Client Magnets Official Blog

Archive for March, 2010

Are you trying to be all things to all people in your business? Or, even in your personal life, for that matter? If you are, your head is probably spinning, trying to figure out exactly who you are and exactly what your expertise is.

You may think it’s easier for you to offer a general selection of services.  The broader your area of expertise, the more clients you think you’ll attract. However, quite the opposite is true. When you stand up and declare your specialty, clients will view you with confidence and place greater value on your knowledge and skills.

You can make this happen on purpose, or if you really take notice, you might see a trend regarding the clients you attract. For example, one client of mine is a coach and a mom who wasn’t specific about her audience or her specialty. In her words, “When I started out, nothing really happened.”

In her case, she started attracting clients who were moms. She was a mom herself and other moms could relate to some of the scenarios she presented in her business. Her niche more or less found her, but she realized it and focused her business around that niche.

Now she’s known as an expert. Journalists cite her as a source for articles, which results in lots of PR for her company. And now, she has clients calling her who aren’t even moms, asking her if she would consider working with them.

That’s a nice situation to be in – people asking if you’ll take them on as a client.

Being recognized as an expert rather than a generalist can make a tremendous difference in your business. No one is going to hand you a “certified expert” certificate. The secret of being an expert is having the guts to appoint yourself as one.

You aren’t claiming knowledge and expertise that you don’t have. You just need to take the step and say, “I am now an authority on…” or, “I specialize in…”  It’s amazing how quickly things can organize themselves around that.

The fact of the matter is that you probably do know a lot of facts and figures about your particular area. You notice similar problems or situations that come up over and over, and you learn how to address and solve them. Because you look for that information, you do become an expert.

Each step leads to the next step. Once you recognize these recurring topics, you are familiar with the environment that leads to them. So, if you were to write an article, or speak to a potential client, the specific phrases and language you use will resonate with them because they have also used them repeatedly.

That person will get the feeling that you really understand what they’re going through. That’s what clients ultimately want, and that’s what you can give them by specializing.

Bernadette Doyle is a marketing specialist who helps entrepreneurs become client magnets and attract a steady stream of their ideal clients. She publishes a free, weekly newsletter for trainers, speakers, coaches, consultants, complementary therapists and solo professionals. If you’d like to receive invaluable tips and advice on how to attract clients with ease, register at http://www.clientmagnets.com

“How much will clients pay to solve this problem?”

When deciding on a price for your product,  base the price on the value the product delivers to the end user.

Dan Kennedy uses the phrase “selling money at a discount.” What does he mean? Imagine a product that is proven to increase clients’ sales by 20 percent. If a client is already turning over £100,000 in sales, that product is worth £20,000 to them. It should sell for £2,000 – that’s its value. That is selling money at a discount.

If your product can’t be so clearly quantified in monetary terms, offer clients a comparison to show them how much they will save.

For example, if your product will help people stop smoking, calculate how much they are currently spending on smoking, then show the cost savings of that figure and how your product will help them to achieve it.

Though you might be tempted, do not base your price on the cost of creating the product. Evaluating the production cost and then adding a markup is not the way to do this. Neither is comparing your product to other things on the market.

Set your price according to the problem you are solving.

An e-book that you create to solve a specific problem cannot be compared to a book that’s sold in a bookstore, even if it’s on a similar topic. That book in the store might sell for £20, but that doesn’t mean your product should be priced the same.

You are not selling a bookstore book. You are selling a plan, a way for your clients to achieve the results they want. It is much more than the format in which it’s delivered. That result might be worth £69.95, or even more.

Charge more for a product that can be delivered in multiple formats. Think about the things that will be really attractive and irresistible to users, such as DVDs, manuals, templates, and audio products..

Focus on the aspects that make it easy for people to use what you’re offering.

One example might be fill-in-the-blanks templates. People will pay more for things that they feel are almost a plug-and-play system, where all they’ve got to do is they fill in the blanks in order to get their results.

Offer payment plans.

This is another helpful tip when establishing your pricing. You can offer payment plans through PayPal or a tool like 1ShoppingCart. People have the option to pay in installments over a set number of months. This can massively increase your sales, because users don’t feel that they’re making a big payment at one time.

As you think about pricing your product, always remember to set the price according to the value it will deliver. Follow this plan and you won’t go wrong.

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

There is one business skill, above all others, that will offer you the ultimate financial security in an unsecure world. Whether you want more time with your family, or to travel around the world or make a contribution to an organization that’s dear to your heart, truly mastering this skill is what will make all of your dreams, desires and goals absolutely possible.

You might guess that the key is to learn the different strategies and techniques that you can use to attract more clients to increase your income.  And, while this is true, it really goes much deeper than that. It is the ability to attract the types of clients you want, paying the fees you want, whenever you want – that is the truly amazing skill.

Here are 7 tips to help you work towards achieving that skill …

•    Figure out what your market really wants. Visibility alone will not bring you all the clients you want. Just getting the word out about your offering isn’t enough. People buy according to what they want, not what you think they need. There’s a big difference. For example, no one needs a cigarette; they buy them because they want them. No one really needs a huge flat screen 40” TV, but people buy them because they want them. You won’t increase your clients if your offering doesn’t match up with what the market wants. So you’ve got to get good at figuring out what your market really wants.

•    Focus on the people who have raised their hands. Instead of trying to sell to everybody, center your attention on those people who have already expressed an interest in what you’re offering. Then develop a method of converting those raised hands into paying business.

•    Focus on quality, not quantity. Let’s say you want to make a million dollars. Would you rather have 100,000 people paying you $10 each? Or would you rather have 10 people paying you $100,000 each? The quality of your offering allows you to charge a premium rate, but service fewer, better clients, to make the same money. In any market, at anytime, there is always a percentage of buyers who are willing and able to pay a premium amount for the solutions you can provide.

•    Follow the steps. Getting new clients is a combination of a sequence of steps that work together to get the end result. If you skip or break any one of the steps, the whole thing falls apart. It’s so important that you do all the right steps in the right order to get the results. I share those exact steps that worked for me 14 years ago, and the same steps that I’ve used in the past few years to reinvent my business over and over again.

•    Make it easy for clients to say yes. Make the intangibles of your business tangible by explaining what it is that you do and how clients stand to benefit from that. Show them how all the risk is taken away and think about ways to make your offer irresistible

•    Think and act like a winner. Even if you’re in transition, focus on where you’re heading, not where you’re starting from. Surround yourself with other winners who will motivate and inspire you by joining a mastermind or getting a mentor.

•    Systematize the process so that it is not totally dependent upon you. Create systems so that people can automatically express interest and opt in, even if you aren’t working or interacting with them at the moment. This was the critical factor in me breaking through the million dollar barrier last year. Save Yourself Time, Energy & Money by focusing on your area of expertise. Put technology and other people in charge of the other details that only distract you and bog you down.

Bernadette Doyle is a marketing specialist who helps entrepreneurs become client magnets and attract a steady stream of their ideal clients. If you’d like to receive invaluable tips and advice on how to attract clients with ease, register at http://www.clientmagnets.com

Do you feel like you have more ideas than you have time to implement? That you have more options and opportunities than you could possibly follow up on in the hours available in your day?

As the mother of two small children, I can certainly relate. I only work in my business three days a week, so I know what it’s like to not have time for labor-intensive and time-intensive lead generation activities.

The solution to that is SYSTEM.

In my book, SYSTEM stands for Save Your-Self Time, Energy, and Money.

Here’s just one example of how to do that. Something that works very well for me in my business is article marketing. This has been a tremendous source of leads both offline and online since I first started my business.

Article marketing has been absolutely fabulous for getting me established as an expert. My articles have played a key role in encouraging phone calls from potential clients who have read them. They establish me as an expert to the powerful decision-makers in companies who read them.

Article marketing is power, however, if you don’t do it in the proper way, it will end up being very time-consuming for you.

First, you have to come up with the ideas for the articles. Then you have to actually write the articles. Then format, upload and distribute them. There’s a good deal of time involved in all of those things.

But, if you systematize it, you can significantly reduce the number of hours you invest without sacrificing the quality of your end product. I syndicate my articles all over the web, and my article writing possibly takes me two to four hours a month. And that takes into account everything I do with articles.

I post an article a day to my blog, but I don’t post it. As I shared with you, I’m only working three days a week. If I did the posting myself, my blog post would only be updated three days a week. I’ve found a way to use technology and my team to automate all of this.

Look for the places where you can do this in your own business. This is a really important area for the busy, stressed, overwhelmed business owner. You have to learn to systematize. Implement practices and technology that can simplify some of your processes. Utilize the talents of someone for hire so you can make time to follow up on the ideas, options and opportunities that can further advance your business.

Save yourself time, energy and money and systemize in such a way that you feel good about your business and you can move forward at the same time.

Bernadette Doyle is a marketing specialist who helps entrepreneurs become client magnets and attract a steady stream of their ideal clients. If you’d like to receive invaluable tips and advice on how to attract clients with ease, register at http://www.clientmagnets.com

Do you manufacture, sell or promote a product?  Do you offer coaching, professional or specialist services?   Chances are you have accumulated a great deal of specialist knowledge and expertise in your industry.

I’m going to show you a way you can turn your expertise into big profits!  And it’s as simple as sharing your expertise with others to help them become successful in your field.

1.  When sharing becomes profitable  …

The knowledge and expertise you have gained over years of working in your industry is VALUABLE.  It’s especially valuable to those people who want to learn from your years of experience to build their own businesses just as you have done.  By sharing your knowledge, experience and resources you are helping people to make money and create a better life for themselves.  People are willing to pay you big money to help fast track their success.  If you’re willing to share what they want and need, there are people willing to pay you to do that.

2.  Decide how you’re going to share your expertise

Hosting an event and turning it into a big pay day is a perfect way to share your expertise and help others succeed while making big profits for yourself!
A big payday event may take many forms. One of the most common forms is a seminar or conference where you share your secrets and tips with people who want to learn about your field.  You can also conduct workshops, give speeches or run specialist programmes.

3.  Leverage your event to make serious money

Registration fees are a starting point to making money from your expertise.  But you can generate far more revenue.   A big payday event can generate six figures.  Think big!  Your event provides you an opportunity to monetize your business in new and exciting ways…

• You could turn your big payday event into an opportunity to launch a new product or programme for your company.

• Your event also gives you an opportunity to align yourself with different industry leaders. By inviting others to speak at and promote your event, you build credibility through association.

• Think of ways you can use your event to diversify and increase revenue streams.  Consider ways you can include residual income from product sales, setting up new marketing or money-making coaching programs, and establishing lucrative relationships with new clients.

• While your big payday event provides you with a great opportunity to branch out into new areas, you can also use it to build your existing business. Use your big payday event to connect with new clients, or to convince fence-sitters that your product or service is the ideal solution.

If you’re ready to share your expertise and help others on the road to success, it’s time to think about hosting your big pay day live event.  It is possible to generate a six-figure payday; just by sharing your expertise.  I know because of have done it.  Use these tips I’ve shared with you to think big!    Start planning today and everyone wins!

Bernadette Doyle is a marketing specialist who helps entrepreneurs become client magnets and attract a steady stream of their ideal clients. She publishes a free, weekly newsletter for trainers, speakers, coaches, consultants, complementary therapists and solo professionals. If you’d like to receive invaluable tips and advice on how to attract clients with ease, register at http://www.clientmagnets.com

How to align your SPECIALISM with a hungry reachable niche who WANT what you offer.

This is both art and science and in this call you’ll meet Pete Bennett who will show you insider secrets for locating your hungry crowd online and small tweaks you can make immediately to generate a flood of new traffic and sales.

It’s My Next “MARKETING* MASTERMIND Call…”

Tuesday, 30th March, 2010

8:00pm UK Time (3pm EASTERN, 12 noon PACIFIC)

TOPIC:  *Finding Your Hungry Crowd*

This call is FREE for my hundreds of Marketing Mastermind and Stepping UP! members. They also get the CD and transcript of this call at no extra charge, plus a ton of other member benefits – such as access to our online members forum.

Not a member?  Then join the Marketing Mastermind Group today so you can take advantage of this call and all the other member goodies each and every month.

http://bit.ly/SellingSuccess

I look forward to “meeting” you on the call.

Best Wishes

Bernadette Doyle
www.clientmagnets.com

PS – Even if you can’t make the call, all Mastermind members receive a FREE CD of the call as well as a digital version of the audio and transcript! Take advantage now.

http://bit.ly/SellingSuccess

There’s a mindset that’s essential if you hope to grow your list. It requires asking, no matter what the business activity … “How can I use this to grow my list?”

This one simple shift in mindset can be the key to your company’s success.

Building Your List Requires Variety. Think of your list as a fire you’re building. It takes lots of sticks to keep a fire burning. When it comes to building your list, those “sticks” are the strategies you put in place to attract and sustain business.

Just as one stick won’t keep a fire burning, there isn’t one single activity that will build a great list.  A common mistake is to attract the first few hundred names, and then expect your list to grow organically from there. The fire usually goes out from lack of new fuel.  A strong list requires many different kinds of activities and approaches – all directed at adding names to your prospect list.

Some of your “sticks” will be things you do that don’t take a big investment of time. You put the plan in place and your list starts building automatically.  Other strategies you use will require more time on your part.  Remember, there’s a rule in business …   Activities that don’t take much time will cost more money.  On the other hand, things that don’t cost much, take more time. You can decide where you are ready to invest when growing your list.

Fortunately, as you implement a variety of list building activities, they become cumulative. You won’t have to go back and start from scratch each time.  Once you’ve got your strategies in place – you’ll find your list will grow rapidly.

“How Can I Use This to Grow My List?”

Ask yourself this every time you engage in a business activity. Whether you’ve agreed to give a talk or you’re creating a free report – it should always be done with the goal of adding to your list.

Asking that question guides how those activities are done. For example, if you’re giving a talk to a group, be thinking of your free offer to make at the end. A free offer is one way to secure more names for your list. But don’t stop there.

Adopt the mindset of seeing everything you do as a list building opportunity:

• giving interviews
• meeting with groups
• holding free “taster events”
• network meetings
• special offers and promotions

When you see each activity as a list building opportunity, you’ll begin to see the power of cumulative list building efforts. Start by putting the automated strategies in place.  Then keep in mind how each new strategy can build your list, as well.

A solid prospect list is something every business owner should be working to build. As you make decisions about how to spend money and time, look at each new activity as a way to add to your list. By doing so, you’ll soon experience the power having a great customer list can bring to your business.

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

Do you spend your days with your head down, working hard, just knowing that even though you’re not successful yet, it’s only a matter of time before success comes? Do you feel that, although you may not have hit that sales target you set for yourself a few years ago, it will happen at some point in the future?

I used to feel the same way. And then, some years ago, I read three books in succession.  All discussed different topics, but all three were written by multimillionaires. One was a multimillionaire through property, one was a multimillionaire through direct marketing, and one became a multimillionaire with a more traditional business.

It was interesting that in all of these life stories, there was a key turning point where each person had made the decision to become successful. It wasn’t that, like so many of us, they had thought as young children that when they grew up they were going to be “rich”. Two of the authors were in their thirties when they made this decision.

It suddenly dawned on me that I had never actually made that decision. I had started my business with the best of intentions and with the usual dreams of success. And I had just been going along, assuming that if I carried on in the same direction, kept my head down, kept working and kept things ticking over, then eventually something good would happen.

So many of us tell ourselves the same thing. We keep on travelling along the same path, just hoping that we’ll taste success. We tell ourselves that it will be “just a matter of time” before things start happening. I know, because I used to tell myself this during the first years of my business. When I wasn’t having the instant results I was expecting, I told myself that it was only a matter of time before things picked up.

Are you in the same boat as I was? Have you spent many months and years working away, not having the big quantum leaps in your business, not making the big breakthroughs that you thought you would? Are you saying to yourself, “If I just stick on this course then eventually I will get my big break”?

Nothing will happen unless you decide it’s going to happen. You have to make the decision to be successful, rather than just hoping. Hoping as hard as you can isn’t going to make a difference to your business, because you need the mentality of knowing that success will come. You need to decide that you are ready to be successful, and invite achievement into your life. And then when you pass significant milestones in your business, celebrate this success, but make another decision to go for another milestone.

It will all start with this decision. Have you made that decision in your business? If not, when are you going to make it? Make it soon. Make it right now. Don’t think that it’s only a matter of time for success to happen. There’s no time like the present to decide to get the results you want.

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

Planning a live event gives you an opportunity to apply your business expertise to generate profits in a new, potentially recurring revenue stream. How you intend to monetize your event plays a big role in planning the event itself, so determine what strategies you’ll use to monetize your event before you begin the planning process.

How Does the Event Fit into Your Overall Business Strategy?
When you’re considering what strategy to use to monetize your live event, think about how the event fits into your overall business strategy. Is the purpose of your event to generate revenue, or to launch a new product? Do you see this event as an ongoing revenue stream, or a one-time event with a specific goal? Decide how your live event fits into your overall business strategy so you can appropriately decide how to monetize your event.

Decide How Much You Want to Make
How much money do you want to make with your live event? Ask yourself what you want to make, and what you realistically think you can make. Generally, your mindset of what you can realistically make is far lower than what you can actually make, so think about how much you think you can make and then increase that number. You can turn your live event into a six-digit payday with the right strategies and mindset. Start by deciding how much you want to make, so you can build an appropriate revenue strategy.

Create a Product
One way in which you can monetize your event is to create a product from your event itself. Set up an event with speakers, written materials and/or interface with your attendees, and turn that into a product. You could create a DVD series with accompanying written materials from your event, which could lead to far more revenue than the event itself actually generates.

Sell a Product
Another way in which you can generate revenue from your live event is to use it to sell a product. You can set up a live event to sell a product that your company produces, or you can hold a conference where you bring in speakers who are promoting their own products and then split revenues for product sales through your event. Both of these techniques can generate significant revenue; often more revenue than the event itself creates.

Hold a Recurring Event
Finally, you could decide to hold a recurring event, or an event that has several incarnations. For example, you could hold an annual seminar or conference in your field. Or you could hold several seminars to deal with a specific aspect of your field, and then a super-event to encompass all of the mini-events. By hosting micro- and macro- events, you can capitalize on your field to multiply your revenue opportunities.

Plan a Live Event to Create Your Big Payday
Holding a live event is a great way to diversify your revenue streams and earn a six-figure payday; just by sharing your expertise. Think about how you want to monetize your event, and start planning. Use the right strategy, or combination of strategies, to turn your event into your Big Payday.

Want to learn more about how to make money with your own events? Visit our Event Money Machine Blog. You’ll learn about an amazing Telesummit being held later this month. Tickets to this event are FREE – so join our priority notification list to be the first to know when they become available.

What if you could enjoy genuine client abundance: all the clients you want, whenever you want, paying the fees that you want?  One answer is to only target those people who are truly interested in what you’re offering – those people with their hands raised in response to your proposed solution.

Though rejection is an inevitable part of business and life, it doesn’t have to be a dominating factor.  In fact, it can be a miniscule, barely noticeable speck in a sea of limitless clients.

You can’t sell to everyone.  You don’t have the time or resources to do so, and no single product will appeal to every member of any population.  In order to identify those who are most likely to buy, you need to devise a method to pick out the prospects with their virtual hands raised, who are ready to accept your single solution to their shared problem.

There are two types of disappointment when you try to sell to people who just aren’t interested.

• First, you might feel that you, yourself, have been rejected. It’s easy to convert rejection of a product into rejection of yourself, and without the tools to manage those feelings of rejection, negative effects can flow into your business dealings.

• Second, you might be able to sell your product to people who aren’t truly in need of it, or aren’t interested in it, simply because you are a smooth operator.  The consequence of this scenario will most likely leave you with a sleazy feeling, knowing that you’ve manipulated other human beings into doing something they weren’t comfortable with.

In order to increase your bank of yes and deplete your bank of no, it’s important to ask the population, “Who’s interested?”  When you do that, a percentage of the population will raise their hands.  Consider that group of raised hands to be your new sea of prospects.  Don’t worry about those who have kept their hands in their pockets – they would have had no choice but to say “no” anyway.  Though your product might be a God-send for some, it’s never going to be right for everyone.

Isolating the group with hands raised saves you time, effort, and the fortitude that it takes to recover from rejection.

Here’s the progression – from getting those hands up in the air, to optimizing their potential:

• Find a lead generation system that plants the seed, poses the thought-provoking questions, and sparks enough interest to spur interested people to raise their hands.

• Offer a free report. Ensure that your report aligns fluidly with your product.  Like a chain with all links unbroken, your message must be kept uniform and in order.  This way, you’ll ensure that the people you’re attracting are the same people who are likely to buy. Remember, your initial contact with prospects must align with what the market is searching for.

• Shift your marketing focus to those who show an interest in what you’re selling. They are your true ‘prospects’.  This is the group that is predisposed to buy.

• Tell the people with their hands raised why their instincts are correct. When hands are raised, it means that the owners of those hands have a problem, and they think you might have the solution.  Let them know they’re right.

• Keep your message (your solution to their problem) uniform from first taste to final sale. Your execution must be as groundbreaking as your great ideas.

Your product is wonderful, problem-solving, ingenious…and there is a group of people out there just waiting for it.  It’s your job to find those people.

Make the effort to isolate the hands that are raised, using a message that not only attracts, but delivers.  Doing the right things, in the right way, in the right order, puts money in the bank.  When you execute seamlessly from the beginning, you will learn to view the raised hand as a springboard to raised revenue…a virtual deposit slip for your growing bank account.

Bernadette Doyle is a marketing specialist who helps entrepreneurs become client magnets and attract a steady stream of their ideal clients. She publishes a free, weekly newsletter for trainers, speakers, coaches, consultants, complementary therapists and solo professionals. If you’d like to receive invaluable tips and advice on how to attract clients with ease, register at http://www.clientmagnets.com