My #1 Favorite Way To Get E-Design Clients
Let's just go ahead and get this out there - when you're running a service-based business, getting clients can be hard. It's one of the biggest challenges I hear designers talk about - especially when they're first starting out - and a lot of the questions I get from my students revolve around the topic of how to best market their e-design services.
There are tons of ways to get the word out about your business of course, but today I want to talk about my absolute favorite method: referrals.
This strategy requires taking the long view and being patient, but it's absolutely worth it. Now that I've been in business for a few years and have been able to track patterns of how new clients come through the door, I've seen that referrals tend to bring in the clients I enjoy working with the most and the highest percentage of new business.
Referrals work incredibly well because it involves a personal connection. When one person passes your name along to another and recommends your business, it instantly builds trust. That trust is key to helping someone take the first step towards hiring you. Sometimes it's the only nudge they need - word of mouth recommendations are powerful! Deciding to work with a designer is no small decision for most folks - it's an investment of their time and money, and they want to make sure that it's worthwhile. A personal recommendation goes a long way in ensuring that they end up with the right fit for their needs.
So how do you get that referral train going?
Here are my top four tips:
Provide excellent customer service and do a phenomenal job for your existing clients so that they can't help but want to pass your name along to their friends and family.
Find other professionals/businesses in adjacent service businesses that work with your ideal clients (e.g. real estate agents) and start to build relationships with them so that you're the first person they think of when it comes to e-design or interior decorating services.
Be visible on social media - that can bring in clients directly of course, but it also keeps you stay in front of folks who may never hire you themselves, but could easily refer you to others who need help with their homes.
Let friends and family know about your business and that you're on the hunt for new clients - they're already "in your corner" and can be some of your best advocates!
Like I mentioned earlier, this strategy definitely requires patience and persistence - it'll start to snowball on itself though if you can see it through. These days, about 80% of the clients I work with are referral-based. That certainly didn't happen overnight, but the work I put into building that referral base has definitely paid off!
So, what do you think? Is getting that referral train going a part of your marketing strategy?
