Client Magnets Official Blog

Archive for May, 2009

I regularly run surveys asking my readers what their biggest challenges are. The same themes crop up over and over: How do I get new clients? How do I convert initial interest into paying business? How do I ensure consistency in my client base and cash-flow?

If you find the whole process of finding new clients and customers difficult and painful, there is a solution – do a lot more business with the clients and customers you do get so you need less of them.

That may require you to think very differently about the business you are in and what your clients really want from you. For example, I recently spoke to a market researcher who wanted to expand her range of services, but could not see what else she could offer to her existing clients. As I delved deeper into her business, it quickly became apparent that the main reason people were hiring her was because they wanted to better understand their customers’ needs, so they in turn could increase customer satisfaction and sell more!

I could instantly see a whole series of opportunities for this market researcher. First offering ongoing support and accountability as her clients implemented the findings of her research. Next, given that what her clients really wanted was to retain their existing customers and prevent lost business, what else could she offer to help them achieve that goal? Could she offer additional programmes that helped her clients measure and improve customer retention?

The point is, as long as this woman was putting herself in the ‘market researcher’ box – she would remain blind to all the additional needs and problems facing her existing clients. But by expanding her definition of the business she was in – not just a market researcher but a customer retention specialist, the opportunities would expand too. And because she already has an existing relationship with her clients – they trust her and have paid for her services already – it will be a lot easier for her to sell additional services to them than it would be to go out and find a brand new client.

Bottom line? More income with a lot less work.

The biggest obstacle you face applying this idea to your business is your own imagination. If you have been defining yourself by your skill-sets eg sales trainer, coach, complementary therapist, then your first step must be breaking beyond the label you have put on yourself. Think about what you clients and customers really want and what else you can offer to help them achieve that.

Tweet

It’s true what they say about first impressions. Because they have called YOU, they already know something about you and what you’re offering. The fact that the prospect has bothered to pick up the phone to call you and find out more is a huge sign that they’re interested in buying. The downside is that you may not be the only company they’re calling.

So what do you need to do in this phone conversation to help things progress easily to the next step? The secret is to gauge what the caller really wants, and then give it to them. But you can’t do that unless you first get them to open up and tell you what they really want. The most important thing to do in the first few seconds is establish rapport with the enquirer, and then….

…Get permission to ask questions. When you build trust and ask the right questions, your prospects will give you all the information you need to solve their problems, give them what they really want and ultimately win their business. At the same time, some callers may be reluctant to open up on the telephone and discuss their real needs.

If callers are reluctant to give you information it’s either because they don’t trust you, or because you aren’t asking the right questions. You can earn their trust by demonstrating in your attitude and manner that your primary aim is to help them make an informed decision. You can’t fake this. Customers are smart and they can sense who’s genuinely interested and trying to help, and who’s just after a quick sale.

Ask about the prospect’s needs, find out how they plan to use the product or service that they’re enquiring about, and what results they hope to achieve through using it. It doesn’t matter whether you’re selling coaching, financial services or training, there are key questions that you can formulate to find out what they want to achieve, what they want to avoid, and how they plan to use the product or service that you can supply.

Spend twice as much time listening than talking. Many years ago, I conducted some research into top sales performers. One of my findings was that the most successful sales performers spent 70% of their time asking questions and listening to the answers, and only 30% of the time talking about the solution they could offer. Aim for a similar ratio in your conversations with prospects. This means preparing lists of questions to use in your calls.

That said, it’s not the Spanish Inquisition! If the caller feels you are mindlessly working through list of questions without fully paying attention to them or that the questions are for your benefit rather than theirs, you’ll lose rapport and credibility. It’s a paradox that when you set aside your own needs to focus fully on what the customer really wants – even at the risk that you may not be able to provide it for them – you create an environment of trust that can ultimately lead to more sales than if you were focused on your own goals throughout the call.

What’s the next step? Depending on what you are selling, the next step might be to book a treatment, book a trial session, arrange a face-to-face meeting, send information, or you might even take an order there and then. As the seller, it’s your responsibility to make clear what the next step is, but involve the prospect in determining what they are comfortable with.

Here’s a gentle way to suggest the next step without pushing: towards the end of the conversation say, ‘At this point, what we’ll normally do is (state the next step). Does that sound like a good next step for you, or do you still have questions?’. This is a useful way to surface unanswered questions and concerns whilst maintaining an atmosphere of trust.

The ideas in this article will give you a starting point, but what will really get results is being genuinely interested in helping callers make informed buying decisions that are right for them. When you take incoming phone enquiries with this mindset you’ll be able to have meaningful sales conversations without scaring prospective customers away!

Tweet

One of the main principles of the Client Magnets approach is that it’s easier to close a sale when a prospect has sought YOU out, rather than when you approach them. One of the reasons for this is that when a prospect approaches you, the business relationship starts out on a more equal footing. Contrast the situation where a prospect approaches YOU with the built in resistance and or skepticism you encounter when the first contact is made via a cold call or unsolicited mailing.

When people feel that they’ve discovered YOU, you don’t encounter the resistance that can occur when YOU approach them. Defenses are down, the buyer feels more in control of the communication. Instead of YOU saying, ‘Here’s how I think I can help you’ and then having to prove your claim with lots of convincing and persuading, the prospect is saying, ‘I think YOU’RE the person who can help me. Tell me how this works.’ They are much more motivated to listen to your answers! Once they’ve called you, how you handle that all important first phone call can make the difference between you landing a client – or losing them forever.

When I was selling training to corporations, I found that the first phone conversation played a critical part in the overall sales process. Handled correctly, the prospect was ‘pre-sold’ even before our first meeting, the progression from initial enquiry to signed contract was smooth and in some cases the phone conversation went so well that the caller made the decision to buy without us having to meet.

So the first phone conversation is a crucial moment in the overall sales process and sadly many opportunities are lost forever by mishandling this critical stage.

It’s not your job to ‘convert’ every caller. The purpose of this first phone conversation is to find out more about each other, and if appropriate, progress to the next step. But that doesn’t mean that every phone conversation will or should result in a sale.

For a multitude of reasons, you may not be a good match for each other. I’ve witnessed many sellers put themselves – and their prospects – under unnecessary pressure because they were ‘going for the order’ before it had been established whether that was the appropriate next step.

Shift your goal for the call to ‘let’s find out more about whether we’re right for each other’ instead of ‘must get the sale at any cost’. You’ll be more relaxed, and when the prospect doesn’t feel pressured, they are more likely to lower their defenses and tell you what they really want and need.

Result? When appropriate the sales will flow naturally, without you having to push. And, if it’s not appropriate to progress to the next stage right now, you have left the door open for future business and/or referrals.

Tweet

I’m guessing that one of the reasons you’re reading this article is because there is a gap between ‘where you are’ right now, and ‘where you’d like to be.’ However you are doing at the moment – whether business is going great and you just want to optimise and fine tune your success, or at the other extreme you feel that you are more of a Client Repellent than a Client Magnet, or just if you are somewhere in between-there’s a good chance that you’re reading this newsletter because you want more clients and more success.

On a marketing survey I ran, several people asked about ‘knowing where to start’. Living in Ireland, I am tempted to quote the well known Irish joke, ‘I wouldn’t start from here’, but I think we will get more practical mileage from the words of Theodore Roosevelt:

‘Do what you can, with what you have, where you are.’

Is that it? I can hear you ask. Do I have nothing more profound to say on the subject? Well actually, as I look back over the years since I started this website, I realise that most progress has been made when I followed this advice. Things slowed down when I started wishing, fantasising, and got distracted or lured off track by ‘short cuts’. What’s brought me furthest? Simply putting one foot in front of the other, over and over again.

There are opportunities right under your nose

For many readers of this newsletter, opportunity is ALREADY knocking at the door. Yet you may be ignoring opportunity because you are too busy making other plans! Russell Conwell’s story ‘Acres of Diamonds’ hammers this point home. The story is about a farmer who lived in Africa and through a visitor became tremendously excited about looking for diamonds. Diamonds were already discovered in abundance on the African continent and this farmer got so excited about the idea of millions of dollars worth of diamonds that he sold his farm to head out to the diamond line. He wandered all over the continent, as the years slipped by, constantly searching for diamonds, wealth, which he never found. Eventually he went completely broke and threw himself into a river and drowned.

Meanwhile, the new owner of his farm picked up an unusual looking rock about the size of a country egg and put it on his mantle as a sort of curiosity. A visitor stopped by and on seeing the rock got very excited. He told the new owner of the farm that the funny looking rock on his mantle was probably the biggest diamond that had ever been found. The new owner of the farm said, ‘The whole farm is covered with them’ – and sure enough it was.

Your present circumstances provide you with EVERYTHING you need to lead you to the future you desire

Most of us don’t want to agree with this. We are too attached to ‘if only’. ‘If only I had…. more time, more money, a different partner, different qualifications, more confidence, lived somewhere different, was older, was younger, had started earlier…’ If only our circumstances were somehow different, then everything would fall into place. But what if your current circumstances aren’t just conditions to be overcome, but actually provide the very foundation for YOUR unique path forward?

What if your current circumstances aren’t a curse, but a blessing? Stop wishing you were somewhere else, and start accepting where you are. In the words of Sarah Ban Breathnach, ‘We can never leave any situation that causes us discomfort until we learn to love it or at least see love at work in it’

You Are Surrounded By People Who Can and Want to Help You

One of the first things I do when consulting with a new client is get them to list their existing ‘assets’: past and current customers and contacts. To some, this seems a little boring – after all the excitement is in getting ‘new’ customers and clients isn’t it? Yet your biggest opportunities lie with people who already know you. It costs 4-7 times as much to acquire a new customer or client than it does to sell to an existing one. But all sorts of things get in the way of people going back to past contacts: fear that they weren’t satisfied, fear that they will be annoyed by the approach, even pride!

Do what you can today and let tomorrow take care of itself

As Julia Cameron puts it, ‘Take one small daily action instead of indulging in the big questions. When we allow ourselves to wallow in the big questions, we fail to find the small answers.’ So instead of asking yourself how you’ll make that first million, focus on what you can do to serve someone TODAY.

No magic cures required. Simply do what you can, with what you have where you are. Put your heart into it and do the best you can, and you will be amazed at the new vistas that open up for you.

Tweet

I once worked with a business owner who, on the surface at least, appeared to be doing ‘all the right things’. Yet he was frustrated that his marketing efforts weren’t producing the results that he wanted.

What was even more puzzling for my client was that the marketing he was doing had worked previously, and generated great results.

Yet, practically overnight, it seemed, business had dried up.

Clients cancelled. His marketing didn’t make the telephone ring that way it used to, and my friend was running round in circles trying to figure out what to do about it.

This is a phenomenon I’ve witnessed in many of my clients over the years. I call it the invisible ‘closed for business’ sign.

You can’t see it, but your prospective clients and customers can, and it keeps them away. Perfecting and honing your marketing still won’t produce the results that you want if you’ve got an invisible ‘closed for business’ sign hanging somewhere.

So if your marketing efforts haven’t been paying off the way that you’d like, there’s a very good chance that you, like my client, have hung up an invisible ‘closed for business’ sign at your front door.

It’s unlikely that you have done this consciously or deliberately. In fact you may insist that of course you want more clients and point out all the things you are doing to attract them.

But if, in spite of your efforts, you aren’t getting the clients that you want, I can guarantee that there is an invisible ‘closed for business’ sign which is keeping prospective new clients at bay.

Now some of my clients are reluctant to hear this diagnosis and can get quite annoyed with me when I have the nerve to suggest that at some level they don’t want new clients and are even actively repelling them.

They insist that they just need SOMETHING to solve all their marketing problems once and for all. It might be a better brochure, a Google AdWords campaign, a new website or some other ‘magic cure’ and everything will fall into place.

And yes, any or all of those things might help, but before rushing into action, it’s worthwhile exploring whether a ‘closed for business’ sign is hanging somewhere.

So why do people work so hard to attract clients on the surface, yet secretly hang out an invisible ‘closed for business’ sign that sabotages their efforts?

Well obviously, very few people do it consciously, and usually we have to delve deep to explore what prompted an individual to hang out a sign like this.

Get curious. Is it possible that YOU have a ‘closed for business’ sign hanging that is deterring new clients and customers?

Ask yourself:

*When did I decide to hang a ‘closed for business’ sign at my door?
*What prompted me to hang out that sign?
*What payoff am I getting from being ‘closed for business’?

Everyone’s answers are unique, but here are some of the answers I’ve heard:

‘I was so attached to my clients results, that each new client was like an emotional burden to me. I couldn’t take on any more.’

‘Every new client increased my paperwork, admin, and other things I hated to do, and so I started to get a ‘sinking feeling’ with each new client’

‘A previous client I worked with got disappointing results and it caused me to doubt my abilities. It was easier to not have clients than to have disappointed clients.’

‘I knew I was about to achieve a whole new level of success and I didn’t think I could sustain it’

‘Actually I needed a rest, but I was driving myself too hard to admit it’

You will see that there is often a deeper wisdom in operation which points to changes we need to make in our businesses before we can invite the next level of success.

Having explored the reasons behind your ‘closed for business’ sign, what changes do you need to make BEFORE you take down that sign?

‘I need to be less attached to my clients’ results’.
‘I need to raise my fees’.
‘I need an assistant to support me with admin and invoicing’.
‘I need to get my accounts up to date’.
‘I need the confidence to say NO to clients I don’t want to work with’.

Sometimes, just making these changes will be enough to start the new flow of business coming again – but remember to take that sign down too!

Tweet

In the mid eighties, researchers at Cleveland State University made an astonishing discovery.

The researchers created two fictitious job candidates, Dave and John. For each of them they created identical resumes and two almost identical letters of reference. The ONLY difference was that John’s letter included this sentence:

‘Sometimes, John can be a little difficult to get along with.’

The researchers showed the resumes to personnel directors.

Guess which applicant the directors most wanted to interview?

Believe it or not, the answer is JOHN.

The researchers concluded that the criticism of John made the rest of the reference far more believable.

Many savvy marketers have long understood the power of the ‘damaging admission’. The damaging admission is where the seller points out the flaws of what they are offering. Few products, services or offers are perfect and most prospects can’t help but wonder, ‘What’s the hidden catch?’

So if you take it upon yourself to let your prospects know up front what the weaknesses or limitations of what you are offering, you accomplish several things.

First, by announcing upfront the limitations of your product service or idea, it stops your prospect from attempting to uncover those limitations for himself.

Secondly, it lends credibility to everything else you have to say about your product or service. After all, if you’re honest enough to admit the weaknesses and flaws of what you’re offering, it stands to reason that all the positive things you have to say are true too.

Finally, it can actually draw your prospects attention. Who can resist paying attention to the sentence that starts, ‘I shouldn’t be telling you this, but….’?

Cosmetics company Lush have long understood the power of the ‘damaging admission’. Next to their product descriptions they include positive and negative comments from customers. Hence a shampoo that features rave reviews from some customers, may also be accompanied by comments from others such as ‘smells like coal tar’. Kind of refutes the idea that the positive testimonials are manufactured doesn’t it?

Here’s another example of a damaging admission, taken from one of my own products: ‘If you’re determined to find a catch, there is one major flaw that you should know about. This programme won’t pick up the phone and make the calls for you! You’ll still have to pick up the phone and dial!’

What stops most people from making the ‘damaging admission’ is that they’re afraid that by showing a weakness they’ll lose the sale. In actual fact, the reverse is true. You’re far more likely to win your customers’ trust and respect if you admit the flaws of what you are offering.

Tweet

Many of us put off creating or overhauling our marketing materials until we have “time.” But with all the responsibilities we have, who on earth has time? In my experience, the time excuse is very often a smokescreen, covering the fears hidden underneath.

And what of these fears? Well let’s face it. When you’re selling yourself, there’s something scary about putting yourself “out there” and putting yourself “out there” in a tangible real piece of marketing, does seem to make it somewhat final. We worry about being misunderstood.

We worry about not living up to other people’s expectations. We worry about “getting it wrong”. We worry about offending people. We worry about appearing over confident. We worry about making claims that we can’t live up to. It’s no wonder we can’t find the time. Who would want to find the time to when there are so many ways of getting it wrong?

In spite of the fact that those fears exist and they’re getting in the way, we really just have to thumb our noses at them. You simply have to say to yourself, “Yes, those fears may be there, but I’m going to create my marketing materials in spite of them.”

My favourite method for blasting through these fears is a technique I call the “anti-brochure”. Before we go any further I want you to grab a pen, and a sheet of paper and at the top write, “The reasons you SHOULDN’T become my client”. Now as quickly as possible, write down all the reasons why someone shouldn’t hire you.

Don’t worry, we won’t be publicizing these, what we are aiming to do is to get these sentences out of your head where they can cripple your creative process and onto the page where they lose a great deal of their power.

Here are some examples that have come out of this exercise:

“I’m not good enough.”

“I tell a good story, but I don’t walk my talk.”

“If I’m so great why is my own life in such a mess?”

“If people knew what I was really like they wouldn’t want to hire me.”

“I’m afraid I won’t live up to their expectations.”

“The only reason I have any clients is because I fooled them all.”

I love this technique for blasting away the doubts and fears that will otherwise really interfere with your creative process. Once you’ve got the words out and onto the page, they become a lot less effective at holding you back. Last year I ran a course with a partner, and we sat down and did this exercise together before writing the brochure.

We titled it, “The reasons you shouldn’t book onto this course”. We each spent 5-10 minutes filling a sheet with our insecurities and fears and when we were done, we compared notes, then threw the lists away. That’s it. That’s all you need to do. Don’t agonize over what you’ve written. Just write it, read it through and throw it away.

Some people like a ritual burning, but to be perfectly honest I think that’s affording too much significance to what just amounts to a bunch of false fears. Just screw up the paper and toss it in the wastepaper basket. Try this. It really works.

Tweet

Since I was a small child, I’ve always loved reading. Even though I don’t buy as many books as I used to (I’ve learned that the real ‘meat’ is contained in the higher priced home-study courses and trainings offered by these authors), my love of books has contributed to quite a bulging book collection over the years.

Every couple of months I create space on my bookshelf by having a good clear out and donating the books to my local Oxfam shop. Yet, no matter how many times I’ve done this over the years there are some books that ALWAYS make the cut. I was reflecting on this when I realised that there is a reason these books have a special place in my heart. Each one of them helped me make an important distinction or gave me an idea that helped me to transform my business – and life.

So in no particular order, here they are and the reason why they’ve earned a lifetime membership on my bookshelf:

‘How to Make Millions With Your Ideas’ by Dan Kennedy

The book that opened my eyes to the power of information marketing and showed me how it was possible to profit from my expertise, instead of my time. Not only did it open my eyes to the power of information marketing, it was also my first experience with Dan Kennedy. I’ve done very well out of my association with both in the ensuing years.

‘Rich Dad, Poor Dad’ by Robert Kiyosaki

Helped me to make the distinction between earned income and leveraged income. Honestly I didn’t get it on my first encounter, although it definitely planted a seed about passive income. This book was the reason I stopped offering one-to-one coaching.

‘The Great Formula’ by Mark Joyner

Gave me a major ‘ah-ha’ moment, when the author pointed out that infomercial giant Guthy-Renker has one main criteria when evaluating new products: is there potential for continuity income? That ‘ah-ha’ led me to reconsider my entire product range and replace one-off purchase opportunities with programmes that provided support and advice on an ongoing basis.

That one simple change has transformed my entire business – until you know the feeling of starting each month with a significant chunk of guaranteed income, you have no idea what you’re missing.

‘Getting to Yes’ by Roger Fisher and William Ury

I was always intimidated by the idea of negotiating until I came across this book. Everything changed when the authors provided me with one simple question “How did you arrive at that figure?”  I’ve never looked back!

‘The Portable Coach’ by Thomas Leonard

Where do I start? There were so many light-bulb moments when I read this book I could have been a Christmas tree! Misnamed in my opinion (it’s subtitle 28 Principles of Attraction might be a better description) this is one I return to over and over. Even today it is ahead of its time.

If these books haven’t made it onto your reading list yet, I recommend that you check them out soon!

Tweet

Begin by understanding the difference between direct-response websites and brochure websites. Brochure websites have a nice, safe logical layout of information but little, if any, clear calls to action. Direct response websites are geared towards getting visitors to take action.

1. Tell them who it’s for and what you can do for them in the first few seconds. Instead of simply having your name at the top of your website, use that space to announce WHO your site is for, and WHAT you can do for them. That means that in the first few seconds you target visitors will have the reaction “Yes, this is for me”. Of course, that will be at the expense of any untargeted visitors who will click away, but you didn’t want them anyway!

2. Remove anything that does not support your MWR. MWR is short for ‘Most Wanted Response’ a term I first heard about from Ken Evoy, author of Make Your Site Sell.

What do you want people to DO when they first visit your site? Call to arrange a consultation? Request more information? Book a coaching session? Reserve a space at your next workshop? Have a clear MWR for each and every page of your website and then only include the content that moves visitors towards your MWR and strip away anything that doesn’t.

3. Capture visitors’ details. Less than 1% of visitors will buy on their first visit to a website, that’s why it’s important to capture their details so you can follow up with them.

4. Less is more. In many of the sites I critiqued today, it was almost like the site owners were thinking “I don’t know exactly what I should say to my web visitor, so I’ll just throw out a load of things in the hope that SOMETHING grabs their attention”. Unfortunately, just adding more and more options or information is simply going to confuse your visitor, and if they aren’t sure what to do next, they will probably take the easiest option and click away…forever!

5. Personalize your site. Include your photo and a biography. Let visitors see the person behind the website. It’s true that people buy people!

6. Use a mixture of ‘towards’ and ‘away from’ language in your sales copy. Some of the sites I reviewed today were for coaches who are very solution oriented in their approach and web-copy. The trouble is, this only works for visitors who have the same solution-oriented outlook and people with problems are typically… stuck in their problems!

7. Copywriter Robert Collier said that you have to “enter the conversation that is already going on in the prospect’s mind” and sometimes that means you have to start with the problems that are preoccupying them. So show people that you can both solve pressing problems as well as achieve desired end solutions.

It is critical that your direct response website connect emotionally with visitors who are in your target market. You can do this by making them feel at home so when they visit your site they know they are in the right place.  Remove anything that does not lead to your most wanted response, capturing their contact details, limit unneeded text and images, making your site more personal, using the right mix of copywriting that appeals to your target market and addressing the problem visitors are experiencing and explaining the benefits of working with you.

Tweet

Several years ago, I was on a holiday at Club La Santa in Lanzarote, a sports resort where there are lots of fitness classes scheduled throughout the day. One lunchtime I was lounging by the pool in a perfect position to observe the following scene as it unfolded before me.

An aqua aerobics class was scheduled for midday. Shortly before, the instructor arrived, set up her music and waited for her participants. There had been a big party the previous night, and I did not predict a huge turnout for the class. But when it got to midday, not a single person had turned up.

I saw the instructor walk towards the music system, and guessed that she was about to pack up and leave. To my surprise she started her music and started her warm up, calling instructions to an empty pool.

I was stunned. It must have taken some courage to lead an empty class. But I was also impressed by her commitment. As far as she was concerned, she had been booked to lead the class, and just because participants hadn’t turned up, that wasn’t going to stop her from showing up and doing her bit. She didn’t run around the pool trying to rally support and persuade us up from our sun loungers. She just started the class.

Years before I had even considered the phrase ‘client magnet’, I was witness to this demonstration of client magnetism. Because after a few minutes, the combination of loud music plus the spectacle of an aerobics instructor shouting instructions to an empty pool pulled a few curious observers. A couple of them got into the water and joined in.

Before long at least 10 people had joined the class. The instructor didn’t care how many people turned up, she had decided that nothing would stop her from fully showing up and giving 100% commitment to the class. In doing so, the instructor became a powerful magnet who had her vision of a full class manifest before my eyes.

This memory was a big inspiration for me when I was preparing for my first paid teleseminar. As the date approached, only two people had registered for the class. Of course I was tempted to cancel, but then I remembered that aerobics instructor and realised that there is something very powerful about following through on our intentions.

I ignored the little voice inside that said ‘who are you to talk about being a client magnet when there are only two people in the class?’ and stayed committed. And then a funny thing happened…

On the day of the teleseminar, as I was making final preparations for the calls I received not one, but two enquiries. The second call came just 30 minutes before the teleseminar was due to start! This felt like a lot more than coincidence, and it felt like just as the instructor attracted participants through her willingness to show up, that my willingness to show up was acting as a magnet too.

Fast forward a few short years, and since that bumpy start teleseminars have become a very important part of my business. From a starting point of just 4 people, these days I’ve had over 950 people register for a single call. But I can’t help wondering what would have happened if I had given in to that temptation to cancel? Would I have ever mustered the courage to try again?

I’m sharing this story for two reasons. First, I want to ask how often do you set an intention and then cancel it due to apparent lack of interest? Are you really showing up? Or are you waiting for clients to show up first? Maybe you’re the one who needs to demonstrate commitment before you can expect clients to do so.

Second, it’s a word of encouragement to anyone who is feeling how I felt when the day of my first teleseminar approached. Keep going! Don’t give up. If you’ve said you were going to do something, then follow through on your word. Recommit to your project and trust that whatever happens is perfect for you. In my first year of business I was tempted to cancel a course because I was barely covering my costs.

I proceeded anyway and one of the participants went on to refer over £18,000 of business to me over the next 12 months. The truth is, you never know what’s around the corner. But if you give up this time, you’ll be tempted to give up the next time things get tough, and the time after that.

I’ll wrap up with one of my favourite quotes, one that I live by and it has served me well, “the moment one definitely commits oneself, then providence moves too. A whole stream of events issues from the decision, raising in one’s favour all manner of unforeseen incidents, meetings and material assistance, which no man could have dreamt would have come his way.”

Tweet