New company, how to find clients?

[LDelaney]

I have finally gotten around to beginning my life long dream of startng a software company.

One problem, I have absolutely no idea where to get clients... myself and my partner are extremely experienced in working for other companies and creating great products, however, our past experience only includes working for employers, so we didn't have to actively find clients, that was up to our bosses.

We are able to create software and websites for all purposes, from the simplest website to complex systems, we offer support packages for anything we build as well. We also offer design services to help with branding of new companies.

I hope this post hasn't come across as an advertisement, I am pretty sure that is against the rules in most forums, which is why I have not mentioned the company name. All advice welcome, website is currently in development and will be live on friday evening, as of monday we begin our search for work.

Thanks in advance

Leam.

[GotLiveChat]

Hey Leam, have you tried advertising your services on Elance, Guru, etc. (freelancer sites)? There are always "jobs" posted there for your services, and then you get a chance to bid on them.
Have a portfolio of your work prepared as it'll be asked of you when the job-poster wants to see proof of skills :-)

[atownag]

Believe it or not, you can get some work on social media as well. I got my last job through Twitter. Of course, I hated it and left after 6 months, but you get the point. As GotLiveChat mentioned, make sure you have a solid portfolio touted prevalently, and have a good attitude about it. Ping me if you want any advice on networking through Twitter. There are definitely some optimal ways to approach it, and some wrong ways to approach it.

-Austin

[fthom]

Hi Leam,

Congrats on starting your new business! You should think about creating yourself a marketing plan...very much like you've probably already made a business plan. Your marketing plan should lay out the steps you need to take to promote your business, and ultimately gain clients.

If you've already done work for people, even employers, keep them in the loop too by letting them know you're running on your own two feet now. Chances are they might still be looking for someone to provide the services you used to.

Another tip is to email everyone you know to tell them that you've started your own business.

Some new businesses do work for free / they do sponsorship work to build a name for themselves in their local community and attract new clients, perhaps this is something you could try.

Hope that's of some help, and best of luck!

[Jeramie]

Join your local chamber of commerce to network with area business leaders. Social media Twitter, Facebook, Etc., Let anyone and everyone know about the services you are offering, go b2b.. If you have a good product and people buy in word of mouth will help as well. Hope this helps.

-Jeramie