Client Magnets Official Blog

If you are just starting out in your business, do you think that you should get your client base established before you develop products and programs? After all, you need clients to sell the products to, right?

Wrong.

If you’re just starting a business, it really makes sense to have information products from day one.

First of all, it’s very difficult to get to that point where you’re truly “established.” Anyone who works in a time-selling business will tell you this. There is simply not enough time to prospect for clients and develop your products.

For example, someone recently told me, “I’ve been in business in a consultancy for 27 years and I’ve never balanced prospecting and delivering services.”

So for 27 years, this person has been selling his time, rather than his expertise. And he hasn’t gotten very far by doing so, because there has always been some degree of feast and famine in the business.

If this doesn’t show you how selling your time is not going to help you get established, I don’t know what will.

But if this business owner were to make the transition from a service business to an information business, those periods of famine would become a thing of the past.

If time can’t help you increase your income, why is it that products can?

The answer is simple, really. Products can become part of your sales team. A product can be a great lead generator for you.

The bigger question becomes how to decide what to include in your products?

Start by asking yourself, “What is it my clients are really looking for when they come to me? What problem do they have? How can I help them solve that problem in a way that doesn’t involve me physically doing it for them every time?”

The answers to these questions will help you to identify products and programs that you can offer.

Next, think about how you can reach the most people and make the greatest impact. For instance, which do you think will have more credibility on the desk of a target prospect – a brochure or a book? Which has more chance of being picked up and read?

Chances are, the brochure will be tossed into the bin, but the book is a “weightier” product. The book will better establish you as an expert. Your products are great ways of establishing your expertise and your authority on a subject.

If you’re still unsure about what you have to offer, take a close look at every aspect of your business. You need to look for a logical set of programs and products that will work together to reach the most people. Think of it as assembling your sales team.

The fact is that there are things you know that the market badly wants – and that there are people out there willing to pay for those things. Identify those things and start to package your expertise in forms that are attractive to that market. Your information empire will grow, your client base will expand – and your income will soar.

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

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