Get creative to fund your marketing and attract clients

When you first start a business, sometimes you encounter the classic Catch-22 problem – how can I market my business to attract clients so I can make money without actually having the money needed to pay for the marketing? This is what I discovered back when I started 12 – 13 years ago. The good news is there’s always a way to make some money. At that time, I didn’t have enough clients or enough money. Yes, I’ve actually been in that tough spot. But I believe in taking a “no excuses” approach. So, I got creative. I thought about all of my skills, one of which is cooking. I went to the French Culinary Institute and loved cooking, especially simple food. Turns out there were a lot of people who didn’t know how to cook simple meals. That’s when I started a cooking class in my tiny 300 square foot New York apartment for $35 a person. I’d get 10-15 people who would sit on my couch and I’d teach them how to roast chicken with potatoes and green beans. I held three to four of these classes each month and made about $450 each time. This helped me fund my marketing to attract clients and to bridge the short-term financial gap. Other ideas include services like babysitting, house sitting or even a tag sale. I recommend brainstorming a list of 50 ways to earn cash. And don’t stop until you get to fifty. You’ll be pleasantly surprised by some of the ideas you come up with and once your list is complete the universe helps to make it happen. You can also go after what I call “low-hanging fruit” – the potential clients who are interested in working with you, but haven’t signed up yet. Those people represent money to you, so go and close them. Anything you can think of that can bring in money immediately will help. Just don’t include the longer-term projects to market your business and attract clients because these will take more time. The money you need is all around you. It’s a question of looking for it, writing down ideas, then taking action on them. Money is everywhere in the form of opportunities. Get creative and be resourceful. Just think about what you are really good at and go from there. Your Client Attraction Assignment: Have you made your list of the “50 Ways” yet? Take out a sheet of paper and get creative. Think about your skills and what you like to do. Think about the people you know and if they have expressed a need for help with something. You’ll be surprised at how quickly you can come up with 50 ways to make money fast.