Do you know how to get your first paying client?
This blog post is my most requested topic by a LANDSLIDE and that is how to get your first paying client. I didn’t do this topic for so long because I don’t want to enable a coach or a bookkeeper who is not doing their due diligence in their business and just wants the fast and easy track to money.
I don’t want to enable a coach that’s charging $150/month and has no plan, has no curriculum and has zero skills that they need to run a sustainable business.
I don’t want to enable poor business practice and end up further hurting your business AND SO I want you to understand this first: This blog is NOT a “one stop shop fix all” for your business. If your business is BROKEN… getting a paying client or MORE paying clients is NOT going to fix it. However, if you've already invested in yourself with Bookkeeper Launch or Become a Coach and are now working on getting paying clients, this blog will help.
One other side note is that I’m not going to be discussing beta clients in this blog. I’m a big believer in working for free or at a discounted rate for an extremely SHORT amount of time to gain experience as well as strong testimonials, BUT I’m only going to be talking about full paying clients in this blog because I go over beta clients in my FREE Pricing Workshop that you can join here: https://www.financialcoachjess.com/pricingworkshop
The different ways I got my first paying clients
I went back and counted up all my 100+ past and current clients to see where they all came from. It’s very diverse! I started out initially on LinkedIn and got almost all of my clients from there in my first year.
After that, I started working on growing my Instagram following and branching out and joining Facebook groups.
More recently, I’ve been focusing on Youtube and growing my email list. You might notice a few things missing here that you might expect to see: getting referrals from other professionals or networking at BNI meetings or Chamber of Commerce groups.
I’ve also done a lot of collaborations with other online business owners, which I’ll get to in a second, BUT in-person networking, referring business to people in BNI meetings just wasn’t my jam.
I don’t like dressing up, and by dressing up, I mean anything other than leggings and a sweatshirt. I didn’t like paying to go to an hour-long meeting once a week with homework! I had flashbacks of paying for a college class I hated and wanted to skip, and I started wondering - "Why am I doing this?? I own my own business, so I DON'T have to do stuff like this!"
So I stopped. Now, don’t get me wrong. I visited meeting after meeting, networked, listened, asked questions and initiated the 1-1s when I first started, because I was committed to taking messy action. I also didn’t know what was going to work and what I was going to enjoy.
One of the best connections I made was when I googled accountants in the area and cold-called them to see if they wanted to get coffee and get to know each others’ businesses. A lot said YES, and it was fantastic. I met an accountant who took me under her wing during my first tax season and outsourced some work to me. I learned so much and still highly recommend her!
Try it ALL
So try it all in the beginning. There are people in those BNI meetings that are THRIVING. They love it and get the majority of their business from there. Don’t just do the easy things, or the things that I do, or the things that don’t intimidate you.
Waiting for you in the things that you don’t want to do
are your first paying clients.
Also, know that diversity in client acquisition is good and bad. Good because it means security. If Instagram gets banned tomorrow, for example, you’ll still have ALL of these other ways to use that can help you get clients. But diversity can also be BAD, because how do you know what’s really working and what’s not? Keep in mind, the graph above is lifetime of the business. If we look at just 2020, it would be heavily, Instagram, Youtube, and friend referrals.
Don’t just rely on word of mouth - have a selling system in place
This brings me to my first big pro tip: Eventually, you’ll want to have a selling system. I’m always very confused when I see entrepreneurs that have been around awhile, bragging about how they get 100% of their clients from word of mouth.
Like great - but what happens when you want to grow? Or shift directions? Or add an upsell? Or do a collab with another professional, and you have NO audience to leverage?
People that brag about this are thinking small. You’re not thinking small, so don’t ever envy that. With that being said, as you work on growing your audience initially, you do want to network like CRAZY. Get your services in front of as many people as possible.
I’ll probably get some backlash for saying this, but this is a very special and unique time for your business. I know it’s frustrating because you’re not making any money - yet! But it’s a very special time for your business as you just have to focus on literally ONE THING - talking to people and explaining what you do and what problem you solve.
Once you start growing and have 5-10 clients, you have to figure out how to scale and stop trading your time for money. You then have to figure out how to hire and outsource. Then there are tech problems and customer service issues to figure out and running ads etc.
ALL of that demands your attention in dozens of different areas, but the beginning of the business is weirdly nostalgic to me because you just have to do literally one thing: talk to people.
This means that any time you don’t have clients and are wasting tons of time designing a graphic or endlessly tweaking your website, getting hung up on what picture to use or what platform to commit to - you’re missing the bigger picture.
Talk to everyone
When you first start looking for full price clients, you should be talking to everyone. That might intimidate you or feel very comfortable, but either way, it’s got to be done! Don’t waste your time waiting for that first client to come to you!
Posting on social media and complaining about where you live, the traction on Facebook, and having unsupportive friends are just excuses. If you haven’t talked to ANYBODY yet and are complaining about a lack of paying clients, it’s all about your MINDSET.
It’s easier to tinker on your website or design a graphic rather than have a real in-depth conversation with a highly respected real estate agent in your area.
It’s a whole lot easier to make excuses than take the initiative and approach people. You might be dealing with imposter syndrome, you might be doubting your abilities, or maybe you’ve had a bad experience already.
Let me tell you: I often walked away from a conversation feeling so small because some macho business owner made me feel incompetent. And that happens - it probably WILL happen to you, but that’s OK. Because there’ll also be MANY times when you walk away from a conversation feeling inspired and encouraged by another entrepreneur.
Those relationships will flourish into collaborations, referred clients, and a sense of community (which is SO desperately needed in the online business world).
When you are just starting your business, you want to build a team of people around you in adjacent industries. Visibility is everything, especially as the online free platforms are CROWDED. You need to get social - and the number one thing you need to be doing is talking to people.
So here’s how that can look for you.
#1: Cold call with purpose
I mentioned earlier that I was cold calling local accountants, and here’s what this might look like for you:
‘Hey, I’m a local bookkeeper or financial coach, and I came across your business. I would love to have a 1-1 or get coffee, so I could get to know you better and hopefully be able to refer clients to you in the future.’
Simple, valuable, not creepy or intimidating, and no fill-in-the-blank excuse needed! I say ‘cold calling’ because the exact same thing could be used on apps like Alignable or on Linkedin.
A pro tip here is to do your research ahead of time. Know how you can benefit the other business owner. For example, If you help businesses straighten out the backend of their business, phrase it in a way, so they know when the admin is taken care of, the life of the tax accountant becomes so much EASIER - as they don’t have to chase down clients for statements, profit and loss statements or receipts.
People go into these conversations all the time thinking about themselves. What will make you stand out is having a well-thought-out idea of how you’re going to benefit the other party.
#2: Visit networking groups
Networking groups are a great way to save time, as they get you in front of many people at once. I’d highly recommend still connecting individually and following up with a few people after, but this is another excellent way to talk to people about what you do in a time-efficient way.
Go visit the Chamber of Commerce, networking groups or BNI. It does cost to join most of these networking groups, but some are free, and all of them allow you to visit.
Pro tip: Some people are also in multiple groups, so if you announce that you’re interested in visiting many groups, they’ll be happy to introduce you to them.
#3: Host a free online workshop
I absolutely LOVE this option, and I think webinars are the very best lead magnet you can possibly have. Here’s the thing, though, you can’t just post about it and expect people to jump up and run to it. It’s not going to happen. But if you personally invite people you know and friends of friends, you can expect a decent turnout.
I know the excuse for this one is going to be: ‘I don’t know what topic to pick!’ and decision paralysis will set in.
My pro tip for this one is to do market research ahead of time. See what people are going to be interested in. Don’t do all the work and then not have interest. Post on Facebook, look in Facebook groups, talk to friends and family, and get people willing to commit UPFRONT (since it’s free, this should be easy). You can THEN put in the work to create the webinar.
#4: Collab with another professional to do a workshop or training
Bookkeeping and financial coaching pair so well with many other industries. We can offer truly valuable insights for a world that needs our help, so professionals are typically more than happy to invite us in.
If you have a great 1-1 with a professional, invite them to do a collab or joint venture webinar with you! Everyone is familiar with Zoom now, so the tech is really the least of your worries with this one.
#5: Guest star on podcasts
One of the biggest pros of podcasts over YouTube is the collaboration element. Do some digging and find new podcasts that have just started up and are probably looking for guests.
I honestly wish I had more time to devote to this because it’s FUN, it’s valuable to the listener, and it’s profitable to both parties hosting as well.
When you ask the owner of the podcast if you can be a guest, have a plan! Make sure you have already listened to the podcast and know specifically how you can add value. You want it to be an easy YES!
If you just blanket statement ask to be on their podcast, the answer is most likely going to be no. You’re creating extra work for them, and they don’t even know you.
If you listen to several episodes, do your research on the business and truly see a gap where you can add value that will be mutually beneficial, put together a sample outline for them. Now you’re making their lives easier, and they’re way more likely to say yes.
Once you have a few past episodes to share, you can do that too to build up credibility. Take some initiative, do your due diligence in terms of research ahead of time, but this one is definitely worth the time and effort.
#6: Start your own podcast!
The flip side of this is to start your own podcast and invite other professionals on to it who would be beneficial to your audience.
The tech is pretty straightforward and can be done for free or for very little investment.
I mentioned that a huge pro of podcasts over YouTube is the collaborative nature of them. But another huge pro is that you can literally write up a script and read it on the podcast with good inflection, and nobody’s going to know.
Eventually, I would challenge you to get away from the script, BUT when you’re starting out, lessen the barriers to entry and just use a script!
#7: Host a free challenge or a giveaway
Another way to get your first paying client and get yourself and your services out there is to host a free challenge or giveaway for your ideal client.
That last part is the most important. You must make the challenge or giveaway applicable to your ideal client. In the past, I’ve done a 5 day 1k challenge that I loved, and my participants saw great results.
I’ve also done a $100 giveaway that more than paid for itself because someone found me due to the giveaway and signed up for my coaching program.
Don’t do these INSTEAD of talking to people and networking, but feel free to do them in ADDITION to. Nothing will be able to take the place of true relationship building when looking for your first client. Nothing!
#8: Trade services with another business for a set amount of time
Have you ever wanted to try another service but aren’t sure if it’s worth the price? This is a great way to mutually benefit, get and give awesome testimonials for social proof, and possibly get the upsell after the agreed-upon time is up.
IF this makes sense for the service you offer, after working with them in exchange for their service for the agreed amount of time, you’d both have the option to continue the service at full price if you’ve been happy with it so far.
This basically takes away the risk from the initial investment. Again, only do this if it makes sense for your business. If there’s a ton of start-up work with onboarding a new client, then this wouldn’t necessarily work for you.
I did this with a photographer for a few months, and in exchange for financial coaching, she was able to do some brand shoots that I could use in my marketing.
#9: Don’t be afraid to talk to anyone who asks
I’m not talking about bringing up your new business when everyone is talking about football - we don’t want to be THAT guy that won’t shut up about it! But think about how many times you go and get your haircut and can either shoot the breeze and discuss the weather OR tell them that you just started your own business and what that’s been like so far.
If you truly believe that your service changes lives, why WOULDN’T you want people to know? You are doing a disservice to them by holding this information from them!
There are so many ways to attract your first paying client, and I know it can be discouraging to feel like it comes easy to other people, BUT the best thing you can do while in this stage of business is to STAY IN YOUR LANE.
DON’T compare your journey to someone else’s. Talk to people, network like crazy, and get in front of people. The more eyes on your services, the BETTER. And I can’t stress that enough!
Business marketing doesn’t always come easy to new coaches or bookkeepers. However, the above tips will help you find your first paying client. If you’re looking for additional help with pricing your services, gaining confidence around selling and building a sustainable (and profitable!) business, check out my FREE pricing workshop! You’ll find all the details here: https://www.financialcoachjess.com/pricingworkshop.
