Last week a friend from church invited me to attend a planning committee meeting for a local wine festival, then also to stay for a rotary meeting afterwards. It was DEFINITELY well worth my time!

Because of the job I had for several years with a local hospital, I still have acquaintances in the local community - several of whom were at this meeting. However, despite that fact, attending the rotary meeting was incredibly beneficial. Not only did I have a chance to sit at a table with 9 other business people and explain to them what I do, I also (along with all other visitors) was introduced publicly to the group with a brief explanation of my business. All that to say, I have two potential clients!

If you have any friends in the rotary, might I suggest you ask if you can visit one of their meetings? It's packed full of local business people, and it's a great networking opportunity!! I can't say that I'm going to jump in and join, because it's a rather expensive membership fee; but it was definitely a worthwhile visit!

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Mary Henaghan
Harmony Business Services

So great to hear about successful 'real life' networking efforts. Being virtual, it's so easy to forget that we can and should network locally.

Congratulations on the potential clients!

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Hi.

I recently read that all virtual professionals should invest time and effort in offline face-to-face marketing and that it is the number one way to get clients and fill your practice quickly.

Does anyone have direct experience of this? It would be interesting to find out other views as it is something I will be doing in coming months by attending conferences, trade fairs, local networking events, Chamber of Commerce meetings etc, etc even though the thought of it scares me quite a bit!

Wish me luck!

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Ishaka Greenwell
Greenwell Virtual Assistant Services

I agree that offline marketing is important. I talk to everyone I know about my VA business. We just moved back to our home town after being gone for 3 years and one of the first questions that come up is "are you working." Perfect opening for me to explain about my business.

The other day when I went to the beauty salon (be gone gray hairs ), the owner of the salon said she wants to talk to me about setting up a website for her. (I had left business cards and a brochure with my stylist the last time I was there.) Hopefully, I'll have a new client.

Best wishes in your business.

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Jayme Hanson
Your Virtual Assistant Solution

Congratulations on the potential clients!

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Teresa Sweigart
Sterling's Virtual Services

I recently attended a Chamber of Commerce event in my local community. I had so much fun networking with other small business owners in my area. The beauty of it was that I was able to share what my industry does (virtual assistance). Absolutely none of them had heard of the industry and were very interested. Did I get any clients? No, but I did network and pass around a lot of cards. Who knows who might connect with me later? Never hurts. Go out and network. It definitely gets the word out of our industry in a positive light.

I definitely believe in the power of offline networking. I am a member of our local Chamber of Commerce where I volunteer as an Ambassador--promoting the Chamber as well as attending all of the new business ribbon cutting events, etc. It's a great way to meet new people and talk to the new business owners about my VA business and get my "face" out there. From that membership, I got one client that I did some project work for.


What I have received the most benefit from is local networking groups. I joined two groups and already have two current clients and seven potential clients (wish me luck). The value to me from the networking groups is that you help each other--they help refer you to their contacts and you do the same for them. People seem to be very interested in the VA business but just need to be educated about the details.

The most recent event I did was to be the "guest speaker" at a local civic club. Don't get too excited--#1 I HATE to speak in front of people and #2 there were only 9 people there. HOWEVER, one of the ladies present was the manager at a local credit union and they will be needing additional help towards the end of the year. She is VERY interested in what I do. That could be potential client #8.

So, bottom line to me is that offline networking is VERY important! I find that online marketing of my business is much harder and you also don't get the benefit of meeting your clients in person. BTW, I just started my VA business in March and have only been "working" it part-time.

I'd love to hear how other VA's feel about offline marketing!

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Sylvia Mesaros
The Alliances

There's no better way to find people with needs that you can help than by engaging in conversation with those you bump into everyday, particularly the owners of the local small businesses you frequent -- your stylist, baker, plumber, auto repair shop, etc. Getting out and being seen is the key.

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Steve, aka. HubBubMonitor
HubBubMonitor.com

This is a great reminder to everyone who sits in front of their computer all the time. It is great to outreach to you people locally. You might now know a great clients and opportunities is ahead of you there.
I have read the posts and it inspires me to go out and do some charity outside your home and meet new people than just being virtual.
Thanks a lot - Socorro

Hi Mary

Networking is key to building relationships and congrats with you success. I find our COC meetings the place to mingle with other business people but will definitely check out the Rotaries.

Marietjie

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Co-founder Be Virtual Assistant Wise
http://be-virtual-assistant-wise.co.za