How do I get clients when it is just me?
Updated September 15, 2026 · 5 min read
The short answer
When it is just you, new clients come from three places: people who already know you, people who search for what you do, and people who see your work somewhere. All three check you online before they call. So the first job is not marketing. It is making sure that the five places they check say the same true thing and give them one easy way to reach you. Here are the five, in the order that matters.
1. Your Google profile
Someone searching "lash extensions near me" or "plumber near me" sees Google's map panel before anything else. If your business is not there, you are not in the running. If it is there with no hours, no photos and a phone nobody answers, you are in the running and losing. Claim it, fill in hours and phone, add ten real photos from your phone. That is one afternoon.
2. One way to reach you
Pick one: call, book online, or message. Put that one button everywhere: your Google profile, your Instagram bio, your website if you have one. A client half decided on their phone will take the easy path or take none. Five competing options is the same as none.
3. Your last five reviews
New clients read the newest few reviews, not all of them, and they notice whether you replied. Ask every happy client for a review with your Google review link, one sentence, in the moment they are pleased. Reply to every review in a line or two. Twelve recent reviews with replies beats a hundred old ones.
4. Proof of your work
Photos of finished jobs, before and afters where the client says yes in writing, your hands doing the thing. Post them where your clients already are: one platform, once a month at minimum, and the same photos on your Google profile. The post's job is to prove you are open and good, not to go viral.
5. The referral ask
People who know you are the biggest source and the most forgotten. Tell them, plainly, that you are taking new clients and what you do best. Once. Then make it easy: your Google review link and your booking link in one text they can forward.
What about ads?
Not yet. Ads send strangers to the five places above. If those places are empty, ads pay to show strangers an empty room. Fix the room first. Many one person businesses never need ads at all.
What about a website?
Useful, not first. A complete Google profile and a booking page cover most of what a website does for a one person business. When you are ready, one page that says what you do, where you are, and how to reach you is enough.
What this guide does not cover
The five places above are part of the ten things the free Bearlo scan checks for a local business. Enter your business name and city, and the scan shows every pass and fail, plus the one fix that matters most, free.