State Of Client Acquisition – Details, episodes & analysis

Treat the business like a unique, autonomous creature you have been given stewardship over.
This is the State of Client Acquisition Podcast - where we dissect the art and science of client acquisition for consultants, B2B coaches, and agency owners.
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And if you'd like us to help you build client acquisition systems for your consulting business, watch this video and book a call: www.AlphaLeadAcademy.com

I share a 9-point checklist to help vet lead generation service providers to protect against scams. I recount my encounter with a prospect who was defrauded, pointing out red flags like founders not publishing content, vague testimonials, and a sloppy online presence. I also discuss issues during sales calls, such as not asking detailed business specifics or offering uniform pricing regardless of client value. I recommend using sales calls as learning opportunities and advise against using leadgen services unless you've mastered booking sales calls independently.
This is the State of Client Acquisition Podcast - where we dissect the art and science of client acquisition for consultants, B2B coaches, and agency owners.
Follow me on
⁠YouTube⁠｜⁠LinkedIn⁠ ｜⁠Email (Newsletter)
And if you'd like us to help you build client acquisition systems for your consulting business, watch this video and book a call: www.AlphaLeadAcademy.com

About this video: Podcasts, communities, content, and other forms of marketing - all of that is great. But for B2B Consultants who need clients fast, these methods take too long to prove that they can bring in strangers as clients. We need a faster way to show whether an offer works or not. This video shows the Straight Line Approach that can get you sales calls with strangers in as little as 1-2 weeks. Here's the key takeaway: Sales Before Marketing. Become great at sales before you become known, liked and trusted.
This is the State of Client Acquisition Podcast - where we dissect the art and science of client acquisition for consultants, B2B coaches, and agency owners.
Follow me on
⁠YouTube⁠｜⁠LinkedIn⁠ ｜⁠Email (Newsletter)
And if you'd like us to help you build client acquisition systems for your consulting business, watch this video and book a call: www.AlphaLeadAcademy.com

Ice Cold Showers and Outbound Prospecting have many similarities, beyond the "it's unpleasant but good for you" aspect. In this episode, I explore these. Also, on top of the show, I discuss a recent sales failure and how I am dealing with it.   

The State Of Client Acquisition (www.StateOfClientAcquisition.com) is an Ask-Me-Anything style podcast that covers all aspects of client acquisition for coaches, consultants and small B2B. We focus on LinkedIn organic and on YOU, the listener. Submit a question on www.StateOfClientAcquisition.com.  

Watch the free Alpha Lead Academy Training on how to win clients on LinkedIn: https://www.michalbohanes.com/webinar-lp

I was 16 and was looking for a summer job. A family friend hooked me up with a gardening shop. Unbeknownst to me, he also fixed up my salary. The owner was willing to pay $x, and so our friend added another $x on top of it which the shop owner was paying me. I only learned about it a few years later. 

When I started my business in 2016, I was relying on my network, and for 2 years I've just been cruising with that. And then the network was exhausted. 

All of these stories just show what a bad idea it is to rely on your network to be successful in business. You're in a cocoon of inflated demand while you're offering sub-par products or services. 

The message: Use your network as a launch pad for a month or two, but then go right out there into the fierce choppy waters of the open market and prove your worth there. 

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The State Of Client Acquisition (www.StateOfClientAcquisition.com) is an Ask-Me-Anything style podcast that covers all aspects of client acquisition for coaches, consultants and small B2B. We focus on LinkedIn organic and on YOU, the listener. Submit a question on www.StateOfClientAcquisition.com.

Watch the free Alpha Lead Academy Training on how to win clients on LinkedIn: https://www.michalbohanes.com/webinar-lp

In today's episode I dig into whether Business Consultants should use Facebook to grow their business, in which circumstances they should do so and which features of Facebook in particular they should use. 

The State Of Client Acquisition (www.StateOfClientAcquisition.com) is an Ask-Me-Anything style podcast that covers all aspects of client acquisition for coaches, consultants and small B2B. We focus on LinkedIn organic and on YOU, the listener. Submit a question on www.StateOfClientAcquisition.com

Watch the free Alpha Lead Academy Training on how to win clients on LinkedIn: https://www.michalbohanes.com/webinar-lp

In today’s episode I reflect on my journey to $29k revenue per month, a milestone I hit in March 2021.

Truth is it took me unnecessarily long to get there (4.5 years). And so I thought about what I would have done differently if I could go back in time. 

After this reflection, I answer two listeners’ questions about outbound prospecting and about personal brand on LinkedIn.

Timestamps:

2:15 - Lesson 1: Do you have a business or are you just doing gigs? 

5:15 - Lesson 2: Friends? Great. Wider Network? Meh

9:50 - Lesson 3: Get market validation (with strangers) fast

12:50 - Lesson 3b: Don’t waste time on building an elaborate website

14:30 - Lesson 4: Eliminate side hustles

19:40 - Lesson 5: Design the business for later scalability

22:25 - Listener question about starting LinkedIn outbound conversations with a “problem question”

30:35 - Listener question: How do I build a personal brand on LinkedIn as I’m starting out with my business? 

The State Of Client Acquisition (www.StateOfClientAcquisition.com) is an Ask-Me-Anything style podcast that covers all aspects of client acquisition for coaches, consultants and small B2B. We focus on LinkedIn organic and on YOU, the listener. Submit a question on www.StateOfClientAcquisition.com.

Watch the free Alpha Lead Academy Training on how to win clients on LinkedIn: https://www.michalbohanes.com/webinar-lp

This is an interview with me by Kyle Hamer on the Summit Podcast, originally published here: 

https://tunein.com/podcasts/Business--Economics-Podcasts/SUMMIT-p1234956/?topicId=159584413

Timestamps: 

00:01:22 Intro

00:02:40 How we met - Kyle's baby isn't ugly 

00:03:55 The Cocktail Party Comparison

00:05:30 My background

00:08:30 My LinkedIn philosophy

00:11:00 Breakdown of the conversation Kyle and I had on LinkedIn

00:19:40 How to scale this approach

00:25:10 Does this work with a Team of SDRs? 

00:32:40 What success rates can be expected with this approach

00:39:30 How do you find the right people on LinkedIn?

00:44:30 The positive upside from organic outreach

The State Of Client Acquisition (www.StateOfClientAcquisition.com) is an Ask-Me-Anything style podcast that covers all aspects of client acquisition for coaches, consultants and small B2B. We focus on LinkedIn organic and on YOU, the listener. So if you have a question, go to www.StateOfClientAcquisition.com.

Watch the free Alpha Lead Academy Training on how to win clients on LinkedIn: https://www.michalbohanes.com/webinar-lp

This is a free consultation call I did with Francesco, a gentleman who is starting a paid ads agency for eco-conscious brands. We cover the basics of LinkedIn client acquisition, where to find clients on LinkedIn, how to start conversations, how to deal with getting ghosted, how to know what kind of marketing/sales method to choose, how to do content.   

Timestamps: 

00:15:00​ Intro

00:01:30​ Advantage of using personalized e-mail content

00:05:50​ Reasons not to use automated e-mails

00:08:35​ Purpose of using sales navigator

00:09:10​ Two ways to find prospective clients on LinkedIn

00:11:55​ How to start conversations on LinkedIn - dating analogy

00:16:10​ Secret to starting conversations: Genuinely caring about other people

00:18:10​ How to pick from among different marketing / business development methods & coaches

00:21:30​ What to do when someone ghosts you on LinkedIn

00:25:30​ How to deal with ghosting in general

00:28:20​ Using google sheets as CRM

00:29:20​ What to do every day on LinkedIn when you're early stage

00:31:20​ Content review

The State Of Client Acquisition (www.StateOfClientAcquisition.com) is an Ask-Me-Anything style podcast that covers all aspects of client acquisition for coaches, consultants and small B2B. We focus on LinkedIn organic and on YOU, the listener. So if you have a question, go to www.StateOfClientAcquisition.com.

The State Of Client Acquisition (www.StateOfClientAcquisition.com) is an Ask-Me-Anything style podcast that covers all aspects of client acquisition for coaches, consultants and small B2B CEO. We focus on LinkedIn organic and on YOU, the listener. So if you have a question, go to www.StateOfClientAcquisition.com.   

This week, I have my friend Karl Morningstar on the show and we discuss his latest client acquisition tactics on LinkedIn. We also cover the 3 outbound conversations that got me clients in March 2021. We go through them word by word and cover the psychology of outbound social selling. 

Time Stamps:  02:00 - What Karl is Doing on LinkedIn to get clients 08:30 - Karl enjoys my content but doesn't engage: Typical for successful decision-makers.  12:00 - Why I'd rather have one quality comment from an ideal prospect than 100 likes from irrelevant people 13:00 - Example 1 of my outbound conversations that got me a client in March 18:35 - Example 2  24:00 - Example 3 30:00 - Do I wait until people are live on LinkedIn?  31:00 - Do I follow up with people who didn't respond?  32:00 - Do I do anything with people who never engage? Disconnect them or scrape their email address?