How To Attract New Clients Like a Magnet
Posted by Gabrielle on 08 May 2008 at 11:57 am | Department: Articles, Marketing
With all the doom and gloom predictions for the economy, small business owners will be looking for ways to save money in their businesses. That means they will want to protect what they have, as well as find ways to trim fat. Do you see the opportunity?
You can position yourself as an invaluable resource to assist these businesses to not only save money, but maximize their profits – for free.
Because so many small businesses do not keep good financial records, you can demonstrate to them how cleaning up their books can actually help them to save money. One way to demonstrate this is by giving them a free article or tips sheet.
For example, you could explain how to review financial records to find ways to save on overhead. Your goal is to educate them on how they can use up-to-date reports to manage their business more profitably. If their records are not in good shape, your free information may prompt them to turn to you as the expert for help to get their financial records in order.
You can also offer to give a free one-hour consultation so you can demonstrate the value of hiring a freelance bookkeeper so that they can spend their valuable time on doing revenue-producing activities. So many small business owners need to learn that it is just not a good use of their time to be keeping their own books. They save money in the long run by hiring you to do it for them on a regular basis.
If you are a member of your local Chamber of Commerce, consider putting on a mini-class about good record keeping practices for small business owners. This too will position you as an expert and attract new clients. Visibility in your business community will go a long way towards building your credibility and your client base.
The basic idea here is to give your market – small business owners – a reason to look to you as the expert by taking the initiative to start a relationship with them. A great way to build trust is by offering something of value for free. If they like what you have to offer, they will be more inclined to come to you for help when they need it most.
The old saying is definitely true: People do business with people they know, like and trust. Start building relationships with new client prospects by giving them something of value for free.
So what will you give away that will work as your new client magnet?
[...] some strategies for positioning yourself as an expert so that clients will find you. (See “How to Attract New Clients Like a Magnet.”) But you may also want to take a more direct, proactive approach to finding new [...]
Gabrielle,
I hope all is well. I am in the beginning stages of my bookkeeping business. I am getting my PB Certification within a week. My question is do think someone starting out should pick a niche market such as Medical or Construction and market specifically to that market and become the expert in that particular market ??? If someone did do this wouldn’t thier marketing campaign be different ??? How would this be impacted if my goal were to build an online bookkeeping service so I may serve a larger geographical area ?? If I were to attract clients from the marketing techniques you suggest from other types of small businesses should I take them on as clients ?? I am sure you have heard the saying “get rich in your niche” does this apply to freelance bookkeeping business as well ?? Your thoughts would be greatly appreciated.
Thank You,
Terrence
Hi Terrance!
Congrats on getting your PB designation!
As far as specialization, yes, I think it is a good idea. The only caveat is that you should have some experience already or expertise in the industry where you want to specialize.
You are correct about the marketing. You would want to concentrate your marketing efforts on the places where business owners of the particular type of industry you are targeting hang out. A great place to start would be industry associations. If they have newsletters, you could write an article about bookkeeping for them, and have an Author’s Bio that has your contact information.
This positions you as an expert and is a nice soft-sell method. You can also ask for reprint rights to the article and use it with your information kit for new prospects.
As far as geography, that will depend on whether or not you will be running a virtual bookkeeping service, or serving only those in your local area. Yes, that will affect your marketing as well. You must always be clear on who you are targeting and the type of work you want to attract.
It is up to you as to how specialized you want to become. You may specialize in a certain type of business, yet still accept other clients. Or you may decide to exclusively work for only one type of business.
My best suggestion is that if you truly have an expertise in one area, stick with just that. It is difficult to be all things to everyone, and the pay isn’t as good either! Bookkeepers working solo have only a limited capacity for how many active clients they can handle at one time. So keep that in mind as well.
You can charge a higher rate because of specializing in one area. It is a win-win situation too, because you will give higher quality service to your clients when you really understand how their type of business works and can easily handle their unique circumstances.
Keep us posted on your progress! Great questions!
Gabrielle