Home Viewpoints Entrepreneurship How to find business clients Saturday, 22 November 2008
             
How to find business clients PDF Print E-mail
Friday, 02 May 2008 06:26
Photo Credit: images.businessweek.com

Nobody promised that being an entrepreneur is an easy task. While working for someone else might offer you a steady paycheck, being self-employed guarantees adventure. As a self-employed business woman, you might have to work double hard to bring in enough business in order to meet your needs and make a profit.

Whether you are finding business for the first time or looking to increase your clientele, it is important to pinpoint what works for your business and personality type. First, answer these couple of questions:

1. Identify your business: product or service?

2. Identify your personality type on a scale from 1-10 (1=shy, 10=outgoing).

Keeping your business and personality type in mind, here are a few ways to find clients:

1. Behind-the-scenes advertising: This means promoting your business in places like newspapers, online, billboards, magazines, email, flyers, and the yellow pages. Customers will see your advertisements and if they need your product or services, they will give you a call.

Tip: Are magazine and newspaper advertisements out of your budget? Try writing a ready-to-publish article about your services or products for target publications. If you make it interesting enough and not too much like an advertisement, the editors will love you (less work for them) and your story will be published at no cost to your business!

2. In-your-face advertising: This type of advertising takes you to places like home shows, networking events, and parties. In-your-face advertising is all about establishing relationships and connecting with other people who will hopefully become future clients or spread word about your services or products.

Tip: Help others first. Nobody like the person who goes to a networking event and makes the entire event revolve around them without interest as to what others are doing. While you are there to advertise your business, always keep an open mind and heart by helping others in a way that might not be immediately beneficial to you. What goes around comes around, so make this your long-term business strategy. It works.

Finding clients is a trial and error task. You try something a few times and if it doesn’t work, you move on to the next solution. Think about what is in your comfort level and if something makes you slightly uncomfortable, try moving beyond your fears before giving up or not trying something. If you are uncomfortable with networking, invite a friend for moral support but make it clear that you won’t mingle together for the event. If you know you are not a good writer, barter your service or product for an article.

Entrepreneur Goddesses are filled with solutions to roadblocks! Be creative and learn what brings in business.
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3.23 Copyright (C) 2007 Alain Georgette / Copyright (C) 2006 Frantisek Hliva. All rights reserved."
 

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