Print Email RSS DIGG del.icio.us Stumble It!

The Modern Mompreneur: How Do I Find My Clients?

When I first started my business I was a general life coach helping people with career issues. My first clients I coached for free and they were all people who knew me: a publicist, a colleague, a friend of a friend. After our free sessions were over some of them even continued on a paying basis. And that’s how I became known as a coach-word of mouth. I wrote a newsletter and asked my friends and family to pass it around to their friends. My list grew and I went from there.

But even with all the generosity of my friends and family I quickly realized that word of mouth would only get me so far. To sustain my business I would have to get clients/customers on a regular basis. I did some speaking, some traveling-all at my own expense. I even tried advertising. The return was always very low. It wasn’t until I had my son that I decided to stop and take a long, hard look at my business. It was more important than ever that I figure out how to make it successful, but I also knew that with a young child, my time would be limited from then on. I sought out mentors including Fabienne Fredrickson of www.ClientAttraction.com and author of “The Client Attraction System”, a popular marketing program for solo-entrepreneurs and small businesses. Fabienne is also mom to two young children, so I felt she would really understand the challenges I faced.

Here’s what I learned:

Specialize

The first thing I changed in my business was to stop thinking my business was for “everyone”. I felt pulled in many directions by different clients. It was also a lot of effort-and money. “It is much more efficient and cost-effective to market to a small niche or segment of the population, even if that segment of the population is vast in numbers,” explains Fabienne. “Once you’ve created a niche in that sector, and your business runs like a well-oiled machine, then it is possible to add other niches if you like. But first, focus on a crystal clear, problem-solving message for one target audience. They’ll recognize you as the answer to their problems and then Client Attraction becomes big-time easy.”

My result: I decided to specialize in coaching people who want to write books. Recently I narrowed my field even more-with even better response--to small business owners and speakers who want to write books to promote their work.

Technology is Your Friend

If you’re a Mompreneur working from home, the Internet is your greatest asset. You can do a lot of the heavy lifting of getting clients by putting a lot of great information on the web via your website, blog and many other places like Facebook or MySpace. When I first started doing this it was really seductive, especially when I saw my list growing into a worldwide audience and me not having to step foot outside my house! I would have been totally happy with those results, but I knew I wanted my business to be really well marketed in other areas and not be Internet-dependent.

Votes: 29

5 4 3 2 1  

Related Articles

• Modern Mompreneur: How to Manage That Cash Flow, Baby!
• Modern Mompreneur: Ingrid Carney Transforms a Tube Top Into a Must-Have for Moms
• Modern Mompreneur: The Secret to Creating Websites That Work

Comments