Transcript of Episode

Leah Gervais: Hey Visionaire. Welcome back to the Your Biggest Vision show. I am your host, Leah Gervais, founder of Urban 20 Something. And I am so excited to be here with you talking about your vision! So, today I wanted to share a little bit of some fun anecdotes that have kind of happened to me with, you know, during the course of my business. And this is inspired by one of the most common questions I get asked and I get asked this question from people that have, are just starting out and have never sold anything all the way to my very successful clients that, you know, have six figure businesses. It’s still something that we ask a lot of the time. And even I ask myself is so it’s not, you know, about, um, growing out of it, but it’s about continuing to think out of the box. And that question is where am I going to get my next clients? Where are my clients? 

And it’s interesting how you can, you know, successfully sell things for months, even years. But then once you raise your prices, once you offer a new thing, once you want to do something slightly differently, this seems to be one of the first outs that comes up is will anyone buy it? Right? Will this even work? And I think it’s just human nature. But I am here with some message that I think will really help alleviate any fear that might come up around the feeling of where’s my next client coming from? And I have an exercise you can do anytime you are wondering that or thinking that um, that I do with my clients as well. And I think it can shift you out of that really quickly because we all know that there are billions of people in the world.

There is no shortage of clients whatsoever. Your clients are out there, there are more clients out there than you can handle. There are movie theaters full of clients for you. There are stadiums of people waiting to hear you give a keynote speech. So there’s no lack of them. It’s just about getting creative and thinking correctly and really having your problem solving hat on, which is what you always need to have as an entrepreneur and getting down to business. 

So what I want to share with you today are five places that I have ended up signing clients or found clients that are not my email list, my social media, a fancy funnel, a lot of the things we fall into when we feel like those are the only ways to get clients. Now listen, I am the number one fan of the email list. Y’all know how much I love email marketing and how critical it has been to my business growth to have a solid email list that grows, that is commutative with me that allows me to stay top of mind.

There’s so much power to it, but in no way is it the only way that I get clients and in no ways is it the only way you need to get clients. Emails, more than anything are meant for data, for tracking and for getting to know your audience. They are not meant to be the one and only way that you’re getting clients. And even if you know that is something that has been working for you, or even if in a particular situation, it would work that way. I still encourage you not to think of your email list that way because you as an entrepreneur have a message, you have a problem that you’re solving that in essence is entrepreneurship. And so it’s your job to kind of live and breathe that problem solving life. And if you’re only doing that with your email list, then you’re not really reaching as many people as you could.

You’re not really living on brand, you’re not living in full alignment with the potential that you have as a CEO. So it is up to us to make sure that it’s bigger than just through emails. And I found that when you live that way and when you think that way, and when you show up that way, clients come from all over. They can’t help it, right? Because they’re hearing you talk about how you solved this problem. So I wanted to share with you five other ways I’ve been able to find clients or have gotten clients even serendipitously just because I had consistently talked about what I’m good at, talked about my business, been open about it and showed up and not always known the bottom line, but kept giving value and things worked out because I led with the right intention, not just with the goal of getting clients from my email is as often as possible.

So maybe one of these will ring true for you. Maybe it’ll give you an idea, maybe it will just spark some interest. Maybe it’ll make you, you know, take action today. Whatever the case may be. I just ask you to listen to this list with an open mind, hopefully pretty excited mind and really start opening your eyes to the abundance of clients that are all around you. 

Okay. So one of the ways that I have had clients that did not come from my email list was from friends that I knew in high school. So I will just say that when I started Urban 20 Something, I mean I could go on a whole other episode about this, but I was terrified of people finding it that I knew in my personal life, I was afraid of coworkers, finding it, friends from college, friends from high school and especially people that, you know, I wasn’t even friends with in high school. Like maybe I knew them but we weren’t close and I haven’t really talked to them. 

So the idea of them, you know, finding out about what I was up to years later from at the time, what was just a for-fun blog was a little bit intimidating. And I was really nervous about this so much to the point that I almost wanted my blog to be anonymous. And I’ve talked a bit about that before, but it’s hilarious thinking about that now that never would have worked. You know, it really does need to be authentic and tell a story. Um, and it couldn’t be more opposite than what Urban 20 Something looks like now, which is very much about me and my story and what I believe in, et cetera. But my point is I never would have guessed that I would end up hearing from people that I literally haven’t talked to since high school because they had either seen or heard about what I’m up to seen or heard about the successes.

I’m able to get my other clients and just like anyone else, they have seen themselves in the part of my story or my client’s story, uh, that they are also at and they want to get on the other side of. So I’ve been hugely blessed to be able to reconnect with some people from a high school and work with them closely. And this never would have happened if I didn’t get out of my own way years ago. Realize that I can’t care what other people think. I can’t be worried if people are going to judge me. Honestly. I’m sure people are judging me. I’m sure there are people from high school that are thinking all the things that I was afraid of that are, you know, making fun of me or you know, having mumbles about “who does she think she is”? It’s probably all true, but I don’t focus on that.

What I focus on are the people that had the courage and self-awareness to see that there could be something more for them that saw that I could help them do that. That took the initiative to reach out to me and that now are transforming or some of them are already worked with that I’ve totally transformed their lives because of it. So what I encourage you to do here is be really open minded about where people that you know personally might actually need help and not make the decisions for them. Honestly, if it were up to me years ago, I just would’ve thought, well if there’s anyone that I know that would be able to take advantage of what I offer or that would be a good client, I’ll probably know who they are. And so I’ll just reach out to them. But what that does is it takes away people’s right to choose.

And so by not sharing what I do or what I can do, I never would have given these people the opportunity to say, Hey, I actually do want that. Um, and been able to, you know, stand in their power and move forward with that and change their lives. So this is an invitation for you to remember that you don’t know what everyone wants or needs or what they can handle. You don’t know everyone that would be a perfect client. You might know some that would be a good client, but there’s so many people out there who need what you have, but will never know it unless you tell people what you have to offer. So don’t be afraid to post on your personal social media accounts. Don’t be afraid to send an email to friends and family and see if they know anyone that needs help.

Don’t be afraid to reach out to people that you haven’t talked to in awhile and just share with them what’s going on. You never know what you’ll be able to do and whose life you’ll be able to change because of it. And more importantly, you’ll be able to just be a better entrepreneur, you know, not more importantly, I guess the point of what I’m trying to say is this is what your work is about. Your work is not about, you know, being afraid of what people think of you, worrying that you’re being judged, letting people judge you, et cetera. It’s about making your impact. And so why should you withhold it from people that need that?

Okay. The next somewhat unusual place, although I don’t think any of this is unusual or coincidence anymore, but the next place that I found a client that was not on my email list was at the gym. One of my super fun, spunky clients. Um, I met her because she was stretching next to me at the gym one day. And I really think that this story is a good example of why it’s so important to take care of yourself and live in alignment with what you want to do. I once heard someone who is pretty, pretty influential in the millennial female millennial space. She’s written books for them, Say that her best advice to millennial women is to say yes to everything. Take people up on the opportunities to go to book talks, to go to happy hours to go to events. And I get where she’s coming from.

But when she was saying that everything that was going through my head was like, no, no, no, no, no. My whole motto is say no to more because in my point of view, my number one job is to manage my own energy. And if I’m tired, if I’m eating like crap, if I’m staying out too late. If I am drinking too much, um, you know, if the next day I’m not able to go to the gym, I am not my best self. I do not do as well as I would want. It’s just a no for me. And so while I understand her, you know, intention, which is that you’ll meet more people. You never know who you’ll meet at a networking event that could change your life. And that’s true. But I’m living proof that you also never know who you meet when you take care of yourself because I met one of my clients at the gym.

One morning. I was stretching, she was stretching next to me. We started chatting. I told her about what I did. We kind of stayed friends and then she ended up working with me signing up for one of my programs because she wanted to start her own business. And she has since gone on to quit her nine to five job since working with me. She’s absolutely incredible and I’m so, so grateful to have been part of her journey. And once again, that only happened because I piped up at the gym to someone who probably just wanted to stretch and told them what I did. And in case you’re wondering if this is second nature to me. No, I get it. I know that there’s nervousness around talking to everyone who will listen and even that won’t listen about what you do.

I remember thinking like, is this woman really gonna want to hear what I do? It’s the gym. She probably just wants to keep to herself. But I did it anyway. So I pushed myself. I stayed in alignment with what I know that I’m good at. I kept my mission in the bigger picture and truthfully I wasn’t planning on taking her on as a client. I didn’t even know what she wanted to start her own business when I started talking to her. But I just had in my gut, you know the, and I remind myself of this all the time, live in alignment with your brand. Live in alignment with your purpose. And so when you just start talking about who you are and what you believe in in your story, this should someone come up naturally. And from there she learned what I did. She liked it. We kept in touch. 

And then as I said, when she was ready to start, she reached out to me. She knew that she could trust me and that I knew what I was doing. And since then she’s gone on to go full time in her business. So go to the gym, do whatever feels good to you and that keeps you in your best energy. And then don’t be shy and talk to people and you never know who you’ll end up talking to. 

The next place that I found, one of my superstar clients, she’s gone on to do amazing things since we started working together. That was also not online at first, it was at a panel  in New York that I actually was on the panel, but I don’t think you need to be on the panel. I think you can be in the audience of the panel. But yeah, it was a small networking event for a, um, for a women’s professional organization. I was the moderator, uh, and this now amazing client of mine ended up just chatting with me after she was in the audience. She was interested. We sort of kept in touch and then she, when, you know, as we kept in touch, she told me about her business. I just told her what I did and that I could help her scale it and that I thought she had a ton of potential. We went on to work together and since we, you know, have worked together now her business has over doubled in its revenue. She went from making, you know, less than she was making at her nine to five, to making, you know, over five figures a month, uh, when working together. So that never would have happened.

I mean, she did this, but our collaboration together and what we were able to create together never would have happened if I didn’t say yes to a networking event. And I’m not going to lie, even though I’m quite extroverted and or not, I’m not extroverted. I’m very outgoing. I love being talkative, but I still consider myself an introvert. I’m not one to love to go to networking events. It’s not my favorite thing. But I did it and I went and I talked about who I was and what I did and what I believed in. And then I followed up with her because she was so nice and we had a good connection. And, again, I didn’t know she would be a client. I didn’t go to this event thinking she would be a client. I didn’t even follow up with her thinking she’d be a client.

I just stayed in alignment with what I did. I heard what she did. And then when the time felt right, we ended up connecting and working together. So push yourself to go to more in person events. I think that it’s really popular to just rely on a Facebook ad or a funnel or social media and that all does have its power, especially in the comfort of your pajamas. But at the end of the day, this is always just people on the other side of the screen and they need that connection. So don’t be afraid, you know, I would recommend pushing yourself to go to at least one networking event a month or some sort of a workshop or something and just seeing who you can connect with or who they can connect you with, et cetera. 

Okay. Place number four that I have found clients from that was not online, uh, is something similar to the first one, but in a different nature. And that is college. So, as I mentioned when I started Urban 20 Something, I did not even intend for anyone to even find out about it cause I was so shy and nervous. And obviously that’s not the case anymore. But, I’m pretty, you know, any of you out there listening to this have probably heard me talk about one of my best friends, Tanya, she’s been on the show. She’s a mastermind alumni of mine and she’s just completely crushed at, in her entrepreneurial pursuit. She, she took scale, your side hustle and my signature course. Then she went on to do my mastermind. She since went on to leave her very prestigious job in the marketing world at Facebook and have her own very successful business. And she did that all like in, under a year. She’s totally a rock star. And she’s my best friend, my best friend in the world.

She was a bridesmaid in my wedding last year. We literally graduated next to each other in college. We’ve been through so much together. Um, and I love her with all my heart. And you know, when I started this, never would I have thought that one of my clients and what am I, not just a client but like a mastermind client, which my masterminds, my highest level program would be my best friend. She, you know, I am so grateful for her. Um, and really proud of how we navigated that relationship because friend and client can, you know, have some stickiness with it. And we just really were communicative about it. We text about friend things and then we did Slack and email just like the rest of my mastermind with business things. Um, and so we really had to navigate that together, but we were excited to do so because we were excited to build this together and work together. It was such a blessing. 

And you know what a cherry on top of the cake of entrepreneurship, you already are building something you love, doing something you love. And then lo and behold, one of your best friends ends up getting to be who you get to work with like often and every day and on things with. Um, and so I never ever would have thought that one of my best friends would become a client, let alone a mastermind client. But because I, you know, kept her in the loop and she literally saw what I was doing and literally saw me build my business from the inside out. I mean, your friends are going to trust you more than anyone, your friends and your family. So while we put so much work and money into nurturing, cold leads online through an email funnel, through ads, through social media, and yes, that’s all important.

Think about how many steps you can skip when your friends and family are who end up hiring you because they already know you and trust you. They know that you did this in an authentic way because they literally saw you do it. Um, and they can end up being your best clients. So stay open minded, you know, and, and I know that no one ever wants to sell to their friends, but my friends have really always just sort of elected to hire me because they’ve seen what I’ve done. I’ve never felt like I’d had to sell to a friend. So just keep sharing what you’re doing. Be authentic, be real. If you can help them then, then by all means.

Okay. The final place that I found, one of my amazing, amazing clients, another masterminder was through an app, I think it was called Sharper. I don’t know if it’s still in business. This was years ago. And it’s like Tinder for entrepreneurs. It’s like literally where you match up with entrepreneurs in your area, New York, there’s obviously so many and you guys can have coffee or lunch or whatever feels good to you just to sort of connect. Um, and yeah, years ago I met one of my current clients through that and we’ve stayed in touch for years. We’ve had a really great relationship. She has seen what I’ve done and I think it was through that, that she, you know, realized I could be the one to support her to her next level. I never would have thought that an app would lead me to an incredible relationship and a client that I get to support. And that I’m so lit up about her business and you know, that didn’t happen through a swipe up Facebook ad or Instagram ad or whatever you have it.

It happened by me doing something kind of uncomfortable downloading an app and having coffee with a complete stranger, um, and following up and staying in touch. So that’s another thread through all of this. It’s not enough to just meet people. I did follow, like I do follow up with people. I’m not afraid to reach out to people, you know, if they say no, I’m not going to like if if knows, uh, knows and no, but if there’s like kind of silence or dabbling or back and forth, I’m not afraid to just keep saying like, my door’s still open. What are you thinking? I’m here for you. Um, and you know, pursuing that. So that was really incredible as well. 

So I hope that this gets you thinking and now I have the little exercise for you. This is something I love doing with my clients. So I would love for you now, after you listen to this episode or if you’re commuting or whatever tonight when you have a chance to sit down, maybe have a glass of wine or some tea or something. When you’re feeling just kind of relaxed, write down 10 different places in your life right now that clients could be coming from and like, don’t overcomplicate this. You know, I have some clients that let’s say they are health coaches or career coaches and they want to work with busy corporate women. And so they’re like, well, where am I going to find a client? Where am I going to find someone that wants to work with me? Well, in incorporations right? Like it literally in corporations so what do you do? You host a, you, you email some, uh, event planners or coordinators at corporations. See if you can host a lunch and learn, see if you can host a workshop, see if they have networking events.

Look on LinkedIn. Do they have any sort of network that you can see if they have an event about it? Like, this doesn’t need to be a huge fancy funnel. Um, you know, if your clients are like, if you are a… let’s say you’re a social media manager or something like that, and that’s what you want to do, where are you going to find your clients on social media? Right? So what do you do? Are you DMing people that could be one way? Are you doing a live and DMing everyone that comes on live? Are you reaching out to any friends and family to see if they know anyone who needs social media support? Is it on your website that you have a full page for it? Are there social media meetups or like Instagram meetups or anything like that? Anywhere near where you’re living? Are there retreats?

The sky’s the limit. Use meetup.com use Quora, use Facebook groups, use your network, use your friends and family, use your church group. Um, use your in-laws. You know, like I’ve, I’ve gotten really creative with just reaching out to people that I don’t always, you know, know that well, but they either know someone, I know whatever the case may be, but write down 10 different places. And this exercise is powerful for two reasons. Well actually I’m going to take this a step further. I want you to please write down 10 different places you could find a client and then challenge yourself to either confirm, uh, five sales calls with them or email at least like five or 10 of them to get in a sales conversation, whatever fits with your business and be really disciplined about that and make it happen.

Now why is this a helpful exercise? For two reasons. One, you now have a list of potential clients that you can always come back to if you’re feeling like you’re frustrated or stuck. And of course then you’ll also have, you know, sales calls or sales emails going out. So that’s a huge benefit. But two, and I think even more importantly, you are training your brain to remember that you live in an abundant world. There is no lack of clients. There is no lack of money. There is no lack of resources, and you have the power to access this abundance at any time, at any time, you can do anything, and so I want you to prove to yourself, step up to the plate, prove to yourself that you know where your clients are. Prove to yourself you know where your customers are. Prove to yourself you can get at least five people on a call or at least 10 email correspondences going and remember that you are more powerful than you’ll ever be able to wrap your mind around.

You can really manifest this. You can put into play what you need in order to make your goals happen. So you might know that in theory you might have an easy time saying it. That’s all great. Now prove it to yourself and then flex that muscle and remember that you can do this. You can pull things out when you need. You create your own reality. You create your own life. You create your vision. All right, visionaries, that’s what I have for you today. If you like this episode, DM me, I’d love to hear if this helped inspire any new potential place that you could find a client, or maybe this helps you book a sales call or even a client. Reach out to me and let me know. You can always DM me with the ad on Instagram @Urban20Something. I’m pretty active on it. I’d love to hear from you guys and here is to your biggest vision.

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