NOT Marketing Makes You Stingy

NOT Marketing Makes You Stingy
By Fabienne Fredrickson

In coaching clients, I have a tendency to see immediately when a client is using excuses, is complaining, resisting, or over-thinking an assignment. This usually means the client doesn’t want to move forward on a certain aspect of our work for whatever reason. When I press deeper, like I did this week with a client, I often get this:

“I don’t want to feel like a used car salesman. So, I’d rather not do that assignment.”

And then the conversation drops. Not another word is said, until I ask:

“So, what does self-promotion mean to you, anyway?” Then it all unfolds, little by little.

The real reason we make excuses around self-promotion is that self-employed people are afraid of what people might think. Our businesses are such an extension of who we are that we are very careful about how we talk about our businesses and what we say to others about it. The problem is (as I’ve said so many times before), if you don’t market consistently, you won’t have clients consistently. Period.

So, how can you stop being afraid of what people might think of you? You need to reframe how you view marketing. Here’s what I usually say to a reluctant marketer:

You were given gifts that no one else has and it’s for a reason. To help others in need. Whether you’re a financial planner, a massage therapist, a consultant, a real estate broker, a photographer, a coach, whatever, you’re doing what you do to help others. You’re their problem solver, their healer, their solution. They’ve got a problem and you can help.

Now, imagine this scenario.

You were given this talent, this skill and problem-solving abilities. And there are people out there who NEED you. They’re waking up in the middle of the night, with their 3 a.m. sweats, tossing and turning because they’re thinking about their problems. They’re wondering who on EARTH can possibly help them. They’re praying for an answer (I’ve done that and you probably have too).

And let’s just pretend that YOU are their answer. You’re got the skills, the talent, and the GOODS to solve that person’s problems. The thing is, they don’t know about you. You’re just not out there enough in a big way.

It’s probably because you’re afraid of being seen as too sales-y. Too promote-y. Too out-there. So, what do you do? You don’t market the way you should. You keep yourself a secret. At the same time, you’re keeping that person in the same state of tossing and turning at night, looking for an answer to their problems.

Without promoting what you offer, your clients in need can’t find you (oh sure, they could possibly stumble upon you at the corner Starbucks, but the chances are low.) They NEED you. So, look at it this way—you have the answer to their problem. You have the talent and the skill, and the product to help them.

But by not marketing, you’re essentially being…

Stingy.

That’s right. Not marketing yourself is almost a form of greed. (I don’t even like typing that word, let along thinking about it, do you?)

You see, it’s actually your God-given DUTY to promote your services. It’s your life’s purpose to help others. If you don’t get out there in a big way, even if it feels a little uncomfortable at first, then you’re depriving someone of the solution only YOU can provide in your own way.

So, do you want to be stingy with what you’ve got? If not, then go out there and do what it takes so everyone hears about you and what you do. Shout it from the rooftops, join the networking groups, send out those letters and e-zines, and create those joint ventures, whatever. Just do what it takes, do it with conviction, and do it consistently.

You have no choice. You were given this gift. Now, it’s your turn to keep giving. The only way people will hear about you is if you market yourself.

YOUR ASSIGNMENT:

1. Notice where you’ve been resisting your Client Attraction assignments.


2. See what’s really holding you back (the fears attached to the resistance).


3. Think about all those people who NEED you and, by not promoting, you’re being stingy.


4. Reframe and take action.

As a result, you’ll start attracting a lot more clients and you’ll feel great about it, because now you’ll be coming from a place of conviction, a place of authenticity, a place of solving problems, not from a selling-standpoint. That’s what Client Attraction is all about.

Now, go forth and help mankind, will ya? :)

If you don’t know where to start marketing your services, consider getting a copy of the Client Attraction Home Study System™. It’s everything you need to know to create a marketing message that will appeal to the best clients for you. You’ll learn how to decipher what makes your business remarkable, how to create Raving Fans so you get clients to call YOU, and lots of other crucial techniques to help you fill your practice quickly, including how to put together a simple marketing plan that gets you clients and then putting it on autopilot so you can have fun again. 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.

Don’t Give Up Too Easily (Clients Are Just Around the Corner)

Don’t Give Up Too Easily (Clients Are Just Around the Corner)
By Fabienne Fredrickson

Have you ever given your all to something, experienced some delays, encountered disappointments, and then given up? What about when it comes to marketing your business? Do you sometimes get frustrated because the results you want aren’t coming to you as quickly as you’d like, despite the fact that you bust your butt to see results? Do you then start to doubt yourself, your skills and talent, your ability to succeed?

You’re not the only one. I know I’ve been there more than once since being self-employed. I have been tempted to quit on projects or promotions that weren’t going strong on more than one occasion. And I’ve even contemplated given up on self-employment when the chips were down and times were tough.

I remember being in my own practice less than a few years, and for a few weeks, things got really tough financially. It seemed like no one was signing up for my program all of a sudden, two (non-ideal) clients had decided to back out and money got really tight.

Was it a funk or was it a sign that I shouldn’t be self-employed? I couldn’t tell. I went into fear mode, wondering if I would have to go back to working in the corporate world, something I just couldn’t bear to think about, but I just didn’t see the alternative. I was this close to giving up and shutting down my business.

And then something happened. I was walking across Union Square in New York City, headphones on, listening to the radio and a song by Aaliyah came on the radio. The lyrics really spoke to me:

And if at first you don’t succeed

Then dust yourself off and try again

You can dust it off and try again (Try again)

'Cause if at first you don’t succeed

You can dust it off and try again

Dust yourself off and try again (Try again)

It was a good song and came at a good time.

When the song was over, I flipped to another channel on my Walkman. The SAME song came on. I listened to it and got chills up my spine. I thought, “OK, perhaps I shouldn’t give up so easily. Maybe there is a way.”

Not sure if you’ll believe this, because I didn’t at first. But I flipped to yet another channel. And yes, there it was. The song was playing again. The SAME song about not giving up, about dusting myself off and trying again. I got more than chills. My eyes welled up in tears and I stopped in my tracks. I stood there silently and made a commitment to myself: I was never going to give up. I was going to do what it took to succeed at this thing. And the rest is history.

YOUR ASSIGNMENT:

1. Don’t give up. If the going gets though, if marketing becomes a challenge or you’re not seeing results, keep persisting. Try a different approach. Look at what successful people are doing and do something similar (don’t copy—just get inspired). Finish what you’ve been procrastinating. Look for support, a mentor or a marketing coach. Don’t give up, success is right around the corner and most people give up JUST before they reach the top.



2. Print up the following quotes on persistence and stick them on the wall next to your computer, tape them on your bathroom mirror and your refrigerator, whatever it takes to read them over and over again, to give you the strength to keep going. I’m rooting for you and I know you can do it. :)

Quotes to keep you in Client Attraction Mode, even when things get tough:

Never, never, never give up!
—Winston Churchill

Never Quit. "Don't ever, ever quit. Recognize that stopping now, regrouping to try a new approach isn't quitting. If you quit you'll regret it forever.
—Rudy Ruettiger

Great works are performed not by strength but by perseverance.
—Samuel Johnson

Success seems to be largely a matter of hanging on after others have let go.
—William Feather

Character consists of what you do on the third and fourth tries.
—James A. Michener

Most of the important things in the world have been accomplished by people who have kept on trying when there seemed to be no hope at all.
—Dale Carnegie

A champion is someone who gets up, even when he can't.
—Jack Dempsey

It's not whether you get knocked down; it's whether you get up.
—Vince Lombardi

Let me tell you the secret that has led me to my goal. My strength lies solely in my tenacity.
—Louis Pasteur

If you are going through hell, keep going.
—Winston Churchill

When you reach the end of your rope, tie a knot in it and hang on.
—Thomas Jefferson

I think and think for months and years. Ninety-nine times, the conclusion is false. The hundredth time I am right.
—Albert Einstein

Never give up on something that you can't go a day without thinking about.
—Unknown

When things go wrong as they sometimes will;
When the road you're trudging seems all uphill;
When the funds are low, and the debts are high
And you want to smile, but have to sigh;
When care is pressing you down a bit-
Rest if you must, but do not quit.
Success is failure turned inside out;
The silver tint of the clouds of doubt;
And you can never tell how close you are
It may be near when it seems so far;
So stick to the fight when you're hardest hit-
It's when things go wrong that you must not quit.
—Unknown

Hey, if getting in action to market yourself is what you need, just get a copy of the Client Attraction Home Study System™. It’s everything you need to know to create a marketing message that will appeal to the best clients for you. You’ll learn how to decipher what makes your business remarkable, how to create Raving Fans so you get clients to call YOU, and lots of other crucial techniques to help you fill your practice quickly, including how to put together a simple marketing plan that gets you clients and then putting it on autopilot so you can have fun again. You can read more about it and get a copy at http://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.

How You FEEL Dictates How Many Clients You’ll Attract

How You FEEL Dictates How Many Clients You’ll Attract
By Fabienne Fredrickson

As entrepreneurs looking to grow our businesses, we mostly tend to focus on the marketing of our businesses (and I applaud this, of course). I’m known to get on my soap box and say, “If you don’t market today, you won’t have clients in 6 months. And if you don’t market consistently, you won’t have clients consistently.” Obviously, marketing is crucial to staying in business.

One thing that’s become clearer and clearer to me over the years is that there’s also an INNER game to Client Attraction. Our mindset, our thoughts, our beliefs and how we FEEL, have a lot to do with what shows up in our lives and our business. What we think about, and how good or bad we feel, literally dictates the number of clients and the level of revenues we pull in.

Client Attraction is just that, PULLING in what we want.

I’ve been studying the Law of Attraction for many years and have been working on my own limiting beliefs for just as long. We all have these limiting beliefs. Stuff we heard when we were young, experiences that have shaped us and events we witnessed that created a deep impression on us.

It’s hard to escape, it’s even rampant in one’s family. Here’s what I heard (and still hear) in mine:

• If you eavesdropped on my family’s conversations when I was young, you would commonly hear the phrase “La vie est difficile” (Life is Difficult). This was just an accepted fact. And for a large part of my early life, it seemed like that was indeed true. I experienced many hardships and emotional setbacks. It seems indeed that life wasn’t easy, until I started working on my mindset and realized that it didn’t have to be that way.



• I was reflecting on how lucky and grateful I felt the other day as I was showing someone around my new house at the beach (and the boat and everything). This person looked at me quizzically and said, “Don’t forget, Fabienne, you have what you have not just because you’re lucky, but because you worked really hard for it. That’s the ONLY way to get what you want in life.” Well, I was startled, because I now know that that’s only partly true.

I see both of these comments and thought patterns as being limiting. The truth is, I’ve asked for these things, believed I could have them, and invited them into my life, while taking action to get them. I essentially changed my inner game of attraction by changing my thoughts.

Want to know what I did to switch my INNER game of attraction, including Client Attraction? I’ve done much personal growth and development work, read a ton of books, but these are some things I’ve done recently that really stand out:

1. I stopped thinking and saying that ‘life is difficult.’ Instead, I started saying ‘Life is Good’ over and over again to myself. I even went as far as getting ‘Life is Good’ hats, t-shirts and bumper stickers for our cars and our boat at http://www.lifeisgood.com/index.asp?idAffiliate=. Not only do I want people around me to recognize that life CAN be good, but I want to remind myself of this every time I look around.



2. I started building a book library that would help me change my mindset about what it takes to attract more money, clients, love, or anything into my life. And it’s all worked. My favorites are “Ask and It Is Given” by Esther Hicks, “Excuse Me, Your Life is Waiting” by Lynn Grabhorn and “The Attractor Factor” by Joe Vitale.



3. I’ve watched the movie The Secret ($4.95 at thesecret.tv) about 5 times in the last few weeks and will continue to watch it, over and over again, as I pick up something new each time.

What’s the common element to all of these books, movies, and sayings? That FEELING GOOD is the key to getting what you want, including clients. Here’s my formula for attracting clients.

1. First, you have to get clear how many clients you need, and what type you want (only the good ones).



2. Get in a good-feeling place and ask for the number and types of clients you want.



3. Release your intention, feeling good about it, knowing that you deserve it, and that it’s on its way to you.



4. Notice the happy coincidences that start to pop up around you.



5. Take immediate action on these happy coincidences.



6. Be grateful and continue to feel good.

Notice how FEELING GOOD comes up throughout? In my opinion, it’s the key to attracting all the clients and all the money you want (or anything, for that matter).

YOUR ASSIGNMENT:

1. Start changing what you say and think about your life or your Client Attraction situation. You can even say to yourself, “I attract clients easily and in large numbers.”



2. Read the books outlined above, and put them into practice. These are the Crème de la Crème.



3. Watch the movie thesecret.tv as many times as you can.



4. Get yourself in a good-feeling place and follow my INNER GAME of Client Attraction formula above.



5. Never stop marketing and do what it takes to succeed (hey, you still gotta take action, but it doesn’t have to be a struggle).

Stick with this program, don’t give up. Sometimes it happens right away, sometimes in a few weeks. The key is persistence. Once you do this, notice how many more clients come into your life. Notice your bank account. Then, write me an email at mailto:infor@clientattraction.com to tell me about your success stories, OK?

By the way, if action marketing is the missing piece for you, there are dozens of worksheets in the Client Attraction Home Study System™ that will help you create a marketing message that will appeal 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 http://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.

Skip the Marketing Jargon to Attract More Paying Clients

Skip the Marketing Jargon to Attract More Paying Clients
By Fabienne Fredrickson

Many people get tempted to use the fancy phrases that they use on a regular basis, in their marketing materials. Problem is they end up speaking “above” their prospects’ heads.

I see this use of jargon all too often when visiting people’s websites and in networking groups. My impression is there’s a lack of confidence in there somewhere and people are trying to compensate by trying to sound overly professional or fancy. Well, the result is that not only are people’s eyes glazing over, they’re also probably losing lots of potential clients that way, and not to mention, lots of potential referrals.

Only people in your industry know what you mean when you use fancy words that are meant to exclude, rather than include. A potential client is not always part of YOUR industry and as such, they won’t really understand all the technical stuff. Besides, they don’t care WHAT you do, remember? They only care about what you can do for THEM.

So, skip the jargon, will you? It’s time to pretend that your audience and referral partners are 6-year olds, and not as an insult, but rather, as a way to have what you say be:

1. memorable


2. easy to understand


3. repeatable

That’s why I don’t talk about fancy marketing plans or closing-the-sale scripts in my own marketing materials. All I basically talk about is, More Clients, In Record Time and Consistently.

Client example: A couple of years ago, a client came to me saying he was having a difficult time getting additional clients, mostly, getting attention from his prospects long enough to turn them into paying clients.

Once I heard his marketing message, I understood EXACTLY what the problem was and it came down to just one word: “fiduciary.” Now, I don’t know about you, but when I first met him, I didn’t really use that word frequently (to tell you the real honest truth, I didn’t know what it meant) and I suspected his prospects didn’t either.

Instead of talking on the prospect’s level, this client was speaking in nothing but jargon and he realized it was becoming a big turnoff. Basically, business was literally slipping through his fingers because of it.

Once I explained to him what was going on, he switched his marketing message from providing complicated “fiduciary and 401K services” to “taking the financial piles of paper off the desks of HR people,” and guess what? Yup, he has more business than he can handle now. (I love this client. He totally GOT it, once I pointed it out. Whenever I see him, we now laugh about “fiduciary.”)

Your Assignment:

Make sure you phrase your marketing message and claim in everyday terms, preferably results. Practice on a 6-year old child, if you can. Tell the child your marketing message and ask them to tell you what you do.

Believe me; kids are smarter than most adults are on this stuff, so if they can’t repeat it, your prospects and referral sources probably won’t know what you do either. It all comes down to K.I.S.S. (keep it simple, sweetheart!).

By the way, there are dozens of worksheets in the Client Attraction Home Study System™ that will help you create a marketing message that will appeal 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.