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Interested in learning how to get clients for a consulting business?
There’s lots of demand for consultants, and you can be sure your skills will be needed.
It’s important to find clients who will pay you to consult, but it can be hard to find a steady stream of them.
In the end, they’re the ones who are going to buy from you.
But if you’re just starting out in consulting, there are plenty of opportunities to get clients and build up your business.
You just need to know where to find them.
To help you learn more about how to get clients for a consulting business, we’ve created this article.
It’s based on a content brief that we’ve created to help people like you get started.
How To Get Clients For Consulting Business
In today’s world, there are more people seeking consulting services than ever before.
As the number of potential clients has grown, so have the opportunities for a consulting business.
You may not know it yet, but you’re in luck.
Today, there are plenty of ways to find clients for a consulting business. And as a result, you can start a consulting business without having to wait for someone to hire you.
That’s good news because you can get started as soon as you want.
There are lots of ways to get clients for your consulting business.
Here are some of the most popular:
Create A Website
The first way to get clients is to create a website where they can find out more about your consulting business.
This is a must
In this case, your website will be your online brochure, so it’s important that it does a good job of telling people what you do, and why they should hire you.
Your website also needs to include the services you offer, which will help people understand what you can do for them.
This will make it easier for potential clients to pick you over the competition.
Your website will need to look and function professionally.
For that reason we recommend one of the following builders:
The opportunities are endless when using one of the above builders for your website.
You NEED A Lead Magnet
Even if you think you don’t, you still need a lead magnet on your website.
A lead magnet is something compelling that attracts attention, and gets your potential client reading the rest of your website copy.
In most cases, your lead magnet will be an informative piece of content that answers a question.
For example, if you offer business consulting, your lead magnet could be a case study about a business that was successfully transformed by your advice.
The best tools to create lead magnets are:
Each of these tools offer a trial – so play around with them all and see which is best for your business.
Some examples of lead magnets are:
- eBooks
- Checklists
- Case Studies
- Cheat Sheets
You can create a lead magnet yourself, or have one created for you.
Either way, it needs to be something that potential clients will find both interesting and useful.
Email Marketing
Once you’ve attracted their attention with a website, you need to capture it with an irresistible sales pitch.
That means you should consider using email marketing.
Here’s why: People who visit your website are interested. But, after reading your website, they are ready to buy. They are only just waiting for you to give them a compelling reason to do so.
That’s where email marketing comes in. By sending a series of highly targeted, personalized emails to your list of website visitors, you can give them a powerful reason to buy from you.
Here are the best email autoresponders:
They each have a free trial. Some even have free plans.
Test each one to see which you prefer.
Customer Referrals
One of the best ways to get clients for your consulting business is to earn their trust.
In other words, you need to build relationships with your potential clients, and let them know that you care enough to go the extra mile for them.
And, you can do this in a variety of ways, including through customer referrals.
For example, you may be able to earn client referrals by giving clients a free gift (a white paper, a checklist, etc.)
Or, you can go the extra mile by helping your clients solve a problem they are having.
Asking your clients for referrals can be a very powerful way to get new clients for your consulting business.
Social Media Marketing
When it comes to getting clients for a consulting business, social media marketing is one of the most effective tools.
Why?
Because it is a low cost and high return strategy that gets people talking about you and what you do.
There are a number of different ways to use social media to promote your consulting business.
Some of these ways include:
- Creating a Twitter account
- Using Facebook ads
- Promoting your consulting business on LinkedIn
- Promoting your consulting business on Instagram
- Writing guest posts for other blogs
In addition, you can use social media to build relationships with potential clients.
For example, if you have a blog, you can write a post about your industry, and invite your potential clients to share their thoughts.
In this way, you can let your potential clients know that you’re interested in what they have to say, and you want to hear their opinion on the industry.
In turn, you may be able to build relationships with potential clients, and earn their trust.
Guest Posting
Guest posting is another powerful social media marketing tool.
It works like this:
You find a website or blog in your industry that is highly respected, and has a large and active audience.
Then, you send the owner of the website or blog an email telling them that you would love to guest post on their site.
The owner of the website or blog will then publish your guest post, giving you free advertising on a high traffic website.
This technique is especially powerful when you are just starting out, and don’t have much of a presence online.
You should try to guest post on sites that are at least a year or two old, and have a good amount of traffic.
Try to avoid guest posting on websites that are owned by big organizations (like government agencies), or have a strong political agenda.
You never know who is going to read those types of websites. And, it could seriously hurt your business.
Webinars
A webinar is a lot like a guest post, except there is a difference in how the two strategies are used.
Let’s say you are promoting your consulting business, and you want to do some social media marketing.
But, you don’t feel like you have much of a social media presence yet.
So, what you do is, you find a website or blog in your industry that has a large and active audience.
And, you send the owner of the website or blog an email telling them that you would love to host a free 30-minute webinar about your expertise in your field.
The owner of the website or blog will then publish your webinar, giving you free advertising on a high traffic website.
This technique is especially powerful when you are just starting out, and don’t have much of a presence online.
Try to avoid webinars on websites that are owned by big organizations (like government agencies), or have a strong political agenda.
Cold Calling
Cold calling can be a very effective way to get clients for your consulting business.
This works like this:
You find a person or company in your industry who is looking to hire a consulting business.
Then, you cold call them and ask them if they need a consultant.
If they say yes, you will be able to offer your services to them.
In this way, you can make a phone call to someone who has a need for your consulting business.
And, since you are the only consulting business they are going to consider, it will make them feel more comfortable hiring you.
Note: Don’t cold call people who already have a consulting business, or have already hired a consulting business. You don’t want to come off as a competitor. Instead, you want to position yourself as a specialist who can add value to the client’s business.
Direct Mail Marketing
Another effective marketing strategy is direct mail marketing.
You find an audience that you would like to market to. Then, you create a list of people in that audience.
Then, you write a letter to them telling them about your consulting business, and how you can help them.
When they receive your letter, you have already built trust with them.
And, since they know that you are trying to help them, they are more likely to contact you.
Direct mail marketing is a very powerful marketing tool.
In fact, according to some statistics, it is the most effective way to get new clients.
So, if you want to build your consulting business, direct mail marketing should be one of your top priorities.
Video Marketing
Video marketing is similar to direct mail marketing, but instead of a written sales pitch, you use a video sales pitch.
This can be an animated video, a real life video taped by you, or even a video created by someone else. Whatever.
The point is that in a video you should communicate the following:
- What you will do for the client. In other words, tell them how your expertise will help their business.
- Why you are the best person to provide that expertise. In other words, tell them why they should hire you.
- How they can get in touch with you. In other words, give them your phone number and/or email address.
- The best time and date to call. In other words, let them know when and where they can contact you.
- What to say and what not to say during the call. In other words, give them guidelines as to what they can and cannot ask you.
If you haven’t created any content yet for your website or blog, creating a short (one or two minute) video can get your ball rolling.
Local TV And Radio Advertising
If you live in a small town, there may be a local television or radio station that is looking for something new to talk about.
In this case, you could pitch your consulting business to them.
You will have to do some research to find out who the owners of the local TV and radio stations are.
Then, you will have to contact them and see if they are willing to talk with you.
Another option would be to contact the owners of the local newspapers and radio stations.
They may very well be interested in you.
Just make sure that you are not promoting anything “sinister” such as conspiracy theories, illegal activities, or anything else that may offend the sensibilities of the local citizens.
Pitching Local TV and radio stations and newspapers can be a real challenge!
So, if you don’t succeed, try again.
Just keep trying until you find an opportunity. It will happen.
Networking Conferences
Networking is a great way to meet people who can help your business.
Networking conferences are held all over the world, and they are a great place to meet potential business partners.
You just have to figure out where they are being held.
And then, you go to the conference. And you start building relationships with the people in attendance.
You can learn about the industry in which they operate, and you can find out how you can add value to their business.
Once you do this, you will start receiving referrals from them.
This is very effective because it helps you build trust with them, and it shows them that you are not a “cold caller”.
When you start receiving referrals, you can start building relationships with them, too.
This is a two-way street.
They can provide you with opportunities, and you can provide them with referrals.
Conclusion
There you have it! A short (but effective) list of what you can do to increase the size of your wallet.
The hard part is making yourself available for your clients when they need you.
So, if this list of ideas has gotten your creative juices flowing, I suggest that you put some of these concepts into action.
It will keep you sharp, and it will also help you make a lot of money!
The more you do, the more you will learn, and the more money you will make. So, what are you waiting for? Get going!
