You can make a good living as a virtual assistant -- you can make a great living as a virtual assistant if you have a way to add some additional (but related) streams of income to your practice.
Send Out Cards can help you grow your business and your clients' businesses (while also helping you to earn some residual income).
This article shows some ways you an help your business grow by using the online custom printed card service.
Send Your Thank You Cards As a Virtual Assistant, you are probably already one of those people who sends thank you cards.
Why? Because it is the right thing to do -- and because they work.
It is far easier to retain and grow a current client than find a new one.
Saying thank you (I send my new clients a gift card) goes a long way toward cementing your relationship.
Send Out Cards makes it inexpensive and easy.
Go online, pick out a card, fill it in and push send.
A few days later, you client gets a beautiful glossy card in his mailbox.
Happy Birthday People (even if they don't admit it) like to get Birthday Cards.
Insurance and Real Estate agents know this and always send out birthday cards -- and they end up getting more referrals.
Make sure that you send your clients and important partners cards (and maybe even small gifts).
The Send Out Cards system reminds you of birthdays a week in advance.
You can even set it to send cards automatically.
Just Thinking Of You Have a client you haven't heard from in a while? Send them a card.
I do this periodically.
I'm always amazed at who calls me back saying that they were thinking of *me* when they got my card.
Affiliate Sales/Recommendations Send your clients a card to tell them about new products/tools that come out to make their business run more smoothly.
Along with the card, offer tips on how to use the new product.
Your clients will love you for thinking of them.
You've become their consultant and are adding value to their business (and possibly earning an affiliate commission for yourself).
Get Referrals I know, asking for referrals is awkward.
An easy way to do it is to set up a campaign to send a motivational card to your clients each month.
As part of the note, ask them to pass your name on to anyone who is interested in virtual assistant services.
Attractive.
Easy and Cheap -- each card is only about $1.
Trading Cards One of the least used but very effective ways for you to expand your practice using cards, is to trade cards with another virtual assistant or service provider who offers services that you don't offer.
For example, I do not offer bookkeeping but my friend Katy does.
Katy doesn't do web work, but I do.
We each send cards to our clients introducing and making a referral to the other person.
This is especially nice and attractive if you both offer discounts to each other's clients.
So, even if virtual assistance is your main gig, you can use these tips to grow your business.
Or, suggest them to your clients and help them to grow their businesses.