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How To Position Yourself As An Expert When Just Getting Started As A Millennial Entrepreneur

Forbes Coaches Council
Lena Elkins
Lena Elkins is a millennial business & marketing coach and the host of the popular Facebook group, Millennial Go-Getters.

When I was 17, I was expected to write a series of essays for my college applications. They all more or less had the same prompt: Talk about your most profound life accomplishment, or reflect on your greatest life challenge. Or, if the university was feeling especially creative, they would ask, ”Imagine that you were stranded on a deserted island with 100 other people, and you were responsible for providing them all with food, water and shelter. Based on your life experiences, how would you take action?”


When new entrepreneurs are looking to sign their first clients, they often come to me with the same questions: "How do I prove myself to be an expert to these prospects if I lack any real experience? If I don’t have testimonials or previous examples of my work, what do I do to convince them?"

Here are three key answers that I share with my community members:

1. You don't need to be an expert.

Here’s a little secret that most people won’t ever tell you: Everyone feels inadequate in the beginning. Even people who have been working in their field for 20 years still hear a voice in the back of their head that says, “Who are you to be charging for these services?”

So, if you’re worried about your experience, you are not alone. It’s totally normal to feel insecure about this. But here’s the good news: No one actually expects you to be an expert. All they care about is you helping them to solve an issue faster than they would be able to solve it themselves.

If you are even half a step ahead of them in terms of your skills and knowledge, they will be more than happy to pay you for your services. Think about the time you first learned how to cook pasta. Maybe it was a parent or sibling who taught you how to boil the water, put the pasta into the pot, set the timer for 10 minutes, and then drain it.

When you learned this skill, did you turn to your mom and demand that she tell you what cooking awards she had won? Did you ask to see her diploma from culinary school? Probably not, because it doesn’t matter. All that matters was that she was able to help you learn this skill faster than you would have been able to learn it yourself.

If you can help a client do that, receiving compensation for your work is totally valid.

Making this mindset switch, and accepting your skill set for what it is, is crucial to gaining clients in the beginning. Otherwise, your clients will see right through your insecurities.


2. Offer free work.

I used to be very anti-free work. I was disgusted when someone requested that I write the first three articles for free as a copywriter to “prove myself," or provide a free marketing strategy to demonstrate my skills.

But now, I’ve learned that when the idea comes from the service provider and the free work is within reasonable limits, this is one of the fastest ways to gain testimonials, build relationships with industry players, gain a reputation for yourself and open the doors to your first set of clients.


If you’re uncomfortable offering free work, create a smaller, short-term package that you can offer them. For example, if you’re a social media marketer, offer them one month of free social media help. If you’re a business coach, offer them a one-hour free coaching session. Offer whatever is comfortable for you without feeling taken advantage of.

After this experience, 99% of companies will be more than happy to provide you with testimonials. You will then have some new work examples to add to your portfolio, and a new relationship with a potential client. They could then turn into a new client, and they can refer you to others. Win-win-win.

3. Go for the low-hanging, local fruit.

Most likely, there are people right in front of you who are ready and willing to invest in your services, but you're too busy online to even notice them. These people are your family members, friends and others in your community.

For example, if you're trying to start a Facebook Ads agency, instead of finding online entrepreneurs who want to sign with you, find local doctors offices, restaurants and clothing shops. It is much easier to gain the trust and support of local business owners than it is to gain the trust of online businesses.

Brick-and-mortar shops aren't exposed to the amount of online competition that you are in terms of service providers. If you're trying to find clients in a Facebook group, for example, you might be posting within a community of 10,000 other digital marketers. But if you walk into your local dentist office, establish common ground and tell them how you can help their business, it will be much easier to close the sale.


Getting your first client in the door is intimidating, especially when you feel insecure about your ability to truly provide solutions to your customers. But if you follow the above steps, you'll be on a fast track toward building a reputable brand for yourself, and will naturally fall into the “influencer” category. What’s stopping you?

Lena Elkins is an award-winning Business & Marketing Strategist, speaker and thought leader.