How to Connect With Ideal Clients as a Small Business Owner Abroad
By Stephanie Ward
As a global nomad business owner, you’re always on the move. You need a portable business that will move and grow with you. To do that, you need to be able to find and connect with your ideal clients virtually. But before you can connect with your ideal clients, you need to know where to find them. And because you won’t be able to connect with all of your potential clients in person, you need to have a strong online presence. You need to have a clear and professional website, your virtual global home for people to visit. This includes making sure your social media profiles are up to date and are consistent with the messages on your website.
First we’ll look at where to find your ideal clients and then once you’ve found them, how to connect with them.
Where to Find Your Ideal Clients
There many places you can find potential clients online and offline.
LinkedIn: Search Individuals, Companies, and Groups (some groups have in-person events). Reach out and send personal invitations to people and interact in groups.
Facebook Groups: Search Groups on Facebook using your keywords. You can also check out the other tabs: Suggested Groups, Friends’ Groups, Local Groups, etc. Join groups and interact and engage with other members.
Twitter: Search Hashtags (example: #tck, #expat) using this tool or 3rd Party Tools to find like-minded people and follow them and interact.
Meetup: Meetup is a fabulous place to connect with people. You can search the groups using keywords to find a group that could be interesting for you to join. You can attend events local events and interact online by connecting with other members.
InterNations: InterNations is another global platform where you can find interesting people to connect with.
On Your Website: Your website is the central hub for all of your outreach. You must capture the email addresses of people who visit your website. Your email list is the one the most important assets your business has. It is the one channel of communication that you have ownership of and that you can control. When you send valuable messages to your community, you are able to build relationships over time. And some people will become clients.
MailChimp: MailChimp is free up to 2,000 subscribers. Read more about why you need to build your email list here.
In-Person Networking Events & Conferences: Search Google using keywords and your city or country. Make sure you attend networking events and conferences that your ideal clients attend. Don’t fall into the trap of only attending your industry conferences.
Leads You Already Have (but it’s been awhile): If you’re like most people, you probably have some leads that have been collecting dust in the corner. The good news is that it’s never too late to follow up. Find out how to deal with this in these two posts here and here.
How to Connect with Your Idea Clients
Your Website is Your Virtual Home: Your website is the main gathering spot for people who are interested in your work. Inviting visitors to request your valuable free giveaway and e-zine is the main call to action you want on your website.
Reach Out Directly: Direct contact is the shortest path between you and potential clients. Create a client list (people you know and people you want to know). Then ask for Introductions for those you don’t know using LinkedIn to see who can make the introduction. Then send something valuable in the mail (snail mail –physical post). And then follow up with a call or email.
I explain the whole process here and give you a template for what to say in your letter. . And for more on making direct connections, check out this post.
Start Your Own Group: Running a group is a lot of work. It requires consistent attention and energy to make sure people are engaged and that it grows. There are several platforms you can use to create your own group. You can choose a LinkedIn Group, a Facebook Group, a Meetup group, or Mighty Networks.
Share and Interact on Social Media: The key to creating real connections on social media is to interact, not just blast out updates. So be sure to connect, follow, Like, comment, answer questions, share people’s posts, tag people, and be helpful. Increase your visibility by sharing your blog posts and other people’s content (OPC) on your social media channels.
Two additional platforms for your blog posts are: LinkedIn Pulse and Medium.
Share Valuable Information With People You Meet: You can share your blog posts and you can also share other people’s content (OPC). Be helpful whenever you can.
Paid Online Options: As you may know, organic reach on Facebook pages is extremely low these days. If you want to play, now you have to pay. You can use Facebook Ads to connect with potential clients. Google AdWords are another way to reach people.
Host Your Own Event: Another way to connect with your ideal clients is to host your own event. You can make it free or paid. And your event can be in-person or virtual. Here are more ideas about how to host your own event.
Speaking: Speaking is an effective way to connect with potential clients. You can speak at other people’s events in-person or virtual video events. Check out more posts about speaking here. You can also create your own video. Grab more tips on getting started with video here.
We’ve looked at several options for places to find your ideal clients when you’re on the move and many choices for ways you can connect with them.
Now it’s up to you to take action and start reaching out. Choose the strategies that fit for you, and your global business, and then plan them into your schedule and make it happen. Follow through consistently, measure your results, and adjust as needed. Have fun connecting with your international community of potential clients and growing your business.
[Images courtesy of Stephanie Ward]
Stephanie Ward is the Marketing Coach for Entrepreneurs who want to create meaningful and prosperous businesses. Grab your FREE copy of the special report ‘7 Steps to Attract More Clients in Less Time’ plus monthly business building tips, at: http://www.fireflycoaching.com. She is the Marketing Coach for Global Entrepreneurs who want to create a meaningful and prosperous business. Stephanie helps business owners get clear and then generate marketing ideas that are a perfect fit. Her passion is to help global entrepreneurs make a living doing work they love. She combines her business and marketing background, coaching skills, and personal experience to do this. Her formal education consists of a Master’s degree in Communication and BBA degree in Business Management. Stephanie is from Oklahoma and has lived in the Netherlands since 1999. She started Firefly Coaching in 2002 and serves nomad entrepreneurs all over the world.
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