Starting a side hustle is one of the best decisions you can make, especially if you have a job that you do not like or if the money you make from your job is not enough to pay your bills.
The issue that most people face is getting your first customer, in this post, I am going to share with you 5 easy techniques that you can use to land your first side hustle client.
5 Easy Techniques To Land Your First Side Hustle Client
Landing your first side hustle client may sound like an extremely difficult thing to do at first.
However, if you work on developing your skills and learn how to present yourself as someone who can add value to other people’s businesses, then you’ll be able to get the ball rolling on your side hustle!
So, here are 5 easy techniques you can follow to get your first-ever paying client:
1. Let your friends know
If you have friends is a good start, just show your skills to your friends and let them promote your work to their friends.
Actually, I landed my first-ever customer through my friend, she was a teacher at the same school I was teaching, and one day we were talking about random things and casually I mentioned that I want I know how to install a WordPress website.
She told me that she knew a guy who wanted to start a website but did not know how to, she arranged a meeting with the guy, I helped him to install his website and I made my first $200 as a freelancer.
Don’t be shy. Your real friends will be happy to help you out, and if they believe in you and your skills, they’ll be happy to spread the word about you.
If you’ve got well-connected friends, ask for help. They may be able to connect you with your first client.
2. Put out flyers in your neighborhood
A few years ago we started a computer repair center with a friend, no one knew us, so all we did was print flyers and put them in our neighborhood, we offered discounts for some of the services.
We did this in one morning and on the same day in the afternoon we got our first customer, this trick works to this day and we still do it from time to time.
Yes, this technique still works. And this is especially helpful if you’re servicing a local area.
For example, if you’re offering dog walking services, you can put out flyers in your neighborhood. Look for community boards. And don’t forget to put your name and number on your flyer.
3. Advertise on social media
Social media is a powerful tool, especially Facebook, the thing is that everyone you know is on Facebook. All you need to do is either use your own Facebook profile or create a business page and invite your friends to like it.
You can start posting images from your side hustle and let people know that you are in business. We did this for my friend who started a local burger place and we took an empty burger place to a full business in less than 6 months.
Depending on your side hustle also you can search for a local Facebook group in your area and start promoting your business there.
If you have a tattoo place, the best course of action would be to use Instagram, my experience is that most tattoo lovers are on Instagram.
All you need to do is to start an Instagram page about tattoos, of course, invite your friends, share stories about great tattoos, make reels about tattoos, and share photos of different tattoos and see your page grow and your side hustle grows with it.
if you are already making some money from your side hustle you can use paid social media to grow your side hustle even faster.
While advertising on social media can cost you a pretty penny, it’s going to be worth it if you charge top dollar for your services.
And what’s really great about social advertisements is you can drill down into your target audience.
You’re not limited to targeting people in your area. In fact, you can target pretty much anyone in the world who’s got an account on that particular social platform.
4. Start a blog
Blogging is a great way to showcase your expertise. Potential clients can easily see if you’re worth the price you’re quoting.
At the moment blogging is my favorite way to get customers, here is 5 step process I will recommend to anyone who wants to get customers.
Step 1: Start a blog about your side hustle You can learn about starting a blog here.
Step 2: Write about 100 posts about your side hustle ( I will recommend writing 1 post per day in the first 100 days)
Step 3: In each post mention your side hustle and where they can contact you or hire you.
Step 4: Monetize your blog with affiliate offers.
Step 5: When the income you get from your blog is greater than the one you get from the side hustle, ditch the side hustle and concentrate on making your blog even bigger.
In addition to using your blog as a platform to attract clients, you can also monetize it in any number of ways.
For starters, you can recommend products you’re affiliated with on your blog. Any time someone buys through your affiliate link, you get a nice commission.
5. Have your own business card
Another easy way to get your first customer, is creating your business card, creating business cards is not expensive, just make sure that your business card has your name and contact information.
When I was just starting out is that I would start a conversation with a potential customer and if I see that they are interested, I will hand them a business card.
Sometimes if I was in a Taxi or Uber I will just casually drop my business card in it and forget about it, from nowhere I will get a call from a stranger who saw my business card and wanted to do business with me.
This is not the perfect method to get your first customer but it works and you can get a few customers this way.
When you have your own business card, you make your business look legitimate and not just some fly-by-night service.
Attend conferences and seminars and network with people in your industry. Make sure you distribute your business card so people can easily get in touch with you should they need your help.
That is it, those are 5 ways to land your first side hustle client, just pick one method that suits you the best and start getting those customers.
