How To Find Your Ideal Clients

Every Virtual Assistant starts her practice with dreams of working from home, on interesting projects, with clients she LOVES, who pay her EXACTLY what her time is worth.  So how does one go about making this dream a reality?  Simple.  By filling her practice with her IDEAL clients. 

Please understand, only working with IDEAL clients is far different than just having paying clients.  When I first started my business, I didn’t know there was a difference and worked with anyone who wanted to hire me.  I learned the hard way, by trial and error, to save myself many hours of frustration by being really selective about whom I chose to invite into my practice.  Once I completely embraced this concept, my business completely changed for the better.

You see, YOUR ideal client is not the same as mine or anyone else’s.  Your business is YOU, all that makes you special, unique and talented.  So one essential key to running a successful Virtual Assistant business is to ONLY work with the clients you are best suited to work with, those you can best serve.  That way, you come to work every day engaged, excited and motivated, because you love what you do and who you do it for.  And your clients are thrilled to pieces with your deliverables because they get top-notch service from a diligent, cheery Assistant.  Everybody wins!

Finding YOUR ideal client starts with you, not them.  To identify who you DO want to work with, you must first clarify who you DON’T want to work with.  So ask yourself:

• What characteristics or behavior will you refuse to tolerate in your business?
• What kinds of people do not deserve a place in your business?
• What turns you off or shuts you down?

Once you have this list down, turn your attention to who IS a great fit for YOUR business!  Ask yourself:

• What types of people do I love to be around?
• What qualities do they possess?
• What do they like to do?
• What do they talk about?
• What type of business are they in?

Create a clear picture of this group of people in your head.  Then narrow it down to one person.  Create a profile of the EXACT client you want to work with.  Your favorite client.  The person you can’t believe you get paid to work with because it’s so much fun.  Write down as much detail as you can about this person.  In fact, give them a name. 

For instance, my ideal client’s name is Alexis Taylor.  She is 35 years old and runs a highly successful marketing consulting firm in San Francisco.  She has an MBA and loves to read.  She lives in a cool loft, is married to her best friend, loves wine, visits to the spa and vacations on the beach.  She is easy going, fun loving, extremely business savvy, and loves technology.  She’s too busy doing what she does to manage the day-to-day operations of her business, so she TRULY appreciates all that I do for her and has no problem paying my fees.

When I meet prospective clients, I assess their personality, work style, background and goals to see how they match up to my ideal client profile.  Even if a person doesn’t match this 100%, there are certain factors that are deal-makers and deal-breakers, and I don’t budge on these.  I’ve learned from experience that my deciding to work with a non-ideal client won’t serve either of us well and is really a waste of our time. 

So, it’s far better for me to turn down the business and help them find someone who is perfectly suited to support them.  If I need to get a new client, I just have to go where the “Alexis Taylor’s” of the world hang out, present how I can help them and voila!  I have a new client.  It makes my marketing SO easy!  And is thus how I have built a full practice that is bursting at the seams!

Don’t be afraid to set strict boundaries in your business, and especially with your ideal client profile.  This is YOUR business and it needs to reflect your needs and desires.  Having these boundaries in place will protect you and allow you to provide your best service to your ideal clients, which is guaranteed to contribute to a full, thriving Virtual Assistant practice.