Hey man, yeah, it's definitely a grind, especially at the beginning. A lot depends on your city and how much competition there is.
The people who have been doing it for years already have a customer network, referrals and plenty of proof that they're good at what they do. Competing with that is difficult, so your priority should be to build your network and social proof as quickly as possible.
Post your work on TikTok and Instagram. Show before-and-after results, explain what you did and show people what working with you is actually like. You don't need cinematic content. Just document your work consistently.
Outbound also matters. Cold calling and door knocking can still work, especially when you notice a specific problem you can solve. You can say something like:
"Hey, I noticed that you might need some work done on X and Y. I'd be happy to give you a free quote if that would be useful."
Facebook groups are also massively underrated. A lot of our customers originally came from us commenting on posts where someone was actively asking for help. Responding quickly is important because the first few businesses to comment usually get most of the attention.
It's also worth keeping some money aside for tools because they can give you a lot of leverage. I use FindProspectsNow.com to monitor Facebook groups and find posts from people looking for services, so I can respond before the post gets flooded with comments.
You could also use Jobber to manage quotes, scheduling and invoices, and NiceJob.com to automatically ask satisfied customers for reviews and referrals.
The basic formula is simple: find people who need the service right now, respond before your competitors, deliver good work, collect reviews, post your results everywhere and repeat.
It won't be easy, but once you have a solid base of reviews and repeat customers, things become much easier.
Good luck out there!
