How to Get Clients for a New Business
Where can I find CLIENTS?
When people join my Facebook group, Women Taking The Leap, I always ask them “What is your biggest challenge at the moment?” Aside from figuring out what business to start, the answer I receive A LOT is…finding clients!
Acquiring clients is THE MOST important aspect of your business, so I want to share a few tips that you can use for finding more clients and approaching potential clients effectively. Mastering how to find potential clients AND how to approach potential clients will help you grow your business fast!
How to find more clients and approach potential clients effectively
In-Person Networking
This is the most overlooked category!
(I think it's because it's a lot easier to hide behind a laptop and just do some messaging and/or a paid advertisement!)
But the truth is the most EFFECTIVE way to make a sale and interest someone in your business services is to let them see and hear you. This will help them know and TRUST you so much more quickly than those other methods!
A few things you can do include:
Attend Meetup groups.
Start your own Meetup group.
OR, here's a challenge for you…. send out 50 messages to people you already know asking if they know anybody that would be interested in your service! Chances are somebody will know somebody!
When you're starting out, don't discount the beauty and power of meeting face-to-face!
Online Networking
I’m going to break this category into 2 mini tips:
1. Set your focus on relationships
Whenever you see somebody you can connect with, don't automatically think about the sale. Assume they might know a potential client that will need your services! It allows you to approach them in a more personable way instead of trying to turn everybody into a client.
Focus on how wonderful it is to be able to build networks online with people that you wouldn't normally meet in your hometown, and how they may know somebody that needs your services. (You can also be on the lookout for people that would need THEIR services!)
When you come recommended, even if they're just saying, 'Hey! I know a person,' chances are that person is going to put you in a higher category than somebody else they just found online. That’s just basic human nature!
2. Think outside of the box
When you're looking for where your clients would hang out, sometimes the best place to find them is not in a group dedicated just to whatever their problem is.
Here's a good strategy for how to find other places your clients are hanging out:
On the search bar in Facebook, type in “groups joined by people who like,” and then insert the name of a page your audience would be interested in. If you are a health coach, for instance, you can insert “groups joined by people who like” and the name of a Facebook business page of a well-known health coach. Then you’ll get a list of results, and you want to click on “Groups.” Scroll down the list and you’ll probably start noticing some similarities … like maybe those people belong to foodie-type groups.
Let yourself to just be there and be present in some of those groups before you make an offer. It’s really similar to meeting people in person … you don’t want to just walk up to somebody and blurt out your offer before you’ve introduced yourself.
Once you’re ready to make an offer, try to find a way to get them onto the phone. Because if you can't meet with them face to face, you can at least transmit through your voice that you're a person that can be trusted and that knows their stuff! Doing that is much more powerful than messaging back and forth. Take that extra step to get them a little closer to you!
(For more detailed info on making that initial offer and why it’s important to talk on the phone, check out my video The Birthday Cake Strategy for Getting Clients.)
Paid Advertising
I consider this the least effective for people starting out.
Since people can’t see you and speak to you directly and aren't getting that real-time visual and emotional feedback, your messaging has to do all the heavy lifting. That means you need to be SO on-point and perfect in order to capture their attention. And if you’re not at the point where you have really tight messaging and copy, your money can disappear right down the drain.
However, it's not impossible…
You can do some fast testing to figure out what kind of offers and language is important for your customer. Then, you can give them a lead magnet or freebie that's so irresistible to them that they will give you their email address. That will provide you with further opportunities to get them onto the phone, and then have a REAL conversation with a REAL person, which is what this all comes back to in the end!
And now, some straight talk….
So often when people say they’re having problems finding clients or they can't get in front of their clients, the truth is they really are in front of their clients; their clients are EVERYWHERE. The problem is they're not getting their attention!
Those two things are TOTALLY different: finding your clients versus actually capturing their attention.
That's really where the perfect messaging comes into play. (I have a video on messaging you can watch right here!)
Here’s to wowing your audience and turning potential clients into paying clients!
Jenna
