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Today I’d like to talk to you about how to be more decisive in your business. I speak to thousands of entrepreneurs each year and I have been for 12 years now. Every time I get together with a group of successful entrepreneurs, I see they’re people who take decisive action. Successful people take decisive action.

But I also meet entrepreneurs who like to over-think and they might make a decision but then they change their mind. There’s this waffling effect. I meet people who have a lot of self doubt. They tend to listen to that inner critic a lot.

I would like for you to be successful. This is why I do what I do. Part of that is to be more decisive in your business because the longer you take to make a decision, the longer you delay the results that you are looking for.

Here are my six steps that I’d like to share with you about how I am more decisive in my business each year.

1. Get all the facts. This sounds simple but when you have this mapped out as a formula, it really helps. Here’s what I often say to my clients, “So tell me, you have this decision that needs to be made. What’s going on? Tell me all the facts.”

A lot of times they don’t have all the facts. Without them, you are making a non-informed decision. Non-informed decisions are bad decisions. So get all the facts. (Click here to tweet this.)

2. Make a pros and cons list. You’ve heard this before but I actually find that some of the biggest decisions I’ve had to make in my life were made much more easily when I had a pros list and a cons list; pros of doing it, pros of not doing it. Cons of doing it, cons of not doing it.

Then I can actually see just by the number of things on the list, “Wow, there are so many pros to doing this and so very few cons to doing it.” Sometimes that will sway my decision very, very quickly. So do that.

If you’ll allow me to get a little spiritual on you for a second (because you know we can be spiritual in business too), often the pros of doing something come from you being pulled into your future. Your soul is being called to do something. That’s why your list may contain so many positive things.

If you look at the cons list, usually the cons are based on fears – fear of losing money, fear of failure, fear of success, fear of overwhelm, fear of criticism, and the list goes on.

You’re being pulled into future if spirit is asking you to do the next right thing. Fear is the opposite. It’s your ego pulling your back. I only make decisions based on faith, not fear.

3. Trust your intuition. You know that feeling inside that says, “Oh, I really should be doing that,” and then you try to talk yourself out of it? I always say to trust your intuition. I’m going to get spiritual on you again, but your intuition comes from Source. It comes from the Universe. It comes from God, or whatever you may call it. It’s like your red phone direct to the big guys upstairs.

When you listen to your intuition it’s like getting advice straight from Source. Your intuition is a softer, kinder voice and it’s usually quieter than the fear voice of the ego. So if there’s a faint voice that says, “Do it,” then that’s usually Source rather than, “Oh my God! Don’t do this! You might lose money. You might fail.” That is not your intuition. So, trust your intuition.

4. Ignore your fears. I have to be very careful when I talk about that. There are some good fears like, “Don’t jump off that bridge.” But there are also the fears that are stopping you from doing the next best thing for your business – whether they’ve come from your upbringing, or from other people’s irrational fears and a slew of other things that we talk about in my mindset workshops but the remember idea from the pros and cons list: Make decisions based on faith.

5. Look at your return on investment. If you know that this is something that’s going to get you the result that you want in your business, then be decisive and look at the return on investment. Whenever I am investing in my own business, I look at, “Am I going to get my money back on this?” “Yes.” “Am I going to get two times, four times, ten times my investment if I do everything that it says?” If the answer is yes, I say yes and I don’t turn back. I want the same thing for you.

6. Flip a coin. Finally, if you just cannot make a decision but you would be okay with either way, than just flip a coin. I know it sounds silly but you’ve got to be okay with what comes up. The key is to take decisive action and to do the things that you know are going to move you to the next level.

Your Client Attraction Assignment

Try my six steps when faced with any important decision. They will lead you toward becoming more decisive in your business because remember, successful people take decisive action.

Forging Joint Venture partnerships is a powerful way to gain exposure to new prospects and build your list. But what do you say to start the conversation with a potential partner and how do you figure out what to do together? I’d like to share the method I have used in my own business.

Whether you have the opportunity to meet partners live face-to-face at conferences or networking events or by telephone, I recommend you simply introduce yourself. Then adjust the following script to make it yours.

How to start the conversation
“I have a nagging sensation; my intuition keeps telling me to talk to you about doing something together. I don’t know exactly what it looks like but let’s talk. I just have this feeling we should be doing something together.”

This is a very sincere approach that is flattering (after all you’ve been thinking about this person) and helps you set the stage to explore possibilities.

First, ask how you can help this potential partner
The next thing is very important to set this partner at ease and make him or her feel comfortable talking with you. Ask the potential partner what you can do for them. This will make you more attractive because you are not asking for anything. Instead you are offering to help!

You can offer to:
Promote the partner to your list
Provide the benefit of your Irresistible Free Offer to the person’s list
Run a free teleclass on a topic that would benefit their list

It’s all about what you can give to help your partner add value to his or her client base.

Explore options to discover what might work best. Try any of these questions to get the ball rolling:
“What is it I could offer you that you do not currently do, that would provide value?”
“What are the biggest issues that the people on your list encounter?”
“What solution would help the people on your list most?”

When you approach a strategic alliance, you always want to start with what’s in it for that person. It will make you a lot more attractive, believe me. People contact me for this type of thing all the time and this is what gets my attention.

Try a video pitch
Now here’s my last tip to get a specific partner’s attention. Create an introduction on video especially for the partner you are looking to connect with. This is a way to play bigger with your marketing materials. Your video will trump anything already on your website or even your printed materials.

I did this myself when I was trying to reach someone who is famous. I created a video just for this man and sent it to his team on DVD with a link. I got his attention to start the conversation – that was all I needed.

Your Client Attraction Assignment
Who do you want to work with? Think about people you know who work with the same target audience and ideal clients. Make a list and keep adding to it as you think of more partners. Then, be bold and start the conversation even though you don’t know where it will go. Just by creating the opening, marketing magic can happen.

 

Now, if you’re just starting out and trying to fill your practice in the FIRST place, then follow a step-by-step system that feels easy and authentic to you. The Client Attraction Home Study System™ gives you the most important things to do to set up simple, solid systems, so that you consistently fill your pipeline and continually get new clients. It’s all step-by-step, not a big mishmash of things. So, you do step one of the system, and when you’re done with that, you move on to step two, and so on. All the tools, scripts, templates, and examples are handed to you on a silver platter. Easy. You can get it at TheClientAttractionSystem.com.

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Sarah Hathorn, CEO and Founder of Illustra Consulting, shares her experience as a Sapphire Elite member of the Client Attraction Winners Academy.

At first I had that stirring inside, a little voice that kept saying, ‘You’re really bigger than you think you are, but you’re kind of afraid.’ Because of the fear, I wasn’t stepping up. I wanted to charge a lot higher fees and to work with top tier clients, but that just wasn’t happening.

So, I joined Sapphire Elite to get one on one coaching with Fabienne and Derek and to be in a mastermind which I had never done before. Hey, when I go, I go all in. During my half-day with Fabienne, she gave me the big vision and the marketing concept and told me ‘this is how you’re going to make money at it.’ My husband Mark, who is also my business partner, looked at me and said, ‘She’s right. I’ve been telling you this for years.’

Then, I got a call from a potential JV partner that I wasn’t sure about. I called Fabienne and she told me, “Don’t ever turn down money from the Universe.” Listening to her, this partner became a six-figure client for me. Overall, my business has increased 300 percent versus last year.

It’s just been amazing! Plus, you don’t know how incredible the bond of the mastermind group is until your experience it. My words of advice are that if you’re sitting there, it’s time to step up to play a much bigger game. If you don’t, you’re just going to remain where you are today.

If you have started a new business and spent time and money on developing your branding and online presence, that’s great. Establishing your brand can ensure all your communication will be clear and reinforce your image. But you still need clients right? Ultimately, the need for clients should be your first priority for a new business.

When you are ramping up a practice, there is one amazing and powerful way to get the exposure you need. It’s networking! A very impactful marketing tool, networking can help you create a strong database and fill your practice quickly. (Click here to tweet this.)

Network to meet lots of people. You know I’m a big fan of BNI (Business Networking International) which is a referral-driven group that meets weekly and acts as your sales team. In addition, I recommend you find a few other local groups because the more people you meet, the better.

Book coffee dates every week. As you start meeting people, get to know them through coffee dates. Set up several of these meetings every week to ensure you interact with enough prospects and connect with new referral sources.

Start a warm letter campaign. Build a database from all of your networking, then send your “warm letter”. This is not a one-time event. I recommend sending a monthly letter, letting your contacts know:

• How your business is doing
• Types of clients you can help
• Success stories as they occur
• Additional services you offer

This helps you build a relationship with your contacts and shows them how they can help you with referrals. The warm letter keeps you top-of-mind with people as they continue to learn about what you do. It’s so much more natural for contacts to recommend you as you stay in touch and educate them on a regular basis.

Your Client Attraction Assignment
Networking produces the fastest results because you are meeting lots of new people. What networking groups and associations attract your ideal clients? Do some research and attend each group that seems like a good fit. You don’t need to overload yourself. At the beginning, I sometimes went to seven groups in one week, but you can spread it out if needed.

Discover which groups work the best for you and continue to attend those. Then make it a practice to stay in touch with people regularly to make the most of your connections.

Now, if you’re just starting out and trying to fill your practice in the FIRST place, then follow a step-by-step system that feels easy and authentic to you. The Client Attraction Home Study System™ gives you the most important things to do to set up simple, solid systems, so that you consistently fill your pipeline and continually get new clients. It’s all step-by-step, not a big mishmash of things. So, you do step one of the system, and when you’re done with that, you move on to step two, and so on. All the tools, scripts, templates, and examples are handed to you on a silver platter. Easy. You can get it at TheClientAttractionSystem.com.

Sometimes you get to the point where you have started putting things in place, but you still need more clients. If money is tight and you feel panicked, I know how hard that can be. I’ve been there too. Let me share what I did to pull myself out of the panic and get my income flowing in a positive direction.

Money is energy
First, let me give you a little theoretical background. Money is energy and is all around us. If you understand what money is, it’s just a manifestation. (Click here to tweet this.)

At the molecular level, everything in life– including your desk, your watch, and money–is all simple energy. Actually, money is one of the easiest things to manifest in your life because there are so many ways it can show up.

Here are four ways to get more money flowing:

1. Say “yes to opportunities. Most people who don’t have money, don’t ask for it. Often people expect the Universe to deliver money in the form of a check into your mailbox. The Universe always delivers, but it doesn’t happen that way, at least not for me. But money does show up in the form of opportunity. For you it could be an opportunity to sign on a new client, for a speaking gig, or for a temp job.

Don’t keep yourself from attracting money by not saying ”Yes.” when these opportunities show up. Beliefs, excuses and fears get in the way and keep people from receiving. So start saying “Yes”.

2. Positive expectations. Come from a place of positive expectation and faith. So when you ask, the Universe delivers – it is always given. Start to simply expect it.

3. Help your mind seek a solution. At the Mindset Retreat, when people say, “Oh I can’t afford that”, I ask them to flip it around to ask instead, “How can I afford that?” The first is a statement that prevents you from even looking for opportunities. In contrast, the second sentence is a question directing your mind to look for a solution. This question leaves the door open. See the difference?

4. Fifty ways to make money now. Ask yourself, “How can I bring money into my life now?” That helps your mind keep going until it finds a solution. Take out a sheet of paper and make a list of 50 ways you can make additional money right now. It could be simple stuff like babysitting, yard work, pet sitting, or even getting a part time job. Maybe you could run a teleclass or write and sell an ebook.

The chance to make money is all around you. Do whatever it takes as long as you stay in integrity.

Your Client Attraction Assignment

How will you help your mind stay open to money-making opportunities? Where can you put your ego aside and do whatever it takes to make the money you need right now?

Now, if you’re just starting out and trying to fill your practice in the FIRST place, then follow a step-by-step system that feels easy and authentic to you. The Client Attraction Home Study System™ gives you the most important things to do to set up simple, solid systems, so that you consistently fill your pipeline and continually get new clients. It’s all step-by-step, not a big mishmash of things. So, you do step one of the system, and when you’re done with that, you move on to step two, and so on. All the tools, scripts, templates, and examples are handed to you on a silver platter. Easy. You can get it at TheClientAttractionSystem.com.

[youtube width=”600″ height=”352″]http://youtu.be/BfjQE7ncNRc?hd=1[/youtube]

One of the questions that I get a lot now, which I didn’t get 10 years ago is, “How do you manage all of your social media activity?” Ten years ago we didn’t have social media but now you’ve got your Facebook profile and fan page, you’ve got Twitter, LinkedIn and Google Plus and the list goes on. So, how do you make sense of it all and how do you set it up so that it doesn’t totally consume your time because remember, you should be doing many different things to attract more clients. (Click here to tweet this.)

One of the things that I say to people all the time is, “Facebook is not a marketing plan.” I know that the online marketers are probably going crazy right now saying, “Yes Fabienne, you can get clients from Facebook.” Yes, of course you can. In fact, I get yummy clients from Facebook myself. I also get yummy clients from twitter too; however, too many people spend all of their time on one of these vehicles and forget all about the other things you could be doing to accelerate your client attraction.

Facebook and social media should be one slice of your entire marketing pie. And how do you make sure that you don’t have all your time sucked into social media? Let me share with you how I do it. I have three levels of activity on social media.

The first level is very simple. It’s completely out of my hands. In fact, it’s out of anybody’s hands. It’s the automatic updates that happen without a person touching it (or very minimally). What I mean by that is for example, when we post something to the blog it automatically through the wonders of technology, gets posted on Facebook and twitter and on all of these other platforms. It gets set up and is completely automated by your virtual assistant or your web person, or another member of your team.

Level two involves taking content that I’ve already created or posts that I’ve already written or pictures or testimonials and having somebody else upload those and schedule them. This takes another person, perhaps a social media manager to pre-schedule these posts ahead of time using HootSuite or something like that or grabbing content that you’ve already written and putting it up. So, Level One is automated and Level Two is ‘done for you.’

The third level is you, done by you. This level is really important and it’s where people can tell that you’ve actually written this yourself. It could be a status update or a picture. It could be something that you’re doing on a weekend. It could be something that you have on your desk, a book that you’re reading, commenting, but the idea is that you allow people into your life. Now, we’re not talking about your private life, but you can let them into your personal life just a little bit.

What’s good about Level 3 is that it furthers that Know-Like-Trust Factor massively because remember, people don’t hire you if they don’t know you, they don’t like you or they don’t trust you. When you share a little bit of your life, they will. That’s what happens. You also want to be responding to other posts and to others’ comments as well, as yourself.

Have you ever followed someone who only posts “promote-y” type things over and over again? Don’t you get really turned off? Here’s the key. You have to have a mix of the types of statuses that you put up there, so it could be a work thing or it could be re-tweeting or reposting an interesting article. It could be a quote that you’ve gotten from a book or a famous author. It could be your own musings, your own reflections on life and observations. It could be something funny. It could be something personal. It could be something tender and eliciting lots of yummy comments.

The idea is that you do a mix of these things. You entertain and you observe and you share something that you’ve found and you share something personal about yourself. When you do this, you create this three-dimensional person instead of just being somebody who just promotes a lot of things, which can be a really big turnoff.

Here’s what I believe. There’s just too much slick out there. Do you know what I mean? Everyone’s just so perfect on the outside. If you add a little bit of yourself, a little bit of grit to the slick, then you become a more real person that can be known, liked and trusted. Do you see what I’m saying? If you’re not following me yet on social media go to Facebook and search for Fabienne, go to twitter @Fabienne and start seeing the variety of different things that I use. You’ll see some automated posts like blog posts and then you’ll see some things my team posts like video testimonials but you’ll also see some things that I put out there, including some really personal stuff.

Your Client Attraction Assignment

Really look at how you can manage your social media activity so that it doesn’t run you. Instead, you run it. That’ll give you a lot of freedom so that you can still have a big presence on social media, but you don’t have to have all of your time taken by it. I check in about three or four times a day for about five to eight minutes each time, but I know people who spend hours and hours and hours on it. Don’t let that be you. You can be really effective without all of your time being spent on it.

See all the classes here.

Finding good Joint Venture partners can have a huge impact on your business. (Click here to tweet this.)

There is so much opportunity when people come together to serve the same group of clients. This may be entirely new territory for you making you wonder how to get started. What should you say? What is the first step?

I know this can feel awkward and you may not know how things should go. If you are in the dark about what to do when people say “Call me”, let me give you a simple process to get you started in the right direction.

1. Everything starts with a conversation. Don’t expect to know exactly what you’ll do together immediately because this is like a discovery session where you are getting to know each other. For me, I don’t always come up with the idea on my own before the call.

2. When you get a potential partner on the phone, your first priority is to simply learn about their business. Get to know more about who they serve. Discover if this is the same group you work with.

3. Next, focus on what their clients would do anything and pay anything to have. What are they hungry for? Is this something that lines up well with the services you offer?

4. Ask a lot of questions to find out your potential partners’ goals and needs. You are looking for how you can help each other.

5. After talking for a while, the ideas will start to flow. You want to create a program or offer together so that it serves their clients and builds your database.

6. Once you have the idea, map out a plan to implement the concept while still on the phone. Talk about timing, pricing, commission and who is responsible for what piece of the program. Then you’ll both know what your next steps are, averting any future awkwardness. Set a date for your next call to check in and work out additional details.

7. Follow up quickly with an email that reviews what you accomplished during your call. Spell out the decisions you made, responsibilities, agreements, and next steps.

Your Client Attraction Assignment
Have you tried a JV partnership yet? To start, make a list of possible partners. What types of businesses serve a similar group of ideal clients? Who do you know that might be a good partner?

If you have a particular type of service professional in mind, search the web to make a list of potential partners. Or ask your own contacts if they know anyone. Then start connecting one at a time to see what you can come up with. Give yourself permission to learn and grow with each conversation.

 

Now, if you’re just starting out and trying to fill your practice in the FIRST place, then follow a step-by-step system that feels easy and authentic to you. The Client Attraction Home Study System™ gives you the most important things to do to set up simple, solid systems, so that you consistently fill your pipeline and continually get new clients. It’s all step-by-step, not a big mishmash of things. So, you do step one of the system, and when you’re done with that, you move on to step two, and so on. All the tools, scripts, templates, and examples are handed to you on a silver platter. Easy. You can get it at TheClientAttractionSystem.com.

Do you have fears that are holding you back? Every entrepreneur experiences this at some point so there is nothing wrong with you if you encounter fear about your work and growing your business. (Click here to tweet this.)

But there are things you can do to help dissolve these fears so you can feel good about what you are doing. Here’s what I recommend to my clients.

Step 1. Write down your fears.
Be really honest with yourself. Take out paper and actually write down your fears about growing your business. Is it the fear of criticism, the fear of success, or the fear of failure? Or things like “I’m not smart enough.” Or I’m not good enough.” Or “I’m not experienced enough?” Be a hard grader so that you get the fears out.

Step 2. Write down your beliefs.
On a separate piece of paper, write down all your beliefs about being successful, worthy, and deserving. Your complete honesty here is very important too. You might write things like, “if I become successful, I’ll become greedy.” Or if I do this my family will criticize me.” Or whatever comes up for you.

Step 3. Determine if your fears are valid.
Next, review each fear to see if it is truly valid. Ask yourself if it would really kill you. In other words, if this happened to you, would it annihilate you? Then see what makes you laugh.

You will start to see these fears are unrealistic and how they are often extreme. If these fears did play out, they would not kill you, but they feel as if they would.

The truth is you know down deep that you can do the work. You are good enough and smart enough. And you know that you deserve it.

Yet, there is a layer of self-doubt and the gremlins and monkey mind are getting in the way. It’s all based on the ego which uses fear to keep you in the status quo. But if you think about it, if you were to do whatever it is, would you die? No, it would just feel uncomfortable. When you laugh at these fears a couple of times, it helps you to realize how the fears are not valid.

Step 4. Determine if your beliefs are valid.
Now look at each belief and ask about its validity too. Again see what makes you laugh.

Essentially what you are doing in this exercise is dissolving your fears because they are not based in reality. It’s just your ego keeping you in the status quo.

Your Client Attraction Assignment
What fears keep you in the status quo? Take time this week to look at your fears and beliefs. If you are diligent about this exercise, you can to get it done in about an hour. It’s time to free yourself up and move forward. Trust me, you know you deserve it.

 

Now, if you’re just starting out and trying to fill your practice in the FIRST place, then follow a step-by-step system that feels easy and authentic to you. The Client Attraction Home Study System™ gives you the most important things to do to set up simple, solid systems, so that you consistently fill your pipeline and continually get new clients. It’s all step-by-step, not a big mishmash of things. So, you do step one of the system, and when you’re done with that, you move on to step two, and so on. All the tools, scripts, templates, and examples are handed to you on a silver platter. Easy. You can get it at TheClientAttractionSystem.com.

When you start working on your branding, one of the first things you need to determine is your USP (Unique Selling Proposition). In the Client Attraction Home Study System there is a section on fact-finding to help you figure this out. You want to know what your clients like about the experience of working with you. What results have they gotten? What did they like most? What makes the biggest difference for them?

Make sure you don’t ask clients what they like about you. It’s never about you. It’s always about the experience they receive from you. (Click here to tweet this.)

There are a number of ways to gather this information about your business. You could:
1. Schedule appointments for a phone conversation with select clients
2. Ask them to fill out a questionnaire while they are at your place of business. But don’t let them take it home because they probably never will complete it or send it back
3. Invite a group to lunch, your treat,  and have an open discussion
4. Send a link to an online survey. This works best for a more conservative business versus a touchy-feely business. It would be too cold for a warmer type of business

Some people tend to make things complicated which can prevent you from doing this work. You don’t need to hire a research firm or do a focus group so someone else is asking the questions. That’s good when you have a multi-million dollar business, but for most entrepreneurs, feel free to do this fact finding yourself. Simply ask your clients.

Naturally you’ll want to choose your best clients who are making progress and getting a lot out of your work together. You can learn a lot about what you are doing well and even discover opportunities for your next step. You may be surprised by the information you collect and this process can be eye-opening. It can also bring items to your attention that need improvement which is a good thing – knowing what you need to do is so much better than being in the dark.

Once you figure out your USP, establishing your brand will become so much simpler. You’ll know the type of people you serve best, what their issues and needs are and how to give them what they want. All of that will make your marketing efforts easier.

Your Client Attraction Assignment
Have you determined your unique selling proposition? It’s not only a smart thing to do at the start of your business, but also as your business grows and evolves. Staying in touch with your clients or customers is a smart business move at any point to be sure you are providing the best service possible.

 

Now, if you’re just starting out and trying to fill your practice in the FIRST place, then follow a step-by-step system that feels easy and authentic to you. The Client Attraction Home Study System™ gives you the most important things to do to set up simple, solid systems, so that you consistently fill your pipeline and continually get new clients. It’s all step-by-step, not a big mishmash of things. So, you do step one of the system, and when you’re done with that, you move on to step two, and so on. All the tools, scripts, templates, and examples are handed to you on a silver platter. Easy. You can get it at TheClientAttractionSystem.com.