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Recently, I was asked, “How do I start getting clients without a social media presence?”

But that’s the wrong question. Most consultants, fractionals, and advisors I know aren’t getting their clients from social media (at least, this isn’t their only channel).

Here’s their secret weapon for getting clients:

High-quality referrals.

Yes, I know getting clients is now starting to sound a bit like a job search.

There’s some truth to it. But the strategies are also different. Bear with me.

In this newsletter, I’m going to share my actual client sources, why referrals, and strategies for getting your first client referrals.

First, I’ll share a few data points from my own experience:

Here’s the breakdown of where I sourced my first few consulting clients:

While this is obviously a limited data set, my direct network and referrals played a huge role in helping me land my first few clients.

And I’m not the only one. Many independent consultants and fractionals I speak with got started by leveraging their network.

Let me explain why referrals are an essential part of your growth toolkit:

Now that we’ve talked about the benefits, let’s jump into action.

Here are 5 strategies for how to leverage referrals:

Many consultants I see starting out will market themselves like:

“I’m looking for consulting clients.”

This is OK. But you can generate even more interest by communicating your finite capacity:

“I have capacity for 1 more consulting client.”

For example, if you have 10 hours/week for your consulting side hustle, then you might have room for:

By communicating this limit, you’ll likely drive more interest. There’s deep psychological reasons why this works (more FOMO/urgency effect).

These are free things you can offer to build trust with your clients regarding your capabilities and service.

I would break this down into a few different types:

For example, I’ve personally tapped Free Consultations and Speaking successfully to generate interest in consulting engagements (not always the intention, but as a side-effect).

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In your network, there are two types of people:

While most new consultants will scan their network for Potential Clients, they miss the opportunity to tap Promoters.

For example, if you’re looking to work with seed-stage startup clients, then early-stage angel investors might be superconnectors in that particular community.

By making it really easy (and motivating) for them to share your message, you stand to spread awareness of your services much further than you could by yourself.

Reduce the friction as much as possible for Promoters.

Prepare simple email templates that they can forward to people who might be good leads for your services in under 1 minute.

Example:

“I’m Sam, and I’m a fractional CFO. I have 15+ years of experience in leading the finance function at early-stage SaaS startups like X, Y, Z. I help early-stage SaaS founders who need a finance lead to help guide their fundraising, financial reporting, projections, budgeting, and accounting. Recently, I freed up enough capacity to take on 1 more client. If this sounds interesting, email me at [email protected] or visit my booking page to setup a discovery call.”

You can even create a DM version, so your Promoter can copy-paste your message on Linkedin or Twitter DMs.

By making this process as quick as possible (<1 minute), you’ll increase the likelihood that Promoters are willing to help you by many times.

But if this isn’t enough to convince a Promoter, you can also use incentives:

Promoters often get tons of requests to make referrals.

So it makes sense to provide additional benefits like an incentive.

How do you structure the incentive?

There’s two types of incentives:

My general rule of thumb is to cap the referral at no more than 20% of the deal.

Otherwise you’re probably giving away too much value.

So there you have it.

Why I think referrals are the greatest thing since Cookie Dough ice cream.

And 5 strategies you can use to start incorporating referrals into your own consulting side hustle or business today.

Reply and let me know what you think about using referrals.

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That’s all for today!

Whenever you’re ready, here’s how I can help you:

For daily insights, follow me on Linkedin or X (@dexteryz).