She's all right when you get to know her. This is my podcast and it takes you from your restrictive toxic life limit in nine to five into a life on your terms, full of freedom and flexibility as a self employed virtual assistant. So whether this is your first introduction into the possibility of becoming a VA or perhaps you've been doing a bit of Googling already. I'm going to get rid of the overwhelm, rid of the self doubt and show you that this
life is possible. I've not just started this rodeo, you know. I'm Katherine Gladwin and I've been doing what you think is impossible since 2015. Shall we get started? So is the VA world oversaturated? I hear this a lot and so I'm going to give you my answer and the reasons why I give you the answer. But first of all, I just want to thank everybody that listens to this because it has got to number 27 in the now. I can't forget the bloody category.
I can't remember the category now. Entrepreneurship, I think, anyway, it's a relevant category and it's got to number 27. It might have even got higher. But they. I can't find out past results. If anybody can find that, then can you email me at supportatheringladwin.co.uk I'd love to know. Like, it's bound to have been number one, isn't it? You know, surely. Anyway, the common thing is the VA world oversaturated and the answer is no. Thanks for listening.
No, the reason, look, I'm going to just start from when I started as a virtual assistant. So back in 2015, people were asking the same question. I expect I even asked it. But look, I'm still here nearly 10 years later. The answer was no then and the answer is no now. But I know why you ask it. There's one of probably two reasons. I might think of another one in a minute, but one of the reasons is because you're just seeing virtual assistants everywhere,
right? Everywhere. And the other reason is that part of you is trying to make. You're not doing this deliberately, but part of you is trying to make it impossible for you to become a virtual assistant because you don't want to fail. You're scared, you can't believe that it's actually possible. So, so you come up with all these excuses, which is absolutely fine. We always do that, you know, it's if you don't want to meet a friend for lunch, you start thinking of all these excuses like, you know,
oh, I can't come. My daughter's ill. You ain't even got kids. You know, you just. You. You think up reasons why, and that's good because you shouldn't go into things like completely blind and not aware of consequences. Otherwise, that is when things go tits up. You know, come and invest in my Gladwin Bitcoin or something like that. You gotta be aware of these things. But equally, you can't make stuff up that you've got zero proof of, you know? So let's tackle the first thing. What was it again?
Ah, yeah. Because you keep seeing virtual assistant everywhere. Let me explain how the algorithm works, right? And I know you're not stupid. I know that you know this, so I know that I'm not. I'm not trying to teach you to suck eggs. I'm just going to put it back in your mind again and this. And explain why you keep seeing virtual assistants everywhere, which is giving you the impression that
it's oversaturated. There's no way you could get clients because there's 3 million of us on every street corner. So if I was to walk to the shop, this has happened before. We walked to the shop the other day and we were talking about how patchy our lawn is. I went onto Instagram later that day and there's a woman saying to me, is your lawn patchy? This is how we made it look better. It's like, what the hell? I've not even searched for anything.
So your phone or your laptop or any news articles and that people want you to read them. Your Google wants you to see things that are relevant to you. People that pay for adverts on newspapers or other websites or anything like that want to catch your attention. They're not going to put in front of you, say you're allergic to dogs, so there's no way you can have a dog. They don't want to keep promoting dog coats and poo bags and stuff
like that to you because it's not relevant. They're wasting their money. So instead, all of these cookies you accept without reading me too. I just wish they wouldn't put cookie notices on websites because, like, all right, I ain't reading that. So all of these cookie notices that you accept and all the things that you're talking about to friends, family, and all the things that you're searching for, your phone is going to keep showing you the same thing over and over again because
that's what it thinks you're interested in. So I run ads on Facebook and my Facebook Ads manager, Jo, she targets people that could potentially be interested in becoming a virtual assistant. We don't target care homes because they're not going to be. The residents there are not going to be interested in becoming a virtual assistant. So it's about targeting the right demographic. So in a way, if you keep seeing stuff about virtual assistants, then, then it's.
It's your own bloody fault. But it does not mean it's oversaturated. It just means everything you're seeing is working properly. And the people that are trying to get that stuff in front of you are spending their ad money wisely. They're doing their search engine optimization really well. So that's all it is. And also, look, I'm gonna. Let me just Google this. How many new businesses are started each year? UK. Okay, let's have a look.
2020-21. There were 810,000 new businesses and that was the highest number in the UK history in one year. That's probably to do with the pandemic, isn't it? 2023. So two years ago, 900,000 new businesses were recorded as being started in 2023. Now if 899,000 of those were virtual assistants, then it could be quite tricky for us to get clients. But I can guarantee you they weren't virtual assistants. They were not all virtual assistants. There is so many different businesses out there.
Graphic designers, architects, I can't think of any more at the moment. Consultants, all sorts of different things, all different people starting businesses. And let's have a look. So going back to 2020, 810,000 businesses started. Not all of those will still be around now. However, those that are, have now they're reaching their fourth and fifth year of
business. If they've got that far, then they're doing very well and it's time for them to start taking on a virtual assistant so that they can expand even more because there's only so much time in their day. Right? So that is another thing. You are in a world with so many other business owners and they're all evolving and they all need you eventually if they want to progress. If they're not a bloward that's trying to burn themselves out. I mean, I could not work without my virtual assistants
at all. Now, what was the other reason I gave again? Oh, yeah, the fear element. I get that. I totally get that. So I'm trying to think of a few. I mean, I was scared before I started my business. Bloody hell. You know. But I. You don't, you don't Give up your nine till five, until you're earning enough money as a virtual assistant so you've got that safety net. The thing that, you know, I think I feared was kind of people laughing at me or thinking, she's an idiot, this was never going to work,
or something like that. So you kind of, you find reasons not to do it. And I think one of those main reasons is, is the VA world is. The VA world is oversaturated. I'll never get, I'll never get clients. That's the thing, it leads to that, doesn't it? I'll never get clients. I won't be able to market myself. And anyway, the VA world is oversatur. I'll never be able to stand out. Yes, you will. You absolutely will.
Now there's. There are two things I keep saying about this, but there are two things that are going to make any business a success, and that's constant marketing and constant relevant audience building. That's the only two things you need to be doing. You will stand out as a virtual assistant because you will be
connecting with business owners. Now this is, this always causes controversy and people come at me, they've come at me over the years when I've said this, but I think I've proved myself as being somebody that collaborates. I'm not against us all working together to achieve what we want.
Absolutely not. But there are certain things you, you don't do or you avoid doing because it could hinder your progress, and that's connecting with other virtual assistants on all these platforms or commenting on their posts or resharing their stuff and things like that. Because it goes back to the algorithm again. Because if you're only connecting with virtual assistants and commenting on their stuff and following them and, and what have you share in their posts, then the algorithm is
going to just show you virtual assistants. Whereas when you've started your business, we want to be targeting business owners that are earning good money, that have been in business a year or so or, you know, that's what we want to be doing. So when I say relevant audience, this is all linking up. But when I say that you have to connect with a relevant audience,
it has to be business owners. And when you start doing that, then your marketing starts getting noticed by the right people, people start talking, people start noticing you, and you yourself are unique. Part of marketing, a very big part of marketing is know, like and trust. People need to get to know you. They want to like you and they want to trust you. Just this last week I was Looking for a personal trainer to help me. I mean, as you know, chronic health problems, chronic fatigue, blah,
blah, blah. And I just, I've got no self motivation anymore, to be honest with you. I think, you know, what, if this tumor's going to end my life eventually, what's the point? I might as well have a front bum. But it's getting to the point where I can't wear any of my clothes and I don't feel nice in my clothes.
So I need a pt. I need somebody that understands that, somebody that I can resonate with, perhaps somebody that's got a relative like it, or perhaps there's a PT that, you know, has worked with somebody like me in the past or has got a real interest in it and has done, you know, a lot of background on it. Maybe they've got chronic health problems themselves. But if you were a PT just starting out, you'd have the same thoughts as you're having now.
How the hell am I going to stand out? Everybody's a PT. No, you are unique. I had about 50 different names put in front of me. I had loads of people in my DMs on LinkedIn, loads of people tagging other people in. I even had two PAs get in front of me because they'd misread PT. So, yeah, but there was only one guy that stood out and he'd done research on me before he commented. He did research on me. He found out what my chronic health problems were. I mean, they're all over the Internet,
aren't they? But, yeah, he was. He did that first and then his reply resonated and showed that he understood. I had a call with him today. I still like him. Just waiting for the price. But yeah, so it's because it's how you come across and you don't have to be anything other than yourself. But let me just touch on again that personal element that he found out about me. If you've got the VA Starter Guide, then you will have access to those email templates
that you can send to potential clients. And when I say the importance of personalising those, anybody with the VA Starter Guide is going to know what I'm on about. But with the importance of personalising those, I hope that shows how it works, because this guy is the only one I contacted. I. I got back to another guy and he came back asking too many questions and I
thought you should know the answers to that. If you're dealing with somebody that can't get off their ass, don't try and make me get off me ass now. So, yeah, he, he was brilliant and that's, that's what those email templates do as well. So you will stand out. You will stand out because you are brilliant and perfect and unique on your own and it will resonate with someone. Like, do you know what I watched True crime. I love true crime.
Yet there are some true crime episodes that I watch and it's like, oh, so he was a serial killer and it was obvious he was going to do it because he watches true crime and I'm like, hang on a minute, I get a bit funny if I see a bird that's been knocked over by a car. So I'm not a serial killer, but I like true crime. So everybody, even if you've got similar interests to other people, there are little elements of you that are different and that's what's gonna stand
out. Because now you're your own boss, you can do whatever you want, you can be whoever you choose to be. No more masking, no more saying hello to the director, thinking whatever, you know it, you are now in control and you will attract like minded people. There are enough clients out there for everybody. And I know you're still probably think, well, I'm not sure whether she's right or not. I am right.
So I want to thank you once again for listening and yeah, maybe next time you see me, I'll be 20 kilogrammes lighter. Maybe if I chopped off my head. If you're ready to reclaim your independence, then subscribe to this podcast because there is so much I'm going to give you. You've got to subscribe on your favourite channel, it says. What channel? I ain't going to be on the BBC, am I?