You can actually FORECAST your client flow

You Can Actually FORECAST Your Client Flow
By Fabienne Fredrickson

If you’re like most people in business for themselves, you market yourself in an ad hoc fashion: when you have time, when you think of it or only when a specific opportunity comes along. But wouldn’t you agree with me that inconsistency in marketing creates inconsistency in new client flow? That seems to be the bain of existence for most self-employed people like us.

So, is there such a thing as being able to PREDICT how many new clients you’ll get next month or next year? I say YES!

You see, I’m able to predict (with certain accuracy) that I have a full practice at most times; therefore, how much revenue comes in for each month of this year. For example, I know that I’ll have a full practice in 6 months and then again a year later.

How can I be so sure? Because I’ve created systems that keep me on track in my marketing, even a year ahead of time.

You may have heard me get on my soapbox about being systematic in your networking and in your marketing efforts, but let’s take it just a bit further this time and get down to the details of what that actually looks like when you do it (like I do).

I recommend buying a year-at-a-glance calendar and plugging in your marketing efforts. For example, your weekly breakfast networking group goes onto the calendar for the entire year, same with your monthly association meetings, writing your articles, giving teleclasses, meeting with your referral partners, sending your newsletter, mailings, speaking engagements, etc.

That way, you never have a week where you’re not doing ANYTHING to market yourself. That means you no longer have periods of feast or famine, or an inconsistent pipeline of curious prospects, ready to buy.

Client example: A recent client of mine, a real estate broker, decided to take this even one step further. Because much of her marketing depends on several mailings to specific buildings she covers in her territory, she wanted to keep track of them on this yearly at-a-glance wall calendar. On it, she designated a system for seeing what mailings would go to which buildings on what weeks. So it looked like this:

• Mailing 1 would go to Buildings A, B, and C on the first of every month.


• Mailing 1 would then go to Buildings D, E, and F on the second week of every month (and so on for the rest of the month).


• Then Mailing 2 goes out to the first set of buildings on the first week of the month, and so on.

Each week of the month, she now has a color-coded system for sending a mailing, staggered so that she doesn’t get overwhelmed, but that will also keep her on track. That way, each month, each building receives a systematic mailing, that’s 12 mailings per year. Best of all, she doesn’t even do the mailings anymore! Her assistant does it for her, so that allows us to focus on other marketing even more. Well done!

At the end of the day, it’s a predictable, verifiable and ‘autopilot’ way of marketing yourself, so that when done consistently and set up over a year’s worth of time, your client well never runs dry.

Your Assignment:

Get yourself a wall calendar (I use the Year-At-A-Glance laminated wall calendar, SKU: 558430) that is erasable and retails for about $18.99. Then, spend some time plotting out your marketing efforts for this month, then the next, until the end of the year (or 2007). You’ll find that you have a bird’s eye view of your entire year, and now you just need to follow the simple system you’ve set up. So easy, and it will help you to market consistently, so you can almost predict how many clients you’ll have!

By the way, there are several worksheets in the Client Attraction Home Study System™ that will help you figure out WHAT you should be doing to market yourself to the right types of clients for you. You’ll also learn how to decipher what makes your business remarkable enough for others to talk about, how to create Raving Fans so you get clients to call YOU, and lots of other crucial stuff to help you fill your practice really quickly. You can read more about it and get a copy at www.TheClientAttractionSystem.com. (Why struggle when you can just attract clients easily?)

© 2006 Client Attraction LLC. All Rights Reserved.

Fabienne Fredrickson, The Client Attraction Mentor, is founder of the Client Attraction System™ and www.ClientAttraction.com, the proven step-by-step program to attract more clients, make more m’oney being self-employed, while having more time off to enjoy it all. To receive your F.R.E.E. Audio CD by mail and get weekly how-to articles on attracting more clients, visit www.ClientAttraction.com.

Become a Client Magnet by Adding Extra Value

Become a Client Magnet by Adding Extra Value
By Fabienne Fredrickson

“If you wish to be wealthy, then act to create real value.”
—Ralph Marston, www.greatday.com—

A major aspect of setting yourself apart from your competitors is the value that you add to your services, without wanting money in return. Competition within one’s industry can sometimes be fierce. Once you’ve determined what it is you offer that your competitors don’t, it’s time to start adding value to your clients and create a relationship they’ll be crazy not to continue (and tell others about). And this doesn’t have to drain your resources.

What is a “client extra?” It’s something you offer, as a bonus, at no additional cost, which is of great value to the recipient. Often a client extra is something low-cost or no-cost to you that doesn’t take much time to give away, but can really appeal to the client. People like to receive extra stuff. They feel special, they feel you care and they tell others about it.

In my Client Attraction consulting practice, I have offered many different types of extras in the last 6 years (some I still do): freebie Monday Open Office Hours (MOOH) to clients on Mondays, unlimited no-charge attendance to as many live events I was hosting as they like, occasional freebie editing of their marketing documents, freebie handouts, templates and scripts, and unlimited e-mail support between calls. Clients tell me they really like the extra attention and resources, and none of these cost me anything extra.

Here are some sample ideas for your business: open office hours each Friday to answer any questions at no additional cost, a hot lunch in your office’s waiting room, taped recordings of your sessions so the client can review them over and over again, articles, attendance to your workshops, quarterly brainstorming groups, monthly group bridge calls for all your clients, etc.

The key is to offer what someone really needs, and for this, you have to place yourself in the shoes of your ideal client or actually ask your ideal client what they would like to receive as a client extra.

Your Assignment:

What is it that you would want to receive as an extra if you were in their place? What is one element you could offer at no charge that would help solve a client’s problem more quickly or help them achieve their goal in record time? What could you offer as an extra that would make them remember you and talk to others about you?

Make a list of them all, however far-fetched the ideas, and then add them to your services. Put it in your marketing materials (along with the benefits of such client extras) and see what happens. A buzz about your services is likely to be created and people will start talking about you and start signing up with you as clients in greater numbers. Congratulations, you’ve become a true Client Magnet!

To get more strategies for helping you become a Client Magnet and fill your practice using proven, tried-and-true marketing techniques for sole practitioners, check out www.TheClientAttractionSystem.com for more info on the ultimate Client Attraction self-study manual. If just ONE tip like the one you read in today’s article can make you more of a client magnet, imagine what 56 of them will do for filling your practice. It worked for me and for thousands of my clients. More details here: www.TheClientAttractionSystem.com.

© 2006 Client Attraction LLC. All Rights Reserved.

Fabienne Fredrickson, The Client Attraction Mentor, is founder of the Client Attraction System™ and www.ClientAttraction.com, the proven step-by-step program to attract more clients, make more m’oney being self-employed, while having more time off to enjoy it all. To receive your F.R.E.E. Audio CD by mail and get weekly how-to articles on attracting more clients, visit www.ClientAttraction.com.

Weather Any 'Storm' With Your COIs

Weather Any ‘Storm’ With Your COIs
By Fabienne Fredrickson

No matter how long you’ve been in business, one of the quickest ways to start getting referrals from your network and to get out there in a BIG way, is to start telling your Centers of Influence (COIs) what you’re up to in a face-to-face meeting. This can be in addition to sending them the introduction/update letter and can be either in a cafe or at their office (where they happen to have their Rolodex handy).

Centers of influence are people who like and respect you, and who come in contact with enough people on a daily and weekly basis to be able to regularly refer you to the right people. They are some of the most influential people you know, natural networkers who seem to know everyone, "bridgers" who love putting people together, just for the fun of it. (Sometimes we call these people "the mayor" because they just seem to know everyone!)

Just one meeting with some of these COIs over coffee or lunch (your treat), on a regular basis, will start revving up your reputation and referral engines. People will start hearing about you and you’ll get new clients this way quickly. It’s just another way to educate your environment about what you’re up to, but with very targeted individuals.

Dan Sullivan, The Strategic Coach™, describes Centers of Influence in an article on "Referability":

"By focusing on relationships, you multiply opportunities for yourself and your business. The secret is to provide extraordinary service to an inner circle of high-quality clients and centers of influence. They, in turn, become marketers for you, through referrals to other individuals like them. By doing this in a systematic fashion, you will be able to create an unlimited high-quality market that is immune to the ups and downs of local and national economies."

Your Client Attraction Assignment:

Make a list of the 20 most influential people you know. These are usually natural networkers who run into lots of people and would be happy to tell others about you when appropriate.

Call five of these COIs this week to set up coffee or lunch in the next two weeks. Do the same the following week, and so on. Educate them on what you do for clients, your system, and who your Ideal Clients are. Ask who they know that fits the bill. Collaborate, brainstorm, and of course, offer to do the same for them.

Repeat quarterly (and put it as a recurring appointment in your calendar). How’s THAT for a client attraction system?

Need help figuring out what else to do with your COI’s? You can get lots of ideas (with tons of assignments and worksheets, scripts, and templates, etc.) in the Client Attraction Home Study System™. It includes lots of crucial stuff to help you fill your practice really quickly. You can get your copy at www.TheClientAttractionSystem.com.

© 2006 Client Attraction LLC. All Rights Reserved.

Fabienne Fredrickson, The Client Attraction Mentor, is founder of the Client Attraction System™ and www.ClientAttraction.com, the proven step-by-step program to attract more clients, make more m’oney being self-employed, while having more time off to enjoy it all. To receive your F.R.E.E. Audio CD by mail and get weekly how-to articles on attracting more clients, visit www.ClientAttraction.com.

Get Past Procrastination and Into Client Attraction: My 5 Steps to Getting Things Done

Get Past Procrastination and Into Client Attraction: My 5 Steps to Getting Things Done
By Fabienne Fredrickson

Have you ever looked at your to-do list and just wanted to run away? Sometimes, procrastination gets the best of us self-employed people. It seems that everything is priority and we tend to put some things on the back burner. The thing is, if the items on your to-do list have to do with marketing and Client Attraction, then you don’t want to ignore them (if you do, you may not have clients in 6 months).

Procrastination creeps its ugly head in my business every now and then. Personally, I think it’s more overwhelm than procrastination and the list can be so overwhelming that I tend to go in avoidance/denial mode, preferring to just not deal with it. (Has that ever happened to you too?)

Realistically, you can’t ignore having to market yourself, so you sometimes just have to bite the bullet and do what it takes. Here’s my personal action checklist to take me from procrastination to massive action:

1. Prioritize: Your list may be a mile long or just a half page long. Either way, the best way to get into action is to sort out what your return on investment is going to be for each item on your list (financially, time-wise, resource-wise) and then sort them by the one that will reap the most benefits (i.e., clients and revenue) from the littlest output on your part. You’ll start with that one.


2. What’s getting in the way? Sometimes, I find that procrastination is more about something getting in the way than anything else. It could be that you don’t have every piece of the puzzle to be able to move forward into accomplishing something. It could be that you don’t know how to do ONE aspect of it. It could also be that this is a SHOULD and isn’t absolutely necessary to your success. Whatever’s holding you back, just get clear on it.


3. How long will it REALLY take: I’ve found that often, I delay on a marketing task (or any task, for that matter) because I anticipate it taking a lot longer than it really will. To get past this, look at a task and ask yourself how long it will realistically take to get done. Then, take out the to-do list and write down the time it will take you to accomplish it next to each item (15 minutes, 2 hours, etc.)


4. Schedule it: Look at your calendar and find time slots that correspond to the time allotment for each task you did above and schedule them, as if they were client appointments that you were unable to cancel.

Your Assignment:

When marketing yourself, take notice of when you start slipping into procrastination mode (it happens to most everyone, trust me). Prioritize the tasks on your list to focus on the ones that will get you the highest return on investment, notice what’s getting in the way or what piece is missing, and solve the issue accordingly, establish how long it will take to get done, and then schedule in your calendar. You’ll have no excuse not to do it.

Remember, there’s never a point at which you can say (about marketing) “I’m successful now, I might as well take a nap.” Notice the very successful entrepreneurs you look up to. They never stop marketing. In fact, they’re always adding new things to their existing marketing plans. Do the same. Get past your procrastination and into Client Attraction. ALWAYS BE MARKETING and you’ll always have clients.

Need help knowing where to really get the most value from your marketing efforts? You can get lots of help (with tons of assignments and worksheets, scripts, and templates, etc.) in the Client Attraction Home Study System™. It includes lots of crucial stuff to help you fill your practice really quickly. You can get your copy at www.TheClientAttractionSystem.com.

© 2006 Client Attraction LLC. All Rights Reserved.

Fabienne Fredrickson, The Client Attraction Mentor, is founder of the Client Attraction System™ and www.ClientAttraction.com, the proven step-by-step program to attract more clients, make more m’oney being self-employed, while having more time off to enjoy it all. To receive your F.R.E.E. Audio CD by mail and get weekly how-to articles on attracting more clients, visit www.ClientAttraction.com.

Why Clients Sometimes Back Out and What to Do About It

Why Clients Sometimes Back Out and What to Do About It
By Fabienne Fredrickson

Have you ever celebrated a new client signing up, only to get an email saying they’d now like to back out? There’s nothing like hearing news like that to make the celebrating end on the spot.

If you’re like any (honest) self-employed service provider, you’ve experienced this before, probably many times. I know I have over years of signing on clients. Sometimes, for some reason, the brand new client decides to back out and not go forward with working with you, even BEFORE starting the work. There’s nothing more frustrating.

Do you let them just walk away, or do you DO something about it? In my opinion, how to respond is directly related to the reason they’re backing out. Once you know, you can respond accordingly.

It’s important to examine what’s REALLY going on and get down to the real reason why they’re not going forward with working with you. In my experience, it often boils down to the following:

1. They may simply not be your ideal client (admit it, you knew this deep down inside, but you decided to take them on anyway, just because you needed the money).


2. They’re not convinced of the VALUE of what they’ll get from working with you.


3. They bring up money as an issue (I’m sure you’ve heard this one).


4. Sometimes, clients have limiting fears that keep them from moving forward, even though they really NEED your help.

What do you do? Let’s look at the different scenarios and talk about solutions for each:

1. They may simply not be your ideal client: In this case, let them walk away. Trying to CONVINCE someone who isn’t right for you in the first place is only going to create problems later. Trust me, I’ve done it. It comes back to haunt you.


2. They’re not convinced of the VALUE of what they’ll get: You’re probably talking too much about processes rather than about the results they’ll get from working with you (remember, it’s always about RESULTS, RESULTS, RESULTS). If your prospect isn’t clear they’ll get solutions to the problems that keep them up at night, they won’t plunk down their credit card to work with you. Change how you talk about what they’ll get and it’ll make all the difference.


3. They bring up money as an issue: This is usually an excuse hiding the real reason, probably that they aren’t convinced of the value you’ll bring. Let’s face it, we’ve all met people who really want to work with you, but for whom money can be an issue, and the difference in their approach is a big one. You can tell right away, because they’re the prospects who will TRY to find a way to find the money. They’ll ask about payment plans, they’ll start to save, etc. If the prospect isn’t scrambling to find a way to afford your services, then it’s usually a question of not seeing the value. In that case, refer back to #2.


4. Sometimes, clients have limiting fears that keep them from moving forward: Sometimes it’s fear of failure, sometimes fear of success, and it’s happened to me too.

I’m sharing this with you because I know I’m not the only one but few people will let themselves be vulnerable enough to talk about it. Well here’s the scoop. It’s been my experience, many times, that I’ve limited myself and gotten in my OWN way, just when I was starting to take a fantastic step towards the goals I so wanted to achieve. I stopped myself and essentially got in the way of my own success, and I’ve seen this happen over and over again with clients too.

We have our big dreams; say to ourselves that we’ll do anything to make them happen, but then sabotage our own success, often (ironically) because of fear of success. Depending on the client, I’ll gently ask if the financial discomfort they’re experiencing may be a limiting belief I tell them that I've had people go through the Client Attraction program and realize that the limitation they had around getting to the next level in their business was really created by their own mindset.

Once we examine their business success mindset, most people find a way to make the investment. That is what our coaching is about: widening my client’s perspective around business success and then taking massive action on it. It’s not just marketing.

Your Assignment:

Spend some time thinking about what clients have said when they’ve backed out from your program. Look at what REAL reason they had, spoken or unspoken, about backing out. List these on a piece of paper.

If you suspect it’s a limiting belief, then talk to them about it and gently show them they might be standing in the way of their own success. Remember to be super gentle about this and ask permission, as some people will be open to this and some might not be.

If it’s a VALUE issue, then it’s time to change your way of speaking to prospects and your marketing materials It’s also time to change the way you close the sale, so that you’re double closing all the time.

You’ve worked hard to get that client to sign up. Don’t let him (her) walk away unnecessarily. Use these techniques and you’ll be back to celebrating that client signing up. Again.

Need help tweaking your marketing materials so they’re RESULTS-focused? Need help closing the sale 97% of the time? You can get lots of help (with tons of assignments and worksheets, scripts and templates, etc.) on how to do today’s assignment. It’s all in the Client Attraction Home Study System™ and it includes lots of crucial stuff to help you fill your practice really quickly. You can get your copy at www.TheClientAttractionSystem.com.


© 2006 Client Attraction LLC. All Rights Reserved.

Fabienne Fredrickson, The Client Attraction Mentor, is founder of the Client Attraction System™ and www.ClientAttraction.com, the proven step-by-step program to attract more clients, make more m’oney being self-employed, while having more time off to enjoy it all. To receive your F.R.E.E. Audio CD by mail and get weekly how-to articles on attracting more clients, visit www.ClientAttraction.com.

Avoid Putting All Your Eggs in One Basket: Diversify Your Client Attraction Portfolio

Avoid Putting All Your Eggs in One Basket: Diversify Your Client Attraction Portfolio
By Fabienne Fredrickson

Many entrepreneurs I’ve met get comfortable doing only one or two marketing things and then focus on them to the exclusion of others. Essentially, they put all their marketing eggs in ONE basket and hope for the best. Yet, we know that most successful entrepreneurs use DOZENS of Client Attraction techniques simultaneously to PULL clients in (I do).

Instead of focusing on only one or two ways to get clients, it’s time to diversify your Marketing Portfolio and make sure you’ve got clients coming in from LOTS of different sources. I call this creating your Marketing Pie.

When coaching clients to do this in private sessions, I ask them to draw a large circle on a blank sheet of paper, and draw 4 lines to create a pie with 8 slices.

Then I ask them to fill out each slice of the pie with what they’re currently doing to attract clients (only the things that really work) and then fill in the rest of the marketing pie with marketing tools we’ve agreed will PULL their clients in. This comes from the list of where their Ideal Clients congregate, remember?

So, the list could look like this:

• Network where they network


• Join associations that allow you to rub elbows with them


• Write articles for the publications they read


• Create a Signature Talk for a workshop/seminar they attend


• List your events in publications they read


• Set up referral partnerships with people they do business with on a regular basis


• Get booked as a speaker for organizations they belong to


• Write articles for websites they visit often or rely upon


• Write an e-zine they would be interested in reading


• Give free (or paid) teleseminars they would dial into

Avoid marketing where your ideal clients are NOT spending time, as you will attract people who DON’T fit that profile.

Know that although you DO want a multi-pronged marketing approach (so that you don’t ever put all your eggs in one basket), you want to take it slow and not try to put into place ALL the pieces of the pie at the same time You’d overwhelm yourself and exhaust yourself completely, and exhaustion is not very Client Attractive.

So the idea is to start putting a couple of “slices” of the pie in place, to make them run like a well-oiled machine and THEN move on to adding another slice, one at a time.

Your Assignment:

Spend some time thinking about all the different avenues for reaching you target audience with your compelling marketing message and plot it out on a marketing pie. Then start putting one piece of the pie in place, one after the other, until your Marketing Pie is in full swing and always working to help you attract clients. No more ad hoc marketing, with no results.

OK, but what if you haven’t worked out what your compelling marketing message is yet? Or, you don’t quite know where to find them in large numbers…You can get lots of help (with tons of assignments and worksheets, templates, etc.) on how to do today’s assignment. It’s all in the Client Attraction Home Study System™ and it includes lots of crucial stuff to help you fill your practice really quickly. You can get your copy at www.TheClientAttractionSystem.com.

© 2006 Client Attraction LLC. All Rights Reserved.

Fabienne Fredrickson, The Client Attraction Mentor, is founder of the Client Attraction System™ and www.ClientAttraction.com, the proven step-by-step program to attract more clients, make more m’oney being self-employed, while having more time off to enjoy it all. To receive your F.R.E.E. Audio CD by mail and get weekly how-to articles on attracting more clients, visit www.ClientAttraction.com.