In order of greatest return on effort.
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Retaining current clients. Don’t let them jump ship.
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Networking through current clients. Nothing better than getting a recommendation from a colleague. Works best with larger businesses with multiple business units.
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Referrals from “partners”. I knew a lot of folks in ad agencies. They didn’t do product development.
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Networking at trade shows. Not the greatest hit rate, maybe a 5-10% conversion, but not bad either. And trade shows are a great time to retain your current clients. Two birds.
I didn’t do anything else. Occasionally I would get a random hit off of the website, but every time is was a local inventor with a “million-dollar idea” looking for a partner. ew