[DAY 113 OF THE DEEP END PROJECT]
When I started my business I bought a course that taught how to get your first 3 paying clients.
The promise was that getting the first three clients is crucial, but after you have them, it’s easy peasy.
But you have to know how to get your first 3 paying clients!
Having been a stay-at-home & with no prior business experience, I had no idea how to do that.
The course was some $297 which was a HUGE amount for me. I was only making $20/hr at that time from freelance work.
But there was nothing more I wanted than to have a legit business & I am a huge believer in investing in myself.
The $297 was a big leap for me at that time, but I did it.
The course was full of knowledge. A bit overwhelming but I had skin in the game. I had to make my money back, so I went in full throttle.
I committed to it. Even signed my name on a fake pledge. Printed it out and kept it on my desk. Actually it was the landlord’s desk that he had in our spare room but whatever.
I committed to doing all the work.
And boy, there was a lot of work!! The course asked that we take 10-15 ICA interviews.
And, then create new content everyday and post in at least 5 facebook groups 3-4 times a day.
Guest blog on different sites.
Send 20 pitches for the said guest blog, coz there was a 1 in 20 chance to be accepted.
Oh and reddit!
Do your research on Reddit.
And Amazon.
And several other online forums.
“Claim your expertise, build your authority” it said!
Honestly, I did it all!!
Or I tried my best to do it all.
But every time I went on reddit to test my content.
Or went to 5 different facebook groups to post 3-4 times a day…..
…It was as if my body revolted.
I was a mom who was forced to work during nap times and in the car while I waited to pick my son from school.
My time was so precious and this felt like A LOT OF WORK!!
One day, I was on a facebook group trying to “claim my expertise, build my authority”, I had an idea….
I thought to myself, I actually like some of these girls and their business very much.
What if I just reached out to them and said “Hey X, love you and your business. Your Instagram? Not so much. Wanna hop on a call with me and I can tell you exactly what to do to change it and in return I’ll ask you some questions? Pitch free strategy sesh, you in?”
Of course I didn’t really use those exact words 😆
Guess how many calls I booked?
10.
One outreach. 10 calls.
This is how it went down…..
First, I got them on the call and did my ICA interview. Check.
In my ICA interview, I literally asked them to describe to me their current struggle with Instagram.
Then, I did an audit of their Instagram and showed them proof of “why” they were struggling with the exact thing they said they were struggling with.
Lastly, I gave them a session full of insights on what they can do to get over their struggle and to get to their goals.
I also added a few bonus “aha” tips that blew them away. In short, I gave.
Actually, I over gave.
And, this is where it gets interesting.
100% of them were so happy, they said “Can you help me do this?”
Did everyone buy?
Nope.
But this is what happened instead. I had some short term wins and some long term wins.
SHORT TERM WINS :
- I got my first 3 paying clients! (without all that work)
- I also got my first biggest client at $1500/month. (btw it is my experience that when I invest in something and take action, I always make 3X-5X back)
- That one-on-one interaction built my authority faster than posting on FB groups 5 times a day. How?
- Almost everyone asked me what they could do to help me in return for the wonderful insight I had just given them.
- My response – give me a shoutout in your community. They did. More leads came in.
LONG TERM WINS :
- Those people who didn’t buy from me at that time continued to stay in my orbit. In the next 2 years they would contribute to over $20k of my revenue.
- Some of them have been repeat clients. They continue to invest in me.
- Some of them have bought my biggest packages.
- All of them have been my brand ambassadors. They keep sending me referrals.
Easy. Non-Icky. 100% Organic. No Artificial Business Ingredients.
Needless to say that $297 course was long forgotten and paid back many times over!!
Lead Gen based on Connection is my jam then, it’s my jam now! Truly, it’s the most profitable way I’ve found to get clients.