When I started Distressed Loan Advisors 9 years ago, I knew I wanted to help people who were struggling to repay their SBA loans. What I didn’t know was HOW I was going to find them. Over the years, I figured out a few main ways to attract clients. I’ll share them with you below:
1) Google Adwords – When the Great Recession hit, being able to deliver competent and ethical services was like having selling bottled water in the desert. When stuff goes wrong, the first thing people usually do is turn to their trusted most advisor….Google. While the competition and cost were both high, it was still worth $12 per click, because it was bringing in enough business to justify pay several thousand dollars per month on Google Adwords.
2) Write and Distribute Original and High Quality Content – I found around 8-10 platforms that were looking for high quality and original content. The trick here is to write about things people are actually looking for. When it come to SBA default, there was no shortage of questions or topics, and since I was fresh out of a bank workout department, nobody had more to write about than I did.
3) SEO – In addition to writing articles for other platforms, I also added them to my own website. Over time, Google started to notice my efforts. The key was that it was consistent, original, high quality content. Eventually, my rankings were so high that I didn’t have to pay for Google Adwords. If you are reading this article, it’s because of my SEO efforts. I’m no expert on SEO, so I kept it relatively simple. Find the words and phrases people are searching for, write helpful articles, and there you have it. Keep in mind that SEO takes time. But if you are consistent, and have the right niche, results will come.
4) Referrals – I reached out to CPAs. Many clients turn to their tax finance guy when business is not going well. In most cases, they didn’t have any clients at that moment, but the key was to make sure that when that day came that their client had a loan issue, they know who to call.
5) Online Communities – I spent a lot of time posting articles, answering people’s questions, and contributing to peoples conversations. This kind of thing is a slow burn, kind of like #4 above, but if you are consistently active, you will eventually become known as a “go to” person with regards to your particular topic.
The best piece of advice that I can give is no matter how many “how to” articles you read, finding clients is really, really hard, and it’s not instant. You need to be committed to the long haul. After all, what people want is someone who has been at it a while, not just someone who has a passing interest in whatever you are selling.