Nobody hires a stranger.

When you’re just starting out as a Virtual Assistant, the internet has a to-do list waiting for you. 

Pick a niche. Define your ideal client. Build a portfolio. Learn to cold call. 

Let me ask the question that stops people in their tracks on that path. How can you possibly know who your ideal client is if you’ve never had one? How can you choose your niche?

I ask because of what actually happened in my business. Over eleven years I worked with more than 200 clients and I never once went looking for one. Not one cold email. Not one flyer. Not one ad. They came to me the same way people find an attorney or a babysitter. They asked someone they trusted, and someone they trusted said my name. 

That isn’t luck. It’s a system, and it has three parts. 

Here’s how it works:

1. Tell everyone. Your friends, your family, your past co-workers, your hairdresser, your babysitter. I’m not kidding. You are not selling to these people. You are helping them say your name when someone in their life says “I need help.” Most new VAs skip this step because it feels like selling or bragging. It isn’t. It’s information.

2. Send the announcement. One email, to every person whose address you have. Plain language, no pitch. Here’s the one I teach:

Subject: Announcing RocketGirl Solutions

I’m thrilled to announce the launch of my Virtual Assistant business, RocketGirl Solutions. I specialize in providing office admin support for small businesses like updating PowerPoint presentations, calendar management, and website updates. I hope you’ll check out my website and let me know what you think.”

Swap in your business name and the two or three things you actually do. That’s it. No rate sheet, no package menu. The job of this email isn’t to land a client. The job is to make everyone you know aware you exist.

3. Stay in touch. The announcement is a seed. Most referrals come months later, when someone finally hits the wall and your name is the one that surfaces. So keep surfacing. A note when you see something they’d like. A short update when something changes in your business. A newsletter. Not because you’re chasing them. Because people refer the person they heard from last.

Your ideal client will show up on her own. You’ll know her when she does, because she’ll be the one you’d happily clone. Until then, your job isn’t to find her. Your job is to be findable.

Tell everyone. Then tell them again. 

This is the first thing we cover in the VA Business Launch Pad, three free live sessions starting Thursday, November 5, then November 10 and 12, all at noon Eastern. Save your seat here.