A great question a guy once asked me was about how to get business clients. The guy was a consultant - i.e. he was selling products and services to companies and he wanted to know if I could give him ideas how to get more business clients. Sure, I can give him and everybody else lots of ideas how to get more business clients and that is why I wrote this article.

When you are looking for new business clients, you should start with your existing partners. Companies you have worked for can endorse you to their customers. Chances are that their customers might need somebody with your skills and this is a win-win situation.

I know one speaker that I worked with, who delivers presentations to not only companies but also associations. Associations are great by the way because they have got people from all kinds of different companies who are members of that particular association.

His presentations include some advanced marketing tactics - i.e. a referral campaign and a lottery. Everybody, who gives a testimonial and gives his or her name and contact info, is eligible for the lottery. The lottery prizes are gift certificates with discounts for his presentations. This is great for him because this way he gets repetitive engagements.

I am not quite certain what his fees per presentation are but I think they are about $5,000. The gift certificates he gives are worth $500 and $250 and they must be redeemed within a specified period of time (three months, six months, or something like that). However, the main point is that the gift certificate makes people move and they take the action to hire him.

It is like burning money if they do not use it. We saw a huge jump in his repeat business because of that one strategy and it is great because he is giving something of value, the people enjoy him anyway, and now they have just got another excuse to bring him back.

It is important that people have a good reason to hire you again. I believe you can think of many intelligent ways to include such offers in your sales proposal. When you have the people in front of you, you can capitalize on that experience - just remind them later how much they liked your stuff and this will make them want it again.