Easy Scaling with Jordan Schanda King

Finding Clients | Referrals and relationships with Kimberly Tara

January 08, 2023 Jordan Schanda King / Kimberly Tara Episode 28
Easy Scaling with Jordan Schanda King
Finding Clients | Referrals and relationships with Kimberly Tara
Show Notes Transcript

For the full show notes and access to resources mentioned in this episode visit https://www.easyscaling.com/blog/episode28

This episode is part of our mini-series all about finding clients. Tune in as we discuss all the ways to find clients in the online space and get real about what works and what doesn’t. You’ll hear practical strategies and transparent conversations about where clients really come from so that you can hopefully find more clients and just feel normal about where you’re at now.

In this episode, we’re talking with Kimberly Tara. Kimberly is a wife, mom to 4 little kids, and a multi-passionate entrepreneur. She is a CPA & Certified Tax Coach who started her tax practice 6 years ago. Kimberly focuses on profit & tax strategy for female small business owners. She also is the host of the Messy Wonderful podcast and blog which focuses on motherhood, money & business. She is passionate about educating female business owners as well as young children on all things tax, finance & entrepreneurship. Kimberly is all about finding the balance to live your best life and be successful at what matters most!

Topics discussed:

  • Practical tips for getting referrals
  • Balancing serving clients with having boundaries
  • Bringing old-fashioned networking to the virtual world
  • Selling in the DMs (for real)
  • Being authentic and genuinely wanting to help
  • The myth of giving away too much for free
  • How to run sales calls effectively
  • Getting pickier about your clients
  • Owning your success and being true to yourself

Top tip or advice for finding clients:

  • Service your current clients well so that they stay clients. They will also recommend you to their friends. If you love what you do, and do a good job, this is pretty easy!

Connect with Jordan Schanda King:

Connect with this week’s guest, Kimberly Tara:

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Finding Clients | Referrals and relationships with Kimberly Tara

Jordan: Hello. Hello. Welcome to our miniseries all about finding clients. This is a fun one. There are so many ways to find clients in the online business space, and what we're gonna do in this series is. tell stories, share tips, dive into practical and tactical strategies for finding clients, what works, what doesn't work, and really take a transparent, open approach to talking about where clients are really coming from, so that hopefully you can apply some of this to, to your own business and also so that you can just feel normal , because there is no one way to do it.

So I hope you enjoy this series. 

Alrighty. In this episode, we are chatting with Kimberly Tara. Kimberly is one of our amazing clients inside of the advisory and the accelerator. She is a wife and a mom of four little kids, all five and under, and she's a multi-passionate entrepreneur. She's a CPA and certified tax coach who started her tax practice six years ago, which we're gonna dive into, and she focuses on profit and tax strategy for female small business owners.

She's also the host of the Messy, wonderful blog and a podcast and that focuses all on motherhood, money and business. Like I said, she's multi-passionate and she is amazing. we're gonna be talking about how she finds her clients in this episode. We're gonna go all the way back to the beginning and talk through how she found her first few clients, how she finds clients currently, how that's evolved, which hasn't been much, but also how she's looking ahead to how she might wanna diversify how some of her clients do find her.

She's got a big focus on referrals and relationships and networking, and so I hope you enjoy this conversation.

 welcome. Welcome everyone. Welcome Kimberly. Back to the 

Kimberly: podcast. Hi. I'm super excited to be here.

Jordan: Yeah. We're gonna, we're gonna talk about something a little bit different. We talked about a lot of money stuff last time. we're gonna talk about something adjacent to money stuff this time, which is finding clients. Yes. Which is how we make money. Right? Right. . So let's start with how you found your first client.

Oh, 

okay. 

Kimberly: Wow. So this was actually before I had become a business. . So, and I think that happens for maybe a lot of people, like somebody mm-hmm. maybe finds them mm-hmm. that we talk about finding that need out there, like who needs what you do. And I was living in Atlanta at the time doing my public accounting stint after graduating, getting my c p A license.

And this person unbeknownst to me was living back in New Orleans, waiting for me to get my CPA license and, Like doing taxes. And it's funny because I didn't even know when I got my CPA license that I was gonna be doing taxes. but she did and called me up one day, Hey, I'm ready to give you my stuff. I can't wait to leave my current cpa.

I have been patiently waiting for you. Your parents have been keeping me updated on your progress and I, I wanna work with you. And that was really the start. Okay, maybe it's time to do this thing because I think I was only like 24 years old at the time. 23, 24, something like that. 

Jordan: That's crazy. Okay, so wait a minute,

Were you not planning to go into business for yourself at all? You were planning to get like a job or what? What was the So I had a job. What 

Kimberly: was the plan? Yeah, so I had a job. You had a job and I'm the kid of two entrepreneurs. So I, deep down, I knew I was always going to have my own business. I didn't know exactly what that looked like at that time, when that person was reaching out to me and.

I really just, you'll, you'll see a lot of people in public accounting do, like, they do little tax returns on the side and stuff like that. Mm-hmm. , although there's not a lot of time if you work in public accounting outside of tax season. But, so I, you know, that year I did two because, she had a friend and so, or a cousin or something like that.

And so I did those two returns in addition to my, my job. So deep down I knew I was always going to have a business, but it wasn't, I mean, I. I got my CPA license within my first year of being out of college. So I, I mean, I was, I think I was 24 years old, so I wasn't, yeah. It wasn't on my mind just yet. I didn't, and I'm that type of person that I need to be perfectly ready for everything before I will do anything.

Yeah. And so in my mind, I wasn't ready for it, but it was, it was. Perfectly timed. So that I did those two returns that year. And then I think the next year I did about eight to 10. And then I think, so that was 1415. And then the year after that was when I started my business in 2016 at 25 years old and like 10 weeks pregnant

Jordan: Oh my gosh. Okay. that's a, that's a juicy overview and we're gonna dive into all of this things. So first year these two clients found you. Second year. , how did the, how did those clients come 

Kimberly: to you? Yeah, so second year, like I said, you know, I technically still, like, I had this little, I would call it a side hustle at this point.

Not really. Mm-hmm. not truly a business yet. So those two clients, each one, one referred, one client, the other, the original, the OG year, referred. two more clients. So then I was up to five. I also told a couple of friends who again, were young like me and just getting started in the adult world and that was two more clients.

And then I don't remember how I, I mean, probably just in talking to people, I, I wanna say I was somewhere between eight and 10 clients that second tax season preparing returns. Okay, 

Jordan: so 

Kimberly: mostly referrals. So if we think about the breakdown, mostly 

Jordan: referrals. Yeah. And that's still the case for you. That is still very much the case for me.

Let's come all the way to present day and let's talk about kind of the breakdown of where your clients come from, because I do think that it's interesting that kind of that original model of how you found clients is pretty much still how you find clients today. So to talk us through that. 

Kimberly: Yeah. and I've tried to, to get away from that the last year or so.

Like how do I, how do I market? How do I advertise? But what I think it really comes down to for me is the type of work that I'm doing for my clients. It's so important to have a good relationship, a trusting relationship that the client has confidence in me. We have a relationship that they feel comfortable sharing all of their money, information and their tax information with me.

And when it's a referral from someone who either is working with me already or knows me, I have a couple of professional referrals, right? So financial advisors, will send clients my way. , it's a warmer lead because someone that they trust already is telling them, Hey, go talk to this person. I trust her.

I use her, write whatever it might look like. And that's why the referrals just work really well. Because I should also add, Jordan, that I'm not your run of the mill tax preparation thi this is not an h and R block situation. This is, I work with business owners, high net worth individuals, and we have an ongoing relationship for tax.

Throughout the year and it's you, you really have to trust and have confidence in the person that you're partnering with to do this work and just that warm lead coming from a person that you might already trust saying that they trust me. I think it just makes all the 

Jordan: difference. It really does. Yeah.

I think, I think there's definitely industries and services that lend themselves better to. Referrals for sure. Yes. And it makes a ton of sense that that's where most of your people are coming from. And I think it's interesting that you're like, I'm trying to like change it. And I understand that cuz you're trying to diversify, right.

So that you're not only relying on like one source of leads coming in, but at the same time, I mean that's pretty amazing that you've built a business like pretty much just based on referrals. 

Kimberly: Yes. And the other, the other thing too is, and this was a lesson learned, I wasn't really doing. Gifts, like referral gifts, right?

Like gifting my clients as a thank you. And, and it wasn't like a, oh, you sent me a client. I, you know, a lot of, like if you see the h and r block, they'll like give you a $25 coupon. Cuz I've, I've had, clients come to me from there, so I've seen the paperwork and they give you a $25 coupon to give to your friends and if they come in, they give you $25 off yours.

Mine was more. business minded, I guess I would send them a client, right? We, we, we formed relationships that benefited each other, but now I've really moved to a model where I send a referral fee as a thank you gift, right? And, and so that has helped as well. And then the other thing to Jordan is just getting out there and talking to people and, being myself.

And, and that's probably, the main other way that I've found. 

Jordan: Yeah, let's, let's get more tactical here because I think this is really important. because I don't wanna gloss over, I don't wanna gloss over all of this and be like, yeah, just like everybody go like, you know, get more referrals, , like, whatever the hell that means.

Right. So are there, are there practical things or like strategic things, decisions that you made, actions that you took along the way, either at the beginning or now that you think has helped? Fine. Like, like get those referrals and maintain those referral relationships. 

Kimberly: What is that? Absolutely. I've served my clients well.

I've done, I've done what they've hired me to do at an extremely high level. Their experience with me is like none other, and I think that that is 100% what has led them to refer clients to me without me even asking, because I'm really bad about that. Any, any time I work with, with a, a coach, a mentor, they're like, well, you need to ask your current clients for.

and I rarely do that. I just get a call or an email and they said, oh, such and such told me to call you. They said I needed to work with you. Yeah. So I really think that it's because I've just, I've, I've done what I said I'm gonna do. I answer the phone, I respond to emails, and I cannot tell you how many.

Potential clients, new clients that I get that say, I just want my CPA to return my emails and my calls and answer my questions, and so I've just, mm-hmm. I've done my job. I've given them and give them a great experience and I, I really think that that is like, just do your job, serve your clients well do it because you want to.

Right. I can't tell you how many times I've. answered a question. They're like, I'm thinking about this. And I'm like, okay, well let's talk it out. Right? And it might not technically be within the scope of what we do, but they need me and they trust what advice I'm going to give them. And again, it's that relationship and I really think that it comes back to 

Jordan: that.

Yeah, I, I think this is so important, and it sounds really simple. , and it can be simple to do, I think, in practice, but I think there's a lot of really interesting conflicting advice and also advice and information out there. that I think is coming from a good place, but can, can cause a little bit of confusion.

You know, we talk a lot about boundaries. You and I talk a lot about boundaries. We talk a lot about boundaries in the mastermind and the membership. We talked about boundaries last month. We did a training specifically on that because boundaries are important. They are, but I think sometimes people, can go a little bit overboard.

Yes. With the boundaries of like , you know. I mean, we've had conversations, because you're in the mastermind, we've, we've had conversations outside of the technical container that my contract says we're supposed to have right conversations in, and it's like, okay, like, yes, of course, gentle reminders on, maybe this is a good conversation for us to have within the context of the group because other people are asking, but also knowing that.

At some point, it, it's not, the boundary isn't necessarily always the, like, most important thing just for the sake of having the boundary. It's, you have to balance that with like, the relationship and service and, you know, making sure that people are getting what they need. I don't know, I've just been in situations where I feel like people are holding boundaries a little bit too hard.

Mm-hmm. for almost, for like what it seems like is an arbitrary reason. Right. You know what I mean? You're supposed. . 

Kimberly: Yes. Yes, yes. I, I mean, I had no boundaries when I first started, so I did have to reign that in a little bit, , and so, and then I, I might have been that person that went a little too overboard, but I, I don't know that I've ever really gone too overboard because I actually find that, My best clients are super respectful, and so if they're texting me mm-hmm.

on the weekend, and I really don't have a lot of this anymore because again, I don't do the consulting side, I really just do more of the text strategy and text prep side. But if somebody, if, if a client's messaging me on the weekend and it really is urgent, I'm going to answer them because one, that's the service we provide.

And two, if they don't take advantage of it, I know that they really have a question and three. I would rather give them the advice so that they don't mess it up and go do something wrong. and then I can't fix it. So, you know, if somebody's abusing it, that's a different story. We need to have a conversation around boundaries and if that client's a right fit.

But by far and large I have become a lot more, I don't wanna say picky, but I've, I've, I've really been more mindful of choosing clients that are a right fit for our firm and that we're going to be the right fit for them. And so I don't find that that has been a problem in the last year or so as I've really honed in on being mindful of clients.

Jordan: Yeah, I think, I think this is like a really critical, Piece of this conversation between like over-delivering and holding boundaries is, at least for me, because you're like an amazing client. So like it doesn't feel like you're, you're overstepping boundaries when we may happen to have a question or a conversation like in the Instagram dms about something.

because you're a great client and, and we have a really, I think, easy relationship. Mm-hmm. and I would. , pretty much all of our clients are like that. It, it gets a little bit trickier when you are working with clients who maybe aren't a good fit. And then we're kind of getting into like territory of like parting ways with clients, which I know we're gonna have another conversation about.

But it's all very intertwined. And when you do have clients that aren't a right fit, the boundaries do feel 

Kimberly: more important. They do. They do. And and we all have that. And it's not to say, I feel like it's not to say that just because like they're not the best client fit that like you need to fire them or let them go.

But you're right. Yeah. Because I don't think it lights you up to have the conversation with them as Yeah. Maybe that client, that's a right fit. Right. I mean, cuz I can tell it feels more like work. It does, it feels more like work. Whereas, I mean, like, you asked me a tax question, I'm like, all right. Like, sit down and buckle your seatbelt.

Like, let's, let's dive in. Yeah. How, how in the weeds do you want me to go? Right. And I, because I could talk about that all day long. And so when I'm having Yeah. A, a. Tax money, finance business conversation with someone. Like I love that stuff. I nerd out on that stuff. So I have to be like, was that too much?

Do you need me to like, take some of it back? Right. So, I totally agree with you and, and finding the right clients. and it does take time. Right. Like I'm six years in and really have honed in on who the right client is for me, who I enjoy working with the most. So it, you know, don't anybody listening who might be in their first year of business like this does not happen overnight.

Jordan: No. And well, and your offers have, have evolved. They have two, I mean, drastically Yes. From those first two clients. Yes. Who you got in year one, you know, so, you don't even take clients like that anymore, do you? 

Kimberly: It has to be a very unique situation. 

Jordan: Yeah. Yeah, yeah. Okay. Anything else? What? What else do we wanna dive in?

Do you wanna talk about a little bit about like how you're shifting your focus to where you're hoping to find clients and how you're hoping to diversify that moving forward? . 

Kimberly: Yeah, we can talk about that. And I think it kind of goes back to, so I mentioned referrals have been a huge component of, of my business growth.

I've, I've never advertised, I've never paid for advertising. I've never done like any PR or what, you know, whatever that might be. And so the other main component of bringing clients in has been me. Being myself and just talking to people, offering help when I see someone, or we're just having a conversation and they ask me a question and just, just honestly answering it, and I'm really, I, I kind of call that going back to basics.

and that's what I feel like I'm doing in 2023 is I'm going back to basics. I'm focusing on. Leaning in and serving my clients that I have, making sure that they know that we would love a referral and that we have a gift for them if they give us, you know, a referral. And then really me focusing on getting out of my comfort zone and just networking.

Kimberly: And that's going to look a little bit different because I'm not just going to be doing that. I've always done that on, on the local level right here with my local practice. And I'm really moving more into the online space because, My ideal client is not necessarily where I live, and there are tons of female service providers all over the country who need my services and who I know I can help.

So it's figuring out how do I adapt that networking, that relationship marketing, how do I take that from going to a, a local breakfast, a local business owner's breakfast here in the New Orleans? How do I create that same environment, that same relationship, that same connectivity in the online space? 

Jordan: Mm mm-hmm.

I feel like. Networking is coming back. It is with a vengeance. It is. And I 

Kimberly: freaking love it. I love it because I love it. I like, oh my God, I hate posting to social media. And anyone who goes to my to my Instagram page will clearly know that this girl does not do social media. It's literally a landing page

but I, I could get on like coffee chats, consultation calls, meet and greets, like whatever you wanna call them. I could probably spend easily six to eight hours of my day just talking with. . 

Jordan: That's crazy. That's cra I, I won't go that far. . but I do think that networking, like, I don't know, new networking, it's like a blend of old-fashioned networking and the virtual world is totally underrated.

It is. and I, I've got it on, it's a big part of my strategy. For this coming year. but I'm like dabbling in all the things. I think it's fun to, I I, we do ads pretty heavily, as you know. Yeah. And that works really, really well for us. And it's something that I feel like is a very controllable lead generation source.

Like I can turn, I mean, I turn to my ads on. maybe five or six days ago. And I've already had a high ticket sale Yeah. From that. That's awesome. You know, like it's very predictable that I can turn 'em on, turn 'em off. but I do think it's important to diversify. I'd say less than 30, probably percent of our, of our, clients come from ads and that's ads of all kinds cuz we have several running.

But, I love networking, but I love the PR and the media stuff and like the orga, I mean, I, I love 

Kimberly: it all. I'm learning to learn more of that. Right. And to, to realize that, the pr, the marketing, it, it looks different. Right? It it's an important component. Yes. But it, it looks different. And that's not to say that I won't run any game.

That's long game. It's a long game, you know, podcasting. Yeah. You know, like one of my big goals for 2023. You know, and I haven't set my number. That's what I'm working on, is like, what's gonna be my goal for how many podcasts I wanna guest on? Because that is a form of networking. You're, you're networking with whoever the podcast host is for sure.

And then they're listeners, right? Like it's a little, and I've learned it's recorded coffee chat, . It is . And I've learned from you, you were really my first experience. Chatting in the dms, right. And building that relationship in the IG dms. Mm-hmm. , because that's where I first messaged you and then you sent this voice memo.

I'm like, what is this voice thing on Instagram ? And that changed the name of the game for me. And so now like that is part of why I have an Instagram account is one, it gives people a landing page, but two, I love having like building, like starting those relationships in the Instagram dms with some voice memo.

Jordan: Yeah, it, I freaking love Instagram dms. And it's funny because a year ago if you would've been, if someone would've been like, oh, you can like make all your sales in the dms, no sales calls, I would've been like, you're freaking crazy . Like that's not a thing. Like how do you get them in there? And I don't know if I could like succinctly give you a step by step of how to do it, but I do know that it works.

And I would say most of our sales come. Voice messaging or even just text messaging in the dms, which is bonkers because I'm not talking about like low ticket stuff here. Right. . But I think it's, I think it's a really, it's a really powerful strategy for like the voice dms. Yes. In particular for people who, like us would normally love to be on sales calls and in like, in conversations, but we have kids.

Yeah. And so we have crazy schedules and so it's just easier to asynchronously. It is chat back and forth and the dms via voice and it is to get on a 30 minute call. Yes. 

Kimberly: I love and can I tell you love it. You're like, I don't know why it works. I know why it works. It's, it's because you're being authentic.

Right? That's a, yeah. You can't be fake. And I, I really have a thing about fake people and like all of the clickbait and, and whatever you wanna call it that's on social media these days. But that's the key is like being authentic. Yeah. Really wanting to help. And I don't believe in like, you know, and, and there's this whole gamut of like, don't give anything away.

Give it all away. There, there is a balance, but I think just really being, you genuinely wanting to help people. and, and just that authenticity, that's what makes it work in the dms, right? It's, yeah, that's what makes 

Jordan: it work. It's funny you bring this up because, this, this touches on what we were talking about at the beginning around like knowing where those boundaries are versus where you can just like show up and overdeliver.

And I feel like this happens a lot in sales conversations with me. Because people want, they like wanna ask again and they, I think sometimes there's, I don't know. I won't say sometimes I would say there's like a general, a general like blanket advice statement out there that's like, don't coach on like sales conversations.

Right. or don't like give anything away, like you said on in, in like the discovery call or on the sales call or whatever. Whatever, like, I don't care. They're not hiring me for something that I can tell them on a 30 minute call or in the dms like that is, it's impossible for me to give away too much for free because that's not what people are hiring for.

They're like, they're not gonna get . Like everything that I have to offer in one conversation, like I'll tell you everything that I can possibly tell you in a 30 minute conversation. And I don't feel like people are gonna walk away and be like, oh. . That's just exactly what I need. I'm good. I don't need to hire her like I just think.

Crazy advice personally. 

Kimberly: Yeah. So I have to watch how much I give to people because it can be overwhelming. Even once someone is a client. Yes, I'm cautious about how much I give them at one time because taxes are scary. Finances are scary. I feel like on the op side, like a lot of what you do, like, that's the fun stuff.

The taxes and finances are the scary stuff that people don't wanna do. . So I am cautious because I, I've been in situations where people are, Wow. Sh like, like they're just like gla. Their eyes are glazed over. They have no idea what I just said, and I forget and take for granted how second nature, this very complex and very scary topic is for me.

So I am innately cautious about how much I choose. to give. I focus more on, again, I focus more on the relationship and like how we work together and what we can do. And because again, like I know that I'm not the cheapest. My firm is not the cheapest. I don't wanna be the cheapest. We are quality over quantity, and some people are just looking for the cheapest.

And I do believe that to a certain extent, you get what you pay for. And so I want. That are looking for the relationship, not just the tax planning, because you know, I can tell you, oh, go be an S-corp, it's gonna save you money. But make sure you do it the right way. Make sure you realize what tax strategies you're giving up.

If you become an S corp, make sure, because a lot of people, they'll tell you, oh, go be an S-corp, but they won't tell you that now you have to run payroll and you have to file a separate tax return. So make sure that you're adding up all those costs in there. So I think for. It's focusing more on like, how do we work together?

How are we partners? How do we link arms? How do we get you to your goals? How, how do I help you take a topic that is scary and you know, just at the bottom of your list and hold your hand and walk you through it in a way that, gets you to your goals. And so for me, I think it's that focusing on like the relationship part in the 

Jordan: conversation.

Yeah, I, I like that clarification. And I do think it's important really to, to run, oh, I don't know what we're talking about. We've gone down the rabbit hole in sales calls, but here we are. I think it's important to run a sales call in a way that's gonna like, make people feel good and confident and empowered.

And I think so. Like, to clarify what I said, I am not by any means advocating that people go run their sales calls by just like fire hosing people with strategy and information. Like, don't do that. That's not what I'm saying. But what I am saying is that I think sometimes people do have in, in the weeds questions because they just don't know and they're feeling unsure and they're like, okay, but am I gonna sign on with this person and they're gonna want me to do some type of strategy that I am not aligned with.

You know, especially in like the work that I do. Mm-hmm. , maybe not necessarily in what you do, but in this like business strategy realm, I. Most people have a horror story or most people have been burned by someone, which is really, really unfortunate. So, I am always like an open book because I have had situations where I've maybe been looking to hire someone and I just don't quite understand or I like, I wanna know a little bit more about like how their brain works or what exactly that we would do together.

And when you get that response of like, well that's something that we would figure out if you were to work with me, I. Mm. That feels like, not like, I don't like the mystery . I don't, no. Like, yes, of course you're gonna customize things and I'm sure that there are situations where people are asking you questions and you're like, well, I don't know that yet.

Kimberly: You unfortunately have to, to say that. Like, I, like, I have like do, do the 

Jordan: work . Yes. Yeah. Like, well, we have to look at your numbers. Yes. First, and that's different because I will sometimes get people who will be like, well, what would you recommend I do with X, Y, Z? And. ? Well, that I don't know, but I can tell you how the process would work, right?

And I could tell you that like, I'm not gonna do this and I'm not gonna do, but it's, I just, I don't know. I think it's important to be transparent and, and when you do know the answer to something, which is I feel like what sometimes people. They do know the answer to something, but they don't wanna give the answer because they feel like they're giving away their advice for free.

I just don't think that that's a good approach, generally, to doing business. but I see what you're saying is kind of a different approach in that. , you don't wanna fire host people, and you probably do know some basic strategies they're gonna recommend to them 

Kimberly: that they've heard before too. I mean, if, if somebody, if a business owner digs hard enough and starts Googling, you're going to see things out there like become an S corp.

Retirement strategies, mis deductions, hiring your kids, but you need to make sure. But I've, I've seen it and I've had people come back because they went with the cheaper option and it didn't get done right, and then they get themselves. A little bit of trouble because they went with the cheaper option or they tried to DIY it.

Good tax planning is not something that you should be DIYing, and it is not something that you, you know, like I see people offering tax planning for $1,500 and I'm just over here. Like there's no way, there's no way that they're actually doing tax planning for you. Yeah. Because there's no way that, there's just no way that they can do it for that price.

Jordan: Yeah, and what I think is also interesting is that if you were to like answer for the people who are. They're just gonna take your advice and DIY it if you give it to 'em, well, they weren't gonna work with you anyway. Right. You know what I mean? Like who cares? Like, like you said, all of this advice is on Google.

Mm-hmm. . The worst thing is that you give someone the answer that they're looking for and then they go do it themselves, but they were gonna probably do that anyway. Right, right. 

and I, I have an application process now, so I would say, so I guess that kind of comes with find, like, not finding clients, but like getting them in the door.

Kimberly: And that was really scary. That's something that's actually come out of me being in the Mastermind, right. Is putting this application process in place. And that's really scary because you feel like you're turning people away. But I'm protect. My time. So, you know, if somebody's filled out my application, if they've, uploaded the, I have a couple of documents that I request, if they've done all of that for me even, and, and because I have people that have hopped on a consultation call after filling out the application and they haven't become a client, but I don't feel like I've quite wasted 30 minutes of my time because they were at least somewhat serious if they've taken the time to do all of.

Jordan: Yeah. . I do think that the further along all of us gets in business, the more picky we have to get. , and that's just part of the process.

I'm part of the evolution, and it's, it's definitely scary. It is, as you said, to say no to people, but it's always better. It is. It's always better in the 

long 

Kimberly: run, in the short. It's not just better for you, it's better for, for your clients, because I've had these times where it's like, This client is paying me really well, and they're doing everything that they're supposed to do and they're following the rules.

I'm a rule follower. but they're following the rules, right? But this client who is constantly needing me and isn't following the rules and is breaking all the boundaries, that is taking away from me serving that ideal client well, right? Yeah. Because I'm like, I'm diverting all of my attention and energy and mental capacity to this quote unquote needy client, and I really just wanna be working over here with my really awesome.

Jordan: Yes. Oh yeah. I, I'm a big fan of this. I let, let's save some of this for our other conversation that I know we're gonna have about firing clients because it is so important and, this, this isn't just generic advice. This is like, I think we've both put our money where our mouth is on this, on like firing clients and saying no to clients that we know aren't a good fit.

And I, I do think that it. Critically important for building a business that is profitable and that you actually enjoy and all of the things. Yes. So, stay tuned for more on that from us . well, I think this is a good place to end. Yeah. We'll have all of your information in the show notes so people can find you and reach out to you and talk to you about all the things, related to money.

Anything else you wanna leave us with on finding clients? Hmm. 

Kimberly: Y yes. I wanna leave you with just be you. Don't be fake. Don't inflate what you do, what you've done. Just like own the successes that you have actually had be true to yourself. Be honest, be real, and, and just really. Want to serve your clients.

Like if, if you just stick to those core values, I promise the clients will come. And I think my business of six years is a testament to that, that the clients will find you if you stay true to yourself. You do a good job, you serve them well, the clients will almost find you. 

Jordan: Yeah, I love it. Back to basics.

Cool. There you go. This was great. Thank you. Thanks.