How I gained clients with little or no money

Looking for ways to build your sales funnel without the high expenses? Let me show you how I gained clients with little or no money. But seriously wouldn’t it be nice if we can start a business with the funds already on hand? That would be ideal, but it doesn’t always turn out that way. In fact, some people that have an idea or want to pursue something never really follow through because money is an issue. I use to think that way where I felt hindered on ideas or afraid that no one was going to like my services.

One size doesn’t fit all

You can be the most excellent designer, dancer, project manager, writer, whatever you are passionate about, but the fact is that not everyone is going to like your work. I will give you an example I consider myself a Technical Builder / Writer. I write my own post I create professional documents for people such as resumes, Linkedin profiles, etc. However, sometimes, when I do any creative writing, some people may not understand the interpretation that is behind the literature.

Now I rarely get clients that feel that way this is because I pick the type of clients I want to work with, and I will explain what that is in a bit.

When you start getting into the flow of things, you will see who you will need to align yourself with.

If you have other commitments, this method might not work for you

Ok so I don’t want to sound like a negative Nancy, but I have been on this rodeo for a few years now to know what works and what doesn’t. If you are in the market and you are looking for ways to start a business, then you will see that its apparent work needs to go into it. Treat this as your 2nd full-time job and be but consistent.

Not only will you need to be consistent you will be working for hours upon hours at a time. So let me piggyback on that statement and say that I have worked probably close to 100 hours a week on my freelancing career. I researched ways on how I can extend my reach online as well as ways on how I can extend my network.

And yes you guessed it I had no or little money at the time to invest in my business. The investments and contributions that I have made were well worth every penny. I purchased things that I felt were essential like a website, a domain books, etc.

Become the MASTER you are

So before I go into the whole spill of how I gained clients with little or no money, I want to go over some of the resources I used to that helped me get started.

The first thing was to find a niche to write about and or a skill and master it. If you work on something consistently for six months to a year and what I mean by consistent is putting in those hours that I talked about you eventually will be able to execute it. Let me share a bit of my background so I have a high academic background in a few focuses. I originally went to school for programming. I have a Masters in IT and my BA in C++.

I knew that if I went to school, I can have a good job and make some decent money and a nice living. At the time I was committed to my full-time corporate job, but as time went on, I was still not happy.

What I used to start my freelancing business

After I knew what I wanted to do, I decided to create a website. A website was essential for what I needed for my business. I can extend my reach to clients as well as offer a payment gateway for people to pay me.

I started with a free website I paid $15 for the domain. Eventually, I upgraded because the paid version benefitted me more. I needed the customization and the bandwidth space to support my content.

I started my site using the Wealthy Affiliate platform.

Wealthy Affiliate is designed for anyone that is wanting to start a business, create a website, generate money through affiliate marketing, and extend your reach to thousands of community members. To learn more about Wealthy Affiliate check out my latest post.

Wealthy Affiliate has done wonders for me and my business, and I am confident that it will do the same for you.

I also did a few other things like purchase a planner, books, exercise membership, because when the mind feels good the body feels better ooh and of course ads.

 

How much I invest and what is my ROI

As I stated before I don’t spend much, approximately I invest between $25 to $100 a month, and my return between affiliate marketing and my freelancing my ROI is over 20xs more. Lately, I have been investing a little over $100 because I get a more significant profit. Now I am even getting referrals, so my money is tripling because of it. I do all this even with having a job. Trust me, I am nowhere near where I want to be, but there has to be a start.

So here is my concept. I create a website monetize it like I did with this one and promote my business all in the same platform. For instance, this website is dedicated to how to create a website, start a small business/ freelancing career, how to do affiliate marketing, and more.

Promote

I generate money by promoting a product or service to readers that can benefit from it like this one. I talk about the different domain, hosting web site builders anything that I am familiar with and passionate about. As an affiliate marketer, I get special rates on services that may not be accessible to others or new clients.

Once the reader checks out the product or service and decides to purchase it, I then get commissions. It’s a great way to generate an extra income. Pretty much like blogging, but I talk about relevant information that will benefit you. For my affiliate marketing, I use Wealthy Affiliate. It has been the best thing for me to get started on the online space.

The other way I generate income is through Google Adsense, and my Technical Writing career. People search for me, and there I am they reach out to me and request either a quote or they purchase my service.

Check out my Linkedin to learn more about me  

Have at least three social media accounts

Yes, social media is the sources of all good and evil. I even find myself on it sometimes 2 hours at a time, and I do nothing. But there is a way where you will be able to find clients while engaging in your social platforms.

Whichever social media you are into doesn’t matter but start with at least three. This is because not everyone lives in the same social media space. Most people do have at least two social media accounts now, so the odds of them being on the one you have generated for your business is pretty good.

I have a ton of social media out there that I don’t even use, not because I don’t want to but because it’s hard to keep up on all these social channels.

Comment on other peoples post

Another way on how I gained clients when I had no or little money. was to comment on other peoples post. Yes, you get to go on social media and do some lurking in return, you get some lurking back. Now this will work if you have your profile set to public. In fact, create a brand new page solely dedicated to your business.  When you comment on someone else’s post, people will see who you are. AND if you comment enough eventually, they will go to your page and start lurking. Ultimately this leads to a like or follow, and a potential sales funnel later in the future.

So basically what you did here is you got some attention of a few people that are wanting to learn more about you or at least look at your profile. I did this for hours on my Linkedin profile, which eventually led me to a few hundred followers. I know is not much right now, but I have gotten clients that way.

Cold message

Yes do some cold messaging or incorporate an email list so you can share content. If you can’t grow a large enough emailing funnel or don’t have a lot of site traffic then message people. Whether you send a message through Instagram or a message through Linkedin, let people know what you do and why you are different at what you do.

Start by dedicating 2-3 hours a few days a week just sharing some love and people will eventually refer you or have you in the back of their mind.

I have gained clients after months of sending emails asking if they knew anyone that can benefit from my service. I know it works, so be ready to get exposed.

Attend networking events

Maybe this is a given, but networking events are a great way to extend your reach to other professionals. People that you would never expect to be in the same room in will be at your disposal. You’d be surprised how many people reach out to you after the event is over. I met some cool friends and gained some clients this way.

Ready set sweat

So if you are looking to start a business and want to find clients for free or with little money, then I suggest you get cracking and start planning. Write a lot seriously write until your fingers fall off. Eventually, with enough practice, you will be able to right in a matter of minutes. Starting anything takes time and effort to do. The reason why people fail is that they give it when it starts becoming challenging.

But remember your reasoning and why you are doing what you do; don’t give up and you will see positive changes.

 

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