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XXXVI - Client Acquisition

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Good afternoon Reader.

Today I want to talk a little about client acquisition.

It's a hot topic when people start out in business and there are many ways to go about it.

I'm going to write about my personal journey with this process.

When starting out, some people say you should work for free.
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Yes, for free.

The Joker had this one right in my opinion:

Look, I HAVE worked for free, and while I won't detail everything that went wrong right now (a future edition, perhaps) it was a terrible experience.

They do not respect you.

They ask for too much from you.

They might need even provide a testimonial (one of the main reasons people do it, to gather reputation - put it in the contract if necessary).

It is not worth the hassle.

When I started, I didn't even have clients in mind.

I didn't even know what I was doing.

I was still focused on affiliate marketing and making my money through there.

And that was until one day, I saw someone advertising:

"Twitter Growth - 30 days coaching ($99)"

A new avenue just appeared on my timeline.

I hadn't considered this.

But I had double the followers of this man.

I whipped up a strategy about what I did, and then advertised myself the very next day.

I had 3 clients in the week all at $99.

I couldn't believe it.

I delivered as much value as possible, and got testimonials.

I went again.

I didn't consider much about pricing - I thought it was fair, and at the time I still had a full time job.

Then one client said to me: "Why do you charge so cheap?"

BOOM.

I doubled price.

More clients.

Another client: "Why do you charge so cheap? I'd have paid $500 for this"

BOOM.

Prices raised again.

I was a complete newbie.

I was learning as I was going along.

I was gaining experience.

And I was lucky because for the majority, I had good clients who listened and put in the work.

I still speak to some of these clients today, they are good friends.

But it was the feedback which made me raise prices.

Eventually, I got to a stage with a complete structure and was charing four figures.

Fast forward to now, with everything I have learnt, I run a complete package as Chief of Staff and moved away from "growth" (you can find out why here: XXIII - Why I deleted a 74,000+ follower account)

But started very small, and learnt as I grew.

If I did it starting from scratch:

Now this was my journey, and it worked.

But I made a lot of mistakes and if I was going to do it again, I would start in the four figure range from the beginning.

You can offer a lower service for lower fees, but NEVER reduce your prices.

Cheap clients looking for a deal are not worth your time.

I would build out my service, advertise, and run with it from the get go.

I didn't waste time, but I could have moved up quicker.

I felt slightly inadequate at what I did because I was new and had little experience.

Instead, I would learn the game prior, and sell high.

These are the people you want to work with.

High paying clients.

They put trust in you.

Low paying clients... do not.

Throw yourself in the deep end.

Put the pressure on yourself to deliver.

And deliver it.