How to Get Clients Online: 103 Foolproof Strategies

Want to know how to get clients online? 

Today, I share the 103 best strategies for getting clients now and in the future.

You might be wondering: What’s possible with these tips? 

Here are just a few results that you can get if you implement them today:

Ready to get these results for yourself? Read on.

Chapters
How to get clients fast with the help of this list
Get clients in the next 30 days
Get clients in the next 1-2 months
Get clients in the next 2-4 months
Get clients in the next 4-6 months
Get clients in the next 12+ months
How to make sure your offer is amazing
10 time-management tips so you know what to prioritize
How to make sure you’re ready to work with clients
10 tools you need to start working with clients
10 common questions about getting clients
10 best articles on working with clients and helping them get amazing results
Bonus #1
Bonus #2
Bonus #3

How to get clients fast with the help of this list

What is the best way to get clients?

Look: Getting clients doesn’t have to happen years after you set out to build your business.

In fact: 

You can use a few, focused strategies that will (if you implement them consistently) get you clients in the next 30 or so days. 

I should know. When I started my coaching business, I used Facebook groups because I knew that my clients were hanging out in these groups. By adding value on a daily basis over a few weeks, I quickly started signing clients. In four months, I had made over $100,000 in my business and was ready to quit my 9-5. 

Now, if you already have clients, you can jump to the more advanced strategies I’ve included. That’s what I did when I had gotten to the six-figure mark in my business. I started driving clients with Facebook ads, my own Facebook group, and Facebook challenges. Thanks to these strategies, I made a million in my first year in business. 

So do they work? You bet. First up: Strategies that will help you get clients in the next few weeks. 

17 ways to get clients in the next 30 days

Are you wondering: “How can I get clients fast?”

The answer is you can get clients in the next 30 days, with the right strategies. These strategies are ALL about finding out where your audience is hanging out online and starting to engage with them so that you quickly get on their radar.

1. Facebook groups 

As you probably know, there are thousands of different Facebook groups. The best part? Some of these groups are full of your ideal clients. 

By using the search function, you can find groups for people who are interested in what you offer. For example: If you’re a financial coach, you’ll want to find groups about personal finance. And if you’re a marketing consultant, your groups will be catered to entrepreneurs.

Choose 3-5 groups and start adding value with your own posts and by commenting on other people’s posts.

Want the step-by-step on how to get clients on Facebook? Get it here. 

2. Twitter 

Twitter is another strategy you can use to start getting clients. But: Not so much by posting on the platform. Instead, take these steps on a daily basis:

1. Search for a keyword in your niche in the “search” function on Twitter. For example: “Find a career coach” or “How to get promoted.” Both of these are search strings people who are looking for your services would use. 

2. When you scroll through the feed, you’ll find people who need your services. Bingo! Now, all you have to do is engage and offer your services. 

3. Visit your local Chamber of Commerce 

If your clients are business owners, a GREAT way to find them is to visit your local Chamber of Commerce. Chances are that it organizes events on a regular basis. 

But instead of showing up and handing out your business card, take a more strategic approach by incentivizing people to learn more about your services.

How? For example, if you’re a graphic designer, you could offer to take a look at their website and give specific tips on how to improve it. You can end your review with something like this: “Did you find this valuable?” And when they say yes, you can follow up with: “In the next few months, you could get [results]. Would you be interested in speaking more about how we can work together?”

4. LinkedIn

LinkedIn is the perfect platform to find other business owners or professionals. As with Facebook groups, post engaging content and be helpful. For example, my client Anna used LinkedIn to get her first career coaching clients.

5. Your network 

Great news: You might already have clients in your network. All you have to do is send a quick message where you offer your services or ask for referrals. You can say something like this, “Hey [name], I recently launched my business where I help [what it is you do]. Do you know of someone who would need my services? I’d be grateful if you would share my information with them.”

6. Your old employers

If you’ve already built a career in what it is you’re selling, pitch your former employers. They’ve worked with you, so chances are high that they’ll say yes.

7. Cold emailing 

One of the best ways to quickly grow your business? Pitch companies and people you would love to work with, even if you don’t personally know them. 

You can use a simple cold email like this:

Hi NAME,

My name is [your name]. I happened to read the article you published on X. Great read!

I had a look at your website. Looks like your conversion rate could be increased by at least 1-2% with a few simple strategies. 

When would you be available for a quick 15-minute call next week to discuss how I can help you?

-Sign off

8. Cold calling 

Another strategy is to cold call potential clients. Here’s a simple script you can use when cold calling:

Hi! My name is [your name] and I’m a web designer in the New York area. I happened to notice that your website could perform 20-30% better with some simple website optimization strategies. Are you currently looking for web design help? 

9. Visit local businesses 

Online, you can reach hundreds of people with the push of a button. But nothing beats meeting a potential customer face-to-face. That’s why a great way to quickly start getting clients in your business is to visit local businesses.

For example, you could go to your neighborhood restaurants and offer them personalized website tips (or whatever service you offer), after which you ask them for a meeting to talk about how you can help them.

10. Upwork 

Upwork is a platform that connects freelancers with businesses. Because it’s full of projects that clients are looking to fill right away, it can be an excellent place to pick up a few clients in the next few days. 

Keep an eye out for better-paid projects (by selecting the highest project fee in the search filters, “$$$”). 

11. Meetups and events 

Another way to meet clients in person, and in that way build trust, is to go to local events where your ideal clients are hanging out. That could be anything from a cooking class to a fitness or business event. 

You can search for meetups on Meetup.com and events on Eventbrite.com.

How do you use them in the best way? Simple: Start by building some rapport with the organizer. After all, this is the person who can connect you to all the other event attendants. 

You can simply start by introducing yourself to the organizer at the event. Ask: “I’m a career coach who helps my clients land executive positions. Who do you recommend that I meet here tonight?”

12. Conferences 

Conferences are another great way to meet clients. And even better: Conference tickets are often sold at a higher price point than other event tickets, so you know the people there have the ability and willingness to pay for your services.

13. Reddit

Reddit is another great resource for finding hundreds of clients in one place. You find your people on Reddit by searching for relevant subreddits. 

Just like with Facebook groups, the way you get clients is not so much by publishing the occasional self-promotional post. Instead, engage. Give value, answer people’s questions… Soon enough, you’ll start getting inquiries from people who’re interested in working with you. 

14. Online forums

Online forums, just like Reddit threads, are full of your potential clients. And online forums are a great way to show your expertise quickly. A good rule of thumb is to post at least 10 valuable posts and reply to at least 20 threads before you pitch anything.

The way you find these forums is by searching for search phrases like:

“Keyword” + forum

“Keyword” + board 

15. Craigslist

Craigslist can be a simple way to pick up a few clients when you’re just starting out. You create an ad and publish it in your local area. That way, local businesses who are looking for help will find you and get in touch with you.

16. Job boards 

Job boards are another way to get in front of people who’re already looking for your services. Instead of replying to job ads in the same way as everyone else (and never hearing back from the clients you pitch), focus on tailoring your application to each client’s requirements.

17. Industry-specific job boards 

Finally, you can use industry-specific job boards. If you look for them, there are job boards that are dedicated to writing projects, web design, translations, marketing, and more. 

To find your industry-specific job boards, use these search phrases on Google:

“Keyword” + “job board”

“Keyword” + “jobs”

“Keyword” + “freelance jobs”

12 ways to get clients in the next 1-2 months

Once you’ve gotten a couple of clients using the strategies above, you’re ready to move on to level 2: strategies that will help you get clients in the next 1-2 months.

1. Organize your own workshop or event

If you want to position yourself as a thought leader fast, you can organize your own event by setting it up on Eventbrite or Meetup. 

Alternatively, ask a meetup host if you can give a free workshop to his or her audience. That way, you can leverage that person’s existing audience without having to promote your event.

2. Quora 

Quora is another platform you can use to market your business. This questions-and-answers platform lets you answer people’s questions. The reason it’s so powerful for getting clients is that your answers can get massive traction, which means that a lot of your ideal clients could end up finding you thanks to your Quora answers.

3. Become a podcast guest 

Next up: Become a podcast guest to put yourself in front of highly engaged podcast audiences. For example, I’ve been a guest on several podcasts, like So Money. I used this strategy to grow my own audience faster. 

4. Guest posting 

In the same way, you can grow your audience and client-base by pitching guest posts. For example, my clients have successfully used publications like Forbes, Entrepreneur, and YFS to attract high-paying clients. 

One of my own articles in Business Insider helped me add five figures in sales in the same week it was published. 

5. Find clients in coworking spaces 

If you have a coworking space close to where you live, you might use it to pick up a client or two. A great way to find clients is to make use of the coworking space’s job board (if it has one) and by attending events. You can also ask your coworking host if you can set up a free workshop for members. 

6. Set up a referral partnership

A great way to leverage someone else’s client base? Reach out to more established people in your niche without being direct competitors. 

For example, if you’re a copywriter, that person could be a graphic designer. Or if you’re a career coach, you might partner with a health coach for high-achieving professionals. By offering a commission for every lead they send your way, you’re basically giving them free money for very little effort while you get clients without having to do much legwork. 

7. Partner with Facebook group admins

We’ve already talked about using Facebook groups to get clients. But another way you can use these groups? Partner with the gatekeeper, the admin of the group. 

My client Sunny, a speaking coach, was able to get clients using this strategy within the first couple of months after she started her business. 

8. Your own website 

Here’s the thing: I don’t recommend that my clients focus too much on their websites when they’re just starting out. In fact, you don’t need a website when you don’t have clients in your business. 

But once you have a few clients in your business? Now you can start working on driving more people to your website. By mentioning it on social media and driving traffic from paid ads, your website can quickly become a great way to drive clients. 

9. Create a case study

You can also create a case study about a specific result you helped a client get. Take my friend Andrew, a Facebook ads manager, who used his case study to drive new business by promoting it on sites like growthhackers.com. 

10. Start your own Facebook group

One of the strategies I used in my own business was to create a Facebook group. Thanks to running challenges and creating valuable content for my group members, I was able to engage my audience and create a group full of ideal clients.

11. Use livestreams

Another way to use social media platforms is to use livestreams, which is a powerful way to get in front of your audience and engage them directly. 

For example, when I first started out, I used an app that was popular at the time, Periscope, to get clients. Later on, I moved on to Facebook livestreams.

12. Use video on LinkedIn 

If your audience is on Linkedin, LinkedIn videos can help you share with your audience quickly and effectively. The platform is pushing video content, so now is your golden opportunity to use LinkedIn video marketing. 

10 ways to get clients in the next 2-4 months

Once you’ve used the strategies here above, it’s time to take a look at long-term strategies to get clients. Here are the 10 best ways to get clients in the next 2-4 months.

1. Paid traffic from Facebook

Facebook ads are a great way to start getting clients in your business. After all, I successfully scaled my business to several 6 and 7 figures thanks to them. 

But they’re not the magic bullet so many want you to believe. While they CAN work faster than in 2-4 months, it takes time to test your ads, especially if you’re completely new to using paid ads in your business. 

2. Youtube ads

Similarly to Facebook ads, YouTube ads can work great to grow your business. But again, this isn’t the best way to start because if you’re not sure about how to use ads to get clients, you’ll probably not see a great return. Use this strategy when you have paying clients in your business.

3. Google ads 

Google ads are another way to get paid traffic to your website. Your ads will show up as search results in Google. 

4. Pinterest ads

Pinterest ads are relatively new and a way to start growing your Pinterest traffic. Again, you should be aware of how to use paid advertising to get clients with them.

5. Instagram ads 

Instagram ads show up as promoted posts in your audience’s Instagram feed. Like other forms of paid advertising, people click through if your offer drives curiosity.

6. YouTube 

Here’s the thing: You don’t have to pay for people to find you on YouTube. With a good YouTube strategy, you can instead attract them organically. 

Here’s an example of a video I’m using in my own business:

7. Instagram 

Want to know how to get clients on Instagram? Instagram stories work well to engage your audience and with the right type of content, you’ll start building a following of ideal clients. Alternatively, you can partner up with influencers.

For example, my student Cristina, who is a naturopathic doctor, got her first client on Instagram. 

8. Pinterest 

Pinterest is another social media platform to use to get clients in the next few months. Building up your traffic from the site takes time, so prepare to spend at least a couple of months to master the platform.

My client Emily, a career coach, got some of her first paying clients from Pinterest.

9. Joint ventures and partnerships

Once you’ve built up a network in your industry, you can partner with other entrepreneurs to promote each other to your audiences. The person you partner with should have an audience who needs your services, but at the same time, this person shouldn’t be a direct competitor. For example, as a marketing consultant, you can partner with business coaches.

10. Create a high-quality lead magnet

The last strategy to find clients in the next 2-4 months? Use a lead magnet. 

This is a free PDF people get when they sign up for your email list. With your PDF, you share a valuable tip with your audience. For example, a 5-step strategy to reach the goal they want. 

You can share your PDF on social media and your website to get people to find it. And by asking readers to book a call with you at the end of your PDF, as well as sending an email sequence after they sign up to your list, you move your audience closer to a sale.

9 ways to get clients in the next 4-6 months 

Once you’re at this point, it’s time to start thinking about the next six months. These strategies are often more scalable, but they also take more time to work. That’s why you first need to use at least one faster strategy to get clients in your business. 

1. Webinar funnels 

A webinar is a great way to quickly show your expertise and how you help improve your clients’ lives. You can either launch a live webinar and promote it on social media and ads or you can build an automated and pre-recorded webinar. Both of these strategies take time to get to work, so give it at least a few months.

2. Referrals 

When you’ve worked with a few clients, you can start asking them for referrals. The best way to do this? When they tell you how satisfied they are with your services or how happy they are about the results you’ve helped them get, you can ask, “That’s great to hear! Would you happen to know anyone else who’s looking for my services? I’d be grateful if you would share my information with them.”

(Referrals and reviews are big–95% read reviews before buying something.)

3. Email marketing 

When you have clients in your business and it’s growing steadily, you can start working on your own email marketing. Send out at least a few emails a week and don’t forget to mention your services at least once a week.

4. Upsell existing clients 

Did you know that your existing clients can bring in even more business? It’s true. By upselling your existing clients, you can increase your monthly income. For example: As a career coach, you might upsell clients to a higher-priced coaching package.

With this strategy, I added $20,000 to an $8,000 launch by upselling my students to a different course and my private coaching services.

5. Become a regular contributor to a publication

By becoming a regular contributor to a publication like Forbes or Inc, you can start driving clients to your own website. As it takes a bit of time to build a network that can open doors to become a Forbes contributor, reserve at least 4 months for this strategy to work. 

6. Blog on Medium or LinkedIn 

Medium and LinkedIn are platforms with existing audiences. You can tap into these by publishing your own content on the platforms. Getting visible on these platforms will take a bit of time so be patient and post regularly to get noticed by your clients. 

7. Become a speaker 

Did you know that speaking gigs can be a good way to find clients? After all, they’ve probably paid to be in the audience and thanks to your talk, they will see you as an established expert. 

8. Become someone else’s case study 

Want to tap into another influencer’s audience, but not sure how? If you’ve signed up for someone’s program or course, you can put what you learn into practice. 

With the results you get, you then ask the influencer if they would be interested in featuring you as a case study. That’s a great way to help the influencer sell more courses, while you get in front of the right audience. 

9. Set up an online summit

Similarly, getting influencers to participate in an online summit can quickly boost your expert-status and get you clients. The idea here is that you put together a program with a common topic and interview experts during live webinars. For example, as a career coach, your online summit could be about personal branding for employees.

5 ways to get clients in the next 6+ months 

Now we’re getting to scalable strategies. These strategies take time to work, so only use them once you have a great foundation for your business and other ways to get clients while you wait for these strategies to start bringing in clients.

1. Voice devices

You know how Alexa is getting increasingly popular? Over 50% of Americans use a language assistant at least once a month. 

One way to use these to market YOUR services is with Flash Briefings, which are daily audio content snippets or mini podcasts. You share content every day and your audience then consumes that content on their Alexa devices when they listen to their daily updates. 

2. SEO and blogging

Another way to get clients is to use search engine optimization. You can search engine optimize your website, but for the best results, publish blog content. When your audience searches for topics in your industry (like “best interviewing tips” if you’re a career coach), they find your website and your content. 

3. Ebooks 

Writing a book can be a great way to position yourself as an expert. Plus, by mentioning your services in your book, you get highly engaged and targeted leads to your business. 

4. Start your own podcast 

If you’ve come this far, you can also consider starting your own podcast. Podcasts are a great way to get people interested in your services. After all, they spend 30-45 minutes or longer listening to you!

5. Pitch old clients 

Clients come and go, but don’t discount old clients as potential clients. After all, these are people who have worked with you so you’re a safe bet for them when they need more of the same. For example, as a career coach, you might reach out to an old coachee and see if this person needs renewed help with getting a promotion or a raise.

6 ways to make sure your offer is amazing

To get clients, you need an unbeatable offer. Here are my 6 best tips for creating an offer that stands out and gets clients to say yes. 

1. Your offer is something people want

First, your offer needs to be something that your clients want. This is one of the biggest mistakes I see new entrepreneurs make- they try to sell something they think people want.

To figure out if your offer is something they want, you need to do some research. Does someone else in your niche offer programs that are similar to your services?

Here are 5 quick tips to figure out if your offer is irresistible:

2. Focus on benefits, not features 

The reason your clients buy from you is that they see you as the person who can help them get the results they want. When they buy, the features of your offer aren’t that relevant. Instead, focus on showing the benefits of your service.

For example:

As a health coach, focus on showing how you help people get fitter in a number of weeks, not the steps your clients need to take to get there. 

3. Your offer needs to be clear

The one thing that distinguishes a great offer from one that makes clients say no is clarity. Are you clear with what it is you offer and why? Remember: The clearer your offer is, the faster your clients will understand how you can help them and why they should pay you. 

4. Focus on the right audience

Listen: Your offer won’t sell unless you offer it to the right audience. These are people who have the ability to pay. For example, college students don’t usually have a lot of extra money to spend on your services, so you can most likely exclude them from the start.

5. Your offer has the right price

To get clients, you need the right price point. So the price you offer should be aligned with the value you offer. Once you feel that the value your clients are getting exceeds the price you’re currently charging for your services, you can raise your price. 

For example, if you’re a health coach and you can show your clients that you’ve successfully helped others or yourself get results, you can consider increasing your price. 

6. Your offer is packaged in the right way

And finally, your offer needs to be packaged in the right way. What I mean is this: If you package your services on an hourly basis, you’ll position your services as a commodity. 

But if you package your services based on the results you help your clients get, you’ll instead position yourself as a valued expert. 

I prefer 3-month packages for new service business owners, but you can also go for 5-month or longer packages.

10 time-management tips so you know what to prioritize

Time management is huge when it comes to getting clients. Why? Because if you’re all over the place, procrastinate, and don’t get your most important tasks done, you won’t see results. Here are my 10 best time-management tips to get clients. 

1. Focus on one or two strategies 

When you look at the list above with tons of different strategies to get clients, it’s easy to think, “I’ll just use a ton of them and get lots of clients that way!”

Not so fast. If you try to do it all, you’ll have a hard time focusing enough on any of these strategies to truly master them.

Remember how I only used a couple of specific strategies to get to 7-figures in a year? You want the same for yourself. 

2. Track your metrics

Something most people don’t talk about in this space is metrics. You see, this is what I see happening to too many people. They start working on a strategy, but when that strategy doesn’t deliver results in a couple of weeks or a month, they give up. 

But here’s the thing: Strategies seldom work right off the bat. You need to understand how YOU can use them in your industry. 

That’s why you need to track your metrics (like the engagement rate of your social media posts, the number of people who sign up to your email list, and so forth). That way, you know if you’re close or far off from your goal. 

3. Batch your tasks on the weekends

Something I hear a lot is this, “Luisa, how am I supposed to work on getting clients during the workweek? I have a busy 9-5.”

Fair enough. But it doesn’t have to be hard. Remember how we talked about focusing on a few strategies? That means you have very focused tasks to work on. They don’t need to take up hours of your time. 

Plus, if you batch your most energy-consuming tasks on weekends and follow-up on them during the week, you save a lot of time. 

4. Schedule your work 

When you work on your business AND your 9-5, things quickly become overwhelming. To make sure you get all your business-related tasks done, schedule your work. And I mean all of it- when you’ll work on your specific client acquisition tasks (like social media), create content, and talk to potential clients. 

5. Lower your goals 

Look: I know that you can’t wait to be booked out so you can quit your 9-5. But if you focus on all the clients you need to get, it easily gets overwhelming. Instead of trying to get 10 clients, start with 1 and work your way up from there.

6. Use an egg clock 

One of the things I always tell my clients is this, “Every task needs a time limit.” (Why? According to Parkinson’s law, the more time we have for a task, the more time we spend on it.) 

But how do you keep your time limits? Use an egg clock. Set the time you’ll use on a task and be strict with yourself: You need to stop working when you’re done with the task. 

7. Automate what you can 

Did you know that there are some great tools you can use to automate a bunch of your tasks? For example, use canned email templates to automate your emails and use a calendar scheduling tool to automate how people schedule meetings with you (see my specific tool recommendation in the next few sections).

8. Outsource tasks

Want to free up time in your day? A simple trick to save at least a few hours every week (hours you can use on your business) is to get help cleaning your house and get groceries delivered to you. 

9. Cut out your time-wasting activities

Did you know that every day, you waste time on activities that don’t add anything to your life? It’s true. Think about the hours you waste on social media or watching TV shows. 

For example, when I first started my business, I used to waste hours watching TV. I cut down on that time (note: I didn’t completely eliminate my TV watching) and I suddenly had so much more time to work on my business.

10. Use gap time 

Finally: You have “gap time” in your day that you can use better to work on your business. For example, when you stand in a queue, you can work on your social media promotion. Or during your lunch breaks or your commute, you can get a few tasks done. 

4 things to have in place to make sure you’re ready to work with clients

What do you do once you have clients in your business? To prepare you for a smooth process, I’ve listed the top 4 things you need to have in place to make sure you deliver a great experience to your clients right from the start.

1. A client contract

A client contract is a must when you’re starting out. Not only because it protects your business from legal claims, but also because it makes your business look more professional.

2. An intake form

When you first start working with clients, you’ll want to know exactly what their goals are during your time together. That’s why an intake form with standard questions works great.

3. An invoice template

To make your client acquisition process as smooth as possible, you’ll want to have your documents ready to be sent out when you take on a new client. A contract and an intake form are two of those documents, an invoice template is another. 

4. A client intake process

What are the next steps your clients should take when they sign up with you? Scheduling your first session and sending out all your documents are a few such steps. Make sure you have your process in place so that you get everything you need from your client and you can successfully start working together.

10 tools you need to start working with clients

When you start your business, you don’t need more than a laptop. But you can save a ton of time with a few simple tools. Here are the top 10 tools I use in my client work.

1. Boomerang

My first go-to tool is Boomerang, a Gmail app that reminds you of your emails. With it, you know when to follow up with potential clients and you keep track of your emailing.

2. Google Calendar

Next up: Google Calendar (the best part? It’s completely free). It saves me SO much time when booking client meetings and organizing my schedule. 

3. Calendly

Calendly is another time-saver. This tool connects with your calendar so that your clients can choose a time that works for them and schedule a meeting with you. So: No back-and-forth emailing needed. 

4. Later

With Later, you can easily schedule your social media content and have it go out at set times. This frees up a lot of your time for other client acquisition strategies. 

5. HelloSign

Want a simple way to send out your client contracts? HelloSign is a tool that lets you electronically sign your contracts. It then sends them out to your clients, who can sign the contract using the tool. 

6. Zoom

Wondering how to best hold your client calls? Zoom is a video meeting tool with which you send a dedicated meeting link. You can schedule meetings and add them as calendar invites. (Pro tip: You can connect Calendly and Zoom so that a Zoom link is automatically sent out when someone schedules a call.)

7. Google Drive

Google Drive is another tool that saves the day. You can share documents with your clients and keep everything in one place. 

8. Trello

With Trello, you organize your client work. You can even share your Trello board with clients to tick off tasks and set up task reminders.

9. PayPal 

Now we’re getting to the fun stuff: Getting paid. One of the easiest tools to use is PayPal. You send out an invoice and get paid in one go. 

10. Loom

In between your client meetings, your clients might have questions and need your support in other ways. To share audio or video, you can use Loom, a tool that lets you record yourself or your screen and send a video link to people. 

10 common client-getting questions

What are some of your most burning questions about getting clients? I answer them here below. (Make sure to add your question in the comments if you don’t see it here). 

1. Should I do refunds?

When you have clients in your business, should you accept refunds? Look: You have a contract in place for a reason. If you’ve said that you don’t accept refunds (in accordance with the laws that apply to your contract), then you’re free to choose if you accept refunds or not. 

2. When should I hire a VA?

If you’re considering to get help in your business (to free up time to get even more clients), here’s my advice:

You shouldn’t put together a team just to have a team. Instead, the reason you’re growing a team is to grow your business. 

My rule of thumb is this: If you’re not bringing in clients to cover the cost of a VA with a good margin (so that you have money saved for taxes and other expenses), don’t hire a VA just yet. 

3. How should I balance my time between helping clients and working on my business?

This is a tricky one! But the answer is simpler than you might think: Helping your clients doesn’t come down to the time you spend working with them, but the results you help them get. When you become a more experienced coach or consultant, you’ll get faster and faster at client work.

In the beginning, I recommend using a set amount of time on client acquisition strategies every day. Leave a few hours for client work (and if life gets stressful with a 9-5, remind yourself that this is temporary and that you’ll soon be able to say goodbye to your job). 

4. What if I’m not getting results?

One of the most important skills you’ll learn as an entrepreneur is to re-think your approach to problems. My students who get results all have something in common: When something doesn’t work, they don’t throw up their arms in the air. Instead, they think, “What else can I do to achieve results? What are others doing successfully and how can I use that?”

5. Where do I find my clients?

You might be thinking, “All this sounds good, Luisa. But where do I find my clients?”

Your clients are literally everywhere. BUT, there are targeted ‘watering holes’ where your clients hang out. Just like golf enthusiasts hang out on golf courses, your clients are gathering somewhere.

To figure this out, you might need to do a bit of research. First, think of who your client is. A middle-aged mom? Pinterest is a fairly good guess. An entrepreneur? Facebook might be the place for you. A 20-something male? Take a look at Reddit threads. 

6. How do I avoid bad clients?

The best way to avoid bad clients is to set yourself in a position where you don’t have to take them on. So by first building a stable income before quitting your job, you never feel forced to work with bad clients.

That said, you will from time to time come across clients who aren’t respecting your boundaries or understanding your value. To avoid this from happening, make your offer crystal clear from the start and tell your clients that their results are up to them and the work they put in. 

7. How do I deliver results for my clients?

Look: I get it. You want to deliver amazing results to your clients… And that’s a good thing. You should work on your business with the mindset that you want the best for your clients.

But there’s ONE thing you need to remember here: Client results aren’t dependent on you. Yes, you need to show up to do the work and deliver your service. But if your client isn’t doing his/her part, there’s not a lot you can do. 

8. How do I sell without feeling salesy? 

I know what you’re thinking: “Ugh, selling feels salesy. I don’t want to do it.”

As a business owner, you have to learn how to sell (after all, your livelihood depends on it). And selling doesn’t mean you have to be salesy or feel like a snake oil salesman. 

What it comes down to is the value you share upfront. If you’re authentic and give value in the form of content (livestreams, social media posts, emails, and even the information you share in cold emails/calls) to the right people (your ideal clients) before asking for the sale, you’ll come off as an expert helping a client who needs to solve a problem.

That’s not salesy at all, right? 

9. How many clients do I need to quit my job?

This depends on your current salary and costs. I recommend my clients to double their current salary to make sure they can cover all business costs and taxes that might come up. 

10. How should I price my offer?

This depends on what you’re selling. But if you’re selling a service like coaching or consulting, I usually recommend that my clients start with a 3-month program that they price at $1,500. 

I recommend the same for you. Once you have a couple of clients in your business, you can raise your rates. 

10 best articles on working with clients and helping them get amazing results

1. “How To Identify Your Ideal Customer Avatar” – Amy Porterfield 

The key to getting clients? Intimately understanding them. Plus, your marketing material will pretty much write itself once you know exactly what your one perfect client wants. How do you figure it out? This podcast episode reveals it all.  

2. “Want to Reach Customers? Think Like One!” – Ted Rubin

How do you really know what your client wants? Simple: Think about your business from their perspective. In this article, Ted Rubin shows you how. 

3. “How to Build a Reputation When You’re Just Starting Out” – Marie Forleo

When you’re just starting out in business, how do you show your clients that you’re the best choice for them? In this video, Marie shares 5 specific tips. 

4. “5 Secrets to Happy Clients” – Jenna Kutcher

Happy clients mean loyal clients who come back for more and refer you to people they know. But how do you make sure your clients are happy and satisfied after your time together? Here are 5 easy steps to take.

5. “Is It OK to Treat Your Customers Like They’re Smart?” – Hillary Weiss and Margo Aaron

How should you talk to your clients? In this video, you will learn why you’re probably doing it wrong… And how to talk to your clients in the right way. 

6. “How to Manage Impossible Clients” – Harvard Business Review 

One thing that happens in business is that you’ll sometimes end up working with the wrong clients. How do you manage these clients? Read this article published in HBR.

7. “Want a Remarkable Client Onboarding Experience?” – Eventual Millionaire 

When you first take on a new client, setting the right tone for your time together is so important. If you’re wondering how to onboard clients the right way, watch this quick video. 

8. “Why your clients won’t pay what you’re “worth”” – Marketing Mentor 

Why don’t all clients just happily hand you their money for your services? This article shows you why some clients will never pay what you’re worth and how to avoid those clients so that you can instead with people who are happy to work with you.

9. “The Four Secrets of Achieving Customer Satisfaction” – Forbes

How do you make sure that your clients stay satisfied with your services? Here are four steps to take to make sure you’re wowing clients and making them stay. 

10. “How to Ask for Referrals” – LuisaZhou.com

My own article on how to get referrals from clients, so that you successfully build your business faster.

Bonus #1

One of the biggest mistakes I see my students make when it comes to getting clients in their businesses is this:

They don’t follow up. 

Following up might feel pushy or salesy. But it’s actually about keeping yourself top of mind.

Think about it:

We’re all busy. Life happens and sometimes people who want to work with you forget to keep in touch. That’s where you as a business owner need to remind them of your services. 

Here’s a simple script you can use:

“Hey [name], 

I recently shared this great article [this works just as well for an event, email, webinar, referral, book, etc.] about how to [do something they’d mentioned wanting to do] and immediately thought of you! 

I recommend [some course of action — plan, list of next steps, etc.], which I know from experience would be a fantastic plan for you. I just implemented this with a client a few months ago and we’ve seen fantastic results — [specific details of results]. 

If you’re interested, I’d love to support you in customizing the next steps for how to [kick-off the plan]. I’m happy to hop on a call and am free [insert times]. Do any of those times work for you? Let me know and we’ll make it happen! 

[Sign-off]”

Bonus #2

How do you get happy clients who keep coming back for more? You help them get results. 

And to do that, you can give that “something extra” that will make your clients feel special and help them get even better results. This could be a bonus like an extra session with you or an assessment. 

When you share your free service, make the value clear. For example, anchor the price to your regular rates (“I would like to offer you a free strategy session to kick things off and map a strategy that works for you from day #1. The value of this free session is $500 based on my normal consulting rates.”)

Bonus #3

When I started my business I quickly realized something.

I had successfully sold a $5,000 coaching program, but for some reason, other clients wouldn’t convert. 

After weeks of failed sales calls I realized what it was:

Because I was new to coaching, people didn’t trust me yet. That’s when I came up with a strategy that has worked to this day. 

Instead of working with a number of people for free, I chose to give potential clients a short, 15-minute session with me. This worked wonders and ever since, I recommend my clients to do the same. 

(You can read more about my “Taster Technique” here.)

Want to get started right away?

There you have it. Now you know how to get clients online.

These are the 103 best strategies to get clients in your business, no matter your experience or if you’re currently in a busy 9-5.

I’d love to hear from you:

Which strategy are you going to use first?