It’s Time To Step Up!

March 10th, 2010

Do you ever get that “I’m almost there” feeling? You only have a couple of things left to figure out and then you can take that first step toward starting, growing or building your business.

It’s an exciting feeling, but almost isn’t quite good enough, is it? If you wait to figure out exactly how your business is all going to map out, if you’re waiting for that perfect time, if you’re waiting to have everything in place to take that next step – think again!  If you’re waiting you may never take that first step. While it’s certainly good to have a rough idea, the chances are your carefully laid plans are going to change. They will be influenced and shaped by a number of things.

Give yourself the confidence to just get started by knowing you’ve addressed the most important aspects crucial to the success of any business.

•  Make sure that you’re delivering something that the market really wants. No amount of promotion in the world can compensate for a dud product or idea that the market does not want. Focus on the product, service or program that’s guaranteed to succeed before you even think to start to promote it. If you’re almost ready to take that step, you should have already done this research and exploring to make sure that you’re delivering something that is sought after, wanted, and demanded in the marketplace.

•  Spend the budget you have wisely. You should not have to invest £5,000 in a product that’s sitting in your warehouse. You should not have to invest £5,000 in a website or in an ad in a newspaper or in a magazine to get going.   The best way to spend your budget wisely is to focus on a group of people who have a problem that you can solve, and then offer to solve that problem at a price. With the right training, mentoring and research you’ll learn to spend your budget with a marketplace that you’ve got an affinity with.

•  Knowing your market is another crucial component to your success. Who are your customers? You need to know who will be fueling your business.  Are they a group of people that you enjoy helping and enjoy spending time with? You’re going to be spending a lot of time with these people, so it makes sense to pick a group that you enjoy working with and you’ve got an affinity with.

•  Think like the unique, one-of-a-kind original you are. The world is crying out for your know-how. Your unique combination of expertise, experience and talents are badly needed and wanted by some group of people somewhere in the world.

•  Be what you say you are. Demonstrate credibility. Don’t set out to be a weight loss coach if you’re a stone overweight. Would you entrust your business to a financial adviser who has credit problems or a marketing coach or business growth coach who can’t market their own business? Of course not.  So be sure you’ve thoroughly explored your abilities, and even ask opinion from those who know you. Often people can see in you things that you can’t see in yourself.

•  Have your entry-level products or services ready to go. These are the things most demanded, most needed and easily recognized by the people that you’re targeting. They will help you to fulfill a promise and give customers a chance to sample you.

•  Plan out your premium product, program or service. This is the offering for those who want only the best; where money is no object.  Without it, you’re putting a cap on your income. People normally price at what they think other people are willing to pay, and then they figure out what they need to include in their package to justify that price. Think about planning your products as if money was no object. It’s so much more effective and it better serves your clients.

•  Promoting your offering involves knowing how much it is going to cost and how can you sell it.
Know where the people are who are willing and able to pay for what you’re offering and know how you can reach them.

Take that first step toward building your business with complete confidence.  You already have what you need and now is the perfect time for you to take action.

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

It’s Time To Step Up!

Being Superconductive

March 6th, 2010

Breakthrough!I was talking to a friend recently and she was describing how busy she was, and all the things she had coming up in her week. She was at capacity. As she rattled off the list of things she had to do, I started to get curious. She had important phone calls to make, errands to attend to, and a significant meeting. But all of the things she described to me amounted to about 4-6 hours worth of activity. And she had a whole week to get these things done.

Our conversation helped me realise how in my own life a few hours work can feel like a whole lot more. And how overwhelming this can be. Having reflected on this, I’ve come to the realisation that time is only one of the resources we use as we get things done. We contribute emotional and intellectual energy too.

For example, I experience this when I fly internationally to speak and attend live events. My speaking engagement may only be one hour long. I can fly in from Ireland the night before, and leave the same evening that the event takes place, so it only amounts to one night away from home. Time wise the cost is minimal. Yet emotionally and intellectually the cost is far greater. A short trip can feel like a major upheaval in my week. It’s only one hour of work, yet it can feel like two or three days.

In other words, we might tell ourselves that we are ‘too busy’ to do something, when a more accurate statement might be: ‘I don’t have the intellectual energy for that right now’ or ‘That tasks requires more emotional energy than I have available’. This also means that all the time management in the world won’t matter a jot if the resistance is emotional or intellectual.

Resistance stops the flow of energy. Resistance is the cause of stress. Resistance is like trying to drive with the brakes on. When you stop the flow of energy, you stop action – or you require tremendous amounts of energy to enable action.

You can push the gas pedal harder and harder, but as long as the brake is on it is difficult to move. And if you do move – and even if you make it to your goal – you have put great strain and stress on your engine. This often results in physical and mental breakdown.

Preparing for this newsletter is one of my favourite activities of the week. In this area, I am relatively resistance free (although I’ve also got plenty of areas where I’m not resistance free!) It typically takes me about 20 minutes to complete. (When I first started out it took me about an hour – but I have assistants helping me out now :-) . Even though the newsletter only takes about an hour to prepare, I’ve heard lots of people say that they couldn’t possibly commit to writing a newsletter because they haven’t got time.

I now realise that it’s got nothing to do with time. Maybe they have limiting beliefs about their writing ability, or they doubt their ability to commit their thoughts to paper week after week, or maybe they are nervous about being ‘out there’. Week after week they would have to push the gas pedal harder and crank themselves up to overcome this emotional resistance, just to complete a one hour activity. The one hour activity would probably take 6 hours. 5 hours building themselves up to it, and one to actually write. And that would put strain and stress on their ‘engine’. Sure they might have a newsletter, but at what cost? Me bleating on about the fact that it only takes an hour doesn’t help them at all. We need to uncover the emotional cost and address that.

Have you ever been baffled by a colleague who kept telling you they were ‘too busy’ to complete what looked to you to be a highly simple task? Have you ever been frustrated by a client who was stalling for no apparent reason? Have you ever beaten yourself up for failing to get started on a project, or complete one?

In each of these scenarios, the obstacle was never time – or lack of it. Which is why attempting to coerce, coax or cajole your colleague, your client or yourself into any of these activities just won’t work long term. The next time you hear someone (including yourself) say, ‘I haven’t got time’, try to appreciate that what is really being said is ‘I don’t have the intellectual energy for that right now’ or ‘That tasks requires more emotional energy than I have available’. That awareness will elicit a more compassionate response to yourself or the other person.

Superconductivity is a great metaphor when we come to consider resistance. Superconductivity is a scientific description for when an electrical current travels with the minimal amount of its power lost to energy-robbing resistance.

My personal experience, and that of my clients, has taught me that there are two sides to becoming a Client Magnet. The first part is about recognising, reclaiming and honouring our natural magnetism and having the courage to let it shine. The other side of this is identifying and eliminating those places where we are resisting success, ease, and abundance. In other words, we need to become super-conductors. Free of resistance, it is possible to attract great things with ease and effortlessness.

One way to do this is to increase our capacity for intellectual and emotional stress. Time and energy invested raising these thresholds may yield far greater returns than the energy currently being expended to push past them.

So how do we ‘raise our thresholds’? Well here’s a start. …

Something for you to think about this week:

• You know that stuff that you’re beating yourself up for not starting or not finishing? Trust yourself. Somewhere inside you knew that forcing yourself would put a strain on your engine greater than you could bear. You aren’t lazy or procrastinating, and this is NOT ’self-sabotage!’

• Identify areas in your life where you are most ‘resistance-free’. What do you love to do? What do you find easy to do?

• What are the main differences between the situations where you experience resistance, and those where you are ‘resistance-free’?

• Explore some of the different technologies which help you release resistance.

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

Being Superconductive

Three Tips for Increasing Productivity

March 5th, 2010

If you’re serious about getting more things done, it’s time for a major mindshift. It’s time to stop being a “doer” and start being a “producer.”  Here are 3 tips to get you started on changing your mindset to accomplish more in your life.

1.  Change Your Mindset and View Yourself Differently
Before you can make a change in how you run your business, you must first see yourself differently. Rather than clinging to the idea that you have to do everything yourself, consider how Oprah Winfrey runs her show. Can you imagine Oprah sitting down and calling prospective guests to book them for future shows?

Of course not! She has producers to line up each show’s content. Those producers, in turn, break down what needs to be completed and assign it to other people. They understand that Oprah brings unique skills to the show and it would be a waste to have her booking talent. Surrounding herself with great teams of producers to get things done is one reason Oprah has become so successful.

2.  Visualize and Plan Your Team
Even before you hire some help, you need to visualize and plan your team.   Think about those big projects you don’t have time to start. Outline how you’d like them to be. Break down those projects into smaller bites and imagine what kind of person could take them over. Imagine how much more smoothly your business would run if you weren’t taking care of every detail.

That’s an important point to reach, you need to visualize and plan what you can delegate.   Let go of the idea you’re the only one who can do every little task. That change shifts you from being the doer to being the producer.

3. Start Delegating
Once you’ve visualized and planned your team, start making it your reality. Get serious about breaking down the work you’re doing now into individual tasks. Let go of the idea that you have to do it all. Choose a task that’s wasting your time, that you don’t enjoy doing and that someone else could do easily. Find a way you can afford to have someone else to do it.

Take another look at projects you’ve been putting off. Determine what’s keeping you from getting started. Decide which pieces someone else should be doing. Visualize the project from start to finish, the way a producer would do. And then find the help you need to get it done. That’s the only way your business, and your income, can expand to the next level.

Being in business for yourself can be overwhelming, especially when you’re stuck in “lone ranger” mode. Allow yourself to visualize what life would be like with a competent team helping to achieve your goals. Learn to look at your business the way a producer would, and you’ll finally experience the satisfaction of getting it all done.

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

Three Tips for Increasing Productivity

Instant Credibility, Contacts & Cash!

March 2nd, 2010

SPECIAL ANNOUNCEMENT!

It’s my special one-time

“BONUS STEPPING UP! CALL”

Instant Credibility, Contacts & Cash!

Wednesday, 3rd March, 2010,

8:00pm UK Time (3pm EASTERN, 12 noon PACIFIC)

http://bit.ly/9vBVEn

This call is a special BONUS for my new Stepping UP! members.  Members, also get a ton of other benefits including …

Fast Start Webinar, where I walk you through my planning process for the year ahead (I don’t know anyone else who teaches this)

Portable digital player which has 20 masterclasses – so you get to immerse yourself in my best marketing strategies (and get the year off to a flying start)

Ticket to the 3 day live event worth £1500/$2400 – we’ll be doing these events in the USA as well as the UK/Ireland

Access to the Stepping UP! area of the forum which is exclusively for Stepping UP! members

Private strategy consultation

Not a member?  Then join the “Stepping UP!” programme today so you can take advantage of this call and all the other member goodies each and every month. http://www.clientmagnets.com/steppingup2010

I look forward to “meeting” you on our call.

Bernadette

Instant Credibility, Contacts & Cash!

Buy Back Precious Time

February 27th, 2010

In any typical working day, most people have only two to three really productive hours. So, why not just cut out the other four to five hours and focus on the two to three that are really getting results?

You may be thinking that you need to work all the hours you do to get everything done. It may seem impossible for you to cut your working hours down. But it is possible!

Understand that the way you work comes from years of habit. It comes from having once been an employee, where you might have been able to get the work done quickly, but you still had to be present at the office because the boss would be upset if you went home at 10:30 am.

Well, you’re the boss now, and you can alter your business hours to suit yourself. You will be just as, if not more productive than you are right now, and you will buy back precious time for yourself.  Time is the one thing you cannot create more of, but in this case, you can.  Here are some questions to consider in your quest to buy back more time by being more productive ….

Are you over-servicing your clients?  Start by becoming really aware of the things you’re doing that keep you working harder and longer than necessary. Then take control, rein yourself in, and stop doing them.

If you’ve set what you think is a commanding daily rate for your services, are you subconsciously working more hours to justify that rate? Do you end up essentially doing three days’ work just to rationalize the higher rate that you charge?

Take a closer look here because, you’re still not making the money you think you’re worth. You are over-servicing the client. It’s not just about the rate. It’s about how much time you put into the service you offer.

Are you offering all sorts of extras that involve a lot more follow-up and that you aren’t being paid for? If your clients are perfectly happy and satisfied with what you’ve provided, your work there is done. Your clients aren’t going to turn away your free services, particularly if they were already willing to pay for your expertise. If you think you have more to offer your client, create an upgraded package and sell it to them. Continued access to your services should not be available for free.

Are you striving for perfection?  Do you continually work on a product or presentation that is already fine because you think it could be better? This is your own need for perfectionism coming into play, particularly if you are creating products or programs.

Perfectionism stops you from moving forward. You will be more productive by creating a product that satisfies your client’s needs and getting it into their hands, rather than tweaking it over and over.

Start to take notice of where are you creating extra, unnecessary work for yourself. It’s a habit that you have to break.   Change your habits to maximize those productive hours. Then spend the time you’ve bought back however you choose.

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

Buy Back Precious Time

SYSTEM Stands for Save Yourself Time Energy And Money

February 18th, 2010

“System Secrets” – How to run a million dollar business while working just 3 days per week

If there aren’t enough hours in the day to do all you want to do, you NEED systems that make things happen automatically. Over the past 12 months, we’ve been SERIOUSLY investing in systems and I want to introduce you to my ’systems’ guru – Beth Schneider. Beth has played a key part in enabling me to run a million dollar plus business while working just 3 days a week.

*MARKETING* MASTERMIND Call…
Tuesday, 23rd February, 2010,
8:00pm UK Time (3pm EASTERN, 12 noon PACIFIC)

If you want to discover one or two simple processes that put much of your repetitive work on auto-pilot and have your business running like a well oiled machine tune into this call.

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.

I look forward to “meeting” you on our call.

——

Bernadette’s Marketing Mastermind is a special members’ group set up to provide ongoing information, support and motivation to people who want to attract more clients and build a successful business. Already over 450 members strong – and growing – we want YOU to join us and have more success, money and fun in your business. You can read about the Mastermind group here: http://clientmagnets.com/marketingmastermind

SYSTEM Stands for Save Yourself Time Energy And Money

Time is Money…True or False?

February 13th, 2010

We’ve all heard the expression that “time is money”.  But let’s take a hard look at that saying.  Is it true?  Not always.  You can’t work 24 hours per day, 7 days a week.  You have weekends, holiday and sick days to contend with if you’re self-employed.  That time isn’t money for you, but it can be….

Since your time is finite you need to create alternatives to the normal business model of selling your time, particularly if you’re in the business of offering training services.  You need to have alternatives to this standard method of generating your income.  There are two solutions that are going to transform your business.  One can be used in the short term to generate cash flow; the other is a more long term solution.

Generating Cashflow Quickly
Say you have several proposals out to clients and you’re also waiting for payment for two workshops you’ve provided to corporate clients.  That isn’t paying the bills right now.  You need a quick fix to generate cash to shorten the time of your sales cycle, which is the time from your first contact to getting paid.

The quick fix for that particular problem could be to hold an open event.  The beauty of an open event is that you receive payment up front, as it’s standard to receive payments two weeks prior to the course date.  You have also set a finite time for the sales cycle.  Open seminars are generally set six to eight weeks out.  You set the date, book the meeting room and generate your marketing materials.  You’ve just taken matters into your own hands and solved two major issues that plague many small businesses, the issue of cash flow and the long sales cycle.

But this solution has another positive effect.  You’re gathering fees from more than one client for the same timeframe.  Since you can’t work more days than you have, you’ve just solved that problem as well.  It’s a win-win situation!

The Long Term Solution
Off the shelf products offer the long term solution to the “time is money’ conundrum.  I say longer term because they have creation and production time.  In fact, your short term solution of the open workshop can be the catalyst for your product.  In my case, I had someone come along to record one of my workshops.  I put the recording together with a manual and I had my first product.

Once you get your first product produced, you now have a way of generating income without you physically having to be there.  That’s a really nice feeling, particularly when you’ve been caught in the “time is money” challenge.

The bottom line is that the typical business model that’s based on you selling your time is not an ideal sales model for a small or solo business.  You need to put yourself on a path to beat the ‘time is money’ trap or you’re limiting yourself and your income.  Creating passive income streams, such as open events and off-the-shelf products, is just the solution for proving that this old adage isn’t always true.

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

Time is Money…True or False?

Declare Yourself the Expert

February 11th, 2010

Are you waiting for permission to be considered the expert in your field? Are you lingering at one level, waiting for someone’s approval to move on to that expert status?

Good things do not always come to those who wait. You need to stop waiting for permission and approval. No one is going to come along and deem you the expert or hand you an award. This is something that you must step up and claim.

Only when you have the guts to step up and claim it, will you be thinking and acting like a winner.

When I began my first business, at 26 years old, I had no track record. I had no past clients and no success stories to talk about. I had no marketing experience, and no budget.

I basically had every possible disadvantage.

The one thing I did have was alot of enthusiasm and a very positive mindset about what I was doing. I started positioning myself and calling myself an expert – long before anybody else came along and awarded me that title.

To think and act like a winner, you need to keep your focus on where you’re heading, not where you’re starting from.

Many people get crippled by this. Don’t be one of them. Don’t get caught up in this cycle of looking for some type of approval or permission that will suddenly make you step up and be the expert.

Once I chose to define myself as a cold-calling expert, I started acting like one and before too long, I did indeed become one. I was honest about it; not arrogant and thinking I knew it all. I brushed up my skills and learned the things I needed to in order to claim my expertise.

The same holds true for my friend, Carrie Wilkerson, who has an absolutely huge following on Twitter. A big part of how she gathered that following was that she just acted like the expert. Before long, people started treating her like the expert and inviting her to speak at events.

A lot of people call her “the overnight expert” because she went from zero to a million dollars in less than 12 months.

You have that ability too. The thing that you need, first and foremost, is a positive mindset. You need to be confident enough in your skills and your knowledge to step out in front and make yourself known.

You also need to be astute enough to research and master all of the things that your area of expertise requires. Make a list of exactly what an expert in your field needs to know in order to be considered “the expert.” You probably have all of those qualities and requirements already.  If you don’t, you will at least know what you need to do or improve upon to claim the role.

Once you know that you have what you need, you can begin to act the part of expert. Then you can pass on all of that expertise to your clients.

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

Declare Yourself the Expert

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!

True Success Starts With Your Vision

February 4th, 2010

Vision is a powerful thing.

It’s one of the most important tools you have to move you from where your business currently is, to where you want it to be. If you have a picture in your mind of what you want your business to look like, you’ll find that it’s much easier to bring this vision into being.

If you don’t know where you want to go, how will you know what to do? You don’t jump into your car and start driving, with no destination in mind. Before you start the engine, you have in your mind where you want to go so you know whether to turn left or right at the bottom of the driveway. The same principle applies to your business.

So what I would like to ask you to do today is to imagine for yourself another version of you.

Imagine yourself running a more successful business. You’re happier with how your business is progressing. Maybe you have more clients. Maybe you’re working fewer hours. Maybe you’ve expanded into new markets. Your vision will be unique to you and to your business.

Imagine what this business would be like, what your experience of a typical working day would be like. Start imagining it now, because it’s available to you.

It’s so important to recognise that this starts with YOU.  Your business has to be built around your vision. You are driving your business, so it’s based on what you want. You need to ask yourself: if I could have my business set up any way I want it to be, how would it be?

Bear in mind that the perfect solution for you may not be the perfect solution for the next person. And that’s fine – every business is unique, because your talents are unique. But regardless of what your perfect solution is, it starts in your mind.

There’s one common step that every business owner can take to achieve their vision, and that’s outsourcing.

If you’re really serious about expanding your business, you need to identify the routine or basic administrative tasks that can be given to someone whose hourly rate is a lot less than yours. Next, you need to develop the ability to find the right people at the right price who can help you. These people will be able to get things done quickly for you to allow you to spend more time envisioning the future and bringing it into being.

The purpose of having a vision is to imagine what you’re trying to achieve and to act as though it’s already in place so that you’re moving toward it. This is what Dan Kennedy calls “behavioural congruency”, which is essentially acting as if you already have the outcome you desire.

If you want to make, for example, £250,000 over the next 12 months, the more you act in alignment with that outcome the faster you’ll get there. So if you’re already running a £250,000 business, chances are you wouldn’t be doing your own expenses, but would instead have someone handling routine bookkeeping tasks. So you need to start acting as though that has happened already.

Something happens when you make a conscious decision that you’re ready to change and you want to do it differently.

If you don’t make this a priority, you’re still going to be in exactly the same situation three months from now, six months from now, a year from now.

So start creating your vision today – I know whatever vision you have for yourself can come true!

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

True Success Starts With Your Vision