Without clients or customers, you don’t have much of a business. But how do you go about finding new clients, especially when your business isn’t well established?
In this episode, I want to share with you some ideas for finding clients even if you’re just getting started. First, there are a few things you need to get clear on before you dive into trying to find more clients.
Questions to ask before trying to find more clients:
- Are you clear on what you offer?
Do you know what problem you are solving? And even if you think you’re clear on the problem you are solving, can you get more specific?
- Are you clear on who you help?
It might be true that you can help a lot of different types of people, but who can benefit the most from what you do?
Once you answer these 2 questions, ask yourself: Do others know this information about me and my business?
Why? Because one of the very best ways to get clients is to be referable. And if you do not have this information clear… then it’s going to be hard for others to know how to refer potential clients to you.
Once you are clear on this information, it’s much easier to get clients. There are a lot of strategies you can use to get clients, but today I’m focusing on 3 strategies you can use without any fancy bells and whistles. You don’t even have to have a website set up, although I do recommend doing that at some point as I share in episode 3.
I would recommend at the very least having a Facebook page set up with your business name, and add some content on that page about what you do, etc.
And then make sure your personal profile is linked to the business page. When I go to your personal profile, I want to see in your intro linked to your business page.
Free Strategies to Find Clients
Strategy #1: Offer free work in exchange for testimonials
If you are brand new and have minimal or no testimonials or social proof of what you do, this can work.
Here’s the process I used when I got started with my service-based business:
- Private message people that you already have a connection to offering free work in exchange for a testimonial. Be really clear about what you are offering (i.e. one specific small project, a certain time frame, or one coaching call, etc).
- Have a set # of people you will do this for so there’s a sense of urgency to take you up on this. You could say, “Normally this is something that would cost $X, but for a limited number of people, I’m offering this for free. The only thing I ask is that if you are satisfied with the work, then you write me a testimonial that I can use for my marketing.”
- If they say yes, connect with them to complete the project, work, or call you promised.
- Once complete, collect a written testimonial and photo. You may want to provide an example testimonial for the to reference. Testimonials are best when they are specific in terms of how you helped them.
- Add this testimonial to your website (if you have one). Alternatively, you can have them write a review on your FB page. You can screenshot the review to use in other places as well.
Strategy #2: Reach out to your personal network
It’s vital to connect with your personal network and let them know about your business. You might think that everyone knows what you are doing, but it’s very possible they do not.
Send a short, personal FB message or email. Keep it friendly and brief, and just let them know what you are up to!
Example of what I might write:
“Hi [name],
How are you doing? I hope all is well with you and your family!
I’m not sure if you know this, but I have started a new business! I am offering [insert type of service] for [insert ideal client]. I’m really excited to help [clients] begin experiencing [results they will get from working with you.
If you know of anyone who might need this service, would you keep me in mind? And if you have any questions about what I’m doing, feel free to reach out!
Thanks so much,
[your name]”
Another option is to do a post on your own personal social media account to share what you are doing. This should replace the personal messages, but it could be done in addition to them.
Strategy #3: Build relationships with your ideal customers
Building relationships is absolutely vital to grow your business and gain clients. I share more about how this helped me grow my own business in episode 10.
A few tips for building relationships:
- Participate in FB groups (or other social media) where your ideal clients hang out.
- Answer questions that people have. Go above and beyond on your answers. In your replies, you can incorporate things like: “This is something I love helping my clients with! Here’s one tip that might be helpful for you….” or “The other day one of my clients was struggling with this same issue. Here’s how we dealt with it… “
- Look for people who you truly enjoy connecting with in these groups. Don’t just look for your ideal customers; look for people who have larger audiences but who do NOT offer what you offer. If you are a life coach, don’t go into another life coach’s group and be active there with the purposes of finding clients.
- Remember that if you are offering coaching, you may need to also build an audience as you seek to gain clients, as I discussed in episode 4.
Finally, remember this: not everyone is ready for your services right now. But if you can build relationships and connections, then when they are ready, they will reach out.
Be sure to come join us inside the Christian Woman Business Community on Facebook to connect with women just like you! Inside you can also get access to the Clubhouse notes that I referenced from the chat I did with Lindsey Johnson about finding clients that align with your values.
Connect with Esther:
If this podcast was helpful, consider leaving a rating and review on Apple Podcasts or your podcast app.
- Subscribe to my other podcast, The Christian Woman Leadership Podcast
- Join the FB group
