Finding clients can be a challenge for any business owner, but it can especially tricky when you're a location-independent business owner. You may be able to work from anywhere, but that doesn't mean everyone will know who you are or where to find you. Without clients and customers, there's no way to make money. So how do you get people interested in what you do? Read on to find out!
Get clear on your target market
In order to be able to find clients, you'll need to get clear on your target market.
This means defining how big of a target market you are trying to reach and how many potential customers that represents. For example, if you're looking for small businesses that want help with website design and copywriting, this might mean targeting businesses that have small budgets and would make for your ideal client base.
You’d want to ask yourself questions like—what kinds of clients do I want? How much money should they be spending? And what kind will trust me enough with their business secrets before making any sort of commitment like buying something from my store or hiring me regularly again down the line when needed? These will help you clearly identify and outline your target market.
Create content to attract people to your business
Content marketing is a way to attract people to your business by creating valuable information that they will want to consume. There are many ways you can do this:
Create a blog and write articles about things that interest you, like travel or business tips.
Give away free resources in exchange for contact information (like PDFs, whitepapers, etc.)
Create videos on YouTube so people can access your content from their mobile devices
Use social media to share your content.
Network online and in real life
Social media is one of the most powerful tools you have at your disposal, so use it! Find people on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram who are related to what you do. Connect with them and let them know what you’re doing. Join groups related to your industry and engage with other members there. Use LinkedIn to connect with potential clients or collaborators who work remotely themselves. You can also use social media as a way of connecting with potential clients.
You should also try to attend local meetups for entrepreneurs or freelancers—these are often a free or inexpensive ways of finding like-minded individuals (and potential clients). Also, hunt down specific groups within your industry where members might need services like yours—if they're also location-independent workers themselves then this could mean easy referrals.
Speak at local events
Speaking at local events can be one of the most lucrative ways to find clients. It can also help build you up your credibility while providing income at the same time (if you are charging to speak)! You can use platforms like Meetup.com, Eventbrite and Facebook groups to start looking for local meetups where you could offer your services as a speaker. These sites often have thousands of members in each group, so when one person does something awesome, it’s quickly visible on these platforms.
Be generous and make friends
Your time, your knowledge, your money—be generous with all of it. Make friends with people in your community. This can be as simple as giving someone a ride to work or offering a hand when they’re working on something outside their home. It doesn’t have to be much more than that; just being friendly and making yourself available for help will go a long way towards building up trust and establishing relationships in town—which is where you need them when you want to make an introduction for a new client!
Conclusion
I hope this article has given you some ideas on how to find clients for your location-independent business. When I started my own business, my initial success was entirely a testament of who already knew me! I was sharing my dreams far and wide, which led to my first consulting client in Kenya two weeks before I moved to South Africa! My first coaching clients came just weeks after I quit my corporate job because my best friend told her peers about my knack for finance and how I had a lot more time on my hands to create solutions for lucrative influencers.
I doubled down on making sure that more and more people around the web knew who I was and what I could offer. These efforts paid off then and continue to do so now. I encourage you to lean into networking and/or speaking at events. It doesn't matter where your clients come from - as long as you're there when they need you!