Yesterday’s free webinar hosted by James Dalman from WebDesign had so much useful information I just had to share. There was SO much information, I actually had to split my article into two parts. But before I continue, for those who may not already know, WebDesign.com is the premier place to find training and resources for building your online business. You can sign up for a free trial membership by selecting the image and completing their form.

So, back to the question at hand… how do you find and then secure great clients thus ensuring the success of you business?

The first thing to do is to define your perfect client. Consider each of the following.

  1. James suggests you think like an archer. Who and what type of client or customer would be a bulls-eye.

During the webinar, it was suggested to write out what you need. James mentioned that you may think that this is silly and feels strange but I agree with him – it is an important step to ensuring that your business can reach the goals that you have set for it.

  1. Ask yourself what kind of work do you want to do and perhaps even more importantly, what kind of work do you NOT want to do.
  2. How will you clients and customers pay you? Will you accept credit cards? Paypal? What about cash?
  3. What will your payment policies be? 50% down? Full payment upfront? In full upon completion?
  4. Are you going to be global? Local? Hours of operation and when you conduct business can be effected if not though out.
  5. Think like your clients. What is it that they want? Do you or will they prefer online connections or personal contact. Phone or no phone?
  6. Are your customers inline with your brand your values and your mission?

The next step to finding great clients and customers is to use all the tools and resources that are available to you. Even though it has become a somewhat technical and mostly digital world there is validity in creating “the touch factor.” Getting clients now days is about starting and creating a relationship… and then keeping it.

James agreed that blogging great content is one of the best ways to get clients. He mentioned that at first he shied away from revealing too much but realized that it is okay to “give it all away” in the blogs because the good clients will always come back for more. And it is always nice to find and keep the good clients, right?

Another way to get great clients and customers is to leave comments on other people’s blogs and add to their conversation. And you don’t always have to leave a link in the comment section because your link back is under the avatar. Make it great conversation and relevant to the subject and the readers will come to you.

If you are new to some of the tools out there like blogging, Twitter and Facebook it might not seem like this is an ideal environment for developing relationships but in fact THAT is exactly what those tools are for. And when implemented together your business can grow exponentially – solidifying the foundation for the success of your business.

Here are even more ways to add quality clients and customers to your business community.

  1. Offer free webinars (like the one that James was hosting). Cover topics in your area of expertise.
  2. During the WebDesign.com webinar, one of my friends, Pia added, “Ask your ideal clients to refer more people like them…existing clients LOVE to know that that they are ideal clients.” I love this idea and it is a technique I have seen implemented in many successful business models.
  3. Offer free ebooks or PDFs available for download.
  4. Learn to use the social media tools, tweet. Use a hashtags that people will search for. Don’t be boring, become part of your own community by using the social media tools.

And don’t overlook doing some pro-bono work. James cautions though, don’t go into the pro-bono work expecting anything in return. Pro-bono work should be entered into because you DON’T expect or want anything in return. It is then that you, strangely and ironically enough, you will get the biggest return.

Keeping Your Perfect Clients

OK, so now you “got great clients.” Now we need to keep them. One of the best business practices that I love to implement when installing and building sites for my clients is to under promise and over deliver! Think about it. There is nothing more frustrating when YOU are the consumer and you have been told something and the person who told you does not live up to their end of what was expected. No one likes to be disappointed.

  1. Don’t ignore or abuse your clients once you get them.
  2. Be sure to follow up and keep those clients happy. Word of mouth is still THE best way to get business.
  3. Be on time.
  4. Keep promises.
  5. Respond to emails quickly. This is a huge one in today’s world. No longer is a telephone convenient but yet the clients and customers want the response to be as if we are always right there at their beckoning call. And being there for them when they need us is what we should attempt to do.

James did a fantastic job with the seminar and I would recommend any of the free webinars put on by either iThemes, WebDesign.com. I find them all to be very informative and useful in the day to day application of running my small business and developing websites for myself and others.