I receive this question from clients all the time. Word-of-mouth referrals are by far the easiest way to get a client. When you have people talking about you, it adds so much credibility to what you offer. People are much more willing to do business from someone they were referred to.

The best way to get a referral is to ask past clients who were happy with your products or services to referr you to others. Sometimes people will just automatically send their friends to you if they were very pleased with the experience, and this is what all businesses strive for. Oftentimes, customers and clients may need a little nudge to send you referrals. Politely, asking them if they know anyone who could use your service is one way to let them know that you rely on their testimonials to get future business.

But what do you do when your business is new, and you don’t have enough clients and customers to provide you with testimonials and word-of-mouth referrals? There are several things that you can do to solve this problem:

1. Provide some prospects with free services. This could be done by just working pro bono, or you could even try to barter services with someone. When you provide the service, ask her if she would be willing to send you referrals provided she is pleased with her own results from your service. If you choose to barter your service with someone else, you can reciprocate and send her referrals. I notice that when you refer people to someone, they often feel obligated to reciprocate.
    
2. Over-deliver on everything that you promise. When you do start to get some clients, make sure that you provide so much help that your clients are astounded by the results and can’t wait to share the news. When you surprise people by over-delivering, you make them very happy. Ecstatic clients cannot help but talk about what you have to offer. When something works really well for someone, they can’t help but share this knowledge with others. They want everyone else to benefit from what they were able to benefit from, and they will surely talk about you.
    
3. Tap into all your connections. Make a list of all the connections you have from other things you have done, such as from past jobs, volunteer work, friends, and family. There are usually a bunch of people that you already know that have experienced your quality and the type of work that you usually provide. Even if they haven’t experienced your new service, they may have exerienced how you have helped them in the past. They will know that you will provide the same quality service to your new business. Educate these past connections on what it is you are doing now. Ask them if they know anyone that may be in need of your new service.

When you get creative, you can find ways to get what you need to grow your business. Everyone starts somewhere. The key is to tap into who you do know and find ways to ask them to refer you to others. Most likely, you will need to use a combination of all 3 ideas to get to a point where you have a handful of people sending you referrals.

Photo courtesy of http://www.sxc.hu/profile/naraosga

 Summer is here. My children are finally out of school for the summer.  I’m trying to decide who is more excited, me or them. One of the best benefits I have about being a mom entrepreneur is that I am home all summer with my children. I choose when to work and how much. If the forecast is calling for a beautiful day during the week, I just rearrange my schedule to ensure I have the day free to take my kids swimming or another activity they choose.

When my kids were much smaller, I used to work more at night, so I could spend almost every day with them at the park, with friends, or swimming at my parent’s pool. If I had a real job, I wouldn’t have this flexibility. I know some mom entrepreneurs who take off the whole summer from work. I actually enjoy working, so that doesn’t make sense for me, but it’s so great to have the choice.

When my son was 15 months old, I started working for myself and never looked back. I always thought that once they started school, I would go back to work full-time. That was before I knew I could be successful working part-time for myself. Once they started school, I realized that there were still so many reasons I needed to stay home.

• Who would be there when they got out of school in the afternoon?
• Who would be here when they were sick or had a vacation day?
• How would I rearrange my day if they had a snow day?
• Where would the go in the summer? Camp can get expensive, and who wants to be in camp all summer, anyway?

These were all the thoughts running through my head. My son is in high school now, and I still feel fortunate to be around when he needs me. He gets home from school at 2:00 PM most days and other days he needs a ride home from an activity or his own job.

I feel so fortunate to be able to work and have something that I call my own, yet still have the freedom and flexibility to put my children before my job. I would love to hear from you about what you feel is the best thing about being an entrepreneur. Feel free to enter a comment to share your joys.

Many coaches, trainers, and other service professionals tend to find that their business is sporadic. In any business you will have spikes and dips in your business, but if you are like most people, it’s important to your bank account to keep business coming in as consisently as possible. In order to keep getting clients on a consistent basis, it’s important to market consistently. Watch this video to learn more about why it’s important to set aside time each week to market your business, even if it’s just a few minutes a day.

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Before jumping into social media, it’s a good idea to find out if your target market is on that site and USING it. There may be a lot of people out on twitter, but only 10% of those on twitter are even active. Once you decide which social media sites you want to use, it’s important to figure out what you want to get out of your posts. What is your purpose for being there? And what are the results you want to achieve?

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Yesterday I was speaking to a potential client while I was mingling at a networking meeting. She brought up a struggle she was having that I know is so common to many people. We all experience it at some point or another.

Not doing something that you know you need to do to grow your business

Why is it that we sometimes catch ourselves doing this? You know your business will grow if you take that step, but yet, you never do it. You keep putting it off and putting it off and make excuses of why it can wait until tomorrow.

There are many different reasons for this. There could be an underlying fear. It could have to do with rearranging priorities. It could have to do with a strong desire in the wrong direction. The reason isn’t important, as much as the solution. This is something I help my clients pull through. Together we find what could be blocking your path, we determine your strengths and find out what motivates you. Then we create a plan that you will be held accountable for to help you take that step you know you need to take.

The woman I met the other day was trying to make 10 phone calls. Every day, she told herself she needed to make those calls, yet she couldn’t get herself to do it. She was taking on a huge task that deep inside she felt she couldn’t handle. I suggested to her that she make just ONE phone call today. It could take her just one minute to make that one call. Doesn’t that sound easier than 10?

Take your task one step at a time. If you break those 10 follow-up calls into steps, you would only need to make one phone call per day. Each day you would be one phone call (or one step) closer to a new client. It’s not about doing it all in one day or all at one time. It’s about baby steps. Keep plugging away at the steps until you begin to reach your goal.