Here’s how I found clients when I was first starting my business 👇🏻
⭐️ Leveraged my personal network
I told everyone I knew about what I was doing - e.g. friends, family, parents at my kids’ school etc. I felt like a total fraud, but it’s where my first ever clients came from.
⭐️ Used social media
I posted every day to Instagram. This has been one of the main ways I’ve found clients for the 10 + years I’ve been in business.
⭐️ Offered discounted services
I couldn’t believe anyone would pay me to do something I would have happily done for free! I charged almost nothing (due to inexperience) but in return learned a lot about working with clients and got some great project images to use as social proof.
⭐️ Partnerships
I booked meetings with real estate agents, builders and suppliers who were already working with the clients I wanted. I only got a few jobs from these meetings but I built the muscle of getting out of my comfort zone, which was hugely valuable.
⭐️ Content marketing
I wrote a blog every day for the first year of being in business. That was 10 years ago when blogs worked better than they do today. If I were starting today I would do the same thing but with YouTube videos instead.
⭐️ Asked for referrals
I did the best possible job I could with clients and then asked them to refer me to others. This was how I moved from lower paying jobs for friends to higher paying projects with people I didn’t know.
But the main thing I did was get out into the world and try and find business.
I see too many designers posting a few times on Instagram and wondering why no clients are coming to them.
This isn’t how you get clients when you’re first starting - nobody yet knows who you are. It’s your job to make yourself known!
Thanks for reading and catch you in my next post :)
Clare x
Dr Clare Le Roy
