As I mentioned earlier in previous posts, being a Virtual Assistant (or even a home office warrior) there is this cyber-partition if you will between yourself and your clients. Many clients never actually see their Virtual Assistant.
In an effort to get my name out locally, I had to venture out of my virtual shell and attended my first county Chamber of Commerce gathering. I did not know what to expect or how I was to market myself aside from my ‘elevator speech‘ that I prepared. The gathering was a Leads Exchange in which when the meeting starts each participant has 25 seconds to describe who they are, then they pick a card from a basket (which you deposit one of your own upon entry). From that drawn card, you make arrangements with that business to get together informally for coffee. At the end of the meeting you have two prospective coffee dates. Then at your table, each participant has an additional two minutes to talk about your business in more detail and answer questions that might arise.
I rehearsed my speeches pretty good,and I thought that I did rather well. But there is always room for improvement. Following the meeting I realized that certain parts of the benefits of Virtual Assistance was not mentioned. Lesson learned, I made notes. My services are listed on the back of my business cards. I really need to be a little more assertive in reminding the holder to flip the card.
All in all, I thought it was a great start. Everyone was friendly, and very few, if any at all, ever heard of the concept of Virtual Assistance. They were very interested in what I had to say. I plan on attending again sometime in the future.
