Last Updated on September 16, 2022 by Natalie

You have a skill to offer. A degree. Experience.

You’re the go-to person for friends and family for your particular skill.

But how do you get your first client?

I don’t mean managing your best friend’s social media for their online shop.

I mean that first real paying client.

Let’s start from the top.

1. Sign up to the right email lists

Start with the simple stuff.

The easiest thing to do is sign up for job opportunities to arrive in your inbox while you go on living your life.

Depending on the kind of work you’re looking for, the best email lists for you will differ.

I wrote a post about the best email lists for remote job opportunities.

Check that out if you’re looking for freelance projects or virtual opportunities.

2. Reach out to friends and family

Yell it from the mountain tops.

Tell them all.

I want to stress the power of this one.

Right after I lost my job and opened my marketing business, I was treating my business like my best kept secret.

I was worried about judgement. About my efforts to try this feat (there she goes again. Let’s see how long this lasts), my website that I created in a day, my lack of social media followers (which is a vicious cycle.

Your friends and family are the easiest followers to get).

I also didn’t want to pester friends and acquaintances or make anyone feel like I’m trying to sell to them.

I’d hate to sound salesy.

My first two real leads came through family and friends despite my efforts to keep my business a secret.

And what better kind of clients to start with?

A client responding to an ad for your business or who you applied to will likely have higher expectations and lack the casual comfort you would find with a friend.

Chances are that you have more of an opportunity to pleasantly surprise a friend or acquaintance with your impressive skillset.

A family friend who runs a serious business and knew I was no longer working reached out to me asking about what exactly I did at my previous job and wanted to know if I’d be interested in helping them.

He had no idea I opened a business to do the kind of thing he needed.

My sister’s boss’s husband reached out to her because he found out I do marketing and his company is in need of such services.

These two leads happened within 2 weeks.

Tell everyone.

3. Create a website

Having a website will help you reach people searching for services you provide.

Don’t limit your opportunities to be found.

Even if you don’t have a ton of money to spend to get a website (and how many of us do at this stage?), there are several user-friendly website building platforms that anyone can use.

WordPress is ideal but if that seems too intimidating, you have options like wix, weebly or squarespace.

Then, advertise it.

There are many ways you can get a promo code to use Google Ads.

Take advantage and build ads, target clients and get strangers who are looking for your services to your website.

4. Join Facebook groups

Find groups relevant to whatever you want to do.

For example, if you are looking to do virtual assistant work, there are several groups where legit opportunities are posted.

Do a quick search and request to join a couple.

5. Create social media pages

Get your business its own social media pages.

Make a Facebook page and an Instagram page, at the very least.

And if you are a B2B type business, make sure you have a LinkedIn page.

Advertise your website on your social media pages.

Promote your business.

Invite all your friends and family to connect.

Run some ads on there for more exposure.

6. Create profiles on freelancer platforms

Make sure you’re on platforms where people search for your services.

Some examples of these include Upwork, fiverr and Freelancer.

Look at examples of other profiles to guide you in how to build packages and how to price them.

7. List your business on Yelp

…or other popular online directories.

I created a free listing for my marketing business and I have received quite a few inquiries through there.

Only thing is they tend to be for quotes to write resumes.

I can’t figure out why but… whatever!

I actually got my first small project through there.

After you create your free listing, you will likely start receiving calls from a Yelp rep assigned to your account.

They will try to sell you on paid ads for your listing.

And of course, their special deal will only run for a limited time.

Sigh.

I set up a paid ad on my own a couple of times and I was disappointed with the results.

I got 0 quality leads from the ads.

Closing

These are my starter suggestions to help get things going.

If you have any other essential, simple ways to get leads, sharing is caring!

Please comment below ?