How do you attract and find MORE clients? This most certainly is one of my most-asked questions of all times.
How in the world DO you attract new clients, whether you’re an online business or a local business, whether you have a hybrid business or both? We’re going to talk about all those things as well as the four things you need to have before you start attracting clients.
The first thing you need to do no matter how far along you are in business is: You have to first have a platform.
This can be in person, a Website, social media, if you like such as Instagram, LinkedIn, Facebook or YouTube. PIck ONE place you can be pointing people to.
The second thing you must have BEFORE getting new clients is: You have to have a really clear message. That’s my favorite part. Can you guess why?
It’s all about marketing.
If you don’t know how to talk about what you do and say it in a way that inspires people to jump on board with you, then it doesn’t matter how many people we send your way. They’re never going to become a client because they just don’t get it. They haven’t drank the Kool-Aid. They don’t see the vision. And they don’t understand exactly quite how you fit into their business.
You need a really, really clear message and a way of talking about what you do and how you do it and who you do it for.
The third thing that I want you to make sure you have nailed down before we even dive into these clients is: You need a clear offer.
You may think you know this, but I promise you, there are so many people confused this very minute asking themselves,”what do I offer?” or “how do I talk about it?” or “how much am I charging right now?”
It’s so easy to get wrapped up in having a business or having growing potential and the ability to do a hundred things.
But what is YOUR thing?
What is the main thing about your business? Where does the bulk of your income from with your new where are you starting out? What’s the first step someone needs to do to start with you?
Think about some starting place; at least know what your offers are or your main offer. It’s hard to turn somebody into a client if they don’t know what they’re buying.
The last thing is: You need a way to accept payments.
Right now, if someone came up to you and said: “Oh, my gosh, this is exactly what I need. We have got to do this. Please, please, please, please work with me.” Would you know how to take their payment? If you don’t know, then it’s just not gonna work.
We subconsciously block good things coming into our business by a tiny thing like not knowing how to accept payments. Figure out your way so that you can easily tell them: “I’m going to send you a link” or “I’m going to invoice you” or what your process is and how you accept payments.
Let’s dive in to the meaty topic of how do you attract new clients?
But first, you have to make me a promise. Pretty, pretty, pretty, please promise me that you’re not going to say that won’t work.
I can’t do that.
I’ve already tried that.
Put that out of your mind completely. You’ve got to be open to the possibilities when someone gives you suggestions.
1. The first way that you can attract new clients and bring new clients in, is to ask for referrals of existing clients.
If people love you already, it should be a natural step into your process when you’re offboarding a client to ask for a referral. If you are brand new don’t have anyone to ask for a referral, ask those around you who they’d recommend you talk to that already know, like and trust you.
There’s a slight difference there, but a warm referral goes so far in the business world.
I don’t care whether you train dogs, you sell peanuts, you have a phone company or you’re a coach. It does not matter. People are what makes your business run.
Create a network that you can link into, whether it’s for personal referrals, client referrals, from strangers who are watching you, or cold traffic coming in giving your referral, it doesn’t matter.
Referrals make a big difference so look at how you can make them an integral part of your business. Start to bring them the conversation like this: “You know what? You are so dreamy to work with. I would love to work with 10 more people just like you. Do you have any suggestions of who I could work with?” That’s a good place to start.
2. Build strategic relationships.
This works no matter what market or industry or space you’re in. There’s something again, back to the people. People matter and your people that you know and who is in your network, that’s your business currency.
It’s not how much money you have coming in that matters. You can always make more money.
But people; people are where it’s at.
One thing about building strategic relationships is that these aren’t necessarily going to be a direct relationship and they will work with you. It’s more of leveraging relationships that could be a collaboration, or they could be the next person that refers to you, or they could actually be a client, or be someone that you do work for.
That very person you’re talking to or you’re setting up a coffee chat with might not be the person that changes your business, but they might know the person that will change your business and be the person that introduces you.
3. Have Sales Conversations.
If you can’t have a sales conversation, then we are a bunch of friends hanging out or we have an expensive hobby.
You have to actually get to a point in a relationship with a lead and be comfortable telling them: “You know what? I actually do this for a job. And this is how much the price is.”
If you’ve not ever gotten to the point or you’re not comfortable actually having those kind of conversations, then it doesn’t matter how many new leads we send your way or how you’re attracting people that could be dreamy for you.
Think about how you can talk to people in a way that doesn’t feel icky to you about what you do in a business setting. People out there need the exact thing you do in the way that you do it and nobody else does it. But if you don’t know it and they don’t know how much you charge and they don’t know how to work with you and you never even offer them that potential, then it’s really a bummer for everybody around.
4. If you’re in the online marketing online space, run an online summit to get clients.
Online summits provide great visibility for you and they also help connect you with great speakers, people who could be referrals for you, clients for you and collaborators with you. If you are a go getter, you love the idea of starting conversations in this space and are into building communities, this could work for you.
5. Start a platform with you as the expert.
How do you show up and find your voice and be the expert in whatever it is you do?
I don’t care what niche audience industry country you’re from. You can be the expert in what you do and people want to hear from you.
Here are a few of the hottest ways right now: Start a podcast.
Start a blog.
Start a live show.
Be that live personality and have a show where you’re the expert or you want to record.
Create a space where you show up as the expert, you’re consistently going out there putting out content and seeing who bites.
6. Be where your leads are.
If you’re not hanging out where your people are hanging out, then it’s going to be really hard to attract the right people. You may get some lookers, but they may never actually turn into clients because they aren’t the right people.
If you’re local, that means showing up at events or in the neighborhood or at the shops or at the pediatrician’s or wherever the spaces are where your people are hanging out, living, working.
If you are primarily online, where are the places you need to go? What channels are people on? How are they consuming content? Who else do they follow? How do you start that conversation? Make sure you have this nailed down so that you’re attracting really, really great leads and clients that are really wanting to say yes.
7. Start a conversation.
Start having the conversation that your clients need to hear. If it’s not already happening in a way that you can be a part of it in a productive way, then just start your own. Put a post out that’s thought-provoking. Go live on something. Invite somebody to a meeting. Host zoom meeting and just have a conversation with people.
8. Get on new platforms.
Don’t worry, you don’t need to sign up for all the things. But instead, think about how you can leverage other people’s spaces and platforms where they’re already having conversations with your audience.
The questions to ask are: How do you do that? How do you connect with them? How do you show up at their events? What connection do you have with them? You could interview them.
You can have them on your podcast. You could comment on their stuff; add value to their community. Get an introduction from somebody who knows them.
There’s value in finding people who have communities already in your space and start building relationships there. It’s a phenomenal way for you to do marketing without, you know, spending a ton of money to build your audience.
It’s okay to use other people’s audiences, just don’t hijack them if they do the exact same thing you do, that’s going to feel weird..
9. Go to events.
Be willing to attend events. These could be local events or networking events. This could be conferences. If you’re in a specific industry and you have industry specific conferences or events that you need to go and attend, do that.
It’s worth checking out and seeing which ones are worth going to for the people, for the conversations, for the things you learn, for the value you can get out of it. Events are a great place for you to meet new clients, especially if you are business to business.
If your ideal clients are there and they are paying to go to conferences and they’re not forced to go, it means they’re willing to invest in themselves and their business.
They will have a growth mindset that a lot of us really are looking for if we’re working in this business to business space or business consumer space, where we need people ready to make a change.
10. Repurpose your content so you can be in new places.
You know I preach to be in one spot until you’ve mastered it before you go all the places. This tactic to get new clients is a way for you to start branching out into more places without running yourself dry or burning out.
Take the one piece of content you’re doing consistently and figure out how to repurpose it into other channels where you can have meaningful conversations. This means that if you’re going to show up on a platform, you need to actually be there. For example,I can pull quotes from this podcast and put them on Instagram or something and start a conversation on a different channel.
Think of ways you can utilize what you’re already doing in your business and just put them somewhere new where it’s going to introduce you to new people and new eyes that may not be hanging out where you’re hanging out this moment.
11. Be a speaker.
You could have your own platform, your own conference, your own event or your own workshop — and instantly elevate yourself to expert status in your field..
As a side note, can I just tell you that you’re allowed to be an expert if I haven’t said at the beginning? This is permission right now for you to own that you can be the expert in your space.
You totally can do this. You have got the chops, you’ve got the experience. You know what you’re talking about. You know you can get results for people. You know you do great work. So
it’s OK to be the expert.
Don’t shy away from some of these suggestions because it could put a spotlight on you that makes you feel out of your league. There is plenty of room at the table for you as well. And we invite you to come join us at the table. Apply to be a speaker at different events. Ask how that how to apply at a dreamy conference. Practice speaking at your local Toastmasters or at your local Chamber of Commerce.
If you haven’t already noticed, another theme that runs through these tactics is that it’s smart to utilize your communities and your space and your people really well, but equally important to branch out and figure out how do you use other people’s faces and other people’s resources.
12. Sit next to someone at dinner.
This one is specifically for local businesses. Sometimes strategy is not always involved. This is one of those times. Volunteers and attend events with influencers in your area. Go hang out at the library. Think about where are smart places to be, but also just be a human and just hang out and make conversations.
You’re going to be amazed at the people you’re going to meet in your community, in your town, in your state, when you’re just open to the possibilities because you never know who you’re sitting next to.
When you are willing to have conversations, to have the coffee, to go to dinner, to attend that event that you’re not sure about, to try things out and it’s magical to just see what works.
13. The flip side of having dinner and putting yourself around interesting people is to be a part of your community.
I can’t tell you how many times I’ve run into people, especially on the local side of my business, who have gone to my kid’s schools or been in my kid’s classes or because I volunteered on the PTA.
They know who I am because they start to pay attention to me as a local mom. There is value in having visibility, even if it’s not directly tied to your business. The only way people know about what I do at school is because they happen to see me on one of my platforms.
If you’ve tried every single one of these and they’re not working for you, let’s have a conversation because something needs tweaked. Go to divimallory.wpengine.com/fitting
and sign up for a 15 minute time slot to just talk about your business. I guarantee there’s a gap in your marketing plan that we can work out so you can actually get clients that are your loving.
Next, look at this list with open eyes, even if you have done some of these before. Go back through the list and ask yourself, “If I was starting over again, how would I approach it?” If you can look at it through different eyes, you’re gonna see something different or a new way to do it that you totally did not see before.
My challenge to you is to make a list of all the ways that you could start attracting, finding and bringing in new clients to your business this month. This is NOT a to-do list. Think outside of the box and a little crazy. It doesn’t matter if it’s totally unreasonable. Write it down. There’s magic in allowing your brain to flow and think of all the possibilities. You’re going to come up with some pretty good ideas.
Make a list of 25 possible ways that you could attract or bring new clients in, no matter how ridiculous. Don’t judge yourself. Embrace it. Don’t sit there forever and get freaked out.
Here’s an example: Let’s one way to attract a new client is if you happen to get on an influencer’s radar or slide into their DM on Instagram and they totally blow it up for you because they mention or feature you and all of a sudden you have a flood of people coming to you.
Is that gonna happen?
Maybe? It’s totally possible it can happen!
So write down – get on X’s radar.
Is it something you have to strategically work towards?
Maybe or maybe not. Just see what happens.
Now that we’re brainstorming, what else could I do?
I could get asked to go on a big stage.
I could win a contest.
I could get asked to lead a mentorship.
I could get featured in the local Small Business Center.
So many things could happen and there are places everywhere where you could be showing up to attract new clients, but you have to think a little crazy first to get the ball rolling because your brain wants to play it safe.
Now get out there and start bringing in those clients. You’ve got it in you!
Links:
15-Minute Fitting Call with Mallory
#024: Double Your Revenue + Stop Hating Sales with Sales Guru Renee Hribar
Connect with Mallory:
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About Marketing Magic:
The Marketing Magic podcast is where women entrepreneurs trying to do all the things come to get inspiration, business strategy, and on-air coaching on how to get their business noticed and growing. If you have a business that people need to know about in order for it to grow, you’re in the right place. This is the place to uncomplicate your marketing. Be sure to listen, subscribe, and leave a review! Join the conversation of other unapologetically successful women in her Facebook community, The #girlboss Club.
