When you first start a business, sometimes you encounter the classic Catch-22 problem – how can I market my business to attract clients so I can make money without actually having the money needed to pay for the marketing?
This is what I discovered back when I started 12 – 13 years ago. The good news is there’s always a way to make some money. At that time, I didn’t have enough clients or enough money. Yes, I’ve actually been in that tough spot.
But I believe in taking a “no excuses” approach. So, I got creative. I thought about all of my skills, one of which is cooking. I went to the French Culinary Institute and loved cooking, especially simple food. Turns out there were a lot of people who didn’t know how to cook simple meals.
That’s when I started a cooking class in my tiny 300 square foot New York apartment for $35 a person. I’d get 10-15 people who would sit on my couch and I’d teach them how to roast chicken with potatoes and green beans. I held three to four of these classes each month and made about $450 each time. This helped me fund my marketing to attract clients and to bridge the short-term financial gap.
Other ideas include services like babysitting, house sitting or even a tag sale. I recommend brainstorming a list of 50 ways to earn cash. And don’t stop until you get to fifty. You’ll be pleasantly surprised by some of the ideas you come up with and once your list is complete the universe helps to make it happen.
You can also go after what I call “low-hanging fruit” – the potential clients who are interested in working with you, but haven’t signed up yet. Those people represent money to you, so go and close them.
Anything you can think of that can bring in money immediately will help. Just don’t include the longer-term projects to market your business and attract clients because these will take more time.
The money you need is all around you. It’s a question of looking for it, writing down ideas, then taking action on them. Money is everywhere in the form of opportunities. Get creative and be resourceful. Just think about what you are really good at and go from there.
Your Client Attraction Assignment
Have you made your list of the “50 Ways” yet? Take out a sheet of paper and get creative. Think about your skills and what you like to do. Think about the people you know and if they have expressed a need for help with something. You’ll be surprised at how quickly you can come up with 50 ways to make money fast.
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 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 take the step to work with a virtual assistant, you empower yourself to accomplish so much more. You hand off the tasks that someone else can do, so you can do more of what you do best.
One of my clients came to me recently, concerned about how her VA wasn’t getting work done. Her virtual assistant had a very hectic life including children, going to school and working. She suddenly became unavailable because she had a a virus. As a result, deadlines were being missed.
My client started blaming herself for her VA not showing up, thinking it must be her own mindset causing the problem. She had a lot of fear around confrontation and being seen as mean or unreasonable, when she preferred to be seen as understanding.
Showing up to do your job is non-negotiable. I show up 110%, go above and beyond as much as I can. This is what I expect from myself and it’s important to me that my team shows up the same way. Otherwise, and I’m not a big meanie, they simply can’t stay. This is how I do things and what has made me successful, so there can’t be any slacking or sense of entitlement.
The same is true for your business. While being understanding is important, it’s okay to expect your team to perform well. So, if your virtual assistant or other team member is not doing what they should be, you need to address it.
When this happened to me, I had one conversation with my virtual assistant who started out doing an amazing job. For some reason, things changed and details started falling through the cracks. I talked to her about it, asking what was going on and she assured me things would change. When the problem persisted, I thanked her for her work, told her that things just were not working out and wished her success.
This is not being mean, it’s business. If you want to serve your clients at 110%, then you need your team members to do the same. Otherwise, you might hold yourself back from the success you deserve and you cannot show up for your clients in the way you want to.
Don’t shy away from doing what you need to do. You don’t need to provide any excuses, just have the conversation, thank the person for the work done, wish them well, change the passwords and move on.
Your Client Attraction Assignment
If you have a virtual assistant, have you talked about expectations? Does your VA know what you need done and your preferences? Be sure to communicate clearly on a regular basis. Good communication can keep everything working well. and, if and when a problem crops up, address it 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 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 I’d like to share a strategy for any business owner who works with a team or an assistant, even a part time assistant. Many business owners have difficulty delegating because they feel that it would take less time to do it themselves, rather than explain to someone how to do it, wait for it to come back to them and then go back and forth. This is how most entrepreneurs delegate and frankly, it is a waste of time.
Whether your team is virtual or on-site (and this can also apply to the vendors you work with), your business will thrive and be more productive when you create an environment where delegation is focused on your team providing you with solutions, rather than more questions and problems.
Skillful delegating requires your team to bring you solutions, rather than questions and problems. (Click here to tweet this.)
I recommend you educate your team on 1) what needs to get done, 2) by when, and 3) with a very clear picture of what the ideal outcome looks like, including success criteria. That means, the team member has a clear image of what the end result looks like when it’s been done well.
But what happens when your team runs into a challenge where they must get your input or have you make a decision on a roadblock or problem? How do you not become the bottleneck and have your team take more ownership so they don’t rely so much on you, while producing much faster? Watch this week’s video on how to educate your team to bring you solutions, rather than questions or unsolved problems. Before you know it, everyone will be on board and problems will got solved easily and effectively.
Your Client Attraction Assignment
Whenever you’re brought a problem without a solution, ask them to come back with some potential solutions and pro’s and con’s for each. It may take a little while for everyone to get into the habit of bringing you only answers and solutions, rather than questions and problems to be solved, but the key is to be consistent. Before you know it, everyone will be on board and problems will got solved easily and effectively.
