November 2012 - Small Business Coach, Women Business Coaching - Client Attraction

Today’s topic is where to find clients.  You’ve opened up your business.  Perhaps, you’ve been in business a few years and your practice is still not full yet or you’re just looking to fill your programs even more.  The big question you may have is where do I find clients?

These are my four best tips for how to find your ideal client and how to get in front of them in large numbers and inexpensively. (That’s the ultimate shortcut!) (Click here to tweet this.)

1. Get clear on who that ideal client is.  You may be thinking, “Yeah, yeah I know this.  I know this already,” but most people that I talk to aren’t actually very clear about who their ideal clients are.  You want to get clear on who is it that will get great results from working with you.  Who is it that you love working with that sees value in what you have to offer because they get great results from working with you and they’re going to tell others.

Get really clear about the following: are they a particular gender, a particular company, a particular age group or do they have a particular problem?  Whatever it is, figure out who that person is first.  It is basic, but so, so important.

2. Once you know who that is, you want to look to see who is already speaking to that person.  Perhaps, it’s an individual like a strategic alliance or a joint-venture partner who is in a particular industry and is already speaking to that person, or who already has a list of these people. Or perhaps it’s an organization, networking group or an association who is already speaking to large numbers of your idea client. They’ve already gathered them for themselves, but really they’ve gathered them for you too. Once you’ve identified these people or groups, you’ll want to reach out to them and offer to add value to their people, to their list.

3. Contact them and ask, “How can I help?  This is what I do.  Can I offer some free content?  Would you like me to come and speak?”  Whatever it is that you do you are making sure that it’s not all about you, that you’re not here to just take from them because they’ve really put a lot of time and effort and probably money in gathering these people so you want to make sure that what you’re offering benefits that strategic alliance or that joint-venture partner as well.

4. Make an offer. The idea is to give such good content and such value, whether you’re speaking or giving them something free, that you will impress them so much that they’re going to come over to your list.  This is when you want to offer these people something that they can’t refuse.  Maybe it’s your free checklist, your free audio, your free DVD, or a free ticket to an event that you’re doing.  Bring them over and then give them high content and high value on your own list until they raise their hand and say, “I’m ready.  I want to work with you.”

Your Client Attraction Assignment

Us this formula to find your ideal clients.  Just put it into place.  Do the work and watch your practice grow.

Join Fabienne and Amy Porterfield for this conversation about inspiration and courage, while you discover “best practices” on how to play bigger in your work and in your life. Enjoy!

With 12+ years marketing experience, Amy has worked with mega brands like Harley-Davidson Motorcycles, along with Tony Robbins International where she oversaw his content marketing team and collaborated on multiple online marketing campaigns.

She currently creates online programs to teach entrepreneurs and small businesses how to leverage social media to gain greater exposure, attract quality leads and turn their fans and followers into loyal customers. To learn more about Facebook and social media for your business, check out Amy’s site: http://www.amyporterfield.com

Listen to this Master Class today!

Subscribe to “Play Big Master Class” podcast on iTunes or download the mp3 here.

iTunes


Download Play a Bigger Game Master Class

Audio


Download

Transcript


Download Play Big Master Class

[ca_audio url=”http://ca-master-class.s3.amazonaws.com/amyporterfield.mp3″ width=”300″ height=”27″ css_class=”codeart-google-mp3-player”]

See all the classes here.

Your elevator speech is the way you succinctly explain what you do for people you meet at networking events. You share just enough information to encapsulate what you do and spark interest among the men and women you talk with. The point is to get the conversation going, right?

There is another type of elevator speech that I call the “Situational Elevator Speech”. Let’ say you’re at a holiday party. You are mingling with people you don’t know, enjoying appetizers and drinks. That’s not the right time to start with your regular elevator speech created for networking – it’s way too business-like.

But you can try this method instead. Just fill in the blanks for your business once the subject of what you do comes up.

“I have a service that helps _______people who struggle with ________, which means they don’t have __________. What I do is ______which means ________, which equals, _______.”

You keep drilling down and going deeper into what you do one step at a time focusing on the results and benefits. Here’s my speech:

“I have a service that helps entrepreneurs get more clients and make more money in their business. I tend to work with people who have a semi-successful business, but who really want to make a lot of money and right now they can’t because they don’t have the right marketing in place. Which means they don’t have enough clients, which means they can’t always pay their bills.

What I do is teach them how to build systems around marketing, get clarity about who they’re working with and close sales more often which means they make more money, serve more people and live a more freedom-based lifestyle.”

It doesn’t matter specifically what you say as long as it’s situational. The person you‘re talking to will say, “Oh, that makes sense.”

This method is more conversational because you are not cramming a bunch of business words into a single sentence or two. As you drill down to the benefits of what you do piece by piece, you are just expanding the conversation rather than selling people anything.

The whole thing about client attraction and what I teach is that you have to be yourself. You have to be authentic or it just won’t work. If it’s too formulaic, people will see right through you. They can smell a sales pitch a mile away.

So, it’s very important to talk about what your clients struggle with and the results of working with you and your service. And share this piece by piece as you drill down through all the benefits of working with you.

Now you are all set for all the socializing you’ll be doing during the upcoming holiday season.

Your Client Attraction Assignment
Prepare for your social interactions and opportunities coming up in the next month. You never know who you might meet and who could be your next referral source or client for that matter. Practice this “situational elevator speech” and the drilling down process, so you can feel comfortable with the method. That’s the best way to be authentic with what you are saying about your business.

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.

It’s Fabienne and Derek sending you warm wishes for a very Happy Thanksgiving.

We want to take this moment to tell you that we’re just so grateful to have you in our lives.

We were reflecting back on what a wonderful year it’s been, giving deep thanks for all the abundance in our lives and really taking the time to appreciate our family, our children, our friends, our team, our yummy clients and customers and of course, you too! (Click here to tweet this.)

We’re so incredibly proud of the work that you’re doing. Whether you’re just getting your very first client or you’re passing the million dollar mark in your business, we’re truly honored to have you in our lives and to be part of your process–so thank you.

Take a moment to watch our video message because we have a special Client Attraction assignment for you for today. It has to do with gratitude and this one simple assignment is going to give you a lot of momentum as you continue to attract more clients and grow your business.

Remember, we love you, we believe in you and we’re sending you big hugs from all of us here on the Client Attraction Team.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Love,
Fabienne and Derek

Have you started doing free teleclasses yet? This can be such a powerful method to accomplish two important goals. First, free teleclasses will help build and grow your list. The bigger your list, the more people to which you can market your programs and products. As I’ve said many times, I have found the tipping point for list building is about 1,000 people.

The second goal with free teleclasses is to convert some of the attendees into paying clients. Obviously, this helps you generate income. You might wonder what is the best way to convert these listeners and is it like have a closing conversation with an individual? The process is somewhat different.

Here’s what I tend to do. You can use these same steps and adjust for your business model.

1. I start off the call by having participants imagine their ideal business and paint a picture of everything that would be going right if they had everything they wanted.
2. Then I point out the contrast they are having – and say, “Now that’s not your reality yet is it?”
3. Next I list all the reasons why it’s not their reality yet and why it’s important they change.
4. I share the things listeners need to do in a top line way, condensing the steps. This is where you share your content like crazy. Otherwise the call can feel like a big sales pitch.
5. As you get close to the end of the call, start your closing conversation by asking questions like:
• Can you do this on your own?”
• Do you know how to do this?
• What would happen if you didn’t do this?
6. Share how all this information will be covered in your program, the answers to their questions and the way to achieve what they want in their business or life. Get into the details of what your program offers and how this is essential to help them do what they can’t do on their own.
7. Then send them to a page on your website where they can register.
8. You can add a bonus as an incentive for anyone who takes decisive action and signs up before a certain time limit. That can help people decide on the spot to join you.

Your Client Attraction Assignment
What type of teleclass can you offer? What is the problem that keeps your ideal client up at 3am? This is a great topic for your teleclass and a wonderful way to introduce your program to prospects.

As I always say, share loads of content, but focus on the “what they need to do and why” rather than exactly “how” to do it. This leaves them with the need to work with you so they can go deeper to find out how to achieve their goals.

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 I started out building my first practice, I was taught to offer only one program. This was meant to make things easy for practitioners. But, what I noticed with time is that many prospects would come for the free consultation or get acquainted session and leave without signing up.

With time, I came to realize that providing two or three options, for multiple price points or budget levels and different needs, helped me to close more sales. I firmly believe that options help prospects feel more comfortable making a choice to work with you. I also discovered how the choices for prospects need to be so clear that they can decide between the options on the spot.

I want to really reinforce this point. After years of coaching, clients still come back to me having created packages that are so convoluted and complicated, it’s hard to figure out what is the top level. Or sometimes it’s difficult to decipher the differences between the various options.

Even when it comes to naming your packages, selecting simple names is so important. When you use names like optimum, premiere and deluxe, clients have a hard time knowing which one is the highest level.

Why is simplicity so crucial to closing more sales? Because confusion can interfere with a prospect’s decision making ability. The minute a potential client walks away to “think about it” or speak to her spouse, or check with the accountant, you will likely never hear from them again because life gets in the way. This is called the Law of Diminishing Intent. The moment someone walks away to think about signing up – you’ve lost her because her intent to work with you diminishes surprisingly quickly.

Another way to make the decision for prospects easier is to pack the highest level package with yummy bells and whistles that aren’t available at the lower levels. This will make the highest level package so desirable it becomes hard to resist. Doesn’t that make sense?

Your Client Attraction Assignment
If you already have packages designed, named and priced, it’s worth checking to see if they are simple enough for easy decision making. If you belong to a mastermind group or have a friend who is also an entrepreneur, review them together to get some feedback. Then take that response seriously and consider how you might simplify things if needed.

If you haven’t created your packages and pricing yet, keep simplicity top of mind. Make sure your communication of these details can be conveyed easily. More than anything, you want this closing conversation with a potential new client to be so easy, they just naturally want to start working with you right away.

 

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=”350″ ]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p4K6NZMOWFI[/youtube]

Today’s video strategy is about how to transition into a new business. Whether you’re transitioning from a corporate job into a new business or if you are transitioning from one business to another, it can feel like a bit of an identity crisis. I know because I’ve done this twice. I’ve jumped from my corporate job into my first business, which was a holistic nutrition business, and then I transitioned from my holistic nutrition business into ClientAttraction.com.

The identity crisis and the angst comes from the fact that you don’t want to lose income from the first business or job, but you also need to let others know about what you’re doing. I have several tips for you today about how to transition from one into the other. (Click here to tweet this.)

The very first thing I want to share with you is do not quit your day job just yet! For many years, I worked with clients who would let me know after the fact that they quit their day job, and they said, “Oh, I’m free and now I have all this time to spend on my new business.” But they took their eye off the ball, if you will, in terms of what their bread and butter was. After a while, their income very quickly spiraled, which puts people into a fear place. I do not want that for you. Do not quit your day job. Instead, focus your attention on what is bringing in the money. Even if you’re transitioning from one business to another, you don’t want to put your full attention into the second business and forget what’s bringing in the money.

Continue to give attention to job #1 or business #1, and then create extra time for your second venture. Perhaps you start working on your second business during the evenings and weekends. This is what I did in my transitions, both from corporate to my first business and from my first business to my second business.

The idea is that while you’re still collecting a paycheck from either your first business or corporate, you create all of the marketing you need. This is where you start focusing on who is your ideal client, what is it that they need most, what is it that they are struggling with the most? Create a compelling message around this new business. Create your marketing materials. Create a marketing plan and decide how you will get out there in a big way while you’re still collecting a paycheck.

Once you have those things in place, then it’s time to begin networking your new business in a new group. Here’s what I did in the beginning. I would go to a networking group at 7:30 in the morning, even though I was still working in corporate. I would market my new business and be at work by 9:00. If you’re in your existing business, you keep networking for your existing business and then you find a different networking group and market your second business.

The idea is that you’re riding two horses at the same time. That can be tiring, but it’s less confusing and again, you want to continue getting that paycheck. Sometimes people ask me, “I’m carrying around two different business cards. Do I hand out two business cards or just one?” I believe that you hand out just one business card—whichever is more appropriate for that person. You don’t want to confuse people.

Then once you’re making enough income from your second business, that is the one that you start marketing full-time. Once you get at least enough to cover your basic expenses, then you shift your entire focus onto that one. Don’t stop taking clients from the first one if you don’t have to and then build the second one. That is how I’ve been able to transition twice and my clients have been able to do the same without losing any income and without sleepless nights.

Make the transition peacefully and easily.

Your Client Attraction Assignment

If you’re thinking of transitioning into a new business, take these tips into consideration. Continue to get clients, continue to make money, and to be able to transition peacefully and easily.

Play Big Master Class Join Fabienne and Shama Kabani for this conversation about inspiration and courage, while you discover “best practices” on how to play big. Enjoy!
Web and TV show host. Bestselling author. International speaker. Award winning CEO of The Marketing Zen Group – a global online marketing and PR firm. Shama is the face of today’s digital world, and represents the best her generation has to offer. She has aptly been dubbed the “master millennial of the universe” and “an online marketing shaman” by Fast Company.com. Shama holds a Masters degree in Organizational Communication from the University of Texas at Austin, and prides herself in being a constant learner.
Through her web marketing company, Shama works with businesses and organizations around the world. In 2009, Business Week honored Shama as one of the Top 25 under 25 entrepreneurs in North America. In 2010, Shama won the prestigious Technology Titan Emerging Company CEO award. In 2011, Entrepreneur Magazine featured her as one of four Super Sonic Youth, dubbing her a “Zen Master of Marketing.”
Her 2nd edition of her best-selling book, The Zen of Social Media Marketing was just released in March 2012. When not working directly with her clients or shooting her shows for the media, Shama travels the world speaking on business, entrepreneurship, and technology.

Listen to this Master Class today!

Subscribe to “Play Big Master Class” podcast on iTunes or download the mp3 here.

iTunes


Download Play Big Master Class

Audio


Download

Transcript


Download Play a Bigger Game Master Class

[ca_audio url=”http://ca-master-class.s3.amazonaws.com/Audio-Final/ShamaKabani.mp3″ width=”300″ height=”27″ css_class=”codeart-google-mp3-player”]

See all the classes here.

You are ramping up your business, looking for individual clients. While networking, you meet many people who are also in the business building stage. They are interested in your work, but aren’t sure they can afford it. So, rather than pay you, they offer to exchange services with you. The barter discussion follows.

Prospective clients might offer to help you format the ebook you’re writing, videotape a presentation or record some audio. These three bartering offers are focused on helping you create and produce product to sell to generate passive income.

Tempting as it may seem to barter with clients during the start up phase, I’m not a big fan of this arrangement, especially when it comes to creating products. Let me explain.

1. Your first ramp up priority is to generate income.
At seminars you may attend, the discussion often covers how it’s so much easier to make passive income. But that’s not the fastest path to cash – individual clients are. Filling your practice needs to be your main objective. So creating product is like getting distracted by a bright shiny object rather than getting new clients.

2. You don’t have a big list for selling products.
During the earlier phase of your business, which I call “Ramp Up Rachel” in my Client Attraction Winners Academy, you are working to build your list. To generate significant passive income, you need a substantial size list for marketing – a minimum of 1,000 or 2,000. That’s when you can start to make money with passive income.

3. The production quality is questionable.
Have your prospective clients created information products before? There is a specific way that audio/video needs to be made to be effective. To keep your clients and customers satisfied, you want to deliver high quality materials or you risk turning them off.

4. People don’t take your service seriously.
In barter, even if you have a contract, your project will likely never be on the front burner because there isn’t any money at stake. You may have to chase after them to get what you need completed which is no way to conduct business.

5. Your ideal clients will pay for your service.
If a person really wants to work with you, she will find the money. That’s what I have found during my many years in business. When clients barter for your service, they are saying it’s not worth paying for or finding the money. These are not likely to be your ideal clients anyway.

Overall, I recommend avoiding the barter relationship for product creation or really for any reason. It seems like it could work out, and occasionally it does. But more times than not, one party walks away disappointed.

Your Client Attraction Assignment
If you are interested in creating product while ramping up your business, one simple way is to write blog articles. This way you populate your blog which helps you get found on the Internet. And if you take the time to make a plan before you write, each post could be a book chapter. So over time, your book is getting written to generate future passive income, without distracting you from your top priority – filling your practice.

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.


Today’s video is about how to create great, free content in order to build your list., Last week we talked about how you can have all of the best products and services in the world, but if you have no one to offer them to or no one to sell them to they won’t sell very quickly.  When you have an email list (also called an ezine list) of several hundred and preferably, several thousands of people who are eager to hear from you, you now have people who will buy your products and services immediately and over time.

Now, that you’ve figure out which irresistible, free offer you will use to build your ezine list quickly and consistently it’s time to create great content for your IFO, your irresistible free offer.  Remember, you must offer massive value if you want to build trust, but you also don’t want to give away the entire farm. (Click here to tweet this.)

Here’s a tip.  The difference between giving away good value and not giving away too much is to give them the steps or give them good information, but to obviously not tell them exactly how to do everything.  Don’t give the exactly how.  Give them the what.  Give them the why it’s important, but not the exactly how.

I recommend three different types of content for your irresistible offer.

1. Walk them through all of the steps of your proprietary system.  If you’re a student of mine you know what the proprietary system is.  It’s a series of steps that you use to get your clients results.

My proprietary system is called the Client Attraction System. It’s got 10 steps and it starts with figuring out who your ideal client is and create a compelling message and compelling marketing materials, etc.  If you go to clientattraction.com you can read all of the steps there.

2. Give them your compelling story, which means tell them about how you got to do what you’re doing. Then give them some tips as to how you got from your ‘before’ to your ‘after’, in your before and after story.  People find that very, very compelling, especially if you supplement with lots of tips.

3. Do an interview.  You can actually give someone a set of questions that they ask you and that you respond to and you can record those.  This is what I have in my free CD.  It’s a series of 10 questions that I gave to a former radio personality.  He called in from his line and I called in from mine and recorded the entire hour.  It’s super high value, super high content and it’s great for people. It was an easy, one-hour thing for me to do.

Whichever you choose of the three, the idea is that the topic must be something that your ideal client would love to get their hands on.  As you may know mine is How to Attract All the Clients You Need.  This is something that’s appealing to the people who will eventually become my clients.

Your Client Attraction Assignment

Your assignment for this week is to come up with a topic that your ideal clients would say yes to.  Remember, the topic is one of the most important things.  They don’t know what your content will be yet, but they will want to sign up for that topic.

Then, once you’ve selected your topic that they would say yes to, choose from talking about your proprietary system, telling your story and giving some tips, or content based on a Q&A style interview.  The key is at the end of any type of IFO that you have give them an offer for deeper learning or give them a call to action to work with you. If you do this, just like I’ve shared with you, you will quickly build your list, get more clients and make more money.  Enjoy!

Close

Sign me up for my audio CD!

Find out how to use my step-by-step Client Attraction methods so you can be a success.

Close

Get in touch with us by filling out the information below and one of our caring Enrollment Coaches will be happy to contact you to set up a time to chat and see if we can help…


Close