Client Magnets Official Blog

Archive for the ‘target audience’ Category

Relationship-building is a great way to leverage today’s social networking craze and build valuable relationships that can translate to business success. Relationship-building takes networking to the next step, and helps individuals develop meaningful relationships that may eventually become business relationships. Strategies for effective relationship-building keep in mind that relationship-building isn’t about what people can do for you, but about what you can do for people.

1. Recognize People for their Value
People want to be recognized for their intrinsic value as human beings – not as social connections. Recognize people for their value and individuality first and foremost. By building successful individual relationships with people, you can later leverage those relationships to form valuable business connections. But don’t make the connections about business from the beginning – make those connections genuinely about the connections, and about recognizing people for their individual value.

2. Don’t Ignore The People Not On Your “Target List”
One popular strategy that networkers use is to develop a list of targets – people they want to meet or spend time with at events or online. People who aren’t on that list may get ignored. This is a big mistake, and one of the primary differences between networking and relationship-building. When you target people, you miss out on other people who may have unexpected things to offer.

3. Give People Your Full Attention And Be Sincere
One of the most mortifying experiences that a person can have is shaking someone’s hand, only to realize that the person they’re greeting is looking over their shoulder to see who in the room is more important to greet. Don’t be keeping one eye open for the ‘important’ people when you’re building relationships.

Give everyone you meet your real attention. Make genuine connections with people. They sense the sincerity when you make these connections, and you never know when one of the people you meet has another valuable connection that they can provide you with – a connection you’d miss if you were too busy to move on to a more ‘important’ person.

4. Look At What YOU Can Do FOR People
When people are networking, they tend to evaluate someone and think “What can this person do for me?” Don’t ask what people can do for you. Ask what you can do for people. Look at ways you can provide value in other people’s lives. Offer valuable information, or helpful advice. Help them make connections that will serve them in business or their personal lives. People will return the favor, and may surprise you with the ways they can help your business. You’d never discover this if you were too busy asking what they could do for you.

Relationship-building does take more time than traditional networking, but you will make more valuable connections from it. Take the time to get to know the people you meet, and don’t dismiss people as being ‘unimportant’ because you’re too busy looking for ‘more important’ people. Every connection you make is valuable on a human level. It’s those real, true connections that will reap the rewards of success in the long term!

When it comes to marketing, every single thing that you do to generate leads should have a purpose. Without a purpose, you can end up with an advertising blitz campaign that saturates the market but doesn’t have any real direction.

And where does something without direction end up going? Nowhere.

We call this “spray-and-pray” marketing – advertising your business anywhere and everywhere, hoping that people will notice you, praying your hard work pays off.

You’ll do a ton of things because you think you need to be doing them. You’ll get on Facebook. You’ll start to Twitter. You might host a teleseminar or write some articles. Don’t get me wrong. These can all be very good leads for your business, but if you don’t know why you’re doing them, they are just busy, random activities. Unless they are consciously linked to your end point, they will simply exhaust you and your physical resources, like your energy and time. Some of them will exhaust your money as well because they cost money to apply.

Be more intentional with your marketing techniques to avoid becoming frustrated by the amount of time you’re spending on lead generation. Instead, your time will be well spent because your marketing is on purpose. What you really want is to be engaging with your clients in your specialty, and that is where intentional marketing will lead you.

But, if do you reach a point of being overwhelmed or disillusioned, where you’re putting out a lot of energy but aren’t getting the returns, don’t be discouraged.

Do not give up. That would be a tremendous waste of your talent.

Part of my own purpose is to support and encourage you to pursue your own path. I know it’s easy to get discouraged if things haven’t been working out the way you’d imagined. Don’t blame yourself, and don’t assume that what you are offering has no value because you haven’t been able to get people to buy it. That would be a critical mistake.

What you are offering to clients absolutely does have value. You may just be missing one or two of pieces on how to promote it. It’s time to tweak your approach and get focused. A tweak or two could be all you need to make your approach more intentional, to turn things around and help you start attracting the clients you want.

You will probably find that you don’t need a major overhaul in your business, and that some of the approaches you are using do work quite well. It’s not about giving up on what you’re doing, throwing it all out, and saying that it was all a terrible waste of time. It’s not about throwing the baby out with the bathwater.

It’s about evaluating where you are and looking closely at where you want to be.

There are almost certainly pieces of what you’re doing that are working. But, that spray-and-pray part of marketing is just not smart marketing. And if you have been doing that, at least you’ve been taking action. If you look on the positive side, you’ve been doing something. It may not have been the most effective thing, but you are working, trying and doing the best you can.

Now you know that you need to be more deliberate, more purposeful. And you now know it’s time for you to address your business and your marketing with intent.

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

No matter what you’re selling, whether it’s a training course or a marketing seminar or a physical product, you’ve probably spent a long time agonizing over price. Sellers almost always spend more time than they need to thinking about and setting a price. In reality, sellers think price is a lot more important than it actually is. The next time you’re pricing a product, keep these things in mind.

Price Isn’t as Important as You Think
Sellers almost always spend far too much time thinking about the price of a product. They agonize over whether they’ve priced their product appropriately for their market. In most cases, sellers actually under-price their products. When I work with people one-on-one, I almost always find that sellers are charging too little for what they’re offering. I spent a lot of time telling people to raise their prices.

While sellers may think that price is the most important aspect of marketing an event, that’s simply not the case. Research has shown that less than 10% of buyers are actually influenced by price as a primary factor when they make a decision. Realistically, it isn’t the price that matters, but how well you market the event.

Present Your Price Effectively
Many sellers think that if they price a product low enough, it will virtually sell itself. Sellers think that low prices are easy to justify in consumer minds, so consumers will want to take advantage of the low product and make the decision to buy or register. In reality, it isn’t the price that influences peoples’ decisions to buy; but rather, how well you present that price. If you don’t present your price effectively, the sale is over before it’s begun.

Beware of Sticker Shock
Sticker shock is a phenomenon that occurs when people present their prices too early. You don’t start off a presentation by telling people how much something costs, because then they’re fixated on that price. If they feel that the price is high, they’ll stop listening to whatever you have to say, and you’ve lost the sale. Instead, present the price toward the end of the sales presentation.

Build Your Product Value
To effectively sell your product, you must establish your product’s value. You must spend time showing your potential buyers why your product is a must-have product. Explain what they get from buying your product. Show them how your product solves a problem they just can’t seem to resolve, or how it does so better than anyone else’s product. Once you’ve established that your product has value, you can present the price of your product; after your buyer is convinced enough of your product’s value to listen to your value proposition.

In Summary …  Charge More, and Present Your Price at the Right Time
Don’t undercharge for your product. A low price won’t sell your product – good sales copy will sell your product. Price your product appropriately, and spend time establishing the value of your product before you reveal the price to your sale prospects. With the right value proposition techniques, you can increase your conversion rate and let your product sell itself!

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 effective marketing materials speak directly to your audience. Effective marketing materials are developed with your audience in mind, and they answer your audience’s questions, solve their problems and overcome their reservations about attending an event. In order to create the best targeted messages designed to speak directly to your audience, you must know your audience, and you may need to develop multiple marketing materials.

Identify Your Target Audience
When you begin planning any marketing campaign, you must identify your target audience. Many people find when they begin this process that they don’t have a clear idea of who their target audience is, in which case they must begin to identify a target audience. If you don’t know your audience, your event may not be as well-attended as it could be, or you may find that there’s not a high demand for the product.

If you don’t have a target audience, make one. You may need to tweak your product or event to appeal to this audience, but you’ll always have more success with a targeted marketing campaign than a campaign that isn’t addressed to anyone. If you don’t have a target audience, your product or event may need more refining, which gives you a good opportunity to define your scope or re-evaluate your product to make it more effective.

Target Your Message to Your Audience
Once you’ve identified an audience, target your marketing message to your audience. Dan Kennedy calls this “message to market match.” Answer your audience’s questions, and develop a call to action that speaks directly to your target audience. You can use a general marketing campaign, but a general campaign won’t give you the same success as a targeted campaign. It’s perfectly acceptable to use the same techniques in multiple campaigns; particularly techniques that have brought you success; but tailor those techniques to each marketing campaign that you run.

Consider Creating Multiple Marketing Materials
If you find that you have multiple target audiences, consider creating multiple marketing materials to more effectively reach those audiences. For example, if you’re conducting a dating event that may appeal to both men and women, you might want to create targeted marketing materials for both groups; one for the men, and one for the women. If you’re creating a business event for people in different industries, you might want to create a set of marketing materials for each industry.

By targeting your specific market, you can ensure you create a clear, compelling message. If you use a general marketing message, you may find that your message becomes diluted, or lacks the clear call to action you can create in targeted marketing materials.

Remember that developing a clear call to action is your key to great success with a product or event. You can create a highly successful event! You have the tools at your disposal, so all you have to do is create a targeted marketing campaign to reach the right audience, and you can realize success beyond your wildest dreams!

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

Many people go out of business because they have failed to align their product with what the market demands – and with what their inner selves demand.

Many times, businesses need to endure a breakdown before a breakthrough can be felt.   Sometimes, the bad times are the only times that spur the need for positive change.  In other words, even if you’re struggling with simply “making it,” there’s plenty of hope.

I know you want an endless supply of customers – a flow that’s as intense as you’re willing to handle.  But there’s an important element to consider before moving forward.  You must ensure that any success you’ve experienced to this point isn’t just a symptom of luck. I like to say that even a broken clock shows the right time twice a day.  If you glance at the clock randomly, there’s a chance you might get the right time.  And if you do, you might be fooled into thinking the clock is working.  But it’s not.

You have to make sure that people are coming to you because of the one-of-a-kind value you’ve offered them, not because they’ve stumbled upon you.

There’s no denying that you have a treasure trove of valuables to offer.  You have gifts, talents, and abilities that are guiding you toward your perfect mission.  You know there are people out there that would greatly benefit from what you have to offer.  But when you can’t find those people, or they can’t find you, it can be a painful disappointment.  Because your venture really is your calling, right?  Or isn’t it?

Every business owner has a calling, and to truly find success in that calling, that business owner needs to be assured that their distinctive abilities are made apparent by that business.

Often, your attempts at furthering your business aren’t the problem.  Instead, it might be that you have missed something that’s fundamental to attracting clients:  finding that one thing that only you can offer, and that consumers are looking for.

If you are passionate about something, and it happens to also be a God-given gift, then somewhere in the world, there is a demand for that service.  God isn’t wasteful.  He wouldn’t give you something and not create an equal and opposite need for it.

Your challenge is to find the channel through which you can deliver your true value to those who need it.  Frederick Buechner defines vocation as the place where passion meets the world’s greatest hunger.  This is a beautiful statement.  It reinforces the idea that we’re all here to do something or be someone.  Unfortunately, it doesn’t tell us how to make the connection, or how to keep ourselves in business.

To get a better grasp on this channel, take the time to reflect on you.  You are a vehicle for delivering the gifts that the world is waiting for.  Put your gifts in writing, and assess them.  Then ask yourself these questions:

• How do my gifts complement one another?

• How can my talents be combined to create something unlike anything the world has ever seen?

• Does that combination meet a need?

• If not, can I find a legitimate need?

• Or do I need to find a new and different recipe for those gifts, based on a need I know I can satisfy?

Carving out your vocation using the talent and need factors will go miles to pull your business through adversity.  In times of adversity, luck is nowhere to be found…but true value never dwindles.

If, after true introspection, you still believe that you are where you need to be, and the consumers just aren’t coming, stay with me.  There are secrets yet to be revealed that might affect your view, and your success, in a manner that you haven’t yet considered.

Bernadette Doyle created Client Magnets Ltd to help self-employed people solve one of their biggest business problems: attract a steady stream of 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

If your aim is to develop products that your clients will buy without hesitation, you need to know the secrets behind what makes a product successful.

There are several key factors you need to take into consideration in order to come up with a great product. Following these steps will give you the tools you need to get started on creating your product.

Step One

Find out what your market wants.
There are a number of things that you can do to make sure there’s a market who wants to buy your product before you invest any time in creation. People buy what they want, not what you think they need. Use both your head and your heart to find out what that want is. Set aside your own preconceptions. Don’t predetermine. Listen and pay attention to what your target market is saying or complaining about. Put yourself in their shoes. Do surveys. Make phone calls.

Step Two

Once you’ve figured out what your clients want, give it to them.
Focus on finding the “hook”. Understand what miracle cure your clients are wishing for and make it the top line headline about your particular product. The closer you can present your solution to that miracle cure, the better. You really need to spend some time on this. Write it down as a question to help prompt your subconscious mind to come up with the answer.

Step Three

Organize your content.
Brainstorm all of the things that your end user is going to need to get the results that you are promising to deliver. When mapping out the components of what your product will deliver, think first about what you’re going to cover rather than how you’re going to cover it.

Make an outline with all of the things that this particular product will cover. You do not need to include everything you know about a topic. This will just delay your product creation. Include content to help your clients get the results they want.

Tip:  You don’t need to create your product in the order that you’re going to deliver it. Create it in a way that you can get it done quickly. Starting with the areas that are easiest for you will greatly aid you in creating your product rapidly.

Step Four

Decide on the format you need to follow.
There should be a logical congruency between the “hook” and the format your product takes. For example, if your hook says “instant,” but your product is a 6-month-long course, that’s not consistent.

You also need to decide whether your product format will be physical or digital, or both. Base this on what makes the most sense for your market. Answer the questions: What is most appealing to this market? What fits in best with the product? What fits in best with the solution?

Step Five

Figure out what you are going to charge.
Set your price based on the value your product delivers to the end user, not the cost of creating the product. Don’t determine your expenses and then markup the product from there. Price according to the problem you’re solving. The question you need to ask is “What is it worth to clients to solve this problem?”

Step Six

Think about the design of your product.
Be careful how much time you spend in this. Yes, design is important. People do judge books by their covers. But there’s a point where the amount of time you spend on it is diminishing your return. Ultimately, ask yourself “How much more am I really going to sell by spending this extra time on design?”

Following these steps in this order will ensure that you develop a product that is effective and efficient, for your market and for your business.

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

What’s the least expensive way to reach hundreds of potential clients simultaneously? Teleseminars can be your best strategy for presenting your offer to the masses. If you haven’t made the leap to this cutting-edge marketing technique, it’s definitely time to get on board.

Most people running businesses on the Internet have attended at least one teleseminar. Simply put, a teleseminar is a conference call where useful information is presented, along with an offer for a product.

Today’s internet-based telephone services allow hundreds of people at once to participate in conference calls. As a featured speaker, you have the power to reach large groups and present your offer with very little cost involved.

Whether you advertise this call to your own client list or partner with another business to expand your reach, hosting a teleseminar can quickly build your business with a minimum of time invested on your part.

How Do You Plan Your Call?

Planning a teleseminar can be simple when you use easily-available tools. Here’s are some of things to do when planning your call:

• Sign up for a conference call service online. Look for one that offers low-cost recording services or make arrangements to record your teleseminar some other way.
• Schedule your call with your service, if necessary, and get the call-in details for your marketing.
• Create your marketing campaign – email announcements, method of enrolling (sign-up webpage works best), call topic, and reminder email messages.
• Decide if you’ll allow those planning to attend to ask questions in advance; this is a great way to gather material for developing your content.
• Announce your teleseminar in an initial email message, then follow up with subsequent invitation emails and call reminder if they sign up.

What Should You Say?

This call is your opportunity to share valuable information your client base can use, as well as make your offer to serve them further. A business coaching firm might, for example, share “Ten Vital Steps to Surviving a Layoff” during the teleseminar, and then offer coaching services at a reduced rate for those attending.

Put together about forty-five minutes worth of useful, interesting content and allow time for questions at the end (most conferencing services allow you to “mute” callers until your Q&A session). Craft a strong three to five sentence offer for your product or service and give a discount good for a limited time after the call. Create a separate sales page on your website to allow you to track the teleseminar’s impact.

Practice your content until it rolls naturally;  you won’t hold your listener’s attention by reading verbatim from a script! If possible, have someone well-known in your industry introduce you to add even more credibility.

How Can You Leverage it Later?

By all means, plan to leverage the teleseminar far beyond the call date. This can be done several ways:

• Create an .mp3 or CD of the call and offer it as a premium for purchases.
• Write a series of articles based on the call transcript. Post them to your website or in article directories, to drive search engine traffic.
• Use the questions asked at the end of the call to identify the need for new products or services.
• Use those same questions to create a series of podcasts or blog posts of interest to your client base.

Teleseminars are an easy way to create interest in your products, increase your sales and provide content for future initiatives. Put your own teleseminar in motion today and find new customers waiting on the other end of the line.

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

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 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