How to start a consulting or agency business: Growing your client base

In part three of our four-part series, we’re breaking down the strategies you can use to source and convert your initial clients. Then, we’ll wrap up our series with the common mistakes to avoid when starting an agency or consulting business. 

(If you’re just joining us, check out part one on starting your own agency or consulting business and part two on setting up your business foundations and financial workflows.)

Once you’ve defined your business’s niche and clarified your value proposition — who you help, what problem you solve, and how — you’re ready to go to market. That means engaging your target audience and building visibility in the spaces where they spend time.

Content marketing is one of the most effective ways to build authority and attract your first clients. At its core, it’s about sharing helpful, relevant insights online that show how you think and how you solve problems. 

Over time, the goal is for your ideal clients to think of you when they’re ready to buy.

As you reach out to new prospects, you’ll want to have collateral to send to them that essentially says, “Hey, here’s what you can learn about me and how I think about solving your problem.” Content marketing supports both your inbound and outbound sales efforts.

Don’t know what to write about? Start with your audience’s pain points: 

• What keeps them up at night?
• What mistakes do they commonly make?
• What trends or changes should they be thinking about?

Answering these questions will give you a steady stream of ideas and help ensure your content is useful, not just promotional. Remember: Good content doubles as sales collateral. When you reach out to a new lead, it helps to have something to share that shows how you think and what you care about. 

Next, consider which content formats you’re most comfortable with, where you can share your content that puts it in front of the eyes of your customers, and what you can create consistently and distribute effectively. 

Some common formats include:

• Blog posts
• LinkedIn updates
• Monthly PDF guides that double as lead magnets 
• YouTube videos
• Webinars
• Email newsletters for your list
• Social media thought leadership across your main platforms 

You don’t need to do everything. Start where your clients are most likely to notice your content and build from there. 

Make sure your content gets found

Creating valuable content is only half the battle. To reach new people, it needs to be discoverable. While LinkedIn is great for some industries, YouTube and email newsletters may work best for others. Think about where your customers spend their time.

SEO helps strangers find your site — even if they’ve never heard of you. To get started, try:

• Researching keywords in your niche
• Creating helpful pillar pages
• Building internal links between your content
• Writing guest posts for relevant publications
• Monitoring your rankings and adjusting over time

As you build your online presence, don’t forget about your existing relationships. Your early network can be one of your most effective channels for landing first clients — if you tap into it intentionally. 

That old phrase, “if you build it, they will come,” sounds nice, but it doesn’t apply to consulting. Even with a polished brand and great services, you still need to get in front of people and start conversations. 

If outreach feels uncomfortable, start small. Focus on people who already know and trust you.

Here’s how to start reaching out in a structured way:

1. Make a list of 100 people in your professional network.
2. Send personalized messages announcing your business.
3. Offer free strategy calls to a few warm contacts.
4. Share useful ideas or tools before asking for any business.
5. If the timing isn’t right for a potential client initially, follow up every three to six months.

You can also grow your network by getting involved in your space. Here are some approaches: 

• Join industry associations.
• Attend conferences or webinars.
• Participate in online communities.
• Host meetups or workshops.
• Collaborate with other service providers.

You might have sat on sales calls — but running one yourself can feel unfamiliar. Here’s a structure you can follow to guide the conversation and stay focused:

1. Build rapport. (~5 minutes)
2. Understand their situation. (~15 minutes)
3. Identify specific pain points. (~10 minutes)
4. Explore the impact of those problems. (~10 minutes)
5. Present your high-level solution. (~15 minutes)
6. Discuss next steps. (~5 minutes)

After the call, follow up quickly — ideally within 24 hours. Recap what you heard, reinforce your value, and offer clear ways to move forward. 

Here are some tips that can work well for consultants and agencies:

• Send a follow-up email within 24 hours.
• Include two to three pricing options.
• Emphasize results, not just features.
• Add a clear timeline.
• Link to relevant case studies or examples (even if they’re spec work).
• Include a clear call to action — whether that’s a proposal, a follow-up, or a decision point.

When you’re just starting out, you may not have case studies or testimonials yet. That’s OK. The key is to lower the perceived risk for your first few clients, so they feel confident taking a chance on you.

Here are a few ways to make that happen: 

1. Offer pilot programs. Discount your services for the first three to five clients in exchange for testimonials and case studies.
2. Create spec work. Share insights and recommendations based on public data or companies in your niche. This can serve as your early “portfolio.”
3. Partner with agencies. Subcontract under more established firms to gain experience and build a track record
4. Start with your employer. If you’re still in a full-time role, see if you can offer your services to your employer as a vendor or contractor. If you’ve done great work, they may be open to it.

Launching your go-to-market strategy can be uncomfortable at first; after all, not everyone is a natural “seller.” But it’s absolutely critical to running a successful agency or consulting business. By starting small with organic content and one-off messages to people in your network, you can begin to build your sales muscle. Soon, it’ll start to become second nature.

In the final part of this series, we’re talking about top mistakes to avoid when building your business.