep that dream alive!! I've a feeling you will be a Awesome VA!!

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Winslow Girl Virtual Assistant
www.winslowgirlva.com
Taking Virtual Assistance to the Next Level

Thank you for your support. I have a question for you. Do you get most of your clientele through your website? Or do you find that word of mouth is still the best way? I am struggling with this because my website hasn't started to work yet and I've had my website on search engines since March 2007. I would really like to get a few "true" clients to get started with on a regular basis. Any suggestions would be appreciated. Thank you.

I've found that I get business through a mixture of ways. First, yes, the website is mandatory, as clients always go to the website to not only see your stuff, but you who are.. Even when I didn't have a client come through the search engine, I always send them to the website, just so they can see it all spelled out..
But I also get word of mouth, through advertising, search engines, Networking, etc.. I find the more avenues I open my business too, the better the chances are for building clientelle. The big thing is getting your business out there.. You friends, family, anyone for that matter who will spread the word about your business--this is great free publicity.. I've gotten a client or two becasue of this..
One thing to remember is don't give up.. We all have to start somewhere, and its where we start, that we will remember the most.. Research all the other VA's in your area. Where are they marketing their business. Try to get in all the free ones.. I've gotten clients from doing this as well.

Hope you build that business, and clients come in.. If you haven't already added your business here, make sure you do. You never know when someone here has to outsource e work or jobs become available!!! Good Luck to you

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Winslow Girl Virtual Assistant
www.winslowgirlva.com
Taking Virtual Assistance to the Next Level

Hi Janice!

I just added Virtual Admin to my services this month so my Web site hasn't generated any clientele either. However the clients that I have gotten were prior to going official and that was by word of mouth. I belong to a couple of networking groups that has really helped me get my name and services out there locally. But I'm still working on getting my name out there Virtually. I have received a couple of leads from Craigslist which seems promising... Have you tried marketing outside of your web-site?

Some of our Veterans can prob give you more insight of what has worked for them!

Also..the more networking you do.. the more opportunities that clients will find you site.. Highly recommend. Check which sites get the highest rankings in search engines and get involved there!! Also, Craigslist is great!! Have gotten several clients that way.. Make you a list of all the possible areas to market your website and then track which ones bring the clients in!! Will be interesting to see what works for you!!

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Winslow Girl Virtual Assistant
www.winslowgirlva.com
Taking Virtual Assistance to the Next Level

Hello tgaston and winslowgirl!

Yes, I put my ad on Craigslist about a week ago, but have not gotten any response yet. I'm in the process of putting my add on other sites too. Thank you both for your insight, it is greatly appreciated.