I am wondering what everyone does to market to people/companies locally and nationally as well. Obviously the steps would be different for local vs. nationally and I am just curious what has worked for most. I have tried randomly emailing companies that I though might be a good fit and I have a FB page but mostly I have found clients simply by submitting RFPs and the occasional referral from other clients. Now I am looking to take on more work and not sure which direction to go.

I've found LinkedIn to be a great source of clients lately - but honestly word of mouth has ALWAYS been the majority of my business.... RFPs from time to time as well.

Have you tried *asking* clients for referrals? 'Hi, I've got X hours available and I'm looking for another awesome client like you! Please feel free to share my info with your colleagues, etc. if you think I'd be a good fit and as a thank you I'll pass on a 10% discount for every new contract that comes my way through you!'
Or something like that, can be a great way to lead to new clients - and the best part about these clients is they come to you already knowing how awesome you are and what you do because your current client has already talked you up

With all that said, I've said for *years* that I wanted to do more local networking but never ever have.... it's hard for me to find the time to do that and just hasn't been a priority but I know that being present and just meeting people at events can be a great source of new contracts.

Good luck!

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Thank you again for the advice. I will take all of it into consideration.

I wrote a long answer yesterday and the power went out. GRRRRR. No way can I recreate that!

I do really well with local clients. Now most of my new work comes from referrals. I do a lot of local networking as well. I have 6 different Chamber's of Commerce close by and they all host monthly "After Hours Networking events" I don't belong to any of those Chambers, you pay a small fee and can attend. (usually $5.) I've gotten really good at networking by going to so many.

I find it interesting that you get clients from RFP's, I answer a bazillion of them and often get a follow up, but only once have I gotten a job from it. Maybe I don't come off well on the phone.

I think in many instances they choose by price. Recently I had one get back to me after my first email and say that I wasn't in the running because I said I didn't have all the skills requested. Maybe I'm too honest but the skill list was 42 items long and none were like "social media" they were all very specific software: Infusion soft, expert level at Photoshop, Adobe InDesign, and so forth. I found it hard to believe that all the other VA's had all those skills!

Another one recently on the phone asked me for my favorite book, band, and movie. Really? I so didn't expect that question and honestly I drew a blank. I read constantly, both fiction and non and I came up with a few titles I've read this year and was asked: is that your all time favorite? Who cares. (he did) Nope didn't get that job either.

I've also gotten very few jobs from social media although I'm on it frequently, post a lot, start conversations, etc. I've gone as far as to hire a couple of people to help me use it and I've gotten such general info I wasted my money (if someone out there can be uber specific with me I'd be willing to hire again). More cheerleading then instructional. The instructional part was like: just do it, go out and talk to people and get in groups with your ideal client (alive and with cash).

So for now I guess I'm sticking with all the local marketing I do. I also do direct email but I make it very specific, I do not write a general letter and send it out. For example, I did some marketing to restaurants recently. I wrote a basic letter, then I would go to the restaurant website and all their social media sites and read them. Then I would adjust the letter so they would know that I've looked specifically at how they are doing. I'd try and find something to be positive about and then make a few suggestions.

Example: if they had some nice FB posts with pix of their specials but only posted every 10 days I'd tell they they how great their posts were but ideally they should consider building interest by posting more blah blah. I also added in each letter that even if they were not interested in hiring a VA yet I'd love to come by and just connect. How all of us local biz peeps should support each other and be a resource.

Yes sending these letters took a lot of time. I'd try and send a few each day. I've had one job and 5 "come on over and have a coffee/wine with me" calls. So it's been totally worth the effort. I'm not even 1/4 of the way thru our local restaurant list.

I hope some other VA's offer up what they are doing to get business.

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Susan Sheehan - VA Cape Cod
21 Steps to Better Networking

You may also create an account in any freelancing sites like elance and odesk.

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Thanks those are some good ideas as well Susan. And yes I have done the freelance sites but not much luck there, seems like everyones prices on there are way to cheap for me to compete with.

Just an update: I got more 3 calls over the weekend and 1 today from the restaurants I've targeted (read about them in my above post). I have 2 appointments so far from these weekend calls! So I'm going to say that direct marketing works very well if you do it correctly.

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Susan Sheehan - VA Cape Cod
21 Steps to Better Networking

Very encouraging to hear Susan! Please keep us updated on how it goes

Susan, can I ask where you went to get the restaurant list? Was there a particular site, did you just check out the ones you could think of off the top of your head?

Well I live on Cape Cod, its a small place so I know most of the places here. Being a single empty-nester I eat out a lot so I started with places I've actually been to. I'd check out their websites, blog and social media. I'd say a bunch of nice things about them, great food, great experience, I see you have social accounts set up, blah blah. Then I'd tell them I'd love to come in and just connect. We're both local, lets meet.

Once I got in there I kept the selling part very low key. We'd talk about their food, the town, business on the Cape, people we both know, and of course that I felt I could help them. All of the places that have called me in for a talk have been very positive. Even the ones that didn't hire me (yet) have told me how glad they were I took the effort to come in and chat. I really pushed the idea that in a small community like ours it's just great to know people, network and get the lay of the land. I'd leave them with a few biz cards, a sell sheet with some of my services specifically geared towards the restaurant industry, and a promise that I'd tell my clients, friends, and family to dine there and that they knew of some one that might need me to pass my card out.

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Susan Sheehan - VA Cape Cod
21 Steps to Better Networking