Find your first customers

First customers usually come from people who know you, then from people who find you. Make sure your link answers their questions, and make it easy for happy customers to say so.

Before you send the link

On your phone, check that a stranger could tell in seconds what you do, where, roughly how much and how to reach you, with the same name and phone everywhere, and the same address wherever you show one. If not, finish Get online first.

Do this

1. Get your sales tax permit first if you sell physical goods and your state requires one. See your state’s Get your tax IDs step.
2. Set up a way to get paid. A merchant services account, usually through your bank, takes cards. Decide how you’ll invoice before the first job.
3. Tell the people who already know you. Send a short note with one sentence about what you do and your link, and ask them to pass it to one person who could use it.
4. If you have a Business Profile, ask every customer for a review with Google’s link or QR code, not only the ones you expect to be glowing.
5. Don’t pay for reviews. Google prohibits payment, discounts or free goods or services in exchange for one. Those reviews can be removed and the profile restricted.
6. Answer every review. Reply to a bad one calmly, with what you’ll do about it; the next customer reads it too.
7. Write down where each customer came from. After a month you’ll know where to spend your time.

What you get back

Your first customers, a few honest reviews and a list of what brought people in. For a second opinion on marketing, the SBA’s partners offer free or low-cost counseling.