How do you balance your own social media presence and your clients' needs and expectations?

Social media can be great if you're ready to learn a new skill, but contrary to what most people think it is NOT needed to start and build a Virtual Assistant business. When you're setting your goals, decide what type of VA business you want to run: Do you want to work with lots and lots of clients on smaller, deliverables-based projects? Or do you want to create something more sustainable with a small handful of clients you love? If you're looking for the first option, social media can be a good choice.

Here's my approach: First, I prioritize client work – their deadlines and expectations come first. During downtime or breaks, I schedule my social media content creation to maintain a consistent presence. While some clients may require social media management, I clearly communicate my personal brand from my professional one. Remember, transparency is key. By setting boundaries and utilizing scheduling tools, I can effectively manage both accounts and showcase my expertise as a virtual assistant to potential clients while maintaining my social media presence.

If one of your services for a client is social media management, you can always include a disclaimer either in writing or during your onboarding meeting to let them know that you manage your own social media channels in your personal time and those efforts never interfere with your client work hours. If you wish, you can offer more details about the platform you use to schedule your posts in advance and when you usually like to batch create your content, e.g. weekends, weekday evenings after work and when the family is down for the day, etc.

Knowing which platform do you plan to use to promote your business or manage your personal brand is a very important part of consistency. As a business owner, remain consistent. When you manage your own marketing and promotion can be very difficult. I always suggest that clients focus on one platform predominantly with one other platform secondarily when it comes to create a contact for their business, so that they avoid any sort of overwhelmed, that might contribute to burn out. When you have a teen understanding of your goals, then you know which platforms fit best based on which demographic they reach, and what sort of continent you can create foreside platform. In this sense, sustainability and content creation is key.

I agree, and I also think it is important to block out time in your calendar where you work on your own content each week or month. If not, it is easy to pour into your clients without taking time to nurture your own brand.

From experience, a content calendar is a lifesaver. It helps you break down your post and plan them out. Content calendars are also great for managing/creating social media content for your clients. In the past, I have generated content, added it to the content calendar, and sent it off for approval from the client. The client then approves or provides feedback and we go from there. If you seek organization, a content calendar is the way to go.

Using an automation tool is an exceptional way to ensure that creating batch content also gets posted at a regular time. However, it is also important that you are posting consistently at a time you are regularly available to reply to comments and engage on the platform strategically. Outward engagement is often overlooked, but is one of the most important parts in growth and disability for any brand so remember, never post and ghost and ensure you are maintaining clear, communication, and consistent engagement with your audience.

Sometimes, creating constant calendars can become overwhelming for the new content creator. Too many moving parts can make it very difficult to remain consistent, which is a key element to growing a brand. Therefore, I suggest that instead you make use of automation tools that give you easy access to analytics related to your posts so that you can review and re-create posts using similar structures and storytelling, so you can continue to put out content that your audience enjoys.

When balancing your social media presence with client needs, prioritize clarity. Set clear boundaries for personal and professional time. Engage with your audience authentically, aligning content with your brand values. Schedule dedicated blocks for client work, ensuring timely responses. Embrace tools like scheduling apps to manage posts efficiently. Remember, striking this balance ensures both you and your clients thrive in the digital realm!

As long as you're clear in your social media strategy and are honest about results and expectations, clients should be clear on how long results might take and the amount of work required to get there. Keep clients updated about stats and analytics, and any progress you've made to make them feel constantly informed and to anticipate their questions.