Without referrals how can I find new clients?
December 31, 2019 9:57 AM Subscribe
I am an independent IT consultant for Apple centric small businesses and residential in Manhattan and nearby areas. I’ve been in business for 10 years and all of my clients are word of mouth referrals. I’d like to expand my business to help people setup 1Password, 2FA, and otherwise secure their accounts. This would be over the phone and shared screen sessions so clients could be anywhere. How do I find those new clients?
I’m using google ads but so far no contact after anyone has viewed my website. I’ve used Yelp for my consulting business a few years back and that led to no new clients.
I’m using google ads but so far no contact after anyone has viewed my website. I’ve used Yelp for my consulting business a few years back and that led to no new clients.
Response by poster: My client list is small (about a dozen) as I work for them long term and they already refer people to me. I’m looking for clients anywhere in the US so referrals from people in Manhattan won’t lead to that result
posted by ridogi at 10:52 AM on December 31, 2019
posted by ridogi at 10:52 AM on December 31, 2019
Response by poster: I’ll also add that my difficulty with Google ads is the difference between people looking for an IT person to help them with 1Password versus looking to solve a problem they have on their own. My hourly rate is expensive and I offer help whenever they need it, so I need very few clients for this to be successful.
posted by ridogi at 11:02 AM on December 31, 2019
posted by ridogi at 11:02 AM on December 31, 2019
You say you do residential. I think there's a big market for "I'll help your technophobe parents secure their accounts!" I would definitely pay for that.
posted by homodachi at 4:45 PM on December 31, 2019
posted by homodachi at 4:45 PM on December 31, 2019
Try tightening up your Google adwords search - like requiring the word "consultation" in the search
posted by metahawk at 5:45 PM on December 31, 2019 [1 favorite]
posted by metahawk at 5:45 PM on December 31, 2019 [1 favorite]
Also, people in New York sometimes know people elsewhere. You might offer a token referral fee to previous customers. That gives you an excuse for emailing them as well as the old “checking to see if you need any assistance.” The mention of helping out parents is great too. Hell, I’m over sixty and I have friends that would jump on that for their folks!
posted by Gilgamesh's Chauffeur at 7:01 PM on December 31, 2019 [2 favorites]
posted by Gilgamesh's Chauffeur at 7:01 PM on December 31, 2019 [2 favorites]
Response by poster: I have moved away from Google Ad words like support, help, and tutorial in favor of words like expert, consult, and teach. So far those haven't yielded clicks as they all warn of "low search volume"
posted by ridogi at 5:51 AM on January 1, 2020
posted by ridogi at 5:51 AM on January 1, 2020
Facebook can be good for very targeted ads covering a large geographical area. FWIW I never had any luck (as in, not a single traceable sale) from google ads but we have hundreds a year from Facebook.
It's also easy to start small and then scale up or down as results indicate.
I don't know what keyboards or demographics you would target at Facebook, though. Figuring those out would be the key to success. But if you can figure out the right demographics and ads, you can then expand that to reach people across your state, the entire northeast, the entire U.S., or several English-speaking countries just about as easily.
One thing you can do with Facebook is use ads drive people towards a sale but also, simultaneously, to join your business Facebook page where you post a few times a week about the value of your service, a success story, a little security tip, or whatever. And of course whatever your current special or business opportunity is. So that way you pull in people who are ready to buy now, but also (probably 10X or 100X as many) who need to hear a little more and get a little more comfortable with you before pulling the trigger.
posted by flug at 10:21 PM on January 1, 2020 [2 favorites]
It's also easy to start small and then scale up or down as results indicate.
I don't know what keyboards or demographics you would target at Facebook, though. Figuring those out would be the key to success. But if you can figure out the right demographics and ads, you can then expand that to reach people across your state, the entire northeast, the entire U.S., or several English-speaking countries just about as easily.
One thing you can do with Facebook is use ads drive people towards a sale but also, simultaneously, to join your business Facebook page where you post a few times a week about the value of your service, a success story, a little security tip, or whatever. And of course whatever your current special or business opportunity is. So that way you pull in people who are ready to buy now, but also (probably 10X or 100X as many) who need to hear a little more and get a little more comfortable with you before pulling the trigger.
posted by flug at 10:21 PM on January 1, 2020 [2 favorites]
Flug's experience is my experience re Facebook ads vs. Google ads. With Facebook, I'd also create a Facebook page for your business, but make it personal-ish (with pictures of you, and your story), so they know they're getting a professional individual, and then persuade your friends and current clients to like that page, then promote that page. In particular, three of Facebook's ad tools might be good.
One ("custom list") lets you take a batch of email addresses and target any user that Facebook can match to those email addresses. So put in email addresses for every current and former client, and their employees, that you can in that list, and target FB ads at them. It doesn't have to be a huge list.
Another ad tool lets you create "look-alike" audiences to target; create a look-alike audience for your email target list you just made above.
Then the other FB ad tool I would recommend is behavior-targeting. You can target people who use certain models of phones AND who are parents to pre-teens: that, I think, would be a particularly good intersection of people who are worried about digital safety and security. Then also, of course, target by geography.
Later, you may want to install the Facebook pixel on your business website so you can do remarketing, which is where you can show ads on Facebook to anyone who visited your website in, say, the last 180 days. They may have come for computer issues but who also doesn't have a phone? You may just need to remind them that you exist.
One thing to think about is that your current type of business is repeatable, so your client acquisition costs and time spent are low. Whereas with the new kind of business you are trying to attract, it will be constant client churn. All about acquisition, all about turnover. I did what you do — I was a Mac-centric IT tech in NYC for a number of years in the 1990s and early 2000s and while the lead/client acquisition techniques are different now (except for referrals — that was always how I got most of my business), the idea of it to be better spending more time doing billable work than managing the business (which includes acquiring new clients) still holds true. I think I guess why you are making this move — perhaps you are trying to avoid the hassle and non-billable time of hauling yourself around a big metro area, but I would encourage you to think about that balance of time spent managing the business vs. doing the work if you do take on more of these one-off clients.
posted by Mo Nickels at 8:19 AM on January 2, 2020 [2 favorites]
One ("custom list") lets you take a batch of email addresses and target any user that Facebook can match to those email addresses. So put in email addresses for every current and former client, and their employees, that you can in that list, and target FB ads at them. It doesn't have to be a huge list.
Another ad tool lets you create "look-alike" audiences to target; create a look-alike audience for your email target list you just made above.
Then the other FB ad tool I would recommend is behavior-targeting. You can target people who use certain models of phones AND who are parents to pre-teens: that, I think, would be a particularly good intersection of people who are worried about digital safety and security. Then also, of course, target by geography.
Later, you may want to install the Facebook pixel on your business website so you can do remarketing, which is where you can show ads on Facebook to anyone who visited your website in, say, the last 180 days. They may have come for computer issues but who also doesn't have a phone? You may just need to remind them that you exist.
One thing to think about is that your current type of business is repeatable, so your client acquisition costs and time spent are low. Whereas with the new kind of business you are trying to attract, it will be constant client churn. All about acquisition, all about turnover. I did what you do — I was a Mac-centric IT tech in NYC for a number of years in the 1990s and early 2000s and while the lead/client acquisition techniques are different now (except for referrals — that was always how I got most of my business), the idea of it to be better spending more time doing billable work than managing the business (which includes acquiring new clients) still holds true. I think I guess why you are making this move — perhaps you are trying to avoid the hassle and non-billable time of hauling yourself around a big metro area, but I would encourage you to think about that balance of time spent managing the business vs. doing the work if you do take on more of these one-off clients.
posted by Mo Nickels at 8:19 AM on January 2, 2020 [2 favorites]
Seconding everything Mo Nickels wrote. Nice job, Mo!
It would probably be useful to take a moment and describe, in *great* detail, what your target customer looks like. Are they younger than you? Older than you? Are they calling so that you can help them directly? Or so you can help their friend? Or their parents? Where do they live? How comfortable are they with their computer? Will you schedule time with them in advance, or will you handle inbound calls immediately? Will they pay you via CC? Figuring out precisely who you're selling to, and precisely what you're selling are both Step Zero here. It sounds like your target market is someone who might be comfortable with Facebook, but not comfortable enough doing a Google search. In general, it sounds like you want to move from in-person, deskside support to a remote-support model. It also sounds like you're looking to specialize in personal data security consulting instead of general IT support. Will you charge them by the hour, or by the project? What's included, and what's out-of-scope?
posted by Wild_Eep at 10:08 PM on February 17, 2020
It would probably be useful to take a moment and describe, in *great* detail, what your target customer looks like. Are they younger than you? Older than you? Are they calling so that you can help them directly? Or so you can help their friend? Or their parents? Where do they live? How comfortable are they with their computer? Will you schedule time with them in advance, or will you handle inbound calls immediately? Will they pay you via CC? Figuring out precisely who you're selling to, and precisely what you're selling are both Step Zero here. It sounds like your target market is someone who might be comfortable with Facebook, but not comfortable enough doing a Google search. In general, it sounds like you want to move from in-person, deskside support to a remote-support model. It also sounds like you're looking to specialize in personal data security consulting instead of general IT support. Will you charge them by the hour, or by the project? What's included, and what's out-of-scope?
posted by Wild_Eep at 10:08 PM on February 17, 2020
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Are you specifically asking how to get more non-local clients? As a solo-preneur I'm a member of a few FB groups dedicated to specific software, and there seem to be monthly open threads for people to share their industry & business info. Try looking for a few national FB small business forums that you can participate in.
posted by cocoagirl at 10:29 AM on December 31, 2019 [1 favorite]