The most important key to running a business is:

GET PAYING CLIENTS.

Via my work as a private teacher or in working with my own coaching clients I often meet people who dream of having a business.

Their priorities are always wrong.

Their first idea is that they need a Facebook page.

Like we don’t have enough of those.

They think they need to post articles on Facebook concerning their business and this will lead to clients.

Except.. they forget about the clients. They just rehash articles and information successful people have put out a million times before them.

That is NOT going to get you paying clients.

Let’s say you want to be a dog walker. It’s tempting to think a Facebook page with posts about how amazing it is to own a dog or how dogs learn or whatever will get you clients, right?

Well, wrong.

First of all, in the extremely unlikely case you create a wildly popular Facebook page your page will still be liked by many people who like dogs and like to read articles about dogs. Because that is what your page is offering. Plus, the fans of your page may be hundreds of kilometers away. Even if they would want you to walk their dog, you can’t. It wouldn’t be practical. You would already have to team up with other dog walkers in other areas. Good luck with that.

A much better strategy would be a much more old school strategy. Where are your potential clients? Not hiding on fucking Facebook. They are in your neighbourhood. They are right under your nose. It might mean you will have to put up a poster with your information and the service you offer at the entrance of the local Church. Or at a local hairdresser. Or you could put an ad in some local publication offering community news. There are many options and they are much more likely to get you paying clients than creating very time consuming content on Facebook. Or Instagram. Or whatever social media poison you prefer.

I call social media a poison, because I see too many starting entrepreneurs falling into the trap of thinking that social media is THE front where all the key battles will be waged. Nope. Not true.

I teach from the early morning till the late evening. Mostly private clients.

Since 2017 the longest period of time I have not taught any class will probably about four days. So for four years I have taught private clients non-stop. I teach Monday to Sunday.

How many paying clients have I found via social media?

Not a single one.

And for more than one year I was insanely active on social media.

Once an American lady told via Instagram she would like to have lessons in the future.

Lesson nr 2: If a client contacts you and it doesn’t lead to business right away, forget about it. They’re not serious. And even if you do convince them to take lessons, they will be a pain in the ass and will soon quit anyway.

You know what works instead of Facebook?

  • first think locally and think analogue not digital (depending on your line of work of course)
  • word of mouth. Your clients have to be so satisfied they recommend you to their friends or anyone they hear is looking for what you offer
  • Putting simple ads out targeting people who might indeed be interested in what you have to offer