Q&A: “Where do I find my first customers?”

This transcript was generated from the episode audio and may contain minor errors.

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Welcome to a brand new month. This is the month of June, 2022, episode 1978. Of course you could be listening at any point, but it is the start of a new month for me and for our listeners in real time. Now our caller today is like a lot of listeners. You might be in a situation or if not, you might have been at some point when you were getting started or you will be when the time comes to start a project, how do you begin to market and attract your first customers?

You know, it is just so common to have an idea and you're really excited about it, but then you feel held back. You're excited about this idea, but you feel a little bit stuck or held back at this phase. But of course it's critical and you have to work past this because without buyers, your business idea can never become a real business. So let's see if we can help out our caller and perhaps by proxy, somebody else out there, maybe even you, who knows? Where do I find my first customers?

The detailed question from our listener and my answer coming up after this quick message from our sponsor. [Music]

Hi Chris, this is Steven from Hasbrokite, New Jersey. And I have been listening to your show for the past few years and have enjoyed listening to the ideas and stories about the successes of other people who have started Prosper Side Hustles. I've considered and tried starting various side hustles over the years, but always seem to get stuck in the middle of initial marketing and getting first customers. My question is, how should one begin to market and land their first customers?

What marketing methods do you suggest for people just starting out? For example, social media, word of mouth, freelance, bulletin sites, et cetera. Just so that everyone can get a website put together, but essentially useless unless you get people to it. Should I consider paid advertising or use grassroots? I'm interested to hearing your thoughts.

Thank you, and I look forward to hearing other stories and tips from your show. - Steven, thanks for listening, man. Thanks for being out there. I think you said for the past few years. That's awesome and so glad that you are ready to move forward here.

Like I said, a lot of people get stuck in the same phase of initial marketing and getting first customers. So I'm glad you ask. Now, the type of marketing you start with really depends on the type of project or the type of business idea. So in some ways, just asking the generic question is kind of like asking, which social network should you be on? And the answer is the ones where your people are, right?

The ones where your potential customer is your clients. It's not so much about you. You have to think about the mindset of your customer and client. Now, since we don't know Steven's idea here, we have to speculate a little, but I would say, generally speaking, pick a couple of ideas, a couple of approaches, not just one, unless you feel very confident about that tactic, but not more than two or three, because you can't be everywhere. Trying to do everything is a great way to dilute yourself and not achieve the results you want.

So pick a couple of these ideas. I do think grassroots, as opposed to the paid advertising, especially when you're getting started. Paid advertising can be a way to lose a lot of money very quickly if you don't have a product or a service that converts. So first things first, make sure you have an offer, not just a website that looks pretty, or even a website that doesn't look pretty, but doesn't sell anything. Your website has to have a clear offer.

That offer has to include a promise. What's the benefit? A pitch. Why should someone sign up? And a price.

Like how much does it cost for them to sign up? How do they do this? What is the action that they take? So then once you have that first customer, well, you've got something, congratulations. Treat them like they're royalty, or at least treat them well.

Make sure you do a good job and see if you can get your second and third customers the same way you got the first. Or depending on what you're selling, perhaps by referral. Then over time, what you wanna do is do more of what works and do less of what doesn't. And remember not to expand too much or too quickly. I think that is the general starting path.

Obviously it depends on the specific idea, but those are the questions you wanna consider as you're getting started in your quest to get those first customers. Good luck, Steven. I'm cheering you on. Listeners, you too. Let me know what's going on.

sidehustleschool.com/questions. We'll continue to feature them throughout the year, along with updates from others as they launch their projects. Thanks for tuning in today. My name is Chris Guillebeau. This is Side Hustle School.

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