OK, you’ve set up your one-person shop, hung your “we’re open” sign on your website, and now sit back and wait for clients to stroll in by the hundreds.

Several weeks later, and you don’t have a single client.

This is obviously a very bad way to start, as you should already have 1-3 clients lined up before becoming an independent consultant.

So what can you do to attract more clients? Here are a few ideas.

Keep announcing your availability
The key here is not to sound desperate. Clients don’t like that. You need to say something more akin to, “I have some availability opening up soon”.

Spread the word on professional networking sites, at in-person conferences, and to your existing professional contacts.

Become a subcontractor
One great way to become known is to excel while working as a subcontractor at a respected agency. You get lots of exposure by working on multiple projects and you usually don’t need to find clients yourselves.

This is a great option for new consultants. Just keep your end-goal in mind. Do you want to stay a subcontractor or promote yourself to a full-fledged independent consultant?

Create partnerships
One of the best sources of clients is through a trusted referral. Create a number of partnerships with fellow consultants and agencies in adjacent, but non-competing areas.

For example, for my tax receipting app, I recently partnered with a payment app. We now can refer business to each other, while increasing our overall offering.

The takeaway
As a one-person business, you need to keep beating your drum, announcing your existence. Remember, you’re the entire marketing and sales team.

The good news is, as a soloist, you don’t need dozens of clients per year. Just a couple of good ones.

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Salesforce