Ask HN: How to find clients as a small Web Dev Agency without network?
A US based company with no network and no local clients, looking for clients and a method to hack at our first clients.
To put it another way, it is a mistake to assume the market is inefficient and there is a trove of good clients who cannot find consultants. There might be, but that would just be dumb luck.
Without clients you don't have a business. Finding clients is hard work. Harder than doing what they want.
Looking for hacks is easier than finding clients. That's why it is attractive. It's also why it is not work. There's not some step before finding clients. Looking for hacks is turning a Y problem into an XY problem.
The problem is no network. The way to build an network is to build a network. The way to find to find local clients is to find local clients. If those are activities you are avoiding, my best advice is to find something else to do. There's nothing wrong with that. Everyone isn't cut out for the work that is involved.
Finding clients is both necessary and sufficient for having a consultancy. If you can do that, you can hire technical talent to execute.
Good luck.
I mean I have a lot of local businesses that I frequent, but I deal with employees only. I can ask my server what problems they are facing but not really sure. Every business I know already has a website, social media page, etc.
I had luck meeting various business owners via networking events organized by Chamber of Commerce once. Maybe that's what I need to focus on.
Maybe the chamber has an event next Tuesday morning. There’s a hundred sixty six other hours in the week.
Knock on doors and go to the Chamber.
If you're bigger than that just hire sales people. That's how it works anyway.
And the 3rd way of proving your worth is doing open source work. I've seen plenty of companies start like that.
Generally you will get calls from three classes of people. Amateurs, grifters, and established players who will use your low due to desperation price to beat down the established contractor they are going to hire regardless.
Some amateurs can turn into good clients eventually after five or ten years of relationship building. Basically you have to be in it long enough to grow your business alongside theirs.
Grifters will have lots of experience but somehow failed to establish strong business relationships with the people they worked with. The reason is the people they worked with didn’t make money.
Ogilvy wrote about the hunt for clients. Essentially, he started with a very selective direct mail campaign.