Attract corporate clients by taking steps offline 

There are several universal principles that apply to attracting all types of clients. But, if you really want to focus mainly on corporate clients, there are some areas where your approach will need to be different.

List-building is essential, whether you want corporate or individual clients, but to effectively build your list of corporate clients, you'll need to employ alternative methods to the usual online blogs, teleseminars and social media.

While these do increase your exposure and will help to grow your list, attracting corporate clients requires you to be doing a lot more offline rather than online. This is the most significant difference between being a magnet for corporate clients as opposed to individuals.

Get your articles published

Not so much online as in trade magazines that are read by your target audience. This is a phenomenal way to build your list, and it will also enhance your credibility and expertise in your area. When a potential client sees your name attached to a publication that they trust and turn to for trends and advice, they will be more than eager to get on your list.

As tempting as it may be not to, limit sending companies your automatic newsletters or articles online

Corporations and large companies often have spam filters in place that will intercept your material before it's ever read. Treat your valuable content better than that by making sure it gets into the hands of your intended target market through print media.

Advertise at the back of the trade magazines that are prominent in your field.

To start with, pick the ones that you read yourself. Your ad doesn't have to be large or costly. A small classified ad offering your free report can generate some very good leads for you. In fact, when I was first venturing into the corporate track I landed a £50,000 contract with just a small classified ad.

Do an offline mailing

This can actually help you to build your online list for later, as well. For example, one of my clients wanted to target corporate women. She put together a mailing campaign promoting a teleseminar to 500 people, and received responses from 125 people. While she physically put something in the post, the contact information she received back included email addresses, which she added to her list. Once you establish a relationship offline, you will be able to maintain it by contacting your clients online whenever you want.

If you're going to atract corporate clients, you need to think in terms of offline, as well as online, marketing strategies. Of course you shouldn't abandon the benefits that online exposure can give you, but don't discount the advantages of doing business the old-fashioned way, before the advances of modern technology made it so easy to reach large numbers of people at once.

About the Author

Bernadette Doyle specializes in helping entrepreneurs attract a steady stream of ideal clients. If you want to get clients calling you instead of you calling them, sign up for her free weekly e-zine at http://www.clientmagnets.com