Focus on Fertile Ground to Grow Your Business

December 24th, 2009

Have you ever tried your hand at gardening?  Some spots are so perfect for gardens, the ground is fertile and ready for seeding, the amount of sunshine is just right.  Other spots are next to shade trees, they don’t get enough light, planting is so difficult with roots in the way, and nothing seems to grow there.   If you had to focus on one area to cultivate, which makes more sense? The fertile ground or the shady spots?  Obviously it would make more sense to focus your gardening efforts in the fertile area.

Now consider your business – which area would make more sense to focus on for building the business?  The fertile ground or the shady spot?  Of course, it makes more sense to build sales on fertile ground, the area that’s ready, willing and able to take on your efforts.  But how do you find the fertile ground in business?

Building a list of potential clients, people who are open and receptive to buying your product or service, is simply identifying the fertile ground of your business.  But, just like the first steps toward planting a garden are the most labor intensive, so it goes for your business.  But of course, at the start is the most important time to start building the list.

Certainly if you’re just getting started in your business you need to focus on the activities that bring in the revenue, but this is an instance in which you need to think long term.  For those of us with smaller businesses, and for those of us flying solo, we tend to focus on the “time is money” issue.  This is one area in which at first it will seem like too much effort for too little return, but we need to think not only for the long term, but take a more multi-dimensional approach.

Think about who would be on your list.  Obviously someone who’s shown some interest in what you’re selling.  So, wouldn’t it be safe to assume that they’re going to be more receptive to a marketing effort if they’ve already shown a level of interest?  It would certainly make more sense to focus on the list rather than a more ‘shot in the dark’ approach of cold calling.

So, of course, list building is essential for focusing your selling efforts, but it’s also going to give you an insurance policy for your business.  Who among us hasn’t had a lean patch in their sales?  It happens to the best of us.  With your potential client list, you have the opportunity to reach out and make a quick sale to a whole group of people who you know, just by the fact that they’re on your list, are receptive to your product.  It’s nice to have that to fall back on in difficult times.

Not only can your list get you through a dry spell, but it offers the seeds for launching your next product or your next offer.  It’s what we call the low hanging fruit, in keeping with the planting theme of the day.  Which would you rather pick the fruit that’s easy to reach, or the fruit in which you’re going to have to put more effort into the task?  It’s the same fruit, mind you – just one happens to be less labor intensive.

If you’ve not yet started building a list, I suggest you begin immediately, and if you have a list, keep it growing.  Just like planting, it may not always pay off right away, but it will down the road.  And just like planting, you’ll wish you had started sooner!

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

Focus on Fertile Ground to Grow Your Business

Tags: , , , , , , , ,
Posted in Advertising, Business Plans, Business Success, List building, Marketing, Money Making Ideas, Personal Productivity | 2 Comments »

Ten Steps to Improve Your Conversion Rate

December 15th, 2009

Do a lot of people express interest in your business? Do you have plenty of leads? A good list of prospects?

If you’ve got all of that and you’re still not getting enough real business, enough paying clients, you need to focus more on your conversion process.

A prospective client is not going to magically convert into a paying client without your doing something to make that happen. There are actually quite a few things you need to be doing to help with that transformation.

Be more upfront about asking people for their business. Ask more people to give you money. Not a loan, not begging. Ask more people to spend money with you, whether directly in a conversation, through an email promotion, or by sending traffic to a page on your website where you’re selling something. If you’re only asking five or ten people a day for money, you can’t be surprised that you’re not getting the paying business that you want.

Maneuver yourself into a position where you’re seen as an expert; where people know about you, and your reputation precedes you. As a result, you will get people automatically seeking you out as an expert.

Have more conversations with more people. The simplest way to move someone from being an interested prospect to a paying playing client is to talk to them, either face-to-face or over the phone. Make time for those one-to-one conversations, especially in the beginning. It is in these one-to-one interactions that you can surface every type of objection, engage with clients and continue working with them.

Be willing to do whatever it takes to get your prospect to see the value. If you truly believe in the value of your service or your product, if you think it’s the best thing ever and that more people should be using it, what are you willing to do to help them use it?

Listen to what your prospect is saying. Before you go into your pitch, determine their current situation, their needs and their desired end result. Only then can you offer a solution that is of value to them. Once they know your value, they’ll be willing to pay for it.

Don’t let obstacles or excuses stand in your way. If the website isn’t ready or something else still needs to be done, you can still focus on talking with prospects and converting them to clients.  Do what you can, with what you’ve got, from where you are.

Have a strong follow-up system in place. Know what your process for following up with prospects is.

Vary the media you use in your follow-up process. Use combinations of email, phone calls, cards and text messaging to keep contact with clients fresh.

Add one more step to your follow-up process. If you’ve tried every medium to follow-up with a prospect, try one more thing, one more time, before you give up. Don’t think you’re being a pest, either. Most qualified, serious prospects won’t feel that way about you if you follow up the right way.

Think of your webpage or print sales material as your personal 24/7 salesperson. Make sure all the information is in place to help prospects make the decision to do business with you.

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

Ten Steps to Improve Your Conversion Rate

Tags: , , , , , , , , , ,
Posted in Business Success, Direct Mail, Direct Marketing, Email Marketing, How To Make Money, Marketing, Money Making Ideas, Online Marketing, Personal Productivity, Success Secrets, Telephone Sales Skills | 1 Comment »

Open Your Eyes To Opportunities

November 28th, 2009

At some point, everyone feels that there’s greater potential in their business than what they are achieving. The trick is for you to recognize new opportunities when they present themselves, so you can turn potential development into actual growth.

Sounds simple enough, but the truth is that people often miss opportunities because they just don’t see them. And, one of the reasons they don’t see them is that they’ve become stagnant in their business. They are stuck in some type of rut.

And they’ll remain in that rut until they get to the point of near desperation. The point where they need to find opportunities to grow their business now because the cash flow has already dried up.

I want you to see those new opportunities to expand your business and make more money before you are at the point where you are struggling.

If you feel stagnant, like things are drying up around you, it’s time to get creative and think outside the box. If you’re stuck in a pattern of behavior where you’re just doing the same thing over and over and getting the same old results – results that you don’t want – you need to refocus.

Maybe all you really need to do is just get out of your office. If you’re stuck in the office doing drudge tasks that someone said you need to do, but all the while you’re thinking of the other things that you ought to be doing, you are not getting anywhere. You’re not giving the things you are doing their due attention. So, just stop doing them. It’s like that old saying – If you find yourself in a hole just stop digging.

Once you stop, you will have created enough space to see the opportunity for the growth you want to achieve. And, it will be right in front of you. You simply need to stop doing what is no longer effective.

You also need to have a certain mindset to make this work. I know that there are moments when you are open to suggestion and absorb new information like a sponge. There are also moments when you think, “I can’t do that. That won’t work. That doesn’t apply to me.”

It’s so critical that you recognize “that-won’t-work” thinking.

If you find that you are often saying, “That won’t work. That won’t work,”
recognize that this is a type of a rut that you’re in. Say to yourself instead, “I can’t see how to make this work right now. But I trust that it does work. How can I make this work?”

Another great way to refocus and think outside the box to see opportunities is to belong to mastermind groups. Odds are that many of the members will have had the same questions or problems that you do, and have already found answers that they are more than happy to share with you. Being surrounded by like-minded people who want to succeed is a great way for you to stay aware of the greater potential that you know you are capable of.

I encourage you to use interactive elements like these groups and the online forums to open up your eyes to new ideas and ways of thinking.

Sometimes asking for help can make you feel a little bit defensive or lacking in confidence. But forums and mastermind groups provide a tremendous spirit of support and sharing. No one is going to knock you there.

If you recast your approach, you’ll increase your confidence in your ability to create new opportunities and recognize the opportunities that are already there:

*Refocus your attention

*Effect a change in your habits

*Change your mindset

*Ask questions

*Stop doing the things that are no longer effective

*Think outside the box

Even if things are going great in your business, always keep your eyes and mind open to new opportunities. If you do, growth and cash flow will never again be a problem.

Open Your Eyes To Opportunities

Tags: , , , , ,
Posted in Business & Money, Business Plans, Cash Flow, Marketing, Personal Productivity, Success Secrets | 1 Comment »

What Will You Invest to Build Your List?

November 7th, 2009

Building a solid list of people who need your products is very much like growing a crop. You must sow either time or money, and sometimes both, to reap the benefits of that kind of list. The question for you is, “What are you willing to invest to build your list?” To motivate you to make the investment, let’s first look at the benefits of doing so.

A Great List is a Long-Term Asset
You may have already made the mistake many entrepreneurs do of being short-sighted about your list. You may say to yourself, “Yes, I have thousands of names on my list now, but only the ones who bought this month are important.”

Developing and working with a list of prospects is a long-term process. Someone may raise their hand today and say, “Tell me more” but not buy until later. That interest they’ve expressed is still a valuable asset for your business.

You’ll continue to work with them and they’ll buy. By doing so, you’re building a structure that will sustain your business long-term. That business, stretched out over time, is what allows you to grow.

Here’s how it can be for you, once you’ve invested the time and effort to build your list:  Suppose you develop a seminar to serve a specific need. Over time, your hard work growing your list and continuing to offer them your product pays off. Each seminar gains a little more interest from your list until, finally, you announce a seminar and it sells out immediately.

Wouldn’t that be a fantastic place to be? That type of customer response takes time to develop, but it’s well worth it. A loyal base of customers who look forward to your next product is a fabulous asset.

When you’ve built trust with your list, and they’re eager to hear what you’ve got to offer, you can return again and again to the same people to sell products. You’ve taken the time to learn what the people on your list need, and you’ve developed products to meet that need. That’s when growth really becomes automatic.

What Are You Willing to Invest?
And so, we return to our original question: “What are you willing to invest to build your list?” Are you willing to put in the hard work, even when it seems as though no one is paying attention? Do you have a long-term view of what your list can bring to your business?

If you’re discouraged now because it doesn’t seem as though the people on your list are responding, dig deeper. If your list is too small, it may take a financial investment to grow your list by buying someone else’s.

If you’re not in a financial situation to do that, you must invest the time to find ways to increase your list. The investment you make, whether in time or money, will pay off if you keep at it. What feels like spade work now is going to reap big rewards. The secret is to keep at it.

It takes time to communicate effectively with the people who need your products.  It’s hard work to find ways to break into new markets and to develop new products. Learning what the people on your list need and creating those solutions isn’t always easy.

There’s nothing, however, quite like knowing there are people waiting for your next product. You can be in that position by deciding to invest whatever it takes to build the kind of list that will sustain your business long-term.

What Will You Invest to Build Your List?

Tags: , , , , , , , , , ,
Posted in Advertising, Business Plans, Business Success, Customer Retention, Marketing, Niche Marketing, Personal Productivity, Success Secrets | 3 Comments »

Packaging Your Product for Desired Results

November 6th, 2009

What does your product offer your clients? You might answer “better techniques” or “improved processes”. But the reality is that what a client wants to feel is that she’s achieved a desired end result. Whether your product is business coaching or hypnosis, the end result is all that matters to your clients. To successfully market your product, you must package it in a way that reaches the client’s desired end results.

Sell Results, Not Techniques

Let’s use the example of cold calling techniques as a product that meets many people’s needs. They may need better techniques for making cold calls, but what they want is to feel good at the end of the day that they’ve been successful.

To package your cold calling techniques in a way that sells, therefore, you must emphasize the desired end result—the confidence that they’ve done a great job. Do you see how that would change your marketing?

How do you know what result your target client hopes to achieve?

You must begin by really getting to know them. To successfully package a product targeted toward end results, you must know what motivates, excites and disappoints your target market. Until you’ve spent the time to get to know your target market, your marketing efforts won’t achieve the success you desire.

Using our example again, what motivates someone who regularly makes cold calls in order to sell? What does that person fear most? What could you promise them they’ll achieve by using your product?  Being able to answer those questions means stepping in close, observing and talking to people in your target market, learning what they read and where they shop. There is no substitute for the kind of information you can gather when you decide to learn more about your target audience.

Packaging an Intangible

One reason you might be having trouble selling your product is that people don’t know what they’ll get until after they buy it. For intangible products such as coaching or training services, it’s difficult to know how to package them toward an end result.

You could find yourself in a stalemate with your clients, in which you’ve generated lots of interest for your product, but no one will commit to buy. How to break that stalemate? By repackaging the product as something tangible, instead.

Here’s an example: Suppose your hypnosis clinic isn’t booking enough sessions. One of the tangible end results of hypnosis is smoking cessation. Instead of focusing your marketing on selling individual sessions, bundle sessions together into a “Smoking Cessation Package” instead. You’ll be surprised how full your schedule will be once you’ve packaged your product into a tangible end result.

By packaging your intangible product as something tangible, your clients know what results to expect. Rather than selling a process, sell the results of that process. Instead of booking sessions, sell groups of sessions targeting a specific result. You could even build a package of information products that clients can purchase off the shelf. Any way you make your product and its results more tangible brings you closer to success.

So, if you’re struggling with prospects who won’t commit, ask yourself “What can my target client expect to happen by using my product?” Then package your product, and your marketing, toward that goal. When you do, you’ll see the kind of business you’d always hoped you could have.

Packaging Your Product for Desired Results

Tags: , , , , , , , , ,
Posted in Advertising, Business Plans, Business Success, Marketing, Niche Marketing, Personal Productivity, Success Secrets | 5 Comments »

Overcoming the Bigger-is-Better Mindset

November 5th, 2009

So, you want the big corporate clients, but they don’t want you.  Or so you think.  Big corporations can be the ‘cash cows’ of our world.  Along with their big size, they have big training budgets and that’s what we like and what we need.  But since they’re big, aren’t they only looking for big companies to provide their training?  Not necessarily.  You need to convince them that small is good.  Turn it to your advantage.  Make it a negotiating factor.

Your first obstacle to overcome in getting large corporate clients is their preferred provider list.  If you’re not on it, you can’t provide services.  Or can you?

One of my longstanding clients is the department head of a multinational corporation with over 150,000 employees.  They have the dreaded preferred provider list.  He shared with me two important pieces of information.  First, there are many instances in which he can overturn the preferred provider listing when choosing external consultants.  Second, he prefers using smaller companies.

The reasons he gave me for preferring smaller organizations are ones that you can use to help sell yourself:
• Smaller organizations value your business more and will give you better service.
• Smaller organizations understand the client’s needs better.
• Smaller organizations can provide a more personalized service.

So, use your small size to your advantage.  Let that big corporate client know that even if you’re a ‘one man band’, that’s a good thing, as it allows you to better serve their needs.

Another important point to remember in overcoming the ‘bigger is better’ mindset is the basic business concept of supply and demand.  There are only so many clients looking for training services, therefore, your service is a commodity with limited demand.  Any trainer can provide a commodity, right?  Wrong!  You need to prove that your service is scarce and valuable, not a commodity.

How can you prove to a client that you have a valuable service?  You need to believe it yourself.  It’s an attitude that you need to carry with you at all times, it’s an attitude around which you need to structure your business and it’s an attitude that will set you up for success.

But, it’s not about overconfidence – it goes back to the basic concept of supply and demand.  As a one-person show, you have only so many hours in the day.  Your time, therefore, is valuable.  Your goal in selling yourself is to provide more demand for your limited supply of time.

You need to put yourself in the power position.  Put yourself in the position where you have more prospects than you can handle.  When you can look a potential client in the eye and say with all honesty “If you want to work with me next month, these are the two days that are available.  And you need to let me know by the end of the week whether you’re going to take these two days because I have two other clients that are interested”, you are creating a sense of urgency.  When you create that sense of urgency, you are putting yourself in the power position.

I’m not suggesting that you should pretend you have a full dance card when you don’t.  People can see right through that.  I’m saying that creating more demand for your limited supply of time is part of the cycle that will create the sense of urgency which in turn puts you in the power position.

Use your small size to your advantage. Overcome the “bigger is better” mindset and you will be able to get your client to overcome it as well.

Overcoming the Bigger-is-Better Mindset

Tags: , , , , , , ,
Posted in Business Plans, Business Success, Closing The Sale, Marketing, Motivation, Personal Productivity, Sales Motivation, Success Secrets | 4 Comments »

Make Your Marketing Personal

October 30th, 2009

Marketing your own business can really feel like an uphill struggle sometimes, can’t it?

Some marketing campaigns produce okay results, but at times you probably feel like you’re doing a lot of hard work to get that result. But there are also those marketing campaigns that just take flight. Where you feel, “Oh my goodness, there’s some big energy going on here and all I really need to do is steer and hold on as best I can.”

That’s the kind of marketing campaign and feeling I want to help you achieve.

Firstly, you need to know exactly what your market really wants. That, to me, is the foundation of successful marketing: understanding what your potential clients really want at a logical level and an emotional level.

Knowing what your market wants is the foundation. But just like a house that is up for sale, that strong foundation needs personal and finishing touches to set it apart from other houses, and make it appealing and attractive to prospective buyers.

One of the first things you need to focus on when it comes to marketing your business is really emotionally engaging your audience. In order for your audience to be emotionally engaged with your business, they need to be emotionally engaged with you. There has to be a certain degree of personal revelation.

Now, this is something that you may find difficult. Often, business owners have this rule, this mindset that, “This is business and this is personal and never the twain shall meet.”

But, and I’ve shared this many times before, one of the best ways to create likeability in your marketing is to reveal things about yourself. Especially things that you may consider weaknesses or things that you’ve had problems with in the past.

Dan Kennedy, the marketing consultant, is a real proponent of personal revelation. Whenever he works with someone’s business, one of the main marketing tools he uses is to try to create a business around a character.

Here’s an example…

Let’s say there is a company called “ABC Carpet Cleaners.” How about changing the name to “Ted Harris Carpet Cleaners”.  Then featuring Ted in the marketing of the business, telling the story of Ted and his two sons and why Ted is in business.

The idea is to build Ted’s story, taking a commodity business – carpet cleaning, and turning it into something different, something extra. It’s about connecting with your prospects at an emotional level.

So think about how this could apply to your business.  Are you leaving out what it is about your business that makes it special? Are you telling your story? Can customers put a face to your business? (a simple photo on your web site or business literature is a quick fix for that).

Set aside some time to really analyze how you have been marketing your business. Are you making your business personal?

If not, it’s time to make some changes.  Helping your prospects connect with you on an emotional level will make your marketing take flight and your business soar.  Try It!

Make Your Marketing Personal

Tags: , , , , , , , ,
Posted in Business Plans, Business Success, Marketing, Personal Productivity, Success Secrets | No Comments »

Inspiration vs Motivation

July 22nd, 2009

Today I want to make the distinction between taking action and taking inspired action.

If your predominant feeling is of overwhelm, not enough hours in the day, too much to do and not knowing where to start, chances are that you aren’t taking inspired action. You may be taking ‘required’ action or ‘tired’ action, but not inspired action.

You will find that your path to becoming a Client Magnet runs far more smoothly when you are taking Inspired Action. If you feel like you are bumping into one obstacle after another, or simply finding it hard to get motivated, you are probably taking action which is required or tired, but it definitely isn’t inspired.

When you are following inspiration, you don’t need to think about motivating yourself, because the desire to do it comes naturally. Inspired action is naturally pleasurable and enjoyable. It usually has a sense of ease around it too. You don’t need to force yourself in the way you need to get required action done.

Taking inspired action is the opposite to how most of us approach our lives. The typical formula goes something like…

• see a problem,
• set a goal to address it,
• work out what actions you need to take to reach the goal, then
• motivate yourself to take those actions, however unappealing they may be.

In contrast, the inspired action approach goes something like this:
• set your intentions for what you want,
• visualise it as though it is already happening for you.
• Get into the feeling place of already having it, and
• allow the inspired action to come to you.

Now some people have a thought that pops into their mind immediately. You might get a picture, or a word or phrase. The more you practice this, the easier it becomes to receive the inspired action. You will probably develop your own unique method of recognising an inspired action.

The next thing to do is follow up on that thought!

There is often a sense of co-incidence or perfect synchronicity when you take an inspired action.

Inspiration vs Motivation

Tags: , , ,
Posted in Law Of Attraction, Marketing, Sales Motivation, Words Of Inspiration | 1 Comment »