Your Next Client is One Conversation Away

I want to tell you something that took me years to really get: Getting clients is not a transaction. It's about relationship building, something I didn't understand and wasn't good at. 

When I started my VA business, I thought I needed to get good at "selling" myself.

I believed I would be successful if I could find a strategy for positioning myself with just the "right" people. If I could crack the code on persuading business owners that they needed me, I'd be rolling in clients.

But, after wasting a ton of time, thinking I must not be cut out for VA work, feeling disappointed and like a failure, I realized that's not how it works. That's not how you get clients.

Enter Doug.

One summer day in July, I was at an ice cream party (not a networking event), hosted by my client, Michael. I started chatting with a guy named Doug about what kind of ice cream he was eating and that led to talking about how we knew our host, where we lived, and how we planned to enjoy the rest of the summer.

At some point in the conversation, we realized that his wife and I had worked at the same company in Boston about 12 years before. I didn't know her well, but remembered her name, and thought about how much fun it was to make the connection.

We exchanged business cards. Before I left, I asked if I could add him to my email newsletter. He said sure.

A few weeks later, I got a meeting request from his wife, Roselyn. 

In the first two minutes of our call, she said: "My husband Doug met you at an ice cream party. He's been getting your newsletter. I'm starting a new business and I need help getting organized."

She hired me that afternoon and was a fabulous client for years. She's still a friend today.

That is how you get clients.

I didn't sell. I didn't launch into a conversation about how I could work with him. I was just being a friendly human being at a party.

And I was also able to explain what I did. I asked if I could stay in touch. And that newsletter - showing up in Doug's inbox every couple of weeks - kept me top of mind.

When his wife mentioned she needed help, he immediately thought of me.

That's how this works.

You're not looking for clients. You're building relationships. You're planting seeds. Some will sprout next week. Some will sprout a year from now. Some will never sprout at all.

But if you don't plant the seeds, nothing grows.

So if you've been frustrated because you posted something on social media and no one hired you - I'm not surprised.

If you sent one email to someone and never heard back - that's not a failure. That's the beginning.

Getting clients happens when you:

• Talk to people about what you do
• Stay in touch without being pushy
• Show up consistently over time
• Build real relationships

You can't predict who will be your next client, or where they will come from. But you can start planting seeds today.