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Struggling To Get Your First Paying Clients? Here’s Why.

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Are you struggling to get your first paying clients?

Here’s a few reasons why you are not getting any clients.

Is There A Market?

Do people need your product or service?

Are they willing to pay for your product or service?

Do they have the ability to pay for it?

These are the questions that you should ask yourself and find answers to BEFORE you create your product or service offer.

If you are not having a hard time getting people to buy your product or hire your service, it could be that there isn’t a market for it.

Targeting Right People?

Are you promoting your product or service to the right people?

If you are selling services to businesses, are you pitching to the decision maker or someone else who has no say in the hiring decision?

Or if you are offering tuition to high school students, should you be marketing your service to the parents or the students?

So, you have to be clear about who your target clients are.

When you market to the wrong people, you will be wasting your time and effort. Your business also suffers as a result.

Getting Your Offer In Front Of Potential Clients?

Even if you have the best product or service, it means nothing when no one knows about your product or service.

So, are you actively getting your offer in front of potential clients?

Or are you simply waiting for clients to come to you?

Let me tell you a story.

My husband’s friend is always the top salesperson in his company.

What’s his secret?

When everyone goes home after work, he would stay back in office and call up every single potential client on his contact list. The next day, he would always have a lot of people come to his office to find out more about what he has to offer.

On the other hand, his colleagues would spend most of the time chatting with each other to pass time because they had very few leads to follow up with.

Do you see the difference?

If you want to get paying clients, you have to be proactive and let your potential clients know about your offer.

The more people you reach, the higher your chance of closing a sale.

Your Offer Solves Their Problem?

We only pay for a product or service that can solve our problem.

For example, we pay for tax services because it helps solve our tax problems. We pay for performance coaching because it can help enhance our performance. We pay for marriage counselling because it helps solve our marriage problems.

So, does your offer solve your potential client’s problems?

First, you need to understand what problem they have and want to solve.

You can uncover that information by talking to them and asking them the right questions.

Here are some examples of questions you can ask:

What are your goals for the next year or the next 5 years?

What do you think is the biggest challenge in achieving your goals?

Why is it important for you to achieve these goals?

Once you know what their problem is, you can craft your offer to solve the problem.

The more specific and customized your offer is, the better your chance of getting the client to hire you.

They Know You Can Help Solve Their Problem?

Now you have come up with your offer.

But, it won’t get you the job if your client is not convinced that you can help solve their problem.

So, what proof can you show to give them the certainty that you can deliver?

Here are what you can do:

  • Show case studies
  • Share testimonials
  • Explain your process
  • Give free valuable advice
  • Present your credentials

You don’t have to do ALL.

Most of the time, case studies and testimonials are good enough.

If you can share with them how you help another client achieve a similar result, that would be even better.

Because that’s relevant.

It’s important information which they need to make their decision.

All Their Objections Handled?

Sometimes, even if you have a good offer and perfect case studies, your client is still reluctant to say yes.

When that happens, it means you have not yet handled all of their objections.

Ask them what their concerns are.

Is it price? Or is it fear of working with someone new for the first time? Or is it something else?

You can find out more by getting your client to share with you what is holding them back to move forward with the project.

Here’s something you can do to help you get better with objection handling.

Make a list of ALL possible objections that your client might have.

For each objection, you write down your response that is backed up with proof or examples.

Why?

Because telling them not to be worried or concerned is NEVER going to work. 

Then, what works?

They have to come to the conclusion themselves. And you will help them do that by sharing with them your logical analysis or examples. 

Why Are You Not Successful Yet

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We say that we want to start a business, but we can always find an excuse to never do anything.

We say that we want to lose weight, but we can never seem to follow through any weight loss plan.

We say that we want to eat healthy, but we just give up after a while.

We say that we want to make more money, but we only read about how other people are doing it and never take action ourselves.

Here’s why.

We don’t feel any urgency to do it.

Yes, we might not like our 9 to 5 job.

But, it is not so unbearable that we are desperate to find a way out – start our own freedom business.

Yes, we might be slightly overweight.

But, it’s not so bad that our lovers find us unattractive.

Yes, our eating habits are not healthy.

But, it’s not yet causing any serious health problems.

Yes, we could be making more money.

But, our job salary is enough to get us by. We don’t want to earn more money that badly yet.

By now, you should have spotted a common theme here.

No urgency results in no action.

If you have done sales before, you know that all good salespeople understand this.

That’s why they always say the promotion is for a limited time only.

When they add urgency to their promotion, they can easily drive up their sales.

The Urgency I Needed

A few years back, both my husband and I lost our jobs unexpectedly because the company we both worked for suddenly closed down.

We needed to make money fast to pay our bills.

That was when I started my service arbitrage business.

If I was still working at my job, I would never have started my own business.

Why?

Because I would be too comfortable with my stable pay.

However, this unfortunate experience created urgency for me to make money fast.

You see, I didn’t like selling.

I even felt guilty about asking for a sale.

But, I had to  do whatever it takes to make my business work.

From no idea, no experience and no mentor, I managed to get my first paying client and then my first $1,000 and more.

We make things happen when we are desperate enough for success.

Where Is Your Urgency?

Here’s some bad news for you.

If you are waiting for a change in your circumstances that create urgency for you, that change, in most cases, is NOT a pleasant one.

For myself, it was my unexpected job loss.

For some, it could be a sudden breakup or an illness.

The last thing you want is to have something happen to you when you are unprepared.

If I could turn back time, I wish I had pushed myself hard enough to create diverse income streams. So, I would never put myself in a financially stressful situation again.

Here’s how I would do.

I would ask myself why I want to create new income streams.

Is it so that I can quit my job and live my life on my own terms?

Is it so that I can spend more time with my family?

Is it so that I don’t have to worry about money ever?

Whatever it is, the reason has to be a compelling one. It has to be an emotional one.

So, I can really feel the urgency to achieve my goal.

Keep asking yourself why.

Find out the WHY that really motivates and moves you forward.

How To Stay Motivated

By constantly thinking of your reason to want to succeed, you will always keep your goals in sight and will strive to do whatever it takes to succeed.

It is important to understand that one needs motivation every single day.

It is so easy to get caught up with things at work and start feeling bad for yourself.

Maybe you had a rough day or your boss gave you a difficult time at work. Maybe your colleagues are playing politics and it’s affecting you emotionally. It’s times like this that you need to strengthen yourself.

If you feel down, you can meditate, listen to uplifting music, or simply think about happy thoughts.

I would recommend you implement a system for yourself, a system which will help you get motivated and get back on your feet and back to work.

This is because there will be days you will feel like sulking in self-pity and ask why such things must happen to you.

So, if you have a system to help motivate yourself when you are feeling down, you can easily snap out of your non-motivated self and start working on things that really matter.

How I Went From a 9-5 job To Working From Home Full-Time

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The best thing I love about working from home is that I have complete freedom over my time.

I don’t have to wake up early in the morning and rush to office during morning peak hour.

My husband and I can go catch a movie on a weekday afternoon.

We can just go on vacations whenever we feel like and for as long as we want.

Whenever our kid or parents need us, we can be there to take care of them without having to ask someone’s permission to take leave.

Years ago, I never imagined that I would be able to work from home. Back then, both my husband and I lost our job unexpectedly.

This unfortunate experience turned out to be a blessing in disguise.

It really pushed us to work very hard to start our own side businesses because we never wanted to reply on our job to be our sole source of income.

No jobs are safe.

We have seen how technology is making companies even industries obsolete.

Now, more and more companies are embracing automation.

At McDonald’s, you can just order your food on the automated kiosk.

At supermarkets, you can just pay using the self check-out counters.

Amazon fulfillment warehouses are automated.

And just a few days ago, I stumbled upon a video which shows a dumpling making factory has automated ALL its processes. There is not a single worker seen inside the factory.

It just made me think that it’s entirely possible that factories in the future will be fully automated with only robots working inside.

For businesses, there are a lot of incentives to adopt automation.

It helps cut down a lot of costs such as salary and benefits.

Also, machines and robots can work 24/7 and do the tasks more efficiently.

 

Will your job be safe?

That is a very relevant and important question to ask yourself.

Because the last thing you want is to get caught off guard and put yourself and your family in a financially stressful situation.

Here’s what you can do from now on.

You can start to create new source of income and build multiple streams of income.

I started from zero.

Then, I built my service arbitrage business from scratch.

For some of you who have not heard about service arbitrage, here’s how it works.

First, you find in-demand services that freelancers are already offering at a super low price on freelancing websites. Then, you market their services to businesses that need it. Once you get a sale, you hire the freelancers to deliver the work for you.

How you make money is that you quote a higher price to your clients than what your freelancers quote you to pocket the price difference as your profit.

This can be considered another variant of freelancing. The only difference is that you are outsourcing the work to other freelancers instead of doing the work yourself.

The best part about service arbitrage is that you don’t need to have any idea or any experience. You can even do it when you are working at a full-time job. 

Gradually, I grew the business from zero to 4 figure per month business. 

But, I didn’t stop there. 

Next, I moved on to build more income streams such as creating information products and offering consulting services.

I learnt everything from scratch with zero experience and no mentor.

If I could do it, you too can do. 

Yes, it takes hard work. 

Yes, it takes time.

“Entrepreneurship is living a few years of your life like most people won’t so that you can spend the rest of your life like most people can’t.”

Both my husband and I, we plan for the long term.

And we choose delayed gratification over instant gratification. 

That’s also why we worked so hard every day for a few years to create a life where both of us now can work from home.

How To Be Good At Selling Even If You Hate Selling

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A lot of people hate selling (myself included). 

But, the truth is that if you want to earn more money at your job or in your business, you’ve got to get better at selling.

If you are working at a full-time job, you need to learn how to “sell” yourself to get a promotion or a pay raise. 

If you are running your own business, you need to learn how to sell more of your products or services. 

So, it’s in your best interest to change your attitude about selling.

To help you do that, let’s talk about why many of us hate selling in the first place.

Have you ever received unsolicited calls from telemarketers?

Annoying, right?

Every time I get such a call, I would add it to my ‘Blocked’ list straight away.

Have you ever been deceived by salespeople who never deliver on their promise?

I have.

Maybe you too have.

And it’s exactly such unpleasant past experience that led us to have the belief that ALL salespeople are either annoying or dishonest. 

Instinctively, we guard against them and never want to become one of them. 

So, how do we change our attitude towards selling?

We need to replace our old belief with a new one. 

You see, if you think about selling as helping people solve their problems, will you feel more comfortable about selling?

Forcing people to buy products that they don’t really need is NOT cool. 

But, if you have the best product or if your service can solve people’s problems, then it is your fiduciary duty to let them know and make sure they get what’s best for them.

With the new belief and mindset, you will see selling in a more positive light. 

Now, the next step is to learn how to be good at selling.

To be good at selling, we need to understand know how to persuade and influence people.

One of the best books you can read about persuasion is called “Influence: The Psychology of Persuasion” by Professor Robert Cialdini. 

Inside his books, he mentioned six key principles of influence – Reciprocity, Commitment & Consistence, Social Proof, Likability, Authority & Scarcity.

Here, we are going to look at three of them and how they are being used by businesses in real life.

  • Social Proof 

Have you ever bought a product from Amazon because many people bought it and left a good review?

Probably yes.

That’s the power of social proof. 

And that’s why you often see that businesses post a lot of testimonials from happy clients on their website. 

It serves an importance purpose which  is giving potential clients the confidence to buy from them. 

  • Authority 

We trust the opinion of those who are authority in certain area and follow their instruction.

That’s why companies selling skincare products get dermatologists to endorse and recommend their products. 

So, partnering up with experts and authority figures in your niche is a good way to lend credibility to your products you are selling. 

  • Scarcity 

If we perceive that a product is scarce, we have a higher urgency to get it. On the contrary, we will delay our buying decision if we think that there is a lot of supply and we can get it anytime in the future.

In real life, there are a lot of businesses that are using this principle to get more sales.  

For example, shops will send out discount coupons that are only valid for a short period of time. 

So, here’s what I would like you to do. Look around you, do you spot any persuasion strategy that is being used by businesses in real life?

How You Can Create Multiple Streams Of Income Today

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Everybody loves multiple streams of income. 

Here’s why.

First, it protects you financially in case you lose your job.

Just imagine how you would feel if you lose your job which so happens to be your sole source of income. To prevent ever putting yourself and your family in stressful financial situations, you should start creating diverse streams of income now.

Second, it allows you to grow your wealth faster and achieve early retirement sooner. If you don’t want to work at a job for the next 40 years before retiring, then it’s never too late to start earning more and building your wealth by diversifying your income.

So, here are some of the most common types of income:

  • Interest Income

This is pretty straight forward. You park your money in a savings account and the bank pays you an interest rate that is not even helping you keep up with the inflation rate. You should only choose this option when you cannot get better returns on your money from anywhere else.

  • Dividends Income

Good dividend stocks can pay you up to 4%. Of course, there are high dividend stocks that offer a yield that is much higher than 4%. But, the yield is high for a reason. It’s not as safe. You should know that it’s never late to start investing in dividend stocks. Because this is one of the best ways to grow your wealth passively.

  • Capital Gains

If you invest in stocks, real estate or alternative investments such as commodities and wine, you will make capital gains when you buy low and sell high.

But, there’s always risk in investing your money.

So, the question becomes, how do you manage your risk? What is the worst scenario that can happen? When you are fully aware of the risk involved, you will not panic when things don’t go the way you’ve expected.

  • Rental Income

Rental income is probably the most common passive income you’ve heard of. You buy a rental property, find tenants to rent it and get paid every month.

The best part about rental income is that you get recurring income month after month.

It’s predictable. It’s stable. It’s retirees’ best friend.

  • Business Income

Personally, I love passive income.

I mean, who doesn’t?

But, I love business income more.

Why?

It has much much more upside potential.

You can build it, grow it and scale it up.

There is also the satisfaction and thrill that you get from building a profitable business. Nothing quite beats that.

If you are working at a full-time job, can you still build a business on the side?

The answer is a definite yes.

Even if you can only put in half a hour a day, you can get a lot done within a couple of months:

  • Find a profitable idea
  • Test and validate your idea
  • Get your first paying clients

Different Types of Side Businesses That You Can Start To Earn Extra Income

  • Service Business

Generally speaking, service business is the fastest to get started with almost zero startup cost.

If you have a sell-able skill, you can turn it into a service that people need and are willing to pay for.

For example, if you are good at designing, you can offer graphic design services. A lot of businesses need designers to help create their marketing materials. 

If you have a lot of knowledge and experience in SEO, you can offer SEO consulting services on the side. Companies would be happy to pay you good money to get them on the first page of Google for their desired keywords. 

However, having a sell-able skill means nothing if you don’t know how to get paying clients. 

You see, best-selling authors are NOT the best writers. There are many writers who can write better than them.

But they don’t make as much as the best-selling authors.

Why?

They are not good at marketing and selling their work. 

To make money, you need to know how to market and how to sell.

This applies to all the businesses. 

  • Start Online Store

Starting an online store is never easier in this age and time. 

You can either sell your products on big e-commerce websites such as Amazon or you can start your own online store.

There are software platforms such as Shopify that let you create your online store with a few simple clicks. You don’t need to have technical knowledge or design skills. It helps cover everything from domain name and store design to payment and shipping.

If you are starting from scratch and have no idea about how to get started,  you can get the free 6 day course on how to start a niche online store from Steve of MyWifeQuitHerJob.

He and his wife started their own online store many years ago and made 6 figure in the first 12 months. Now, it’s a 7 figure business. 

I always believed that if you want to succeed, you have to find people who have done it and model after them.

  • Sell Online Course

If you have knowledge that you can teach to benefit other people, you can package your knowledge into an online course.

For example, if you know how to cook healthy vegan meals in less than 15 mins, you can turn that into an online course and teach people how to do the same. 

Or you are very good at Excel, you can create an online course that teaches people how to be proficient at Excel.

Or you have started a profitable Etsy store, you can teach people how to do it in an online course as well.

To have a successful online course, you need to make sure that people are willing to pay for what you are going to teach.

The last thing you want is that you spend months creating the perfect online course but nobody wants to buy. 

So, validating your idea is very important before you start.

The most effective way to test if there is demand is to get people to actually pay you before you create the course. 

It is never enough if they just say they are interested to buy your course. You can only be sure that there is a market for your product when there is money changing hands.

How many income streams do you have right now? And what other income streams do you want to create for yourself and your family? Let me know in the comments.