No, no door-to-door canvassing to get your clients.

You'll find that the people you approach will most likely be happy to hear from you, and be open to passing on your services to people they know.

First of all, you need two basic 'marketing tools' (don't worry - very simple).

Testimonials
Very powerful.

Imagine you seen an offer for a dry cleaning service. You haven't used it yet, because you think the dry cleaners doesn't open the hours you are passing the door, since you are busy business-person. You go to work early and come home late, and you can't be carting your suits and dresses around on the chance that the place will be open when you're passing.

But then you read a testimonial about the dry cleaners in your local Business Gazette, from a similar business-woman, who loves the service because they pick-up and drop-off to her home or office. That's going to get your attention.

But how do you get testimonials, if you haven't even had a client yet?

Two secrets:
1. Testimonials do not have to come from your clients.
2. Testimonials do not have to come from people you even know.

They can come from authority figures in your industry/service. Resources for quotes, in your industry, can be your trade journal. Or articles written about your trade. Just find an executive or someone in a similar sphere to those you are pitching to, who have used a service like yours, and use that as a testimonial. Eg. "Small business marketing ideas have grown our profits 20%", "Daily delivery of fresh shirts gives me more leisure time".

The next source of quotes could come from the clients of other businesses in your industry. That can sound a little strange, and can work against you if taken out of context. If you run a dental practice, you probably know other dentists. Go to their literature or website and find those testimonials which reference how important their service is in general, and that's perfectly ethical. And get permission of course. The testimonial will just be something like "Regular check-ups saved me dental fees", something that is transferable to any dental practice.

What do you want your testimonial to achieve?
That the service you offer is important and valuable to them.
And that you are good at what you do.

With borrowing testimonials from industry or friends, we just achieve the first objective. For the second, approach friends or those in your network who can attest to your technical efficiency in your chosen field. Do you know any friends who would give you a testimonial about how good you are as a coach or a consultant? Ask them to write a testimonial for you.

Or even better - write one yourself to show them what you are looking for in a testimonial. Most people are happy to help you out.

You'll soon have some pretty smart testimonials, with both angles covered.

The second tool you'll get great mileage out of, is an audio CD.  Read our post here.