Getting new Clients

Getting New Clients

Rather than rehash all the possible ways to get clients, here is what worked for me:

1. Make a list of everyone you know

I sent an individual email (I had a lot of time on my hands) to each person, letting them know what I was doing. Family, friends, former coworkers are likely to want to help you out by referring new clients. So, by all means, keep these people informed of what you are doing! Don't expect immediate results. When I did this, I got 1 or 2 leads right away, and a few more scattered over the next months. Keep in touch with the people on this list! They will be a good source of leads over the long haul.

2. If you have existing customers, ask them for referrals

Let your existing clients know that you appreciate new leads. Again, this is something that may take some time to produce results, but the leads generated will usually be solid, qualified leads, who will implicitly trust you. Over the years, I've gotten many clients as a result of referrals. It all starts by providing a great value to your existing clients.

3. Online Advertising

I've had decent success using Google Adwords. Everytime I turn the ads on, I notice an increase in calls / emails from prospects. In fact, I usually turn the ads off after a few days, which allows me to keep my advertising costs down. Make sure you allocate enough money for this - if your average client spends several thousand dollars with you, then expect to pay $50 - $100 in advertising for each customer that pans out. This is especially effective if your clients can be from anywhere.

4. Build a good website

You don't need to spend a fortune, but at least pay a graphic designer to set up a professional looking template for you to use. It takes months to get a decent search engine ranking, so plan to spend some advertising money initially.

5. Online Bid sites

There are many sites out there like guru.com and elance.com that allow you to bid on projects from others. Most of the projects posted are garbage, but some gems exist. Don't lowball yourself - bid a reasonable amount for the project. Projects I avoid bidding have one of more these characteristics:

• Very complex requirements - these are hard to bid accurately without long discussions with the client.
• Have a "tight budget"
• Want to recreate myspace.com for $500
• The last developer "disappeared", or quit
• The site is "90% completed"
• Looking for a "business partner"

Your next big client

When I started out, I did whatever I could to "win" new clients - meaning I under-bid on a lot of contracts. It led to my effective hourly rate being much lower than I planned, and I spent a lot of time on losing projects. So I always try to act like my next big client is calling tomorrow. Because that is how it can happen. You have a limited amount of time - don't fill it up with sub-par clients. If your dream client calls tomorrow, make sure you have time to service them!