This is a great guide, and I truly thank you for posting it. I'm in the process of building my own small software business/consultancy, and one of the questions I have is how to find and keep customers. This really, really helps. Thanks!
Go to meetups. Find ways to give presentations. If there aren't appropriate meetups in your area (or the area where your target market works), start them. If you can't start a meetup, you'll probably have a hard time marketing a company anyways.
Don't talk about your service offerings at meetups and network events unless you're asked, and keep it brief. Make friends and connect re: services offline.
Definitely! I presented my PHP framework at a meetup a year ago, so its time to go again to give some more talks on sites I've used to build it and go from there. I also spent this weekend setting up my blog and thinking about all of the articles I want to write.
I just got my first customer, so I'm happy things are going well so far.
I've been working as an independent software consultant for about 5 years now. I've found the best way to get work is via past contacts. For example, if you are really good at what you do, then all of your past supervisors / colleagues know it, and when they move on to other companies / jobs, they are your best bet for getting started. This cascading effect works to your advantage as you take on more projects and meet new people.
This is the biggest question I have and it's what keeps me from venturing out there.
To me it seems like the logistics pale in comparison to getting some momentum going (like the classic college grad's dilemma of needing experience to get a job).
Comments
This is a great guide, and I truly thank you for posting it. I'm in the process of building my own small software business/consultancy, and one of the questions I have is how to find and keep customers. This really, really helps. Thanks!
Go to meetups. Find ways to give presentations. If there aren't appropriate meetups in your area (or the area where your target market works), start them. If you can't start a meetup, you'll probably have a hard time marketing a company anyways.
Don't talk about your service offerings at meetups and network events unless you're asked, and keep it brief. Make friends and connect re: services offline.
Definitely! I presented my PHP framework at a meetup a year ago, so its time to go again to give some more talks on sites I've used to build it and go from there. I also spent this weekend setting up my blog and thinking about all of the articles I want to write.
I just got my first customer, so I'm happy things are going well so far.
I've been working as an independent software consultant for about 5 years now. I've found the best way to get work is via past contacts. For example, if you are really good at what you do, then all of your past supervisors / colleagues know it, and when they move on to other companies / jobs, they are your best bet for getting started. This cascading effect works to your advantage as you take on more projects and meet new people.
This is the biggest question I have and it's what keeps me from venturing out there.
To me it seems like the logistics pale in comparison to getting some momentum going (like the classic college grad's dilemma of needing experience to get a job).
draft is up:
http://jacquesmattheij.com/be-consultant/finding-keeping-cus...