I have been reading a lot on this forum, learning everything I can about the VA Business. I am focusing on the wahm industry so I have joined several wahm groups. I sent out an email to the group MomPack, requesting help for my portfolio, offering to design a free business card, to be sent to the business owner via email as a jpeg in exchange for including it in my portfolio. Wow was I surprised when I opened my email to find 35 request for business cards! I have designed most of them this week and hope to have them all finished by Tuesday, as Monday is a holiday from my current 9to5. I am so hopeful that this will turn into at least a few paying customers. Just wanted to share!

Debra Nail

Debra that is a great idea! They say network where your clients are and that is exactly what you did. I hope it pans out well for you.

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

Debra, that's an awesome start - good job getting yourself out there
They're getting a great deal - I must say. Talk about a steal!!

Next step is to offer the same group, or another similar group, a 'special new member' price and reward yourself with some income for all that hard work.

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Hi Debra -

I'm a member of MomPack too and saw your email! I thought it was a great idea. I was all set to respond, but I got sidetracked, and then I saw your post that you'd had such an overwhelming response already, so I figured that I'd hold off. Plus I found some software to create my own biz cards, so I decided to give it a shot.

I'm really glad to know that it worked out for you! I may have to come up with my own little freebie or discount to build my portfolio and get some good contacts!

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Tammi Metzler ~ The Write Associate
Free call: "How to Write Email Subject Lines That Grab Attention!"

Just my extra ten cents in here - but as a general rule I don't encourage all-out freebies unless you really are motivated to do that. A little extra freebie tacked on to a regularly priced service or a nice discount are a great way to draw people in and still get the experience/portfolio build you're looking for.

Debra, that's not to say that this wasn't a great idea - I just hate to see you giving away your hard work and talent for nothing!

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That's nice Debra. I think you're off to a great start.

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Carlana Charles - Ciboney Virtual Solutions
Web: http://ciboneyvirtual.com Blog:http://ciboneyvirtual.com/blog

Debra - My guess is that you'll be hard pressed to complete it all over the holiday, but what a happy union with a responsive group! They will love you for it, and they will listen when you make new offers ... but remember that adding a fee is the great dividing line, so be careful about your expectations. We all must take these risks in marketing ... I just sent out 400 postcards, from which I can expect what, 1-3% return maximum? And that much has to be enough to make up for the cost of producing and mailing 'em.

So, you receive as you give; but more truly, you reap what you sow, and you don't reap if you don't sow.

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Mary H. Ruth/Virtual Writing & Communications
http://www.writingVA.com

I appreciate all of the response I have had to this post. Now that I have this list of moms, am I out of line to consider them as a mailing list to send out future paying promos to? Should I send an email with their free card design requesting to add them to my mailing list? I don't want to lose the contacts that I have made by doing this. I know that a few of them have already requested information about how much I charge and such and I would like to give them special deals that are available only for the mailing list. How should I approach that? Thanks so much.

Debra Nail
Deb's Office

I would say since a few have already inquired, you can do a general email to them all and included that in within the email. Give them an opt out so you cover yourself with the spam rules.

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

Dawn's right - as long as you provide an easy opt-out option you should be just fine emailing them. If you're just going to email them directly, adding a line such as

"If you'd prefer not to receive our emails simply reply with 'Unsubscribe' in the subject line"

Then as long as you keep track of who's unsubbed you're following the spam laws correctly.

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