Tune in: Apple Podcasts – Spotify – Direct

When we were thinking about who we’d love to interview as our very first podcast guest – we both thought of Peggy – and for a very special reason – she introduced us about a year ago! 

Peggy Re James started her entrepreneurial journey as a Virtual Assistant and now coaches done-for-you service providers and other coaches on how to build a sustainable business with successful marketing strategies. 

The Interview

What values do you bring to the table when it comes to your business? 

Peggy: Over time, community, compassion, discipline and responsibility have surfaced as core values for me. 

Community = This is where the transformation happens in growing your business! Also, connecting and community-building is a big part of my business brand.

Compassion = Everyone has different views of the world and how they want to run their business.

Discipline = This is a really big one. I work eight hours a day right now, but in my first year of business it was probably more like 12 on average – plus weekends. That hustle brought me to where I am today. If you look at any successful person who became successful “quickly” it wasn’t from working four hours a day. It was from early mornings, late nights, lots of hustle, and sacrifice.

Responsibility = Taking responsibility for your own life and your own success. This might look different for everyone depending on their obstacles, but taking responsibility needs to be normalized. Managing your expectations with yourself and your clients and being realistic with the consequences of your choices, whatever those are, is a key part of this.

Talk to use about how you approached marketing as your business evolved.

Peggy: In the beginning, I pieced a lot together and copied what other people were doing. What was missing back then was being myself. From the colors I chose for my brand, that weren’t really me. Once my confidence grew I was able to step into the brand I wanted to put out there. 

Marketing is different for a Virtual Assistant than it is for a Coach, even though there are many parallels. For example, if you are a coach, your personal branding needs to be stronger than if you were a service provider. Social proof, testimonials, practice what you preach is the most important thing for a service provider. 

What is a common myth about marketing that you’d like to debunk? 

Peggy: That you can serve multiple markets and be a jack of all trades early on in your business. When you are first starting out, you need to have laser focus. One target market, niche down and build authority there, and THEN you can branch out. More streams of income DOES NOT mean more money coming in. Eventually – absolutely! But you can’t skip steps in the beginning. There will always be the “General Virtual Assistant”, but I always advise my clients to specialize. 

If you could go back to the beginning and give yourself one piece of marketing advice, what would it be? 

Peggy: Be YOURSELF! Choose the colors you love. If you like to be silly, be silly! If you like to be funny, tell jokes! If you’re quiet, it’s okay to be quiet! Don’t be afraid to be true to your personality. 

I also have a piece of advice I’d love to share with you that’s not marketing-related. Hire a coach! I know everyone says that, but it’s because they didn’t hire a coach in the beginning and they find out later how helpful this is! I didn’t hire a coach at first and I realize now that I wouldn’t have had to put in 80 hour weeks if I had. I wasn’t aware of how valuable my time was. It’s the one thing you can’t duplicate. 

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How to connect with Peggy – 

Instagram: @peggyrejames

Facebook Group:  The Virtual Assistant Club

Listen to the full episode: Apple Podcasts – Spotify

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We hope you’ll join us for a new Marketing Unscripted episode each Friday!

If you listen to the Marketing Unscripted podcast in January 2021, you can win a $50 Apple or Google Play gift card! 

How to enter the giveaway:

1. Write a review on the podcast platform you are listening through.

2. Take a screenshot of that review or the episode you are listening to and post it on instagram.

3. Tag & like @jess_virtualwriter and @robyn.macneill 

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