Do You Know What Your Market Really Wants?

March 7th, 2010

Before ramping up your marketing when sales are disappointing, take a step back and ask yourself, “Do I know what my market really, really wants?” Being able to answer that question is the key to growing your business. By focusing on what people want, rather than on what you hope to sell them, you can begin to see the kind of success you desire.

If you suspect you’re wasting time by marketing something people don’t really want, here are some principles to ponder:

People buy what they want, not what you think they need.

You’re going to get a lot of resistance to your marketing if someone thinks they’re being shoehorned into buying what they don’t want. No matter how loudly you proclaim your product’s benefits, your market won’t respond if they don’t want the product. To continue doing so is a lot like speaking a different language and shouting to be understood.

People need to feel good about what they’ve bought.

One way to zero in on what your market wants is to develop empathy with that group of people. You must connect emotionally with how they feel about purchasing. When you’ve put yourself in someone else’s shoes, you begin to understand how they feel. What are their hopes and dreams? What do they fear? What keeps them awake at night?

If you’ve done a good job of pinpointing a target market, you should be able to learn these things easily. Until you do, you’re wasting time on marketing that won’t work, because you don’t yet know what products they’ll feel good about buying.

People buy products when they feel they’ve been understood.

No matter what logical explanation someone can give for buying a product, underneath it is the belief they’ve been understood. Someone knew enough about who they were to make a product that fits them.

So, how will you know when you’ve learned what your market really, really wants? You’ll know, because that’s when it all becomes easier. There’s no need to push or shove someone into buying, because they want what you’re offering. It will be such a revelation to learn how easy selling your products can be when they’re what your market wants.

Once that happens, you’ll begin to hear from your clients how grateful they are for your products. Everything about how you do business will be transformed, because you’ve taken the time to learn what your market wants. You’ve made the effort to step into their shoes and understand what makes them tick. And that effort pays off in products that really meet the needs of your market.

So, if you’re still struggling to sell your products, or it feels as though you’re pushing people into buying what they don’t want, it’s time to take inventory. Here are five questions to answer before trying again to sell your products:

  1. What is most important to the people in my target market?

  2. What problems keep them awake at night?

  3. What is the desired end result they’re hoping for?

  4. Does my product help them solve their problems and reach their goals?

  5. Do I need to change my products so that they do?

The process of stepping closer to your target market and understanding that group of people may take time and effort, but it will definitely be worth it. Once you know the people in your market very well, the products you offer them will meet their needs. And that’s what people really, really want.

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

Do You Know What Your Market Really Wants?

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Posted in Business Networking, Business Plans, Law Of Attraction, Marketing, Niche Marketing, Online Marketing, Sales Motivation, Strategies To Keep Good Customers, target audience | No Comments »

Real Life Success Stories Call

February 16th, 2010

People ask me all the time ‘Bernadette, I can see that your marketing strategies clearly work for YOU, but what about other people? Do your techniques work for them?’

The answer is ABSOLUTELY these strategies work for all types of businesses, and I’m ready to PROVE it to you with a special ‘Success Stories’ call I’m hosting this Wednesday 17th February

Get ready to meet:

• The mother of 3 who launched a new program and generated €30,000 in just 67 days (without even having a website!)

• The successful business owner who was frustrated with the margins in his traditional business model and approached me to help him repackage his expertise into a product that he could sell on ‘auto-pilot’. Sales so far stand at £75,000….

• The former financial adviser who started a business from home that now generates £100,000 a year – even though she works just 25 hours a week and balances running her business with looking after her young son….

Results like these are QUANTUM LEAPS, not incremental gains, and we’ll show you EXACTLY how they did it on this special call: http://clientmagnets.com/successstories

Register NOW to join us. You’ll be inspired by the amazing results they have achieved – in record time.

See you on the call!

http://clientmagnets.com/successstories

Real Life Success Stories Call

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Posted in Advertising, Business Plans, Business Success, Home Business, How To Make Money, Law Of Attraction, Marketing, Niche Marketing, Online Marketing, Sales Motivation, Success Secrets, Teleseminars | No Comments »

It’s my birthday – again!

February 8th, 2010

I’ve just finished a meeting with my team and Brandon, my customer service representative has informed me that many of you are ‘chomping at the bit’ to hear a replay of my ‘Virtual Birthday Party’ call I did last Saturday.

We know this call struck a chord with many of you who attended live. It got pretty ‘raw’ in places as I pulled back the curtain and revealed exactly how transformative the past 12 months have been for me.

Well the queen has two birthdays, so I can too! And the good news is we’re offering a one time replay of that call, this Tuesday 9 February.

Amazingly, many of the requests came from people who already attended the live call and simply want to hear it all over again. That’s what tells me this was a special call, because in all the years I’ve been offering teleseminars, I’ve never heard that request.

Here a just a few of the comments received:
‘I got off the phone feeling empowered for the first time in months.  So a HEARTY THANK YOU for all that you have been through, for sharing your story, for being a champion, and for giving me hope that I, too, will create a new reality for my life.  God bless you richly for your faith. You have truly inspired me today.’

‘Quick thanks for telling me about Bernadette and her Stepping Up programme. I participated in her teleseminar that she did this past Sat (on her birthday!) and a) felt a connection with her,  just like I did with you, b) was v. impressed by what she was offering and c) felt like she had read my mind (re: my goals for my business and myself) and was speaking directly to me!’

‘I want to congratulate for the call today , it was  – for me – 300% more valuable and the way you presented it gave me the confidence to be in the right place. I could relate to many things you said. And it is  – again — one of these amazing things of synchronicity that I came across your program ….’

Here’s where to register so you can get all the details of the call.
Click here for details and to register http://www.clientmagnets.com/steppingup/

This call was truly LIFE-CHANGING for those that heard it, so make sure you join us for the replay.

It’s my birthday – again!

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Posted in Business & Money, Business Plans, Business Success, Home Business, How To Make Money, Law Of Attraction, Marketing, Online Marketing, Success Secrets, Systems, Teleseminars | No Comments »

Eight Steps to Attracting More Clients

January 11th, 2010

There’s a logical sequence to building a business, whether it’s online or offline. There are certain things that must be done in order to see your business grow. By committing to follow these eight steps, you can attract more clients and have the kind of income you want.

Step One: Get Clear On Who You’re Targeting
Before you begin any marketing, you must find your target audience. Do your research and discover who your products or services can help the most. Without a clear understanding of exactly who you’re targeting, your marketing can’t be effective.

Specializing your approach will definitely help your conversion rate. It may make you nervous to think of narrowing your options, but it’s the first step in attracting more long-term clients. Here’s one more benefit to narrowing down your focus: each time you specialize a little more, you’re able to charge more for your services.

Step Two: Understand What They Really Want Emotionally and Logically
Once you’ve identified your best target audience, it’s time to learn what they really, really want. What do they dream of accomplishing? What keeps them awake at night?

There’s no point in marketing your products if you aren’t sure what your target market wants. Here’s a key concept: people buy what they want, not what you think they need. Get to know your market and you’ll find making sales much easier.

Step Three: Package What You’re Offering Toward Desired End Results
Because you understand your market so well, you know the desired end result they’d like to achieve. The closer you get to that desired end result, the better you’ll do in business. Package your products toward that result, so that you’re always meeting the needs of your clients.

When you’re really tuned into the needs of your target market, you’ll experience the rush of business running smoothly. You’ll stop having to push and shove to make sales and see how it all flows together—the needs of a group of people, and products packaged to meet those needs. What’s the takeaway? People don’t buy because they understand something, they buy because they feel understood.

Step Four: Create an Irresistible Offer
What, exactly, are you delivering with your products, and what must the client give in return? To be effective in marketing, you need to be able to answer that question in one sentence. Here’s an example: “Give me ten minutes per day and I’ll give you the body you’ve always wanted.”

You want to state your offer in a compelling way that has people raising their hands to say “I want that!” Work on developing your one-sentence offer; it will form the basis of all your other marketing.

Step Five: Go Find Your Target Audience
Where do the people most likely to buy your products hang out? Do they congregate on online discussion forums? What publications do they read? Which organizations do they join?

If you’ve done good market research in the previous steps, you’ll already know the answers. Now, go out there and make your irresistible offer to them in ads, talks, comments on forums and whatever way you can that makes them affordably reachable.

Step Six: Practice Great Follow-up
You’ve done your research, created great products, packaged them to meet the needs of your target audience, and made your offer where they congregate. To maximize all the hard work you’ve already done, you must follow-up consistently.

What’s the best way to make sure that happens? By automating and systematizing as much of your follow-up as possible. Here’s the rule: Always follow up, and find ways to make it automatic.

Step Seven: Close the Sale
This one gets stepped around so often, and that’s a shame, because it’s essential if you want to succeed. Learn how to ask for their business. For some companies, that might mean a face-to-face meeting, and for many others, the entire sales process can be automated. Unless money changes hands, you’re not really in business.

Whichever way you chose to close, you must give your prospects enough information that they can buy with confidence. Automate that information-sharing as much as you can, with webpages, sales letters and brochures, so that you can expand your impact in less time.

Step Eight: Make Additional Offers
The bulk of your profits are going to be made from additional sales to satisfied customers. You’ve already built a relationship with them and they know you can be trusted. Create products you can offer them as you continue to listen and hear what solutions they need.

These long-term clients give your business stability, and you’re not out chasing new clients constantly. Learning to make additional offers will make the difference in whether your business lasts.

Following the eight steps puts you on the path to attracting new clients and earning more income. Keep working through them until you’ve perfected your products and your offer. Automate as many of your processes as you can, and don’t forget to offer additional products to satisfied customers. By doing so, you’ll be on the road to the income you want.

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

Eight Steps to Attracting More Clients

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Posted in Advertising, Business Plans, Business Success, Closing The Sale, Direct Mail, Direct Marketing, Email Marketing, Law Of Attraction, Niche Marketing, Personal Productivity, Sales Motivation, Small Business Ideas, Success Secrets, target audience | 3 Comments »

Finding Your Niche

October 24th, 2009

It’s interesting how we talk about ‘finding’ your niche, as though your niche is lost or hidden. In truth, there is a part of you that already knows exactly what your niche is. The question is, are you willing to listen to this part?

This week I want to share some tips from my own experience establishing the Client Magnets niche, and also what I have learned from helping clients uncover their niches.

Stop Undervaluing What Comes Easily To You

A common theme I have noticed when helping clients to ‘find’ their niche, is that often their niche is right under their nose! But often we undervalue things that come easily to us, assuming ‘everyone knows that’ or ‘isn’t that obvious?’ Let me give you an example. Some time ago, my friend Veronica came round to help me with some office reorganisation. It made such a difference I almost cried. Veronica was baffled by my response and gratitude, shrugging off the difference she had made as though ‘it was nothing’. The fact is, it may have been ‘nothing’ to Veronica, but it was EVERYTHING to me. Do you have skills and expertise which comes so easily to you that you have underestimated the value it makes to others?

Don’t Expect A ‘Road to Damascus’ Type Experience

Sometimes I think we put pressure upon ourselves, and anticipate that the moment we suddenly uncover a niche, that it will be accompanied by lights flashing and dramatic music. The reality, I have found, is rather more mundane. Whilst I have worked with clients who have experienced light-bulb ‘eureka’ moments, they are rare. For me personally, I think that uncovering a niche is more like a silhouette emerging through fog. Has expecting a ‘road to damascus’ type experience, prevented you from seeing what is right under your nose?

Expect Your Niche To Change Over Time

The niche you select for yourself today is not cast in stone. It can evolve and develop as you do. When I first became self-employed, my niche was cold calling, but that has now evolved into a marketing approach which gets prospects calling YOU. Bob Burg, an expert in sales and prospecting, started his career as a memory expert. Doreen Virtue is now best known for her work with angels, but was formerly known as the dating doctor. Are you avoiding committing to a niche because you are afraid you will be trapped forever?

Your Niche Is Already Seeking YOU

All day every day you are being presented with clues and nudges in the direction of your niche. Are you paying attention to those little signs, or are you too busy making other plans? The phrase ‘Client Magnets’ first floated into my consciousness in the summer of 2001. It took another six months before I started a newsletter on the same topic. I didn’t ‘find’ Client Magnets. It came to me. My part was noticing and responding. From day one I felt that Client Magnets had a life and an energy of it’s own, and that my job was to work in partnership with that energy rather than trying to ‘make it all happen’ all by myself.

Are you so busy trying to ‘make things happen’ all by yourself, that you are overlooking opportunities which could be easy for you?

This week, take a stand wherever you are right now. Make a commitment to yourself, to your niche, to your audience. When you truly commit to where you are right now, you will be surprised how quickly opportunities open up for you.

Finding Your Niche

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Posted in Law Of Attraction, Marketing, Motivation, Niche Marketing, Success Secrets | 4 Comments »

Give Your Market What They Want

October 11th, 2009

I regularly get email questions from people saying, “I’ve got this new XYZ service. How can I find the people who need it? How can I let as many people know about it as possible?”

The problem with this question is the idea of  promoting your new product and service, without really thinking through what your audience wants.

To sell your new product or service you need more than visibility in the market.  You need to give your market what THEY REALLY WANT

Let me give you an example. There was a dog food company and they had been very successful in their market category, but they were losing market share. The new chairman was determined to turn things around. He called a board meeting with his top sales people, marketing people, his top researchers, and all the division heads.

He began to get heated, ranting and raving. “Why are we losing our share? What are we going to do about this?” As he intimidated the room with his behavior, a young intern raised his hand and said, “Sir, the trouble is the dogs don’t like the food.”

See the problem here?
The company had been trying to fix a fundamental problem without identifying the true source of their problem.    They thought that spending more on advertising, or spending more on marketing, or promoting more, or doing PR, or all of these activities would increase their business.

And it’s true. All these things will increase your business IF you’re offering something that people really want. But if you offering something that people don’t want to buy, then no amount of promotion is going to compensate for that. All it’s going to do is make you tired and broke.

It would be the same as trying to convince a market that black and white televisions are a better buy in a market where the consumer doesn’t want black and white anymore, they want color. You can’t jump in to promotion before really making sure that what you’re offering is something the market is really hungry for.

Promoting a new product or service takes consistent effort, it uses resources, and it requires constant energy. And so, it’s very easy for someone who has jumped in naively to get disillusioned very quickly. The lesson:  You should never begin promoting without making sure that the market really has a need for what you’re offering.

The sad thing is many businesses don’t learn this one lesson until it’s too late. Many go out of business at that point. I don’t want that for you. I believe that you’re in business because at some level it’s a calling for you.

You know deep down that you’ve got something valuable to offer. You know that there are people in the world that you can truly help. And I know how frustrating it is if you have been trying to help those people, but you feel that you can’t connect with them.

I’m not saying that you should get out of the market. Rather, you should find out how to corner the market you’re in. Granted, if you’re selling an inferior product that people don’t want, you can’t do a lot to fix that. Otherwise, the answer lies in making sure your business offers match the demands of the market.

The solution is aligning what you’re offering with what people really want.

Give Your Market What They Want

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Posted in How To Make Money, Law Of Attraction, Marketing, Niche Marketing, Sales Motivation, Small Business Marketing | 1 Comment »

Marketing Your Quest

September 1st, 2009

Have you ever read the book, Lord of the Rings? or maybe you’ve seen the movie? How about the film, Raiders of the Lost Ark? These two stories, along with so many others like them, draw us into the world of the characters, capture our interest and have us genuinely enthralled by the protagonist’s commitment to his quest.

Why does the movie-goer care if Indiana Jones ever finds the Ark of the Covenant? Because throughout the movie, the story behind his quest is revealed, and we visually witness all the obstacles and threats that stand in his way along the journey to his goal. These things create a connection to the character and instill emotion in the audience.

This is exactly what you need to achieve in marketing your business. You want to capture the interest of your intended audience by creating a campaign that really makes them want to pay attention to you. In order to do that, they need to know your story.  Your quest.

Give your potential customers a sense of your own quest. You can even use the word “quest” in your advertising or promotion.

“I made it my quest.”

“I studied with a passion. I devoured everything I possibly could to try and figure out how this could be done.”

“And now I’m ready to share what I learned with you.”

Think about where you started and where you are now. Elaborate on the details of what your mission and purpose really are, your personal reasons and the circumstances that led you to create your business. Share how you arrived at your ultimate destination.

Don’t leave out the significant details that can really make your audience relate to you. Tell the stories of the complications, the roadblocks, the doubts. When your customers realize that you understand their needs because you’ve experienced the same ups and downs on your own quest, they will be begging you to share what you’ve learned with them.

Marketing Your Quest

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Posted in Business Success, Law Of Attraction, Marketing, Money Making Ideas, Personal Productivity, Words Of Inspiration | No Comments »

Picture Yourself Successful

July 30th, 2009

If I said to you, “Do you truly want your business to succeed?” I’m guessing almost everyone would say, “Of course!” Why is it, then, that so many entrepreneurs slog along day to day with little money, few clients and dim prospects for more? Perhaps the secret lies in what they allow themselves to believe is possible. Let’s take a moment to look at whether your imagination is the culprit that’s keeping your business stagnant.

To set the stage for success, sit down to pen and paper (or a computer keyboard) and describe in vivid detail where you’d like to be in thirty days. How many clients would you have? Would you have enough money for the bills? What would your relationships be like?

As you write your scenario, don’t skimp on the details. Paint a picture of what would satisfy you, personally and professionally. This isn’t the time to listen to that niggling voice telling you it isn’t possible. This is your dream, and you can write whatever you want.

Now, stop and read your vision out loud. Do you notice feeling differently as you do? Most people, when given the chance to imagine a better future, feel an unfamiliar sense of freedom. Those anxious feelings borne of unpaid bills and relational stress fade away as they picture themselves becoming truly successful.

It’s amazing how many areas of their lives seem manageable again, once they’ve allowed themselves to dream of success.

So, the question is, again, “Do you truly want your business to succeed?” Do you honestly want to be in a different place thirty days from now? Then the only question left is this: “What are you willing to do to get there?”

When I ask this question in seminars, I find that most people already know what they need to do. It’s simply that they’ve become so mired in the muck of running a business, they’ve forgotten their original vision. They’ve become discouraged, locked into a mindset that things can never be better than they are right now.

And that’s simply not true. I’ve seen the power having a vision can have in generating success. It’s as though, once people stop and picture the way they’d like things to be, those things begin to happen. Once they’ve let go of the thought of being trapped in their present circumstances, they’re free to engage all their skills and talents to find new clients and new success.

So, are you ready to succeed? If you are, you must …

Read and re-read the vision you just wrote and allow your imagination to run free.

Write down the ideas that come to you each time you read your dream of where you’d like to be thirty days from now.

If you already know what it takes to get there, I hope your renewed vision has inspired you to start doing those things consistently. If you aren’t sure what steps to take next, it’s time to get help with your marketing plan.

Your personal success is waiting! Whatever it takes to achieve that vision of success will be the best investment you ever make in your business.

Picture Yourself Successful

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Posted in Business Success, Law Of Attraction, Marketing, Words Of Inspiration | 2 Comments »

If You Do What You Love Will The Money Follow?

July 27th, 2009

‘Do what you love and the money will follow’ cries the title of a best selling book by Marsha Sinetar. I beg to differ slightly. Over the years I’ve met hundreds of people who are doing what they love, but the money is definitely not following. Apologies Marsha, but I would put it this way: ‘Do what you love, communicate this effectively to the people in the world who most need it and are motivated to pay for it, and the money will follow’. The fact is you can do what you love and be well rewarded for it, but you need to match up your own skills and talents with those people in the world who most need what you have to offer. It’s not enough to do what you love and simply hope that the right people will get to hear about you. As Julian Gresser puts it in his book, Piloting Through Change, ‘We earn what we want by connecting our gifts to the concerns of others’.
The fact is, when you match up your skills and talents with the people in the world who really need you, there isn’t a lot of selling or convincing to be done. So aligning what you have to offer with those people in the world who most need it is a crucial element of becoming a Client Magnet. The key word here is alignment. What we need to do is match your skills and talents to groups who are easily identified, who are already explicitly aware of an immediate need, want or problem, and are highly motivated to find a solution.

If you are failing to magnetically attract new clients towards you, it could be because you are failing to speak directly to your targeted client. Even before this, you may have failed to identify your target client. Of all the important steps you can take to become a Client Magnet, one of the first has to be to define the people in the world who need your help and with whom you want to work. This isn’t an optional step. It is a must do. Over and over again I see ‘would be’ magnets diluting their marketing by trying to be all things to all people.

Think you’ve already done this? If you already have a steady stream of clients queuing at your door waiting patiently for your services then you MIGHT be able to skip this step, but if not, the message is that you need to get even more specific.

Start by thinking about the people in the world who are already struggling with a problem or issue that you can help them solve. For example, I created the Client Magnet newsletter having met lots of consultants who were frustrated with the amount of time and energy it was taking to find clients. I knew I had ideas and techniques that could make a difference, and so my business was born out of a desire to serve a group of people with whom I had empathy, and who were facing problems that I knew I could help them solve.

If You Do What You Love Will The Money Follow?

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Posted in Law Of Attraction, Niche Marketing, Words Of Inspiration | 1 Comment »

How Easy is it to Buy From You?

July 23rd, 2009

Imagine going into a shop. Inside there are lots of beautiful objects, artistically displayed. You can’t see any price tags, and because of the way that things are laid out it’s hard for you to distinguish between what’s actually on sale, and what is simply part of the display. There is one item in particular that you really like but you don’t want to pick it up in case it’s not on sale. Or it might turn out to be too expensive and then you’d feel embarrassed. There is an assistant standing nearby, but you’re too shy to ask because you’re worried about looking foolish. Also, sometimes in the past when you’ve gone into a shop and asked questions, you’ve felt a bit pressured to buy.

So after hanging around, not sure what to do, you reluctantly and sadly decide to leave.

I’m willing to wager that there are lots of people who are already attracted to you and what you’re offering, yet they are failing to become paying clients because they feel like the customer in the scenario above.

Notice that in this scenario both parties miss out. The customer doesn’t get their needs met, and the shopkeeper fails to make a sale.
What a shame – for both parties.

It’s your responsibility to make it as easy as possible for people to buy from you. That means making it easy for them to make the buying decision, preferably without you.

Lots of people in service businesses fall foul of ‘bespokeitis’. It’s great that every client is different. And it’s great that you tailor your service to your clients. But you are missing out on opportunities if you fail to ‘productise’ your offerings.

What do I mean by ‘productise’? I am not necessarily talking about creating physical products, but making your service offerings more tangible by putting them into packages. Here’s how:

1. Sell the solution, not the means of attaining it. For example, a weight loss coach might offer one-to-one coaching, but would find it much easier to sell a 90 day weight loss package. Coaching is just a means to an end. It’s easier to sell, because you have made it easier for the customer to make their buying decision. Providing a package makes the service more tangible.

2. Clear Pricing. Products usually have price tags, however services often do not. When you buy a sofa, you know the price up front; you pay it, and take the sofa home. When you need decoration services for your apartment, the price depends on quality, size, timing and experience of the designer. When services do not have fixed price tags, or guarantees, the customer can feel very uncertain about their purchase. If you can package certain aspects of your service with clear price points, this will help the customer feel that they are in control.

3. Quantify the benefits . If you ‘productise’ your services, it’s easier to quantify the results a person can expect. Your testimonials have more credibility, because they come from clients and customers who have experienced that same package.

How Easy is it to Buy From You?

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Posted in Advertising, Business & Money, Closing The Sale, Law Of Attraction, Marketing, Sales Motivation, Small Business Ideas | 1 Comment »

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