I saw an interesting article today titled “Take Advantage of Social Networking with a Virtual Assistant” so of course I went and read it straight away.
I have very firm ideas about what a VA should and shouldn’t do for a client and networking is one of those things I don’t believe we should be doing.
I agree we can set up profiles for clients and hold their hand and help them through the process of learning to use tools such as LinkedIn, Facebook, Twitter and others but I strongly believe we shouldn’t be in there doing the connecting for them.
Why? Because those people we’re connecting with will assume that we are the person we’re representing and they’ll be forming a false ‘relationship’ with someone who isn’t who they appear to be.
I believe that our clients really need to be doing the networking. They have their own personalities and interests and will be drawn towards certain people that have an instant rapport with them. Unless our own personalities closely match that of our clients, that really isn’t going to work.
I found the last paragraph of this article interesting:
So save yourself the trouble of running all these online accounts and hire a virtual assistant to do all the online work for you. You will definitely reap the benefits of getting on these online networks and actively build relationships with the people on the networks.
Who is building the relationship in this article? Not the client but the VA. If the client doesn’t have time to build relationships with others then how are they going to grow their business? They can’t remain isolated from people for too long as networking and marketing go hand-in-hand and are an important part of business development and relationship building.
So while I agree that Virtual Assistants can set up profiles, upload images, add bios and even send out invitations to existing contact lists the client has, I don’t agree that the VA should actually be doing the tweeting, connecting, replying and responding – the client needs to take ownership of that part of the networking and do it for themselves. What are your thoughts?
Jodi Gibson says
Hi Kathie, I have just completed writing an eBook advising clients on the use of Twitter for Business purposes. I agree that a VA can help set up the accounts, set up auto responders, tweetlater, etc. and monitor the Tweets but I do make a strong point that for social networking to be successful the client will actually need to put in time and effort.
I have a client who due to their profession is quite often out of the office during the day. I have set up a Twitter account for them and they send me at the beginning of the week links, articles and notes to post for them at various times. At the end of each day I send through any important notes or notable links, then each night my client checks through and does some personal tweeting to gain more of a connection with his followers. This has worked well. So although a VA can assist in some ways, social networking is definately about making that personal connection which must be genuine.
Teri Dempski says
Kathie,
While I have always felt that a VA should not “impersonate” a client by responding, I have agreed to Tweet for clients, in certain cases, but it must be their words. For example, one of my clients is an author and I tweet interesting quotes from her book to promote the sales of that same book. Another client sends me a list of “Tweets” to send out through the week, that I can just put into Tweetlater. There can be other examples, but I never respond “as the client.”
When clients don’t understand that social media is just that, “SOCIAL” then I tell them there is no use in trying to use it for networking. I also set up pages and profiles, but if they don’t invest the time, they will not see a return on their investment. I explain this to the clients I work with. I’ve seen a few “get hooked” and some that never will. Social media networking tools need to be worked with, not cool little toys to admire.
Social media cannot be possesed, it will not grow just because you have a profile. It’s like planting a seed and never watering it. I think too many are thinking social media marketing is the same as traditional media marketing–do it once and see the results over a period of time. The thinking must change and until it does, we’ll continue to have clients that are somewhere in limbo, looking for heaven.
Lisa Olinda says
For years I have been the voice for many clients. I have typed letters for clients that have not been dictated to me but I have composed in their voice. For me helping clients with their social media and blogging has not been that different. It certainly has the challenge of putting on a different hat and seeing how the client phrases things but I believe a VA can successful market a client via Twitter, LinkedIn and Facebook.
In a perfect world everyone would have time to do everything, but in the real world clients do need assistance and I can’t see the difference between composing a letter for a client or composing a blog article or Tweet.
I certainly respect your position though Kathie!
Cristina Favreau :: The Brainstormist says
OMG, Kathie! I’m so glad you wrote about this.
I’m a huge believer that networking, no matter the form it takes, is NOT something you can delegate, EVER. You can use a VA to do everything leading up to networking and everything to follow up, but you cannot have someone else do the actual networking and not expect it to backfire.
Teri’s approach of “it must be their words” is spot on how business owners can use a VA to help manage their social networking. NOT to “impersonate.”
Business owners should be delegating to VAs to free them up to do MORE networking and relationship-building. Not abdicate the responsibility to a VA because they can’t be bothered.
In the long run, do you really think clients won’t be able to see through it?
What an oxymoron… Delegating tasks to “actively build relationships” is lazy, hypocritical and disingenuous. Do they send someone in their place at live networking events too?
Kathie Thomas says
I knew this topic would draw some interest and I’m thrilled to see the comments – both for and against. Thank you for popping in and I look forward to hearing from more about this topic. Perhaps even some business owners who have used VAs to assist.
Lyn Prowse-Bishop says
I actually blogged about what a VA can do for clients with regard to social media including things like setting up accounts, profiles, Facebook pages etc etc – but I also indicated that a VA could Tweet for a client. However, only the client’s words – as opposed to the VA ghosting for the client. I think a VA can very successfully manage a client’s online networking until it actually gets to the ‘nitty gritty’ of networking – ie DMs from Tweeps, messages sent directly from Facebook and so on, in which case the client should be responding to these personally to build the relationship.
I view this in the same was as being a PA or Executive Assistant. When I worked in these roles I often opened the executive’s mail (including private and confidential items) and only took to him those items that REALLY needed his attention, responding on his behalf to the others. As an executive VA who specialises in supporting execs and directors, I don’t really see a difference now that communication like this has moved electronic.
Let’s face it, MOST of the heavy hitters on Twitter with 75,000 followers aren’t interested in networking anyway and are there purely for the ‘glory’ of being the ‘top tweep’. No client wants to waste their time going through all the tweets these people put out – even WITH TweetDeck and other apps, or searches set up. Getting a VA to do that kind of thing and alert them to anything interesting/applicable/relevant is to my way of thinking a more useful application of their time resources – which is fundamentally what having a VA is all about.
Beverly Mahone says
Kathie,
I do believe there may be some instances where VA’s can provide valuable assistance on behalf of their clients when it comes to social networking. For example, if the VA and client have been working closely together for years and the VA knows the client’s biz as well as she knows her own, then I don’t see the harm in it. I do believe the client MUST participate in social networking but not necessarily 24/7.