Volunteering gets you out into the community and showcases your skills.
Are you passionate about sharing your newly formed business?
Are you limited on money to spend for marketing or advertising?
Are you excited about getting the word out about what you do?
Then you may want to volunteer in your community and gain more visibility for your business, skills, expertise, and how you uniquely deliver what you do. It doesn’t matter what age you are or how new your business is.
Is There a Downside to Volunteering?
Obviously, there is. As a small business, you may be limited to the amount of time that you can donate to volunteering, so make it count. Don’t let it become overwhelming, but limit it, enjoy it, and use it to promote your business and/or your services.
Make sure that the skills you want to showcase are the skills that you will be using in your volunteering. Most organizations will gladly welcome your volunteer services for organizing, writing, typing, envelope stuffing, and answering the phones. However, do these sparingly.
Who Might Need My Services?
Well, just about anyone. Look in your local paper–online or offline. There is always some organization, church or school looking for volunteers. Whether the holidays are coming or not, there will always be opportunities to work food drives, accept donated clothing or help with craft and holiday festivals.
Organizations such as the VFW (Veterans of Foreign Wars) and the American Legion routinely ask their members to put together care boxes for the men and women in uniform, who are serving overseas. An organizing specialist could certainly help organizing the event and a freelance writer could write up the event for the local newspaper.
Soup kitchens and places that serve meals to the homeless routinely need people. Those of you desiring to launch a catering business could certainly showcase your skills at a place like this. You never know who else might be volunteering as well.
By all means, enjoy these activities and know that you are offering a great service in the community. However, as soon as you can, offer higher-level services.
What Are Higher-Level Services That Can Be Offered?
Offer to organize the fundraisers and activities of the organization. Also, offer speaking on behalf of the organization or writing and designing the marketing and informational materials.
Offer to introduce the organization to social networks such as Facebook and help them build their fan page. Â Offering to train other volunteers is also a great way to showcase any of your management or teaching skills.
If you are a freelance apps developer, this could be a widely untapped market. Go for it!
Just remember to enjoy the volunteering while making contacts and networking. Also remember to do a great job no matter what. You, your business, your skills, and your integrity are all on display.
Does All Volunteering Have to Be Done Offline?
Absolutely not. You could volunteer to take part of that event and create a Facebook event for those who want to donate money, but could not physically show up. There could be giveaways and door prizes as well as a chance for the online attendees to learn about the organization. You could even create a contest and announce the winners at the online event or at a later date.
Years ago, I wrote an article featuring virtual companies who look for virtual volunteers.Â
What 3 Things Should You Try to Collect in Exchange for Your Time?
While you certainly want to be gracious and thank the organization for allowing you to not only volunteer there, but to also introduce your product(s) or service(s), you want to try to collect at least these three things:
- testimonials about your product or service from those at the event.
- feedback about your product or service and how it could also improve.
- referrals from anyone offering to give one.
Let’s look at each one in more detail.
Testimonials may be given in the form of a handwritten or emailed statement. Those who have coached with me know that I use an actual form, so as to be legally responsible and compliant. You may also ask the individual to include a picture with their testimonial.
Feedback can be in the form of a survey that you put together asking various questions about what the person liked or disliked about your service or product. Also, don’t be bashful about asking participants if there is anything that they believe could be improved. You could also encourage them to leave a testimonial and rating on your Facebook fan page or on Yelp.
Don’t be embarrassed or afraid to flat out ask for referrals. Do it in a friendly and professional tone and ask if they or someone they know could benefit from your product or service.
You could also leave the participants with a coupon or gift certificate. Don’t forget to include an expiration date, so they won’t forget to use it.
My Coaching Two Cents’ Worth
In my first year as a virtual assistant (pre-coaching days), I definitely volunteered as a typist, data entry person, writer, and file organizer. I also offered to train the volunteers on how they too could improve how to better run their civic organization through things such as social media integration. I held contests offline and even gave away free desk organizers!
I also hooked up with individuals who invited me to my local Chamber of Commerce and BNI. I came to realize that you are only a few people away from connecting with anyone you want —including future clients.
In Conclusion
Volunteering is a wonderful way to rediscover your faith and values as well as give back to the community. It can also showcase your business in a positive light while serving an even higher cause and purpose. Make sure that you use volunteering as part of your own reinvention.
Good luck!
Helpful Resources:
Giving Back – both in Kindle and paperback
The American Way to Change – both in Kindle and hardcover
I would love to hear how some of you are using or planning on using volunteering to promote your business. Feel free to leave a comment in the comment section below.
Hey, Leisa! Long time no talk. Great post. I am volunteering at the VFW helping to stuff boxes for troops. Might cook and serve food at Salvation Army Church for Thanksgiving. It does help and feels peaceful.
I always serve dinner to the homeless at my church. I wash dishes and serve. I am in a knitting group at church that knits and sends blankets to impoverished kids in the world. I frequently get orders from others who don’t want to knit, but I am retired and can use the “side gig”.
Interesting read.
Also, by volunteering you can get testimonials for your business if you are struggling with that.
Aubrey K, you are so right! I guess that I should have included that one in my article. Good catch, girl. I’ve coached you well. 😉
Of course, what a great site and illuminating posts, I surely will bookmark your blog.Best Regards!
Thank you.
volunteering is a great way to showcase ones skills and expertise and network with people that need those services..this article is spot on
Leisa Good, what an intriguing post! I found this interesting from the post that as a volunteer individual, try to:
1. Offer to introduce the organization to social networks such as Facebook and help them build their fan page.
2. Offer to train other volunteers is also a great way to showcase any of your management or teaching skills.
Thanks for sharing!
When you volunteer, you are showcasing what you have and what you do. What your services are and how it works. That is a good option to promote your business.
There is such thing as industrial partner. In a business this is where you do not contribute financially but you contribute yourself to benefit the business. I think it is akin to volunteering but as you say it has its backlash. Since now we are in a digital age tech know how is now included.
I like to volunteer for a lot of jobs in my local assembly which I know it will help me gain skills and experience and probably give me the needed expertise. It really the link that one needs.
Getting a business through volunteering is the best way of getting more skills and experience to run a business better. Is just like stooping to conquer.
Being a volunteer doesn’t mean you don’t know your destination. Though there lots of downside in volunteers job, to get rids of this downsides, i will advise u make sure that the skills you want to showcase are the skills that you will be using in your volunteering. From this actual skills, your job or business will be recommended to other firms.
Thanks Leisa, You are right about how voluntering can be a good way to help others and promote yourself or your business at the same time. I’ll definitely try it.
Excellent points addressed in this piece. Any volunteer work also looks great on a resume and will help you feel productive and motivated when in-between jobs. I think it can also expand your horizon when you’re working, but want to do more simultaneously. It’s usually a win win scenario devoting your time for yourself and the others involved.
@Maury Cheskes – You are so right about volunteering looking good on a resume as well as keeping you productive. It will also get your name out there and the name of your business in front of the community.
Great tips! Also apply for an apprenticeship program is also a great way to get business by volunteering in my opinion. Plus it can build your resumé, experience and contacts.
@Lionel – Thank you. Excellent suggestion. Another one that I will probably write about in the future is to have all of the proceeds from your work for an event (especially in a fundraiser) go to the organization’s favorite charity. The charity many times will get involved and really help with the advertising, since they are getting the proceeds. This will also get your names and skills out there.