How to Attract Your Ideal Clients: A 10-Step Guide for Entrepreneurs

Have you ever dreamt of ditching the 9-to-5 grind to become your own boss? You're not alone. The allure of entrepreneurship is strong, but the reality check comes when you realize you need clients—dream clients, to be exact. So, how do you go from zero to hero in the client game? Buckle up because we're diving into ten essential strategies that will not only help you identify your dream clients but also make them clamor to work with you. Let's turn that entrepreneurial dream into a client-filled reality!

Build your own dreams, or someone else will hire you to build theirs. Farrah Gray Share on X

Step 1 Who is your dream client?

After you've created your business plan, knowing who you want to work with is step one. It would be best to decide who your ideal client is and how to help them by creating your ideal client persona.

Broad ideas like “I just want clients” aren't going to make it easy for them to find you or for you to try to market to them. You don't want to try to be everything to everyone – creating your dream client persona will help attract the right clients to you. Taking the time to attract your ideal clients will save you time and effort.”

Ask yourself the following:

• What age is my ideal client?
• Are my clients other entrepreneurs? CEOs? Middle managers?
• Do they control a large budget? Or are they bootstrapping?

Hubspot designed a fantastic template Creating Buyer Personas for your Business – use this and create something valuable. If you market with buyer personas, you are marketing smarter.

With this template, you can learn best practices for persona research and create beautiful, well-formatted buyer personas that you can share with your entire company. 

This offer includes tips and tricks for:

• Asking the right questions during your buyer persona interviews and surveys
• Formatting your buyer persona research in a compelling way
• Presenting your new, finalized buyer personas to your company
• Using your buyer personas for segmentation, content mapping, and lead nurturing.

Step 2 Set the stage.

You'll need to create a home base for your business: your blog. Thankfully, today, it's as easy as building a WordPress blog. I recommend a self-hosted blog built on the Genesis framework.

My blog is a customized StudioPress Theme for WordPress.

Setting the stage on your new digital home will take time, and every second that it takes to prepare is worth the effort. If you don't have any skills or interest in building your blog, this is a great place to work a professional. The beauty of a WordPress blog is that you can update your blog pages and add your own blog content independently.

Creating your dream client persona will help attract the right clients. Share on X

Step 3 Build your visual brand

You'll need an excellent name for your company, a logo, and a brand style guide as part of your new venture.

A solid visual brand ties all of your content across social media platforms and helps people recognize your brand. You can work with a designer to create a brand, logo, and style guide. Working with a pro is great, but your brand needs to capture the essence and spirit of your project.

Everything you do will be branded with your logo and brand colors, including online and offline assets such as marketing materials, invoices, and business cards.

This is an excellent step to get a series of professional headshots done. Yes, this seems scary but you can do it!

If you're talking to everyone, you're talking to no one. Share on X

Step 4 Set your services and prices.

Working with clients is hard work, and working with jerky clients is frankly not fun at all. While you must be prepared to handle the challenges and demands of your client work, being clear in your initial goals will help everyone be on the same page from the beginning. Creating a list of your services and what you'll charge as a baseline for negotiations is key.

Some people like having everything out there on their website, and others like to create proposals for their prospective clients after they've had an initial call. Prepare contracts for services you'll offer and customize them after you've nailed down your offerings.

Being 100% clear on what you will do and how much it costs is very important. The boundaries and expectations are set in the contract, and it's your job to fulfill them and stick to them when people ask for more changes that weren't included or decide to change everything and start from scratch. People change their minds, but a complete re-do might be a new proposal. Entrepreneurs like to change their minds and rethink their plans, but you already know that, right?

Step 5 Build thought leadership.

Since you've already established your web presence, keeping it up-to-date with fresh articles is essential for attracting your ideal clients. Quality will trump quantity every time, so write content that will add value to your field and help build your expertise. Continue building on your main themes, and in time you'll be asked to be a guest on podcasts and other interviews as people seek your opinion.

There's no shortcut here. Roll up your sleeves and dig in. You want to be independent, right? That means hard work is in order.

Join LinkedIn Groups, Facebook Groups, or other communities in your area of expertise. Make sure that you're spending time building relationships with future clients or referrals – not wasting time. If you decide to start a community or group, understand that it will be a huge time commitment to manage it. I like to say it's like getting a puppy; it's cute, and you love it, but there's a ton of feeding and cleanup.

Step 6  Cast your net.

Once you have your general plan mapped out, you must update your professional and social media bios to reflect that you're seeking clients.

Remember that some people are on social media for purely social reasons, and some for purely business. Share your new business venture, but don't only share this. You don't want to be that guy or girl who only talks about their services or tries to sell something to you. You don't like that. Neither does anyone else.

A few places you can cast the net:

• Your email signature
• LinkedIn profile
• Blog posts
• Guest blogging
• Guest on podcasts and Twitter chats
• Social media posts

If you can offer your services to someone, take the time to connect thoughtfully on LinkedIn and send them a nice note. Send a personalized email that says hey, I do XYZ, and if you ever need my services, I'd love to talk with you about it. This effort can go a long way. Don't be pushy, but be available. They might not need you now, but they might in three months.

Building your network takes a long time, and helping people grow through your connections can also help.

Resources:

How to Promote Yourself Without Being a Jerk

Step 7 Write a press release.

Creating a press release for your announcement for your official launch gets the ball rolling. Press releases are different than a blog post, so it's essential to do your research. If you have money in your budget, hiring a PR pro to write and execute your press release can get it in the hands of the right people. PR pros have connections and follow up on them.

Step 8 Send out personal communication.

Do not, I repeat, do not send out a generic email blast to your whole contact list. This is the worst way to get the message out to your important contacts.

There's an art to writing an email, and you'll need to master it. The subject line is the most crucial part of your email. I learned a lot of valuable tips in Enchantment by Guy Kawasaki for how to send emails to get results. I highly recommend Enchantment for all entrepreneurs.

• Use a smart, compelling subject line.
• Keep your email short
• Don't send an email asking if you can ask someone something. Duh.
• Be clear

Read and re-read your email and subject line before hitting send. This may be your one chance to connect. Share on X

If you're going to offer consulting calls or intro calls to explain your services, try an online company like Calend.ly to help you stay organized and cut down on the back-and-forth email.

Step 9 Help people for free.

Yes, you read that correctly. If you're starting, you may need to do some pro bono work to get experience and figure out the steps for working with your ideal clients.

I worked on many projects without compensation that helped build my reputation and learn more about my job. Don't listen to people who say you need to charge for everything – building relationships takes time and trust. These are built with sweat equity.

I'm not advocating saying yes to every request to draw on your experience, but when you're just getting started, don't let arrogance be the end of your new career before it starts.

You can qualify this as a one-time project that you'd be happy to assist with, but let them know that all future projects will be under contract.

Step 10: Ask for referrals.

You'll need a referral list to nudge people in their decision to hire you. Ask for referrals for LinkedIn for former bosses, clients, co-workers, and some of the people you helped for free. Use these quotes on your About Page website and keep it current.

After you've finished a project with a new client, asking them for a referral will help you get more clients. If I work with a contractor who did a great job, I'm more than happy to refer them and add a reference on LinkedIn. If you screw me over in some way, whether over-charging, not completing the job, or something else, I won't give a reference when asked. Referrals are your bread and butter, and they can go both ways.

Giving a referral means saying you've worked with this person and recommend them. Only ask for referrals from people you've actually worked with so they can accurately describe your work.

Building a squad of entrepreneurs who provide complementary services or do the same thing as you but at different price points can also help develop your referrals. Nurture relationships with other entrepreneurs to grow your referral network.

You've got the passion, the skills, and the vision to be a successful entrepreneur. Now, you only need the dream clients to make your business soar. With these ten essential strategies, you're not just throwing darts in the dark; you're aiming for the bullseye. So, don't wait for success to knock on your door—go out and grab it! Ready to take the next big step?

Share your tips or questions in the comments below, or better yet, reach out for a personalized consultation to make your entrepreneurial dreams a reality. Let's build something unique together.

FAQ: Finding Your Dream Clients as an Entrepreneur

Q: What's the first step in finding my dream clients?
A: Start by defining who your dream client is. Create an ideal client persona to make your marketing efforts more targeted.

Q: How important is a digital presence for attracting clients?
A:  Extremely important. Your blog or website serves as your digital home base where potential clients can learn about you and your services.

Q: What role does branding play in attracting clients?
A: A cohesive visual brand helps you stand out and makes you instantly recognizable across all platforms. It builds trust and credibility.

Q: How should I set my services and prices?
A: Be clear about what services you offer and what they cost. This sets expectations right from the start and serves as a baseline for negotiations.

Q: Can I build thought leadership to attract clients?
A: Absolutely. Consistently publish valuable content in your area of expertise. This will attract your ideal clients and establish you as a thought leader.

Q: Should I offer free services when starting?
A: Offering pro bono work can help you gain experience and build your portfolio. However, make it clear that future projects will be under contract.

Q: How can I use social media to find clients?
A: Update your social media bios to reflect your services and engage in communities where potential clients hang out. But remember, don't be overly promotional.

Q: What's the role of referrals in finding clients?
A: Referrals are crucial for credibility and can often be the tipping point for a potential client to decide to work with you. Always ask satisfied clients for referrals.

Q: Should I write a press release for my business launch?
A: A well-crafted press release can get your business in front of the right people and kickstart your client acquisition process.

Q: How should I communicate with potential clients?
A. Personalized communication is key. Whether it's an email or a LinkedIn message, make it personal and compelling.

I hope these ten steps have helped outline how you can leverage your connections and find clients for your new company. I'd love to hear how you've discovered clients for your company or things that didn't work for you.