One of the most frequently asked questions I get is: “How do you get clients fast”.

So today I want to share the “warm letter” strategy with you to help you get new clients in the next 30 days, or less.

The best thing about this strategy is you can do it when you just start out and need that very first client. It  doesn’t cost a lot of money, you do not need to be a marketing guru, and you don’t need a fancy pansy website to have this work for you.

This strategy is about making a list of everybody you personally know. Then write and send a warm letter to this list.

What is a Warm Letter

A warm letter is a letter that you send to all the people you know to tell them what your business is all about. It’s like sending a letter to a friend and informing him about your new business: what you do, the typical clients you work with and how you help those clients. So it is written in a conversational style, and has nothing “salesy” about it.

When you write to someone you do not have daily contact with, you can just quickly remind them how you know them and then continue to inform them about your business, what you do, how you help your clients and how your clients benefit from your services.

Then end the letter with a specific purpose you have in mind: e.g. asking if they know someone that can benefit from what you offer (i.e. getting a referral) or asking the person to get in touch with you for a short discussion or discovery session to learn more about what you offer.

Who do you write this warm letter to

1)    Everybody you know

This includes family, friends, previous colleagues, members of your church, fellow members of clubs and associations, even your hair stylist, personal trainer, etc. It should be quite a number of people, because on average most of us know more that 100-200 people personally.

The thing is, your family and friends and also the people you come in contact with on a daily basis have no idea what your business is about, but they can be a great potential source for referrals.

So the purpose of writing a warm letter to your family, friends and connections is to ask them if they know someone that can benefit from what you offer.  Some people will be delighted to hear more about what you do and will have a referral or two ready to send your way.

With a simple strategy like this, you can have many new referrals to follow up with and convert into paying clients. You might even pick up a client from someone who received this warm letter from you.

2)    People you want to work with

Perhaps you’ve identified people who you would love to work with and you know your services can be of great benefit to them. So, send them a “warm letter” and tell them about it! You’ll be surprised at the feedback you received.

The same sentiment applies here in that the letter is conversational and non-salesy. It merely informs them of what you do and that you really think you can help them. Even if you are hesitant and afraid to send out warm letters to people you want to work with, just think about it like this: What do you have to lose? Absolutely nothing! But you have a lot to gain! So send out those letters.

Here are a couple of real life responses you might receive.

1)    “Thanks for the letter, but I’m not really interested.” Well, a response like that is okay. Not everybody will work with you anyway.

2)    “Thanks for the letter, but right now I can’t work with you – perhaps at a later stage.” This is a great response, because this is now a hot prospect that you can follow up with later on.

3)    “Thanks for the letter. I’d love to have a discussion with you to take this further!” This is a fantastic response, because now you can turn this person into a paying client during your follow-up discussion.

4)    And from some people you’ll receive no response at all – which is also okay (you still didn’t lose anything)

Benefits of a warm letter

Using a warm letter is an easy, simple and cost-effective marketing strategy that works. Some of the reasons are:

• You can do it when you just start out to spread the word about your business.
• You can do it even when you are years in business.
• You can do it for every new offer / service / product in your business, to update your network about changes in your business.
• Through your letter you educate your “world” about what you do and this can have long term benefits.
• You get referrals – sometimes from the most unexpected places.
• You get many new leads that you can follow up with to convert into paying clients.
• It gives instant results, but also has long term benefits and can send clients your way for years to come because people in your life now know what you do.

So, what I want you to take away from this article is that getting clients doesn’t need to be difficult or expensive… and sometimes your best clients might be right under your nose. So go and make a list of everybody you know. Draft your warm letter. Put a personal touch to it. And send it out. That’s it!

To Your Continued Success

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