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There was a children’s TV program aired in England about 20 years ago, where the primary prop in the setting was a lighted floor. Basically, the lights on the floor were off, and only as the people on the show took a step did the light appear.

They had to take a step forward before any light went on.

This is quite the opposite of how people really want to move forward. Most of us prefer to “see the light” before we take the next step. We want to know where we are going, and see all the steps illuminated and lined up, so that we can go from point A to point B, B to C, C to D, D to E and so on.

But the truth is, that is not really how we move forward. The truth is that often, only the first step you take will be visible. The only way to see the second step is for you to be one- hundred percent wholly committed to taking step one.

That is truly what change is like. There’s no denying that change is uncomfortable, but if you want to accomplish your goals, you’re going to have to step up, move forward and make changes as you go along. The more comfortable you get at doing that, the more stepping up will be a constant experience in your life.

So, if you are serious about doubling or tripling your income, for example, you could go to Vegas or play the lottery, but the real way to accomplish your goal involves doing some things that up until now, you’ve been resisting.

You may not even realize that you’ve been unwilling or unable to make changes. It’s amazing how creative people can be at avoiding change.

But, whether you want to make ten thousand, a hundred thousand, a million, or ten million, whatever the level or the goal, the process is exactly the same

In order to affect any kind of change, in your life or in your business, you have to take the first step without being one-hundred percent certain about where your foot is going to land.

That takes courage, and it takes faith. That is what change requires.

Commit one-hundred percent to taking step one. You don’t need to know what’s going to happen after step one if you never get there. You will only know what happens next when you take that step. You won’t ever get there if you keep asking questions.

You’ve got to act, and jump right in with both feet, even when you don’t know where that jump will land you.

Once you master this process of change, and just keep stepping through it, you will find yourself more and more comfortable with moving forward without knowing where the next step leads.

As you find the courage to take one step after another, I promise, things are going to change for you.

Bernadette Doyle specializes in helping entrepreneurs attract a steady stream of ideal clients. If you want to get clients calling you instead of you calling them, sign up for her free weekly e-zine at http://www.clientmagnets.com

There are many ways to become a client magnet. Here are 20 proven methods that will help you to achieve astonishing business results.

•    Carefully choose the niche that you want to be known as an expert at.

•    Learn everything there is to know about your declared area of expertise. Go through the experiences and learn the lessons, connect with a mentor and then put it into practice to be successful. Only then can you teach and help other people to do the same.

•    Pick something that you’re passionate about; when you’re passionate, that really shows through.

•    You will make a greater impact in a place where you genuinely have some value to offer.

•    Realize that you don’t have to try to get every person you ever encounter to become a client.

•    Build your relationship with the people who have already “raised their hands” and expressed an interest in your product or service.

•    Focus your effort and energy on people who are pre-qualified to buy. It is more pleasurable to work with and for them than to try to convert people who will never be interested or will never be qualified to buy your services.

•    Approach your tasks with the right energy. A positive attitude will resonate with your clients; conversely, so will negativity.

•    Be a congruent model for success by focusing on and being committed to your prospects and clients.

•    Use one-to-many methods for connecting with clients and offering services, as much as possible.

•    Put systems in place to start building your list.  Then continue to grow and improve your lead generation systems.

•    Know the principles behind offering ethical bribes, such as a free report, and have processes in place to handle responses.

•    Incite a call to action by creating a sense of urgency for people to sign up with you or purchase your offer. Deadlines work well for this.

•    Don’t underestimate the value of affiliates and joint venture partnerships.

•    Be consistent. Systematize and automate your process so that you can make money even when you aren’t working.

•    Use articles, teleseminars and social media to increase your exposure and the perception of you as an expert.

•    Use quality software to build and maintain your websites and blogs.

•    Always offer an upgrade with every sale.

•    Build relationships by following up with the people you meet at networking events right after the event.

•    Offer something for free or do a product giveaway at an event, collecting contact information in exchange for entry.

Implementing just some of these strategies today will add many more prospects to your list and take you closer to a more profitable business.  When you’ve applied them all, you will be a true client magnet.

Do you dream about creating an amazingly successful business?

Do you have a plan mapped out inside your head?

Do you dream about creating an amazingly successful business?

Do you have a plan mapped out inside your head to get it started?

Or are you looking for miracles to make your dream a reality?

Whether your starting out with your business or planning for growth, both of these seemingly conflicting concepts
need to co-exist inside your head.

It is very important that you have realistic expectations.

If you don’t have a budget and you don’t have any spare time, can you really expect to make an extra £20,000 a  month from your business? While it is certainly possible to earn that much money, you’re going to have to invest a certain amount of your time, effort, and money to make it happen.

But before you do anything at all, you need to have a plan. What I would like you to do right now is to take a moment, grab a sheet of paper, and draw a long line on it.

At the first end of that line, write the words “me today.” This represents where you are now. At the other end of the line, write down the words “1 year” and “revenue target.”

Write down whatever that number is that you want to reach in one year’s time. It could be £100,000, £250,000, £500,000, or even a million plus. When you have this goal clearly expressed on paper, then you can work out the steps you need to take to get there.

The first step toward reaching your revenue target is to take stock of your current assets. Think about your time, resources, and money.

If you find that you don’t have an abundance of all those assets, don’t panic. Consider the marketing concept that addresses the balance of money and time and creativity. If you’re short in one area, expect that you will need to put in more effort in the others.

So if you’re short on money, for instance, you will probably need to spend a lot more time to get your business going. If you’re short on time, then you’ll probably think about outsourcing from day one in order to maximize the hours you can devote to reaching your goal.

If you’re short on both, then you need to put your creative juices to work.

Don’t let any of these scenarios deter you. Building your online business and earning the income you desire is a very realistic and very attractive prospect for you. An online business has a very low in startup cost. The overheads are low. And, the percentage of profit that you get to keep is high. Keep your expectations and your evaluation of your assets realistic.

At the same time, it is also important to remember this other concept –

Believe in miracles.

In fact, plan on them. This may appear to contradict keeping your expectations realistic, but really, it doesn’t. It is harder to quantify, but there’s definitely a magic in just getting started. Doors are going to open that you can’t even imagine right now.

Until you get started down that road toward your goal, you have no idea where it is going to lead you. Once you actually take physical steps on that path, the universe will take 10 steps toward you.

Balancing your realistic expectations with your belief that miracles await you will tip the scales in your favor and assure you a very successful year ahead! Go ahead, set your expectations high, plan for the future AND always remember miracles await you.

Bernadette Doyle specializes in helping entrepreneurs attract a steady stream of ideal clients. If you want to get clients calling you instead of you calling them, sign up for her free weekly e-zine at http://www.clientmagnets.com

Think of your business as a building. Perhaps you’re just starting out at the foundation level, or maybe you’ve climbed to the third storey. Wherever you are, when you want to add more storeys to your structure, you need to support the building.

Your support is like scaffolding. It’s the first thing that’s needed when a building is going up. And it’s the first thing you need to help you grow your business.

There are several different types of support structures that you can put in place. These are the things that will protect you and help you to focus on your business.  With these 5 support structures in place, you will be ready to grow your business to new heights.

1.  Set Boundaries… It can be very useful to set boundaries in your client relationships.

Do clients ring you whenever they like and expect you to drop everything for them? If that’s the case, you can’t have the time and energy you need to focus on working on your business. You need to have some boundaries in place, where you allot certain times for responding to clients’ calls.

2.  Manage Your Time On Your Terms … You can be so much more productive if you set definite times for when you are working and when you are not working.

For example, I work three days a week. Everyone in my house knows when I’m working, so they don’t interrupt me. People don’t ring me during those hours. If they do, I won’t answer the phone And when I’m in my time off, I’m not working. These are really clear structures that I adhere to.

3.  Work With A Schedule… This is be a great way to stay on track and focused on getting things done.

Put everything that you need to accomplish on your calendar. Make sure to block out enough time for the task, and stick to it. Whether it’s a meeting, a phone call, working on your blog – include it in your schedule. When you see that each item has its own set block of time, you will be able to focus more clearly. This is amazingly helpful in keeping from feeling overwhelmed.

4.  Build A Team… If you are mired down in day-to-day tasks that keep you from working on your business, consider hiring an administrative assistant or virtual assistant.

You may think of this as an expense that you can’t afford. Reverse that line of thought and consider it as an investment instead. By delegating the routine tasks to an assistant, you will free yourself to do the work that will bring in clients and grow your business.

5.  Get Emotional Support… Encouragement and support from the people in your personal life goes a long way toward keeping you motivated in your business.

Perhaps your partner is busy, or your family doesn’t understand what you are doing. If the people close to you don’t offer enough inspiration and support, you may begin to feel frustrated and become less productive.

Should this happen to you, look to other sources for the motivation and encouragement that you need. A mastermind group or other similar group of like-minded people will boost your confidence and help you in countless ways. In addition to emotional support, they can offer specific business knowledge and advice.

So consider all of the structures that can support you as your business grows. It’s critical to have these in place so that you can be productive and concentrate on your talents and expertise.

What’s the worst that can happen?

This is a question that I encourage you to ask yourself. Too often, we don’t allow ourselves to do something because we’re worried about the sky falling in. When you feel that way, consider the worst case scenario.

For instance, perhaps you are uncomfortable making cold calls, but that is your primary way of generating business. As terrified as you may be to pick up the phone, think about the worst possible thing that could happen.

The prospect might shout at you or hang up on you. While that’s not pleasant, it certainly isn’t the end of the world. Because after that, it’s then over. The person isn’t going to start a Twitter campaign telling the world that you called him and he didn’t want to buy from you. Nothing else will happen.

Considering the worst case scenario will help you to learn how to take risks in your business. It will toughen you against the possibility of any little thing going wrong, and will give you the confidence to move forward in spite of that possibility.

The thought of losing money holds a lot of people back from taking risks or making changes. They are afraid their investment won’t pan out and they’ll look foolish for having lost money.

One thing I have personally learnt from considering the worst that could happen is that it’s impossible to lose money. If something doesn’t turn out the way you thought it would, don’t consider it as lost money. You just didn’t get the expected return on your investment, but you didn’t lose.

When this happens, view it as an educational experience. For example, a few months ago we had a mistake happen in my business that cost $20,000. While, yes, that is a lot of money, it was also a $20,000 education for me and the team members involved. That mistake will not be made again. We didn’t lose money; we learned a valuable lesson.

In fact, we couldn’t have bought that particular education. There isn’t a $20,000 seminar that could teach us what we really learned through that one mistake. We didn’t just learn it in theory; we learned it in the muscle, where it will always stay.

When you are considering making an investment or a change of some sort in your business, don’t set yourself up for disappointment. Face the worst case scenario head on. Once you realize what might go wrong, you can handle it. And, if it does, view it as a learning experience, not as a loss.

You will find yourself moving into areas of growth that you never thought possible.

Bernadette Doyle specializes in helping entrepreneurs attract a steady stream of ideal clients. If you want to get clients calling you instead of you calling them, sign up for her free weekly e-zine at http://www.clientmagnets.com

Do you know that spirited feeling of enthusiasm and determination when you are about to set out on a new venture? You begin with purpose, intent and a very conscious desire to achieve your goals.

This is also the time that your subconscious does its best work. Beware the perils of your subconscious desires.

When you start to do something new, your subconscious mind’s job is to stop you from doing that. You are venturing into unfamiliar territory, and your subconscious mind has a fear of the unknown.

In an effort to protect you, it will create external circumstances that are out of harmony with the direction that you want to go.  Your subconscious will also create emotions that want to pull you back from doing the thing that you should be doing.

Here is what is truly insidious about your subconscious – everyone’s subconscious.  It knows precisely the thing to do to get you to stop moving forward. It knows how to stop you, in a way that’s unique to every person.

Let’s say, for example, that you’ve signed on for a new coaching or training seminar that is going to be the turning point for your business. Or you’re developing a new product or service, or you are embarking on an entirely new fitness and lifestyle regimen.

While you may have a very conscious desire to achieve those goals, your subconscious may have totally different plans.  Are you suddenly sick after not being ill for ten years? Did you hurt yourself? Did the water pipes in the house burst?  All of this could well be your subconscious creating distractions, trying to get you to stop doing what you’re doing.

There are things you can do to keep your conscious and unconscious desires in alignment. If you’ve implemented something new and everything in your life suddenly seems  awry, take a deep breath and keep moving forward.

Maybe you did catch a cold, but it’s not a sign that you should stop what you’re doing. If the water pipes did burst, that would have happened whether you were doing something new or not.

Don’t believe that what your subconscious is throwing at you is real. Otherwise, you will want to stop. Your subconscious is creating an alternate reality to try to keep you from moving forward. My mentor, David Neagle calls this the “breakdown before the breakthrough.” Don’t let it stop you. Continue to move forward through it.

When you do break through, something unique and remarkable will happen. The more awareness you gain, the more the fear falls away. The fear becomes an untruth, one that is no longer holding you in its grip, no longer trapping you right where you are.

Everybody is stopped by this subconscious force at some point in time or another. Keep putting one foot in front of the other and you will find yourself at the once unknown destination. That thing that you were once most afraid of, will then be gone.

There is nothing to fear but fear itself. You’ve surely heard this more than a few times in your life.

Fear is your biggest foe. It will not only try to conquer you, it will have you fighting against yourself to overcome it. Your own fear is your toughest opponent, in your personal and your business life.

But, overcoming your fear is well worth the fight.

Imagine the tremendous feeling of not being afraid anymore.

The rewards you receive when you face challenges and obstacles, when you overcome and conquer your fears, will step up your life and your business.

Throughout the past couple of years, some of my own worst fears have manifested. But, I’ve dealt with them, and the beauty is that I’m no longer afraid of those things.

Every time you bust through a fear, other things will happen that allow you to put that fear behind you.  You’ll gain emotional energy because your subconscious energy won’t be tied up in that fear any longer. It’s like getting more energy every day.

Think about it. What would you offer the world if you could stop being fearful? What would you do if you weren’t afraid? What would you do if ridicule or rejection or losing your money or losing your family didn’t scare you? What would you do?

You would be unstoppable.

Another reward of facing your fears is the confidence you get from doing that. Don’t misinterpret confidence as being equal to cockiness or arrogance. The kind of confidence you gain when you stand up to your fears and challenges isn’t like that at all.

Confidence, in the true meaning of the word, literally means “with faith.” That’s what is on offer as you learn to step up.

What would it mean to you to live in total faith? What would your life be like knowing that whatever happens is for the best? You wouldn’t be afraid of anything. Even if something unexpected should happen, you would know that it’s actually a blessing in disguise.

Imagine living every day of your life like that.

Of course, monetary reward is another huge benefit you reap when you step up and take on the challenges and fears head on.

But to be perfectly honest, I think you will find that the emotional gain you get when you’re playing a bigger game – when you realize the game can only grow bigger and bigger because you’re unstoppable – that is the real reward, the true victory in winning your battle against fear.

Bernadette Doyle specializes in helping entrepreneurs attract a steady stream of ideal clients. If you want to get clients calling you instead of you calling them, sign up for her free weekly e-zine at http://www.clientmagnets.com

Consider all of the systems that surround you: traffic systems, media systems, religious systems, family systems, political systems.  All have enjoyed relative success, thanks to trial-and-error, careful planning, and dependence on a number of people.  Not one of these structures could exist if managed by one person.  That same principle applies to your profitable business.

In other articles, I’ve discussed ways to reach your ideal client abundance, including aligning your product with the market, targeting those prospects who have raised their hands with interest, and converting those raised hands to incoming cash.

Once you have mastered all of these principles, you’ll probably find the next step to be a welcome one.

Once the clients are rolling in, you might find yourself becoming haggard, stretched too thin, stressed, and wondering if you really wanted what you were wishing for.  This is not your signal to back off.  It’s your signal to systematize.

Systematizing involves delegation and outsourcing, but more importantly, it requires using your creative skills and resources to design a method for getting things done.  All aspects of your business should not be dependent on you.  If they are, something is certain to suffer.

I know the benefits of systemizing first hand.  I once wrote, formatted, and emailed my newsletter all on my own.  I didn’t enjoy it as much as other tasks necessary to my business, but I had to do it.  That’s what I had convinced myself, until…

I realized that I could be spending my time in different facets of my business – ones that I would enjoy more, and that would better showcase my personal talents.

When I decided to recruit other people to my team, to format the newsletter from archives and send it to my readers, I realized a new level of accomplishment.  I could write the personal newsletter introduction in ten minutes.  My new team members could then do the rest.  I found myself liberated from an aspect of my business that was holding me back from my true calling.  Because the newsletter was less dependent on me, I no longer felt that it was holding me back.

It’s rare that every aspect of a business aligns with the gifts of its proprietor.  Some people thrive as prudent business managers, other shine in public relations, and others revel in the creative process.  Success doesn’t involve developing the skills to be a one-man-band, but in pooling resources to get things accomplished more efficiently.

Here are a few points to keep in mind when systematizing your own business:

• Don’t rush to systematize. Work all the bugs out of your products, marketing, communications, and conversion processes first.  Shortcomings will not disappear inside of a system, but will poison the rest of the process.

• You might think you can do it all, but consider how much better your business could be if you concentrated on your strengths. When different people’s gifts are pooled together, the result is the dynamic sum of those talents.

• Choose an aspect of your business that you dislike. Find a person, or a team, who specializes in that task.  Results will improve, and you can concentrate on what you do best.

• Identify your strengths. Survey the aspects of your business that you can delegate so that you can allow more time to use your talents to their highest degree.

• Be creative about ways to automate your business. Focus on how to arrive at the highest quality result in the most efficient way.  Proven business models can help, but don’t forget your own freedom to innovate.

• Don’t sweat the small stuff. You can find people to do that for you.

As you become more successful, there will be a call for your business to become less dependent on you.  This conversion in thinking can seem difficult at first, but if you honestly examine your strengths and choose team members who share your vision (through differently-colored glasses), you’ll not only systematize your business, but you’ll maximize what that business can do for you.

Bernadette Doyle specializes in helping entrepreneurs attract a steady stream of ideal clients. If you want to get clients calling you instead of you calling them, sign up for her free weekly e-zine at http://www.clientmagnets.com

“The most important investment you can make is in yourself.” Warren Buffet

Have you ever heard the saying that games are won and lost in the dressing room? Any sports coach can tell you, it doesn’t always boil down to the performance on the field; it’s about that critical time in the dressing room before the game or even during the opening plays. It’s about attitude and what it means going forward.

Well, we’re in the dressing room now, and it’s time to hit the field. Are you ready, or have you set yourself up for a loss before the first play?

It’s easy to get discouraged about your prospects when you’re listening to the news or reading the newspaper articles on today’s economic climate. But is that news causing you to forfeit the game? Certainly we can’t ignore the news, but don’t use it as justification to stop investing in yourself, to stop growing and developing or to stop taking risks in business.

My bet for the upcoming game is that there is a gap forming. Those who are giving up and those who are determined to succeed. And with each passing day, that gap is widening. So you need to determine which side you prefer. Those who are giving up before the game starts or those who are determined to win.

If you go forward with a winning attitude, one where you say “Yes, the game is changing, but I’ll stay alert, adjust my strategy and win” you’re going to be fine. That’s the game changer – your attitude.

We are all facing challenges. Some businesses may fail, others flourish and others may just fail to flourish. You need to take stock of your situation and decide now if you’re going to flourish. And when you do that, when you make that decision, you’re going to set yourself up so that you play the best darn game that you have played in years.

When you take this step, this decision to succeed – do it with a goal in my mind. Give yourself a specific point spread to win the game. Don’t hold back and play it safe. It’s one thing to say you’re going to win, but quite another to say you’re going to win the game by five goals.

Now, that goal may seem out of reach and may even seem scary. That’s not a bad thing, a goal should stretch you and create just a bit of uncertainty. It’s that uncertainty that will help you grow into your goal over the next year. It’s what is going to push you to succeed and create the path to success.

What’s stopping you from setting the goal? Is it the fear that you’re not going to reach it? What happens if you don’t make your goal, whether it is financial or the growth of your business or the number of clients you gain? Well, what’s happened is that you’ve come closer to success than you would have if you hadn’t set the goal in the first place! Don’t use this as an excuse to not reach your target or to set one that’s too safe. But set a goal that’s going to lead you to win, and win big.

So, we’re here, in the dressing room. Now’s the time – decide right here, right now that you’re going to win the game and decide by how much you’re going to win.

Bernadette Doyle publishes a free weekly Client Magnets newsletter. If you want to get clients calling you instead of you calling them, then get your free tips now at www.clientmagnets.com

If you’ve set goals in your life, and at some point we all have, then you likely have supporting structures in place for those goals. But what if you change your goals? Goals evolve and they grow and they change over time. It makes sense that when your goals evolve, then the supporting structures need to change as well.

As you go about setting your goals for the next 12 months, or even for the next quarter, take some time to also figure out what you need and what needs to change to achieve that goal.

Here’s 3 steps to get you started:

1. What do you need OR what do you need to change? What do you need to reach your goal? It’s not always clear cut, but it could be a simple and clear answer such as administrative help. If it is that simple, then so is the answer – hire someone to help you do the books, help with marketing, whatever you need to help you achieve your goal.

What about your time routine or changing your work methods? Do those need restructuring to help you meet a goal? It’s not always so cut and dried though. You may need a mentor, different resources, or a much more dramatic change.

2. Visualize Your Goals. Take a moment to just think quietly. Visualize yourself when you’ve met the goal. Now work backwards, what supporting structures are in place that helped you get there? Were you in a larger office using an assistant? Were you using different resources?

Take it a step further and visualize your ideal scenario – what you’d like it to be, not what you think you will achieve. What structures are in place in the ideal world? See what you come up with.

3. Be Willing To Let Go. To get your new structures in place, chances are, there are things you’re going to need to let go of. You need to make a necessary compromise – be willing to give up something to achieve your goal – whether it’s an old work habit or even some of your revenue to hire an assistant or use a coach. Don’t compromise on the outcome. Be willing to take a trade off to reach it.

For example, I used to watch a soap opera in my early years. I’m embarrassed to admit it, but I did take time out some years ago to watch this ½ hour soap opera – five days a week. I realized that this habit wasn’t going to help me reach my goals. It also wasn’t who I wanted to be, so I cut it out. It gave me 2-1/2 hours more time to focus on my goal each week.

Your compromise may need to be more dramatic. It may be relocating, a change in a relationship. But know that it’s going to get you closer to your goal. It’s all part of the process.

Have the courage to re-align your habits, find out what you need and what you need to let go of. By doing this you’re guaranteed to reach your goals.

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