I read a question on Quora yesterday.
I have seen this question asked thousands of times over the years between different websites.
“How can I find clients or customers?”
If you want to feel the joy of building a full time, professional blogging career you need to shift your mindset from being The Hunter to being The Hunted.
Watch this quick 1 minute video I recorded from the dark, shadowy Upper West Side:
Most bloggers you meet online are The Hunters. Chasing. Straining. Striving. Desperately running after clients, customers, traffic, comments, social media shares, email list subscribers. Hunting. Trying to find.
Check the nature of the above question: “How can I find clients or customers?”
The individual believes they need to actively pursue, look for or in most cases hurriedly chase clients or customers to grow a successful business.
You never win with this approach. You either fail miserably 99% of the time as your desperation repels customers. Or you build a respectable customer or client base but run yourself ragged in so doing, becoming completely exhausted, burning out and not enjoying the spoils of your work.
I have been on both sides of the fence. I much prefer when I help folks, promote other bloggers, comment on their blogs, guest post on their blogs and watch clients and customers flow to me.
I needed to be patient to be The Hunted versus being The Hunter but this ride, even though uncomfortable at times, gets easier and easier over the long run. Because it is easier to generously help people, to have fun, to spread love and to have a consulting client find my blog, hunting me, pursuing me to help them.
It is easier to allow, then to chase. It is easier to allow, then to hunt.
You don’t *find* clients and customers. You help people for free. You serve people for free. You build your friend networking by promoting other bloggers. Then, clients and customers find you.
Example
Look at the featured image of this post.
Hadi, G and Robin commented in response to the new audiobook I just released.
Each blogger is – or will be – an audiobook customer of mine. I did not find them. They found me. I did not chase them, or email them individually, desperately begging them to buy my audiobook.
I did not throw money mindlessly at Facebook ads to find audiobook customers. I allowed the audiobook customers to come to me.
I did not hunt. I was the hunted.
These 3 sales are from comments alone, 1 day after the audiobook release. Many lurkers will find you and become customers or clients from an even more passive, less engaged, space.
How to Become The Hunted
- run a content-rich, helpful self-hosted WordPress blog
- create and publish helpful blog posts persistently
- always stay on topic to become a go-to blogger in your niche
- guest post on top blogs in your niche
- write effective, thorough comments on top blogs in your niche
- freely promote top bloggers in your niche
Just because you are becoming The Hunted does not mean you skip out on the work. But the work will be more fun, more rewarding, more fulfilling and you’ll feel like you’re spreading love versus desperately trying to chase down and find customers or clients.
I spoke to a repeat client a few weeks ago. She told me during one of our calls how the second she found my blog she knew I was her coach. No questions. She chose me.
She even noted during our latest call how she could have chosen millions of blogging coaches, any one in the world, but she chose me.
This is a perfect example of being The Hunted; creating value, serving people, making friends, having fun, spreading love and allowing your perfect clients and customers to find you, taking stress, straining, desperately chasing and hunting out of the equation.