Are you still searching for that elusive first Virtual Assistant client? (or the first good client!?)

Starting your business brings excitement and anticipation. That can quickly be extinguished when you look for clients and don't find any.

The first piece of advice is to make sure you know your service offerings and your rates.

Clients want to know what you can do for them and how much it will cost them. Tell them. Figure out a clear way to convey this message. 

When you are searching for clients, if you don't know those basics, you won't be putting out a very confident message to those you are connecting with.

Once you know what you can offer and how much you charge, then it's really a matter of connecting with people who can a) potentially use your services, or b) tell people they come into contact about you.

That probably makes it sound like it's simple to get clients. It's not. It takes hard work and persistence.

Here are a few tips that should help:

1. Talk to people about how you can help them. Be specific. Do not talk about being a VA. Talk about what you do to help business owners.  Whether you are talking to people online or in person, be sure to focus on how you help.
2. Connect with communities - online or offline. Local business associations are great places to connect face to face with people to talk about business. Even if you want online clients, networking in person can do wonders for your business conversation skills. Live interactions often result in getting clients faster.
3. Make your efforts consistent. Reaching out to a few people a day consistently will bring you better results. When you do, you develop good habits. You can tweak what you say, how you say it, or even fix issues with the actual services you offer. Connect with people every day and the clients will come.
4. Check your online profile bios. Be sure that the message you are putting out there is the same across your profiles. When people connect with you online or in person, they often go and check you out. Be sure that what you want to put out there is what they see.
5. Make a list of everyone you know that might be able to either use your services, or might know people who do. Strive to get a list of 100 people on that list. Reach out to them, a few at a time, to let them know about your business and how you help your clients.

Getting clients is about making connections. Once you have these basic tips in place, reach out to that list of people consistently - and add to it as you come into contact with other people. Creating a steady pipeline of connections is the key to getting clients - whether it's your first or your fiftieth.