Client Magnets Official Blog

Archive for January, 2010

When I first started my business, I listened to a lot of motivational speakers and read ‘success’ books that preached to be successful in business we’ve got to make huge sacrifices, we’ve got to work 80-hour weeks, we’ve got to compromise, we’ve got to sacrifice time with our family or time off.

And while there are lots of people in the world that will tell you that that’s how you have to be successful in business, I’m not one of them.

I no longer believe that. I used to believe it but I don’t believe it any longer.

My personal experience has been that the more I focus on setting up my business in a way that is based around my strengths and my preferences, the easier business gets and the more business flows in.

In the years that I’ve been helping business owners to grow their businesses, one of the things that I’ve noticed is what I call the invisible wall. What I mean by this is suddenly rather than being a ‘Client Magnet’, a person has actually become a client repellent. Opportunities are falling by the wayside and business is drying up.

Typically when we start to explore that, there is normally some aspect of their business that has become less fun or less enjoyable or actually to the point of something they really don’t want to do.

So that rather than feel good about the new business that’s coming in, it’s like the idea of winning a new client makes their shoulders sink because they’re just associating it with more work and more struggle and more sacrifice.

So what we need to do is identify the struggle or sacrifice, and find a way to remove it. So, for example, it might be for example that someone has a lot of admin that they hate doing associated with working with a client, and the tweak that we make is we find someone to come in and take over that admin part for them.

I’ve observed that the instant we make that change, suddenly the business flows in again. And it seems always magical but it’s like there was an energetic invisible block that was preventing the business from coming to you.

So I think one of the most important things you can do to ensure the long term success of your business is constantly ask yourself, “Am I really doing business on my terms? Have I set this up for my optimum quality of life and for my optimum growth and learning and fun? Am I still enjoying this as much as I could?’

And if the answer to any of those questions is anything other than an unequivocal ‘yes’, then make the adjustments and tweaks that you need to. Vaccinate yourself against the strong and prevalent belief amongst business owners and business success literature that you can’t succeed without sacrifice.

Bernadette Doyle publishes a weekly Client Magnets newsletter for trainers, coaches, consultants, complementary therapists and solo professionals. If you want to get clients calling you instead of you calling them, then get your free tips now at http://www.clientmagnets.com

If you took one year off from your business, would it be in the same shape – or better – when you came back? If the answer is no, according to Robert Kiyosaki, the author of Rich Dad, Poor Dad, you don’t really have a business, you’ve got a job.

There’s no reason your business shouldn’t grow just because you’re not around to tend to it. You simply need to think differently to make that happen.

The lower paid people in the world think they get paid for each hour that they work. That’s how they measure income. That’s how they measure value – by the hour. They think about an hour’s worth of work and what they’re earning for that hour. Those people are always focused on raising their hourly income.

Now, higher paid people believe that they get paid for the value they bring to the hour. They’re typically very comfortable receiving a higher hourly rate. They recognize that what they’re earning in the hour is not just based solely on the time. It’s also based on their expertise – think of a lawyer or an accountant, for example.

But, take notice that the connection between time and money is still there. Most service businesses are based on this model. So if you’re a coach or a consultant, a healer or a therapist, there’s a very good chance that this is your model, too.

That’s why people in consulting are often obsessed with billable hours. That link between time and money is really strong. The main problem with a business that’s based on selling time is that you’re basically selling a finite resource.

For example, when I started my training business, my whole business model was based on me selling time. I wanted to sell a certain number of days at a certain daily rate.

It seemed like a good way to begin, because typically I earned more per hour than any employer would ever have paid me.

The trouble is that sooner or later, you run out of time.

So I replaced the idea that I got paid for my time with the belief that I got paid for my time and my talents. That was progress. But the limitation was that if I wanted to take a month off, the price that I would pay was lost income.

As long as my business was based on me selling my time, I didn’t really have a business. I had a job. A well paying job, but still just a job.

As long as you are selling your time, even at commanding top fees, you are always going to be manual labor. And, as long as you’re manual labor, it really doesn’t matter whether you’re getting £10 a day or £10,000 a day.

The highest paid people in the world understand that. They understand that the hour is irrelevant. The only thing they concern themselves with is the value that they deliver according to the marketplace. They don’t even think in terms of hours.

This is the level of thought you want to achieve. Begin by associating with people who are already at that level. That was a big influence for me, and it helped to really shift and shape my own beliefs. Get exposure to these people and just observe, up close and personal, how they approach things.

They think and act differently from the rest!

There aren’t many of us who enjoy admitting to our weaknesses. Recognizing our own vulnerabilities makes us feel, well vulnerable.

Here’s the thing, though. If you want to emotionally connect with your audience – and you do want to do that – you have to find the strength and the courage to be vulnerable. I personally think one of the most powerful ways to really take your marketing to a whole new level is to find within yourself that courage to be vulnerable.

I’ll give you the perfect example. At a two-day intensive workshop, I met a gentleman who was really intense about studying direct marketing, copywriting and Internet marketing.

He had really been going for it. But he was very frustrated and shared that he was spending as much on his advertising as he was making. So he was basically at zero.

When I looked at his website, I observed what I call “copywriting by numbers.” If you looked at it, on the surface, you could find absolutely nothing wrong with what he was doing.

If you looked at it with this kind of copywriting, direct response mindset, everything he was doing was ticking all the boxes. On the surface nothing was wrong.

But the fact was, there was something missing.

He had a very personal, very vulnerable reason for creating his business, but he wasn’t sharing it. He had no real emotional connection with his audience.

The story is basically that he had a dog who was his lifelong companion. The dog became sick, was diagnosed with cancer and given a very short amount of time to live.

And he obviously wanted to do everything he could to save his dog, and ended up finding some different techniques for really assisting dogs in this situation.

He packaged the information he found into an e-book which he sells to other dog owners in the same situation. But when you visited his web site, you didn’t feel the emotional connection to him as a dog owner.  He didn’t relay anything about his own personal situation.

He could have been selling anything from his website from the way that he was – or actually, wasn’t – emotionally engaging his audience.

As we talked about it, he shared that he was finding it difficult to be that vulnerable and open up about his experiences. It was such a soft spot for him. It was easier to just play it safe and try to keep the copywriting at an intellectual level.

He was actually frightened that people would laugh at him.

And that couldn’t be more untrue. In fact, quite the opposite. People can sense when there’s real truth in marketing. And it was obvious as he talked about his dog that there was genuine true feeling there. His motive for setting up his business wasn’t just about making money.

His purpose was really to help other dog owners in a similar situation get through what had been a very traumatic time for him. But because he wasn’t allowing himself to be vulnerable, this message wasn’t coming across in his marketing.

And yes, he is selling information on saving a dog’s life, but the same could be true if you’re selling products or information to business leaders.

That feeling that you have the courage to share is actually what’s going to inspire your customers and turn them onto your message. That is what’s going to make them feel that you’re the person they want to learn from.

Would you like to be able to jump from earning between £50,000 and £100,000 a year to averaging well over £30,000 per month? Is one of your goals to reach the million dollar mark in online sales?

You don’t necessarily have to work longer or harder to accomplish that. In fact, I did that during the same period of my life when I had my two children.

And, as any parent knows, when you have two youngsters around, there isn’t exactly an abundance of time to work with. Quite the opposite.

So, achieving this kind of dramatic increase in your earning is not about putting in longer hours. It’s about creating a structure, both externally and internally, that will make it possible for you to receive money 24/7.

There are three basic things you need to do in order to create that structure.

1. Stop undervaluing what you have to offer. Trying to squeeze your expertise into low-priced solutions doesn’t work and won’t really give your clients what they need.

Part of your journey to financial success has to include your offering higher value products and programs that really deliver great solutions to your clients. This will also enable you to charge more.

2. Productize your service business. Instead of getting paid by the hour, package your expertise into products and programs that can be sold off the shelf and aren’t dependent upon your time to deliver.

If your business model involves going out and working with a client for a day, and then getting paid for that day, can you develop a product that does the work for you? With this type of business model, instead of doing the work and getting paid, you do the work once and get paid over and over and over again.

3. Remove yourself from the manual labor of your sales and marketing – or at least, as much as possible.

You don’t need to be personally involved in every single sale. You don’t need to pick up the phone to prospect and find new customers. You don’t need to write individual proposals or have meetings and phone conversations to make the sale.

All of that time-consuming sales and marketing activity can be replaced with automated sales processes. Use things like direct mail, the Internet and email marketing instead.

Rather than selling one-to-one, develop one-to-many techniques that will help you reach more people in less time.

When you stop undervaluing your services, and begin to productize them and automate your sales process, your earnings will skyrocket. Doing any one of these three things alone will make a noticeable improvement in your business. But, implementing all three of them -  together -  will have a dramatic and profound effect. That’s when the magic happens.

Put a mental check mark next to each of the following statements that describe you and your business:
•    In order to generate income, you need to put in a certain number of hours.
•    The more hours you work, the more money you will make.
•    Your business makes money only when you are working.

The more check marks you’ve made, the stronger your connection between time and money is. If you’ve got a strong time-money link going on in your business, this can actually mean that you end up working a lot harder or longer than you need to for the money that you make.

You’ve heard the saying “time is money” plenty of times. I’m willing to bet you’ve said it yourself in the past few weeks. The problem is that as long as you agree with that statement in any way, shape or form, you inhibit your ability to create wealth.

And, if you don’t address this, so many of the things you want to achieve will remain out of your reach.

If you are well-versed enough to have spent time thinking about this topic, and already know that you need to break away from the “time is money” attitude, that’s good. But it’s still not enough. It’s not just what you know on the surface, it’s about discovering those deeper beliefs that are blocking you from reaching your potential. That is the challenge.

The challenging part is quieting down the voice in your mind that says things like, “It’s not supposed to be this easy. You haven’t earned it. You don’t deserve it. To generate this money, you need to be putting in a certain number of hours.” It just keeps telling you that the money that you earn should be proportional to the time that you’ve put in.

You can only earn passive income, money that you make even when you aren’t working, when you dispel this subconscious belief.

And you can only dispel that belief when you begin to have experiences that transition you from trading your time for money to being in a position where money comes in 24/7.

Whether you take a nice break after having a baby, or you’re flying on a plane; whether you’re sleeping or on holiday, the money keeps coming in.

I first got interested in the concept of passive income back in the early 90’s. A boy friend I had at the time was involved in a network marketing organization, and he talked a lot about residual income and passive income.

While I understood this in theory, it took a few years before I got to the point of really experiencing it. There’s a big difference between knowing about something in your mind and experiencing the same thing in your body.

If you want to know what it’s like to ride a rollercoaster, for example, you can Google “rollercoasters.” You can watch videos of rollercoasters from around the world or interview people who have ridden on rollercoasters. You can buy books and study about rollercoasters.

But, you are never going to know what it’s like to ride the rollercoaster until you buy a ticket, strap yourself in, close your eyes and just go! You will know what it’s like to ride the rollercoaster when you experience it.

That’s why it’s so important to get you to that point of your first passive sale. Once you’ve made that first sale – and it might only be a trivial amount -  it might only be £50, that’s when your life is going to change. Because so much happens inside of you in that instant when you experience it.

When you hear about someone doing well or coming into a lot of money quickly, how do you feel about that? Not people who win a lottery or sweepstakes, but business people who just seem to be making easy money.

Are you inspired by them? Or, do you resent them? Your answer tells a lot about your beliefs. It says a lot about what you believe is permissible and not permissible. It really points you to your own rules – and possibly your own limitations – about how and where you’re allowing yourself to make money. So, really think about it.

If you are of the belief that money should be hard earned, you likely apply those same rules to the people around you. So, you will possibly resent people who seem to be making money easily or effortlessly. It’s like they’re cheating somehow.

They’re not cheating. Instead of resenting them, you should feel inspired and grateful. They are teaching you what is possible.

I learned this from a man I once worked for, who sold my services to a client. He was the agent and sold a package to a client that involved me delivering the training. The client paid £1,500 a day.

I was paid £500. He kept the £1,000 as his profit for arranging the deal. So, what is your reaction to this story?

Do you think I was taken advantage of?  I did all of the work, but he made all of the money. Should I resent him? Would you?

Or, do you look at him as the one providing the value? He helped me and the client. He had done the legwork. He set up the whole deal. He was able to demand a higher asking price than I could have on my own.

Personally, the view I take is that he did me a favor.

He was clear with me about what he was doing. Nothing was hidden from view. And actually, by charging that higher amount for my services, he helped to change my belief. He made it possible for me to see that people were willing to pay that much for my time.

I actually think that he did me a service by doing that. He helped me to challenge my beliefs about the link between time and money. I was putting in more time than him, but I was getting paid less.

He made more on the deal because he understood that he was getting paid for the value that he was providing -  matching up the right supplier with the client’s needs.

So, this story will help you gauge your own reaction. If you resent him, that is a sign of just how tightly gripped you are in the time-money trap.

You will not break free of the time-money trap by resenting people.

The people who have already broken free are well on their way. Their value to you is that they’re showing you what’s possible. I say bless them, grab hold of them if you can, or at least follow in their footsteps.

But recognize that if you’re judging them, you’re just going to stay stuck. Your judging them won’t stop them, but it will stop you.

Bernadette Doyle is a small business marketing expert. Get more tips and advice at http://www.clientmagnets.com

When I first started my business, I would schedule speaking engagements with any group that would listen.  I would have spoken to the local garden club if they would have had me.  Why?  Because giving an informational talk helps you make personal connections, raises your profile and gives you an opportunity to make sales to a group whose defenses are down.

Some of you have responded that it’s all fine and dandy to recommend giving speeches, but they didn’t know the first thing about how to get bookings.  So I’d like to share some tips for you to help you get your speaking ‘gigs’.

1. Start Small
My first suggestion is that if you’ve not had speaking engagements in the past, don’t start off on a grand scale.  Most people assume they need to be speaking to a conference of hundreds of people.  I recommend you start small, perhaps with an audience of 20 to 40 people.  It’s a good size to get you comfortable whilst giving you the opportunity to test ideas and approaches.

2.  Approach Networking Groups and Organizations
Your first step towards a booking is to take a look at any networking groups, ones to which you belong or groups in your area of expertise.  Chances are they have monthly or quarterly meetings.  Offer up your services to the meeting coordinator or organizer.  When you offer to speak, make sure you explain why your topic is relevant and will be a good fit for the meeting.

Even if you’re not a member of a local networking organization, you can take steps to locate one.  Check trade publication, magazines, even the Internet.  Determine who in the organization is responsible for booking speakers and contact them by telephone and offer your services.

3. Tailor Your Talk
Make sure to tailor the speech to fit the needs of your particular audience.  You may need to put a new spin on your speech.

4.  Establish Yourself As The Expert
Once you get your first few speaking engagements, you’ll see bookings begin to snowball.  As you establish yourself in the market, people will begin to contact you rather than vice versa.  Typically after a speech, someone in the audience will approach you and ask you to speak to their group.  So you’re not going to have to make calls to book each and every one of your speeches.  In addition to that, by giving speeches, you are establishing yourself as the expert in your field.  Once you’ve become the expert, people will contact you, you’ll get more bookings and make more sales.

So take the first step towards booking your first speaking ‘gig’, starting small is fine.  You’ll find your bookings and your audiences will begin to grow with each and every speaking engagement.

Bernadette Doyle is a small business marketing expert. You can read more of her articles on her blog at http://clientmagnetsblog.com

There’s a fact that can’t be escaped if your business runs on sales: the majority of people won’t respond to your first contact. Instead of being discouraged by that fact, though, it’s time to start doing the one thing that’s sure to increase your sales. Developing an effective follow-up strategy will put you ahead of your competition and on the road to more income.

You may be saying, “Of course you should always follow up!” but are you doing that in your own business? It’s surprising how many sales-based businesses throw away income by failing to respond when someone raises their hand in response to marketing.

Consistent follow-up has always been a factor in sales success, but today, more than ever, people are hesitant to hand over their cash until they trust you. That’s why establishing a follow-up strategy is so crucial. If you don’t respond consistently when someone expresses interest, why would they trust you with their business later?

If you aren’t converting enough prospects to customers, it’s time to review your follow-up strategy. You may find that changing one thing about the way you respond to interested prospects is all it takes to get your business back on track.

For example, a business owner recently complained she was spending far too much on advertising, without seeing a lot of results. A quick look at her prospect database revealed she’d had quite a bit of initial interest to her marketing, but wasn’t following up consistently. Because of this, she was constantly in search of new clients.

To turn things around, she chose a few dozen prospects who had expressed some interest but had never bought. Simply by reconnecting with this group, she generated an impressive amount of income in just a few days. Is there potential income trapped within your own client database for lack of follow-up?

Once you’ve admitted you’re not following up as you should, there are four effective ways to enhance your strategy:

1. Set up a Process: You may keep telling yourself you’ll find time in the future to stop and do your backlogged follow-up. Guess what? That time never comes unless you map out a strategy for follow-up, and then automate the process as much as possible.

2. Lead Them to the Next Step: They’ve raised their hands to show their interested, so what happens next? They may be asking for more information, but your follow-up response should always lead them toward buying. Invite them to sign up for your call, hire your services or buy your product, but don’t simply tell them more about your products!

3. Vary Your Approach: If all you ever do is tell the customer you’re still in business and then ask if they’re ready to buy, you’re going to wear out your welcome. Increase the value of doing business with your company each time you follow up with a prospect, and you’re more likely to be on their minds when they’re ready to buy.

4. Design Marketing for the Customer: It might be more convenient to do one-size-fits-all marketing, but it won’t generate what you want in sales. Clients have different triggers, so map out your marketing follow-up plan so that includes several trigger points. For example, some people respond to the promise of results, while others need the pressure of an expiring offer before they’ll buy. Planning progressive follow-up that touches on several trigger points will improve your client conversions.

You’ve worked hard to create products, develop marketing and research your target audience. Don’t let the ball land at your feet by failing to follow-up with interested prospects. Keep that momentum going by developing an effective follow-up strategy. The payoff will be more sales, greater income and a lot less work to build your client base.

Bernadette Doyle is a small business marketing expert. Get more tips and advice at http://www.clientmagnets.com

• Do clients hire you by the hour or day for the service you provide?
• Are you a one-time wonder?
• Do you think that one sole service or product you offer will give your customers exactly what they need to achieve the lasting results they want?

Really give this some thought:

You can’t expect that one single transaction with your client will make your business successful. So, your clients shouldn’t expect that a one-time offering of your services will permanently solve all of their needs.

But, if you turn that one-time transaction into a repeat transaction, you’ll provide better service to clients and create more income in your business.

Encourage your clients to recognize that long-term change happens with consistent input and ongoing support. Instead of selling your services by the day or the hour, present an offer for a package of your services.

Since they have already agreed and chosen to do business with you, your existing clients will appreciate knowing about your packaged services.

Think about the packages you could offer to create repeat transactions. Then, at any point during the initial transaction, offer that package which you know is what your client needs to get the ultimate result.

Repeat transactions or services are in both your best interest and your client’s best interest. You’ll actually be making fewer transactions while simultaneously making more money. And, although you may possibly be selling to fewer clients, they will be better quality clients.

As for your clients, receiving your ongoing services is obviously in their best interest. Not only are they receiving your expertise, but by asking them to make a commitment, they will be taking their business and what you have to offer more seriously.

Let’s say, for example, that you’re a sales trainer. You create a presentation that gets a sales team all hyped up and motivated for a day. On the following day they have great success on the telephone or going out talking to clients.

But what happens a month after that? They’re probably right back where they were before you came in and worked with them. That doesn’t mean your training didn’t work. This is just what happens to people. After they’ve learned something new, they can easily slip back into old ways without ongoing support and refresher courses.

From the outset, tell your clients that you only want to work with committed clients – the ones that recognize that their continued success requires your ongoing support. Doing so will create more business for you. If you find this difficult to do at the point of making the sale, make it clear after you’ve delivered your initial service that consistent results require consistent commitment.

You might even consider not offering quotes by the day or hour anymore. Think about providing packages that will not only get clients immediate results, but help them to sustain those results over time.

You will create more business by doing this because clients will treat you differently. You’re going to stand out from the other providers that just bill for the day or hours they’ve worked. You may lose a client or two along the way. There will likely be some clients that insist upon only one day of service and don’t want to make any long-term commitment. You might lose that bit of business.  That’s okay. You will be creating more space for better, quality clients. These repeat clients will more than make up for the loss of that one-time sale with their recurring transactions.