The Easiest Way to Get Your First Client

And the tools to help you do it

My first client came from a friend. I had quit my job, was thinking about what I would do next, and he was sending me roles at different companies.

“I just don’t wanna do these jobs,” I would say.

Finally, he threw me a bone and sent me my first client. It was a friend of his starting a culinary-based business.

“Oh! Are you working for him?” I said.

“No,” he replied. “He can’t afford me. But he can afford you.”

I was thrilled.

When I talk to people who want to start their own business, they almost always ask me the same question:

“How do I get my first client?”

We’ll talk about lead magnets, program design, marketing, and all manner of promotion in other posts. I promise. Right now, I want to start with the easiest, most obvious way to support you getting client work. (You’re gonna be annoyed when you read it.)

Here we go: The easiest way to get a client is telling your network you are looking for clients.

I know what you might be thinking. I’m ready for it.

Won’t telling my network I’m looking for clients look desperate?

I’m going to answer your question with a question:

How are people going to know that you are offering this business if you don’t tell them?

I’m really serious about that.

We all want to just have people know about our business through osmosis/inception so that we never have to put ourselves out there, never have to tell anyone directly, and (most importantly!) never look like a failure if it doesn’t work out.

I want that, too. It doesn’t happen that way.

This is what I know to be true:

• People want to know about what you’re doing

• (Most) people genuinely want to help you and would love to support you

• If they don’t want to help you, they’re not a good part of your network

Ok now that we got that part out of the way, let’s talk about how you might tell your network and announce that you’re starting a business.

Good announcements have a few things in common:

• They feel personal

• They explain exactly what it is you do

• They help your network identify who might be a good fit for your services

• They make it easy for people to forward along your information

• They ask for help

We’ll go into detail on all of these next.

Make it personal

Tell everyone why you’re doing this. People don’t care as much about your business. They care about you.

Don’t be overly negative: if you’re starting this because of a layoff or a particularly sh*tty situation, keep those deets to a minimum. Focus instead on why you got into whatever you’re doing (astrology, marketing, bookkeeping, home organization, etc.) with a specific anecdote. Talk about what you’re hoping to accomplish with this business.

Explain what you do

People forget this part and assume their business is self explanatory. It’s not! Tell people in a couple sentences what it is that you do. Be as specific as possible.

Help people identify who is a good fit for your services

People will refer clients to you if it’s easy to recognize someone who needs your help. Help them with this by spelling it out for them.

“I’m a good fit for anyone dealing with [insert this pain point here].”

Inserting things like this help people recognize a good client for you the moment they spot them and refer them your way.

Make it easy for people to forward along your information

Have a website and a blurb handy for them to forward to folks who might want to work with you.

You do not need a big complicated website with multiple pages. You need, at minimum, one page that explains who you are, what you do, and what your edge is.

If you have a hard time answering these questions, I have an offer called Position Or Die, where we clearly position your services in 90 minutes. Founding Members of Business [Comma] Woman automatically get this session as part of their membership.

Ask for help

Here’s another obvious one. Tell people you’d love a referral from them. You don’t need to demand one. Just let them know that if anyone they know might be a good fit for what you do, you’d love it if they’d send them your way.

Templates for “New Client Asks”

No need to start with a blank page here, and probably no need to use Claude to write what should be pretty personalized note to your network. I’ve got a few templates here!

Business [Comma] Woman is for anyone building (or thinking about building) a service business. Whatever you’re good at: accounting, tarot card reading, window washing, marketing, therapy - if it’s legal, we want you to make money at it. We focus on the stuff that gives entrepreneurs hives: getting clients, marketing services, selling services, pricing, etc. If this article resonated or was helpful, please share it!