You’ve set up a virtual professional business, and you want to find and land clients right away. Before you rush to do this, however, let’s quickly go over your business structure to make sure it is fully optimized to reward your hard work with success – and to land you the exact type of client you need.
Getting Your Virtual Professional Business Up to Speed
There are three areas to consider:
- The type of client you want to attract
- The hours you want to work
- The fees you wish to earn
Once you are decided on these three areas, you can ensure your business model is set up to automatically create your ideal conditions – and attract the right client. Before we even get to this, however, let’s make sure your virtual professional business model is set up to allow you to do what you love best, dealing with the types of client you like best.
You may not start out where you want to be – but make sure you set conditions up so that you’re always heading, on course, towards the goal. The internet is littered with virtual professional business service providers who took on jobs they hated (or who accepted cheapskate clients) just as an “interim” source of income.
And many of these virtual professional business service providers now feel they are trapped in the low end of their niche.
This post will show you how to attract the right clients – and avoid common pitfalls.
“But Do You Really Love What You Do?”
One way to make sure you (a) absolutely love your online business (b) attract clients who you will find truly rewarding: Specialize.
Don’t just be a virtual assistant – be a virtual assistant who specializes in Aweber set up; or podcasting creation and maintenance; or in article marketing. Or be a graphic designer that specializes only in Affiliate Blog Setup. Or a copywriter that specializes only in Direct Ad Writing. Or in whatever you love doing most – and find most easy.
By easy, we mean “doing the tasks that you could happily spend twenty-four hours a day immersed in”: Tasks that energize you. Tasks that make you feel guilty for being paid to do them!
And don’t worry that “easy” will be boring: Your clients and their needs will most likely provide all the “challenge” you need!
So before you rush ahead, take a second look at your virtual professional business and make two lists.
- First, write out only those things that make you so happy, you don’t even think about getting paid – the things that make time whistle by, unnoticed.
- Next, under your second list, write out all those tasks you particularly hate
Your list should look something like this…
| What I Love Most About My Business | What I Hate Most About My Business |
| Designing blogs and websites | Doing the bookkeeping |
| Creating logos | Clients that pay late |
| Creating custom graphics | Social networking |
| Brainstorming client’s dream | Installing shopping carts |
| Coming up with original concepts | Picky revisions |
| Original photography for clients | Invoicing |
(Substitute your own points, of course.)
Studying each point in your list should help clue you on to:
- Tasks you need to outsource
- Services you can eliminate
- Services you can stress and promote
The latter are services you should focus on and specialize in. Make sure there is a real need for that particular specialty, however. Conduct short, focused polls and surveys – online and off – before deciding to focus on them.
For example, say you discover, while staring at the above list, that taking photographs for clients is the one service above all other that truly puts you “in the zone”; making time disappear and filling you with interest and delight. Perhaps you actually need to rethink your business model, drop all the other design services and concentrate solely on running a photography business.
Or say you look at your “What I Hate Most” list, and realize that “Working weekends” is a sore point with you – either state right on your website or business material that you are only available nine to five, weekdays… or bill hourly and charge a hefty penalty for clients who expect you to work on weekends.
(The choice of how to handle the issue is yours.)
Set up your ideal virtual professional business – and business conditions – before you start aggressively seeking clients. You will then stand a much better chance of landing the right clients at the right price…for the right business!
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10 Ways to Land the Client of Your Dreams
Pricing Your Services
Find others who do what you want to do. See what they charge. Look for feedback online about them. Check out sites like Guru.com, VAnetworking or Upwork.
And keep in mind projects listed in directories may represent the lower end of the pay scale for your specialized area of expertise. Look for directories and networks where there is a rating scale, with higher pay going to established freelancers.
One strategy that will get you up and running immediately…
- Creating Special “Introductory” offers
There are serious pros and cons to this strategy. While you will almost certainly attract clients – and what is more, serious clients within your exact niche – by offering an introductory Custom Original Video Sales Letter for only $27.00… or offering to transcribe, edit and proofread a podcast.
The problem with offering drastically low introductory offers: Your new client then expects you to provide that specific service at those rates for life!
However, if you are absolutely unknown and desperately need to break into the business and start landing clients, there are ways to minimize this tendency on the part of potential clients.
The drawback is that many of these client types are not “ideal”. They tend to belong to one of two categories:
- Top professionals looking for mercilessly cut-rate outsourcing.
- Brand new business owners with minimal budgets, desperate for outsourcing.
One doesn’t like to pay what you are worth – a huge strike against the client-service provider relationship from the start – and the other simply can’t afford to pay you what you’re worth. Not your ideal client!
However, there’s another type of client who avails him- or herself of cut-rate introductory offers: Those who simply want to sample your services, and expect to pay going market rate after they have done so.
To make sure you attract only the latter category (or set yourself up to make quick money without losing money on your time) observe the following precautions.
Set a limit:
- On how long your introductory offer will remain in effect. For example, if you are posting it in a forum “Special Offers” section, let people know “offer expires on August 27, 2026”: Or “This Week ONLY – No Exceptions”.
- On how many units new clients can invest in.
- On time offered, and make sure it is prominently displayed in your landing page, ad or freelance advertisement site description.
For example, if you plan to regularly charge $50.00 per hour, instead of offering to accurately transcribe, edit and proofread an entire video for $5.00, specify that you will transcribe exactly ten minutes’ worth – thus providing them with a sample you are actually paid for, at your going rate.
(It is then up to the client to purchase more units, if they are happy with your rate.)
(And call it an “Introductory Offer”.)
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The Minimum You Need for Maximum Results in Business
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