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Quick Tips to Attract New Clients to your Business

Guest post by: Terri Levine

Article Overview: Quick and easy ways of attracting new clients, including ways that will cost you nothing except your time.

Quick Tips to Attract New Clients to your Business

For every expert who tells you to forget about "elevator speeches", you will find two who tell you to sharpen your pencils and write one. Why? When you meet somebody and you only have a short time to introduce yourself and you really want them to know what you do before you lose their attention or presence, you need a quick, easy way to describe that, right? That is an elevator speech. It should be around 15-20 words in length and address why somebody would hire you - what problems you solve. It should be short and memorable. When might you use it? At a networking event. Meeting people anywhere at any time when they ask you what you do. Standing in a queue for the bus. "I see you take the same bus as me every day, so you work in the same area as I do? Where do you work?" There's your opener and sooner or later the other person will ask, "And what do you do?" Better have a good elevator speech ready in case the bus comes!

Always give the impression that you are a professional. Whether you work in the city or work from home doesn't matter. People always want to hire people they think are doing it better than they are because clearly they know more. (Obviously you wouldn't hire somebody who knew less!) Looks do count. People always judge others by appearances. How else can we know? You can tell a lot about a person by their professional presentation, including their website, business cards, brochures, etc. When you are doing "business", always look the part.

Know your niche and areas of expertise and stick to what you know and excel at. This way you can focus on your ideal client and spend less time, money and effort attracting them. This is not to say you can't branch out later and add more niches... just perfect one at a time. If you spread your efforts too thinly, that's the kind of results you will get - thin. You want meaty, chunky results! So what niche are you or can you be qualified to work in?

Network! Depending on the type of business you are in, you can discover where your niche clientele hang out and go there and meet them... remember your business cards. Which professional organizations do your niche/ideal clients belong to? What journals would they read? How can you meet and network with YOUR niche/ideal clients? Shy? Not a problem... search for online forums and groups where you can network with your niche clients. Search Yahoo and Google Groups. You may find your professional organization probably also has a forum for members. Join up. That way you can network while sitting home in your PJs if you want to.

Beware of giving away freebies. Of course this doesn't apply if your business uses free samples. Few professionals do "freebies" - but note, this is not the same as offering a 5-15 minute 'conditional consult' session to determine if you and client are a 'fit' for each other. What other ways can you provide a sample of your services without giving up your time? Consider offering free reports for download from your website instead. You get their email address, and they get a free report.

Get known. Speak at local events related to your niche to establish yourself as a credible expert. Haven't yet learned the art of public speaking? What other ways can you be involved? Maybe you can host an event and use other speakers. Or you can hold an event with somebody who does speak and together you can promote your products and services without you having to say a word. Be creative. If you hear of a group doing a seminar that in some way involves your niche, ask if you can include some of your own products as back of room. If they hesitate, offer to sit at the door and take tickets, or help with refreshments - get yourself involved in some way (and don't forget your business cards and elevator speech.)

Don't lose your ideal client just because you don't have exactly what they want right here and now. Be prepared to be flexible and modify your products. Have alternative products and services for people who cannot afford your one-on-one services. For example, if people cannot afford me as their personal coach, I offer group coaching (discounted), email coaching, and seminars and workshops. What alternative products and services could YOU offer?

To attract new clients, ideally you already have a polished reputation and excellent testimonials from satisfied clients. If not, start gathering them now. Go the extra mile for clients. Make a huge impact on them. Show that you care for your clients and are considerate also of their time. For example, if you are a coach, offer to continue the coaching call now or later in the day to complete what's happening in the session, if you don't feel it's complete. If they appreciate your value, others will too - people will be watching them, and your clients can/will make valuable referrals to your service. In what ways can YOU over-deliver to your clients? Do you need more education/training? What can you do and are prepared to do to put you in the position of a 'recognized expert'?

Joint Ventures. Do a promotion to a complementary business and allow them to do one with your clients. Offer each other's clients a discount. The quickest way to reach each other's client lists is by email. Encourage them to take advantage of your offer by giving a deadline.

Social Media. As with joint ventures, do reciprocal deals with complementary businesses enabling you to send a promo message to their social media networks in exchange for doing the same for them. Include a shortened link using bit.ly or tiny.url.

Put on your thinking cap. With a bit of imagination you will find lots of quick and easy ways as well as more detailed ways of attracting new clients, including ways that will cost you nothing except your time.

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Article Tags: attract clients, business, business success, joint ventures, networking, socia media



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