To Attract More Clients, Plug Into Your Purpose

To Attract More Clients, Plug Into Your Purpose
By Fabienne Fredrickson

If you’ve been in business for a few years, you’ve probably been marketing your business for just as many years (hopefully). You’ve tried marketing tactics that worked, and if you’re anything like me, you’ve tried some that didn’t and failed miserably.

After a while, I believe everyone gets into a slump with their marketing plan. This happens with a majority of my clients at some point or other, and has happened to me too in the past. There are many reasons for this:

1. We get bored.


2. We get complacent or lazy.


3. We become greedy or simply in it for the money.

I could give you solutions to all three of these reasons, but these would be using your willpower and discipline. Today, I want to appeal to your sense of purpose.

If you want a successful business, having a purpose in marketing your business is an absolute necessity, and it shouldn’t be just making money. Yes, making lots of money is great. Money is necessary and it makes life way easier. But if the ONLY reason you’re in business is to make money, I believe that for most people, it’s much more difficult to get up the strength to market something that just takes from people, without giving back more than what you give.

Besides, people will feel that energetically and read right through you.

The solution? Connect (or reconnect) to your purpose. If you’ve been dragging your feet about getting out there to market your business, perhaps it’s time to reexamine if you’re connected to the original purpose for getting in business. I’m a big fan of Ralph Marston’s Daily Motivators and he recently wrote something on the subject of purpose that really resonated with me:

“Where there is purpose, there is energy. Actions directed toward a compelling purpose will create a powerful momentum that lines up events and circumstances in your favor. Purpose gives you a reason to get going each day and strengthens your determination to persist when the going gets tough. Purpose pushes you firmly toward your highest level of accomplishment.”

I couldn’t agree more. I’ve talked in the past about letting yourself be pulled by your future. Today, we’ll call it being pulled forward by your purpose.

If you look at any great humanitarian leader, you’ll notice they’ve had many obstacles and tribulations along the way. Somehow, they always seemed to get right back on that proverbial horse and try, try again, didn’t they? If they’d been in their cause just for the power or the money, they may have given up shortly after starting. But I’ll guess that their strong purpose gave them the strength and determination to keep going, to push through the obstacles and reach their goals, because there was a greater purpose to it all.

When I see a client who starts to drag their feet or for whom something’s not going well, it’s usually a sign that something’s not quite right, as opposed to just procrastination. Either they’re marketing something for the wrong reason or they’re not being true to their purpose and the reason that they’re here. For many, they’ve chosen to ignore the nagging voice within that tells them something’s not right.

Perhaps they don’t even know WHAT their purpose is. For many of us self employed people, it’s to serve others and make a difference in people’s lives, in one way or another. My opinion is that when we get away from that, marketing or doing anything in business is much more difficult.

And yeah, by the way, when we are authentic, serve people well and stay connected to that purpose, the money inevitably flows. The best part about making good money doing something that really matters to you is that the money is a byproduct of doing things well and for the right reason. It feels great, not sleazy or like we’ve ripped off someone.

Your purpose is to help others AND to feel good doing it. Once you find it, throw yourself into it. Since having a strong purpose in your business gives you more energy and determination, it’s time to either get reconnected to the reason you originally got in business or to figure out what yours is. Remember though, sometimes our resolve gets tested to make sure we REALLY want this badly enough. Persevere; don’t give up.

YOUR ASSIGNMENT:

What’s YOUR purpose? Here are questions to ask yourself to find your own purpose or reconnect to it:

1. What section of the bookstore do you gravitate towards? (I was reading success-mindset and marketing books on my honeymoon and it didn’t feel like work.)


2. What is the greatest challenge you overcame?


3. What brings the most meaning to your life?


4. If you had all the money you needed, but still wanted to work, what would you do to make a difference in the world while bringing you happiness?

Whether it means connecting to it for the first time or simply reconnecting, do what it takes to live as close to your purpose as possible, no matter what the setbacks. Tweak the way you do things right now so it feels right and like there’s real meaning in your life. Success will naturally come to you when you do.

You won’t believe you get paid to live it.

Got your purpose but having a difficult time marketing it? Then 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.

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.

3 Ways Your Compelling Story Gets You Clients

3 Ways Your Compelling Story Gets You Clients
By Fabienne Fredrickson

Many of us entrepreneurs are drawn to our particular profession by a specific defining moment or series of events that changed everything in our lives. Because of that moment, some of us dropped everything and decided to dedicate the rest of our professional lives to doing what we now do.

As you may know, my compelling story is my before-and-after scenario: how I went from not enough clients and struggling to pay the bills, to learning everything I could about marketing, networking and business management. As a result of creating my own Client Attraction System™, I turned my practice from a mediocre one to one bursting at the seams just 8 months later, thereby eliminating my “3-A.M.-I-don’t-have-enough-clients-sweats.”

My own ‘compelling story’ is something I tell to establish instant credibility with new prospects, in front of an audience or at the beginning of my Client Attraction Home Study System™. Clients and people in my seminars have repeatedly told me that hearing it was one of the first reasons they then hired me. It spoke to them because I’d been in their shoes too, at one point, and now I’m on the other side of the Client Attraction challenge. They tell me they too have tossed and turned at night with the “3 A.M. sweats,” and that to see someone having survived it and now thriving, they feel they can too.

You may also have a compelling story that no one else has. Your compelling story may be that you overcame a serious challenge in business, in your health or in life that caused you to change your course and do what you do now to help others with the same struggles.

You can use your compelling story several ways to attract clients:

1. First and foremost, it helps the prospect bond with you. If you’re in a business like mine, it’s the know-like-and-trust factor that you need to really establish with your target audience. People aren’t buying a “business.” They’re buying a solution first and a relationship second.


2. It can be the beginning of your signature talk or your teleclasses, helping you to “earn the right” to be up there speaking to an audience that doesn’t know you yet.


3. If you don’t have a lot of credentials, it can give you instant credibility. You’ve been through what they’ve been through too, you’ve experienced success, and now you’re back to tell them how to solve their problems.

Client example: A travel agent who once attended one of my Full Day Client Attraction events had a breakthrough in figuring out what makes his seemingly non-descript travel business different from the competition and it was his compelling story.

To paraphrase it, his travel business focused on cruises. During a group coaching moment in the workshop, I asked him what brought him to focus on cruises, and he painted a scenario for us that no one in the room will forget. You see, a few years ago, he was diagnosed with a very serious health concern and he intuitively knew that his current corporate job was literally making him sick.

One day, because he couldn’t take the toxic environment, this unhappy employee signed himself up for a cruise. He came back having experienced what felt like heaven to him and he continued to vacation on cruises regularly and was shocked to see his health condition was getting rapidly better. According to him, he has now healed himself of his health concern, and it all started by taking care of himself and his soul by going on a cruise regularly.

He decided to quit his job and dedicate the rest of his professional life to helping people break free of toxic lifestyles by experiencing the wonders of the cruise lifestyle.

I tell you, there was not a dry eye in the room. THIS was a compelling story and everyone there was truly compelled to take a cruise after hearing him, even if they’d never considered taking a cruise before. Best of all, they wanted to work with HIM to book the details of the cruise, not their regular travel agent. Had we not gone through this exercise in person, he says he would never have considered this story something that would attract clients and give him an advantage over other travel agents. But it does.

Your Assignment:

What is YOUR compelling story around your business? What brought you to do what you’re doing today with such passion? What is your before-and-after story and how did you overcome your situation?

Sprinkle this in your marketing materials or in conversation. Creating your compelling story to share with others can be a catalyst and one of the most powerful ways for you to attract clients through the know-like-and-trust factor.

Need to discover other ways of attracting clients by differentiating yourself in the marketplace? Then 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.

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.

You Gotta Be RUTHLESS About Your Time

You Gotta Be RUTHLESS About Your Time (How to Get It ALL Done)
By Fabienne Fredrickson

Several times in the past few months, private clients have asked me “How the heck do you get it ALL done?”

“Fabienne, how do you do it? You have a full schedule of clients back-to-back each day, two energetic little children. In addition, you write a weekly newsletter and articles, conduct tele-seminars several times per month, run Boot Camps on a regular basis, on top of the new products you’re creating. You travel around the country to speak to associations and organizations, have a great relationship with your husband, and are still able to close your office at 5:15pm (just about) everyday to play with the kids. What gives?!”

No wonder they’re curious. Now that I see it all down on paper, it does seem like a lot. But, before you think I’ve got it all figured out, let me be very truthful with you. I have a crazy number of emails in my inbox, many of which need answering. And every so often, a few things fall through the cracks. Hey, I’m human after all, but I’m better off than I’ve ever been before.

What I realize from coaching people over the years is that I have indeed figured out a few things about getting it all done, or at least, a lot of it done, while still having sanity and a lot of fun in my life. It’s all about BOUNDARIES around time, with others, but mostly with me.

I’m realizing you have to be RUTHLESS with your boundaries around time management, because no one else will.

One of my favorite books on this subject is Dan Kennedy’s “No B.S. Time Management for entrepreneurs.” I can’t tell you how amazing this book is. It’s actually become required reading for all my private clients looking to get more clients and make more money than they are making now.

Although I’m pretty good at getting things done, the “Time Management Techniques Really Worth Using” has changed everything for me. What Dan came up with should be universal materials for every one of us entrepreneurs and sole practitioners who wonder how to get it all done. I’m certainly even more RUTHLESS with my time than before using the following, direct from Dan’s book:

(A caveat: you may not agree with some of these, and that’s OK. Some of them are a little harsh. But just think about what your time would look like if you applied even 2 or 3 of these…)

1. Tame the phone: You don’t need to literally jump every time the phone rings. Take few, if any, incoming calls; return calls at your convenience, instead of on-the-spot. (Most every call, even from a prospective client, can wait a half a day to be answered.)


2. Minimize meetings: I implemented this technique several years ago and it’s worked wonders on my schedule. People (especially prospective clients) often want to meet me in person to talk about something. Problem is, it takes 15 minutes for me to get somewhere (minimum), an hour to “meet” and then 15 minutes to get back from the meeting. That’s an hour and a half! Instead, I now speak to people on the phone for 15 minutes and get just as much done. Amazing, you should try it.


3. Practice Absolute Punctuality: The bottom line about this is, when
   you are absolutely punctual, it shows the other person you expect and
   demand they respect your time with the utmost respect. You can’t expect
   that others will treat your time with respect when you don’t show
   respect for theirs. (Most of us can afford to get better at this.) And
   beware of prospective clients who are late to initial consultations with
   you. It may be that they’re not trustworthy about other stuff.


4. Make and Use Lists: You can’t get anything done when it’s all
   swimming around in your head, like a jumbled mess. Write it down and
   find systems to help you prioritize and get things done. There’s a lot
   out there on making and using lists effectively; find the way that will
   work best for you.


5. Fight to Link Everything to Your Goals: Ask yourself “Is what I am
   doing, this minute, moving me measurably closer to my goal?” (I have
   this on an index card next to my computer, to remind me often.) Just the
   simple act of asking yourself this question several times a day will
   dramatically increase your productivity. You have no business doing
   stuff that’s not directly related to your goals. If it’s not moving you
   forward toward your goal, making you money or attracting clients, drop
   it or delegate it now.


6. Block Your Time: It’s been said that one of the hidden secrets of people who consistently achieve peak productivity is that they make sacred appointments with themselves, appointments they aren’t allowed to cancel. You’ve heard me say this before, especially if you’re a private client of mine. In nearly every coaching call I have with someone, we create BLOCKS of uninterrupted time to get things done.
   
   
   We’re talking blocks of time each day and each week for Client Attraction work, but also for certain projects that need to get done. If there’s a major task on my plate to get done, I’ll actually estimate how long it will take, and then put it in my calendar as I would a client appointment. I don’t allow myself to break this commitment. Try it. It works like magic and allows you to get so much more done than if you tried to squeeze it in somewhere between clients.

YOUR ASSIGNMENT:

Go to Amazon.com and get yourself a copy of Dan Kennedy’s book “No B.S. Time Management for Entrepreneurs”, today. It’s that good. (He’s a little abrasive, but it’s all well worth it.) For $9.95, you can’t beat it.

Start applying some of the steps listed above. I guarantee that the number of PRODUCTIVE hours you spend making money and attracting clients will increase dramatically. It did for me, BIG TIME. Ca-ching!

Want to know the ins-and-outs of how I actually manage my time to continue to be a Client Attraction Machine? It’s all in the Client Attraction Home Study System™, along with hundreds of other valuable How-To’s to help you get more clients. Here’s where you get yours:
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.