Finding clients without having a $2m advertising budget for SuperBowl ads is one of the reasons why entrpeneurs spend so much time on Guerrilla Marketing Ideas-- where they substitute marketing smarts for cash.

Finding clients is easiest when they find you-- Guerrilla Marketing or any other form of marketing is really directed at creating in-bound sales opportunities. Having said this, there is still no substitute for shoe leather-- finding clients through direct action initiated by you.

Does this mean cold calling? Maybe. But more successful when used in conjunction with Solution Selling, is the idea of creating your own clients. If you are in the web design business, follow the trail of really bad web site design upstream to the client. Do what many of my architect friends do when they first hear about a new project-- they quickly dash off a few sketches and go see the developer-- they show him or her their sketches and get them excited about their solutions to the design problem.

Sure, sometimes, people steal your ideas. But it is my view that for very 1 in 20 person who will do that, 19 won't and some of them will give you the job. I believe that exposing some of your creativity will increase your opverall success despite the occasional set back of this type so in the end you will do more deals than if you kept all your ideas to yourself.

So visit them with a prototype new home page for their poor quality web site and get some new clients.

If you sell PCs, look for companies that are hiring-- more hires means more PCs, more office furniture, more stationery, .... Look for customers that are having problems that you can solve.

1. Follow the trail upstream of bad marketing.

2. Find companies like the ones that are already your clients in the same industries.

3. Offer them similar solutions.

4. Provide a complete solution.

5. The best place to look for new clients is your existing clients-- sell them an upgrade.

6. Do a lot of prototyping/sketching/concept development/preliminary design/...

7. Make sure there are no holes in your solutions.

8. Use the six degrees of separation to contact potential clients-- get someone to introduce you. If there isn't anyone to do this for you-- cold call as a last resort.

9. Build your personal network over your entire carreer-- your email directory could be one of the most valuable possesions you own. Keep a personal email address so you own your addresses personally and can take them with you from Company to Company.

10. Read the local newspapers and the community ones too.

11. Get the heads up on what's happening from your personal network before it hits the media.

12. Look at compnaies or organizations that you want to work for then see if they have any problems that your skills can solve.

13. Make your web site interactive and then ask potential clients help you with, say, your research on really bad web site design. Almost everyone will agree to answer some survey questions.

14. Start a newsletter.

15. Put testimonials on your marketing materials.

16. Do some marketing by media release-- release the results of your research and surveys.

YOU CAN CREATE YOUR OWN CLIENTS BY DETECTING PROBLEMS THAT YOU CAN SOLVE AND THEN COMING FORWARD WITH SOLUTIONS.

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