Loading ...I read an article not too long ago by C. J. Hayden. In it, she was talking about the idea that marketing that is too unique can hurt you. In one anecdote, she related how she had met a fellow who had a “unique process” for helping companies resolve conflicts between employee groups. When asked, he couldn’t explain his process. All he would say is that it had to be experienced to be understood. When she asked him how it compared to solutions like mediation or team building, he told her it was a totally different approach that defied comparison.
She said she would have liked to have referred him, but couldn’t picture herself calling a company and saying “Hi, I know someone who says he can fix your problem, but he can’t explain how. You’ll just have to hire him and see.”
This reminded me exactly of a prospective client who once contacted me. He couldn’t give me any clear idea about what he did or who he did it for. He abjectly refused to categorize himself (and was quite pleased with himself about that), much less give me any kind of term for what he did, ”I don’t believe in labeling myself; what I do is too unique.”
Needless to say, that conversation went nowhere real quick. I can’t help someone who makes what they do so completely incomprehensible, for both me and their would-be clients.
When you are marketing your Virtual Assistant business, the idea isn’t to be mysterious or so all-encompassing that no one can figure out exactly what you are. It’s about creating clarity and understanding–clearly categorizing the business, what you do, who you do it for and how you help improve things for them.
The more you focus your message on a specifically defined audience, the more attractive, resonate, compelling–and unique–it will be, and the less you will be parroting the same tired, outdated, ineffective message that clients see on every single other VA site out there.
3 Comments
Danielle,
That is so true. We cannot project ourselves to others if we cannot explain what we do. It is an unfortunate need, sometimes, to label ourselves, but if we do not project what we do in a clear and direct way, we cannot expect to have clients. On the other hand, as you presented, it is impossible to work with a client who really has no definition of what they do. A clearly defined label is what draws clients. That is what gets a VA the job.
If the client can clearly state what they do, the VA can do a great job. If the VA has no tools from the client to work with, it is impossible to do the work. How in the world did this “non-labeled” client expect to project his business? How could his business be so unique that he could not explain it?
Likewise, the VA should clearly state what they do so clients will know at the beginning if the VA can, in reality; complete the job. Being able to show a specialty with expertise is a productive flag to fly. To do otherwise, is like flying a flag without anything on it. Those little “tag lines” is what brings attention to what we do. Clients want to know we are professional and can do what they need done, not that we can “flair” the uniqueness of what we do. What we do is not unique–it is a specialty. Who we are is unique and our ideas are unique. We are selling our unique talents and ideas that are different in each of us. We need to focus on how we can make that uniqueness work for each client’s needs.
Joy Pipes
Danielle,
This reminds me so much of myself when I first started out. I wanted to be everything to everyone, thinking that that would surely mean MORE business. Um, no, it doesn’t work that way. Targeting your business and being targetable are extremely important.
I had a client one time, a lawyer who hired me to assist him with his database and other administrative needs. It evolved into taking his car to the mechanic and giving his cat its meds to writing completely made up letters to auto body repair shops to get money from them. It was after those experiences that I developed a very clear path as to my ideal client, and the type of support that I would provide.
Great feedback and insight, April! And I love that phrase: “being targetable.” So, so important. When you have a target market, you make it much easier for clients to find you (on top of it being much easier for you to find clients).
You bring up an excellent point as well–unless you get clear about the work you provide, clients will start to make up their ideas and you can fall into doing things you never intended and have no desire to do. Great learning experiences.