How to Get New Clients Without Wasting Time
We get it, the work day is usually a blur.
How often does the day fall away from you and before you know it it’s 5pm, time to move onto your next job at home?
You have to now worry about running errands, doing laundry, taking care of your family, and finally, yourself.
When your head finally hits the pillow, it doesn’t take long to find yourself drifting off to sleep.
That is until your eyes shoot open. You’ve missed something on your to-do list again. How could you have even found time for it?
Time is something that many of us don’t have in abundance, something which you will probably relate to as a entrepreneur. Having so many demands on your time can cause a whole host of problems, whether it is serving dinner a couple of hours too late, or letting new business endeavors slip by the wayside.
Some of these issues actually breed even more problems. Take new business for example – if you never have time to find new clients, your source of income will slowly dry up. That’s not something any of us want to have our families deal with.
Therefore it makes sense to ensure that these issues are tackled head on before they have a chance to make trouble further down the line. Of course, you don’t want to spend too much time doing any one thing in business, so it is all about finding the right balance. It makes sense to put your focus on finding new clients first, and then to figure out how to best spend your time on your business once that critical task is handled.
In order to help you on your way, we have put together a few suggestions for how to get new clients without wasting too much time to make it happen. You will need to decide which methods are right for your type of business, but hopefully these ideas are ones that will work for most of you.
Social media If you aren’t on the leading social media websites yet, it really is time you caught up for the sake of your business and family.
Some of the best connections can be made through Twitter, LinkedIn, and even sites such as YouTube, Instagram,and Pinterest. You will need to post relevant and engaging content, as well as take a few minutes out here and there to connect with those in your network. People don’t like seeing too many messages about sales, so be respectful of this too.
Google Think about all of the times you use the search engine Google to find something online, whether it’s a piece of information or a product. Do you think it would be useful to have your own services or products listed here so other people can buy them?
There are some online IT courses available which should provide you with the basic skills to improve your website and make sure you’re showing up on the search engine. Doing a course online will allow you to increase your online marketing savvy on your own schedule. Do some research to find some courses that could work for you!
Word of mouth Sometimes the best business can come from referrals, so it makes sense to continue putting in a great deal of good work with your existing clients. Alongside this, you should make sure that all of your friends and family know what you do, just in case they happen to know someone who needs what you specialize in.
If you are doing some brilliant work for clients, get them to shout about it through case studies and testimonials which you can put on all of your marketing collateral going forward.
We know you’re busy and we know that building your client base is a time consuming endeavour, but it’s also your life source. There are great ways to build your base without spending all of your precious time doing so. Innovate the process to work for you and show your true entrepreneurial edge!
**Edited for repurpose by Taylor Brown, Associate Editor of Women Who Run It.
Lara Galloway
Lara Galloway As the Mom Biz Coach and co-founder of MomBiz.com, I help mom entrepreneurs figure out how to survive motherhood by creating and running businesses they love. I help manage their time, their businesses and their families and super-charge their marketing. I'm frequently interviewed for my expertise on work/life balance, starting and running a successful small business, marketing your business on Social Media, and creatively managing your time by media like Forbes, Crain’s Business, The Chicago Tribune, and More Magazine. When I'm not working, I'm wrangling my three kids with my husband, drinking good wine or microbrewed beer, and baking something with lots of calories since food is my love language.
Destiny Giakatis
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These are some great suggestions because anyone can work their social media sites while going somewhere or waiting for something. Normally, women are really busy with work and trying to get their households together that simple sites like Google can expand their businesses while they accomplish everything they need to do. We live in an age with some great technological resources!
Olivia Mainville
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Totally agree, especially with how we use social media a lot, so we may as well be using it for promoting and getting new clients. I think word-of-count is the most effective tool, so having great relationships with every potential and current customer is really important. So is learning the tools for coming up more often in Google searches!
Lara Galloway
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So true, Destiny. I get so much social media work done while sitting in the pickup line at school or during my kids’ soccer and dance practices. Thanks for the comment.