Getting started, or staying, in business today is no easy task. Getting the word out about who you are and what you do is difficult enough, to say nothing about actually carving a niche for your business in the marketplace. It sometimes seems to be an all-consuming task, especially when you look at the never ending need for fresh, qualified prospects. You may be able to scare up some clients by beating the streets doing cold calls, but your best option is to build a strong referral business. I’m speaking from experience… I’ve done it both ways! (more…)

When you go in business for yourself, it doesn’t take long to figure out that the best source for new clients is through referrals. You can go out and beat the streets to find new clients, you can ask all of your friends who they might know you can get on the phone and start that daunting process of cold-calling but, without exception, referrals are the easiest sale. Building enough word of mouth “buzz” to produce the number of clients you need can be a bit overwhelming. You’ll be able to count on some referrals from your existing clients and people who already know you, but that’s going to be a fairly limited number. So, we’re back to that desire for more referrals. Where do you start to increase that number of referrals and how to do you grow that group of trusted associates with whom you can exchange referrals? (more…)