How to Get Customers for a New Business

A new business usually gets its first customers from people who already trust the owner. People who don't know you come later, once they can find your business online and check it. Until then, the first weeks can be quiet. That's when every ad and "email list for sale" offer starts to look tempting.

So while you ask the people you know, build an online presence that strangers can find and check. The main sources of first customers are:

• people who know you, and their referrals
• partners
• reviews
• a Google Business Profile, if you're eligible
• listings on maps and in directories
• a landing page that explains the offer

Paid ads and cold email can bring customers faster. But they send people to that online presence, so they work better once there's something useful to find. So we'll follow you through those first months, in the order these choices usually come up.

The first week: someone hears your name and searches for it

Your first lead probably won't come from a clever tactic. Most guides hand you ten or fifteen of them. Typical ones are networking and discounts, or webinars and podcasts. They treat each one as if it worked on its own. In practice, almost every channel ends with a person searching for your business.

Say a friend passes on your name, or someone sees your ad. Or a partner mentions you in a meeting. The next thing that person does is search for your company. If the search shows very little, the recommendation often goes no further.

So it helps to know how Google picks which local businesses to show. It names three factors:

1. Relevance: "how well a Business Profile matches what someone is searching for".
2. Distance: "how far each business is from the customer who's searching".
3. Prominence: "how well-known a business is", based on things like links and the number of reviews.

In Google's words, "More reviews and positive ratings can help your business's local ranking."

Google is also clear about money. "There's no way to request or pay for a better local ranking on Google." For you, that means two things. Relevance and distance depend on complete, accurate profile details, which you control from day one. Prominence takes longer, because reviews and links build up over months.

Setting up the online pieces new customers will find

You only need a few basic pieces, and each one has its own article on this blog. The first is a Google Business Profile, the free listing that shows up on Google Maps and in local results. Google asks you to keep it complete. That includes:

• the address, if customers can visit
• opening hours, including special hours
• a business category
• details such as parking or Wi-Fi

The name on the profile must be your real-world business name. Google doesn't allow taglines or keywords in it, and website addresses and hours aren't allowed either. Adding keywords to the name is a common way to get into trouble. More on the profile is in What Is a Google Business Profile and Why a New Business Needs One.

Listings on other maps and in directories give customers more places to come across you. That's covered in Business Directories Explained: Which Listings a New Business Needs and Why.

Then there's a landing page. That's where you explain what you do, show proof of your work and make it quick to get in touch. Your ads, listings and social pages will all point people there. See Do You Need a Website for a Small Business? Website vs Landing Page.

The Google profile address question that stops many owners

When you sit down to create the profile, the eligibility rules may catch you off guard. That's especially true if you live outside the US and run a US company from a rented address.

Google's rule is that "a business must make in-person contact with customers during its stated hours". So online-only brands and organizations don't qualify. Google sets more rules for addresses:

• A rented mailing address where you don't operate: "that location isn't eligible for a Business Profile".
• P.O. boxes and mailboxes in a remote location aren't accepted.
• Co-working spaces are allowed only with clear signage.
• In a co-working space, you also need to receive customers during business hours and have your own team working there.

Maybe you have no storefront and travel to your customers, like a plumber or a cleaner. That's a service-area business. It can have a profile, and the address is usually hidden. Google says the service area shouldn't go much beyond about two hours of driving time. And a service-area business can't list a virtual office unless it's staffed during business hours.

If your business doesn't qualify, people can still find it on your landing page and on your social media pages. Directories that accept online businesses and press coverage help too. The address rules themselves are compared in Virtual Address vs PO Box vs Physical Address: Which Can Your Business Use.

Deciding whether to set up the profile yourself

Now you face a choice: do the profile work yourself, or bring in help? The work includes several tasks:

1. choosing the right category and address type
2. writing a description that follows Google's rules
3. adding photos
4. passing verification
5. dealing with rejections

Delays usually come from verification, an address Google won't accept or a suspended profile. Doing it yourself is realistic if you have a storefront, a clear category and the time. The risk of losing weeks is higher if you have no US storefront or need many listings at once. It's also higher if a profile was already rejected. That's usually when owners bring in help. This profile work is part of what our team does when we launch new companies in the US. We also build the listings and the landing page that customers find next. Either way, answering customers and doing the work stays with you.

Before you reach out: defining the customers you want

Once people can find you, the next question is who you want them to be. Every channel works better when you can describe your customer in a few lines. You need to know:

• who has the problem you solve
• where they are (a city, an industry, a type of company)
• what words they use when they search
• why they'd choose you over someone else

The U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) suggests a written marketing plan. For a new business, a one-page version is usually enough to start. The SBA's plan covers:

• the target market
• your competitive advantage
• a sales plan
• goals
• an action plan (channels, pricing, promotions and support after the sale)
• a budget
• a way to measure results

The first month: getting more customers from people who trust you

With your customer in mind, start where it costs the least. These channels cost time rather than money. If your budget is small, they're often where your first sales happen.

Begin with friends and family, former colleagues and past clients. Tell them what you now do. That's usually the quickest way to a first sale, because these people already trust you. A pitch tends to make people uncomfortable, so ask whether they know someone who might need the service.

Soon you'll finish your first jobs. Happy customers can recommend you, but most of them only do it when asked. The best moment to ask is right after a good result, when the customer is pleased with the work. At the start, a direct personal request works better than a formal referral program. You can set up a program later, once you have more customers.

You may also notice businesses that sell different things to the same people as you. An accountant and a business lawyer are a typical pair. You can recommend each other, run an event or make a joint offer, and neither of you loses a sale.

And some places put you in front of people who buy locally: a local chamber of commerce, industry meetups and community events. Have one clear sentence that explains what you do. A long explanation is soon forgotten.

The first reviews: asking without breaking the rules

After a few jobs, you'll want reviews. They help in two ways. They count toward Google's prominence factor, and they help a stranger decide whether to trust you.

Google lets you ask customers for reviews and share a Google link or a QR code. Customers need a Google Account to post one. Google also recommends replying to reviews, including negative ones. It notes that "Positive reviews and helpful replies can help your business stand out". It adds that a "mix of positive and negative feedback often feels more trustworthy."

The limits are strict.

Google prohibits "Offering incentives, like free or discounted goods or services, in exchange for customers to post reviews."

The FTC Consumer Reviews and Testimonials Rule has been in force since October 21, 2024. It bans:

• fake reviews, including ones written by AI
• buying reviews of a particular sentiment
• undisclosed reviews by company insiders
• suppressing reviews through threats
• buying fake social media signals, such as bot followers

The FTC can seek civil penalties against knowing violators. A general request is allowed, though. For example, you can email all your buyers and ask for a review. Some popular guides still tell you to give a discount for a testimonial. That advice now conflicts with both Google's policy and the federal rule.

Showing you're real: social pages, content and press

People who find you will also check whether the company is active. For a new business, that's mostly what social pages are for. You don't need an account on every platform. The ones your customers already use are enough. Keep them current with recent work, real photos and news.

Content shows you know your field. That can be articles, short videos or answers to common customer questions. A press release about your launch gives people one more place to read about the company, which helps with trust. But it's a credibility tool, and it doesn't guarantee sales. More on this is in What Is a Press Release and What Does It Do for a New Business.

When you're ready to pay: ads that need somewhere to land

At some point the free channels feel slow, and you open an ad account. Paid and outbound channels can bring customers faster. But each customer costs more money or more hours, and most expensive mistakes happen here.

Ads put you in front of people right away, without waiting for reviews to build up. What an ad buys, though, is a click. What happens after the click decides whether the money was well spent.

In our work with clients, search ads sent straight to a website with no funnel lose money. Visitors land on the homepage, look around and leave. A landing page with a funnel works better:

1. it's built around one offer
2. it has one next step
3. it gives you a way to follow up with people who weren't ready to buy on the first visit

Start with a small test, because it's easier to learn from than a large campaign. You need one offer and one page. You also need a way to see which request came from which ad.

The offer in your inbox: a list of thousands of emails

Around the same time, you'll probably get an offer to buy an email list. Cold outreach means contacting people who don't know you yet. It costs little money but a lot of time, and a bought list looks like a way to skip the work.

In our experience, bought lists lead to spam reports and complaints, including on the BBB. A new company's reputation suffers before it's had a chance to build one. Cold email works better when you choose the people on purpose and follow the law.

Commercial email in the US is governed by the CAN-SPAM Act. The FTC lists these requirements:

• Header information (From, To, Reply-To) must be accurate.
• The subject line must not be misleading.
• The message must clearly say it's an ad.
• It must include a valid physical postal address.
• That can be a street address, a P.O. box registered with USPS or a registered private mailbox.
• It must clearly explain how to opt out of future emails.
• Opt-out requests must be honored within 10 business days.
• The opt-out option must keep working for at least 30 days after sending.
• You stay responsible if another company sends emails for you.

Each separate email that breaks the law can bring penalties of up to $53,088.

A slow week: the urge to discount

On a quiet week, a first-time discount can look like the answer. It can bring people in. But it can also attract buyers who came only for the low price and leave when it ends.

A free trial or a free first job can give you a case study. It can also attract people who never planned to pay. Set a clear limit and an end date before you make the offer, and you avoid most of these problems.

A few months in: which channels bring more customers

By now you've tried several channels, and it helps to see them side by side. The table reflects our general view, not measured data. Results depend on your industry, location and offer.

To know which ones actually bring customers, compare what you spend on marketing with the revenue it brings. That's the SBA's advice, and it gives you your return on investment (ROI). Word of mouth is harder to measure. So ask every new customer how they heard about you, and write it down.

For each channel, keep a basic record:

• inquiries
• paying customers
• money spent
• hours spent

That's enough to see which channels deserve more attention and which you can drop. The SBA also suggests updating your marketing plan at least once a year.

The early years are when this matters most. The Bureau of Labor Statistics tracked private-sector establishments that opened in March 2013. Of those, 79.6% were still operating after one year, 50.6% after five years and 34.7% after ten. These figures count locations, not whole companies. But they show how many businesses close while they're still building a steady flow of customers.

Where the first months usually go wrong

Even with the right channels, the same mistakes come up again and again in our work. The most common one is having almost nothing on Google. The people sent by referrals and ads then find an empty search result.

Close behind is planning to handle SEO and GEO yourself. (That's visibility in search engines and in AI answers.) In our experience, owners who plan this often never get to it. And the company never grows in search results or AI answers.

Other mistakes come up regularly too:

1. a profile address Google doesn't accept, like a virtual office or a P.O. box (this can end in a rejected or suspended profile)
2. keywords added to the business name on the profile
3. discounts or gifts in exchange for reviews
4. bulk email to a bought list
5. ads pointed at a homepage with no funnel
6. too many channels at once, so none gets enough attention and you can't tell which works
7. no follow-up after the first message (a polite second contact often gets the reply)

What to do this month

Start by searching for your business the way a customer would. If little comes up, fix that before you pay for ads or outreach. Check whether you're eligible for a Google Business Profile before you create one.

Then ask the people who already know you for introductions and honest reviews. Write down where each new customer came from. If you have no US storefront or a profile was already rejected, getting help can save you weeks. More on the profile is in What Is a Google Business Profile and Why a New Business Needs One.