Spoiler Alert: Your First Client Shouldn’t Be Charged

We’re going to let you in on a little spoiler alert…your first client is most often NOT going to be a paid client. There’s a lot of misunderstanding on getting started with clients online. When you put a ton of pressure on yourself to have this first client relationship be a paid interaction, you really are setting yourself up for failure in a variety of ways.

Things Are Different in the Online World

The reality is that when you’re transitioning out of the corporate world and into the online space, a lot of things are different. The tools that people use, the platforms that people use, the work relationships that you can expect, the way that you communicate, everything changes.

And when you force yourself to start with a paid client, it means that you have a lot of pressure to show up, sell your service, and deliver a flawless experience. What we would highly encourage you to do is change your perspective on how you are going to go about finding your “first client”.

Trade for Testimonial

Our top recommendation is doing something called a “trade for testimonial”. What this means is that you are going to find someone who you believe is an ideal customer & who you think would be really fun to work with…and you’re going to offer to do your specific service for them in trade of a testimonial. [That’s right. Do the work for “free” & instead of charging them….receive a personalized testimonial instead.]

Perks of a Trade for Testimonial

Now while this may seem WILD to some of you – here are some key benefits to offering this to your first few clients:

1. You add critical [missing] pieces to your online portfolio
2. You build personal confidence while delivering the service to these beta clients
3. You are going to work out the “kinks” that come along with working online
4. Think of things like….communication, emails, onboarding, etc.

When you allow yourself to experience this relationship without the pressure of getting paid – you get to test out so many things for the first time & it alleviates the typical “paid” pressure.

Behind the Scenes Look

Offering a trade for testimonial is also going to allow you to do is to break into different industries through trust building & referrals. Here’s how:

Let’s say you really want to work with photographers. If you reach out to a photographer and offer to do your service for free in lieu of a testimonial…this allows you to do get a behind the scenes look at what it’s like to work with this type of client. You get to see the “inner workings” of helping this kind of customer….and you learn some of the specific language & nuances that this business owner specifically handles.

Referrals Galore

Now that you’ve built serious rapport with your first photographer….this person is now going to refer ANY of their future friends who needs your specific service based on the relationship & rapport that you have built together. [This works with any industry. Not just photographers.]

So now, not only have you built a new case study in your portfolio….but you’ve also now gained a valuable referral partner throughout the process. So while this person did not directly pay you, they gave you some invaluable elements to build your own business:

• You’ve been able to get an inside look at their business problems & struggles
• You’ve been able to add the work from their project as a case study for your own business
• You’ve added a referral partner to your list of trusted contacts

Take the Pressure Off

By changing your perspective on finding your first few clients [and working with them for testimonials instead of money] – this takes an immense amount of pressure off of you as a first time seller of a digital service. If you are struggling to find your first paying client – or if you’re struggling to break into a new niche or a new industry – change your perspective and offer to do a trade for testimonial work exchange instead.

[If you’re looking for a step by step script on how to reach out to potential customers for “trade for testimonial” exposure, pop our support team a note at help@herhq.co for guidance!]