How to get your first client?

[diliberti]

Many people here start selling with luck, other advertise their products on other sites, others use forums, blogs or social media. Personally I got my first client by promoting on forums and it is more grateful. I would like to hear your stories on how you started and how you got first your clients. How long did it take you? is it art in marketing online?

 

[Mark007]

It usually depends on the type of service and product that you are selling. I got my first break as a freelancer in some freelancing website. Marketing is an art and it requires good potential and platforms to build your identity and generate sales. It completely depends on how you describe yourself and your services to people online and how good you convince them to get services from you. Communication is another major factor that should be kept in mind.

 

[Haniaroad]

Having a wide range of influence is the key factoring to marketing any product successfully online. The more content one provides, the more opportunities one has to make sales presentations to potential customers. Therefore, the art is patience and consistency in leveraging the tools of social media and the internet to present yourself as an authority figure to others on whatever product/niche you choose to market.

 

[wellwisher]

Patience is everything , and giving out our best during the failures also determines our future success. I was getting my clients using organic traffic from Google, Yahoo and Bing. In the beginning, it was not much, maximum of 1 clients in a month. As time passed, its getting more easy to get more clients.
I still face a lot of setbacks, and gets disappointed. But I back myself to achieve more.

 

[allplrarticles]

I am a new business owner. I launched my business last week and I still have not gotten any customers...That is why I am trying forums right now...

 

[Rana]

Rana

Hi allplraticles, I am new in online marketing but if you do not tell about your business then nobody can help you. because every business has its own marketing way. like doctors prescribed tablet and electronics gadget tablet are totally different so there should be a different marketing plan & way for those product. So friend if you really need any help then speak out clearly then watch world will come to help you or not. All the best :salute:

 

[johnny_r]

I used forums, too (wordpress theme licenses). But it's true, it really depends on the product! PPC is a good solution for a lot of products.

 

[Rana]

hi johnny, ya you are right. sometimes ppc really works.

 

[PTTed]

I have experience starting a bunch of different small businesses. In my experience, the best way to get your first client is to go introduce yourself to as many people as possible who you think might be good candidates for "potential clients".

And my advice would always be to find your first client before you even start your business. I know that hardly anyone does that. But, if you did, you would be way ahead of the game.

The mistake I made the very first time I went into business for myself was to just start advertising. That is when I realized that most forms of advertising (especially traditional advertising methods) don't generate new customers right away. All they do is introduce your business to people for the first time. It still takes a while to find someone who actually wants to do business with you. Obviously it also depends on the type of business you are starting, but I think it applies to most business types.

Go introduce yourself. Present yourself in a friendly manner. Be professional about it, but be very friendly at the same time. The more people you meet, the faster you will drum up business.

It really is that simple usually. But, hardly anyone has the guts to go out and actually do that.

 

[Rana]

hi ptted, its really a helpful post. i like it and i will try to imply in my business. really thanks a lot SIR.

 

[royals]

I got my first client from yahoo rooms 9 years ago, Feeling of getting first client is awesome and gives you boost up & more confidence

 

[Content by Rhonda]

My first business came from posting in forums and it still works today.

 

[HBAndrei]

My first client actually came quite fast after opening the web hosting business, within just a few days...

 

[starfishratings]

HI,

When you start a business you should have one piece of information clear ... "where are your customers likely to be?" Where do they gather, what media do they use?

Then you should make sure you are present there and you will get opportunities to contact your customers.


Hope that helps.

 

[Hometutor]

Okay you're a new business owner,

Give me a run down on what you have in place.

Website
Social media
Content
Three income streams
And

Business cards! A 20th century device used to convey information. HAND THEM OUT. All over the place like spam .

All sales must

Demonstrate a problem
Show a solution
Show why the prospect should buy from you
Call to action

Because cards and pretty websites designed by people with no sales experience are notorious for not having these very basic things.

So give me your list of what you have as a new business person.

Rick

 

[mmninja]

When I first started (way back in 2000) I did it the old fashioned way - I went out to networking groups and met people. At that time, it seemed many businesses had websites but not many were marketing them. It wasn't easy to sell them on the idea of marketing but after about 6 months or so when they started getting traffic they were then convinced and started talking to others and that's how it all snowballed.

 

[Adam Yunker]

Hey there,

Cool post! So when I first started my coaching program a long time ago.. I had a series of autoresponder emails setup and ready to go when they subscribed. My niche was "Internet Marketing" so I would simply go to places that new beginners starting out in this space would flock to (usually forums/discussion groups) and I would send them a private message offering to coach them completely for free.

I would do this to get testimonials as well as I would only ask when the time comes to setup their squeeze page and get the autoresponder that when they signup it would be through my affiliate links so the company can pay me a commission for the sale. It didn't cost them anything extra so 99% of people accepted (I don't think anyone didn't accept).

So when they would signup for the hosting I would make $50 every signup that scales to a possible $125/signup if I get 21+ signups. Also in addition to that when they pay for the signup of the autoresponder I make 30% which is roughly $5/person with an email list under 500 people. It gets more when their list gets bigger (I still make commissions from that btw )

That's how I started and it worked very well!

Then I went to later on automate that through automated emails of steps they need to take everyday and when they needed to signup for something I would put the affiliate links in the autoresponder.

Once again, Cool post!

Interested in hearing about others stories as well!

Hope maybe a beginner found this insightful

Take care, Adam

 

[fjk23]

If you want to get your first client, i think that it should be through social media and NOT SPAM. The worst thing you can do is go out there and spam the hell out of your offer and destroying the trust that someone has with the buyer. The hardest part is if your selling an affiliate product but if your doing your own thing then you just have to find the right audience and present your product to them.

 

[Erklar]

Patience is very important. It is good to get social media. Twitter, facebook, google+ or Linkedin. They are very popular among people. It is excellent opportunity to connect with people that may be interested in your services.

 

[LowEndXeon]

Pick a target market, and then find a effective way of advertising it. Normally, forums work the best. Also investments are good!

 

[rf-harris]

At the start keep your price to low level.

 

[Hometutor]

Hometutor

Based on what?

I wrote an article which in this forum I am not allowed to copy and paste so sorry you may not benefit from it, on price wars being bad for customers. With too low of a price you don't have time to take care of the customers you have now since you always have to go searching for the new business.

In the case of a low price you can actually sell anything you wish at any price you wish, provided the perceived value is higher than the price you are charging for the product or service. This is called salesmanship. Before you write your sales page learn a little about sales-psychology. What makes people buy and what makes them buy now. Stop fast forwarding commercials and study them instead. These are experts from whom you may learn.

People buy now because of a

Time limit
Limited amount
Band wagon affect (note the lines when the new iPhones come out)
To solve an immediate problem - health industry is good at this one

Basing all your sales just on price is losing all the marketing value available to you.

Rick

 

[RDO Servers]

RDO Servers

Exactly. Like the old saying goes, "You get what you pay for"

You can go to a fast food restaurant and get a cheap burger, or you can go to a quality restaurant and get a good burger.

No matter what the marketing hype says, your not going to get the best burger in town, for the cheapest price in town. It just doesn't happen.

 

[Hometutor]

Hometutor

Exactly sir,

And notice the difference in marketing

Fast food clowns, low prices, family fun

High end restaurants ambiance, romance high quality

Rick