Finding potential clients

Nathan Grieve

New Member
I know this is probably quite a common question, but I am curious to ask the people on this forum: How do you personally go about getting clients? My way which is a little effective is using freelance sites, though most of these kind of sites I don't like. I am hoping to hear about a way outside of that I can find clients, I read on many posts about finding clients to 'Look where your market is' - but most don't actually explain HOW to find a market. Is their a way to get emails of potential clients? Not too sure, would love to hear from yous if you have an effective way of getting clients.
 
I generally ask my existing clients to put me in touch with anyone they think may have a need for my services, either now or possibly in the future. If you're without clients already then this obviously isn't an option. Some of the best leads have come from my accountant. Think about how many small businesses an accountant can mention your name to…

Personally, I would avoid cold-emailing potential clients, they'll probably just read a sentence of your email, realise it's a pitch for work and delete it (that's what I tend to do). Same with cold calling. People say it works but generally that's because it's a numbers game. You could try it but I've never felt it's appropriate for my way of working and I personally hate getting calls from people asking who supplies my office furniture (I work from my spare bedroom so they obviously haven't done much research before calling).

A technique I tried a while back was to identify market for a service I wanted to offer, in particular web site designs and builds. But I didn't want to do cheap sites, I wanted to offer bespoke designs to clients that pay a decent rate. I started by listing businesses/markets/industries that also offer high-end or luxury good or services (and would therefore steer away from a sub-par final outcome) as well as general ideas for "investment items" (goods that are expensive but we buy with the intention of them lasting us a while – jewellery, cars, etc).

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This gave me broad categories that I could use to identify local businesses that could potentially have a need for my services. I would then go through and research these companies. Do they have a website already? Does it need improving or rebuilding to suit today's technology? Although I never quite got to the contacting stage (other work came up) I had planned to contact them offering to send a small document/ebook (nicely designed of course) explaining why areas or aspects of their website/branding/whatever could be having a negative affect on sales or conversion rates. You would tailor this to their site but don't give away everything, give them a reason to come back to you.

The idea is to make contact with a potential client and at the same time position yourself as an authority in your field. You're not going straight in with a pitch, you're offering them something for free and opening up the option of a conversation about how you can help.
 
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Research first and foremost, which should identify a problem that you can solve or an issue you can greatly improve. From your research, you should learn about the potential client, their company and market in order to be able to present (verbally or other) this knowledge to the client which will come across a lot more professional than a cold call offering your services (which can also work at times).

Here's how I have gained clients (following research of company/ business/ person/ product/ service) from the most effective method to the least:

1/ Word of Mouth - The single most effective way of gaining clients. A lot of the time, you will have to get the ball rolling by simply asking existing or past clients for recommendations. If you don't have any clients yet, that's fine, start with family, friends, your girlfriend's uncle, haha anyone!

2/ Face to face meeting - Be brave, walk into the workplace, ask to speak with the person of interest for an initial chat (I usually ask for the MD or owner). At this point, even a hello and a handshake can make all the difference. Bring business cards with you in case the person is pushed for time. Bring your laptop with you in case he/she has time to sit down and chat. Obviously the bigger/ busier the company, the less chance you'll get a meeting right off the bat, but they will appreciate the effort you have made to meet face to face, and you instantly become more memorable than a phone call or email. You can't beat human contact, especially in this day and age, it is extremely underestimated.

3/ Phone call - Ring and speak to the person, get straight to the point after introducing yourself, speak with confidence, ask open questions, do not ever ask a closed question; this applies in business as well as anything you want to achieve in life. If you don't do this already, it can seem like quite an arrogant approach at first but you'll get used to it; it is an essential way of improving your success rate/ conversions.

4/ E-mail - This should almost be a written version of your phone call; so again, KISS (Keep It Simple Stupid) short and to the point. The longer the first initial email, the less chance your potential client will read it. This is where you can provide a link or two to your website, or any information you would like your potential client to see in order to gain their interest. Following meetings or phone calls, it is only natural to follow up with an email anyway.

5/ Websites/ Forums/ Directories/ Social Media/ Freelance sites - I'm sure you already have experience with all of these, so I won't elaborate. Some businesses gain nearly all of their customers/ clients from LinkedIn! I wish I was one of those businesses!

Although I have put these methods in order based on my experiences, the trick is to do them all. Yes, a freelance site may not be as effective as a face to face meeting, but the client you get from that freelance site may very well lead to your next client through their word of mouth!
 
Funny - just read this article
https://www.forbes.com/sites/denise...essful-learn-these-three-skills/#54fa4300198f

I guess it's true
- step into the traffic otherwise things pass you by (heard this another way before - if you stand still you won't go anywhere)
---->join groups>attend events>network network network>reach out>help out charities>
- return every phone call - even if it's someone you don't know, you never know what's on the other end of the line.
- and not everyone is going to like you - which is great advice, if someone doesn't like you or your style or whatever - move on don't waste time on it.

Makes sense.
 
Hi Nathan,

I've worked with small design businesses/freelancers for the past 18 years helping them with new business. It's a very competitive sector but there are LOTS of opportunities if you get your strategy right.

I think it boils down to 4 main elements:
  1. You need to have a clear proposition
  2. Identify and understand your target market
  3. Develop a contact strategy which helps you build up relationships with that target market (this doesn't just mean cold calling by the way)
  4. Continuity - keep it going!
Feel free to contact me for a chat or check out the online course that I've created to help ambitious creative business owners like you:
https://learn.huntnewbusiness.com/p...rofitable-new-business-strategy-for-creatives
 
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