How to Find Clients for Your Service-Based Business

You’ve finally decided to get that business idea off the ground. Maybe you’re a coach ready to help clients make positive changes in their lives, or you’re a marketer with plans to build for some of the best in the biz.

No matter the business idea, you’re probably asking yourself the same age-old question that so many service-based business owners ask themselves time and time again: Where do I find clients?

Luckily, we’ve got answers. Below are five places where you can find clients for your service-based business. 

1. Personal Network
2. Professional Network
3. Lead Magnets
4. Host a Webinar
5. Generate Inbound Traffic

1. Personal network

Start with your personal network. Tell your friends, family, and community about your business. If you’re a regular at a local coffee shop, ask the staff if you can leave some business cards by the cash register. If you’re a member of a co-working space, offer to host a workshop for other members. Some of the best leads come from unexpected places. 

Think about it: Even if your aunt Linda doesn’t own a business, she wants you to succeed. She probably has plenty of friends, colleagues, or friends of friends who might fit your ideal clientele—or know someone who does. 

Don’t be shy! Get yourself out there. A simple I’m open for business Facebook post is a great place to start.

2. Professional network

Next, tap into your professional network. Like you did with your personal network, publish an I’m open for business post in your professional channels. LinkedIn is a great place to stay in touch with former colleagues, clients, and industry professionals. But don’t forget your other professional avenues, like Facebook groups and your chamber of commerce. 

Masterminds and courses are also great places to post to attract leads, get referrals, and learn from others in your field. Just remember to avoid being spammy; you want to add value to those conversations. 

3. Lead magnets

A lead is a prospective client or someone who may be interested in your services. A lead magnet helps attract leads. Basically, lead magnets are free or low-cost content that delivers value to your prospects in exchange for an email address or website traffic. You’ll continue to nurture these leads through emails or other valuable content, eventually leading them down the funnel to make a purchase.

It’s no secret that online quizzes are our favorite lead magnets at Interact. Building a quiz with Interact is easy and free—and the possibilities are virtually limitless. To get you started, we put together a step-by-step tutorial to make the process as seamless and effective as possible. 

For example, if you’re a yoga instructor, your quiz could help yoga newbies figure out which yoga type best suits their needs and lifestyle. For inspiration, look at some of the live examples our quiz creators have launched. Some of my favorites are, “If your email copy was a movie character, who would it be?” “What type of dog personality are you?” and “What’s your brand’s irresistible ‘it’ factor?”

Once you’ve created your quiz, don’t forget to spread the word about it. Embed it onto your website (which is super easy to do with Interact, by the way), share it on social media, or run some ads. The idea is to get as many people within your target audience to take your quiz so they can start to understand your value, develop a relationship with you, and so you can market to them down the road via email and other methods. 

4. Host a webinar

Hosting a webinar is a great way to keep that value front and center. Set up an email to go out to everyone who took your quiz and invite them to a free live training. Using emails you’ve captured from your lead magnet allows you to continue building a relationship with people who are already warming up to you, and it’s a lot less work than starting from scratch. 

If you’re the yoga instructor from the previous example, you could set up a free at-home yoga training. Take it a step further and customize the training. For example, based on people’s quiz results, you could offer vinyasa training, a stress-relief yoga session, or a power yoga class. 

At the end of the webinar or training event, consider offering a lightning deal—something that’s only good through the webinar’s duration or until the following day. Maybe you offer access to another course or program, a free one-on-one consultation call, or entry into a members-only community. Attaching a limited window to your offer creates urgency for people to make a purchase, and it rewards those who attended the webinar.

5. Generate inbound traffic 

Lastly, it’s essential to keep this funnel active. Continue to create content that drives people back to your website so more people are taking your quiz—which will result in even more emails for your list.

Some great ways to generate inbound traffic include writing blog posts, posting Youtube videos, starting a podcast, or running ads. 

Pro tip: It’s way easier to repurpose existing content than to start from scratch. For example, you could cut up that webinar you just did into short Youtube videos or Instagram posts; record the key points of a blog post and publish in a video format; or turn on a camera while you record your podcast to hit two platforms instead of one. 

Do what you can to drive people back to your lead magnet, and watch the leads roll in.

Use the code “YOUTUBE” in all caps for any of Interact’s paid plans, you’ll get a 20% discount.