MBA2495 Q&A Wednesday: How do I get my first few non-paying clients just to get testimonials?

Summary

The $100 MBA Show: MBA2495 Q&A Wednesday - Securing Your First Non-Paying Clients for Testimonials

Host: Omar Zenhom
Episode Release Date: July 17, 2024
Topic: Strategies to acquire initial non-paying clients to build testimonials for a fledgling digital marketing agency.

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Introduction to Sammy's Challenge [02:00 - 04:30]

In this episode, Omar Zenhom addresses a pressing concern from a listener named Sammy. Sammy, who is launching a digital marketing agency, shares his struggle: despite offering free social media and website services to friends in exchange for recommendations and testimonials, he hasn't secured any clients yet. He even extended offers via email, but his efforts went unanswered.

Sammy's Question:

"How do I get my first few non-paying clients just to get testimonials?"
[Timestamp: 03:00]

Omar recognizes the significance of Sammy's question, emphasizing the necessity of case studies and testimonials when starting out. He acknowledges that securing the first client is often the most challenging hurdle but assures Sammy that with the right approach, it's achievable.

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The Power of Providing Value First [04:31 - 07:45]

Omar introduces a fundamental principle: to acquire your first client, you often need to offer value upfront, even if it means working for free initially. He suggests a proactive strategy where, instead of merely asking potential clients for testimonials in exchange for free work, you demonstrate your capabilities by delivering tangible results first.

Key Insights:

• Proof Through Action: Rather than requesting work, Omar advises doing the work. This showcases your skills and builds credibility.

  "If you don't ask them if you can do the work, you just do the work."
  [Timestamp: 05:15]

• Unique Approach: Most people avoid offering free services due to the high-risk, low-reward nature. By stepping into this space, you reduce competition and present a unique opportunity to potential clients.

• Reciprocity Principle: When you provide value unsolicited, clients often feel obliged to reciprocate, increasing the likelihood of receiving testimonials.

  "The law of reciprocity kicks in where they feel like, oh, I actually feel embarrassed, I should at least send in a testimonial."
  [Timestamp: 06:10]

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Executing the Strategy Effectively [07:46 - 10:30]

Omar delves into actionable steps for implementing this strategy:

1. Identify Potential Clients:

   • Target individuals or businesses whose public content can be improved.
   • Use available public information to tailor your offerings specifically to their needs.

2. Create Tangible Deliverables:

   • Enhance their existing social media posts, create engaging reels, or develop a simple yet effective website.
   • Present these deliverables as gifts, emphasizing their design for increased engagement and reach.

   "If you created new social media posts, improved versions of their social media posts, then give it to them and say, hey, these posts that I just created for you... are designed for more engagement."
   [Timestamp: 08:50]

3. Personalized Outreach:

   • Avoid mass email campaigns. Instead, reach out personally through emails, phone calls, or even in-person meetings.
   • Personalization increases authenticity and the likelihood of a positive response.

   "Don't be informal. Get as personal as possible... It's more authentic, it's more genuine, and it's harder for them to say no in person."
   [Timestamp: 09:30]

4. Request for Testimonials:

   • After delivering the work, kindly ask for a testimonial if they find the service beneficial.
   • Offer flexibility in how they can provide testimonials—be it written, audio, or video formats.

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Overcoming Challenges and Scaling Efforts [10:31 - 12:45]

Omar acknowledges that not every outreach will result in a testimonial or a new client. However, he emphasizes perseverance and the importance of seeing business growth as a numbers game.

Strategies to Enhance Success:

• Volume of Efforts: To secure five case studies, aim to deliver about 20 projects. This accounts for the natural occurrence of rejections or non-responses.

  "Say for example, you want five case studies, then you should at least go for 20 free work projects."
  [Timestamp: 11:00]

• Leverage Referrals: Once a testimonial is secured, ask satisfied clients for referrals. This word-of-mouth strategy can exponentially increase your client base.

  "Who do you know that could benefit from the work I do? Two or three people would be great."
  [Timestamp: 11:45]

• Maintain Personal Engagement: In the early stages, focus on personalized, non-scalable methods to build a strong foundation before transitioning to scalable approaches as the client base grows.

  "When you're starting out, you have to do the things that don't scale so that you can build out your business and start getting clients again."
  [Timestamp: 10:50]

---

Omar’s Personal Anecdote and Lessons Learned [12:46 - 13:57]

To illustrate the challenges and dedication required, Omar shares a personal story from his early entrepreneurial days. In 2012, while establishing his consulting agency, he took on a logo design project for $75. This led to unforeseen expenses, including a costly cab ride home during a severe storm after missing his train. Despite the financial loss, Omar reflects on the experience as a testament to his commitment and the hard work necessary to build a business.

"If you don't have war stories like that in your past, you're not working hard enough. You're not trying hard enough."
[Timestamp: 13:00]

This anecdote underscores the importance of resilience and the willingness to invest time and resources without immediate returns in the pursuit of long-term business success.

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Conclusion and Final Thoughts [13:58 - End]

Omar wraps up the episode by reinforcing the key takeaway: exceptional business results require exceptional efforts. He encourages listeners to push beyond their comfort zones, invest time in delivering value, and remain persistent in their client acquisition strategies.

"If you want to be exceptional, if you want exceptional results, you're going to have to do exceptional things."
[Timestamp: 12:50]

He extends his wishes to Sammy, expressing confidence in his journey and inviting other listeners to submit their questions for future Q&A sessions.

---

Key Takeaways:

• Value First Approach: Demonstrate your capabilities by delivering work upfront, even if it means working for free initially.
• Personalized Outreach: Engage potential clients individually to build authentic connections and increase response rates.
• Persistence is Crucial: View client acquisition as a numbers game, maintaining effort despite rejections.
• Leverage Referrals: Use satisfied clients as a source for new leads through targeted referral requests.
• Invest Time Over Money: Early-stage business growth often requires substantial time investment without immediate financial returns.

By implementing these strategies, aspiring entrepreneurs like Sammy can effectively secure their first few clients, build a robust portfolio of testimonials, and lay a solid foundation for future business growth.

Transcript

[Omar Zenhom]

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[Ryan Reynolds]

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[Omar Zenhom]

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[Ryan Reynolds]

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[Omar Zenhom]

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[Ryan Reynolds]

Switch upfront payment of $45 for 3 month plan equivalent to $15 per month required intro rate first 3 months only, then full price plan options available, taxes and fees extra. See full [e-mail] Hey O. Welcome to the $100 MBA Show. The place to be to build a business you want with our practical. I'm your host, your coach, your teacher Omar Zenholm. And today's episode is Q and A Wednesday where we answer a question from one of you, one of our listeners. If you got a question you want to ask, go ahead and email me over@omar mba.net Today's question is from Sammy and Sammy asks how do I get my first non paying clients just to get testimonials? Now I know Sami, he's a friend of mine and he sent in this question and it's such a great question because when you're starting out, you need case studies, you need testimonials, you need work that you can show to say, hey, I can do this work, I can do this job. I'm worth the money. So Sammy says I haven't got any sales yet for my digital marketing agency and I'm doing free social media for a couple of friends for recommendations slash testimonials. I offered free website and social media via an email but no one took me up. Any ideas? Again, this is such a solid question and I know Sami's a very smart guy so he's gonna figure this out, but maybe I can help him out a little bit. A lot of people say the hardest client to get is your first client. But I'm here to tell you in order to get your first client, you need to get your first work. And sometimes you're gonna have to do that work for free so that you can get a testimonial like I mentioned and show that you are capable of amazing work. I'm gonna share with you a different technique to get Those free testimonials to get those case studies, but also how to do it, how to actually approach these people that you want to get these testimonials from in exchange for free work. And how to get it done quickly so you can start getting paid clients. Let's get into it. Let's get down to business. Most people, when they want to maybe do a bit of work or consulting so they can get a testimonial exchange, they ask people, they say, hey, I'm getting my business started, I would love to do XYZ for you. In exchange, can you give me a testimonial? And this is a very honest way to do it and makes total sense, right? Ask people, hey, I got a no brainer deal for you here. All I'm going to do work for free. All you got to do is give me a testimonial. But here's a rule. In life and in business, anything that's easy to say yes to is also easy to say no to. The opposite is also true. By the way, anything that's hard to say yes to is also very hard to say no to for the right person. But that's another episode. So by asking somebody, hey, can I do some work for you for free? You're making it very easy for them to say no. To say, that's okay, I'm okay for now. Appreciate it. I'll let you know in the future. All those pleasantries, right? Your job as a business person, which is also a salesperson, is to make it easy for people to say yes. What would make it easy for somebody to say yes to something? Anything. And it's very simple. Proof. Proof that you're not going to waste their time. Proof that it's going to be even worth their time to write a testimonial. Proof that, that this is an amazing deal that they're going to regret not saying yes to. So how do you show them proof? Well, you don't ask them if you can do the work, you just do the work. Now, the reason why this works is twofold. The first reason is that nobody does this. Nobody actually does the work. Knowing that there's a good chance that they'll get rejected or get nothing in return. It's high risk, low reward. This is why nobody does it. And that's why it works. Because there's no competition, right? And it's so unique. The second reason, the more important reason why this works is because when you present to them whatever you're offering. So in Sammy's situation, improving Their social media, creating a website for them. Just create the reels, create the posts, create a simple website and give it to them. By doing this, they see what you're offering with their own eyes. They see this amazing website, they see some really creative reels and by just gifting it to them and say, hey, this is for you. If you like it, if you think this is cool, if you find it useful in your business, if you'd like to post it, then it'd be awesome. If you can just send me a voice note or write me a message with a testimonial, or if you really want to be super generous, shoot me a quick one minute video. There's a couple things that go on in this situation. Number one, they're actually quite surprised that you did the work and just gave it to them for free. So the law of reciprocity kicks in where they feel like, oh, I actually feel embarrassed, I should at least send in a testimonial. So the conversion rate of this is quite high. Second, you have done the work already, so that when they give you the testimonial, whether it's an audio testimonial, I've written one, a video, and you post it on your website, you can also post the work. So you can say, here's our work, we worked on this project, we've improved their social media posts and the reels, and we created a new website for them to get them started. Here are some of the pages and this is what the client has said. So you're all ready to go now. Since the work is created and most of the time this is actually quite easy to do because a lot of people, they have public information out there, there that you can use to improve upon. So you could just download one of their videos on Instagram, use one of the apps you can find online, just Google it. Or you can modify one of their images and make it a better post. Basically you're taking existing posts and reels, improving upon it, making it like way better and saying, how about post this instead, See how it does. Now here's the kicker. You gotta be willing to do work and get no reward in return because there will be people that will ignore you. But business is a numbers game. You have to just do the reps. So say for example, you want five case studies, then you should at least go for 20 free work projects. One out of four people are going to be able to give you a testimonial, actually reply to you, not ignore you, appreciate the work that you've done. This is hard work. I know, and it's going to take some time, but it's more in your control. You can do the 20 pieces of work, the 20 projects, and go and just give it to the people that you know. Ask for the testimonial. And then once they give you the testimonial, you can ask for a reference, a referral. Hey, who do you know that would like to work with me? Would need these services, would benefit from some of the things I've done. This is an old tactic in sales, by the way. I actually learned this from my father, who was a car salesman for two decades. Your words matter. There's a difference between saying, do you know anybody? And who do you know? Who do you know? Makes them start thinking, okay, I know this person, I know this person. So who do you know that could benefit from the work I do? Two or three people would be great. Even if they give you one person. Now you got your first paying client. You get five people to give you one person. Some of them will give you two. You got a minimum of five new paying clients. So you're investing right now to, to get these clients with no upfront cost other than your time. But all you got is time. Cause you got no customers, so it's worth it.

[Omar Zenhom]

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[Ryan Reynolds]

Free your team from expense reports today. Switch your business to ramp.com now. If you know these people personally that you're reaching out to give the work, you're not offering any work. You're giving them a work completed and asking for a testimonial if they find it useful, if they like it, don't do an email campaign to everybody. Don't be informal. Get as personal as possible. If you could speak to them in person, do it in person. It's more authentic, it's more genuine, and it's harder for them to say no in person. If you can't do it in person, do it over the phone. If you can't do it on the phone, send them a personal text message. If you can't do a text message, send them a WhatsApp. Can't send them a WhatsApp. Send them an email, but a personal one on one email, not a blanket email campaign newsletter to everybody at once. When you're starting out, you have to do the things that don't scale so that you can build out your business and start getting clients again. You have time on your side so you can do these things that don't scale and then you can figure out how to scale when it's time to grow, do things that do scale when it's time to grow. When you have so many clients you don't know what to do, but right now you're trying to get your first client to do these things that don't scale. Get personal, talk to them. And when you're talking to them, make sure you spend 80% of the time talking about the benefits that they're going to get. What are they going to get? What's in it for them? If you created new social media posts, improved versions of their social media posts, then give it to them and say, hey, these posts that I just created for you, again, you've already created them, are designed for more engagement, for more comments and more reach. Give them a try, see if they do better than the current posts. And if they do, let me know in a testimonial. Thanks so much. If you want to be exceptional, if you want exceptional results, you're going to have to do exceptional things. You got to do things that people are not willing to do that are fine and legal, but are just a lot of work, just like pushing a boulder. Roberta, if you ever grew up in a climate where there was snow and you're sitting on your sled, you got to kind of give your sled a push so it can go down the hill. You got to kind of give it a start. So a little bit of effort, effort you got to give. It's not just going to go by itself because when you're standing or you're sitting on your sled, you're in a standstill, there's no momentum. So in the beginning, your business is the same way. You got to just give yourself a push. You got to make some effort first so there's some momentum. And then once you make that effort, you make that investment, it pays back, dividends because you get your first and second and third and fourth and fifth client. Like I mentioned, when you ask for that referral again, who do you know that could benefit from what I just did for you? Thanks so much for listening to the 100 MBA show and thanks Amy for your question. I miss you, bud. Hope it was helpful. I'm wishing you all the best in your new business and the adventure ahead. If you got a question you want to ask, go ahead and email me over at [e-mail] I'll make sure to answer it right here on Q and A Wednesday. Before I go, I want to leave you with this. Back in 2012, I started a business consulting agency and part of our services was creating branding logos websites in order for me to get traction to get my first clients. I actually lost money. I actually lost money. I remember one time I agreed to create somebody a logo for $75. I was starting out. I needed the money, but I also needed the experience and I needed that portfolio work. I was living in lower Manhattan that time and I had to go to Brooklyn to meet the person in person. They wanted me to meet me at a cafe to discuss his ambitions for his $75 logo. It was the middle of winter. It was freezing cold. I took the train to go see him. Cost me about $3 to get to Brooklyn. But then a storm came in. After I met with the client, I missed the last train before they closed the trains because of the storm was so bad. It was getting dark. It was so numbingly cold, I had no choice but to get a cab. And the cab from Brooklyn back to Manhattan cost me more than $75. If you don't have war stories like that in your past, you're not working hard enough. You're not trying hard enough. It's those stories that make me so proud of my journey because I know I've earned my stripes. Thanks so much for listening and I'll check you in the next episode. I'll see you then. Take care.

[Omar Zenhom]

And we're back, folks. It looks like Jim from Snails just got in from his client lunch and he's got receipts.

[Ryan Reynolds]

His next meeting is in two minutes. The team is asking, can he get through his expenses in that time?

[Omar Zenhom]

He's going for it. Is that his phone? He's snapping a pic. He's texting Ramp. Jim is fast, but this is unheard of.

[Ryan Reynolds]

That's it.

[Omar Zenhom]

He's done it. It's unbelievable.

[Ryan Reynolds]

On ramp, expenses are faster than ever. Just submit them with a text. Switch your business to ramp.com.