Define Your Ideal Virtual Assistant Client

By on September 21, 2011 in How to Become a Virtual Assistant, Month 1, Virtual Assistant Training

Who is Your Ideal Virtual Assistant Client?Today you will define your ideal Virtual Assistant Client. I’ll share with you why you need to do this, and how you go about it. Specifically you will learn:

  • Why you need to define your ideal virtual assistant client.
  • Why you need to define your ideal client NOW! And what will happen if you don’t.
  • My own ideal client list.
  • Which group should NOT be on your ideal client list.
  • Homework | define your own ideal client list.

Before you proceed further, make sure you already know your big WHY. If not, please go back and read Why Become a Virtual Assistant or Executive Virtual Assistant?

 

Why You Need to Define Your Ideal VA Client

I thought, and you probably do too, the more clients you have, the more successful your business. That is up until I read about Michael Port’s “Book Yourself Solid” book. In it he talks about the need to select just a few, but ideal clients. These are the people who inspire and energize you. They bring out the best in you.

High priced Virtual Assistants & Online Business Managers (ie. OBMs) also maintain just a client or two. There’s a reason for this. If you focus your talent and energy on a few ideal clients, you will most likely perform at your best. Your perceived value will be much higher. Your potential income greater than other Virtual Assistants who are juggling multiple so so clients.

 

 Why You Need to Define Your Ideal Client NOW!

In beginning, especially when you don’t have any online work experience or portfolio yet, you probably won’t have the chance to pick your ideal client. You will be lucky to get any clients at all. But this is no excuse for not defining your ideal client now.  If your ideal client is not clearly defined,

  •  Your marketing message will be all over the place.
  • Your website will be generic and it will not resonate with anyone.
  • Your training efforts will not be focused.
  • Your services will not be targeted.
  • You will end up working with clients who zap the energy out of you.
  • You will be STUCK where you are for a very looooong time. Just look around VA Job boards and you’ll see what I mean.

The earlier you define your ideal client, the faster you’ll find him, and the faster he’ll see you. As for the duds (assuming you already have a couple of clients), you should dump them.

 

My Own Ideal VA Client List

My Ideal Virtual Assistant Client

* I used to target startups for my ideal clients. I was filled with noble intentions then. That was up until I actually had start- up clients who couldn’t make payment on time. Now I only work with clients with proven business models/ stable income. 

Virtual Assistant Client Reject ThresholdREJECT THRESHOLD (when to dump the client) | Payment always delayed. Ignore emails for days. Uber detailed I can’t breath. Resorts to black hat seo and other shady online practices.

Just so you have an idea, I’m sharing with you my own client list above. Your list might look completely different. Maybe you like working with women more. Or you like getting a lot of input from Clients so you may want a bit of a micromanager. There’s no right or wrong answer. Also note that I have a Reject Threshold. If a client falls under this category, I politely decline the client.

Do you actually let go of your existing clients who do not fall within your ideal client list? Yes. Before I learned about ideal clients, I was handling 6-9 clients. I believe a lot of start-up Virtual Assistants also juggle about as many clients. A lot of these clients were irregulars/ project based. Whenever they pop up, I scramble to meet multiple deadlines because I was afraid to let them go. As a result, I was always tired and rushing. While all of them are good and kind hearted, most of them are far from my ideal. Upon learning the concept of a few select ideal clients, I worked on cutting down my client base. I went from  6 to 3, then after a month, down to 1. No more headaches. I am much happier working with 1 ideal client so I always perform at my best. My client on the other hand, feels special because all my focus and attention is on him. And because I picked someone with a stable business (medical field), he can actually pay me a full 40 hrs/week. Win win!

 

VaTrainingOnline Tips from the TrenchesTips from the Trenches

Not an Ideal Virtual Assistant Client

  • Be cautious of start-up Internet Marketers. There are of course exceptions, but generally start-up Internet marketers pay cheap rates. Understand that a lot of them are struggling too and are trying to get into the get-rich-quick bandwagon. The proliferation of articles on how to build your online empire via cheap Virtual Assistants but encourages marketers to dump rates. Here is an interesting post on this How Much Do I Pay My Virtual Assistant? ReplaceMyself actually encourages marketers to hire VAs at $250 (full time VA).

And it’s not just about the rates. Start-up marketers are known for trading up quality for quantity. So while they may be good people, I advise you to be cautious when dealing with them. Start-up Internet marketers are just not the stuff ideal Virtual Assistant  Clients are made of.

  • Do not worry too much about not getting everything perfect at this point. As you work with more and more clients you’ll find your description of your ideal client getting much clearer. If you are totally clueless, go visit eLance.com Browse Virtual Assistant Job Postings   Read through the job requirements. Most of them have brief introductions about their business. Some of them have company names so you can easily Google their business. See if any of their profiles interests. You can also tell a lot about the client just by reading their job posts alone. Was the posting clear and concise? Or was it done in a haphazard manner? Is the tone demanding, or is it polite? Is he using a lot of we/ us, or is it purely “me, my, I”?

If you are down to your last $20, invest it on Michael’s Book Yourself Solid. It will guide you and help you do exactly that, book yourself solid. You’ll never have to bid for a job again – knock on wood for me :) .  You can clearly see Michael’s influence on my VA business in my earlier post Why Become a Virtual Assistant (rate/income section). It’s probably the book on my shelf that gave me the highest ROI and the fastest payback, ever.  - Shell

vatrainingonline quote

 

Virtual Assistant HomeworkHOMEWORK | Now it’s time for you to define your ideal client. Think of a person who inspires or energizes you to work. What are his characteristics? If you can’t think of anyone in particular, imagine yourself being a client. Then ask yourself, “how would I want to treat my VA?”

Do not hold back. Do not feel guilty.  You are doing yourself, and your potential clients a favor by ensuring that you only commit to people with whom you can be at your best. When done, jot down your answers in you Train – Upgrade – Promote Map (page 3 of your  Virtual Assistance Business Planning Worksheet.)

! If you are a brave soul, you might want to post your ideal client list below. I would love to see what you come up with. Or if you have any questions, just jot them down below.

VATYrainingOnline Next PostOn the Next Post … I will walk you through the process of determining your Virtual Assistant Services. What services should you offer first? Not all services are created equal. Find out which would lead you to financial independence faster. Should you plan on going deep or wide? I’ll answer these questions and more, on our next post. So if you haven’t already done so, SIGN-UP for our EMAIL. You will also get high quality Social Media & Marketing Templates.

Author:  Online Business Manager. Former FP&A & Service Excellence Manager at a fortune 500 MNC. With over 14 years of Corporate experience. Dropped out of the cubicle nation due to an entrepreneurial itch. Process & Productivity Addict. Loves GTD, MindMap, Brian Tracey. Simple. Approachable. Evangelist of Virtual Assistance Excellence! Do visit 1 Online Business Manager | 1OBM.com 

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  • Anonymous

    Very informative post. My ideal client would be one who uses his company’s email domain. If he uses a generic one (@yahoo.com, @gmail.com, ,etc), I politely decline. Clients who are serious about paying up use their companies’ email address. He he he…

    I had a client before who would like me to be on webcam and my monitor linked to her so she could “see” what I was doing while she pays for my time. Oh my! Talk about paranoia!

    A potential client who wants me to work 7 days a week doesn’t belong to my ideal client list too!

  • http://www.facebook.com/sheilazaldivar Sheila Zaldivar

    Ronald .. Agree with you on the generic email. I would suggest though that you also do a quick googling (using his email). He may have a site/online presence but just prefers to use his gmail for more direct communications.

    As for the webcam, omg! You got a pathological micromanager! I was just reading about it in HBR. Here, get yourself well armed, in case you come across another one http://blogs.hbr.org/hmu/2011/09/stop-being-micromanaged.html

  • http://www.facebook.com/ErwinRiveraFantastic Erwin Rivera

    Very Informative, thank you.