Last week I gave away 30-minutes of business breakthru coaching free to anyone who wanted it.  Here are the top 3 common issues among entrepreneurs and solo-professionals.

1. Follow-up

One coach who specializes in working in training young athletes stated that once they fielded a phone call from a student asking for advice.  While the coach was willing to speak with the child, she was unsure how she could turn this child into a paying client.

My suggestion was to assure the young athlete their conversation would remain private, however; since he was a minor, she needs to have contact info for his parents.  (This particular situation, the coach didn’t already know the parents)

Most kids understand and aren’t concerned with giving up their parents contact info.  This allows the coach to follow-up with his parents and create the “know, like and trust” factor to develop into – a paying client!

2. Money

How do I talk about my fees?  This one is really easy for me… I simply state:

“Ok, Mr. Client, we agree to work together… now, lets talk about money”

(just put it out there and be confident!)

“My fee is $$$ to ______, I accept payment, in full, up front, via Paypal – which email address can I send the invoice to?”  “Once I receive payment, we can get started!”

You must keep clear and firm boundaries!

If I get any bartering, bickering or so forth, I simply say, “I’ve gotta put groceries in my fridge, and I cannot accept anything less than $$$.”

I find that when you bring up groceries, that paints an image of you and your family cooking or shopping at the grocery store… no one wants to take food out of anybody’s mouth, right?

That statement works every time and usually stops hagglers dead in their tracks. Plus, it humbles you.

PS. don’t take haggling personal or as an insult, some people just like to see if they can get a discount… it’s in their DNA!

3. How do I get more clients?

You must be visible.  In your community, and online. I can recommend three extraordinary books to help you get into the mind-set of creating a system to get more clients:

1. “Get Clients NOW!“, by CJ Hayden
2. “Endless Referrals”, by Bob Burg
3. “The Go-Giver”, by Bob Burg and John David Mann, for your mindset.

Final thoughts…

Accountability is key.  You must be in ACTION and you must be accountable to your peers.  I highly suggest you plug yourself in to a mastermind or accountability group.  You are welcome to join one of mine for a very modest price of $17.97 a month.  Check out The Web Coach INSIDER here.

What are YOUR thoughts?

Do you have questions based on what I covered?

How can I help you better understand?

Please ask questions, leave comments or suggestions below.

Yesterday, I met with some of my attendee’s of a recent Get Clients NOW! program. Even though the class officially ended two weeks ago, we still meet on Monday to check in, support each other and keep ourselves accountable to our goals.

I can’t tell you how much fun and support we’ve created for ourselves. I’m so INSPIRED!

So, here’s my question for YOU – are you plugging in with an accountability partner once a week? You are 65 percent more likely to accomplish your goals if you have someone watching over your shoulder.

So get with it! No excuses! There’s no time like the present… right here, right now. You CAN do it.

Have Faith in yourself. I do.

By, C.J. Hayden, MCC, Wings for Business, LLC

http://getclientsnow.com

Why is it that some consultants, coaches, and other independent professionals have all the business they need, while others struggle by with only a few clients?

Is there a hidden secret no one is telling you?

The answer may be simpler than you think. In this special report, you will discover three things you may be doing now that can actually prevent you from getting clients, how the Persistence Effect can liberate your marketing, and one simple habit you can begin today that may bring you all the clients you will ever need.

I’ve been working with self-employed professionals like you since 1992, helping my clients, students, and readers to make more money with less effort, and teaching them how to earn a better living doing what they love. Please take a few moments now to read these five simple ideas that can change your marketing forever.

WHEN LESS BECOMES MORE

It’s easy to think there is some hidden secret to marketing your business or professional practice. There are so many books to read, classes to take, and mentors, coaches, and consultants you could hire that it makes the process seem mysterious or overwhelming. But there is a simple answer and it’s the first of five secrets I’m going to share with you.

1. Choose a set of simple, effective things to do and do them consistently.

The real key to successful marketing is picking just a few simple, effective things to do and then doing those things consistently. This is how you can build your business more quickly by doing less.

Imagine that you were trying to fill a water barrel with a drinking glass. You would have to make trip after trip, going back to the faucet over and over. In marketing, this is like doing a little bit of networking, some haphazard follow-up, trying to get some publicity, giving a talk, buying a booth at a trade show, placing an ad, then writing an article…

Instead, why not use a bucket to fill your barrel? You can carry more water while making fewer trips. Instead of spreading yourself thin with a dozen different marketing strategies, you could simply do some networking with consistent follow-up, give some talks and follow up with those you meet, and that would be it C just three strategies: networking, public speaking, and following up. Your barrel fills faster, and you’re less tired.

Trying to do too much is one of the ways you may be sabotaging your own marketing efforts. Stop-and-start marketing can actually prevent you from getting clients. It wears you out running back and forth. You never spend enough energy on any one approach to really make a difference, but instead you make yourself less efficient and effective in all areas.

THE PERSISTENCE EFFECT AT WORK

If you limit your marketing activities to what you can realistically do well, it becomes possible to give your marketing the essential quality of consistency. Instead of just hearing from you once, people begin to hear your name over and over. They begin to think of you when you’re not in touch and send you referrals. But to make this happen, you have to do the work. Positive intentions alone won’t create clients without more help from you.

2. Rely on the Persistence Effect, not on magic.

When you begin to move purposefully in a specific direction, energy is created and things begin to happen. There is an interesting phenomenon that occurs when you get serious about marketing in a focused, consistent way. You begin to get results in unexpected places.

The phone rings, and it’s a prospect you spoke to three months ago saying they are suddenly interested in working with you. You go to a networking meeting that seems like a complete waste of time, and run into a hot new prospect in the elevator on your way out — who wasn’t even there for the meeting you went to. You get an exciting referral from someone whose name you don’t recognize. It’s almost as if the universe has noticed your dedication and decided to reward you.

Don’t make the mistake of thinking that these out-of-the-blue opportunities are accidents. There is a direct connection between the level of effort you put into marketing and the results you get out of it — even when it seems like the results are completely unrelated to your efforts.

This marketing phenomenon is so common that I have named it the Persistence Effect. If you persist in making ten calls a day, every day, you will get business, but it won’t all come from the calls you made. If you consistently attend one networking event per week, clients will appear, but not necessarily from the events you attended. Don’t worry about why it works; just know that it works. And don’t confuse the Persistence Effect with magical thinking. Just creating a positive intention for something doesn’t have this kind of payoff. You have to do something about it.

USING PULL INSTEAD OF PUSH

Another way you may be preventing yourself from getting clients is refusing to choose a niche for your business or private practice. I know, I know, you don’t want to limit yourself. But the truth is that having a niche doesn’t limit you; it focuses you. If a client shows up at your door, of course you can choose to work with them, regardless of whether they fit into your niche. But to be effective at marketing, you need some kind of organizing principle for your outreach activities. The universe is too big to market to all of it.

3. Choose a niche and become known for it.

Returning to our metaphor of the water barrel, not having a niche is like running all over town to different water faucets instead of coming back to the same one each time. Even if you do have a bucket instead of a drinking glass, it’s inefficient. And worse, you might not even be able to find the faucets in all those unfamiliar places.

Not having a niche means that attracting clients is impossible. You must spend all your time pursuing clients; there’s nothing that brings them to you.

Your niche can be a target market, a specialty or both. For example, your target market might be “executive women” or “high-tech companies.” Your specialty could be “career transition” or “productivity improvement.” Having both a target market and a specialty to define your niche is ideal, e.g. “executive women in career transition,” or “productivity improvement for high-tech companies.”

When you identify a niche that works for you, you can become known in that niche. That way, clients start calling you. Usually, you begin by networking in your niche and ultimately graduate to writing, speaking, or teaching to establish yourself as an expert. Keep in mind that networking is not just going to a room and exchanging business cards; it’s creating a pool of contacts from which you can draw clients, referrals, resources, ideas, and information

You don’t have to wait for word of mouth within your niche; you can create it, by actively reaching out to others who are either in your niche themselves or serve your niche by what they do. For example if your niche is helping small business owners become financially successful, certainly you want to network with entrepreneurs and self-employed professionals. But you should also get to know accountants, small business attorneys, staff at entrepreneurship centers, career counselors, psychotherapists, business bankers, newsletter editors, merchant card providers… anyone who comes in contact with your niche on a daily basis.

Meet with them, call them, write to them, write for them, speak to them, and teach them. Following the first rule of choosing a few simple things to do and doing them consistently, this is completely within your grasp if you focus on one narrowly defined niche. If you leave your niche too broad or try to “cheat” by having several niches, your client universe becomes too large and you are once again spread too thin.

SELL THE SIZZLE, NOT THE STEAK

Imagine you went to an auto mechanic, and he told you he was going to lift the hood of your car, shine a light around, and move some parts up and down. Does this sound like a service you would pay for? Of course not. What you want to hear from the mechanic is that he will fix your car. If you’re not telling clients about the results your work produces and the benefits they will get from it, they will never see the value of it.

4. Market the results of your work, not the process you use.

If you were in my profession of business coaching, and someone asked you, “What is coaching?” you would be unlikely to enroll a client by saying, “We meet by phone for half an hour each week and talk about your goals.” That’s just the process – where’s the value?

A slightly better answer might be to say, “Coaching is a process for helping you get what you want.” Now you are stating some value. But an even better answer would be not to market “coaching” at all, but instead to market higher earnings, improved selling skills, or more fulfilling work. You would respond not with a definition, but with a statement of benefits: “I help my clients learn to make more money with less effort.”

Instead of offering tax preparation, an accountant could invite you to “save money on taxes.” Instead of selling logo design, a graphic designer could suggest “get your business noticed.” Rather than proposing a company retreat, a trainer could promise “improved teamwork and cooperation.”

Whenever possible, market benefits your clients can place a dollar value on. You’re asking them to write you a check, so if they can’t see a monetary benefit, they are much less likely to do it. In a corporate environment, talk about improved productivity or employee retention. With individuals, describe the benefits of a healthier lifestyle or better relationships. People need to see your service as the answer to an essential need they have. If you allow it to be something that’s just nice to have, you will either limit your market to clients with a budget for luxuries, or you’ll limit your rate to only what people will pay for something that’s nice but they don’t really need.

HELP IS CLOSER THAN YOU THINK

One of the most overlooked secrets to successful marketing is getting a hand from the people you already know. If you’re new, maybe you are waiting to become more successful before telling more people about your business. Or perhaps you have made up a rule that your personal life is supposed to be separate from your business. But the truth is that the people who already know you are likely to be the best contributors to your success.

5. Ask the people you already know for help.

If you always remember to tell everyone you know what you are doing and ask for their help, that one simple habit may bring you all the clients you need. Go through your address book, checkbook, holiday card list, club roster, and alumni directory, and count up how many people you know that aren’t yet aware of your business. Begin reaching out to those people with cards, letters, e-mails, or phone calls and let them know about what you do.

Instead of just asking for client referrals, treat these people as part of your network. Remember that networking is creating a pool of contacts from which you can draw clients, referrals, resources, ideas, and information. You can expand your network by asking the people you know who they know and contacting the people they refer you to.

In my earlier example of a niche serving business owners and self-employed professionals, I suggested getting to know accountants, small business attorneys, etc., as a way to become better connected in that niche. What if you were to ask your friends, family, colleagues, and all the people you do business with who their accountant is? Then get to know all those accountants. This is networking within your niche.

Always look for how you can make a relationship reciprocal. With other businesspeople, send them referrals whenever you can. If you have always referred people to your own accountant, instead give them three names and ask them to call all three before deciding. If you don’t know what the other person might need, ask them, “What can I do for you?” Get a network of people out there working for you so you don’t have to work so hard.

WHAT TO DO NEXT

I hope you have found the ideas in this report helpful. If you don’t yet own a copy of my book GET CLIENTS NOW!, I’d like to invite you to purchase it at http://amazon.com and sign up for Donna Payne’s Get Clients NOW! Seminar scheduled for September 1, 2009.  REGISTER HERE.

Today I had the pleasure of stumbling upon Bob Burg’s blog thru a retweet on twitter.  (RT @BobBurgBob Burg » Do Go-Givers Really Sell More? http://bit.ly/nqJUY)

His post today was about meeting two new friends at Dunkin’ Donuts who are in sales and met each other through their local BNI (Business Network International) organization.

Bob continues,

Both are obviously true Go-Givers and have built their businesses through a focus on providing value without concern for, or attachment to, reciprocity.”

In other words, they prefer to serve, rather than take credit.  You can read the entire post plus commentary from readers here (be prepared to be inspired! <grin>)

Meanwhile, I also checked out Bob’s book “The Go-Giver” – LOVE IT!

He takes a spin off from a “Go Getter,” the ambitious person trying to get ahead, and the “Giver”, a person who lives to serve others.

I highly suggest you take a peak at a free download from his site “The Five Laws of Stratospheric  Success from The Go-Giver“ and tape, glue, staple or cement them somewhere near by!

###

Bob Burg is a highly sought-after speaker at corporate, financial services and direct sales conventions. Combining humor and entertainment with easily applied, proven systems for personal marketing, audiences come away ready to immediately profit from Bob’s instruction and coaching.  You can follow Bob on Twitter @BobBurg

GM is closing it’s doors in my hometown of Mansfield, Ohio,

The tone all over town is very somber.  People are in shock and disbelief.  Why? When? Why Mansfield?

As of today, August 3rd, more than half the GM employees in Mansfield have either retired, or taken the early buyout with this past Saturday, August 1st being their final day.   Read more in our local paper, if you like,  The Mansfield News Journal

If you had over 20 years of service, you were eligible for a nice settlement of 115k.  Less than 10 years service, 20k-45k. Not too shabby.

(Hey, they could’ve just posted a closed sign and locked the doors – other companies have done that ‘ya know)

So, now what?

It’ll be interesting to see what people do with the money:

• Move to another city and hope for the best.
• Invest it.
• Wallow in self-pity.
• Become a home-based business owner.
• Go back to school.
• Blow it.

Twenty years ago, this closure would have affected our community like the black plague.

But, today – I feel very differently.

Remember, we live in a GLOBAL economy.   It’s time to get creative.

Like my neighbor Chris who’s converting gas or diesel powered cars into efficient hybrids.  It’s time to notice our surroundings and take action.  Chris Nelson’s website is here if you’d like to know more http://easy2hybrid.com

This is YOUR wake up call for those standing at the cross-roads:  This is your second chance to do what you love!

Ask yourself:

• what excites you?
• what hobbies do you enjoy that could earn you money?
• what skills do you have?  How could they benefit or serve others and bring in an income?

We shouldn’t allow ourselves to get too comfortable in our ways – the only thing certain is change. Everything is temporary.  (Didn’t Dad tell me that once or a hundred times? Yes, he did.)

Yes, change is scary… but you must BELIEVE IN YOURSELF and MOVE FORWARD.

And, be ready to see life through your rose-colored-God-glasses.  It’ll be ok.