I recently discovered a valuable marketing tool for virtual assistants (VAs), which is participating in the forums of your target market. When you post your comments, your signature block can include your company’s name. However, in some forums the posts only have the person’s username as a signature, but your profile that you create on that forum is available if anyone wants to learn more about you and your company. If appropriate, your posts can be about the benefits of using virtual assistants or about the VA industry. Although more and more industries are become aware of the Virtual Assistant industry, many still do not know about us.
In addition to the possibility of promoting your business, you may learn some useful information. For example, I have a marketing degree with an emphasis in advertising; therefore, I chose advertising agencies as one of my target markets. Generally, they are a small business. According to U. S. Department of Labor, 68% of advertising agencies and public relations firms employ 1-4 employees. Participating in the forums of ad agencies, sales, and marketing has given me a refresher course in marketing in addition to learning new marketing techniques.
As a Virtual Assistant, participating in your target market’s forum(s) can be a valuable marketing tool for you, as well as provide valuable information. It doesn’t cost you anything but time.