The following tips have come from a wide variety of sources; some from other successful businesses we know, some from our Home-Based and Small Business Support Group meetings and some we've developed by trial and error.

Some of the ways to get clients are: contact previous employers; mailing lists; cold call your target market; attend group meetings and seminars for your target market (conventions for doctors, lawyers; computer seminars); attend local Chamber of Commerce meetings; join groups related to your target market; if your target market uses a specific system, for example accountants use the SafeGuard system, contact them and tell them that you are available to teach them how to use the system or you can do it for them. Knock on doors and call others in your line of business for overload work, or clients they have trouble working with. Send surveys to your clients. This will also help you to obtain testimonials. Do a general survey of your target market. This will give you better leads. For example, for my classes, I have a survey I use that contains, what type of equipment is being used, what type of programs they are using, and whether or not they do desk top publishing in-house. This survey gives me the name, address, and phone number of the person to send my class listings to, in addition, to determining whether or not they are a desk top publishing prospect.