You are on page 1of 16

17 Ways to Get

More Clients
for Coaches, Consultants, & Experts
I’m thrilled to share this guide with you!
Think of it as a secret “field manual” for business owners.

I know I would have been so grateful for something like this when I was first building
my business and finding high–value clients because entrepreneurship can be a hard
and lonely path.

That’s why it’s so important to find mentors and learn from people who have already succeeded
at whatever you’re trying to do.

Welcome It can save you SO much time and heartache.

Unfortunately, this isn’t always obvious, and learning from more experienced people
on your own takes time.

So, our team wondered... What if we asked marketing experts for their BEST business strategies and
compiled them into one easy resource?

And that’s what we did.

We specifically asked successful business owners and experts for their top strategies for not
only finding clients, but building high–value relationships that will last for years to come.

This guide is the result.

The strategies in these pages have helped generate millions of dollars in high–value sales.

And now I look forward to sharing these exact same strategies with you, so you can grow your
business and find high–value clients too.

Here’s to YOUR success!

Ryan Levesque
Inc. 500 CEO, #1 National Best–Selling
Author and Creator of the ASK Method®

©The ASK Method® Company & bucket.io®. All Rights Reserved. 2


Welcome

Where to Find Clients


1. Free Speaking Engagements
2. High–Profile Publicity
3. Upwork, Plain and Simple
4. Hang Out at the Bar

17 Ways to Get 5. Join a Community and Network

More Clients
Advice on Mindset and Approach
6. Be a Straight Talker
for Coaches, 7. Be Willing to Be Uncomfortable

Consultants, & 8. Use Repellent Marketing


9. An Hour a Day
Experts 10. Follow up. And then follow up again.
11. Find the “Why”

More Clients Step–by–Step


12. Weed Out the Freebie Seekers
13. Have them Share Their Wins With Others
14. More Cheese, Less Whiskers
15. The “Dream 50” Strategy
16. “The Hard Way”
17. Send Your Customers a Surprise Gift
BONUS TIP: The 3–For–1 Deal

What‘s next?

©The ASK Method® Company & bucket.io®. All Rights Reserved. 3


1. Free Speaking Engagements
My best client–getting strategy is through a free speaking engagement. I partner with relevant
groups or associations to deliver a free talk on issues relating to my book or product and during
and after the talk, we make a lot of sales and continue the relationship from there.
Kingsley Theophilus

Where to 2. High–Profile Publicity


Find Clients Getting high–profile publicity (in an influencer’s newsletter, a top–rated podcast, or a site like
Entrepreneur.com and Forbes.com) can push your credibility and desirability factor through the
roof. Not only do these media opportunities introduce you to thousands of new potential clients,
but you can use them to push people on your existing email list “over the edge” and get them to
sign up for your high–end programs. Share the publicity you get with your existing audience (i.e. in
your newsletter, FB ads, social media) — and encourage them to engage with the piece as well (i.e.
letting you know their favorite tip, leaving a comment on the article/web page, sharing it). Pretty
soon people will start approaching you saying, “I’m seeing you everywhere! It’s a sign we’re meant
to work together. How can we get started?”
Selena Soo

3. Upwork, Plain and Simple


Upwork. Plain and simple, I was able to land three new clients on my very first day of using Upwork.
I created a quick profile. Added a few examples of my work and submitted 8 bids. Three out of
those 8 contacted me the same day. I’ve had phone conversations with two and I already did some
work for one. Two of these three have the potential to be 4–figure per month consulting clients
for me. So the strategy is to use Upwork (or similar sites) to land quick and easy jobs. Once they’ve
seen your work and how knowledgeable you are, they’ll come back for more. People go to Upwork
to find help. It’s literally a pool of HOT prospects looking for experienced experts to hire.
Duston McGroarty

©The ASK Method® Company & bucket.io®. All Rights Reserved. 4


4. Hang Out at the Bar
I go to events where people are that I want to work with. Then, I treat those people like humans,
not like celebrities. I don’t stand in speaker lines (do you think Seth Godin is going to remember
that you were 15th in line after his 2–hour talk? Poor guy probably just has to go to the bathroom).
I don’t hound them while they’re working. And I don’t corner them so they can’t leave
to meet their wife.

Instead, I hang out at the bar, I have drinks with them. I don’t talk work. Until I do talk work. But it’s
all very natural, not calculated or planned. Eventually if you’re just being cool, the opportunity to
shine will present itself. By then, you already may have learned something awesome about them
(like that Brian Kurtz is also a little league umpire, or that Kevin Rogers’ kids are almost the same
age as mine, or that we know the same person from somewhere... etc. etc.)

People like Ryan Lee have people pitching them all day long. When they meet someone that
doesn’t have a pitch... that just acts normal, it’s refreshing. You can totally tell when someone is
talking to you with ulterior motives. So don’t have them. Just go into things seeing what happens.
Maybe something will happen at the event. Maybe it will happen the following week. Or maybe 2
years later. And oh yeah, one more tip... never leave the bar early.
Abbey Woodcock

5. Join a Community and Network


I used to cold email a lot of potential clients. It wasn’t until I decided “I need to network with
people” because I was running out of places to go to find new clients. Turns out, this idea was the
best way to get my dream clients. It wasn’t an “Aha!” moment for me, but it was a gradual climb
up. It started with small wins and eventually led to an exponential climb. Within 1 year, I went from
working for an employer to freelancing. I’m making the same amount of money by working from
home too. The secret was joining someone’s community. Being where like–minded freelancers
are and getting in front of members (who happened to be my “ideal clients”) was the key to
landing my best client.
Tim Woo

...
©The ASK Method® Company & bucket.io®. All Rights Reserved. 5
6. Be a Straight Talker
This will sound strange but ... I’m super honest and super generous with help and advice.
I inoculate people first and tell them “If I offend, please understand that is never my
intention. I’m just super passionate about you getting the best from your investment.”
So in all my dealings ... my social media, my blog, my other marketing etc (right through to working
with clients), I give honest advice, feedback and straight talk. People who come to me as clients tell
me that they’re so glad to find someone who will tell it to them straight. My blog also seems to vet
the clients looking for a magic pill, or who aren’t on my wavelength, and brings me my ideal clients
– which are as invested in getting a great result for their project, as I am in providing them with

Advice on one. And because I’ve been super honest, given lots of advice generously, the trust is there. It’s a
quick conversion to a yes or no (usually a yes).

Mindset and Amelia Lee

Approach
7. Be Willing to Be Uncomfortable
Filling a practice requires 3 things.... Visibility. Consistency. Certainty. Most people who are at
the foundational level of building a business struggle with these. Learning to put yourself out
there, inviting prospects to sales conversations, and confidently enrolling those prospects into
packages that are priced to honor the business owner AND the client... requires accountability
and a willingness to be uncomfortable. It requires overcoming negative self–worth, fear of
sales, fear of being seen/judged. And... learning to do so is SO worth it.
Kiva Leatherman

©The ASK Method® Company & bucket.io®. All Rights Reserved. 6


8. Use Repellent Marketing
Get clear on the exact type of clients that you want to work with. You often hear gurus telling you
to make sure there’s a market for your products/services, but I don’t hear as much advice about
repellent marketing––marketing that only attracts your most awesome customers, while repelling
all other prospects. I use repellent marketing throughout every piece of copy that I’ve written for
myself & my clients––and I know firsthand it works like mad!
Taheerah Barney

9. An Hour a Day
It’s simple, and I guess that is the beauty of it: I make one hour a day in my schedule to call
clients. And in that call, I try to lead the conversation to see if they want to catch up one on one
and in that meeting, I try just to get to know them (not promote my company/product). It is
amazing how many clients have given me orders, and referred friends because they can see
I genuinely care for them.
Gabriel Cheung

©The ASK Method® Company & bucket.io®. All Rights Reserved. 7


10. Follow up. And then follow up again.
You really want to know how to get clients? It’s in the follow up. Seriously? Yup. Stop searching for
some magic bullet to get clients in the door and drooling to come back for more. Stop doing ‘all
the things’ and get focused, taking action, and doing it consistently. After you connect with anyone
(we’re talking clients but this applies to any sort of network building or connection)... follow up.
And when you don’t hear back? Follow up again. Because in your world, you’re the most important
thing, but in their world you’re not. And these potential clients are sizing you up to see if you’re
trustworthy. And you can begin to prove it to them by following up consistently. Tell them when
they can expect to hear from you again, and then do it.

Now don’t just get in touch and say something ridiculous like ‘hey, I’m checking in to see if you
want to work with me’. That’s not going to fly. Reach out and provide value. As much as humanly
possible. Give them your best stuff. And be authentic. They want to get to know you too.

How to get organized:


1. A simple sheet with potential client name, last date of contact and key talking points goes a
long way – contact info here too!
2. Set aside time each week to follow up.
3. During this time, reconnect and follow up with as many individuals as possible
who are lowest on the list.
4. Change the last contact date after reaching out and keep recycling through your list adding
new potential clients. Not sexy. No bling. But super effective in getting clients.
Michelle McGlade

©The ASK Method® Company & bucket.io®. All Rights Reserved. 8


11. Find the “Why”
Connect with the client on an emotional level to build trust. You can’t do this if you do what almost
every company does: talking about you.

Talk about them. To talk about them, you have to know them, so do the research. Learn more
than what and how they do things but why they do it. The “Why” is the emotional core behind what
started their company.

Apple Computers was started because Steve Jobs wanted to help people be free. He knew
freedom comes from knowledge and that computers were the medium to knowledge. The
problem was that computers were not easy to use. Apple’s goal was to make computers so easy to
use anyone could use it. “The computer for the rest of us.”

So Apple’s core (no pun intended), their “Why” is, in a word, innovation. That’s why they do what
they do, to empower every person to access knowledge. Find out the “Why” of the prospective
client and convey your understanding of it in your first conversation. That’s rule
number 1 to getting a client.
Bart Cleveland

...
©The ASK Method® Company & bucket.io®. All Rights Reserved. 9
12. Weed Out the Freebie Seekers
Have a viral report that tells all. This weeds out the freebie seekers. The people who do respond
will be ready for your $5K+ coaching program because you’ve already told them everything, now
they just want to pay you to show them how to do it.
Jennifer Daniels

More Clients 13. Have them Share Their Wins With Others
Step–by–Step The first moment one of your new clients gets results working with you, celebrate that moment
with them in congratulations. State that there are others out there who need to hear that story
to be inspired by their success. Be bold and challenge them to tell their story to at least 3
people by the time of your next consult and come back and tell you about who they were
and what the reaction to that story was. When they do, offer them something special to give
those they refer to you. Let them know that that is how you can partner with them to change lives.
*Boom* big hit of dopamine for you both.
Dr. Anthony Beck

©The ASK Method® Company & bucket.io®. All Rights Reserved. 10


14. More Cheese, Less Whiskers
I’ve found a lot of people are very skeptical because they’ve had a bunch of ‘marketing guys’
promise them the world and then hand them an atlas (with a large invoice attached :–) They
usually express this frustration in a way that goes something like this: “If what you offer is so good,
why don’t you do it for me for free and I’ll pay you out of the profits?”

I struggled to overcome that question until I learned a very cool technique from Dean Jackson in
his “More Cheese, Less Whiskers” podcast. I always start my presentation with ‘The Dan Sullivan
Question’ to find out where people want to be in 12 months’ time if we were to work together.
Then I listen to what they want to achieve, take lots of notes, and finally devise a plan which
includes some kind of email campaign designed to generate a quick burst of sales as the first step.

Then after I explain the plan, my offer goes something like this: “So I’m starting a new pilot
program, and I’m looking for some very specific people who have an established business they’d
like to grow. Based on what you’ve shared with me, I think you’d be a very good fit.

Here’s how it works: I have an email marketing campaign that’s proven to generate a bunch of
new sales virtually every time I’ve used it. I normally charge an initial retainer of $3,000 to use this
email campaign and then **$1,500 per month for ongoing consulting, but I’d like to let you use
this campaign to promote an offer to your existing prospects and customers before you pay me
anything. When the campaign is over and your profits are in the bank, just give me a check for one
month’s consulting fee of **$1,500, but only if you’re completely happy with the results.

If you’re not happy for any reason, then you owe nothing. And if you are excited by the potential
you saw in this first promotion, and you’d like to continue working together, we can do that at my
standard consulting rate of **$1,500 a month.”

Depending on the person’s business (and you have to choose your prospective clients carefully),
making a great offer to their existing email list can typically generate several thousand dollars in
profits that they would never have seen, and handing over $1,500 in exchange for that is a no–
brainer for them. By giving results in advance like this (all cheese, no whiskers), it gives the
client exactly what they want, takes away their natural fear, and proves I can do what I said
I would do. Then I can continue working with them on a consulting basis to help them develop a
Survey Funnel and everything else they need to grow their business.

NOTE: the monthly fee I quote is based on the size of their business and the potential I can see to
grow their profits for them. It can also be a percentage of the profits I generate for them.

Rocky Tapscott

©The ASK Method® Company & bucket.io®. All Rights Reserved. 11


15. The “Dream 50” Strategy
I have used the following strategy to not only become well known or “famous” in my community,
but to book speaking gigs for an audience of 100,000 people as well as be interviewed for national
publications reaching 500,000+ people.

There is a slight downside...that is, most people won’t do what it takes and it takes a while to do
the strategy and build momentum. You are essentially borrowing massive leverage from other
people. The people lend you their credibility and give you access to their networks because they
trust and respect you. Basically, once you have nailed down your target market and know what
your ideal client looks like, think big...

Write out a list of the top 50 people that, if they were you clients, would have a massive life
changing impact. Today, for the most part, the “6 degrees of separation” is really much closer
to two degrees of separation. You are likely to know someone who already knows the people on
your “dream 50” list. I was taught the strategy by Darren Hardy, who used it to launch Success
magazine, which launched in 2008 right after the bail out. It was and to this day still is the most
successful magazine launch in all of history.

One of the best things about this strategy is, because the impact of your “Dream 50” list is so powerful,
you really only need one person on the list to become your client or lend you their network or
credibility. Once you have their network/endorsement, it’s very easy to keep that momentum going,
quickly become connected to the right people, engage the other people on your “dream 50” list, generate
sales, and get asked to do more interviews giving you even more exposure to other publications.

David Paras

©The ASK Method® Company & bucket.io®. All Rights Reserved. 12


16. “The Hard Way”
This method works best when you are under one of these conditions: 1. First time creating a
service or breaking into a new market 2. High ticket service 3. Building a relationship with an
expert or influencer in which your goal is not to make a one–time sale but a long–term value.

NOTE: This method doesn’t really work well if your goal is to sell a $49 course to a list of people
because it really isn’t scalable and you won’t be able to make it for low–margin products/services.

Step–by–Step:
1. You find a live conference where a lot of your targeted prospect is showing up.
2. Approach each of the prospects to understand their background, need, problem, and
current situation. Find out if their current problem is something your expertise can
provide help on.
3. Don’t go into too much detailed how–to right at the spot (because they won’t be able to
remember any of it), but instead go through a few case studies on how you’ve tested or
helped others on similar projects and what the results are.
4. Provide them with 1–3 tips, advice, or resources that can bring them some fast wins.
The best scenario would be if it’s something they can implement over the internet
that very night.
5. Tell them that you’ll put together an actionable guideline they can follow step–by–step
for their situation and ask for their contact info (of course, remember to provide your
contact info as well).
6. That very night, follow up with an email saying that you want to make sure that your email
got through correctly, and also reconfirm that you will be following up with the guidelines
and resources in the next 2 to 3 weeks.
7. If they didn’t reply, meet up with them the next day to make sure they did indeed
receive your email.
8. The next part is, of course, deliver your promise. Provide a step–by–step action plan of
what they need to do now to solve their problem.
9. The way you want to present the action plan is breaking it into 2 to 3 phases. Give
them clear instructions for everything in phase #1 and give only the direction for the
rest of the phases.

©The ASK Method® Company & bucket.io®. All Rights Reserved. 13


Here’s the part where it’ll become different for different situations you are under. For people who
are trying to break into new markets or selling a high ticket service: You follow up in 2 to 3 days
reminding them to take action and asking about their result. You should continue to remind them
and provide some tips on phase 1 in the next 1 to 2 weeks. After about 2 weeks, you follow up
with a notice that you have a spot opening for your service (whether it’s a professional service or
consulting doesn’t really matter) and ask them to sign up for a 45–60 min free ground–laying call
(sales call) if they’re interested.

For a situation where you are trying to build a high–value relationship: In this case, it’s probably
not as important to make a short–term revenue, but you should be fearlessly asking for favors.
You’ll basically be providing your service or knowledge for free (or low cost) in exchange for asking
them to recommend, endorse, or let you present to their audience. If you did provide a big favor
to them, you should be asking for some kind of bigger favor (e.g. recommendation, testimonial)
every 3 to 4 months and some small favor (e.g. tweet, share) every 1 to 2 weeks.
Wuyen Hsu

17. Send Your Customers a Surprise Gift


My signature client–getting tip is referrals. Yes, we know how powerful they are to your bottom
line. But how do we actually get referrals when we sit down and work out how to get them and
instantly start feeling negative? We don’t like paying people, because they don’t like being paid for,
it doesn’t feel right. Loyalty cards can work but it wears out after a while. Here’s my tip: 1 Simple
Rule, Send Your Customers A Surprise Gift. When your customers are happy, they tell their
friends. I know it’s only 6 words, but it’s a win–win.
Kevin Borg

©The ASK Method® Company & bucket.io®. All Rights Reserved. 14


BONUS TIP: The 3–For–1 Deal
When most people entertain clients, they miss a great opportunity to get on the radar of
prospective clients. In the past, if I had four tickets to a baseball game, I would invite three of my
best clients to join me. One day it occurred to me that I should use these events as opportunities
to meet some of their friends and clients. So I started inviting just one client, but offering the client
the other two tickets as well so they could invite some of their friends. This strategy can be used in
a variety of ways.

It works very well when used at industry conferences. In this scenario, if you are a vendor
attending the same event as at least one of your clients, find something cool to do and invite
them and give them the opportunity to invite a few of their industry friends. The 3–for–1 is a win
for everybody! Your client has a blast (and may even get bonus points for themselves if they invite
clients), and you get to meet two new potential clients while providing a great experience for
an existing client who can then do all your selling for you by virtue of vouching for your abilities
and attentiveness. It is common for at least 50% of my non–clients at these events to reach out
in order to learn more about my firm and see if I could help them. Remember, if this does not
happen (though I bet it will), your event should still be considered a success.
Derek Coburn

...
©The ASK Method® Company & bucket.io®. All Rights Reserved. 15
Hey, it’s Ryan again…
I know you want more clients - because you downloaded this guide!

So now that you’ve read through it and gotten 17 new ideas, I have one question left for you:

What if you could start getting more (and bigger) clients in your business... say, tomorrow?

Join us for a “Hybrid Expert” Workshop to Get More Clients and Build a Simple,
Scalable, Stress-Free Business

Here’s a taste of what you’ll get at the Workshop:


What’s Next? A full WEEK of interactive, get-it-done live training (June 12-17) INCLUDING dedicated Live Q&A
sessions…

Discover how to bring in more clients while working less by getting MORE leverage in 3 areas of
your business: Attract, Enroll, Deliver

We’re ALSO going to talk about the TECHNOLOGY that makes it possible to condense months
of work into weeks and immensely shortcut the process.

Resources including the Client Attraction Calculator, the “Hybrid Program” Template, the Visual
Guide so you can see it all laid out, and The Step-by-Step Hybrid Expert Blueprint…

And much more!

Find out more at: HybridExpertWorkshop.com

Save my spot!

Ryan Levesque
Inc. 500 CEO, #1 National Best–Selling
Author and Creator of the ASK Method®

©The ASK Method® Company & bucket.io®. All Rights Reserved. 16

You might also like