I’ve seen a defining moment happen in virtually every business I’ve mentored, which is thousands at this point.

It’s the (almost predictable) moment at which the successful business owner becomes so busy with their full client load that they virtually stop marketing.

They know they should continue to network, have coffee dates with centers of influence and speak to get clients, but frankly, they’re tapped out. In fact, they hit a wall.

They no longer have the time or capacity to market the way they used to, making connections and doing what got them to where they are now.

Problem is, if they (and you) stop marketing, even because you’re at full capacity, there won’t be clients in 6 months.

Soooo, something has to change to continually bring in ideal prospects, and for most, this means turning almost exclusively to getting clients online, as I outline in today’s new video:

Let’s face it; even though your business is established and you might be at full capacity, you still have to market yourself and your business, consistently.

What’s the simplest way to get clients when you’re at full capacity (and even before)?

Move your marketing online!

I recorded this new four-minute video to show you just how to move your marketing online – and how it can absolutely help you grow your business without taking too much of your time.

After you watch the video, would you please write to me your answer to the following questions in the comments below?

How can you start leveraging your lead generation online? What incentive might you offer for someone in exchange for opting-in to your email newsletter? What would you call it?

Can’t wait to see what you come up with.
See you online! 😉

Fabienne

p.s. Hey, just a heads up! Want to make sure that you know that tomorrow (Friday) is the last day of our Back To School Celebration where you get to receive a free ticket to my 3-day Mindset Retreat this October. You get this $2,000 gift (as well as other valuable $2,000 gifts) when you decide to schedule a strategic planning coaching call with one of our caring Strategy Coaches and then enroll in The Client Attraction Business School. The deadline for scheduling that call and getting the bonuses is tomorrow, Friday September 18^th. Curious? Watch the “Why CABS works” video here and then schedule your complimentary Strategy Session here.

How do you decide if you should go the “extra mile” to land a client? Sometimes a prospect will ask for an extra step in order to close the sale. For example, he or she might want to meet you in person before making the commitment to work with you.

When you are starting out, you might be willing to accommodate a request like this. Initially, I met people in person, offering to meet them just a 15-minute walk from my apartment and the whole process could take nearly two hours to close. In time, I realized I could speak with two to three prospects by telephone in the same amount of time it took to meet one in person. And when you have 25 – 30 clients, your time becomes more limited and you won’t be able to do this type of thing.

Another place to draw the line is when a prospect doesn’t complete your questions prior to your consultation call. Early on, you may be tempted to go ahead and do the consultation anyway. But, what you might be doing is wasting time on a prospect who will not be your ideal client. A person who does not comply with your initial requests can turn into a time waster and drag you down.

With time you will see how non-ideal clients can suck your energy dry. While you want to help people, you also want to train them in how to best work with you. I recommend having your VA call a prospect who hasn’t sent in his or her questions to reschedule the call to give them time to complete their homework first.

There will always be people who won’t do the work and this way you can weed them out early so they don’t waste your time. It may seem harsh, but the truth is you can say this in a caring manner and even invite them back when they feel they are ready to work and follow through.

In the beginning it’s sometimes good to take on these wishy-washy clients because it will help you develop a tough skin and clearer view of people who are not your ideal clients. You’ll learn what you don’t like and discover what works better. After a while, you’ll become compassionately ruthless about who you work with and who you don’t. The last thing you want is to be resentful about taking on a client who is not ideal, which will only make your heart sink.

Your Client Attraction Assignment

This week, as you speak to prospects and conduct your consultations, notice who your ideal clients are. And also take stock of those wishy-washy people who are not your ideal clients. Be brave, be direct and let them go if it appears they are not your ideal. Give yourself permission to walk away and instead put time into seeking clients who are ready to do the work and achieve the success they desire.

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.

There are many reasons why people dislike networking and think it doesn’t work. It does work, although most people approach it in the wrong way or simply do it wrong. It’s usually because they’ve been told that networking is about going to as many events as they can and collecting as many business cards as they can, and then following up with an offer or a pitch the next day. Problem is, it never works.

People usually fall flat on their face with this “technique” because 1) their networking needs to be more focused to where their Ideal Clients can be reached, 2) networking is NOT about business cards, it’s about creating relationships over time and 3) it’s about helping the other, before thinking about yourself. If you’re not approaching networking in this way, then you’ve probably found that it’s not working, it’s superficial and you hate doing it.

So, it’s time to change your approach and start seeing some results, because networking is one of the VERY best ways to get out there in a BIG way and start attracting new clients, especially now that you have a compelling marketing message and a Client Attractive “Elevator Speech.” OK, so the first thing is that you need to network where your Ideal Clients and referral sources are. Look back to the Ideal Client “hang outs” we talked about earlier and see where they congregate. Start thinking of where you can rub elbows with them in large numbers and then join that group. Think in terms of structured networking groups, as well as associations and you’ll be on the right path.

Some places to look for appropriate networking venues:

• Ask your Ideal Clients where they network
• Ask other notable networkers you respect where they network
• Newspaper events calendar (or Business Journal events calendar)
• Chamber of Commerce
• Toastmasters (to meet people and build relationships)
• Animal clubs (Lions, Elks, etc.)
• Breakfast networking groups (BNI, LeTip, etc.)

I belong to several networking organizations because my ideal prospects belong to the same groups. The first one is a weekly breakfast networking group called Business Network International (www.BNI.com) because a lot of the people who belong to it are small business owners and sole practitioners (perfect), as well as the National Association of Women Business Owners (www.NAWBO.org) where I meet a handful of people each time I attend an event who eventually become clients.

As a side note, these are just 2 of the organizations I belong to (there are others), but I mention them specifically because 1) I gain greater visibility and exposure and 2) I have a way of giving back to what has given me so much.

Networking is not about going to as many events as possible to get the word out. It’s about finding the ones that make sense for your target audience, and then adding value and building long-term, mutually supportive relationships. Try it and you’ll start seeing much better results.

Your Client Attraction Assignment:

Using your Ideal Client list, start writing down the events you can start attending with Ideal Clients and start getting the word out about what you do. Then once you like a group, plug into your calendar all the events already scheduled for the year and make going regularly a priority to gain lots of exposure and create long-term, mutually beneficial relationships.

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.

If you want to start attracting your ideal clients in droves, it’s time to do some serious drilling-down to find out as much as you can about that target’s critical problems.Without knowing their critical problems, challenges, issues and stumbling blocks, you simply won’t be as Client Attractive. The good news is, it’s relatively easy to find out everything you need to know about them.
Put yourself in their well-worn comfortable shoes, completely, and then ask yourself these questions:

• What is it that keeps them up at night worrying (as it relates to what you do)?
• If they were to “pull their hair out” about something, what would it be?
• What is the biggest struggle they encounter on a daily basis?
• What is the biggest obstacle they deal with?
• What is their biggest money/time leak?
• What is the one goal that seems unattainable to them?
• If they wished they could learn how to do ONE thing and one thing only, what would that be?
• What is the biggest improvement they could make in their lives/business (as it relates to what you do)?
• And finally, what would they do ANYTHING and pay (relatively) ANYTHING to solve/get rid of/achieve?

Let me give you a personal example of why this works in helping you become more Client Attractive. When I was simply a dime-a-dozen business coach helping everyone: “corporate types, entrepreneurs, sales professionals, and solo practitioners “get better in business (I felt I had to do this in the beginning), I had a difficult time getting a hold on a marketing message that would fit ALL of them.

My message was weak and diluted. Some clients wanted to work on time management, some on achieving sales goals, some on staffing issues, some on selling their music CDs, some on marketing and getting clients.

Although I was pretty good at coaching in these different capacities, what I truly enjoyed the most and got the BEST results with was coaching the sole practitioner who needed more clients. It came naturally, I could do it in my sleep and I had a ton of personal experience with it myself, having done it twice successfully, in less than eight months each time.

It’s not until I answered the above questions that I really got clear on who my best client was and how to help them. This changed EVERYTHING for me. I was then able to steer all my marketing to that type of person and their problems. Client Attraction became a lot EASIER for me at that point because clients starting coming to me!

Your Assignment:

Answer every one of the following questions as if your business life depended on it. (Hint: it does.)

• What is it that keeps them up at night worrying (as it relates to what you do)?
• If they were to “pull their hair out” about something, what would it be?
• What is the biggest struggle they encounter on a daily basis?
• What is their biggest money/time leak?
• What is the biggest obstacle they deal with?
• What is the one goal that seems unattainable to them?
• If they wished they could learn how to do ONE thing and one thing only, what would that be?
• And finally, what would they do ANYTHING and pay (relatively) ANYTHING to solve/get rid of/achieve?

Once you answer these questions in depth, you’ll have a very clear direction of how to position yourself in the marketplace and a way of speaking to your prospects that will have them saying, “WOW, that’s EXACTLY what I need, I want to work with you!”

Want to know more about finding your ideal client? You’re in luck because I just launched my f.r.e.e. video training course where I’m teaching my best Client Attraction strategies and lessons to help you earn more in your small business – and Finding Your Ideal Target Audience is the first video in the series. You can get access to all the videos here. It’s super high content and value and it’s getting rave reviews from viewers. You can sign up to view it at www.jointhetop5.com. Enjoy!

© 2011 Client Attraction LLC. All Rights Reserved.

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Fabienne Fredrickson, The Client Attraction Mentor, is founder of the Client Attraction System®, the proven step-by-step program that shows you exactly how to attract more clients, in record time…guaranteed. To get your F.R.E.E. Audio CD by mail and receive her weekly marketing & success mindset articles on attracting more high-paying clients and dramatically increasing your in.come, visit www.attractclients.com.