When we first started Amarlo, the most difficult problem we had was finding new customers!

Occasionally, I would talk with some of our clients or business owner friends and ask them about their companies. In some cases, they had too many customers. They simply weren't able to handle the number of people inquiring about their services and were struggling to keep up because of it. Still, other entrepreneurs that I spoke with had the opposite problem: they were in the same position as us - constantly on the lookout for new business.

When you're starting a new business, how do you grow without spending any money? How do you find new customers without a huge advertising budget? Where do all of these clients come from!?

Content is King

The internet is still growing. People are just recently getting used to 24/7 access to entertainment and knowledge, which means there's a deep need for more.

I used to think that content was just a fancy entrepreneurial buzzword; every business guru in the world seemed to talk about how brands needed to be making content and publishing videos to draw people into their business. After some time trying to game the system, I realized that an actual content strategy could really help our business.

Not everybody in the world can produce engaging 10-minute videos that blow up on YouTube and create millions in sales - I certainly can't, at least. I thought that's what was required of new businesses. In reality, "creating content" is such a wide and diverse call to action that sadly gets reduced to TikTok dances instead of the meaningful relationship-building tool that it can be!

If you're writing for your blog, creating videos, posting photos on social media, or building an email list, the most important thing is a genuine commitment to making something of good quality. When a piece of content is particularly engaging, useful, or entertaining, it can help you successfully create a relationship with your customers!

Communities Are Really Effective

Networking is the worst word in the English lexicon.

At least, it's become a word that's associated with an opportunity to shake a hand, make a connection, and shill a product or service to as many people as possible. In contrast, true and effective networking is simply building relationships with the people around you. Networking is creating a community.

Entrepreneurship is incredibly lonely. That's why community is essential to building a successful business of your own! You receive the perspectives and insights of other business owners around you as well as an opportunity to help them build their businesses. Creating these types of relationships can open up opportunities for referrals and the ability to exchange business with one another.

Networking can feel transactional when done wrong; if you give me business, I'll do the same for you! This kind of quid pro quo is not what a true community is built around. Instead, an effective community is one that seeks to create opportunities for one another out of a desire to see the other successful.

Go Where Your Customers Are

Your ideal clients are congregating somewhere. Whether you're selling online yoga classes to stay-at-home mothers or coaching Fortune 500 CEOs, your prospective customers gather in groups. An incredible strategy for finding new customers is considering the habits, sources of information, and other companies your ideal clients may work with.

Once you've identified a potential location, you need to insert your business.

This is where partnerships can be incredibly effective. If you're able to partner up with a business that shares your ideal customer profile, you'll be able to directly interact with the people you're searching for.

For example, we primarily work with service-based business owners that are looking to grow their companies. With that understanding, we've established a partnership with a local start-up incubator program for small businesses. They already receive an amazing number of benefits by joining this incubator program, so our services are an incredible compliment!

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Once you're able to develop a strategy around creating content, developing a community through networking, and establishing partnerships with business power partners, these three strategies begin to work together: You can collaborate with people in your network to create new content. You can find new partnerships through your expanding network. You'll be able to create a cycle of organic influence that stems from the things you're creating and the people you associate with. Eventually, you'll find that you have an incredible source of new customers!