How do clients find you?

[Chris Tomlinson]

Hi everyone, I've posted the same question over at rainfortwayne.com, so if you think you're seeing double, well, you are.

As I try to leverage the SEO of my website a bit more, I began to wonder how clients are finding other people. Maybe you're a marketing guru, how did the client find you? Are they finding you via the web? Networking? Referrals?

Obviously I'm not looking for your best trade secrets, unless you're willing to give them out. But I would be curious to know.

Thanks,
Chris
www.gonink.com

[Raquel Richardson]

Hi Chris - As you can probably guess, the magic is in the mix. Never has there been one elixer to cure it all (but that would make things nice and easy). Make sure you're blogging and staying out their on your networking, social and real world... and BE SOCIAL. Keep at it. Repeat. That's it. I have more specific tips on my blog.

[Chris Tomlinson]

Raquel,

Thanks for the blog post. I've seen quite a few forum posts here about online social networking and have read articles similar to your post.

But the idea of strictly using online networking, have you actually seen that sort of networking produce something? A client? A lead? A $40 billion bailout? ;o )

Chris
www.gonink.com

[Will Hardison]

Hey Chris,

I've been in business about 12 weeks and I have over a dozen clients. Here is how I got them:

1. Smaller Indiana
2. A little bit of face to face networking...fishers chamber, rainmakers, north indy networkers. I've re-evaluated my face to face networking...I go to 1 maybe 2 events a month now.
3. REFERRALS REFERRALS...at least every single client of mine has referred a new potential client to me. Now, has everyone of my referrals turned into business? No. But, at least they know who I am when they are ready to take action.
4. Family and Friends.

I have not gotten a single client from random hits on my website, Google Adwords, Cold Calls (I don't do them)..I'm not saying that those marketing efforts don't work, because I am sure they do, but I find that building relationships, providing excellent service, and providing quality results has outweighed all other marketing efforts. You will be rewarded for treating customers the way they need to be treated.

Hope this helps!

[Chris Tomlinson]

Hey Will,

You mention SI and Raquel's blog post she linked to in this message spoke about social media and how to 'work it'. Honestly? I'm amazed you got a client out of SI, but then again maybe I need to heed Raquel's post a bit more.

In northern Indiana we don't have a lot of social events that aren't already filled up with key players and the "usuals" sitting around drinking the same thing and eating the same bland snacks. In other words, a noob like myself is treated more like a rookie to the little club. Know what I mean?

Since your business is so new, I wish you the best of luck. Feel free to read my series on the Ups and Downs of Business anytime. I'm no expert, but I assure you I have some experiences that others can probably learn from and at least one experience that very few others will ever run into.

Take care,
Chris
www.gonink.com

[Bronwyn Ware]

I personally can attest to having obtained one of my most profitable and longest running clients from the SI site! I strongly believe that if one is sincere and attends functions posted on this site out of genuine interest and by doing so supports others on this site, a potential client will materialize.

[Chris Tomlinson]

@ Bronwyn,

No kidding?! Huh, that's very interesting to hear and very encouraging. Quite honestly, I've seen about 9 emails today from SI and RainFortWayne.com today already. I'm beginning to think that people really are using this form of media for networking. And you can do it on your own time. No worries about scheduling an event or missing one because of prior engagements.

I guess it's high time I make daily visits to see if I can interact with people and monitor any progress from there.