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How to attract customers yourself

You can bring in customers without hiring anyone: get listed where people search, collect honest reviews, build a simple website, post on one or two social platforms, and keep in touch by email. Most of it is free or close to it. What it really costs is your time, and the last section shows where help is worth paying for.

Last verified October 24, 2026

General information, not legal advice. Prices come from each company's own pricing page, checked October 24, 2026, and change often. Quality scores are Moon Set's editorial ratings against the criteria shown above each table, based on research into each company's own pages, not hands-on tests. Moon Set earns no referral fee or commission from any company linked on this site.

How do customers find a small business?

Most new customers find a local business in one of five ways, and the cheapest ones to set up are also the ones that pay off first.

• Search and maps. People type what they need and pick from the map and the top results. This is where buying intent is highest.
• Review sites. Before they call, people check your rating and read what others said.
• Social media. People discover you, see your work and decide you're real.
• Referrals and word of mouth. The warmest leads. A happy customer tells a friend.
• Email. The only channel you own outright. It brings past customers back.

Where should a new local business start?

In this order:

1. Google Business Profile. Free, and it's what shows on the map. Set it up.
2. Reviews. Ask every happy customer, starting now.
3. The other free listings: Bing, Apple, Yelp, Facebook and the ones for your trade.
4. A simple website with your services, area, phone number and a contact form.
5. One social platform you can post on every week.
6. An email list and a referral offer once you have customers to keep.

Where should I list my business?

Start with Google, then add Bing, Apple and Facebook, which are free and take minutes each. Add the trade sites only if your customers use them, and treat their paid leads as an experiment with a budget cap.

Effort is our estimate of setup time: low means under an hour, medium means a few hours or a sales call.

Our pick: Google Business Profile first, every time. Then Bing (import from Google) and Apple the same day. Add Yelp or a trade site only where your competitors already get reviews.

How do I set up a Google Business Profile?

It takes about 15 to 30 minutes, plus a few days for Google to verify you. It's free.

1. Go to business.google.com/create and sign in with a Google account you'll keep. Use a business email, not a personal one you might lose.
2. Enter your business name exactly as it appears on your sign, truck and invoices. No extra words like "best" or your town; Google doesn't allow them. If someone already claimed the profile, request ownership.
3. Pick your main category. Choose the most specific one that fits ("Gutter cleaning service", not "Contractor"). Add as few extra categories as you can.
4. Say whether customers visit you. If you have a staffed storefront, add the address. If you go to customers, hide your address and add a service area instead: up to 20 towns or ZIP codes, within about two hours' drive of your base.
5. Add your phone number and website. Use a phone that rings at your business.
6. Verify. Google offers video recording, phone or text, email, a live video call, or a postcard, depending on your business. Google says reviews take up to 5 business days, and postcard codes usually arrive within 14 days. Your profile doesn't show until you're verified.
7. Finish the profile. Hours, services with short descriptions, 10 or more real photos, and your booking or quote link.
8. Keep it alive. Answer every review, post an update or photo now and then, and fix your hours before every holiday.

One profile per business. Duplicates or fake locations can get every profile suspended.

How do I get more reviews, and what's off limits?

Ask every customer, at the moment they're happiest, with a direct link. Never pay for reviews, never ask only the happy ones, and never write or buy fake ones.

How to ask: send your Google review link by text or email right after the job, with one sentence ("Would you share how it went? It helps a small business like ours."). Put a QR code on your invoice or receipt. Ask in person, then send the link.

How to answer a bad review: reply within a day or two, stay calm, thank them, fix what you can, and offer to talk offline. Future customers read your reply more than the complaint.

What's illegal or against the rules:

• Fake reviews. The FTC's rule on consumer reviews, in force since October 21, 2024, bans fake reviews and testimonials, including buying them, and reviews from your own managers or staff without a clear disclosure. It also bans buying fake followers or likes, and threatening people to stop bad reviews. Fines can reach $53,088 per violation.
• Paying for positive reviews. The FTC bans incentives tied to a review being positive. Google goes further: no discounts, freebies or payment for Google reviews at all, even for honest ones.
• Asking only happy customers (review gating). Google forbids it, and the FTC says it can break federal law.
• Pressuring customers on site. Google doesn't allow requiring reviews on your premises or giving staff review quotas.
• Asking on Yelp. Yelp tells businesses not to ask anyone for reviews at all. Let Yelp reviews come on their own.

How do I build my own website?

Buy a domain, pick a builder, write five or six pages, add a contact form or booking, set up the basics for Google, and launch. Our full do-it-yourself website guide walks through every step with times and costs.

1. Buy a domain. A .com runs about $11 a year; some builders include one free for the first year.
2. Pick a platform from the table below.
3. Plan five or six pages: Home, Services (or one page per main service), About, Reviews or Work, Contact, and a page for your service area if you cover several towns.
4. Add booking or contact. A short form at minimum; online booking if customers schedule appointments.
5. Do basic SEO before launch. Page titles and descriptions that name your service and town. See What SEO can I do myself?
6. Connect Google. Add your site to your Business Profile and verify it in Search Console.

Which website builder should I use?

Prices are the cheapest plan a small business would realistically use, per month, billed annually unless noted, from each vendor's own page on October 24, 2026. Each tool is scored 1 to 5 on ease of setup, design flexibility, how well it helps you get found (SEO), and lock-in (5 means you can leave easily with your content and domain). Quality is our overall score across those and support.

Our pick for a typical service business: Wix. It's the easiest to learn, and when you need online booking and payments, Core adds both in one place. If you only need a contact form and want the most polished look with the least design work, Squarespace Basic is just as good a choice.

Our pick for a small store: Shopify Basic. Selling is its core job: payments, shipping, taxes and inventory are built in, and it scales when you grow.

Want help from AI along the way? See how to use AI to build a website.

How do I launch on social media?

Pick one or two platforms where your customers already spend time, set up a complete business profile, and post on a schedule you can actually keep. Consistency beats volume.

Which platforms should I start on?

This is Moon Set's view of where each type of customer spends time, a rule of thumb, not survey data.

What should I set up first?

1. A business account, not a personal one, on each platform. On Facebook and Instagram, connect both in Meta Business Suite.
2. A complete profile: logo, a cover image, one line on what you do and where, hours, phone and address or service area.
3. A booking or contact link in the profile.
4. Your first 9 posts before you invite anyone: what you do, your work, your team, a customer review, a how-to tip, your service area, an offer, a behind-the-scenes shot, and how to book.
5. A posting rhythm you can keep, such as two posts a week on the same days. Batch them once a week in a scheduling tool.

Which social media tools should I use?

Prices per month, billed annually unless noted, checked October 24, 2026. Scored 1 to 5 on ease of setup, flexibility, reach (how much it helps you be seen), support, and lock-in.

Our pick: Meta Business Suite and Canva's free plan cover most new businesses. Add Buffer's free plan when you post on a third platform, and CapCut when you start making video.

How do I run paid ads on a small budget?

Start small, with one offer, one audience and one goal, and judge the ad by what each lead costs you, not by likes.

1. Pick one goal: calls, bookings or messages. Not "awareness."
2. Pick one offer worth acting on, such as a first-visit discount or a free quote.
3. Target your service area only: the towns or ZIP codes you actually serve.
4. Set a small daily budget you're comfortable spending to learn, such as $5 to $10 a day, and run it for two weeks before you judge it. (Those numbers are a Moon Set rule of thumb, not a platform rule. Yelp says its ads can run on as little as $5 a day on average; Note Meta's minimum daily budget.)
5. Measure cost per lead: money spent divided by calls, bookings or messages. Ask every new customer how they found you.
6. Keep what works, stop what doesn't, and only then raise the budget.

For drafting posts and ads faster, see AI for marketing.

How do I use email and referrals?

Start collecting customer emails from your first sale, and give happy customers a simple reason to send you their friends. These two are the cheapest customers you'll ever get.

Why does an email list matter for a small business?

You own it. Platforms change their rules and reach, but an email reaches every customer who said yes. A short monthly note (a seasonal reminder, a tip, an offer) brings people back. Email only people who gave you their address for that purpose; it keeps you out of spam folders. Federal CAN-SPAM rules require an honest subject line, your business's postal address and a working unsubscribe link, and you must honor opt-outs within 10 business days. Our AI for marketing guide covers them in more detail.

Which email tool should I use?

Prices per month, billed annually unless noted, checked October 24, 2026. Scored 1 to 5 on ease of setup, flexibility, reach (deliverability and growth features), support, and lock-in.

Our pick: MailerLite. Its free plan is enough to start a real newsletter, it's easy to learn, and the first paid tier is inexpensive.

How do I set up a simple referral program?

1. Pick a reward you can afford on both sides: $20 off for the customer who refers and $20 off for the new customer, a free add-on, or a gift card. Rewarding both people gives each of them a reason to act.
2. Make it easy to share: a short line and a link or code the customer can text a friend.
3. Ask at the right moment: right after a job well done, in the same message as your review request.
4. Track it: give each customer a code, or ask every new customer "Who sent you?" and log it in a spreadsheet: referrer, new customer, date, reward sent.
5. Pay rewards fast and say thank you.

When is it worth bringing in help?

When the hours you spend on marketing are worth more spent on your business, or when you've stalled. Here's what each piece takes on your own and what we handle.

• A website is where every other channel sends people. If it's unclear or slow, you pay for that everywhere else.
• Social media and influencers put you in front of people who don't know you yet, through someone they already trust.
• Brand and product design decide whether people remember you and pick you off the shelf.
• SEO keeps bringing in customers who are already searching for what you sell, long after the work is done.

Not sure where to start? We'll look at what you have and tell you honestly what's worth doing yourself.

Book an appointment

Where to next?

• SEO in plain English
• How to build a small business website yourself
• AI for marketing, AI for customer service and AI for finding leads
• All our AI guides