If you want your business to continue growing and thriving, you’ll need to find ways to bring in new clients.

Here are 5 ways you can find new clients for your business.

1. Set aside time for marketing

Regardless of whether marketing is your preferred activity, you need to set aside time for it. It’s easy to put marketing at the bottom of your priority list, but doing so makes it more difficult for you to bring in new clients. If you set aside a certain amount of time every week, or even every day–ideally at around the same time of day or week–you’ll be more consistent and successful with your efforts.

Have a list of marketing goals, such as “post 3 times on social media this week” or “write two blog posts this month” and spend your time working towards those goals.

2. Ask your clients for referrals

Your happy clients are a fantastic source of new leads. They’re satisfied with the work you’ve done and they can tell their friends and colleagues about how you helped them. Get comfortable asking your happy customers for referrals.

You can do so

• face-to-face, for example at a meeting where you’ve just given them great news or a fantastic outcome
• through email using a pre-written template that talks about how much you enjoy working with them and how you want more clients like them, or
• on social media, where you put out a general call to your happy followers to share your business with others.

3. Join social media groups

Many of the social media networks enable groups, where you can talk to people in your communities. Although you can use the group to pitch your services and directly ask for leads, a better method is to use the forums to educate people and highlight your expertise, without the selling. People will begin to look to you when they want advice and insights and ultimately will turn to you when they need to make a purchase.

4. Genuinely get to know people

Sometimes the best way to get a client is simply by talking to new people. Make it a habit to be curious about the people around you. Ask them questions with the intention of getting to know them, rather than selling to them. Learn about their passions, their pain points and the things they need help with. Then assist them. Showing genuine interest in others makes them feel valued, builds your relationship and fosters trust. From there, it’s easy for them to make the decision to work with you.

5. Form a partnership

It doesn’t have to be a formal business partnership, but reach out to businesses in complementary industries to suggest a referral relationship in which you each refer relevant clients to each other. You could also agree to partner up on specific projects. For example, a graphic designer and a website developer could either refer clients to each other or work together on projects that require both their skills.

New clients are vital for growing your business. By being strategic, purposeful and genuine, you can easily find new clients.