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first published in 2011 | updated 2015

Get Clients Like an Extrovert


If you are a solopreneur — which means, a business owner who is a one person show, responsible for service delivery, bookkeeping, client attraction, admin, billing, everything! — no matter how shy, unself-confident, or nervous you are, the reality is you will need to do some level of marketing like an extrovert.

How do extroverts get clients?

By:

  • aggressive networking - continually making personal connections

  • referral partner building - asking others to send them clients

  • word of mouth - impressing clients so that they talk about you

  • public speaking / workshop teaching - taking opportunities to be in a spotlight

  • media publicity - generating favorable attention

Most counselors, coaches, intuitives, and NDs I have worked with cringe at the thought of most or all of those methods. My clients tell me it feels like begging, or that they find it unethical to engage in self promotion.

Some admit to fearing rejection, or believe that they have nothing any more special to offer than any other professional of their type, so they don’t know what to say to get clients from these methods.

I understand. I’m not an extrovert either.

But take another look at that list and see if there is at least one strategy there that you can adapt to fit your personality. Mine has been teaching. What will yours be?

Perhaps:

Making Personal Connections

  • go to at least one networking meeting each week

  • join a leads group, such as BNI or LeTip where members refer to each other

  • talk about your work at every social event, have your cards ready to hand out

  • follow up with people you’ve just met, learn about them, make recommendations to them, provide resources, stay in touch

Ask Allied Professionals to Send Referrals

  • target professionals who serve your ideal clients, visit or call, ask for referrals

  • follow up on a regular basis, provide a useful resource like rack cards or tip sheets, or take office goodies to help be remembered

  • get releases to talk to clients’ primary care physicians, send them update letters of clients’ progress

Get People Talking About You

  • go out of your way to be a helpful resource

  • offer incentives or complimentary brief sessions

  • throw an open house or appear at a health fair to talk with many people in one day

Stand in a Spotlight

  • give presentations at conferences

  • host a workshop series

  • organize a MeetUp

  • offer in service trainings to allied professionals and other referral sources

  • sponsor a radio show in exchange for getting 30-60 minutes of your own show

Generate Favorable Attention

  • Do something newsworthy and send out media releases about it

  • sign up for www.HelpAReporter.com and get interviewed

  • get a media agent and become a TV star on local news and talk shows

Whatever extroverted method your select, the trick to getting clients is to figure out what marketing methods you can do easily and happily, and make sure you have enough of those strategies in your weekly and monthly marketing plan.

If the thought of extroverted marketing make you queasy, or gives you thoughts of ending your practice and driving a cab, you probably will find the more introverted methods of getting clients a better fit for your personality.

No matter what marketing methods you are comfortable with, or willing to try, nothing works if you don’t take action every day in some way. What actions are you taking in the next 3 weeks to fill your client pipeline next month and beyond?

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