How To Get Your First Clients (Even Without Testimonials!)

Starting a new business can be very exciting and daunting at the same time. You might be walking into your business journey with a very optimistic view will magically buy your products and services simply because they are really good.

But when you have finally put out your products and services to the marketplace, you will soon discover that the customers don’t start coming to you – unless you know how to break into a competitive world.

So if you’re struggling to get your first clients in the door, don’t fret!

Below are some easy ways you can get new customers – even if you do not have any prior testimonials!

Freelancing

If you still want to gain experience and confidence working in a certain area to equip yourself more before launching your higher-end products or services, then you can start earning by doing freelance work.

There are many freelancing websites available out there such as Upwork, Fiverr, Guru and Freelancer.com.

The disadvantages of these freelancing websites are that many people are willing to do the same work as you for very little money. So if you want to earn what you feel is worth your time, then you need to use excellent copywriting and branding strategies so that people will be willing to pay more for your services.

Family Members And Friends

If you’ve chosen to focus your business on a niche that your family members and friends know you’re good at doing, then chances are, when they need your expertise these people will become your first customers!

Because you’ve known these people for some time, they have seen with their own eyes how you can do a good job in the area of your business. And because you are close to them, they will be likely to trust that you will do a good job compared to a stranger.

So when launching your business, make it a point to announce to your family members and close friends about what you’re doing.

You can ask their advice for feedback on how to improve your website, web presence, products or services too.

However, I wouldn’t recommend you to suddenly email an old friend that you’ve not been in contact with for over 20 years just to tell him or her about your business. They will just think you’re being spammy and desperate!

Ask For Referrals

Even if your family members and friends do not have any need for your products and services, they can pass on your contact details to someone who does need them. When you get recommendations from other people, you will be more likely to clinch the deal compared to if you would pitch your offers to a stranger.

So it is really important to let these people know exactly what you are doing now as well as the products and services that you are offering.

The more people know about what you’re doing, the more likely you will be able to land your first clients.

Besides reaching out to family members and friends for referrals, you can also get to know more people from networking events and local associations. Always have some business cards ready whenever you are attending live events.

You’ll never know when you’ll be meeting someone who knows people who might be interested in what you do!

Sell At Affordable Prices

When you’re still unknown, it isn’t advisable to charge the same price as someone famous who is charging a very premium price for his or her products and services.

Instead, start charging at a lower price, but not at a rock-bottom price that will either make you lose money or be a complete waste of time.

You want to be saving the time to service your customers who are willing to pay you a fair amount for your expertise or hard work in either providing a particular product or service.

To ‘Wow’ your first customers, you need to offer them products and services that will seem like a real bargain in their minds. Because when they see the value they are getting out of the money they have spent, then you’ll either benefit by having them refer their friends to you or getting them to buy more from you!

Advertise Your Products And Services

Organic traffic can do only so much for your business when it comes to finding clients, especially when you do not have enough content to market your products and services.

So when you’re just starting, the best way to quickly get the word about your business across is by doing advertising.

There are so many ways you can advertise. You can use paid methods and/or non-paid methods.

More information about how to publicize your business and brand can be found in my eBook entitled ‘Power Handbook For Finding Your Ideal Customers Who Really Spend. For more information on this eBook click here.

When you advertise your products and service, people will get to know about you and how you can help them. They can then move on to either purchasing a low-priced item from you or download a freebie. With that, you can choose to follow-up with them to see if they will be interested in your other products and services.

Optimize Your Website

In today’s digital world, if you don’t have a website, your business is seen as non-existent.

This is because the first thing people will do before deciding to purchase a product or service is to search online to see if that business has a website. I know that there are a lot of ‘theories’ out there saying that you only need an online sales funnel to succeed online, but to me, this is not true at all. In fact, you need a website and several online sales funnels to be able to grow and scale your business to greater heights!

And if you include SEO strategies, you’ll be able to optimize your website so that you can gain free traffic whenever your target customers search for specific terms online.

Getting a website is a simple process. When you do get a website, make sure to get a paid website and not a free one. My article entitled 20 Reasons Why You Should Avoid Getting A Free Websiteexplains in details why you should avoid having a free website in the first place!

Develop Personal Branding

Many people will choose to support a certain business simply because they feel more connected with the brand.

If you’re a small or medium-sized business, then the best type of branding approach you can use is personal branding.

By using personal branding, you are putting a face or several faces to your business. That way, your potential customers will be able to relate to your brand better.

Most people love doing business with real human beings rather than faceless boring corporate brands. This is especially the case if you’re doing coaching, consultancy or training. This type of branding also works well for selling eCommerce products.

With personal branding, your products and services will have your unique stamp on them. And people will be willing to buy from you even if a million other people are selling the same things as you!

Contribute To Existing Publications

You can also break through the noise by being seen in existing publications. When people see your name and articles in publications, they will see you as an authority in your field. This will make them trust you more and be curious to learn more about your business.

To do this, you can sign up for Help A Reporter Out (HARO). You will receive invitations to pitch stories to reporters in need of help. When chosen, you will be invited to become a source and work with them in preparing their articles.

And once the articles are out, your name and business will be in full view to a large pool of potential customers! Isn’t that great?

Be Active In Online Communities

You can further expand your network by being active in online communities. The best places to do this are by being active in Facebook and LinkedIn Groups as well as online forums.

Choose to be involved in communities within your niche or industry.

When you are in these online communities, you can always reach out to people by providing constructive feedback and actionable advice to others who are experiencing challenges.

Even if the person whom you reached out to doesn’t end up getting your products or services, other people in the group will get to know about you and your skills and end up buying from you.

Provide Free Content

Sometimes, for people to trust you enough to buy from you, they need to experience your expertise for themselves.

To provide ‘mini samples’ of what you can do for them, the best way is to provide free content.

The best to do this is by contributing blog articles, YouTube videos and Pinterest pins.

People love free content. There is no risk in using them. And when they get good experience in using your free content, this will increase your credibility and they will trust you more.

However, to generate the right type of free content that will attract your ideal customers, you need to contribute content that discusses their challenges and burning questions.

Getting your first clients can be a challenge. However, with the right strategies and processes in place, it shouldn’t take too long before you get your first paying customers.

If you think are just starting your business and do not have a clue on the right steps that will help you to grow your business fast, then my Marketing Coaching Program can help.

With this program, you’ll get the chance to work one-to-one with me in coming up with the best strategies to kickstart our business. To inquire more about this program, complete the contact form here and I will be in touch with you soon.

I hope that the strategies that I shared in this article will be beneficial to you in helping you to get your first clients. Even if you have not clinched your first client, don’t lose hope… Use these tips and you might get your first client sooner than you think! Tried any of these strategies and gotten positive results? Then I’d love to hear from you in the comment section below.

References:
https://hustletostartup.com/getting-clients/
https://www.entrepreneur.com/article/231375
https://www.theworkathomewoman.com/get-your-first-client/
https://www.forbes.com/sites/ashleystahl/2017/10/15/how-to-land-your-first-client-and-get-paid-what-youre-worth/#311bed9f223a
https://www.inc.com/quora/4-necessary-steps-to-land-your-first-client.html
https://www.thevahandbook.com/find-first-client/
https://briancasel.com/your-first-customers/

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