The basis of any successful business is the coincidence of supply and demand for a product or service. Of course, where and how to find customers depends primarily on the scope. For example, if business is a hot fast food point, then it makes sense to look for buyers in crowded places (stations, large educational institutions, business and office centers).
For goods in general, there are whole theories that help to understand how best to choose the location of a company, how to build relationships with partners, and how to organize display on store shelves. Attracting customers depends on many factors: from sensory (music, packaging, smells), price, seasonal and others.
The situation is a little different with services. The basic rule for them: availability at the right time in the right place at an affordable price. Let's try to consider the main ways of finding clients for freelancers and representatives of mental work. At first glance, for "free artists" everything seems pretty simple. There are freelance exchanges, scripts, articles, photo stocks. You can either sell finished products to them (texts, pictures, photos, programs, templates for websites, etc.), find customers for future projects and long-term cooperation, or study the market. But when working with exchanges, you need to consider several nuances. Firstly, it’s more difficult for a beginner there.
At large portals, registration is free, but the possibilities for free membership are very limited. Consequently, investments in the payment of "membership fees" will be required. The cost can be very different, but on average (take the portals for translators) it is about
$ 100 per year. However, orders are by no means guaranteed. Secondly, there is a very tough price struggle on the exchanges, strong dumping. Therefore, for promotion, for operating a portfolio, portals can be considered as a parallel small income. But you need to understand how to find direct, solvent and serious customers.
Most representatives of free professions most often do not get their hands on making their own website or portfolio. And this is one of the most win-win ways to find customers.
Of course, you need to work on the site - promote it, position it. But the result will exceed all expectations. Having a site with high positions, you will no longer be anxious to search for recipients of your service. Customers will find you. It is only important to understand what they are looking for and offer them a suitable solution. The same applies to recommendations on how to find clients for a lawyer. Queues will be built for the venerable, authoritative. But the young and the beginner should try to create a name for themselves. Feel free to ask
for letters of recommendation. In legal services, word of mouth is even more important than in others. That is, if you have provided a quality service (whether it is company registration,
divorce proceedings, division of property, or defense in court), be sure that you will be recommended to acquaintances and friends. The phone of a reliable lawyer, like a high-class dentist, is passed from hand to hand.
There is another way: regular publication of announcements in newspapers or on bulletin boards. Think about where and who needs your services. For example, it makes sense to offer the services of a nurse at home, a nanny, a massage therapist where mothers and children gather: for example, in clinics or near them, in family newspapers. But the translator is unlikely to find customers this way. For him, business customers are much more important. Consequently, he needs to publish his ads on specialized sites, in specialized publications, on portals where businessmen involved in the export and import of goods are looking for information.
Does the ad have a price? It also depends on who the service is addressed to. If private, as a rule, poor people, then the price should be indicated especially if it is competitive. If the service is addressed to enterprises and business people, where the formation of value depends on many components, it is better not to do this. Too low (by their standards) price can scare off wealthy customers.
When giving any advertising, it is necessary to consider who will be (and when) the potential recipient. Promotion of legal services, for example, will be justified in the context of business life, during the working day, in business publications. But to advertise a travel agency is more appropriate in the entertainment press, on the air of family programs. Analysis of competitors' campaigns will also give you rich food for thought and teach a lot.