Building Your Clientele Base

Julie Starr • September 7, 2022



When you run a business of any type, you’re going to be heavily reliant on one group of people – your clientele. These are the people who buy your products and services and, hopefully, who you’ll be able to build a good relationship with to secure ongoing business and profits. One area that many businesses find themselves struggling with is sourcing and creating their clientele in the first place, or expanding to bring more clientele on board. Hopefully, some of the information above should help you to achieve this goal.

Advertising

Perhaps the most commonly engaged technique for building clientele is advertising. Letting people know what you have to offer can make all the difference when it comes to building awareness of your services and letting people see why they should work with or shop with you. There are all sorts of advertisements out there, from TV ads to radio, print ads, digital ads, and more. Of course, you need to put plenty of thought, time, and research into your ads. If you’re a lawyer doing a TV ad, you’ll need to learn How to Dress a Lawyer for a Legal Marketing TV Ad and make sure that your contact details are plastered over the screen. If you’re getting into PPC, you’ll need to know where your customer base spends time online so you can target them as best possible. The list goes on.

Be Active on Social Media

Creating business profiles on social media is a great move when it comes to building your clientele. You need to make yourself and your goods or services as visible as possible, and many people spend hours on end scrolling through their social media feeds. The most popular for businesses tend to include Instagram, Twitter, and LinkedIn. Make sure that your content is well thought out and appropriate. Make sure that it is on brand and professional. Avoid engaging with areas that can divide opinions, such as politics or current events.

Have Business Cards

Sure, business cards may seem relatively old-fashioned, but they still do have good use nowadays. You never know when you might meet someone who could become a future client or who could recommend you to someone who they know is in need of or seeking your services. Having a professional business card on hand at all times means you can pass over your contact details in a fast and straightforward manner. Make sure that their design is on brand and that they are a quality print, as the card itself will reflect on you.

Follow Up

Often, people will enquire about what you have to offer, but you may then not hear from them again for a while. You need to make sure that you always follow up . Silence or distance doesn’t always mean someone isn’t interested in what you have. They may have just forgotten your brand name or details and not be able to get back in touch. They may have been distracted or preoccupied with something else, and a follow up can catch their attention again. Of course, make sure only to follow up once or twice, as you don’t want to pester anyone.

Hopefully, some of the tips above will get your journey to a bigger clientele started out in the right direction!

5 Everyday Items That Can Quietly Boost Your Brand

By Julie Starr • July 17, 2025
The best branding doesn’t always come from big campaigns or expensive graphics. Sometimes it’s the smaller stuff that leaves the biggest impression. Things people actually use, touch, or carry with them. That’s where your brand can quietly make its mark without needing to shout about it. If you’re only focusing on social media and business cards, you’re leaving a lot on the table. Here are five overlooked ways to get your name out there that feel natural, useful, and more personal. Thank-you slips If you’re already sending out orders, there’s no reason not to include a short thank-you slip. You can easily get these made through any decent online print shop , and they’re usually pretty cheap to run off in small batches. Just a simple note that says thanks, maybe with a reminder to follow you online or a cheeky discount code for next time. It’s quick, thoughtful, and makes the whole order feel more finished. Customers notice that kind of detail, especially when everything else they buy online comes with zero personality. You don’t need a complicated design either. Just something clean with your logo, a message that sounds like you, and maybe a social handle. The point is to give them a reason to come back or remember your name without it feeling forced. Branded zip pouches If you sell physical products, offer services, or run events, small zip pouches are surprisingly effective. Think of the kind you’d use for stationery, receipts, or travel bits. You can get your brand printed on the side and hand them out with purchases or include them in welcome packs. People keep them because they’re actually useful. They get tossed in handbags, school bags, or glove boxes and your logo just keeps turning up. Cleaning cloths for glasses or screens This one works brilliantly if you’re in tech, health, beauty, or anything involving screens or eyewear. A simple microfibre cloth with your branding on it can go a long way. Everyone needs one. Whether they use it for glasses, a phone screen, or their laptop, it’s something they hang onto. It’s not the kind of thing people throw away, and that means your name sticks around too. Receipt envelopes You might already use little envelopes to hand over receipts or business cards. Branding those envelopes is a small change that makes a big difference. Instead of someone getting a scruffy bit of paper in a plain sleeve, they’re handed something that feels a bit more finished. You can even add a message inside. Doesn’t need to be anything dramatic. A simple “thanks for visiting” or “see you next time” is enough to add a personal touch. Wet wipes or mini hand gels If your business is in hospitality, food, or anything hands-on, branded wet wipes or pocket-sized hand gels are surprisingly popular. People actually use them, especially at festivals, food stalls, pop-ups, or kids’ events. They end up in handbags or cars and stick around longer than you think. They don’t scream “marketing” either. They’re practical, and when done right, they make your business feel thoughtful. That’s what good branding does, it shows you’ve thought ahead.

How Student-Led ‘Energy Audits’ Are Cutting School Costs (and Lighting the Way Forward)

By Julie Starr • July 14, 2025
What happens when students stop waiting for adults to fix things and start conducting their own energy audits? Money gets saved. The lights get switched off. Data gets analyzed. And a quiet revolution in sustainability begins—inside schools that once overlooked their own inefficiencies. Across the globe, student-led energy audits are proving that change doesn't always need to come from a policy shift or a major capital budget. Sometimes, it begins with a clipboard, a spreadsheet, and a group of curious minds asking: Why are the hallway lights on at noon when sunlight floods the building? The Energy Detectives These audits aren’t science fair projects. They’re rigorous investigations, often done in collaboration with facilities staff, local environmental nonprofits, or even engineering mentors. Students go from classroom to classroom measuring electricity usage, checking for phantom loads , and identifying where heat is escaping in winter or air conditioning is leaking in summer. One high school in Ontario saved over $12,000 a year after its Grade 11 physics students ran an energy audit and suggested simple changes—LED upgrades, motion sensors in bathrooms, and smarter heating schedules. They didn’t just propose ideas. They pitched them with spreadsheets, thermal images, and payback timelines. It worked. Learning That Pays Off—Literally Unlike textbook learning, these audits blend real-world math, environmental science, economics, and persuasive communication. Students aren’t just learning about sustainability. They’re doing it. And the savings add up. From dimming overlit hallways to reprogramming HVAC systems that run all weekend for empty buildings, students are surfacing blind spots that administrators often overlook. In some districts, their findings are influencing energy policy. Elsewhere, the audits have inspired school boards to hire sustainability coordinators—often alumni of the student programs themselves. There’s something poetic about a school funding new books or laptops from money saved by students who found out the vending machines didn’t need to be plugged in 24/7. Why This Matters More Than Ever With education budgets tightening and utility costs rising, every dollar saved is a dollar that can go back into classrooms. And here’s where it gets interesting from a family finance perspective, too. If you’re a parent setting aside money for post-secondary savings, every bit of school efficiency helps. Fewer energy costs might mean more programming, better STEM facilities, or even bursaries. That raises a broader point: when families save for their children’s future, they often look into RESPs (Registered Education Savings Plans). And many wonder—is a RESP deduction available on my taxes? While contributions themselves aren’t deductible, the gains grow tax-free, and students often pay little to no tax when they withdraw the funds during school. A Movement Worth Replicating These audits aren’t just an exercise in environmentalism. They’re leadership labs. Students learn how to spot inefficiencies, speak up in board meetings, and make a business case for change. They don’t just flip switches—they shift mindsets. And they carry these habits into adulthood. The result? A generation growing up not only with climate anxiety, but also with tools to tackle it.