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Laura Nicole: 00:02

Welcome to Your Virtual Assistant Coach, the podcast for moms who want to make money from home on their own terms. I'm your host, Laura Nicole, a successful six-figure earning VA and coach who replaced my college professor salary in just five months back in 2020 after my daughter was born, and I have never looked back. I'm here to help you build a profitable, flexible VA business that fits into your family's lives so you no longer feel like you're living just to work. Let's dive in. 

Laura Nicole: 00:33

Networking with potential clients as a new virtual assistant is usually something that feels pretty uncomfortable. Especially those first few when you're really getting your feet wet and it's a very new experience. But I think the reason after many, many, many conversations with my students over the years, I think the reason it feels awkward and uncomfortable to that level is really because they're putting all of the pressure on this one moment of the pitch. They think when they pitch to these potential clients while networking with them, that it has to be this perfectly timed, perfectly worded, and perfectly delivered part of their conversation. But today I want to completely change the way that you think about pitching your services because I actually don't think that your pitch should ever come as a surprise to the potential clients that you are chatting with on socials. And listen, I know, and I still stand by this, I know that I tell you all the time when you first interact with new potential clients, literally just connect with them on a human level. It does not have to be in any way tied to virtual assistants. And I stand by that. But that is for that first 20% of your conversation. That is for the very first couple of interactions. 

Laura Nicole: 02:07

It doesn't mean that you never include anything in the conversation about being a VA ever and then suddenly pitch them, right? Because in a way, that still kind of is a cold pitch. And I know that a lot of women who start this think that networking looks like having conversation about unrelated things, conversations about their families, conversations about whatever industry the potential client is in, and then boom, pitch. And they freeze because they're like, that feels awkward. That feels so awkward to do. And it feels awkward because it is awkward. When you have spent all this time just chatting about things that in no way are talking about business or how you could possibly help them, and then you suddenly switch into a completely different avenue of the conversation, it feels forced for both of you and it feels very out of the blue to the potential client. The goal of networking is not to hide the fact that you're a virtual assistant until the perfect moment. The goal is to build a genuine relationship while also naturally letting people discover what you do. 

Laura Nicole: 03:16

So when you're in these conversations, instead of thinking like, okay, this is all leading up to one big pitch, and I have to find the perfect time to send over this complete pitch to them all at once, instead, plant a lot of little seeds throughout the conversation whenever they come up naturally. That is going to take off so much of the pressure. So let's say a business owner tells you that they're getting ready for a launch or they have a new product or a new program coming out. Instead of just saying, like, that's exciting, or oh my gosh, that's gonna be so great. You could very naturally say something like, Launches are so fun. I love helping my clients stay organized during launches, especially helping them manage their timelines and making sure that nothing falls through the cracks because there's always so much on the launch to-do list. That is not a pitch. That's not a pitch. You're not pitching them on your services, but you are planting a seed. Now they're like, oh, this person helps business owners with their launches. That's cool. Or maybe they mention that they're drowning in emails or they've said something on their stories about how their DMs are just stacked to the fucking brim and then they promise that they're gonna get back to people. They're just like drowning at the moment. 

Laura Nicole: 04:34

You could say something like, honestly, inbox management or DM management is one of my favorite things to help my clients with. Again, it's not a pitch. It is just a seed. You're just letting them know that, hey, that's something I do. That's something I enjoy helping my clients with. And when you're just in conversation with them in general and getting to know them, you can ask questions like, what does your team look like these days? What kinds of tasks do you usually delegate? Or what's one thing in your business that you would never want to hand off because it's your favorite thing to do? Or on the flip side, ask them if there was anything in their business that if they could never have to touch it again with a 10-foot pole, they would be the happiest person ever. When you ask questions like that, you're learning about their business, which is gonna help you when it comes time to give them a solution-oriented pitch. But you are also naturally opening the door for deeper conversation around that. And when you've planted enough seeds and you've created an actual connection with these people, the pitch doesn't feel random anymore. It doesn't feel like it's coming out of the blue. There's no sense of like, wait, what? It feels like the obvious next step in the conversation. And sometimes something even better happens. They ask you, they're like, are like, wait, that's something you can help with. Or actually, I've been thinking about trying to bring in somebody to help me with this thing. 

Laura Nicole: 06:06

And those are some of my favorite conversations with potential clients because they happen so naturally as a result of me planting those seeds. Not because I forced this perfectly crafted pitch, but because I'd already let them into my world and into what I do and given them a glimpse of how I could help them. Networking is not about making a sale. Y'all have heard me say this before. You have to go in with a service-overselling mindset. It is truly about building relationships. But while you're building those relationships, don't be afraid to let people know what you do and how you help. You do not have to be a VA in hiding until the pitch comes along. Plant the seeds now so that when the time comes to talk about working together, it feels incredibly natural instead of forced. If y'all found the content of today's episode to be super helpful, this is actually a perfect example of the kind of lessons that I am dropping inside of the business builder section in my new membership, the VA Income Lab. In fact, this whole podcast was an exact training that I dropped inside there for my members last week. Inside the VA Income Lab, we are not just teaching you how to become a virtual assistant. You're not just getting a bunch of information. We are helping you build a well-rounded virtual assistant business that actually feels really good to run. 

Laura Nicole: 07:35

From networking and client communication to confidence and productivity and mindset. The business builder inside of the VA Income Lab is full of practical mini trainings like this that help you grow your business one step at a time. And this is just one small piece of the many, many resources that are inside of this new membership. The VA Income Lab is not currently open for enrollment, but it will be open mid-July. And you can join the wait list through the link in the show notes so that you can be one of the very first women to know when enrollment opens and have first dibs at getting the lowest possible price on this membership. And y'all, when I say lowest possible price, I'm talking the price of a Starbucks drive-thru or grabbing two happy meals for your kid. Because this membership is built for me to be able to help as many women as I possibly can. And I would love to have you inside and join the community that we are building there. So pop down to the show notes, grab that wait list link, and get your name on there, girlfriend. 

Laura Nicole: 08:47

If you love this episode, be sure to share it with your best friend, your sister, or even your favorite coworker who you know wants to start making a flexible income. I'll see you all next time.