How to Get Your First 3 Clients Without an Audience

You've built the website. Written the bio. Posted four times this week.

Eleven likes. Two of them from your family.

If that's where you are, I want to save you a few months. You don't need an audience to get your first three clients. You need one simple offer and honest conversations with people who already know you. Make a list of your warm network, tell them personally what you're doing, ask for conversations and referrals and follow up. That's it.

It isn't glamorous. It works. Here's exactly how to do it, with the words to use.

Why your first clients won't come from content

Content works best when people already trust you. When you're starting out, almost nobody has seen your work yet, so posts land in front of strangers who scroll past.

Your warm network is different. These people know you, like you and believe you're good at what you do. The trust is already there. You just haven't told them what you're offering.

I wrote about this in the follower count myth. A small group of people who trust you will outsell a big audience of strangers, especially at the start.

Step 1: Make one simple offer

Before you message anyone, be able to say what you do in one sentence. Use this:

I help [who] [get what result] in [how long] through [format].

Say you're a career coach. That might be: "I help mid-career managers land their next role in 90 days, through six one-on-one sessions and feedback on every application."

That's specific enough for someone to think, "Oh, my brother needs that."

A few rules for a first offer:

• One offer, not a menu. Three packages make people decide twice. One makes it easy.
• A real price. Not free. A reduced founding-client rate is fine, in exchange for feedback and a testimonial.
• A clear end point. Six sessions, eight weeks, one finished plan. People buy outcomes they can picture.

If you're torn between several things you could sell, how to choose what to sell first will help you pick.

Step 2: Make your warm list

Open a spreadsheet and write down 50 to 100 names. Don't judge yet. Include:

• Former colleagues and managers
• People you've helped informally (the friend you coached through a job change)
• Friends and family
• Clients, customers or suppliers from past jobs
• People from your community, school, faith group, gym or kids' activities
• Your LinkedIn connections you'd actually recognize in the street

Then sort them into three groups:

• A: Could be a client themselves.
• B: Probably not a client, but knows people who could be.
• C: Everyone else. They still get a message.

Add columns for the date you messaged, their reply and the next step. This becomes your whole sales system for the next month.

Step 3: Tell people what you're doing

Send personal messages. One at a time. Not a group text, not a newsletter, not a post that says "Exciting news!"

Here's a script you can adapt:

Hi Sam! I hope the move went well. I wanted you to hear this from me -- I've started my own career coaching practice. I'm helping mid-career managers land their next role in about 90 days. I'm taking on my first few clients now at a founding rate. Do you know anyone who's trying to make a move right now? No pressure at all, I'd just love to help the right person.

Notice what it does. It's warm, it says exactly who you help and it ends with one easy question. Sam doesn't have to buy anything. He just has to think of a name.

For your A list, change the ending:

Since you mentioned last year that you were thinking about leaving, I wondered if you'd want to talk it through. I'd be glad to do a 30-minute call, and if it makes sense to work together after that, I'll tell you how it works.

Step 4: Ask for conversations, not sales

Your goal for the next few weeks is conversations. Sales come out of good ones.

If someone isn't ready for a call about working together, ask for their advice instead:

I'm shaping my offer and I'd love 20 minutes of your perspective as someone who's been through this. Could I ask you a few questions?

Then ask about their problem: what they've tried, what got in the way, what it's costing them. You'll learn how real people describe what you solve, which makes everything you write later sharper. And some of those advice calls turn into clients on their own.

When a conversation goes well and they clearly have the problem you solve, make the offer simply:

From what you've shared, I think I can help. Here's how it works: six sessions over three months, plus feedback on your applications. The founding rate is [your price], and I can split it into installments. Would you like to start?

Then stop talking. Let them answer.

For more on running these calls without feeling pushy, read sales calls that don't feel like selling.

Step 5: Ask for referrals, and make them easy

"Let me know if you hear of anyone" almost never works. It's too vague for anyone to act on.

Be specific about who you're looking for and give people words they can forward:

Could I ask a favor? If you know anyone who's a manager and wants to change roles in the next six months, would you pass this on? "My friend Jo is a career coach who helps managers land their next role in about 90 days. She's taking a few founding clients. Want me to introduce you?"

That last bit is the key. You've written the message for them. All they have to do is copy and paste.

Ask everyone on your B list. Ask friends who say no for themselves. Ask every client you sign, too, once they've had a great first session.

Step 6: Borrow an audience through partnerships

You may not have an audience. Other people do, and some of them serve exactly the clients you want.

Look for people who serve your clients just before or just after you do. A career coach might partner with a résumé writer, a recruiter or an HR consultant. A nutrition coach might partner with a personal trainer or a physical therapist. A bookkeeper might partner with a business consultant.

Then offer something useful to their people:

I love the work you do with your clients. A lot of the people I help come to me after they've done exactly what you offer. Would you be open to me running a free 45-minute workshop for your clients on [specific topic]? And I'd be glad to send people your way, too.

One good partner can do more for you in a month than a year of posting.

Step 7: Follow up

Most people who don't reply aren't saying no. They're busy.

Wait a week and send a short, friendly nudge:

Just floating this back up in case it got buried. No worries if the timing's not right!

Track everything in your spreadsheet. Plan on sending dozens of personal messages and having a good number of real conversations to land your first few clients. That's normal. Each conversation also makes the next one easier, because you get clearer on what you're offering and who it's for.

What to do once you have three clients

Three clients is a real business. Here's what to do with it:

1. Deliver brilliantly. Your first clients are your proof. Overcommunicate, check in between sessions and get them a result.
2. Get a testimonial. Ask at the moment they're happiest, not three months later. How to get powerful client testimonials has the questions to ask.
3. Ask each client for a referral. Use the Step 5 script.
4. Raise your price for the next client. The founding rate was for founding clients.

And don't fall into the trap of chasing the next sale and forgetting the clients you have. I wrote about this in the "one client away" myth. The people who already trust you are your best source of the next client.

When you're ready to go further, how to get clients as a coach or consultant walks through the full path from one client to many. And if you're aiming at a $10K month, read what nobody tells you about hitting your first $10K month before you get there.

Where coaching fits

Getting your first clients is mostly courage and consistency. A coach helps with both -- someone who reviews your offer, sharpens your scripts and asks on Friday how many messages you sent this week.

That's what Momentum Activate is for. It's the first level of Momentum, our 12-month business coaching program, built for business owners at $0 to $29K a year, including people who haven't made a first sale. You work with your own Coach, and the monthly Get the Client sales training with Jennifer Rada covers exactly the kind of conversations in this article. Business coaching for starting a business has the details, and should you hire a business coach before your first sale? helps you decide whether it's the right time.

Either way, open that spreadsheet today and write down your first 20 names. Your first client is probably already on it.