When I started my business just over 7 months ago, I wasn’t actively using social media; even for personal use. It was all new to me and it felt scary.  I knew that by being a Virtual Assistant one of the best places to promote my business for free would be on social media.

First of all, I had to decide which platform to start with. My main three in mind were LinkedIn, Facebook or Instagram. I didn’t know much about any of them but I decided to start with LinkedIn. I had heard lots of people say that it is all business based and very formal, but I find that it is a lovely community with lots of supportive people and I talk about everything in my posts, as do others. I have to admit that in the early days I didn’t know what I was doing and I felt very anxious creating my first post and engaging on other people’s posts, let alone sending connection requests. Just over 7 months in and I have lots of lovely connections and between July & December 2020, I posted 310 times!  I think my first post was about chocolate and just the other day I posted about cereal!

My biggest tips on LinkedIn and in general on social media for business would be:

– Engage with other people’s posts.

– Be consistent and post as regularly as you can.

– Write about everything and not just your products or services- people want to get to know you before buying from you or using your services.

– make new connections.

– stick to the rules stipulated by the platform that you are on.

These are just a few tips that I have learnt over the last 7 months but there is also so much more to it (I won’t even start on the algorithms or hashtags). There are lots of great coaches that specialise in helping people with using social media (you can find them by searching on the relevant social media platform).

I also have a Facebook page and since October, I am also on Instagram. My main focus is LinkedIn but I still try and post on Facebook and Instagram a couple of times a week. I belong to lots of Facebook groups linked to small businesses as well as Virtual Assistants. Engaging on those too is a great way to get your name out there as well as virtually meeting lovely people.

I would say, give it a go and that it is definitely worth while! I have found a majority of my clients through social media and the fact that it is a free form of advertising is a bonus.

Don’t forget that we all started somewhere. I know how disheartening it can feel when hardly anyone likes or comments on your posts.  I have recently noticed that sometimes people may not like or comment on a post but they are still reading them. I have received several messages from potential clients and they are people that have never liked or commented on my posts. People see if you show up and are consistent so it is worth persevering.