Getting your first clients or customers is rarely easy, but it’s always exhilarating. We asked some of the brightest folks we know to take a stroll down memory lane to talk to us about how they got their first customers back when just starting out.

Vivian Olodun | Marketing Strategist & Author

@womenbymagda

People are more important than money in business. My marketing consultant business grew into my current marketing firm, Flourish Media by referrals. Networking and relationship building was and is the foundation of my sales technique. My business started while I was still working for Coldwell Banker Residential Real Estate as an in-house marketing support person. That luxury real estate agency invests heavily in technology to help agents support homeowners in the Buying and Selling process. It was part of my job to learn those tech tools and teach them to agents along the east coast of Florida, from offices in Jupiter, Florida down to Homestead, Florida. Before that position, I was the marketing consultant to the Miami Association of Realtors which was the largest local real estate association in the United States boosting membership of over 30,000 agents. Let’s just say, I know A LOT of people, lol. I absolutely love working with high-frequency professionals who are ready to work smarter not harder. I have a significant advantage in working with brands that want to grow their visibility online because I have lots of practice. Real Estate is one of the most saturated professions in Florida. I SPECIALIZE in helping entrepreneurs find their special sauce so that they can tell their story in a way that is irresistible to his or her ideal client. When I opened my consulting business I got serious about content marketing which supercharged my exposure to new business owners outside of the real estate market. I focussed on posting Linkedin articles that I felt would help the reader and establish my expertise. I then create Youtube videos with sales funnels that automated my sales process and utilized email marketing to nurture relationships with new people that I may never meet in person. These days, I have never been so busy! I have a solid roaster of retainer clients and a steady stream of new clientele, who find me online from the free content that I produce. I am blessed and blown away by how well, my long-game system works for me and for my clients. I am a new mom now to a beautiful baby girl. Knowing that the heavy lifting I did at the beginning of my business helps me offer top services, choose clients that I love, and provide jobs to my growing team, is something I am deeply grateful for. If I started my business again, I would take YouTube more seriously. I would make videos instead of Linkedin articles. In fact, it’s a goal of mine to produce more video content to help other women business owners do what I have done. Until then, I opened up my free Facebook Group called: FMC Where Women Do Business. I started the group YEARS ago as a space to connect with women business owners who benefit from my 501c3 nonprofit Behind The Leaf. Now that I accept members who I connect with online, the group grew well into the hundreds during the pandemic. It’s been a fun ride so far! Everyone should try flourishing, it feels great!

About me: I am Vivian Olodun, the “mini-mogul money magnet”, owner of Flourish Media a niche marketing firm based in Miami, FL USA.

Luciana Ravazzi | Dentist

Wilson Araujo @wilsonaraujophoto

I have been working as an Associate Dentist at Sharp Dentistry for over 14 years performing Invisalign, general, cosmetic, and pediatric dentistry. Our referrals always were from word of mouth mainly, although nowadays many are coming from social platforms. If I were to start over today I would continue investing in my career as I always did, keeping up with technology and cutting-edge knowledge

About me: I am an Associate Dentist at Sharp Dentistry in Coconut Grove, where we can perform all dental procedures under the same roof, ranging from regular dental cleanigns, tooth colored restorations, Invisalign, implants and more.

 

Meikhel | Founder & CEO of M.E.I. Recordings and Psalm Infinity

Initially, I built up M.E.I. Recordings’ clientele through word of mouth, LinkedIn, and social media, particularly Instagram. For the most part, I wouldn’t change the methods I used, but if I could go back, I would’ve legitimized myself sooner. For instance, I would’ve made a website sooner, gotten an office sooner, run more ads in physical and digital media, and hired someone or gotten an intern to do marketing for me.

About me: M.E.I. Recordings is a management and public relations company based in Downtown Miami, FL. Psalm Infinity is a clothing brand that donates a percentage of its proceeds to a different charity monthly.

Randa Quraan | Empowering women, self love advocate and obsessed with everything marketing

When I first started Socially Loud, I was in hustle mode. I was at every function, every event, and I took every opportunity to network. This created a burnout, that lead me to undervalue myself and time. Now I don’t search for clients, our clients find us through advertisement, word of mouth, and referrals. We are selective with the brands we work with, and focus on 6- figure brands that are capable and willing to build a dynamic brand. This shift in our process allowed us to value you our time, efforts, and expertise.

About me: I own a creative digital marketing company, we build people, brands, and community with authenticity and integrity at its core. We specialize in content creation, social media marketing, and building up passion driven brands.

  • Website: randaquraan.com
  • Linkedin: RandaQuraan
  • Twitter: Randaquraan
  • Youtube: RandaQuraan
  • Other: TikTok: RandaQuraan
  • Facebook: @AnEmpoweredYou
  • Instagram: @randaquraan @anempoweredyou