Client Attraction

Client Attraction Blog Has Moved

2009-02-13T15:52:00.005-05:00

I have MOVED my blog onto my Client Attraction site at www.clientattraction.com/blog . Please bookmark that site as the new location for all the Client Attraction articles you're used to reading weekly.

Getting Out There In A Bigger Way Means Overcoming Your Fear of Criticism

2009-02-06T15:28:00.001-05:00

QUOTE: "Your playing small does not serve the world. There is nothing enlightened about shrinking so that other people won't feel insecure around you. We are all meant to shine... And as we let our own light shine, we unconsciously give other people permission to do the same. As we are liberated from our own fear, our presence automatically liberates others." -Marianne Williamson

During a Mastermind session over a year ago, I got clear on the ONE obstacle that was standing between me and tripling my business past the 7-figure mark. Contrary to what I originally thought, it wasn't a lack of knowledge, of what to do next or a marketing challenge. I actually knew exactly what to do to double or triple my business. For me, it was a question of leveraging my time, my marketing and my resources so that I can help many, many more solo-preneurs get more clients, create systems for marketing, clean up their mindset and give them the tools and the permission to succeed (I teach this heavy-duty stuff in my upcoming workshop). That's my purpose and it's actually fun for me.

What WAS holding me back was something much more internal. It was the deeply ingrained fear that the bigger I got, meaning the bigger my business got, the more I would make myself a target for criticism and "pot shots".

Here's why:

For years, I'd witnessed women entrepreneurs truly succeed and watched as others simultaneously began to pick them apart, to criticize them and sometimes trash them, even when they didn't know them. Have you noticed that too? Ironically enough, it's usually other women doing the criticizing (instead of the supporting), and I'm sad to say, I've sometimes partaken in that in the past too, even when I didn't know the person. I deeply regret it now, and not just because I am now in the very same position.

In fact, it even happened just last week, when I sent out a picture of me being celebrated for my recent business accomplishments by my mentor (private jet, limos, a party in my honor, etc.) I received dozens of yummy emails, phone calls and FaceBook notes saying it was an inspiration to others to see this. And then, there were also a couple of harsh emails, obviously meant to cut me down. I'll tell you, even just a year ago, it would have devastated me to read those (FYI, my team doesn't usually let me see the bad ones - which I would recommend you set up as a system). These days though, I realize it has NOTHING to do with me.

It's just that particular individual's resentment of not being in the same place yet. It's them thinking that perhaps something's wrong with THEM and then they need to park that anger someplace other than themselves. I know because it's the same resentment I used to feel years ago when I wanted so badly to have "arrived" too, and I was wondering why it hadn't happened to ME yet.

Somehow, it seems that the bigger in business you get, the more people feel entitled to take you down. My friend Valerie Hayes (PageantInterviewCoach.com) coaches her pageant contestant clients that as they become more of a 'celebrity', they must recognize that they're now a target for gossip and to just "deal with it". As she says, it's just a part of human conditioning and that you can't do anything about it. It almost means you've "arrived", a signal of success.

What she also shared with me is that if people are criticizing YOU, it's almost never about you, but about THEM. When you put yourself out there in a BIG way, you have to realize there WILL be a backlash. I believe it threatens or intimidates people when you have the courage to stand out a little bit more. It's that Tall Poppy syndrome that Australians talk about, meaning, tall poppies need to be cut down when they grow higher than other flowers in the field. Funny enough, poppies are one of my very favorite flowers and I have paintings of them in my office. Perhaps I was born to be a Tall Poppy. What about you?

The solution for getting over the fear of criticism that comes from getting bigger is to come from a place of Compassion and Purpose. Compassion because I believe that deep down, people don't mean to be malicious (I didn't when I was the one taking the pot shots). It's just their own "stuff" that comes up, feelings of inadequacy, resentment or jealousy that they haven't arrived yet.

If this is something you fear, something that keeps you from playing BIG, realize that their personal issues are not your problem, so ignore them, with compassion, especially if you've been there too at one point. Then, focus on your Purpose, because when you stay focused on the purpose for your business (helping OTHERS), then anything else becomes secondary, even if it hurts sometimes. Focus on your leadership and power as being something that SERVES and INSPIRES others, not hurts others. In doing so, you'll shine and then give others permission to shine.

In a battle between Fear of Criticism and Helping Others, courage will take you through the fear and into doing the right thing, despite what snippy people will say. The bottom line is, the 'yummy' people will stay and that's all that matters:

"Those Who Mind Don't Matter and Those Who Matter Don't Mind." - Dr. Seuss.

Your Client Attraction Assignment:

Have you been holding yourself back in marketing because of fear of growing too big and being criticized? You've heard me say this a thousand times: "It's your DUTY to get out there and market your services in a big way because it's your DUTY to help others." Your fear of criticism is simply your ego wanting to protect itself from the unknown, wanting you to stay small and stay safe. Fact is, it doesn't serve YOU or anyone else to stay small.

Look at fear in the face and start thinking about the worst-case-scenario. What's the worst that can happen if you get criticized a little? Would you die? Probably not. Would you survive? Probably yes. THEN, look at all the upsides to moving through your fear of growing your business bigger. List all the wonderful things that would come from it and live from THAT place. Remember, Successful People feel the fear, and they do it anyway. And now it's your turn (and mine) to get out there and help even MORE people reach their own dreams. :)

Now, if you're not sure what you need to do to get out there in a BIGGER way with your marketing in the first place, then I urge you to take action and invest in a proven step-by-step marketing system that will get you big results, in a way that will feel easy and authentic to you. The Client Attraction Home Study System™ avoids all the unnecessary stuff and instead gives you the most important things to do to get out there in a big way, set up simple, solid systems, so 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. So easy. All the tools, scripts, templates, and examples are handed to you on a silver platter. You can get it at TheClientAttractionSystem.com.

Be Willing To Do What Others Aren't: Take Action, In Spite Of

2009-01-30T16:01:00.001-05:00

Sometimes, you just KNOW there's something you need to take action on to take your business forward. However, if you're anything like me, you've gotten stopped in the past, even when it's something you KNOW will create big results. You procrastinate, you tidy up your office, get another cup of coffee, ANYTHING to not get it done. Ever have that happen to you?

There are different reasons why you may be stalling from taking action. It could be that you don't know the next steps, that you're not sure how to move forward. That happens, but that's not what we're talking about today. Most likely, it's something deeper.

For me, the procrastination in moving forward is directly tied to the outcome, especially when the outcome really means a lot to me. When it's something meaningful, something BIG, it's a combination of, "Wow, I hope I don't screw this up" and simultaneously, "What will happen if I succeed? Can I really handle the success and the abundance that will come my way? Am I really cut out for this much good stuff coming into my life?" (Just writing that seems ridiculous, but that's what sometimes comes up, and I KNOW I'm not the only one.)

That's what I call your INNER game of Client Attraction (mindset) dictating your OUTER game of Client Attraction (marketing.)

Although I'm usually focused and take a no-excuses approach to getting things done, it happened again recently. I had set aside the time to finalize a big project and instead, I found myself doing things I "used" to do: going to eat something instead of sitting down to write it, cleaning out my office, even wiping down the desk, shopping for shoes online, and then I realized what was really happening.

I was momentarily being stretched past my comfort zone.

You see, this project is something I've wanted to do for a long time. It's everything I'm passionate about. It's about giving people the real-life tools they need to market their business, while getting them out of their OWN way, so they can actually succeed. It's my passion, it's my dream, and it's my calling (just reading that gets me choked up.) So, as you can see, this isn't a light thing for me. There's a lot at stake, both professionally and personally. And actually DOING it has me feeling a little uncomfortable. Thoughts keep creeping up: "Will they want it? Will they pay for it? Will they come?"

That creepy gremlin of self-doubt reared its ugly head once again. I thought I'd clobbered him, but he was back. Thing is, I wasn't going to let him win once again. So this time, I decided to take ACTION, in spite of the fear, in spite of the uncomfortable feelings of self-doubt.

The key was to recognize WHAT was stopping me from taking action. What was at the core? What was this all about? Once that was clear, I chose an action that would move me forward, in spite of any negative feelings, or what my inner critic or gremlins were telling me.

Then, I wrote down the action I wanted to get done THAT DAY. Just ONE action step. Admittedly, it FELT massive, but it was just one thing to do. Next, I asked myself how it would feel at the end of the day, having accomplished that one goal, that one action. I envisioned being really proud of myself, happy inside, and knowing that I had done something really good today. The day had not been wasted. Once that was done, I got to work on the task I'd been pushing off.

Well, every time this happens, the result is always the same. YES, the first few minutes are uncomfortable. I'm fidgety, a little anxious, I dread it. But once the flow gets going, once I'm committed to the project, it all just glides from there. When I'm in the flow, ideas start to surface that I hadn't thought about, concepts start to come together, and the whole thing just takes shape, making it easier than I thought it would have been.

After a while, you get a rush. That uninterrupted flow of creativity starts to take over and it's like you're riding a wave. At the end of the day, you're feeling a high, a pride, and a real sense of accomplishment. Not just because you took a step FORWARD for your business, but because you took that step IN SPITE OF.

Your Client Attraction Assignment:

So, I ask you today. What is it that you've been putting off? What is it that has great importance to you that you've been procrastinating on? What's one thing that, if you got it done today, would move your business forward immeasurably? What could you take action on, in spite of any feelings of discomfort, knowing that once it's done, you'll feel AMAZING?

Write down the action you will take, then the FEELING you will have after accomplishing it at the end of the day (or preferably, by 11am?) Focus on that feeling and just begin it.

Remember, successful people are simply people who are willing to do what others aren't. Are you willing to do that? It's a new way of looking at your life and your business: the no-excuses approach. Once you do, Client Attraction becomes big time easy.

I don't get out of bed in the morning to be average, to do what everyone else does. How about you? Try it.

OK, now you're ready to take action, but what if you aren't sure what to do to get clients? Then get a copy of the Client Attraction Home Study System™. I've outlined every Client Attraction technique in detail, and it's all there so you can start using it right away to get similar results. 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. SO easy. That's why my clients have gotten such great results from it. All the tools, scripts, templates, and examples are handed to you on a silver platter. You can get yours at TheClientAttractionSystem.com. Why struggle when you can just model a system that already works?

Did You Get Lazy In Marketing? (If You Want More Clients, Do What You USED To Do)

2009-01-23T14:24:00.002-05:00

It's a phenomenon that happens to most people in business for themselves after a few years. When solo-entrepreneurs first get started in marketing their business, they have gusto, they have energy, and many take a no-excuses approach to getting clients. They're WILLING to do what it takes, and they do it often (most of them).

But after a few years, they begin to rest on their laurels, they get lazy, and after a while, they stop doing what they used to do to get clients. Some stop networking; some stop doing free intro classes, either in person or over the phone; some no longer do as much speaking as they used to. They've slowed down their marketing, and then they wonder what's happened to their pipeline: it's empty.

Oh, and I hear a whole bunch of excuses as to why they're no longer doing these things, too. There's always a YEAH-BUT... "I don't FEEL like doing that anymore," or "I've already done that, it won't work again," or even "I'm tired, I don't want to work that hard." Some even begin to wonder if they should stay self-employed, ready to give up.

As a result of the excuses, the well continues to dry up and they find themselves digging the well when they're thirsty (Not fun: it creates sleepless nights and financial troubles.) Then, the fear sets in and they scramble for NEW things to do. Ever done that?

It seems they want to reinvent the wheel. They're looking for new ways of doing things and this creates a sometimes frenetic, frantic approach to getting clients. I believe this ties into the "Bright Shiny Object Syndrome" we talked about recently, always looking for something new to do, something exciting, while leaving behind the proven stuff.

However, what I've learned over the years is, doing something new doesn't always create results as quickly. The systems aren't as easy to put in place and there's always a learning curve for new stuff. What clients are surprised to hear is that, instead of creating BRAND new strategies, sometimes, we begin by going back to doing the tried-and-true, proven things that worked very well for us in the past. We go back to the basics: Marketing Pie 101.

Why reinvent the wheel when you can go back and do the simple things that are proven to work?

Your Client Attraction Assignment:

My thoughts on this: You either have EXCUSES or you have RESULTS.

So, my questions for you are:

What have you been UNWILLING to do recently to get clients that USED to work for you?
Have you stopped doing something that you did regularly in the beginning?
Where have you gotten lazy?
What used to work for you in the early days?
Are you doing this now?
Are you WILLING to do this now?

If now's the time for you to ramp up your client load, then stop everything and take a look at your Marketing Pie. Which slices of the pie are you implementing regularly? Are you not being consistent with your marketing?

It's time to go back to the basics. And, it's time to recommit. The funny thing is, when you recommit and you start doing these things again, they WORK. And what happens is, you start getting clients, more mo'ney starts pouring in, and you begin to LIKE doing these things again. Marketing becomes FUN again. Your whole demeanor changes. And, you instantly become more Client Attractive as a result. THEN, once the foundation is in, you can start adding in all the new stuff. Try it. It always works for me and my clients.

Now, if you're stuck with what to do 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™ avoids the "Bright Shiny Object Syndrome" and instead 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.

Get Past Procrastination: My 5 Steps to Getting It ALL Done

2009-01-16T10:53:00.001-05:00

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 a 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, your pipeline of prospects will be empty in 6 months, or less).

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 into 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:

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 for each item on your list is going to be (financially, time-wise, resource-wise) and then sort them by the one that will reap the most benefits (e.g., clients and re-venue) from the littlest output on your part. You'll start with that one.
What's getting in the way? Sometimes, I find procrastination is more about something getting in the way than anything else. It could be you don't have every piece of the puzzle to be able to move forward into accomplishing something. It could be 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.
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.).
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 you were unable to cancel.
Just do it: Once you've got the "task appointments" scheduled in your book, just do them. You'll power through them like you've never done before. It's actually pretty cool.

Your Client Attraction Assignment:

When marketing yourself, take notice of when you start slipping into procrastination mode (it happens to most everyone, believe 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 it 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 (especially if you have systems in place).

You may be wondering WHAT to do to market your business that'll give you the most returns with little effort on your part. If so, I recommend getting the Client Attraction Home Study System™. It gives you the most important things to do to set up simple, solid marketing 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.

You MUST Say Yes To The Business (And In-come) Within Your Reach

2009-01-09T16:14:00.002-05:00

QUOTE: "The torment of precautions often exceeds the dangers to be avoided. It is sometimes better to abandon one's self to destiny." - Napoleon Bonaparte

Have you ever felt on the verge of something BIG in your business, that the next level is just within your reach, and at the same time, wondering if you have what it takes to make it happen, if you can actually handle it? There was a point in time when I curiously observed this with colleagues, students and Mastermind Clients of mine.

I had wondered, "Why is everyone around me so afraid of the next level? Why don't they just reach out for it and make it happen?" Well, after some reflection, it dawned on me that my clients were essentially holding up a mirror for ME, as deep inside I'd been feeling the same fear of leaving my current comfort zone for something much bigger.

You see, things had been going great in this business, and yet, I kept having this nagging feeling that the next BIG level was about to show up (speaking now, from hindsight, it was right smack in front of me. Duh.) And at the same time, it seemed I was being asked by the Universe to really STEP UP my personal growth. "Healer, heal thyself". I saw how, to teach others about this 'Marketing and Mindset' stuff on a GRAND scale, I had to surrender even more to what was possible for me. You'd think this would have been easy, but somehow, for both my clients AND for me, it was still a challenge.

Several experiences came up where my "old" ways of being showed up as no longer valid, especially not for a business that was about to grow dramatically (triple its size in one year.) And normally, I take a no-excuses approach to clearing out that kind of stuff. But this time, the stuff was more lodged in than normal.

I questioned whether I was "willing" to do what it takes, whether I had courage to go really big. (Ever feel that way?)

And then a good friend sent me a copy of the movie "The Moses Code" that same week, saying knowingly, "This is what you need, Fabienne". And within chapter 5 of the movie, I broke down and sobbed. Not from sadness, but for the humbling potential of what is possible for anyone, for my clients, and what was possible for me. The message of the movie for me was simple: We all have a destiny for greatness. And as "The Moses Code" says, it can be a little scary to tackle an idea so big. The calling for our next stage of evolution (and success) is always upon us. There is a journey that you are being asked to take, something very big.

But what's also pointed out in the movie is that, instead of embracing the journey, we often say to ourselves, "Who am I to do this? I don't have what's required. I'm not enough for that." But the truth is, we must come to the realization that we are ALL being called to something great, in our businesses, in service to others, in our in-come and abundance, in that it doesn't need to be HARD WORK, and that it's OK that we are all not PRESENTLY the person able to deliver that destiny. The thing is, we grow into it as we say "YES" to the challenge. That's all it takes. Then, everything we need is then given to us.

Whether you use the word "God" in your everyday language or not, here's a quote that really moved me and got me to understand what was going on for me then:

"God does not call the qualified, it qualifies the Called, through the 'yes'."

The important thing I realized is that the person who originally said YES to the call, is not the same person who will deliver that destiny. We're constantly evolving and unfolding based on our ability and willingness to say "Yes, I am willing to go on this journey". What I got clear that fateful week was that, when you say YES when called and challenged to reach the next level, the thing that called you qualifies you. When you say YES to the next BIG level, you begin to receive the resources, the skills, the guidance, the mo-ney -- everything begins to show up. (This is EXACTLY what happened to me.) You then change and grow into the person able to deliver the destiny. So cool.

The struggle is within the ego that steps in and tries to protect the comfort zone that we've been accustomed to. The "old" way of being. And for many, it's mediocrity, struggle and frustration. You'd think, why are we SO adamant about holding on to mediocrity or frustration, but if you think about it, if that's what you've been accustomed to for years and years, it's the only thing you know. And anything else involves change. And most people don't like change and they certainly don't like being outside of their comfort zone.

The thing is, to reach that next bigger level of greatness (and professional success), you MUST be willing to step outside of your comfort zone and be willing to make the changes that seem to threaten your "safe" way of being, knowing that you are always safe anyway. There is no other way. In fact, if the change is not made, things may become even more difficult, more complicated, and more struggle shows up. Until finally your ego says "OK then, GO!, do what you have to do, I'm done."

The thing is, you DO have what it takes to bring your business to the next level. So, it's a question of COURAGE and the willingness to be without your old, frayed security blanket. And what I know from past experience is that the "fear of change and the unknown" is much greater than the actual discomfort of walking into the fear.

So, it's your choice: Greatness or Mediocrity. Which do you want in your life and in your business?

Your Client Attraction Assignment:

If you haven't yet watched the movie, "The Moses Code", I highly recommend you get a copy today (amazon.com has it). As you watch it, get clear on your potential to make a difference in other people's lives through your business. Understand that you have the ability and capacity to really take this "thing" you've created to the next BIG level. But only if you say "yes" to the challenge. I know I will.

Now that you're ready for the next level in your business, let's not forget the enormous power of Compelling Marketing. You can't help others if they don't hear about you. To attract ideal high-paying clients and dramatically increase your in-come, I suggest getting a copy of the Client Attraction Home Study System™. It includes everything you need to know to prioritize what to work on first, clear the decks and set up simple, solid systems to 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. That's why my customers have gotten such great results from it. All the tools, scripts, templates, and examples are handed to you on a silver platter. So easy. You can get yours at www.TheClientAttractionSystem.com.

Plan Out Your 3-Year Vision for Attracting Clients (and The Life You Really Want)

2009-01-02T17:35:00.002-05:00

In practice building (and getting clients) it seems to be that most self-employed people just hope for the best. They simply keep doing what they've been doing and don't have a strategy for creating the practice they'd be truly and deeply happy with. This is a big mistake in my opinion.

I used to write down my goals each year, but it never really worked for me. I just didn't feel really excited about my new goals. They didn't seem to propel me in motion and so I kind of viewed them as being useless. I never really looked at them, probably because they seemed like "shoulds" rather than "really-meaningful-wants."

Then I came across the concept of creating 3-year visions instead of just a list of goals for the upcoming year. This visioning wasn't just about business goals, but also family, financial, spiritual, and relationship goals. It became a "holistic" way of looking at what you wanted in your life. All the pieces looked like they would work together, but only because you were compelled to make it all work together, which was the first time I'd done that in such depth.

The coolest thing about visioning 3 years out came to me after I started doing this regularly. I noticed that ONE year goals were never too much of a stretch. They seemed like timid goals, goals that didn't really get me excited. But having to create a vision of what 3 years down the line would look like allowed me to REALLY think BIG.

Inhibitions dropped. My creative side started going and I really took time to see, "Hey, what WOULD I want my life to look like in 3 years, if I could have time to create it?" SHAZAM! I felt like I'd hit the jackpot.

The 3-year vision was a way for me to create something to strive for that REALLY spoke to me. Something that made my heart beat a little faster after I read it, excited to get going, and just a little bit scared of the thought of me reaching it. Now THAT would propel me into motion the way a yearly list of goals wouldn't be able to do. (By the way, my deep down secret is that I strive to reach these in 1 or 2 years, not 3, and that's usually what happens.)

So, each year, around this time, I create a 3-year vision of what I want my practice to look like. I write it in the present tense, as if it were 3 years later, that same day. For example, this past year I wrote mine on January 4, 2008 as if it was January 4, 2011, and I talked about all the things that had happened since 2008. All the things I'd accomplished in my business, with my finances, my investments, my family, and myself over the "last 3 years," which obviously hadn't actually happened yet.

Such a cool exercise and it really gets the blood flowing when you read it back to yourself, now and over the year.

"When you can clearly see yourself being there, you can see much more clearly how to get there. You can imagine the path to your dreams, and then start to actually walk it. Play an active role in your own future. Imagine with passion and detail how you'd most like it to be." -Ralph Marston, http://greatday.com

You see, I've figured out that it's not just about goals. Yes, goals are important, but the way I look at it, it's about focusing on what you REALLY want for your life, not the "shoulds." It's also about putting into effect the Law of Attraction in a big way. When you know what you want for your life, when you can imagine it with passion and feel what it feels like to have it, it's almost guaranteed to come to you.

So, this weekend, I'll be taking a couple of hours to work on my own 3-year vision. I wouldn't dream of not doing it. My success depends on it and it does for you too.

Your Client Attraction Assignment:

Your turn. Sometime this week, create a 3-year vision dated January 4, 2012. Your 3-year vision must be one that will literally PULL you into your future, will scare you just a little bit, and make your heart beat a little faster than normal whenever you read this.

Make your 3-year vision very specific, realistic, and a big STRETCH (that's what's going to move you forward quicker than you would if you didn't have it). If you're right brained, use bullet points for categories such as business, finances, personal, family, spiritual, fun, health, etc. If you're left-brained, then write freely, and remember to keep it all grounded in the specific, with lots of MEASURABLES and TANGIBLES thrown in there so you can keep track of your progress over the next 3 years (that's what I do).

Be sure to write in the present tense as if it were 3 years from now... If it doesn't scare you just a little bit or get your mind racing, then it's probably not enough of a stretch. By the way, I just looked back to last year's 3-year vision and I was SHOCKED to see how many of the goals in my 3-year vision I'd already achieved in just a little over a year. This stuff really works!!

Once you've done your 3-year vision and are ready to get marketing in a big way for 2009, invest in your success by getting yourself the Client Attraction Home Study System™. It avoids all the unnecessary stuff and instead gives you the most important things to do to find your niche, get out there in a big way, set up simple, solid systems, so 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, and when you're done with that, you move on to step two, and so on. SO easy. That's why my thousands and thousands of customers have gotten such great results from it. All the tools, scripts, templates, and examples are handed to you on a silver platter. You can get yours at TheClientAttractionSystem.com. Why struggle when you can just model a system that already works?

© 2008 Client Attraction LLC. All Rights Reserved.

Want to use this article on your website or your own ezine? No problem! But here's what you MUST include:

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 income, visit www.ClientAttraction.com.

Are You Blaming Others Because You Don't Have Enough Clients?

2008-12-19T15:34:00.003-05:00

QUOTE: "The more you say to yourself, 'I am responsible,' the stronger, better and finer a person you become. And every part of your life will improve at the same time." - Brian Tracy

One of the themes running through my life currently, and in the lives of my clients, is that of Personal Responsibility. If you've been to my workshop and on any of my calls, you know that I believe strongly in Personal Responsibility (I often call it 'The No Excuses Approach') and how I do not believe you can ever achieve BIG success without it. It's a topic that few marketers ever really talk about in depth, but one that is crucial for success.

You see, each time I bump up against a new level of success in my business, a lot of my old "stuff" comes back up. I've caught myself in the past comparing my success to others with more success, feeling resentful, feeling less-than, and sometimes even BLAMING others or my own particular situation or for not being where I would LIKE to be in terms of success in that moment. And believe me, it doesn't feel good. But perhaps you know exactly what I'm talking about...

What I noticed is that I'm not the only one. As different people in my life, both personally and professionally, move up to the next level, or really WANT to move up to the next level, but instead, begin to feel frustrated, I see them pointing fingers OUTSIDE themselves, blaming their situation, a certain person, the system, the economy, a program they took, or whatever else they can find to shuck responsibility for where they are.

What I also noticed is that, in the end, I'm ultimately responsible for everything in my life, every increase in my in-come and success over the last few years. But most importantly, I'm also responsible for every setback. I can blame no one but myself.

Everything I have in my life exists because of my actions, my behaviors, my words and thoughts. And it's the same for you. Every decision we make creates our circumstances and because of that, we are ultimately responsible for each success and failure, happiness, unhappiness and financial situation.

I recently found an article by Brian Tracy, one of the world's leading authorities on personal and business success. This article has become one of my favorites and I refer to it often and ask my clients to read it too, especially when they start comparing their success to others with more success, feeling resentful of their situation, blaming others, or feeling angry and 'less-than' because their particular situation is not what they'd like it to be. Here's an excerpt:

"Responsibility goes hand in hand with success, achievement, motivation, happiness and self-actualization. It's the absolute minimum requirement for the accomplishment of everything you could ever really want in life. Accepting that you're completely responsible for yourself and realizing that no one is coming to the rescue is the beginning of peak performance...

The opposite of accepting responsibility is making excuses and blaming people and things for what's going on in your life. And since everything we do is a matter of habit, if people get into the habit of making excuses, they get into the habit of evading responsibility at the same time.

If they set a goal or objective for themselves, they immediately create an excuse that they hold in reserve just in case the accomplishment of the goal is too difficult or requires more self-discipline and persistence than they had thought.

As soon as things start to go poorly, irresponsible people trot out their excuse and let themselves off the hook. But that won't get them anywhere in the long run... The more responsibility you take, the more in control you are. And the freer you are, especially in your own mind, to make decisions and to do the things you want to do. So there's a direct relationship between responsibility, control, freedom and happiness.

A person who is completely irresponsible is subject to anger, hostility, fear, resentment, doubt - all sorts of negative emotions. And here's why. All negative emotions tend to be associated with blame. Fully 99 percent of all our problems exist only because we're able to blame someone or something for them. The instant we stop blaming, our negative emotions begin disappearing.

What's the antidote to blaming? It's simple! Since your mind can hold only one thought at a time, either positive or negative, you can override the tendency to blame and become angry simply by saying, firmly, "I am responsible!" You can't accept responsibility for a situation and be angry at the same time... The acceptance of responsibility negates negative emotions and short-circuits any tendencies toward unhappiness. In fact, the acceptance of responsibility often gives you insight into what you should do to resolve the situation.

Everything that is happening to you on the outside is due to something that is happening to you on the inside, so the first place to look is within. As soon as you do that, you begin to see things that you had completely missed when you were busy blaming others and making excuses. You begin to see that you're responsible in large measure for the things that are happening to you.

You're earning today exactly what you're worth-not a penny more, not a penny less. In life, we tend to get exactly what we deserve. If you're not satisfied with the amount you're getting, look around you, at people who are doing the kind of work you would like to do and earning the kind of mo-ney you would like to earn. Ask them what they're doing differently from what you're doing. What are the causes of the effects they're getting? Once you know what they are, accept complete responsibility for your situation, apply your wonderful mind and abilities, back them with willpower and self-discipline, and get busy making the changes you need to make to enjoy the life you want to enjoy."

Your Client Attraction Assignment:

You've heard the saying, "Speak the truth. The truth will set you free." In this case, I want you to be VERY honest with yourself in answering the following... stop hiding behind your justifications or get off your high horse and answer the following:

Have you recently blamed someone or something for the fact that you haven't yet achieved what you wanted in your business?
Are you using excuses (even JUSTIFYING your situation) so that you don't have to take action in terms of getting clients or be embarrassed in case "it doesn't work out"?
Have you harbored resentment towards someone or something because you feel you were "gipped" in some way?
Do you feel anger or have lashed out in the past because your business is not where you want it to be yet?
Are you pointing fingers, saying "This is the reason I'm not making more"?
Have you compared yourself to someone else more financially successful than you currently are, feeling less-than? Have you perhaps even JUDGED that person based on their success?

Personally speaking, I know that I've been able to answer "Yes" to all of these questions at some point in my self-employed career. Whether I knew it consciously or not at the time, it all resulted from avoiding responsibility for what I was creating in my life. It didn't feel good, and it certainly did not get me moving forward towards success.

The key for me has been to be honest with myself about my responsibility. No one else can create my life except for me. Only I can control my thoughts, words, actions and behaviors. Blaming or pointing fingers does absolutely no good. In fact, it doesn't work and it's usually just an excuse that we use, in case we fail. That way, we don't need to be embarrassed. We can just say it wasn't our fault. NONSENSE.

Consider this a fork in the road of your success. This is your opportunity to step up in your business, stop using excuses, stop resenting or comparing yourself and STOP blaming others for what you have or don't have in your life. It's time to take a NO EXCUSES approach to doing what you have to do to get clients, start being consistent in your marketing, work through the programs you've bought, or clear your schedule to attend events (no matter what else has "come up") that will give you the solution you SAY you've been wanting. Begin to take FULL responsibility and making different choices and your life and business will never be the same. I promise you that; I'm living proof of it.

As you take a no-excuses approach, it's important to surround yourself with the mentors and tools for growing your business. For unsurpassed marketing know-how, I recommend the Client Attraction Home Study System™. It's everything you need to know to fill your practice quickly and authentically, including how to put together a simple plan that gets you clients and then putting it on autopilot so you can have fun again. It's all step-by-step, not a big mishmash of things. So, you do step one, and when you're done with that, you move on to step two, and so on. SO easy. That's why my thousands and thousands of customers have gotten such great results from it. All the tools, scripts, templates, and examples are handed to you on a silver platter. You can get yours at TheClientAttractionSystem.com. Why struggle when you can just model a system that already works?

© 2008 Client Attraction LLC. All Rights Reserved.

Want to use this article on your website or your own ezine? No problem! But here's what you MUST include:

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 income, visit www.ClientAttraction.com.

Think Like an Instant Billionaire

2008-12-12T14:47:00.002-05:00

In sifting through emails from a recent R&D survey I launched, I read the responses, and honestly, I wanted to cry. Don't get me wrong. It's not that I haven't been aware that most solopreneurs have very low expectations of what could be made in self-employment (I've been at this for almost 9 years after all!), but I just didn't know how LOW. Until I got the responses to the following question: "What is the most amount of money you see yourself making as a self-employed person?" Not just this year, but EVER.

Close to 200 solopreneurs (mostly female) wrote in and shared with me their "Most-I'll-ever-make-in-a-year" numbers. What shocked me was that the number itself was really LOW and the majority of people wrote in numbers within a short range: between $50,000 and $75,000. Sure, a couple of them wrote in $150,000, but even THAT seemed like a far cry from what I *know* is possible, when you shift the way you work, get good marketing in place, create systems for everything, outsource, and set up leveraged and passive streams of income.

But what really got me choked up was they didn't BELIEVE it was possible and worse, some didn't feel they deserved it. Their MINDSET wasn't accustomed to thinking BIG, and truthfully that made me very sad, almost depressed. So I went about adding it to my Client Attraction coaching curriculum.

I had to find a way for them to stretch their thinking of what might be possible for them. Then I thought of an assignment I'd gotten years ago from my very first coach, Talane Meidaner, author of Coach Yourself To Success. Back when $3,000 a month seemed like a BIG goal for me to reach in my private practice, she asked me to pretend I was an instant billionaire. The goal was to expand what I believed was possible for me and to do it in just 5 minutes' time.

Essentially, this Billionaire Game was about tapping into my every wish, desire, dream, and hope I've ever thought about. Where I wanted to travel, what I wanted life to look like, what I wanted to have, how I wanted to set up my business. What I liked about this exercise is the 5 minute limit didn't allow me to think too much and instead to just do it.

So, I set my timer and frantically wrote down all the things I wanted for my life, and my business. It was a LONG list, and when I was done, it felt actually freeing to see what I'd written down. What I realized is many of the things on the list weren't that far of a stretch, and I could live many of them NOW, if I made a few changes. But it also got me to start dreaming and imagining BIGGER things for my life.

The coolest part is it helped me expand what was possible for me. Things aren't THAT out of reach and you can live a billionaire lifestyle now, which then feeds your mindset even more that you DESERVE to make mo.re.

When I look back at the list I wrote back then, it's really cool to see I'm pretty much living that exact life now. (Although I still don't have a live-in spa chef and haven't traveled to India and Vietnam for a month each yet, but those will come.) :)

Your Client Attraction Assignment:

Give it a try. This game will help you get past your restrictions around money. Grab a paper and pen. Imagine you've just become the billion-dollar lottery winner. Not just a million. You now have more money than you'll ever be able to spend.

The condition of winning; however, is you must write down 100 different things, whatever you want to be, do, or have on a piece of paper, and you have only 5 minutes to do so. So write fast, without over-thinking. Remember to write down every wish, desire, dream, and hope you can possibly think of.

Set the kitchen timer and see if you can come up with 100 different things. Don't worry about any practical considerations of your list. Don't let anything limit or stop you. You can do, be, or have anything you want. This is about expanding possibilities. Most of us start out way too small.

I promise you one thing. This will not only affect your mindset about what's possible for you, it will also affect your Client Attraction. The more you begin to LIVE like a billionaire (on whatever your budget is), the more Client Attractive you will become. Try it and let me know how it goes, OK.

Having trouble staying in the Success Mindset and believing you CAN make a whole lot more being self-employed? You're not the only one. The good news is, I've developed a way to close the sale 97-98% of the time and I share the entire process in my Client Attraction Home Study System™. I've outlined every Client Attraction technique in detail, and it's all there so you can start using it right away to get similar results. It's all step-by-step, not a big mishmash of things. So, you do step one, and when you're done with that, you move on to step two, and so on. SO easy. That's why my thousands and thousands of customers have gotten such great results from it. All the tools, scripts, templates, and examples are handed to you on a silver platter. You can get yours at TheClientAttractionSystem.com. Why struggle when you can just model a system that already works?

Turn Indecisive Prospects into Paying Clients

2008-12-05T12:37:00.000-05:00

Imagine you've worked hard to market your services; you've attracted a prospective client, set up a "sales conversation" and gone through the whole sales process. Great job, but sometimes, no matter how hard we try, prospects don't always sign up on the spot.

Sometimes, a prospect needs some time to make the decision on whether or when they'd like to start working with you. What I've noticed over the years is that when this happens, most always, the sale never happens, probably because life gets in the way and what's out of sight is out of mind.

Often, this means you've lost them for good. UNLESS you use some kind of method to get indecisive prospects to slide right into your practice, instead of slipping through your fingers. So I've come up with a fantastic remedy for this, which helps me and my students close the deal 97-98% of the time. If prospects don't bite on the 'sales' call, use what I call the "bookend" method. Here's how it works.

When a prospect tells me they need to talk to their spouse or needs some time to decide, or wants to ideally start in 2 months, I schedule a 5 minute "check-in" call with them (next Tuesday at 3pm, for example) so that we can follow up with each other without having to play phone tag or have to follow up with one another.

The great thing about this technique is that it puts a time limit in the prospect's mind as to when THEY would like to make the decision, and obviously, you let them choose when they'd like to have that 5 minute chat.

I essentially came up with this because I really dislike following up in this situation. It makes me feel like I'm chasing after them and I don't feel that this is Client Attractive. So instead, we agree that they'll call me on set date and virtually every time they do, and out of those times, they don't feel pressured, have had time to think about what we talked about, and are ready to make a decision to move forward. It's a great tool!

If for whatever reason they don't call during the time of your 5 minute check-in appointment, you can then call them or e-mail them asking if anything went wrong. This usually puts the prospect into a mode where they feel obliged to get back you, as they were the one who missed the appointment. Again, this is much more Client Attractive and ends up saving you a lot of time.

Your Client Attraction Assignment:

If a client doesn't sign up on the spot, make sure to bookend another date, so you don't have to follow up on each other for weeks. Use it as a "let's see where you are in your decision making process then." It works like a charm.

Having trouble with actually getting the prospect INTO the sales conversation in the first place? You're not the only one. The good news is, I've developed a way to close the sale 97-98% of the time and I share the entire process in my Client Attraction Home Study System™. I've outlined every Client Attraction technique in detail, and it's all there so you can start using it right away to get similar results. It's all step-by-step, not a big mishmash of things. So, you do step one, and when you're done with that, you move on to step two, and so on. SO easy. That's why my thousands and thousands of customers have gotten such great results from it. All the tools, scripts, templates, and examples are handed to you on a silver platter. You can get yours at TheClientAttractionSystem.com. Why struggle when you can just model a system that already works?

How To Be Your Own Best Advertisement (Without Being Client Repulsive)

2008-11-21T14:55:00.002-05:00

Entrepreneur Magazine called not too long ago to get my take on how to be your own best walking advertisement without becoming offensive, off-putting or in people's faces. There's definitely a fine line between authentic self-promotion and being pushy. Today, I'll share with you one of the tips I shared with the editor for making people aware of your problem-solving resources, without becoming 'Client Repulsive'. The tip? GIVE GENEROUSLY.

It's easier to promote when you are GIVING something of high-value to a prospect. It's an approach of SERVICE rather than 'selling something' or trying to 'get something' from your prospect. GIVING is much more Client Attractive and takes the pressure off of the person (and yourself). Let's face it; people love to buy, but they don't like to be sold. So, make it easy on them by giving them something.

When working with private clients who want to quickly build a database of prospects and fill their pipeline consistently, we almost always create something called an "Irresistible Offer", something that has a high perception of value, offered at no charge. Something that will create the WOW factor and naturally PULL them in. For example, my website offers an audio CD at no charge on the home page. This is my version of the Irresistible Offer.

Instead of trying to explain my work at length to a prospect, which would turn someone off immediately, it's much easier to say something like, "Go to my website to order the audio CD at no charge and you'll also get a subscription to weekly marketing articles. My treat."

When you do that, two things happen. 1) There's a WOW factor that gets them excited. 2) They're often impressed that you would give something of such value at no charge, which makes you look even better in their eyes. And, 3) you let the high-content of your 'Irresistible Offer' demonstrate the value of what you offer, so there doesn't need to be any selling.

When you give good content at no charge, people automatically realize that this is just the tip of your iceberg and they'll get that your paid stuff will be even more valuable. It doesn't have to be a CD. It can be a special report, an audio download, a seminar or teleclass. Anything that has a high perceived value will work, as long as the content is very good. That way, marketing feels authentic to you AND to the person you're talking to.

Best of all, if the information on your giveaways is of high-content and high-value, word will spread quickly. They'll tell their colleagues, their friends, anyone who will listen, but only if you've given them something of value. And then it's just a question of providing more high content on a regular basis through easy stay-in-touch marketing vehicles, until the trust and credibility has been established and the prospect raises their hand when they're ready for your service or product. You'll be shocked at how quickly your pipeline will fill when you have the right 'Irresistible Offer'.

The key is, when you give generously, both in a giveaway and in content, you make it OK to offer other resources that will help that prospect. It's like reading your favorite magazine. When you love every article, chances are the ads in the magazine will also appeal to you. Same thing here.

Your Client Attraction Assignment:

So, start thinking about how you can give more generously:

A special report?
An audio download?
A CD?
A live seminar?
A teleclass?

Once you put it together, make sure it's high-content (without giving away the farm) and that you have a way of continuing to speak to them regularly with more high-value stay-in-touch marketing vehicles. Then, you avoid being Client Repulsive and instead, you become extremely Client Attractive.

If you're looking for more ways to create a compelling marketing message and PULL clients toward you, I recommend the Client Attraction Home Study System?. I've outlined every Client Attraction technique in detail, and it's all there so you can start using it right away to get similar results. All the tools, scripts, templates and examples are handed to you on a silver platter. And it's laid out in a very simple way: do step one of the system, and when you're done with that, move on to step two, etc. It's so simple and yet so very powerful, it's changed the lives of thousands of solopreneurs. You can read the success stories and get your own copy at www.TheClientAttractionSystem.com. (Why struggle when you can just attract clients easily?)

? 2008 Client Attraction LLC. All Rights Reserved.

Want to use this article on your website or your own ezine? No problem! But here's what you MUST include:

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 income, visit www.ClientAttraction.com.

Outsource And Be Rich: The Little-Applied Secret ALL Wealth-y Entrepreneurs Use

2008-11-14T17:37:00.001-05:00

Let me share a big secret with you that all wealth-y solo-entrepreneurs know: If you want to have an ideal business, work less and make a whole lot more, I can assure you that you CANNOT do it by yourself. You must outsource!

You know how I know this? Because for years, I tried! For years, I tried to do everything in my business by myself, like the good "lone ranger" that I thought I was. You know what? It didn't work. In fact, a few years ago, I remember getting on the phone with my coach and crying for the first 8 minutes of our coaching call. He listened patiently as I sobbed and then said just one thing to me:

"Fabienne, Frank Sinatra didn't move his own pianos."

Silence on the phone. I stopped crying and it was like The Truth had been spoken. It may seem like a "duh" moment to you, but when I heard this for the first time, it felt like the skies had parted and the answer to all my problems were streaming down from the sky. I realized that I had been trying to "move my own piano", instead of focusing on my brilliance and my "genius" work - the stuff that I'm good at and that only *I* can do in my business.

The minute he said those words to me, a surge of energy went up my entire spine. I realized right then and there that I was trying to do the impossible by doing it all myself and that I would never be able to grow my business further if I didn't change the way I did things.

So I changed my whole way of doing business and I started DELEGATING different aspects of my business to others. And I'm deliriously happy to report that my business, my bank account (and my sanity) have never looked better!

Fact is, you cannot do it all on your own either. No matter how much you like to think that you can do it better, faster and more efficiently than anyone else, the fact remains that you will eventually burn out. In his book "No B.S. Business Success", Dan Kennedy talks about the worst number in ANY business is the number 1. Meaning, you never want to be the only one working in your business.

You MUST leverage your time and resources if you are serious about running a successful business, getting clients and finally making a good 1ncome being self-employed. There's just no way around it. And getting it ALL done means you have to eventually start outsourcing and delegating.

Thing is, you can wait like I did until you nearly crumble into a state of near exhaustion where things are falling through the cracks left and right OR you can come from a Full Practice Mentality and start getting assistance NOW, before you ever get to that place.
Proper outsourcing means delegating specific things to someone who's happy to do them for you:

Stuff you're not good at
Stuff you don't know how to do
Stuff you don't have time to do
Anything outside of your brilliance/genius (meaning, everything other than the stuff only you can do in your business)

Delegating allows you to strengthen your strengths, instead of trying to "better" your weaknesses. It means only working on your core competencies and focusing on your brilliance and genius work. In turn, you'll get more done, you'll make more mo-ney, and you'll enjoy more time off for the important things in life (like your family, your friends, you know, the important stuff.)

It's the ULTIMATE leverage!

Now, I have a team of 5 virtual assistants and one in-person assistant helping me on a part-time basis. On top of that, I get help from bookkeepers, attorneys, accountants, fulfillment houses, etc., so I can focus on doing what I do best: speak, write, coach and create products. Oh, and marketing too. Don't forget that. And because of it, I'm personally able to PRODUCE so much more than I've ever been able to.

But I know what you might be thinking. "That's fine for you, Fabienne, but I'm not in a place where I can bring on a whole staff of people." Well, believe me, I know about that because I used to be there too! This wasn't an overnight thing. It's taken me a few years to get to this point. But the good news is, you can start slowly and ramp up from there, like I did.

Here's what I want you to do:

Calculate what you're worth per hour when you're doing your Brilliance/Genius work; that which only you can do
Make a list of all the things you do each day
Attach a dollar value to what you could pay someone to outsource this to

Example: Let's assume you're worth $200 per billable hour. Ideally you should be generating $200 or more for EACH hour you work. However, I'll guess you're doing DOZENS of things each day that someone charges less for (and is happy to do for $15, $25, $45, $75, etc.) These are the things you want to outsource, so you can make $200 every hour you DO work. It's all about working smarter and more efficiently.

To justify this, REPLACE the time you've saved with doing your Brilliance/ Genius work and working on your Client Attraction assignments. Why? Because marketing = more clients = more do11ars. Enough said. (That doesn't mean you can go goof off. That's NOT the point, at least not at the beginning.)

Makes sense?

If budget is an issue, just start small. Focus first on tasks that will immediately make you money (stuff you're not doing now, stuff you don't know how to do) and set a maximum hour cap per month. Then, as re-venue comes in, you can grow from there.

Within months of my taking the leap and doing this, outsourcing helped bring in so much mo-re mo-ney, I was able to increase the hours I could delegate and outsource some more and I eventually doubled my revenues in ONE year.

You can too. It's really easy.

Your Client Attraction Assignment:

So, take out a sheet of paper and do the following:

Calculate what you're worth per hour when you're doing your Brilliance/Genius work; that which only you can do
Make a list of all the things you do each day that don't fall within the category of your Brilliance/Genius work
Attach a dollar value to what you could pay someone to outsource this to
Begin to outsource and delegate, little by little

I guarantee that you too will catapult your 1ncome as you focus more and more on business development and Client Attraction, as well as your genius work. You won't believe you ever did it any other way.

Need some resources on how to clear the decks and make Client Attraction a priority by outsourcing? Then get a copy of the Client Attraction Home Study System™. It includes everything you need to know to fill your practice quickly and close the sale consistently without ever feeling icky; no matter if you're just starting out or have been in business for years. All the tools, scripts, templates and examples are handed to you on a silver platter. And it's laid out in a very simple way: do step one of the system, and when you're done with that, move on to step two, etc. It's so simple and yet so very powerful, it's changed the lives of thousands of solopreneurs. You can read the success stories and get your own copy at www.TheClientAttractionSystem.com. (Why struggle when you can just attract clients easily?)

© 2008 Client Attraction LLC. All Rights Reserved.

Want to use this article on your website or your own ezine? No problem! But here's what you MUST include:

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 income, visit www.ClientAttraction.com.

Focus on the "Low Hanging Fruit"

2008-11-07T12:43:00.000-05:00

Following up on leads is 90% of the game, right? At least that's what we hear. You spend all this time networking, marketing yourself, making cold calls, looking for the right client, but what's the point of it all if you don't follow up on the leads you DO have? This was a major obstacle for one of my clients this week and a shift was created when I shared the Low Hanging Fruit List with her.

Let's think about Low Hanging Fruit on a tree for a moment, as it relates to its counterpart higher up on the tree. The Low Hanging Fruit is heavier, probably riper and because of that, easier to pick. Think of your warm prospects, those that have already expressed an interest in working with you, as this type of fruit. Ready for the picking.

Yet, many of us focus a lot of our energy on the higher fruit, the harder-to-reach fruit or prospect. We spend a lot of time working on far-fetched Client Attraction projects, when we really could be spending the time contacting and closing the deal with people who've already said they'd like to work with us but haven't been turned into clients yet. Logically, this doesn't make as much sense, does it?

Well starting today, you're going to change that by putting more focus on Low Hanging Fruit, while you continue to market your practice as a whole. Here's how...

Your Client Attraction Assignment:

Have a Low Hanging Fruit chart on your desk at all times. It should have several columns.

Name
Phone Number
Email Address
Referral Source
That Client's Particular Concern
Status/When to Contact Them Next

Leave this sheet on your desk at all times, in a place where you can refer to it several times per day.

Go through your mental Rolodex, day-planner and sticky notes to see who has expressed interest in working with you over the last 6 months to a year, but hasn't been converted into a client or patient yet. This could have been either in passing ("Oh, I should work with you one day," to "I want to work with you, but I'm not quite ready yet."), or more intently ("Let's set up a time to talk about working together.") via email, verbally or third-party referral.

You'll want to list all of these people on this sheet. This can also include those who you met with for an initial consultation but who never signed up, for whatever reason.

This will be one of your more important documents you'll use for getting clients and you should plan on using it for the long haul. This method of keeping track of people who are closest to becoming clients (and then following up with them regularly) is somewhat deceptive because it's so simple, but the good things usually are.

The bottom line is that when my clients use this list, they enthusiastically report they convert more prospects into paying clients. When they stop using this list briefly, prospective clients slip through their fingers. That should tell you something.

Now, if you're short on prospects in the FIRST place, then you'll want to get the Client Attraction Home Study System™. It includes everything you need to know to fill your practice quickly and close the sale consistently without ever feeling icky; no matter if you're just starting out or have been in business for years. All the tools, scripts, templates and examples are handed to you on a silver platter. And it's laid out in a very simple way: do step one of the system, and when you're done with that, move on to step two, etc. It's so simple and yet so very powerful, it's changed the lives of thousands of solopreneurs. You can read the success stories and get your own copy at www.TheClientAttractionSystem.com. (Why struggle when you can just attract clients easily?)

The 'Perception of 1ncrease' Gets You More Clients

2008-10-31T12:27:00.000-04:00

QUOTE: "People will go where they are given 1ncrease" - Napoleon Hill

Too many solo-entrepreneurs, especially women, tend to downplay their successes. They either don't stop long enough to see how much they've actually accomplished, or they're too shy to share with others how well things are going, for fear of bragging. And yes, bragging is annoying because it's usually done with the purpose of making others feel inferior. This is NOT what I'm talking about today. We're talking about sharing successes and inspiring others through our own example.

You see, deep down, your clients and prospects WANT you to do well. They want to trust that you know what you're doing and that you're successful at it. If not, they may feel like your "guinea pig", become worried that you may have lost your touch and that perhaps they should go look to someone else for expert advice. Here's what I mean: If you drive up to a client's house in a beat up, dented, jalopy of a car, their perception of you will be quite different from driving up in a clean luxury car. It's part of the Perception of 1ncrease.

Chapter 14 in Napoleon Hill's Think and Grow Rich addresses this. Here are some excerpts from that chapter:

"And in so far as your business consists in dealing with other [people], whether personally or by letter, the key-thought of all your efforts must be to convey to their minds the impression of 1ncrease. 1ncrease is what all men and all women are seeking; it is the urge of the Formless Intelligence within them, seeking fuller expression. The desire for 1ncrease is inherent in all nature; it is the fundamental impulse of the universe. All human activities are based on the desire for 1ncrease; people are seeking more food, more clothes, better shelter, more luxury, more beauty, more knowledge, more pleasure-- 1ncrease in something, more life...

The normal desire for 1ncreased wea-lth is not an evil or a reprehensible thing; it is simply the desire for more abundant life; it is aspiration. And because it is the deepest instinct of their natures, all men and women are attracted to [the person] who can give them more of the means of life... Be sure of this, and convey assurance of the fact to every man, woman, and child with whom you come in contact...

Convey the impression of advancement with everything you do, so that all people shall receive the impression that you are an Advancing [Person], and that you advance all who deal with you. Even to the people whom you meet in a social way, without any thought of business, and to whom you do not try to sell anything, give the thought of 1ncrease...

Feel that you are getting rich, and that in so doing you are making others rich, and conferring benefits on all. Do not boast or brag of your success, or talk about it unnecessarily; true faith is never boastful. Wherever you find a boastful person, you find one who is secretly doubtful and afraid. Simply feel the faith, and let it work out in every transaction; let every act and tone and look express the quiet assurance that you are getting rich; that you are already rich. Words will not be necessary to communicate this feeling to others; they will feel the sense of 1ncrease when in your presence, and will be attracted to you again.

You must so impress others that they will feel that in associating with you they will get 1ncrease for themselves. See that you give them a use value greater than the cash value you are taking from them.

Take an honest pride in doing this, and let everybody know it; and you will have no lack of customers. People will go where they are given 1ncrease; and the Supreme, which desires 1ncrease in all, and which knows all, will move toward you men and women who have never heard of you. Your business will 1ncrease rapidly, and you will be surprised at the unexpected benefits which will come to you..."

Perception of 1ncrease doesn't have to be all about mo-ney. It can be about having the means for more self-care, for more time to spend with your children, for the richness of your life. The key is that you MUST be subtle in your perception of 1ncrease. Remember, we're only talking about doing AUTHENTIC marketing here. Nothing else. Dropping hints in a Warm Update Letter, in your ezine, in your blog or Facebook updates. There are so many ways that you can do it authentically.

This is not about saying, "Nah, nana, nana, nah!" and sticking out your tongue at your prospects. It's about showing them what IS possible for them too, if they use your products, techniques, services or by simply being in your presence. It's about walking your talk, about being authentic in your message. There should be no mismatch in the perception. And for our types of businesses, the way we live our lives is just as important to our prospects as the way we run our business.

Clients want to trust that, if you've done it yourself, you can do it for them too. If you haven't done it yourself, then they're more apt to be hesitant about working with you. So, the key is to subtly talk about 1ncrease in your business, in your life, and also, in your client's lives. It's about weaving it in GENTLY into the conversation, being a verbal conversation, or your website, social media, etc.

I can't tell you how many times I hear something like, "Fabienne, when I 'grow up', I want to have your life." It's super flattering and humbling, and I get exactly what they're saying. The message that I share about who I am and in my marketing is that, yes, mo-ney is important, and so is family, a lot of downtime, doing things you love, having meaningful work, connecting to your faith, creating yummy life experiences and living life like you mean it. THAT for me is richness and so I share what I'm doing to INSPIRE others to do the same in their own lives, while fostering the Perception of 1ncrease.

What about you? How are you sharing your "1ncreases" with your prospects and clients? Have you given your clients and prospects the Perception of 1ncrease or the perception of flat-lining it through your life?

YOUR ASSIGNMENT:

Begin to subtly (non-braggingly) show 1ncrease in your own life and business. A little bit here or there goes a long way. Keep it SUPER authentic (otherwise, it's a HUGE turnoff) and be sure that it's the truth (that shouldn't even be mentioned here, but just in case...) Then, start weaving it in your marketing materials. Start dropping small hints here and there about your own successes or those of your clients. You'll see people coming out of the woodwork to work with you.

I made the mistake years ago of being a little too over-the-top with this as I was learning my way around it, and I went a bit overboard (oops). It's important to remember to err on the side of too little, rather than too much, but once you get the right balance, it becomes priceless for attracting ideal clients, those who would do anything and pay relatively anything to work with you. It makes Client Attraction big-time easy. You'll see.

Prosperity Comes From Overcoming Fear (So Do Clients)

2008-10-24T16:22:00.000-04:00

QUOTE: "Until one is released, step by step or all at once, from the roots of fear-based thinking, no amount of Mo-ney will give prosperity. This is fact..." - Anonymous

Even though I'm totally unplugged from what's going on in the world, by choice, stuff is still trickling in. You see, I've made a conscious choice for years not to listen to the news, read the papers or listen to talk radio. It's not just that I'm a very sensitive person and I react to negative stuff more deeply than others seem to, it's that I don't like what it does to my mindset. Somehow, I seem to focus on the bad news and then it affects everything else in my life. Some people have told me in the past years that my "unplugging" is foolish, that I'm missing out on what's going on in the world, or that I'm na?ve, thinking that if I don't hear it, it doesn't exist.

Well, in a way, that's true for me. If I don't know about it, then it can't affect me. And so, while the rest of the world seems to be spiraling in a big mess of fear, worry and doubt, I'm oblivious to it, in a good way. Because my mind isn't tainted with this "stuff", I'm continuing to prosper, we continue to grow, and more abundance is flowing into my life in every area. And I wish more people would do what I do. Here's why.

You have to understand that the news media is only interested in one thing, and one thing only: Advertising do11ars (I know, I used to work in advertising.) The more people are tuned in to their show or read their publication, the higher they can charge their advertisers. And to artificially grow the numbers, the media has to do ANYTHING it can to get your attention. And FEAR is the best way to get someone's attention, and to get them to keep coming back for more, for "fear" of missing something important.

When you understand this, you get clear that there's a lot of hype out there, and it's all plugging in to what I call the "collective fear". And when you're in fear, you cannot be prosperous, no matter how much money you have. Why? Because prosperity is a state of mind. Let me say that again: When you're in fear, you cannot be prosperous. Here's something I read recently in a channeled text:

"Until one is released, step by step or all at once, from the roots of fear-based thinking, no amount of Money will give prosperity. This is fact..."

Listen, I get that fear is a biggie. It's easy to get sucked in. I know a few people right now who are gripped with fear. They're holding on so tight to their mo-ney, that they're "white-knuckling" it through life. They are absolutely miserable. And you know what? They actually have plenty of mo-ney in the bank! But because they have fear, it doesn't matter. Because prosperity is a state of mind.

The key to attracting prosperity is to refuse to focus on things that cause you fear, and to eliminate fear from your life. Now, some clients say to me, "Fabienne, how can I *not* focus on fear? There is evidence all around me that things aren't going well." My answer to them is that you can CHOOSE not to struggle.

Look all around you. Nature doesn't struggle. A blade of grass doesn't struggle to grow. It just does. Instead of focusing on all the things that appear to be "going downhill", shift your focus. Look at everything around you that IS going well. There's a way that we, as humans, tend to focus on the 2% that's NOT going well, as opposed to the 98% that IS going well in our lives. What are YOU focusing on?

The best way that I've found to get out of fear these days is to focus on the present moment. If I'm in a bad mood or noticing that the collective fear is leaking into my world, I stop everything and I tap into the present moment. However simple this may seem to you, it's actually miraculous. I throw on a scarf, go down to the beach and take a walk along the water. I put my attention on the subtle scent of the sea air, I listen to the seagulls, I watch my footsteps in the sand. I stay totally present. Why?

Because you CANNOT be in fear AND in the present moment at the same time. It's impossible. When you are in the present moment, you are in direct connection to Spirit or God or the Universe, whatever you choose to call it. And that is your direct pipeline to love. And love and fear cannot coexist. It's a universal law.

What does this have to do with Client Attraction? EVERYTHING. Here's why: If you're gripped with fear, sitting at your desk, wondering where the clients are or why people are leaving, you are feeding yourself with this collective fear. That stops you from marketing and the energy that you DO put into your marketing when you actually do it is a negative energy. Which brings more of the lack into your life, which then repels prosperity.

Instead, focus on what's going well. Be in gratitude for what you DO have. Take a break from work, walk away from your desk, tickle your kids, go walk the dog, focus on the air outside, whatever it takes to just take your focus OFF of the fear. When you do that, you will watch the fear literally disintegrate right in front of your eyes. Then, when you go back to work on your marketing, you'll find yourself coming from a totally different perspective. Instead of coming from "lack", you'll be coming from "attraction". And that's when the clients come in. That's when the mo-ney pours in.

Your Assignment:

Take special notice of when you get sucked in to the collective fear. Put yourself in a place of being unplugged from it. Stop watching the news, stop reading the papers, and change the conversation when your friends and neighbors begin talking about things having to do with lack. Shift your focus to what IS abundant in your life.

1) Appreciation and Gratitude

List at least 10 things/people you are grateful for in your life right now:
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
10.

2) Choose one item/person and describe "why" you are grateful for this. Describe how it makes you feel:

3) Acknowledge your successes
List at least 5 successes you enjoyed yesterday. These can be very little (like making your bed) to very significant (like getting a new client)
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.

Do this every day. Then, once you're in a place of feeling abundant again, it's time to get back to marketing. Remember, you've got to take ACTION too. You can't just sit on your sofa and wish for new clients. You've got to implement authentic, compelling and consistent marketing that will have people REACH OUT to you, credit card in hand, wanting to work with you.

Authentic Marketing (And Success) Require You to Look Within

2008-10-17T10:29:00.000-04:00

Let's face it: being self-employed, our businesses are fundamentally a reflection of every part of us. It's not like working for a corporation where you don't really control the outcome of the business unless you're at the top. Who you and I "are" as people literally affects our businesses, every day, every minute, every second, with every breath.

Knowing that the "inner" is directly reflected in the "outer," it's especially so for those working solo. If there's turmoil or disconnection within you as a person, it will be reflected in your business. If there's purpose, acceptance, and alignment, things come to you without struggle.

For me personally, this past year has been a year of reflection and re-gearing for the next level of my business, almost an incubation phase. I've come to the realization that I needed to stop listening to so many OTHER people's opinions of the next journey for my business and needed to look inside. And that included seeing what's authentic, what my purpose is, and what I'm here to do with my clients. It's been about healing the past GUNK that's often stopped me and about strengthening WHO I am as a person, to then best fulfill what I'm here to do (and create an even more delicious business doing it).

Years ago, I thought that attracting clients was 100% about fancy marketing. I was wrong. The longer I am in business and the longer I work on my own spiritual and personal growth, the more I've gotten clear that attracting clients and having the business of your dreams is actually more a 3-slice pie. Sure, Marketing is one of those slices, and a very important one (hey, you've got to take ACTION to attract clients. No excuses).

But, the other two slices of the pie are not always talked about openly. Honestly, I haven't always talked about them in public either, for fear of sounding a little too "Woo Woo", if you know what I mean. Most times I would just hint at them, hoping people would read between the lines and get the point. However, I'd be cheating you if I didn't tell you more about those two other slices to Client Attraction success, because they're so important.

If marketing is one slice of the pie, Manifesting is another. And by manifesting, I mean the Law of Attraction, what you focus on with great feeling, you attract into your existence. At its most basic, here's how it can be described: If you're continually focusing on having a full practice of yummy clients who pay you what you're worth, then you will start to attract that. If you're focusing rather on the LACK of clients and you're ticked off that people aren't paying you what you're worth, then you will attract that also (meaning, not having those clients or not making enough). Simple, yet very powerful.

But, the other slice of the pie that rarely gets airtime is the Personal Growth slice: Clearing out the cobwebs. I'm talking about not worrying what people think as much and being willing to look within to either heal or change the things about you that stop you from being the successful person you were meant to be. It's about being authentic and taking a really hard look at all the baggage and the unfounded fears you've carried around since childhood (trust me, I have them too) and doing something about it.

So, what are we searching for when we go within?

Fears, limiting beliefs, negative emotions, and other unresolved stuff like shame and resentments. The reason it's so important to look within is that if that stuff is still lingering in your system, you have a more difficult time "manifesting" what you say you want. The fears and other unresolved stuff get in the way of you attracting what you wish for and essentially negate and cancel your wishes. OUCH.

Now, I am not saying you have to run out and see a shrink. That hasn't been the fastest path to growth for me personally. Rather, it's about being honest with yourself, really honest, about who you are. And getting to KNOW who you are. Calling out your fears, putting them down on paper. It's about writing down the things you say to yourself that stop you in your tracks. The more you get clear on this stuff, the more direct your impact on Client Attraction and having the business you really, really want.

It's about being authentic with yourself, in life, in business, and in your marketing. The more authentic you are in your marketing, the more Client Attractive you become. Whether you call it Spiritual Marketing or Authentic Marketing, it's super important, because if you don't do anything about it, you'll continue to get the same results you're getting now. Now for some, that's fine, but I'll bet that you're not willing to be living the exact same life 30 years from now, let alone 5 years from now. You probably want an even better situation and you want your wishes granted sooner than later.

Now, you could choose not to do anything about it and choose not to look inside. That's what I did for a long time. I was really good at avoidance and denial. But what I've found happens if you ignore the "growth" slice is that you keep struggling on some levels, wondering why things you want aren't coming to you faster. It can all seem to be an uphill battle and it can become really frustrating, making you want to throw in the towel and give up your business.

Well, when I started doing personal growth and becoming more authentic many years ago, the struggle started fading away and EASE started showing up. And the more I look at my long-ingrained fears and work on the other gunk that's previously slowed the next level of success I've imagined, the more that success shows up for me.

It's a process I continue ruthlessly, and help my clients with as well. Yeah, we talk about SERIOUS marketing, but this stuff too, because it all works. And it certainly pays off, in more ways than one. Sure, lots of clients and greater 1ncome are the payoffs, but you also get freedom, joy, and ease as a byproduct. That's the real payday, if you ask me.

Your Assignment:
Begin by making the decision to look within and be honest about what you find. If you resist it, it will persist. Make a list of the fears and limiting beliefs, the old junk you've avoided or that keeps coming up and clogging the pipeline to the success you so dearly want. Be willing to take the same no-excuses approach we talk about with Client Attraction Marketing, and apply it to this as well. It takes a little courage at first, but the more you do it, the easier it gets. I know you can do it and the results will astound you. I promise.

It ALL Has To Match If You Want To Create The Ideal Business

2008-10-10T14:47:00.000-04:00

There are some solo-entrepreneurs that market 'til they're blue in the face, and STILL don't attract ideal, high-paying clients. They're seemingly doing all the "right things": they've got marketing materials, marketing plans, they're speaking, networking, etc. and yet producing no real results. Yes, they have some clients. Yes, they're making their bills. But they're not seeing the kind of success they so desperately want. (Are you one of those?)

You might be wondering, "What is going on? What am I doing wrong?? I'm busting my chops, working like a dog, and yet my 1ncome is still NOT what I want it to be... in fact, not even close." On the outside, everyone probably thinks you have a great business, but YOU know what's really going on, especially financially. I actually hear this a lot. As I am working with higher level clients (people who have plenty of clients but not the business or 1ncome they really want to be making) I'm noticing that the marketing is only half the problem.

What's usually happening is two things are getting in the way. Yes, the marketing needs to be tweaked or reworked. Usually, the target audience needs to be narrowed down or changed to a higher level client, and then inevitably, the marketing message needs to become clearer and more compelling. So, we work on that.

But most of the time, it's something MUCH more drastic and destructive. It's what's going on INTERNALLY that's botching your results: THE MINDSET. And I've come to realize that if the INSIDE is not matched to the OUTSIDE, then you won't get the results you want. Period. Here's what I mean:

There's the OUTER game of Client Attraction: the marketing and the action and the behaviors.
Then, there's the INNER game of Client Attraction: your thoughts, feelings and beliefs.

If these do not match, there's no way you can create the business you SAY you want. Here's an example: Pretend Susan is a solo-entrepreneur and she's been in business for almost 4 years. She's networking, speaking locally, doing an ezine, and everything else she "should" be doing. She's good at what she does, but she's just not making the mo-ney she wants to make. Not even close. That's when we examine her marketing and make tweaks.

But here's the kicker: we ALSO look at the stuff under the surface too. When we probe deeper, we realize that one or more things aren't in alignment with her big goal she says she wants:

The Thought: "I WANT TO MAKE $500,000 this year."
The Feeling/Belief: "IF I HAVE THAT MANY CLIENTS, I WILL GET OVERWHELMED AND LOSE MY FREEDOM. BESIDES IT WILL BE TOO MUCH WORK, SO WHY BOTHER."
The Action: SUBTLE SELF-SABOTAGE BEGINS TO HAPPEN, because deep down, Susan wants freedom and ease more than she wants the money. She may not think that consciously, but it's very real on a subconscious level. And that translates into Susan not doing what it takes, not taking the actions or exhibiting the no-excuses behavior that would create a business that brings her that much mo-ney per year.

Essentially, what's happening with Susan is that she's driving with the brake on, and going nowhere fast. So, she steps on the gas pedal even more, but still not getting any results. It's destructive, but most importantly, after a while, there's going to be a shortage of gas and then the whole car will stop moving. She thinks she just wasn't meant to be in business and packs it up to go back to working for someone else, feeling like a big failure and taking a blow to her self-esteem. For Susan to create the 1ncome she wants, all 3 need to match and be congruent.

The Thought must match the Feeling/Belief must match the Action and Behavior. If not, you'll keep struggling, not knowing why it's all so difficult.

It's an insidious game and the worst part of it is, you usually don't know this is going on! Worse, you may not be able to recognize the underlying limiting beliefs, fears and self-doubt that stops your behavior. The solution? Getting really clear on where you're not being congruent.

This is BY FAR, my most effective thing to work on with a client or workshop participant. Why? Because when you change someone's inner states (the INNER game of Client Attraction) you begin to immediately see an increase in their business and in their 1ncome. Quantum Leaps begin to happen and it's as if the vice-grip that's been holding back the success of your business is FINALLY RELEASED. And there's just so much more ease and flow (and financial abundance pours in).

I've seen it time and time again with my clients and Mastermind members. When we clear the GUNK, the mo-ney follows. I know from experience, because it happened to me. In fact, it keeps happening, over and over again. The more I work on my INNER game, the more I make. And it all becomes easier: I work less and make mo-re. That's when you know you're becoming more congruent.

Your Assignment:

If you're feeling like you're working really hard but not seeing RESULTS (either in your number of clients or in your re-venues) then it's time to look at your INNER game of Client Attraction: your mindset. Notice the relationship between your thoughts about your goal, your feelings about achieving your goal and the actions you're taking to reach that goal.

Are they congruent? Are they aligned? If not, then you're going nowhere fast. Not until you get yourself a mindset breakthrough. That's when the marketing breakthrough happens, which results in an 1ncome breakthrough. Once you create those breakthroughs, your business and your life will NEVER be the same. I guarantee it.

The ONE Self-Sabotaging Thing You Do Every Day That Keeps You From Making 7-Figures In Your Business

2008-10-03T17:59:00.001-04:00

QUOTE: "Most people confuse wishing and wanting with pursuing. You must place your trust in ACTION." - Price Pritchett

I've been hearing this one question a lot recently: "Fabienne, what did you actually DO to multiply your 1ncome so quickly? How did you get to a million and can I do it too?" Well, the answer is "Yes, you can do it too" and it's important to realize that it comes down to several different things: Authentic and compelling marketing, systems for everything, a team, different sources of income, leverage, etc.

But, believe it or not, those are actually the easy part, because you can be shown exactly how to do this (I show you how in my Workshop-in-a-box). The difficult part is actually a two step process, two steps that seem very simple on the outside, but that few people actually DO anything about. In fact, this is so deceptively simple that most people ignore its importance and look for something way more complex. But it comes down to:

Making a decision
Doing what it takes

I know, it might seem like child's play, but most people never actually get clear about WHAT they want in the first place, and then they don't make a commitment to getting it. So the first thing to do is to decide that you are going to reach a big goal. Then, you must be OK with doing whatever it takes to get it, as if your life depended on it.

Believe it or not, that's where most people fail in this process. They throw out a lofty goal, but when it comes to actually DOING what it takes, they let their mindset and their fears get in the way. The ideas and opportunities to reach that big goal are right there, smack in front of them, but they don't take action on them. I saw this happen recently with a client. She asked me, "Fabienne, I set this huge goal for myself, and the year's almost over, but I'm not even halfway to reaching it. What happened? What am I doing wrong?"

The answer I gave her was that, despite the lofty goal, her BEHAVIOR hadn't changed very much. Despite progress in other areas, she kept stopping herself, and kept doing the same things, worrying about the same things (not knowing the how, not enough mo-ney, not enough time, you know the drill...)

We'd given her all the different ways to make her goal happen quickly and two-fold, but she never implemented the ideas. The HOW was right in front of her, but she got in her own way, and essentially sabotaged her potential 1ncome by not taking action on the idea. And that's one thing that I've gotten really clear about recently. The "how" is always right there, right under your nose, ready for the picking.

In fact, there was a time in my own business, not too long ago, where I could never have imagined making this much in one year. But the opportunities to do so were already there. In fact, one idea that I'm implementing right now was an idea I had 4 years ago. 4 years ago!!! And that idea was one that would have brought in a ton of mo-ney back then. Sure, I researched it, did a little bit of due diligence, even asked my ezine subscribers if they had resources and got tons of them. I went as far as investing in the resources I needed to take advantage of that opportunity.

Then, guess what happened?

Nothing, nada, zip. I never did ANYTHING about it. I let the opportunity get stale and covered with dust, and it's because of several different obstacles:

My excuse of not having enough time to implement it
My fear of failure
Essentially, my belief that I wasn't "good enough" or "big enough" to succeed with it

And so, I never achieved the 1ncome potential that this opportunity had in store for me. I'm kicking myself now, but at least, I'm taking action on it now.

Here's the thing: you must realize that the ideas that are given to you are not just silly ideas. They are divinely brought to you. My mentor always says, "If you are given an idea, then too you are given the way to achieve it. You wouldn't be able to have the idea without also receiving the 'way' to accomplish it too. It's universal law." And that's really important for you to remember.

Until you are ready to see what's already right under your nose, without discounting it as "not feasible", you aren't going to grow. Remember that the idea you got in the shower, or the idea your mastermind members brainstormed with you didn't actually come from them or you. It was divinely given THROUGH them.

And you are given ideas like these ALL THE TIME! It is the Universe's way of guiding you on a daily basis, literally pulling you by the hand and pointing you in the direction that will help you accomplish your dreams, but the question is... are you listening? Are you going to do something about it? If you're not where you want to be financially in your business, one of the major reasons is your non-action. If you're still at the same place you were before, it's because you're unwilling to take advantage of the opportunity that is right in front of you, and has been for a long time.

And I know you're probably tired of hearing, "To get different results, you need to do things differently", but in my experience (especially this year) it is absolutely true. To get a quantum leap in your business, you must be willing to DO what you haven't done before, to be courageous, to walk into the opportunity and even to walk into the fear you have associated with it.

And please don't let the simplicity of what I'm telling you undermine the importance of the message. This 'arrogance' of thinking, "Oh, I already know that!" is another form of self-sabotage and it's keeping you from making a whole lot more in your business. Here's an example: Someone told me last week that some of this is "basic" stuff. That they already knew this.

Frankly, I felt bad for this person. I almost wanted to say, "OK then, if you already "know" this, what's YOUR 1ncome this year?" You see, your 1ncome will be your gauge to see how much you "know" this stuff. If it's not where you want it to be, then you don't "know" it yet, you've just heard of it. In fact, you don't "know" anything until you live it, breathe it and take action on it day in and day out. Makes sense?

Your Assignment:

Get clear on the opportunities that are right under your nose. Take a sheet of paper and at the top, write down your big goal. Don't be shy, no one's watching. In big, bold letters, write what you want in your business. Then, either knowing (or pretending) that you could not fail, list all the opportunities that you already have right in front of you to make those happen. I know they're there. I can always spot them for people and that's the power of a mastermind. Having people see the opportunities that are right in front of them. But list them all. And then begin to take action on each and every one of them with courage and fearlessness. Your 1ncome will never be the same.

All that said, I urge you NOT to forget the authentic and compelling marketing, systems for everything, a team, different sources of income, leverage, etc. When you market authentically and consistently, using ONLY what works, your goals become big-time easy. When you set up systems for everything in your business and a team to support you, you have more time to devote to implementing the big opportunities. When you set up additional sources of 1ncome, both passive and leveraged, you make a whole lot more, working half the time.

Not sure where to start with all of this? The solution is The Client Attraction Workshop-in-a-Box. It avoids all the extraneous stuff that could distract your growth and instead gives you the most important things to do to make twice as much, working half the time. It's my own process, the one I've shared with my top-level clients and you'll be blown away by how precise and generous I am with the "how". Every resource is laid out. The closing the sale script, the way to make passive 1ncome easily, everything. It's all step-by-step, not a big mishmash of things. So, you do step one, and when you're done with that, you move on to step two, and so on. All the tools are handed to you on a silver platter. Just look at the success stories and get your own copy at www.ClientAttractionWorkshopInaBox.com

© 2008 Client Attraction LLC. All Rights Reserved.

Want to use this article on your website or your own ezine? No problem! But here's what you MUST include:

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 income, visit www.ClientAttraction.com.

Figure out Why You're REALLY in Business and Client Attraction Becomes Big-time Easy

2008-09-28T10:06:00.000-04:00

QUOTE: "Living your best life is to find out what your calling is. Your real job on Earth is to find out what you were meant to be doing and to find a way to do that thing." -Oprah Winfrey

For years, I'd wondered what my life purpose was, what my calling was, especially in business. I've always known that I was good at marketing, but I also knew I was here for something bigger than I could dream, yet I couldn't figure out what that was. I'll admit I had a sometimes painful upbringing and early adulthood, and I always wondered WHY this was all happening to me. If there's supposed to be a reason for everything, then what was the reason I experienced so many deeply trying times? What was I supposed to do with all of it? I just couldn't figure it out.

In the last few years, I've made it a habit to TiVo Oprah on a daily basis and am familiar with her saying, "Use your life." Countless times, I've heard her inspire her viewers to look for the meaning in something that's happened to them, and then ask them to turn around and do something useful with it. The concept seems to be: Don't necessarily wallow in what's happened to you.

Instead, use the experience and the learning to help others, to make a difference, to create change. THAT is your life purpose. THAT is your calling, and it's super important for businesses like ours because we can affect people and businesses so directly.

Since then, I've realized why all that happened to me and why I'm here. From my experiences, I learned to overcome my once very low self-esteem, as well as the negative beliefs and playing small, to have more confidence and to really go for what I want in life. I also learned about having compassion for others (including my clients), to know that we all have painful experiences that shape who we are today; we all have fears and things holding us back, but these don't need to continue to hold us back.

At the same time, we all have massive potential for success, and to make a difference, especially being self-employed. It's just a question of getting out of our own way and then getting out there in a BIG way.

Using Client Attraction, I use my 'calling' on a daily basis with my clients. Yes, early on and for the majority of the time, we focused heavily on the marketing. (Listen, if you're sitting on the sofa WAITING for clients day after day, you're not going to make a big difference in this world.) You were given a gift, so you need to get out there to tell people about it and start helping people get results. Therefore, the marketing is absolutely crucial.

But once the marketing systems are in place, the 'calling' piece of it extends also to the other stuff that most entrepreneurs never put their attention to: increasing their confidence, getting out of their own way and into their true potential success (it's already IN them, they just haven't accessed it fully up to now). Especially women.

That might mean noticing how they get stopped by a chronic conditioning of playing too small, limiting thoughts, not deserving, subtle self-sabotaging behaviors, and fears that may or may not really exist, but are DEFINITELY getting in the way. In addition to the marketing, that's where I can make a massive difference in someone's business success and in his or her life. I'm a marketing junkie, but that's the juicy stuff for me. Best of all, it works and clients love the outcome.

When you're coming from your 'calling,' clients get better results, give you amazing testimonials, and more referrals. You begin to make a more substantial difference and that automatically translates to more success, more in-come, and all that stuff.

Wondering how to tap into your own calling? Here's what I learned about finding mine:

When you're NOT aligned with your life purpose, life is more of a struggle.
Hardship is actually good. It's a sign from the Universe that you're not necessarily on the right track. See hardship as a blessing and a clue.

It's not about necessarily CHANGING your business (I'm still doing Client Attraction and marketing, at least for now); it's a clue that you may need to change your direction a tiny bit or tweak it just slightly.

Your Assignment:

Find a way to weave your 'calling' into your work. Ask yourself these questions for clues on finding yours:

What section of the bookstore do you hang around in the most?
Look around you for signs about your purpose. They're everywhere if you look for them. Little happy coincidences aren't coincidences at all. They're ALL signs.
If you act upon the signs and take inspired action, you'll expedite your journey to living your purpose.
Find what comes easily to you, what helps others AND makes you feel good at the same time. If something brings you joy (like, for me, teaching and inspiring entrepreneurs to get out of their own way, play BIGGER and live a rich life) then it's something to pursue.

Once you've found it, start weaving it little by little into your every day work with clients, or start doing it a little at a time. Instead of doing a complete 180, test out the waters. Look for how you FEEL. Look for the subtle feedback. Then add a little more, so that it feels authentic to you. As you keep going, add even a little more of it until it feels really good and you'll notice a difference in your clients' results and how they relate to you. Start weaving it in your talks, your teleclasses, your networking, and your articles. Over time, when it feels right, you can start adding it permanently to your marketing materials. That's what I've done.

Your calling is to help others AND to feel good doing it. Once you find it, throw yourself into it. Success, clients, and increased revenues will naturally come to you when you do. You won't believe you get paid to live it. I'm still pinching myself.

All that said, I urge you NOT to forget the marketing. When you market authentically, Client Attraction becomes big-time easy. Not sure where to start? Try the step-by-step system that will feel easy and authentic to you. The Client Attraction Home Study System™ avoids all the extraneous stuff that could distract your growth and instead 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. So easy. All the tools, scripts, templates, and examples are handed to you on a silver platter. You can get it at http://www.theclientattractionsystem.com/.

Fabienne Fredrickson, The Client Attraction Mentor, is founder of the Client Attraction System™ and http://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 http://www.clientattraction.com/.

Your Mental Attitude Dictates Your Number of Clients AND In-come

2008-09-21T09:39:00.000-04:00

QUOTE: "Nothing can stop the man with the right mental attitude from achieving his goal; nothing on earth can help the man with the wrong mental attitude." - Thomas Jefferson

You may be working your tail off to market your business and yet you're still wondering why it hasn't "happened" yet. I've seen this happen thousands of times. An entrepreneur is seemingly working HARD to get clients, working like a dog to bring in some good in-come and yet, the results just aren't showing up. It's like fighting an uphill battle and often seems like it's not really worth it, or worse, like something's wrong with us.

But the real battle that's going on isn't with the marketing, it's that something's wrong on the INSIDE. If there's a struggle on the OUTSIDE, it simply means that one exists on the INSIDE, and it's based on our conditioning. You see, how we are conditioned affects virtually every aspect of our life: our relationships, health, finances, success, even Client Attraction.

If you're experiencing struggle or results aren't happening fast enough, it just means there's an inner conflict that affects how you think and feel, as well as your beliefs and fears. It's the battle between your conscious and your unconscious.

"When your conscious mind thinks you want something but your subconscious mind thinks you don't deserve it (or any other limiting belief), you will fail at getting what you want. Instead you will actually attract what your subconscious feels is right for you. In order to attract what you prefer, your conscious and subconscious have to be in agreement." - Joe Vitale

If there's an exterior struggle, like clients not coming in fast enough or the fact that money is REALLY tight, then it means that PART of you wants something (your conscious) and PART of you doesn't (your subconscious). The bad news is, your subconscious has veto power over your conscious, always.

The GOOD news is, once you clear the interior struggle, the results you want happen almost instantly. That's what's happened to me in the past year or two and continues to happen. The more I match the inside with what I "say" I want, the more opportunities come my way, the more in-come shows up and the easier it all is. And I mean really easy. (And before you start going "there", just remember that I'm no different than you. Once you work on your own Inner Game of Client Attraction, you too can experience the same results. That's what we'll do together in Miami in September at my 'Mindset and Income Acceleration Retreat'.)

It's not about working harder! If you want different results, you must change your subconscious beliefs and get clear on the fears that are not congruent with what you SAY you want. Here's a few of the hundreds that I've come up with, based on a survey I did:

"They won't pay for this"
"I don't know enough"
"If I get bigger, they'll find out I'm a fraud"
"I'm a failure"
"If I get too many clients, I'll get overwhelmed"
"I'm not worth it"
"I can't have it all"
"My expertise is common sense"
Etc.

If this is what's going on in your subconscious, you're essentially driving with the parking brake on, and we've got to do something about that if you want to begin seeing different results. Otherwise, you'll continue to push really hard, work REALLY hard and not see the results you say you want.

Your Assignment:

If you want to succeed, get rid of this GUNK and SLUDGE inside. The key is to become AWARE of which fears and subconscious beliefs are sabotaging you on a daily basis, like some of the ones listed above. Once you're clear on them, figure out where they came from, process them and then release them. This will immediately change your behaviors, increase your in-come and new opportunities will start showing up, ones that you never expected. You'll wonder why you struggled for so long.

Now, if the struggle is just about a lack of ACTION and you don't know how to set up systems for marketing to attract ideal high-paying clients, I suggest getting a copy of the Client Attraction Home Study System™. It includes everything you need to know to prioritize what to work on first, clear the decks and set up simple, solid systems to 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. That's why my customers have gotten such great results from it. All the tools, scripts, templates, and examples are handed to you on a silver platter. So easy. You can get yours at http://www.theclientattractionsystem.com/.

Stop Planning, Forget The "How", Just Go For It!

2008-09-14T05:15:00.000-04:00

The last couple of weeks, we've been talking about aiming for MUCH bigger in our business, in our life, and in our purpose. We've stretched, looked into the fears of dreaming TOO big (is there such a thing?!) and looked at all the other emotions that come up once we've actually MADE the decision to play a bigger game. These are related to issues of safety, not rocking the boat, and self-doubt as to whether we really CAN play a bigger game in life and business.

But then, if this weren't enough, there's yet another thing that is likely to stop a lot of people right in their tracks. And that's trying to figure out the "how".

"How will I ever get from here to THERE?""But I don't HAVE the resources (the funds, time, help) to make that big dream happen.""I'm not qualified right now to take on this big dream. I just don't have what it takes yet.""Once I know HOW I'm supposed to do this, I'll do it. Until then, I'll just wait to be ready."

Problem is, this is EXACTLY the point at which most people give up, probably even YOU. Right there. You see, most people wait for the HOW before they make a commitment to accomplish their big goal. Being the good planner that you probably are, there's a part of you that feels this is too risky of a project or a goal to take on without having a plan, a solid plan, without knowing exactly how it's going to unfold.

You may have a dream of being on Oprah, for example, to share the message only YOU can share, and to give exposure to your book or business. You love the idea of it, you imagine yourself on her yellow leather sofa, talking to her and her live studio audience. You may even be able to feel the warmth of the studio lamps and the nervous feeling you would have in the pit of your stomach. Perhaps what you'll be wearing and what she'll say to you. Your imagination is strong about what it would actually BE like once you're there. And it feels great.

But then it all stops. Your imagination shuts down once you try to think about HOW you'll ever get to the Oprah show, or whatever else your big dreams are. Here are things I've heard:

"I don't have enough media training. They'll never pick me.""Everyone and their MOTHER wants to be on Oprah. There's too much competition.""Explain to me how it would ever happen and THEN I'll think about going for it.""Is there a guarantee this will even work? Probably not worth trying if I don't have a plan"

Now, if you've seen my Mind Movie on my Facebook page, you know that I have BIG dreams. Writing best-selling books, doing workshops to thousands of people, affecting millions, and having a global effect on helping women and children around the world, and yes, one day, even taking my message to Oprah's stage and sharing it with 10 million people.

I'm hearing it now... "Stop dreaming and GET REAL!"

And admittedly, some these things ARE "lofty". In fact, I would categorize as downright "scary big". Especially since I don't have a clue yet as to how I will write ONE best-selling book, let alone many, how to get thousands of people to come hear me speak, how I'll help on a global level (where, whom, what will I be helping them with???). And I certainly don't have a clue about how to get on Oprah's couch.

But I've decided to go for it anyway, because here's "what I know for sure". If you've got the commitment to do something, the intention is strong and you're willing to do anything it takes to get there, in a good way/not bad, then things WILL unfold before you, like a red carpet being unrolled in Hollywood. You just need to take the first step, accomplish the task that's right in front of you, and then the next task will show up for you to work on. Once you've done that one, just the right opportunity will land on your lap, followed by the right resource to take full advantage of that opportunity or to accomplish the task at hand.

But because we're bred to be planners (or in my case, sometimes a bit of a control freak - have you ever seen me in the kitchen right before a dinner party??), we want to have the WHOLE thing planned out first, in every descriptive detail. It's got to be all laid out and orchestrated ahead of time, in perfect order. Otherwise, we don't make the commitment.

Thing is, that's not how the Universe or life works. Your next step or the next opportunity will NOT show up until you've made the commitment. But once you DO, it shows up, and the more you do this, the faster things start showing up for you: the right operations manager, the perfect branding development coach, the spiritual guide with just the right message (even the bottle cap with just the confirmation you've been asking for) or simply, just the right book to get you to that next level.

That's what is happening to me right NOW. It's fascinating to be in the eye of the storm, calm (most of the time) and witnessing everything around me show up as it's supposed to, having everything around me rearrange itself to make that big dream come true. In fact, it's pretty humbling. It's almost as though my intention and commitment to getting this big dream accomplished has taken a life of its own, in a really good way. And now, it's just about taking the next step that presents itself, without thinking of the next HOW. In fact, it's a very reassuring process, once you begin to see the pattern.

Your Assignment:

Notice your mindset as it relates to your big dreams and goals for your business or your life. Is there a way that you might be stopping yourself or putting a hold on your big dreams because you haven't yet figured out HOW it's going to happen? Is the planner in you squashing the dreamer in you?

Instead, I'd recommend you gather your strength, deny your "smallness" and grab hold of the truth of yourself: that you CAN accomplish that big dream, that it's not a silly notion. Just the mere fact that you've thought of it means it can be done. Otherwise, you wouldn't have gotten the idea. Forgot the how! Just go for it. Each "how" and the resource needed at that time will show up exactly when you need it.

And I'm here for you to make it happen, with all the support you need.

If you're interested in walking this particular journey with me, come to the Mindset Retreat in a week and a half. I can't recommend this enough for you. THIS is what we'll be doing together, among many other things. Stepping up in a BIG way, upgrading our mindset, our businesses and our lives, and reaching big, despite the "noise". You have one week left to register. Are you game? ww.ClientAttractionMindsetRetreat.com.

© 2008 Client Attraction LLC. All Rights Reserved.

Fabienne Fredrickson, The Client Attraction Mentor, is founder of the Client Attraction System™ and http://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 http://www.clientattraction.com/.

When Playing BIG, Old "Stuff" Will Come UP

2008-09-07T05:15:00.000-04:00

Many people have massive doubt about their ability to do something really big in this world, including myself up until very recently. They wonder whether they have what it takes or whether they're "good enough." And last week, we talked about taking the great leap of faith, really expanding our vision of what's possible for our business, for our clients and for ourselves, and 'Going BIG or Going HOME'.

Now... that's all well and good, but what about ALL the emotions that arise when you take a great big leap of faith and step into your purpose? No one ever prepares us for that and it can be an uncomfortable process. You see, when you decide to step into your future in a BIG way, unexpected internal stuff comes up, even stuff you thought you'd ALREADY dealt with.

I'm going through this myself right now. You see, BEFORE we make a decision to go BIG, we have to get over our fear of failing miserably. But once we've actually made the decision to play a bigger game, then it makes way for lots of other feelings to come up.

As I get ready to launch a new division of my company, along with a new branding, I was surprised to see lots of "old stuff" come up, despite all the mindset work I've done. I want to share some of it with you too, because as YOU begin to recognize your potential for magnificence in business and otherwise, and then act upon it, stuff might come up for you too (in fact, it inevitably will).

Here's a snapshot of what came up for me:

"Will they really want what I'm going to be offering?"
"Perhaps I should just keep doing what I've been doing for years. At least I know I'm
good at that."
"Maybe I shouldn't 'break what ain't broke'; I mean, I'm doing really well now, why rock
the boat?"
"What if I fail and humiliate myself in front of thousands of people. It's not worth it."
"What if they reject my new idea, my new company?"
"Can I really be THIS big?""Do I really have it within me to DO this?"
"I'm scared."

Just telling you about what came up for me these past couple of weeks makes me feel icky inside. But here's what I also observed. When you break it down, there really are only 2 emotions in the world: Love and Fear. And there are origins for each of those emotions.

Love comes from your higher self, Spirit, Universe, God (whatever you want to call it.) Love is safe, there is trust there, it's synonymous with Faith. And when you have faith, you cannot express fear. They cannot exist in the same place. And your source WANTS you to grow, to be bigger, to dare to dream an even bigger dream. In fact, Spirit is always championing you to get to the next level, if you'll just get out of the way.

Fear, on the other hand, comes from the ego. And the ego only wants to keep you small, to keep you "safe" by slowing down your progress, by stopping you, by keeping you under its thumb. This is the only way that your ego can survive, and it's by controlling you and keeping you down. Yuck.

Now, go back up to the list of things I was thinking and feeling and review them. You'll see that every one of them is based in fear. Which means that each of them is ego-driven.

But here's what you must know: fear doesn't really exist! Fear is False Evidence Appearing Real. And it's a bunch of nonsense, if you're willing to look beyond the fear as just a protection mechanism to keep you small. Who wants to be bullied by some little creepy ego to stay small anyway? Not me!

So if you can recognize that what you're experiencing or feeling is NOT REAL, then it cannot have a hold on you. And that's what I recognized this week. And I chose to go for it anyway. I hope you will too.

Your Assignment:

Notice what thoughts and emotions come up as you make a commitment to walk boldly into the next step in your business and purpose for being self-employed. Make a list. Write them down. Then, as you read your list, in the margin, I'd like you to label that emotion. 1) Love, or 2) Fear. Which is it based on? I'll bet just about anything that it's based on fear.

When you recognize this, you can choose to stay in fear or recognize that you are being "played" by your ego and that it doesn't actually exist. That all this is fake. And you can choose to act in spite of what's come up for you.

Listen, let's admit that this will probably happen a lot more in the beginning. But when you see this happen over and over again, and you recognize it, the hold the ego has on you will begin to diminish considerably. (It already has with me.)

Now, imagine yourself standing at the doorway of your BIG vision and future. You've got your hand on the doorknob. You're ready to step in but you hear "voices" behind you begging you to play small and stay safe. Inside though, you know that these are all smoke and mirrors, that they're not real.

You have two options: 1) Walk through the door anyway, because you have no choice but to be your best self and stop playing a mediocre game. Or 2) Stay small because of fear, living a beige existence for the rest of your life. You choose.

Personally, I'm walking through. And I'm betting on my faith that it will turn out OK, if not WAY better than OK. The alternative is just not acceptable. What about you? What will you do? I'm hoping you walk through that door with me.

I'm here for you to make it happen, safely and with all the support you need.

If you're interested in walking this journey with me, come to the Mindset Retreat. I can't recommend this enough for you. THIS is what we'll be doing together, among many other things. Stepping up in a BIG way, upgrading our mindset, our businesses and our lives, and reaching big, despite the "noise". Are you game? http://www.clientattractionmindsetretreat.com/.

© 2008 Client Attraction LLC. All Rights Reserved.

Fabienne Fredrickson, The Client Attraction Mentor, is founder of the Client Attraction System™ and http://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 http://www.clientattraction.com/.

Go BIG or Go Home!

2008-08-31T05:15:00.000-04:00

QUOTE: "Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate. Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure... Your playing small does not serve the world. There is nothing enlightened about shrinking so that other people won't feel insecure around you."- Marianne Williamson, A Return To Love

After sharing my personal "Video Vision Board" with my 10,000+ readers this week, I received a lot of comments and questions. One of the ones that stood out the most for me was this one:

"Hey Fabienne, just watched the You Tube video. It's awesome. I'm not sure
what it is that keeps me from living in the music of possibility. I keep holding
myself to something small like "Hoping for another client this month." And
here you are on Oprah and making videos with Bono. So cool!! What do I
need to drop in order to step in to 'YES' and let go of 'HUH?'."

An amazing question, especially since not everyone is brave enough to "go there". What I've witnessed, especially because of the extended time I've been lucky to spend with my Platinum MasterMind members this last year, is that many people have massive doubt about their ability to do something big in this world, including myself up until recently.

And because we're doubtful about our ABILITY to accomplish something BIG, we don't allow ourselves the chance to think big, for fear of failing miserably and confirming our own original thoughts. The self-doubt gets hold of us even BEFORE we begin to craft our vision. So we keep playing a mediocre game and living a mediocre life as a result (mediocre, in the sense that your life is probably 'good enough' now, but it could be SO much sweeter and richer, if you allowed yourself to play bigger.)

The solution? It's time to drop the self-doubt and live in FAITH. Most people continue to play small because of feelings of unworthiness. We've all been put down in our lives, especially in our childhood, and sometimes by the people we thought we were the safest with. And we've pushed down our big thinking and play a "beige" existence.

Enough of the beige existence. Enough mediocrity. You ARE enough. You are NOT inadequate. In fact, you are powerful beyond measure. There is nothing you cannot accomplish if you believe in yourself. There is nothing you cannot accomplish if you move past the fear of failure or the fear of really being "seen" in a big way. This is your time to shine.

You, me, Bono, Oprah... we're all just people. They still brush their teeth and have indigestion sometimes, like we do. But the difference is that they simply made the DECISION to play big one day. And then they BELIEVED. They were scared too, and they did it anyway. They too didn't know HOW they were going to fulfill their big dreams (I certainly don't know how I will reach mine, but I believe they'll happen) but they went for it anyway. That's all.

Your Client Attraction Assignment:

I recommend you work on your OWN big vision, starting tonight. Make a list of people you admire greatly and what they've accomplished in the world. Then, get inspired by that and create your own list of what YOU would accomplish if you could do anything. (HINT: you can.) And whenever you start thinking, "What? ME... do THIS?" then it means it's EXACTLY what you should be shooting for. All you need to do is look for the opportunities and get support to manifest your vision. That is when your life will become even sweeter and richer. :)

There's a saying I love: "If you're not living on the edge, you're taking up too much room." I don't know who first coined this phrase, but it's recently become one of my favorites, a mantra I've adopted. Have it become yours too. I assure you that you CAN do this. Go for it! I'm here to support you.

To Attract More Clients, Plug Into Your Purpose

2008-08-17T15:45:00.005-04:00

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:

We get bored.
We get complacent or lazy.
We become greedy or simply in it for the mo-ney.

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 mo-ney. Yes, making lots of mo-ney is great. Mo-ney is necessary and it makes life way easier. But if the ONLY reason you're in business is to make mo-ney, 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 mo-ney, 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 drags 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 mo-ney inevitably flows. The best part about making good mo-ney doing something that really matters to you is that the mo-ney 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 Client Attraction Assignment:

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

What section of the bookstore do you gravitate towards? (Hint: I was reading success-mindset and marketing books on my honeymoon and it didn't feel like work.)
What is the greatest challenge you overcame?
What brings the most meaning to your life?
If you had all the mo-ney 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 it's time to take action and invest in a step-by-step marketing system that will feel easy and authentic to you. The Client Attraction Home Study System™ avoids all the unnecessary stuff and instead gives you the most important things to do to find your niche, get out there in a big way, set up simple, solid systems, so 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. So easy. All the tools, scripts, templates, and examples are handed to you on a silver platter. You can get it at TheClientAttractionSystem.com.

Make A Decision And "The Way" Will Show Up

2008-08-17T05:15:00.002-04:00

I've discovered something really interesting in terms of human behavior over the last 3 years. I'm shocked to notice how often people stop themselves by using excuses for not doing something in their business, and in their lives. The thing is, they're not even aware of it. Here's what I mean... People SAY they want something very badly, that they want a change, and theoretically, that they'd do anything to get it.

But when the rubber meets the road, it's a totally different story. For many, when it's time to take action, they're not WILLING to take the steps or do the work that creates the result. And they use excuses about time and mo-ney as the trap door, their escape route:

"I can't do 'x' because I don't have the mo-ney right now"
"I can't do 'y' because I've already got something planned for that day"

I see it plain as day and I see it happen EVERY day. It's the "Inner Self-Doubt" that consistently has someone question every single move they make in growing their business or their in-come.

It's that same inner self-doubt that creates the excuse that invariably comes up, either having to do with time OR mo-ney, or something along the lines of "I'm not sure this is right for MY business." And what I'm convinced about, because I've witnessed it in my own life and then in the lives of hundreds (if not thousands) of my clients, is that this inner self-doubt, questioning everything and not taking serious ACTION when the solution shows up all boil down to one thing and one thing only. And in plain english, it's called... SELF SABOTAGE.

(By the way, The same thing happens when you decide to do something and then you decide to back out at the last minute. There are people who do this again and again. It's what I call "waffling" and it's another form of self-sabotage, something that you use to keep yourself from playing a bigger game in your life.)

In all the years I've been working with solopreneurs, I have seen countless people beg for a change in their business, pray to make a lot more mo-ney, and yet, when the answer is delivered and it's right there in front of them (in whatever form it shows up) they use excuses, turn away or question whether it's right for them.

Realize that THE limitation around getting to the next level in their business is created by your own mindset. Then you can make a change in perspective, stop using excuses and "just go for it", then the results show up. Here's the process I've witnessed in myself and in my clients recently:

They make a firm DECISION (to succeed, buy something, attend something, or whatever)
They stop over thinking
They quiet the inner critic and the relentless self-doubt
They look for different ways of making it happen
They take action, IN SPITE OF the "fear"
They are then rewarded very handsomely.

Widening your perspective around success starts with a DECISION. Once you make a decision to succeed, it's time to commit to doing whatever it takes to make it happen.

Whatever it takes.

Instead of saying "I can't afford this", ask yourself "How *can* I afford this?
" Instead of saying "I'm already busy that day", you'll begin to find ways to move things around to make it happen. It's a SMALL shift in perception, but it is absolutely life-changing when you begin to think that way. Instead of stopping the flow, you begin to search for opportunities, for solutions. You begin to act like a detective, looking for different ways to make it happen.

And that's when it shows up.

I've often thought that, if I can't get into a house from the front door, then I'll look for the back door. And if the back door's locked, then it's time to look for an open window. And if all the windows are shut tight, then the storm door or basement door, etc. Too many people simply try the obvious way of doing something, often, by just looking at their bank account or their calendar. And then they stop there.

And you know what? There is ALWAYS a way. But only if you're willing to look for a different way. Only if you don't get stopped at the front door, thinking, "Oh well, it wasn't meant to be!"

It's about letting go of mediocrity and trusting that there IS a way to get what you want, or to do what you want to do for your business or in your life. You see, once you make the COMMITMENT to find a way to make it happen, the way to do that thing shows up. Always.

Your Client Attraction Assignment:

Let me ask you this...

What is it that you are wanting to do that you're stopping yourself with excuses or mo-ney or time?

Make a list. If you can be honest about it, really honest with yourself and you see yourself doing this very thing, I want to ask you this...

How BADLY do you want this thing, whatever it is? How BADLY can you taste it?

Before you say, "But wait, Fabienne. There ISN'T enough mo-ney for this in my bank account." or "Fabienne, I've already got something planned for then", notice that it's all a question of your perception. If it were a life-or-death thing, you WOULD find the mo-ney, you WOULD clear your schedule. And so it CAN be done. And if it can be done, then the excuse is no longer valid.

If you want something really badly, then you need to approach it as if it were a life-or-death situation. You need to have your ACTIONS match what you say you want. Otherwise, a year from now, 10 years from now, 30 years from now, you'll be in the same place you are now. Is that what you really want?

It comes down to being WILLING to act differently. It's not just thinking differently, it's about taking bold and decisive action toward what you say you want in your business or your life. It's about saying YES to what's possible for you. Saying YES to the opportunities that are divinely given to you. And then taking action. Your business, your life, your in-come will never be the same. I promise you that.

© 2008 Client Attraction LLC. All Rights Reserved.

Fabienne Fredrickson, The Client Attraction Mentor, is founder of the Client Attraction System™ and http://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 http://www.clientattraction.com/

To Market or Not To Market: The Double-Edged Sword of Self-Promotion

2008-08-10T22:06:00.006-04:00

Have you ever felt strange about marketing your services for fear of people thinking you weren't successful enough or good enough at what you do? I was reading a transcript of marketer Dan Kennedy's Coaching and Consulting Business Boot Camp this past week at the beach and I came across a section about the fine line between the need for marketing and not wanting to look like you NEED business.

It struck a cord with me because I remember being stumped a few years ago, when a photographer I met at a networking function asked me, "So, if you're such a marketing expert and you help people attract all the clients they need, what are you doing here at a networking group each week?" I didn't know what to say at first. Never had it been posed to me that way.

But then I started thinking about it all and I realized that I always have clients, because I'm always marketing. I feel comfortable knowing that marketing is part of my business, a large part of it. It doesn't matter what you DO for a living, your primary job is marketing and your "skill" is whatever else you do to get paid by clients.
So, if you're a consultant, you're not really a consultant, you're a marketer who consults. If you're an interior designer, you're not really an interior designer, you're a marketer who happens to help clients decorate their homes. And so on and so forth.

Until a client of mine really GETS that, they always put marketing on the back burner, and as a result of not making marketing a priority in the past, they've gotten lackluster, mediocre results. But when they realize that their MAIN job is marketing, then they just accept that that's what you do and start to do it well. Alternatively, they can just go back to the corporate world and get a paycheck again while having someone else breathe down their neck. (Yuck!)

But I think the fine line we talked about between looking successful enough not to market and needing to market is really about CHASING clients. It's like anything in life: if someone is TOO eager about something, you start questioning their motives. Here's the line I read in that seminar transcript:

The Ultimate Incongruity: "If you're so good, why are you so available?...let alone chasing business???"

The first key is that you never CHASE business. It's just too cheesy and it doesn't make people want to work with you. If you seem like you need them more than they need you, then you're in trouble.

However, if you follow the Client Attraction System® or are a client of mine, you know that it's about creating VALUE, trust, believability, and credibility over the long haul. It's about establishing yourself as a problem solver to your ideal clients and their biggest problems. It's about creating a RELATIONSHIP so that clients naturally come to YOU and no one else, WHEN they're ready. It's never about chasing clients or strong-arming them to sign up with you. Here's the formula:

Value plus Trust over Time.

(As a side note, that photographer who almost stumped me with her question ended up being one of my favorite clients of all time, a RAVING fan and a consistent referral source of new clients to my practice. She's also become one of the best and most diligent marketers I've seen, and she markets consistently, not just when she needs clients. She GOT it.)

Your Client Attraction Assignment:

So, now that we've gotten away from any semblance of you chasing business and looking too eager, what would you say if someone asked YOU that Ultimate Incongruity question?

Here's what I say:

"I market consistently because I know that if you don't market consistently, you don't always have clients. Even when I have a waiting list of people waiting to work with me, I still don't stop marketing. I'd be foolish to do that."
"Two clients recently graduated, so I have openings for just two new clients."
"I have decided to take on more clients because...(tell the truth)."

Oh and by the way, always tell the truth. That's what authentic marketing is about. That's how being a marketer with integrity makes you stand out in the marketplace. Anything else would be sleazy and that's not Client Attractive.

OK, it's clear that you HAVE to market, but what if you don't know where to begin or what to do first? Get yourself the complete 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 discover 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. The Client Attraction Home Study System™ avoids all the unnecessary stuff and instead gives you the most important things to do to find your niche, get out there in a big way, set up simple, solid systems, so 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. So easy. All the tools, scripts, templates, and examples are handed to you on a silver platter. You can get it at TheClientAttractionSystem.com

© 2008 Client Attraction LLC. All Rights Reserved.

Clients Want Easy Shortcuts

2008-08-03T17:48:00.004-04:00

I'm convinced that everyone's really just looking for a shortcut. Over the last 9 years of working with clients privately and in groups, the more I offer my products and services, the clearer I am that we all just want an easier way out. Well, not because we're lazy; it's more that we're completely overwhelmed.

Half the time, I feel like I'm drinking from an information fire hose. If you're anything like me, you're bombarded, and I literally mean bombarded by information, all day long. There's unwanted information (ads and pop-ups) and also WANTED information, stuff you asked for or paid for, and actually do want to get (like something you're trying to learn to improve yourself or your business). I didn't even mention the hundreds of emails I get per day that I can't always respond to, even though my intention is there.

Problem is, we're turning into an "attention deficit" society. Blame it on whatever you want (the media, the Internet, too many TV stations, spam, satellite radio channels, TiVO, etc.), we all don't have enough attention to spread out to do everything we want, including the stuff we don't. So we sometimes go into inaction mode and don't do ANYTHING

My motto has always been, "A strong focus now creates a different future later." However, it's getting harder to keep focused, harder to make decisions, and mental concentration on just ONE thing seems to be getting more and more rare (multitasking USED to be a good word in my book, but now I'm wondering if it's actually detrimental to success).

But not just for me. For my prospects and clients too. I'm noticing the people I work with also have WAY TOO MUCH to pay attention to. In addition to their own clients, they've got families, responsibilities, email, bills, and personal and professional development they need to focus on. And we haven't even talked about marketing yet. No wonder it's the last thing they focus on!

I've noticed a trend. It's called, "Help-me-I'm-overwhelmed-with-info-and-I-need-help-to-make-sense-of-it-all!" In an age when we all have instant access to a ridiculous amount of information, making sense of it all and putting it all into place seems to be the hardest thing. And then we beat ourselves up about it.

That's where you can come in. You see, because your prospects are inundated, overwhelmed, and unable to really focus on what they want, your job can now become that of making sense of it all for them. You can help them carve out the time in their day to achieve what they want, cut their learning curve to its barest essential, while helping them put one foot in front of the other. That's what I do, among other things.

If you can communicate that in your materials, you've got it made. Show prospects you've got a system, that it's foolproof, that it's clear and easy to follow and (of course) that they'll get results from it-well, with that, you're way ahead of the pack and you can almost guarantee your success.

If you can reassure clients that you've got the shortcut, and you'll help them implement whatever it is they're after, you win. And they win. And then you win again. Here's what I mean. If you can show them it's easy to work with you, then they sign up with you (you win). Because you help them make sense of it all, they start seeing great results (they win). Once they see great results because it was so clear-cut and easy, they can't help but tell others about you in a Raving Fan manner (you win again, because you get a ton of referrals and kick-butt testimonials that bring in new clients.)

Your Client Attraction Assignment:

Notice how you present what you offer. Is it convoluted? Does it seem like a TON of work? Are you making it easy for them or making it seem like they'll work really hard and spend a lot of time doing it?

Start tweaking how you present what you do so that it becomes a paint-by-numbers approach. Show them that it's really a step-by-step process, a one-step-in-front-of-the-other method. You've got nothing to lose in making everything simpler and everything to gain (lots of clients).

Step-by-step processes help clients get out of their own way and get you results quickly. Clients always tell me that, instead of feeling like they're drinking from a fire hose of information, my materials are like drinking from a ladle. When creating a product, my goal is always on taking the FLOOD of information out there and laying it all out into a simple, easy to implement way that really gets results.

If you've been overwhelmed with Client Attraction, not knowing where to start, then it's time to take action and invest in a step-by-step marketing system that will feel easy and authentic to you. The Client Attraction Home Study System™ avoids all the unnecessary stuff and instead gives you the most important things to do to find your niche, get out there in a big way, set up simple, solid systems, so 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. So easy. All the tools, scripts, templates, and examples are handed to you on a silver platter. You can get it at TheClientAttractionSystem.com.

Make Your Initial Offer Irresistible and You'll Have To Start Fighting Off New Clients

2008-07-27T13:41:00.006-04:00

Pulling clients in is not only more fun than pushing hard to "get" clients, it's MUCH easier. Who wouldn't rather have clients call them instead of pounding the pavement? The concept is a no-brainer to grasp, but very few solo-entrepreneurs actually do anything about it. Most are wandering aimlessly, just waiting for clients to come to them, but with little strategy involved. That's when creating PULL marketing systems comes into play.

There are 3 powerful "PULLING-them-in" marketing techniques I recommend in my programs and use myself, still today. In this article, I want to share one of them with you. I call it the 'Irresistible F.R.E.E. offer'.

Irresistible F.R.E.E. Offers (IFOs) literally make people sit up and take notice and PULL them into your pipeline. There are many forms of IFOs. It could be an audio CD that you give away on your website and advertise on the web, a special report, an intro teleclass, a workbook, an e-course, a checklist or downloadable audio.

The list of possible IFOs is endless, but this strategy works best when the topic refers to what your prospect would do-anything and pay-anything to achieve or acquire. (As a side note, I do not typically recommend offering a fr.ee consultation. It is not only too time consuming, but it attracts too many tire kickers who waste your time.)

Even though you're not charging for the Irresistible Offer, it should absolutely be of high content and high value. Like me, you've probably attended a no-fee teleclass or received an ebook that left you severely under-whelmed. And like me, you've probably forgotten that person very quickly. The bottom line is, if your initial offer is not high-content, you've wasted the prospect's time and therefore, you've lost them for good.

When these F.R.E.E. offers have great value, you build your credibility instantly, people talk about you to colleagues, refer others to you, you get interviewed by joint ventures and strategic alliances, and the media begins paying attention, which all creates increased exposure and visibility, without any extra effort on your part. And best of all, your first impression (one of high-content, high-value) keeps them thinking of you, over and over, until they're ready to buy.

Now, before you start thinking, "Well, Fabienne, they WON'T buy from me if I give it ALL away at no-charge", that's not what we're doing here. I'm not suggesting you give away the whole farm. That wouldn't make good financial sense. Instead, I'm suggesting you give them the 'what', not the entire 'how' on these no-charge offers. That way, most prospects become intrigued with the high-content they received at no charge, and will look to you for the specific, pragmatic steps to implement them. That's key.

The mistake I see solopreneurs making in a first offer is pitching their high-priced services from the get-go. I personally think this is a waste of marketing real-estate, because very few people will purchase your higher priced programs or services without knowing a little more about you. Remember the Know-Like-Trust Factor? People don't buy from someone they don't know, they don't like, and they don't trust.

You can immediately start the K-L-T Factor using the Irresistible offer. Provided it's of high-content, high value, it starts people off slowly, establishes credibility, while positioning you as their problem solver. Priceless! Once prospects receive great benefit from your initial offer, they'll naturally move THEMSELVES up your Services Pyramid pipeline, without any work or hard selling on your part.

That's the beauty of this concept. You simply invite prospects into your funnel and they will naturally move up the funnel on their own, without effort on your end. The best part of this is this process feels AUTHENTIC to you AND to them. Your content does the work, and they don't feel the sales pressure. Remember: people like to buy; but they don't like to be sold.

All your F.R.E.E. irresistible offers are created to lead people to your ezine or other stay-in-touch marketing vehicles, where you continue to add high-content, high value over time. This builds the trust and the credibility, positioning you as their problem solver.

The goal is to consistently fill the pipeline, getting it bigger and bigger over time, continually stocking the pond with ideal clients who self-select and move themselves up the ladder of the services you provide. THAT is what I call 'pulling' clients in and you're going to love how easy it is.

Your Assignment This Week:

Begin thinking about what your prospects would do-anything and pay-anything to learn or experience from you. Then, create an Irresistible Offer around that, giving them high content but not the entire 'how' and put it in your marketing materials. Set up systems for getting that F.R.E.E. offer to your prospects with no effort on your part and watch the leads come in, day after day. You won't believe how easy it is to fill your pipeline effortlessly and authentically!

Here's my formula for filling a pipeline effortlessly:

Compelling and authentic marketing message
+
Effective marketing techniques
+
Irresistible F.R.E.E. offers
=
A FULL pipeline of prospects who call YOU

If you're not sure how to create a compelling marketing message or set up effective marketing techniques in the first place, then it's time to take action and invest in a step-by-step marketing system that will feel easy and authentic to you. The Client Attraction Home Study System™ avoids all the unnecessary stuff and instead gives you the most important things to do to find your niche, get out there in a big way, set up simple, solid systems, so 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. So easy. All the tools, scripts, templates, and examples are handed to you on a silver platter. You can get it at TheClientAttractionSystem.com.

It Ain't Over Til It's Over (Especially When You're Closing The Sale)

2008-07-14T19:26:00.002-04:00

The quote, "The opera ain't over until the fat lady sings" originated with San Antonio sports broadcaster Dan Cook during a television newscast in April 1978. He coined the famous phrase after the first basketball game between the San Antonio Spurs and the Washington Bullets during the 1977-78 National Basketball Association playoffs, to illustrate that while the Spurs had won once, the series was not over yet.

And it's not just for basketball. In Client Attraction, it's just as applicable, especially when you're closing the sale. You see, many self-employed professionals believe that once they've gotten an "OK", they're home free. And ideally that's the case, but not in every situation.

Many times, you're confident that this new working relationship is "good to go." Your prospective client signs on the dotted line, gives you their credit card information, you send them your welcome letter or package, and everything seems honkey dory. But that's not always the case.

Sometimes, brand new clients get cold feet. They may think about their decision and start to wonder if they really need your services. Did they make a mistake? Were they being foolish?

But most often, they rethink their decision because they're confronted with a possibility of change, even GOOD change, ESPECIALLY when you're promising radically different results. There's a part of them that wonders whether they're ready for this change, whether they can handle all that you promise in your marketing materials.

But that's where your job becomes important. Once you've closed the sale, it's time to Double Close. To secure the sale and make sure the new client doesn't back out, I used to use a Double Close technique that I learned from my financial advisor years ago. It's called the "Here's what we talked about e-mail."

You basically recap everything you talked about on the "get-acquainted" call and put it all in an e-mail that you send right away. When someone receives this after signing up to work with you, they feel even more confident about their decision and rarely if ever back out of the agreement.

It's all about reassurance, a confirmation (even from you) that they made the right decision. But you can also use this for someone who, after the get-acquainted call, still hasn't signed up. Just seeing all the things they need to work on and the goals they need to achieve in black and white often motivates someone to take action, especially if you don't pressure them.

Your Assignment:

As a Double Close method or with someone who's having a difficult time signing up, send an e-mail recapping everything you both talked about in your "get-acquainted" call. This creates fantastic results, even weeks down the road.

I've re-closed many a client this way and you too will be surprised by how well this works. Don't be surprised to hear from someone you thought wasn't ever going to sign up. With this Double Close or Recap method, they'll most likely be back.

If you're not attracting enough ideal prospects in the first place, I'd recommend you create compelling marketing and systems for that starting today. The tool that will take you from 0 to 60 clients the quickest is The Client Attraction Home Study System™. It's everything you'll ever need to know to fill your practice quickly; no matter how long you've been in business. All the tools, scripts, templates, and examples are handed to you on a silver platter (including how to close the sale 97% of the time). So, you do step one of the system, and when you're done with that, you move on to step two, and so on. So easy. That's why my customers have gotten such great results from it. You can get yours at www.TheClientAttractionSystem.com.

© 2008 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.

To Turn More Prospects Into Paying Clients, You Must Give Them Options

2008-06-29T22:24:00.003-04:00

When I was first starting out trying to close the sale as an solo-entrepreneur, I would offer only one rate and the offer was basically "this is what I charge, take it or leave it." So people would either take it or leave it.

Then I realized that clients work in a different way. Many people like options (I do too). They don't want to be "forced" into taking something that doesn't suit them. They want the option of small, medium or large.

There's also some psychology to it. Some people naturally go for the biggest, fastest, "supersized" option, just because that's their personality. Others are more cautious and like to take their time doing things. Sometimes, it's simply a question of money and what they can afford.

I started making available an option for each of these types of people (and budgets). The result? I started signing on considerably more clients offering options than when I used just one rate.

Why? Probably a few reasons:

There were options to fit different budget levels and it took care of the "am I charging too little or too much?" syndrome.
The client probably felt more in control and part of the decision-making process, which is less threatening.
It gave me confidence that my rates, as a whole, were just right for my ideal clients.

Your Assignment:

Consider charging different rates for different programs. Create different price points in your offerings. Use the provided one for inspiration, but create different options that work for you.

Let there be an incentive to go for the higher option (more time with you or reduced cost per hour as frequency grows). Make it almost irresistible to go for the highest option, but recognize that some people may just not be able to afford it or may choose not to go that route. That's OK.

Name your different options so that you can refer to them without actually using the dollar amounts. I've used the terms "Fast Track," "Basic" and "Maintenance" programs for my different options. What could you call yours?

Not only do you want to have different options to close the sale, but you've got to have a method that WORKS virtually 100% of the time, WITHOUT feeling slick, sleazy or sales-y. (Let's face it, we all like to BUY, but we don't like to be sold to; at least I don't). Problem is, most people haven't been taught HOW to script something that feels authentic and works practically every time. The Client Attraction Home Study System™ shows you EXACTLY how to do that. It's everything you need to know to fill your practice quickly; no matter how long you've been in business. All the tools, scripts, templates, and examples are handed to you on a silver platter (including how to close the sale 97% of the time). So, you do step one of the system, and when you're done with that, you move on to step two, and so on. So easy. That's why my customers have gotten such great results from it. You can get yours at www.TheClientAttractionSystem.com.

If You Want To Increase Re-venues, You Must Bring On An Assistant

2008-06-23T11:14:00.003-04:00

If you want to grow your business, hands-down, you need an assistant. And by "grow," I really mean "make more mo-ney." Oh, I know what you're thinking! "I don't make enough mo-ney to hire an assistant yet. That's just not something that I can do right now."

I know you're thinking this because I thought the same thing too, at first. I resisted working with a Virtual Assistant (VA) for over a year. Then I tried it because I didn't have any other choice. I was so busy working on client projects and actually seeing clients that I didn't have time to market my business.

But once I hired a VA, I nearly doubled my re-venues. I finally had time to work on getting more clients and taking care of the aspects of the business that actually MAKE me money.

Here's the deal about Virtual Assistance. You can have someone work for YOU out of their OWN office, on their OWN computer on YOUR stuff, at a drastic fraction of what it would cost you to hire an assistant full time, or even a part-time college student. Here's why: VAs are highly experienced professionals who have been executive assistants in corporations and have chosen to go out on their own and work from home (can you blame them?)

They work with several clients at the same time and have an hourly rate. The best part is they only charge you for the actual time worked, keeping track of the time they spend on your work. Which means that, if they only spend 64 minutes working on a project for you, then they pro-rate the hourly rate to just those 64 minutes and that's all you pay.

Because they are highly experienced and own their own businesses, you can expect a much higher level of quality than you would with a student who generally doesn't have any experience in the business world. Because of this, VAs often become PARTNERS in the growth of your business, rather than simply someone you delegate work to.

They care, and it's in their best interest that you grow your business. The more successful YOU are, the more work you'll be giving THEM (win-win situation). So, it's almost like they're INVESTED in your success…

Your Assignment:

Isn't it time you thought about focusing on what matters most (the money-producing part of your business) and start to delegate the other details to a real professional?

Start writing down the things you want to start delegating and what your business goals are. You can also do a search on www.Google.com for "Virtual Assistant" and you will get leads for different organizations. Once you start collaborating with an eager-to-take-stuff-off-your-desk professional, you'll start seeing results soon thereafter.

I hear this a lot: You may not be sure how to use ALL the time you'll gain once you hire a VA. My advice? Marketing! But many solo-entrepreneurs aren't sure what to focus on first: ezine? Teleseminars? Talks? Networking? articles? No worries, I was there once too. The step-by-step Client Attraction Home Study System™ will show you everything you need to do first.

Not only do you get clear on what clients you should be targeting, how to create the marketing message that will have them WANT to work with you and seek you out, but exactly WHAT to do with your marketing time and HOW. It's everything you need to know to fill your practice quickly; no matter how long you've been in business. All the tools, scripts, templates, and examples are handed to you on a silver platter. So, you do step one of the system, and when you're done with that, you move on to step two, and so on. So easy. That's why my customers have gotten such great results from it. You can get yours at www.TheClientAttractionSystem.com.

© 2008 Client Attraction LLC. All Rights Reserved.

Fabienne Fredrickson, The Client Attraction Mentor, is founder of the Client Attraction System™ and http://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 http://www.clientattraction.com/

To Turn More Prospects Into Paying Clients, You Must Motivate Them!

2008-06-16T10:53:00.003-04:00

When talking about their business, most solo-preneurs make the mistake of describing exactly what they do, in boring detail. "My company has been in business for X number of years and we use the newest technology systems. We use a complicated series of… blah blah blah." Many coaches and consultants talk about coaching ad nauseam, "What is coaching, are you coachable, what is your coachability index, who is the coach, blah blah blah".

I know, because I did it too in the beginning and it didn't work.

Hate to say this, but… SO WHAT! Nobody cares! When I hear someone talk to their prospects this way, it sends up a big red flag for me: these people don't really KNOW what they DO for clients and they're losing potential clients every time they open their mouths and every time someone reads their materials! The problem is that they're clearly not connected enough to their client base to see what real benefits they bring their clients.

There's a saying that goes "People don't care how much you know, until they know how much you care." And until you can tell someone what's in it for THEM to work with you, they won't pay attention to you or what you're saying.

Now, there's nothing wrong with you if you've been doing this, but it's something that you'll want to work on quickly so you don't let any more ideal prospects slip through your fingers. It just takes asking yourself what you really DO for clients, what results and benefits you get for them and then to articulate that so that a prospective client looking for that solution will want to work with YOU.

Let's look at exactly what your ideal prospects are motivated by: The Motivators. Below is a list of the top 10 reasons, results or benefits that make people buy, according to Jim Edwards and David Garfinkel in the ebook entitled "Ebook Secrets Exposed" www.EbookSecretsExposed.com that I read a bazillion years ago:

Here, according to them, are the most powerful motivators:

Make mo-ney
Save mo-ney
Save time
Avoid effort
Get more comfort
Achieve greater cleanliness
Attain fuller health
Escape physical pain
Gain praise
Be popular

Now, not every one of these fits your business, and most likely, yours fall into the top 4 motivators, unless you're in healthcare or image, then it usually falls within the last 6. Either way, it's time for you to narrow yours down into motivators from the Top Ten list above.

What's so powerful about using "motivators" in your marketing is that you position yourself as their ultimate SOLUTION, the one they would do anything and pay relatively anything to get. When you can show prospects how you can help them achieve one of them, they'll immediately pay more attention to you.

They'll want more. You'll PULL them in. They'll call YOU, as opposed to you chasing THEM. It's such a beautiful thing to watch when that begins happening in your business.

Your Assignment:

Circle the motivators that fit your business from the list above and then list an example of how this has already happened using real client examples. Then, sprinkle this throughout all your marketing materials, your elevator speech, your website, your signature talk, etc. You'll have people coming out of the woodwork wanting to work with you and your 1ncome will increase dramatically, in a very short time.

You may not be sure where to start with your elevator speech, signature talk, website, and everything else you need to do, and that's OK. I was there once too. The step-by-step Client Attraction Home Study System™ will show you everything you need to know. Not only do you get clear on what clients you should be targeting, how to create the marketing message that will have them WANT to work with you and seek you out, but exactly WHAT to do with your marketing time and HOW. It's everything you need to know to fill your practice quickly; no matter how long you've been in business. All the tools, scripts, templates, and examples are handed to you on a silver platter. So, you do step one of the system, and when you're done with that, you move on to step two, and so on. So easy. That's why my customers have gotten such great results from it. You can get yours at www.TheClientAttractionSystem.com.

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.
© 2008 Client Attraction LLC. All Rights Reserved

Client Attraction Should Be Your First Priority (Unless You Want To Go Broke)

2008-06-08T23:42:00.004-04:00

Let's face it, most solopreneurs put marketing on the back burner, something they get to only once they've put out all the fires that need to be put out, once they answer each and every e-mail in their inbox, once they've sent every client what they promised to send. Yes, it's really important to do all of these things; however, you've got to realize that if you don't MAKE the time for your Client Attraction (i.e., Marketing), then you're simply not going to attract all the clients you need. Make sense?

The good news is, it doesn't have to be difficult. Over the years of coaching thousands of self-employed professionals to attract more clients, I've created a few systems to keep you on track and make Client Attraction a priority. What we've got to do is have you clear the decks and get rid of the "leaks" in your day.

How much time per day should you really allocate for marketing? I recommend my clients spend up to 4 hours of marketing PER DAY the first 6 months to a year in business, or whenever they need a new boost of clients. Many people gasp at that number when I first share it with them, because they usually spend no more than 4 hours per MONTH, if that. No wonder they're having trouble attracting new clients!

First-time clients tell me they just don't have the time to devote that many hours to marketing. Well, since I'm always trying to find solutions to problems, we have to look at what's taking up your time now and there are usually several non-essential things that are eating up your time. I call these the "leaks" in your day. Here's what I mean: if you're spending your valuable time working on non-business items during the day, then you may want to consider putting a "pause" button on these for the first 6 months of working on this Client Attraction System™.

It might mean stepping down from that Board of Directors position that doesn't really serve you, taking a leave of absence from that time-consuming project that isn't giving you a return on your time investment, not going to the grocery store during the day, and just deciding you will go to the gym before 9 a.m. or after 5 p.m. every day, instead of smack in the middle of your workday.

Remember, it's much more difficult to attract new clients when you're not out there sharing with people what you do; networking, writing newsletters, articles, sending mailings, following up with potential clients, asking current clients for referrals, or working on presentations or seminars.

OK, then, so let's get really clear on what your day should look like. During the hours of 9 a.m. and 5 p.m. (or whatever you consider your regular work hours, I'm not picky about that), there are only 2 things you should be working on:

Client work (the stuff that actually makes you money)
Client Attraction and marketing (the stuff that gets you clients)

Everything else has to go (for now) or can wait until after 5 p.m. I know, this is drastic to some, but it just has to be something you strive for, at least for the short term.

After 6 months or a year, when you start seeing consistent results in your Client Attraction, you'll be able to decrease the number of hours you spend on marketing each day and reinstate some of the things you enjoyed doing beforehand, but had to put on pause for awhile. However, you might just be so happy to focus only on Client Attraction and client work during the day that, as for many of my private clients, you'll decide never to go back to the old way of doing things.

Your Assignment:

Clear the decks. If you know you need 4 hours of marketing per day (that's what I scheduled per day to fill both of my private practices to capacity in less than 8 months each), then you've simply got to make room for it. Your business--and livelihood--depends on it.

Take a pad of paper and write down all of the different things that take up your time every day. Include every curricular and extracurricular activity. Be a hard grader! This is not the time to be forgiving. We're looking for change, not excuses.

Once you've done that, underline or check off the things that can go for at least the next 6 months, to give you the time and space to make your practice what you want it to be: FULL.

Then do it. Make a commitment to eliminate the things (for the short-term) that eat up major amounts of time each day and week. Now, don't get depressed. Remember, this is not forever; it's just for right now, a few months, until you get all the clients you need. Then you can slowly start adding things back in. I did. This mantra kept me going for the first 6 months: "A strong focus now creates a different future later."

Now, you may be wondering what you SHOULD be doing with all that time you've allocated for Client Attraction. In fact, that's one of the biggest questions I get. The answer is laid out step-by-step in the Client Attraction Home Study System™. Not only do you get clear on what clients you should be targeting, how to create the marketing message that will have them WANT to work with you and seek you out, but exactly WHAT to do with your marketing time and HOW. It includes everything you need to know to fill your practice quickly; no matter how long you've been in business. All the tools, scripts, templates, and examples are handed to you on a silver platter. So, you do step one of the system, and when you're done with that, you move on to step two, and so on. So easy. That's why my customers have gotten such great results from it. You can get yours at www.TheClientAttractionSystem.com.

© 2008 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.

NEVER Answer The ONE Question Prospects Always Ask (If You Want Clients)

2008-06-01T17:20:00.002-04:00

One of the best things to do to quickly establish credibility, get massive exposure, and attract new clients, is speaking. Hands down. Whether you organize your own seminars on a regular basis to continually fill the pipeline (the way I did for years), or get booked for talks to "pre-formed" groups like associations, it works like a charm—provided you give very good info.

If you deliver the talk properly, there's always a group of people at the end of your talk who rush up to the podium to chat with you. Some will tell you how much they enjoyed the talk, some will be e-zine readers who've wanted to meet you for years, some will want free advice or to "pick your brain." But, there's one question you'll almost always get and it comes in two parts. The first part's the good part; "I'm interested in working with you." The second one is the tricky part; "What do you charge?"

There's ONE fundamental problem with answering the second part of that question. If you answer it right there on the spot, you'll most always lose that client on the spot. Here's why.

When making a purchasing decision, if they're only focused on price, there isn't any room for VALUE or RESULTS. And I believe people buy in three ways: by emotion, by results, and by value (what they're paying for what they're getting). If you don't get the value part right, you might as well not even bother. They'll always go into sticker shock.

The solution? Don't give them your rates on the spot. Instead, invite them for a conversation to be held at a later date where you can fully describe the value they'll be getting from working with you. I call mine the "get-acquainted session," you may call yours a free-consultation, whatever. The important thing is that's where the magic happens. That's where you can find out more about them, get to the root of their problems, describe solutions, and they sell themselves into your services, based on value.

Now, by the way, this situation doesn't just happen at the end of a speaking gig. If you've got a kick-butt elevator speech that makes them say, "Wow, that's exactly what I need, I want to work with you," then you'll also get the question at networking events, at the cocktail hour of your friend's wedding, or simply when someone contacts you by email or phone. The answer is always the same though. Invite them for a get-acquainted session.

Your Assignment:

Never give your rates cold. You'll almost always lose the sale right there on the spot. Instead, invite them for a conversation. Here's what I recommend that my clients say to their own prospects:

"I actually offer several different programs, depending on how quickly you want to get results, and of course, on your budget level. What I usually recommend is that we set up a get-acquainted session. Not only do you want to find out more about me, my programs, etc., but I want to find out more about you and your situation to see if you're going to be the right fit for my programs as well. Shall we set that up?"

Done. The prospect almost always lets out a sigh of relief (it's almost as though they didn't REALLY want your rates after all) and then you're all set. Now, you're ready to close the sale. Easy.

Now, if closing the sale 97-98% of the time is not a reality for you yet, then we've got to change that ASAP. My own formula, step-by-step process AND closing the sale script is all laid out and available to you, in a turnkey, easy to implement one-foot-in-front-of-the-other process. The Client Attraction Home Study System™ includes everything you need to know to fill your practice quickly and close the sale consistently; no matter how long you've been in business. All the tools, scripts, templates, and examples are handed to you on a silver platter. So, you do step one of the system, and when you're done with that, you move on to step two, and so on. So easy. That's why my customers have gotten such great results from it. You can get yours at www.TheClientAttractionSystem.com.

© 2008 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 MUST Say Yes To The Business (And In-come) Within Your Reach

2008-05-26T13:16:00.002-04:00

QUOTE: "The torment of precautions often exceeds the dangers to be avoided. It is sometimes better to abandon one's self to destiny." – Napoleon Bonaparte

Have you ever felt on the verge of something big in your business, that the next level is just within your reach, and at the same time, wondering if you have what it takes to make it happen, if you can actually handle it? I've curiously observed this within the last couple of weeks in my two MasterMind groups I'm running and with the two private clients I still have.

I wondered, Why is everyone around me so afraid of the next level? Why don't they just reach out for it and make it happen? Well, it dawned on me that my clients are essentially holding up a mirror for ME too, as deep inside I've been feeling the same thing.

You see, things have been going great in this business, and yet, there's this nagging feeling within me that the next BIG level is about to show up. And at the same time, it seems I'm being asked by the Universe to really STEP UP my personal growth. "Healer, heal thyself". I'm seeing how, to teach others about this 'Marketing and Mindset' stuff on a GRAND scale, I must surrender even more to what's possible for me. You'd think this would be easy, but somehow, for both my clients AND for me, it's still a challenge.

Several experiences have come up recently where my "old" way of being showed up as no longer valid, especially not for a business that's about to grow dramatically. And normally, I take a no-excuses approach to clearing out that kind of stuff. But this time, the stuff is more lodged in than normal and I've been battling whether I am "willing" to do what it takes. I'm questioning my courage this time around.

And then a good friend sent me a copy of the movie "The Moses Code" this week, saying knowingly, "This is what you need, Fabienne". And within chapter 5 of the movie, I broke down and sobbed. Not from sadness, but for the humbling potential of what is possible for anyone, for my clients, and for me. The message of the movie for me was simple: We all have a destiny for greatness. And as "The Moses Code" says, it can be a little scary to tackle an idea so big. The calling for our next stage of evolution (and success) is always upon us. There is a journey that you are being asked to take, something very big.

But what's pointed out is that, instead of embracing the journey, we often say to ourselves, "Who am I to do this? I don't have what's required. I'm not enough for that." But the truth is, we must come to the realization that we all are being called to something great, in our businesses, in service to others, in our in-come and abundance, in that it doesn't need to be HARD WORK, and that it's OK that we are all not PRESENTLY the person able to deliver that destiny. The thing is, we grow into it as we say "YES" to the challenge. That's all it takes. Then, everything we need is then given to us.

Whether you use the word "God" in your everyday language or not, here's a quote that really moved me and got me to understand what's going on for many of us:

"God does not call the qualified, it qualifies the Called."

The important thing I realized is that the person who originally said YES to the call, is not the same person who will deliver that destiny. We're constantly evolving and unfolding based on our ability and willingness to say "Yes, I am willing to go on this journey". What I got clear on this week is that, when you say YES when called and challenged to reach the next level, the thing that called you qualifies you. You will then receive the resources, the skills, the guidance, the money -- everything shows up. You then change and grow into the person able to deliver the destiny. So cool.

The struggle is within the ego that steps in and tries to protect the comfort zone that we've been accustomed to. The "old" way of being. And for many, it's mediocrity, struggle and frustration. You'd think, why are we SO adamant about holding on to mediocrity or frustration, but if you think about it, if that's what you've been accustomed to for years and years, it's the only thing you know. And anything else involves change. And most people don't like change and they certainly don't like being outside of their comfort zone.

The thing is, to reach that next bigger level of greatness, you must be willing to step outside of your comfort zone and be willing to make the changes that seem to threaten your "safe" way of being, knowing that you are always safe anyway. There is no other way. In fact, if the change is not made, things may become even more difficult, more complicated, and more struggle shows up. Until finally your ego says "OK then, GO!, do what you have to do, I'm done."

The thing is, you DO have what it takes to bring your business to the next level. So, it's a question of COURAGE and the willingness to be without your old, frayed security blanket. And what I know from past experience is that the "fear of change and the unknown" is much greater than the actual discomfort of walking into the fear.

So, it's your choice: Greatness or Mediocrity. Which do you want in your life and in your business?

Your Assignment:

If you haven't yet watched the movie, "The Moses Code", I highly recommend you get a copy today (amazon.com has it). As you watch it, get clear on your potential to make a difference in other people's lives through your business. Understand that you have the ability and capacity to really take this "thing" you created to the next BIG level. But only if you say "yes" to the challenge. I know I will.

Now that you're ready for the next level in your business, let's not forget the enormous power of Compelling Marketing. You can't help others if they don't hear about you. To attract ideal high-paying clients and dramatically increase your in-come, I suggest getting a copy of the Client Attraction Home Study System™. It includes everything you need to know to prioritize what to work on first, clear the decks and set up simple, solid systems to 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. That's why my customers have gotten such great results from it. All the tools, scripts, templates, and examples are handed to you on a silver platter. So easy. You can get yours at www.TheClientAttractionSystem.com.

Your Mental Attitude Dictates Your Number of Clients AND In-come

2008-05-18T15:59:00.003-04:00

QUOTE: "Nothing can stop the man with the right mental attitude from achieving his goal; nothing on earth can help the man with the wrong mental attitude." - Thomas Jefferson

You may be working your tail off to market your business and yet you're still wondering why it hasn't "happened" yet. I've seen this happen thousands of times. An entrepreneur is seemingly working HARD to get clients, working like a dog to bring in some good in-come and yet, the results just aren't showing up. It's like fighting an uphill battle and often seems like it's not really worth it, or worse, like something's wrong with us.

But the real battle that's going on isn't with the marketing, it's that something's wrong on the INSIDE. If there's a struggle on the OUTSIDE, it simply means that one exists on the INSIDE, and it's based on our conditioning. You see, how we are conditioned affects virtually every aspect of our life: our relationships, health, finances, success, even Client Attraction.

If you're experiencing struggle or results aren't happening fast enough, it just means there's an inner conflict that affects how you think and feel, as well as your beliefs and fears. It's the battle between your conscious and your unconscious.

"When your conscious mind thinks you want something but your subconscious mind thinks you don't deserve it (or any other limiting belief), you will fail at getting what you want. Instead you will actually attract what your subconscious feels is right for you. In order to attract what you prefer, your conscious and subconscious have to be in agreement." - Joe Vitale

If there's an exterior struggle, like clients not coming in fast enough or the fact that money is REALLY tight, then it means that PART of you wants something (your conscious) and PART of you doesn't (your subconscious). The bad news is, your subconscious has veto power over your conscious, always.

The GOOD news is, once you clear the interior struggle, the results you want happen almost instantly. That's what's happened to me in the past year or two and continues to happen. The more I match the inside with what I "say" I want, the more opportunities come my way, the more in-come shows up and the easier it all is. And I mean really easy. (And before you start going "there", just remember that I'm no different than you. Once you work on your own Inner Game of Client Attraction, you too can experience the same results. That's what we'll do together in Miami in September at my 'Mindset and Income Acceleration Retreat'. More details to follow soon.)

It's not about working harder! If you want different results, you must change your subconscious beliefs and get clear on the fears that are not congruent with what you SAY you want. Here's a few of the hundreds that I've come up with, based on a survey I did:

"They won't pay for this"
"I don't know enough"
"If I get bigger, they'll find out I'm a fraud"
"I'm a failure"
"If I get too many clients, I'll get overwhelmed"
"I'm not worth it"
"I can't have it all"
"My expertise is common sense"
Etc.

Your Assignment:

If you want to succeed, get rid of this GUNK and SLUDGE inside. The key is to become AWARE of your which fears and subconscious beliefs are sabotaging you on a daily basis, like some of the ones listed above. Once you're clear on them, figure out where they came from, process them and then release them. This will immediately change your behaviors, increase your in-come and new opportunities will start showing up, ones that you never expected. You'll wonder why you struggled for so long.

Now, if the struggle is just about a lack of ACTION and you don't know how to set up systems for marketing to attract ideal high-paying clients, I suggest getting a copy of the Client Attraction Home Study System™. It includes everything you need to know to prioritize what to work on first, clear the decks and set up simple, solid systems to 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. That's why my customers have gotten such great results from it. All the tools, scripts, templates, and examples are handed to you on a silver platter. So easy. You can get yours at www.TheClientAttractionSystem.com

© 2008 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.

Aim To OVER-FILL Your Pipeline of Prospects

2008-05-12T14:15:00.005-04:00

Too many people ride the 'feast or famine' roller coaster of having clients, especially SUCCESSFUL entrepreneurs. Some months they have almost too many clients and are WAY too busy, and other months, they're feeling the pinch. The well is dry and they're digging their well when they're thirsty. I've been there in the past, and there's nothing worse than experiencing those two extremes on a regular basis. It'll make you want to go back to Corporate for good! (NOT ME!)

You've heard me talk about my NO EXCUSES approach to getting clients. That means that the number one rule I have is that I do SOMETHING to bring clients or client referrals towards me every single day. Otherwise, you'll find that no matter how good you are, your pipeline will eventually dry up.

The key is to shoot for OVERFILLING your prospect pipeline. Most people just shoot for having SOME people in it. That's not enough. If you aim for something WAY bigger than what you've already gotten so far, you're more likely to reach even a medium level, than if you were to aim low.

When I talk to my clients about this, the number one answer that comes back is, "But what if I get TOO many prospects? What do I do then?" I've even heard, "What if I get TOO big? Then what?" That's when I usually laugh out loud and say, "GOOD! That's a good problem to have!"

There are at least 2 solutions for having too many people wanting to work with you at the same time:

Put them on a waiting list. It's OK to do this. What you'll actually notice is the opposite of what you might think would happen. Instead of leaving and saying, "I don't want to wait," most prospects will chomp at the bit to find out how high up on the waiting list they are and will want to see if they can do anything to start earlier. It's actually VERY Client Attractive.
Leverage your time and efforts by creating group programs and charging less than your regular one-on-one fee. You'll end up being able to work with MORE people at once AND make more money per hour or project than you would with a single person. Leveraging is one of the best things ever "invented" and having too many prospects is one way to set yourself up for this.

So, how do you get to this point? Discipline. I've often said that I wasn't born a very disciplined person (or organized for that matter) but as a result of having a full practice and wanting to keep it that way, I've taken the NO EXCUSES approach to marketing. So, I've worked on setting up systems, being organized (or getting help with it) and learning to master the discipline thing.

That means doing some marketing every single day, no matter how bogged down you are with work and existing clients. Get that newsletter out the door, rip out the newspaper article and send it to an existing client or prospect, send that quick email to the association asking if they accept outside speakers or write a thank you note. Whatever! Just make the time for it and do it.

The key is to do SOMETHING that stimulates future business and referrals because the reason that most entrepreneurs have financial problems is THAT, nothing else, especially the seemingly successful ones. They go to work and only do the work, while everything else gets backed up, especially the marketing.

Your Assignment:

Make a list of the little things you can start doing DAILY for OVERFILLING your pipeline. Then, make the time for it. Yeah, yeah, I know you're busy, but maybe it's first thing in the morning, before you even open up Outlook to check your emails. Maybe it's right before you turn off the office light and close down your computer. Again, it doesn't matter, as long as you make a commitment to doing this for the rest of your career. Catch my drift?

It's actually easy once you get going. You'll find that you'll never experience that feast and famine again. Guaranteed.

Now, if you need ideas for what to do DAILY to overfill that pipeline, I suggest getting a copy of the Client Attraction Home Study System™. I've outlined every secret in detail, and it's all there so you can start using it all right away to get similar results. In addition to the exact techniques that have worked for me (nothing sales-y, I promise!), the System includes everything you need to know to prioritize what to work on first, clear the decks and set up simple, solid systems to 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. That's why my customers have gotten such great results from it. All the tools, scripts, templates, and examples are handed to you on a silver platter. So easy. You can get yours at http://www.theclientattractionsystem.com/.

© 2008 Client Attraction LLC. All Rights Reserved.

Fabienne Fredrickson, The Client Attraction Mentor, is founder of the Client Attraction System™ and http://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 http://www.clientattraction.com/.

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

2008-04-21T14:56:00.002-04:00

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

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 giving 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:

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, just don't give up. Success is right around the corner and most people give up JUST before they reach the top.
Look for support, a mentor, or a marketing coach. Learn only from people who are already successful or have achieved what you want to achieve. Mentor with people who live the life you want to live. Join programs or mastermind groups with others going through their own processes, so you know you're not alone (Try my new Inner Circle: www.ClientAttractionInnerCircle.com.)
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

"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

The key to persisting is to set up SYSTEMS for all your marketing efforts, so you don't have to think about it too much. If you want to copy MY own systems, I spell it all out in the Client Attraction Home Study System™. I've outlined every technique in detail, and it's all there so you can start using it right away to get similar results. It's all step-by-step, so, you do step one of the system, and when you're done with that, you move on to step two, and so on. SO easy. That's why my customers have gotten such great results from it. All the tools, scripts, templates, and examples are handed to you on a silver platter. You can get yours at www.TheClientAttractionSystem.com.

© 2008 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.

In Client Attraction, Focus on Service, Not Accumulation

2008-04-13T16:07:00.002-04:00

"I don't know what your destiny will be, but one thing I do know: the only ones among you who will be really happy are those who have sought and found how to serve." —Albert Schweitzer

I've mentored a few already-successful solopreneurs recently who walk the line between 'high-achiever' and 'overachiever' and let me tell you, there IS a difference. You've heard me say many times that I work best with high-achieving go getters who know exactly what they want (usually it's more clients, more in-come, with more time off to enjoy it all) and who say to me, "Fabienne, show me how to do it and I'll do exactly what you say." That's the kind of person who sees results.

But sometimes, there's a different breed of person. The person who takes on too much, too fast, and seems to always be RACING towards the next level. (I know firsthand about this, I used to be one.) The 'high-achiever' sets high goals and then does what it takes to make those goals happen. The 'overachiever' seems to want to accumulate just for the sake of accumulating. (I know, because again, I used to think like that.)

A few years ago, a coaching colleague asked me, "Hey, I notice that you move at a very fast pace. What's the deal? Why do you feel the need to accomplish so much in such a short period of time?" I was stunned actually. Didn't quite know how to answer. So I said, "It's a game for me. Seeing how much I can accomplish is fun." But it took me a while to "get" what he was trying to say.

I think that I was focused on accumulation rather than service. It was about amassing clients and in-come, probably having to do with proving something to someone from a bazillion years ago. Yes, it was a game, a competition against self, but was there a point to it all? Probably mo-ney, but even that is just a number sometimes. It began to feel like a hamster wheel, an empty process. There seemed to be no meaning to accomplishment at a fast pace.

It's when I stepped back and looked into the REASON for why I started this business that it stopped being a race. I got focused on SERVICE again, on my purpose and skills, and why I got into this in the first place. I think I'd lost that along the way. The minute I realized this, Client Attraction became less about filling a void, and more about being of service. Less about accumulation, and more about really making a serious difference in people's lives and businesses.

Being focused on service, I started being happier, clients got even better results, our friendship was deeper and even more satisfying, and the best part was, it stopped feeling like WORK. I started getting a feeling that I couldn't believe I was being paid (well) for doing something so gratifying. And then I noticed something…

Ironically, when I tapped back into SERVICE, that's when my in-come began growing much more rapidly. That's when the referrals started pouring in again. That's when my numbers started really increasing dramatically. That's when bigger and bigger opportunities began coming my way.

"He who wishes to secure the good of others, has already secured his own." —Confucius

YOUR ASSIGNMENT:

Notice how you approach your business. Does it feel like a race for the mo-ney, rather than being of service to others in a BIG way? Has the MEANING of what you're doing gotten lost along the way? Is it more about accumulation now? If so, take a step back and reconnect to the reason you got into this in the first place: service and the DIFFERENCE you can make in people's lives. That's what's going to make you happy.

Now, don't get me wrong. I'm not even close to suggesting that you should stop marketing and setting up systems for everything in your business. What I am saying is, couple this with consistently working on implementing your marketing and Client Attraction strategies, and attracting clients will become big time easy (then the in-come will naturally
follow).

Not sure on where to start creating these marketing systems, even if you're already successful? I recommend getting a copy of the Client Attraction Home Study System™. It gives you the most important things to do to set up simple, solid marketing 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.

© 2008 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.

Think BIGGER About What's Possible For You and Get Out of Your OWN Way!

2008-04-06T14:18:00.002-04:00

I once asked a few people to be part of my Research and Development team to find out what stopped them from getting out there in a BIG way to get clients. I also asked them to tell me the MOST they could see themselves making being self-employed. Honestly, I was saddened by the answers that rolled in, and their answers were right in line with the people I talk to on a daily basis.

You see, most people have very LOW expectations on what can be made in self-employment. The average from my polling was between $50,000 and $75,000, and the highest amount I heard was about $150,000. Using SYSTEMS and LEVERAGE techniques, we can totally change that to create an income that is FAR beyond what you've ever thought attainable for yourself. (I know it may not seem possible as you read this, but I promise you, it IS possible for you too. I've done it for myself and I've done it for countless clients.)

To help you change your mindset around that, I wanted to share a paragraph in Louise Hay's book 'You Can Heal Your Life,' which has stayed with me since the very first time I read it years ago. Here's what she writes:

"I love the visualization of standing at the seashore looking out at the vast ocean and knowing that this ocean is the abundance that is available to me. Look down at your hands and see what sort of container you are holding. Is it a teaspoon, a thimble with a hole in it, a paper cup, a glass, a tumbler, a pitcher, a bucket, a wash tub, or perhaps you have a pipeline connected to this ocean of abundance? Look around you and notice that no matter how many people there are and no matter what kind of container they have, there is plenty for everyone. You cannot rob another, and they cannot rob you. And in no way can you drain the ocean dry. Your container is your consciousness, and it can always be exchanged for a larger container."

I was totally floored when I first read this. I remember "looking down at my hands" and seeing a very large bucket, one bigger than I could carry, thinking that was a LOT. But when I read about the possibility of having a PIPELINE connected to this ocean of abundance, I was struck by the very small thinking I was doing. And frankly, I was mad at myself for having thought so small before.

It hit me like a ton of bricks that I wasn't asking the Universe for nearly as much as I could. So, I started "asking" for a bigger income, little by little, every year by adding about $50,000 to the previous year's revenue goals, believing that I COULD achieve it. And at the end of every year, I did achieve it, sometimes by a lot more. Now, I'm simply asking for triple what I made last year (and on my way to achieving that.) What are YOU asking for?

YOUR ASSIGNMENT:

Close your eyes and imagine yourself standing on the sand, toes in the water, looking out into the vast ocean of abundance. Yes, even if it feels corny or goofy, just DO it, no one's watching you! Besides, how you do anything is how you do everything, in business and in life. If you're not willing to do this, then you're probably not willing to do much to change your mindset or what it takes to grow your business.

Imagine that you cannot ask for too much because you can never exhaust the supply that is available to you and everyone else. No matter what you've thought up to now, know this (while you're at it, go ahead and print it up so you can put it up on a wall where you can see it everyday):

There will never be a shortage of clients you can attract.
There will always be enough people who will pay you what you want to be paid.
There will never be a cap on how many clients you can help.
There will never be a cap on how many e-books you can sell.
There will never be a cap on how many attendees will attend your workshop or teleclass.
There is an inexhaustible supply of ways you can offer what you offer that your competitors don't offer.

The only person who sets that limit is you. The good news is that you can break the current paradigm at any time you choose. You can find a way to innovate and break the mold. You do not need to be tied down to what you have thought up to now. The opportunities you seek are already out there for what you want (this is what I'm noticing is true for myself.) You just have to make the decision that you want it and these opportunities will make themselves available to you.

If you're gonna dream, well darn it, dream BIG! Look back at your list of wants. Were you playing small? Were you playing too safe? Were you afraid to ask for a lot more? Now, tweak the list to think BIGGER. You deserve it and once you believe it is possible for yourself, you can indeed have it.

That being said, you might be having trouble imagining yourself achieving a BIGGER goal in your business. It's probably a fear of overwhelm, fear of success, or fear of failure, a fear of rejection, or perhaps a question of whether you DESERVE that much abundance and success. Not sure if you'll be able to actually HANDLE it? Then make it a point to join us at the workshop in 2 weeks. Enough of this 'playing small'. We're going to totally change that limiting mindset of yours, once and for all.

Together, we'll examine the limiting beliefs, the self-doubt, and the self-imposed sabotaging behavior or procrastination that are currently keeping you from having what you want. You'll walk away with everything you need (including the SYSTEMS and LEVERAGE techniques I talked about earlier), so that you FINALLY have more clients, make the money you deserve, and have a lot more time off to enjoy it all. Why stay small when you can have it all? Do this for yourself now: www.ClientAttractionWorkshop.com.

© 2008 Client Attraction LLC. All Rights Reserved.

It ALL Has To Match If You Want To Create The Ideal Business

2008-03-30T14:17:00.003-04:00

There are some solo-entrepreneurs that market ‘til they're blue in the face, and STILL don't attract ideal, high-paying clients. They're seemingly doing all the "right things": they've got marketing materials, marketing plans, they're speaking, networking, etc. and yet producing no real results. Yes, they have some clients. Yes, they're making their bills. But they're not seeing the kind of success they so desperate want. (Are you one of those?)

You might be wondering, "What is going on? What am I doing wrong?? I'm busting my chops, working like a dog, and yet my 1ncome is still NOT what I want it to be… in fact, not even close." On the outside, everyone probably thinks you have a great business, but YOU know what's really going on, especially financially. I actually hear this a lot. As I am working with higher level clients (people who have plenty of clients but not the business or 1ncome they really want to be making) I'm noticing that the marketing is only half the problem.

What's usually happening is two things are getting in the way. Yes, the marketing needs to be tweaked or reworked. Usually, the target audience needs to be narrowed down or changed to a higher level client, and then inevitably, the marketing message needs to become clearer and more compelling. So, we work on that.

But most of the time, it's something MUCH more drastic and destructive. It's what's going on INTERNALLY that's botching your results: THE MINDSET. And I've come to realize that if the INSIDE is not matched to the OUTSIDE, then you won't get the results you want. Period. Here's what I mean:

There's the OUTER game of Client Attraction: the marketing and the action and the behaviors.

Then, there's the INNER game of Client Attraction: your thoughts, feelings and beliefs.

If these do not match, there's no way you can create the business you SAY you want. Here's an example: Pretend Susan is a solo-entrepreneur and she's been in business for almost 4 years. She's networking, speaking locally, doing an ezine, and everything else she "should" be doing. She's good at what she does, but she's just not making the mo-ney she wants to make. Not even close. That's when we examine her marketing and make tweaks.

But here's the kicker: we ALSO look at the stuff under the surface too. When we probe deeper, we realize that one or more things aren't in alignment with her big goal she says she wants:

The Thought: "I WANT TO MAKE $500,000 this year."

The Feeling/Belief: "IF I HAVE THAT MANY CLIENTS, I WILL GET OVERWHELMED AND LOSE MY FREEDOM. BESIDES IT WILL BE TOO MUCH WORK, SO WHY BOTHER."

The Action: SUBTLE SELF-SABOTAGE BEGINS TO HAPPEN, because deep down, Susan wants freedom and ease more than she wants the money. She may not think that consciously, but it's very real on a subconscious level. And that translates into Susan not doing what it takes, not taking the actions or exhibiting the no-excuses behavior that would create a business that brings her that much mo-ney per year.

Essentially, what's happening with Susan is that she's driving with the brake on, and going nowhere fast. So, she steps on the gas pedal even more, but still not getting any results. It's destructive, but most importantly, after a while, there's going to be a shortage of gas and then the whole car will stop moving. She thinks she just wasn't meant to be in business and packs it up to go back to working for someone else, feeling like a big failure and taking a blow to her self-esteem. For Susan to create the 1ncome she wants, all 3 need to match and be congruent.

The Thought must match the Feeling/Belief must match the Action and Behavior. If not, you'll keep struggling, not knowing why it's all so difficult.

It's an insidious game and the worst part of it is, you usually don't know this is going on! Worse, you may not be able to recognize the underlying limiting beliefs, fears and self-doubt that stops your behavior. The solution? Getting really clear on where you're not being congruent.

This is BY FAR, my most effective thing to work on with a client or workshop participant. Why? Because when you change someone's inner states (the INNER game of Client Attraction) you begin to immediately see an increase in their business and in their 1ncome. Quantum Leaps begin to happen and it's as if the vice-grip that's been holding back the success of your business is FINALLY RELEASED. And there's just so much more easy and flow (and financial abundance pours in.)

I've seen it time and time around with my clients and Mastermind members. When we clear the GUNK, the mo-ney follows. I know from experience, because it happened to me. In fact, it keeps happening, over and over again. The more I work on my INNER game, the more I make. And it all becomes easier: I work less and make mo-re. That's when you know you're becoming more congruent.

YOUR ASSIGNMENT

If you're feeling like you're working really hard but not seeing RESULTS (either in your number of clients or in your re-venues) then it's time to look at your INNER game of Client Attraction: your mindset. Notice the relationship between your thoughts about your goal, your feelings about achieving your goal and the actions you're taking to reach that goal.

Are they congruent? Are they aligned? If not, then you're going nowhere fast. Not until you get yourself a mindset breakthrough. That's when the marketing breakthrough happens, which results in an 1ncome breakthrough. Once you create those breakthroughs, your business and your life will NEVER be the same. I guarantee it.

If you're working harder than you should, not creating results, then it's time to examine what's REALLY going on in your marketing, but ESPECIALLY, what's going on under the surface. The fastest path to creating these breakthroughs in your own business is to attend the Client Attraction ‘Marketing and Mindset Breakthroughs Workshop'. In just 3 days, you'll get exactly what you need to create really compelling marketing to attract your ideal high-paying clients, systematize your entire business, create additional passive and leveraged 1ncome and finally release the gunk that's been holding your business back. You'll be able to release that parking break you've had on for years, and finally create the business you SAY you want. I can't wait to do this with you:TheClientAttractionSystem.com.

© 2008 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

2008-03-23T17:12:00.002-04:00

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, your pipeline of prospects will be empty 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:

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 (e.g., clients and revenue) from the littlest output on your part. You'll start with that one.
What's getting in the way? Sometimes, I find procrastination is more about something getting in the way than anything else. It could be you don't have every piece of the puzzle to be able to move forward into accomplishing something. It could be 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.
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.).
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 you were unable to cancel.
Just do it: Once you've got the "task appointments" scheduled in your book, just do them. You'll power through them like you've never done before. It's actually pretty cool.

YOUR ASSIGNMENT:

When marketing yourself, take notice of when you start slipping into procrastination mode (it happens to most everyone, believe 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 it 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 (especially if you have systems in place).

You may be wondering WHAT to do to market your business that'll give you the most returns with little effort on your part. If so, I recommend getting a copy of the Client Attraction Home Study System™. It gives you the most important things to do to set up simple, solid marketing 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.

Are You Blaming Others Because You Don't Have Enough Clients?

2008-03-16T23:12:00.002-04:00

QUOTE: "The more you say to yourself, 'I am responsible,' the stronger, better and finer a person you become. And every part of your life will improve at the same time." – Brian Tracy

One of the themes running through my life currently, and in the lives of my clients, is that of Personal Responsibility. If you've been to my workshop and on any of my calls, you know that I believe strongly in Personal Responsibility (I often call it 'The No Excuses Approach') and how I do not believe you can ever achieve BIG success without it. It's a topic that few marketing ever really talk about in depth, but one that is crucial for success.

You see, each time I bump up against a new level of success in my business, a lot of my old "stuff" comes back up. I've caught myself comparing my success to others with more success, feeling resentful, feeling less-than, and sometimes even BLAMING others or my own particular situation or for not being where I would LIKE to be in terms of success in that moment. And believe me, it doesn't feel good. But perhaps you know exactly what I'm talking about…

What I noticed is that I'm not the only one. As different people in my life, both personally and professionally, move up to the next level, or really WANT to move up to the next level, but instead, begin to feel frustrated, I see them pointing fingers OUTSIDE themselves, blaming their situation, a certain person, the system, a program they too, or whatever else they can find to shuck responsibility for where they are.

What I also noticed is that, in the end, I'm ultimately responsible for everything in my life, every increase in my in-come and success over the last few years. But most importantly, I'm also responsible for every setback. I can blame no one but myself.

Everything I have in my life exists because of my actions, my behaviors, my words and thoughts. And it's the same for you. Every decision we make creates our circumstances and because of that, we are ultimately responsible for each success and failure, happiness, unhappiness and financial situation.

I recently found an article by Brian Tracy, one of the world's leading authorities on personal and business success. This article has become one of my favorites and I refer to it often and ask my clients to read it too, especially when they start comparing their success to others with more success, feeling resentful of their situation, blaming others, or feeling angry and 'less-than' because their particular situation is not what they'd like it to be. Here's an excerpt:

"Responsibility goes hand in hand with success, achievement, motivation, happiness and self-actualization. It's the absolute minimum requirement for the accomplishment of everything you could ever really want in life. Accepting that you're completely responsible for yourself and realizing that no one is coming to the rescue is the beginning of peak performance…

The opposite of accepting responsibility is making excuses and blaming people and things for what's going on in your life. And since everything we do is a matter of habit, if people get into the habit of making excuses, they get into the habit of evading responsibility at the same time.

If they set a goal or objective for themselves, they immediately create an excuse that they hold in reserve just in case the accomplishment of the goal is too difficult or requires more self-discipline and persistence than they had thought.
As soon as things start to go poorly, irresponsible people trot out their excuse and let themselves off the hook. But that won't get them anywhere in the long run… The more responsibility you take, the more in control you are. And the freer you are, especially in your own mind, to make decisions and to do the things you want to do. So there's a direct relationship between responsibility, control, freedom and happiness.
A person who is completely irresponsible is subject to anger, hostility, fear, resentment, doubt-all sorts of negative emotions. And here's why. All negative emotions tend to be associated with blame. Fully 99 percent of all our problems exist only because we're able to blame someone or something for them. The instant we stop blaming, our negative emotions begin disappearing.

What's the antidote to blaming? It's simple! Since your mind can hold only one thought at a time, either positive or negative, you can override the tendency to blame and become angry simply by saying, firmly, "I am responsible!" You can't accept responsibility for a situation and be angry at the same time… The acceptance of responsibility negates negative emotions and short-circuits any tendencies toward unhappiness. In fact, the acceptance of responsibility often gives you insight into what you should do to resolve the situation.

Everything that is happening to you on the outside is due to something that is happening to you on the inside, so the first place to look is within. As soon as you do that, you begin to see things that you had completely missed when you were busy blaming others and making excuses. You begin to see that you're responsible in large measure for the things that are happening to you.

You're earning today exactly what you're worth-not a penny more, not a penny less. In life, we tend to get exactly what we deserve. If you're not satisfied with the amount you're getting, look around you, at people who are doing the kind of work you would like to do and earning the kind of money you would like to earn. Ask them what they're doing differently from what you're doing. What are the causes of the effects they're getting? Once you know what they are, accept complete responsibility for your situation, apply your wonderful mind and abilities, back them with willpower and self-discipline, and get busy making the changes you need to make to enjoy the life you want to enjoy."

YOUR ASSIGNMENT:

You've heard the saying, "Speak the truth. The truth will set you free." In this case, I want you to be VERY honest with yourself in answering the following… stop hiding behind your justifications or get off your high horse and answer the following:

Have you recently blamed someone or something for the fact that you haven't yet achieved what you wanted in your business?
Are you using excuses (even JUSTIFYING your situation) so that you don't have to take action in terms of getting clients or be embarrassed in case "it doesn't work out"?
Have you harbored resentment towards someone or something because you feel you were "gipped" in some way?
Do you feel anger or have lashed out in the past because your business is not where you want it to be yet?
Are you pointing fingers, saying "This is the reason I'm not making more"?
Have you compared yourself to someone else more financially successful than you currently are, feeling less-than? Have you perhaps even JUDGED that person based on their success?

Personally speaking, I know that I've been able to answer "Yes" to all of these questions at some point in my self-employed career. Whether I knew it consciously or not at the time, it all resulted from avoiding responsibility for what I was creating in my life. It didn't feel good, and it certainly did not get me moving forward towards success.

The key for me has been to be honest with myself about my responsibility. No one else can create my life except for me. Only I can control my thoughts, words, actions and behaviors. Blaming or pointing fingers does absolutely no good. In fact, it doesn't work and it's usually just an excuse that we use, in case we fail. That way, we don't need to be embarrassed. We can just say it wasn't our fault. NONSENSE.

Consider this a fork in the road of your success. This is your opportunity to step up in your business, stop using excuses, stop resenting or comparing yourself and STOP blaming others for what you have or don't have in your life. It's time to take a NO EXCUSES approach to doing what you have to do to get clients, start being consistent in your marketing, work through the programs you've bought, or clear your schedule to attend events (no matter what else has "come up") that will give you the solution you SAY you've been wanting. Begin to take FULL responsibility and making different choices and your life and business will never be the same. I promise you that; I'm living proof of it.

As you take a no-excuses approach, it's important to surround yourself with the mentors and tools for growing your business. For unsurpassed marketing know-how, I recommend the Client Attraction Home Study System™. It's everything you need to know to fill your practice quickly and authentically, including how to put together a simple plan that gets you clients and then putting it on autopilot so you can have fun again. 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. So easy. All the tools, scripts, templates, and examples are handed to you on a silver platter. You can get it at www.TheClientAttractionSystem.com.

© 2008 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.

UNDERvaluing What You Offer? You May Be Losing Clients

2008-03-09T12:57:00.003-04:00

There's a question in my intake packet for new clients titled, "What is holding you back or slowing your progress?", as it relates to attracting all the clients they need and having a full practice. Having worked with hundreds and hundreds of private clients over the years, I've seen it all. Other than "no knowledge of marketing," one thing seems to come up over and over again, and it happened again recently with a brand new client.

The client answered this: "Sometimes, the 'Little Voice' inside me asks, 'Who needs my program anyway? This is basic information that I offer. People already know this stuff!'" This is so common, but in most every case, this is absolutely not accurate.

I have to admit, in the past, I too have taken for granted what I already know and teach everyday and started questioning my value in the marketplace. For example, when I was teaching holistic nutrition years ago, I sometimes wondered why people were paying me (or WOULD pay me) to teach them about whole foods versus processed foods. To me, it was a no-brainer that brown rice was more healthful than white. But to a person who grew up on Twinkies, it was crucial that I explain it to them in detail, and then the shortcuts to fitting in those brand new foods into their busy life.

I would also question the value of the cooking classes I gave once a month to 15 or 20 people crammed in my living room. As I was stirring carrots and onions on my Coleman grill in the middle of my tiny apartment, I couldn't help but think, "Are these simple recipes REALLY of value to them?" (I'd been through serious Boot Camp at the French Culinary Institute, so this came naturally to me.) But they kept showing up, asking questions, and referring friends. Go figure!

Even in the early years of my business coaching practice, I sometimes wondered about my value. Clients ask me daily about the secrets of marketing to get clients to call THEM and filling their practice by networking. For me, it was so ingrained and like second nature. I took for granted that I knew it, because I'd been doing it for so long and knew that it worked. I thought everyone knew it too and that it was common sense.

On the contrary! What's common knowledge for us, is often a secret to someone else. Because we "bathe" in our information all day long, and for years, we start taking for granted what we know, even if we're being innovative. We forget that what we know is actually a secret many others would do anything and everything to discover. It becomes the answer to their most pressing problem. It becomes the solution others have been praying for.

If you're in this situation, you are probably OVER-estimating what everybody else knows. The more common what you teach is to YOU and the longer you do what it is you do, the more you tend to undervalue what you know.

The irony here, as I've discovered, is that the more we teach things to our clients in SIMPLE terms, the happier they are, the more referrals we get and the more we make. It's not the convoluted teachings that people are looking for. It's the practical and simple solutions.

The real shame about the whole 'undervaluing what you know' is that as a result, you may be undercharging for what you offer. This is actually one of the major reasons why most people don't have enough clients. Because they don't see value in what they offer, they don't charge enough; therefore, there is a low perception of value from the prospective client's point of view. They then go somewhere else for the same exact information. Talk about a self-fulfilling prophecy!

Some entrepreneurs even go so far as discounting their services, or offering a sliding scale, because of their lack of confidence and low perception of value in what they offer. In my book, discounting is a BIG no-no. Again, it portrays a devalued product or service and it's NOT Client Attractive.

YOUR ASSIGNMENT:

Notice that your clients came to YOU for the information you take for granted. Sometimes, they may even have known some of what you know, but didn't have the discipline, accountability, resources, or structure to do it on their own. Many of my clients KNOW how to attract other clients, they're successful, but they don't have the discipline or accountability to do it on their own. So we do it together. This is actually my favorite type of scenario, because these clients are very driven and since we're not starting from scratch in the learning process, we move at warp speed.
Be confident in what you offer (read your testimonials over and over until your confidence comes back).
See yourself as their problem solver. Charge accordingly and never discount your services. Ever.

When you're confident in your marketing plan, you immediately get confident in charging what you're worth. To boost that confidence and marketing know-how, I recommend the Client Attraction Home Study System™. It's everything you need to know to fill your practice quickly and authentically, including how to put together a simple plan that gets you clients and then putting it on autopilot so you can have fun again. 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. So easy. All the tools, scripts, templates, and examples are handed to you on a silver platter. You can get it at http://www.theclientattractionsystem.com/.

Track Where Your Best Clients Come From

2008-03-04T07:27:00.002-05:00

Sometimes, it's best to not reinvent the wheel or "fix what ain't broke," as the saying goes. Let's say you have several clients you absolutely LOVE (they get great results from working with you, they pay you on time and never negotiated, you like them, they send referrals, etc.). Now, look at where all of these clients have come from.

Perhaps it's a particular networking group, or a talk that you gave, a referral from a strategic alliance or Center of Influence, or a referral from a client. It's important to see where your clients have come from so that you can do more of the same.

Avoid focusing too much on what hasn't helped you attract many clients, but rather, what HAS worked. That's what you want to focus on.

One way to keep track is to set up a system for this. Each time a new private coaching client signs up to work with me, they fill out a section of my Welcome Packet that says "Whom may I thank for your referral?" This is a great way to keep track, because you'll forget, but they won't.

I use a column in my bookkeeping sheet that I've labeled "Referred by" next to the client's name and in that column I note who referred that person, where I originally met them, or what talk they came to hear. At the end of the quarter or the year, it helps me to eliminate the marketing efforts or networking groups that aren't working and focus on the ones that are.

This also has the added bonus of tracking which referral sources have given me the most leads and reminds me to thank them appropriately for each and every referral.

Your Client Attraction Assignment This Week:

Start tracking where your clients come from so that you can continue marketing there.

Ask each and every client whom they were referred by or where you met.
Create a worksheet to keep track of this.
Review this often to see what's working and what's not.
Focus on (and do more of) what works and eliminate the efforts that don't produce results.

Having trouble getting a lot of clients in the first place? I recommend the Client Attraction Home Study System™. I've outlined every Client Attraction technique in detail, and it's all there so you can start using it right away to get similar results. 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. SO easy. That's why my students have gotten such great results from it. All the tools, scripts, templates, and examples are handed to you on a silver platter. You can get yours at TheClientAttractionSystem.com. Why struggle when you can just model a system that already works?

Think Like an Instant Billionaire

2008-02-23T16:31:00.002-05:00

In sifting through emails from a recent R&D survey I launched, I read the responses, and honestly, I wanted to cry. Don't get me wrong. It's not that I haven't been aware that most solopreneurs have very low expectations of what could be made in self-employment (I've been at this for almost 9 years after all!), but I just didn't know how LOW. Until I got the responses to the following question: "What is the most amount of money you see yourself making as a self-employed person?" Not just this year, but EVER.

Close to 200 solopreneurs (mostly female) wrote in and shared with me their "Most-I'll-ever-make-in-a-year" numbers. What shocked me was that the number itself was really LOW and the majority of people wrote in numbers within a short range: between $50,000 and $75,000. Sure, a couple of them wrote in $150,000, but even THAT seemed like a far cry from what I *know* is possible, when you shift the way you work, get good marketing in place, create systems for everything, outsource, and set up leveraged and passive streams of income.

But what really got me choked up was they didn't BELIEVE it was possible and worse, some didn't feel they deserved it. Their MINDSET wasn't accustomed to thinking BIG, and truthfully that made me very sad, almost depressed. So I went about adding it to my Client Attraction coaching curriculum.

I had to find a way for them to stretch their thinking of what might be possible for them. Then I thought of an assignment I'd gotten years ago from my very first coach, Talane Meidaner, author of Coach Yourself To Success. Back when $3,000 a month seemed like a BIG goal for me to reach in my private practice, she asked me to pretend I was an instant billionaire. The goal was to expand what I believed was possible for me and to do it in just 5 minutes' time.

Essentially, this Billionaire Game was about tapping into my every wish, desire, dream, and hope I've ever thought about. Where I wanted to travel, what I wanted life to look like, what I wanted to have, how I wanted to set up my business. What I liked about this exercise is the 5 minute limit didn't allow me to think too much and instead to just do it.

So, I set my timer and frantically wrote down all the things I wanted for my life, and my business. It was a LONG list, and when I was done, it felt actually freeing to see what I'd written down. What I realized is many of the things on the list weren't that far of a stretch, and I could live many of them NOW, if I made a few changes. But it also got me to start dreaming and imagining BIGGER things for my life.

The coolest part is it helped me expand what was possible for me. Things aren't THAT out of reach and you can live a billionaire lifestyle now, which then feeds your mindset even more that you DESERVE to make mo.re.

When I look back at the list I wrote back then, it's really cool to see I'm pretty much living that exact life now. (Although I still don't have a live-in spa chef and haven't traveled to India and Vietnam for a month each yet, but those will come.) :)

Your Assignment:

Give it a try. This game will help you get past your restrictions around money. Grab a paper and pen. Imagine you've just become the billion-dollar lottery winner. Not just a million. You now have more money than you'll ever be able to spend.

The condition of winning; however, is you must write down 100 different things, whatever you want to be, do, or have on a piece of paper, and you have only 5 minutes to do so. So write fast, without over-thinking. Remember to write down every wish, desire, dream, and hope you can possibly think of.

Set the kitchen timer and see if you can come up with 100 different things. Don't worry about any practical considerations of your list. Don't let anything limit or stop you. You can do, be, or have anything you want. This is about expanding possibilities. Most of us start out way too small.

I promise you one thing. This will not only affect your mindset about what's possible for you, it will also affect your Client Attraction. The more you begin to LIVE like a billionaire (on whatever your budget is), the more Client Attractive you will become. Try it and let me know how it goes, OK?

Having trouble staying in the Success Mindset and believing you CAN make a whole lot more being self-employed? You're not the only one. The good news is, once you're shown how, it all becomes easy to implement, especially when all the tools, scripts, templates, and examples are handed to you on a silver platter. I will be diving deep into both the MINDSET and the MARKETING necessary for you to finally succeed, and it's all in my upcoming Client Attraction Marketing and Mindset Breakthroughs Workshop. Why struggle when you can just model a system that already works? Read the success stories here: www.ClientAttractionWorkshop.com.

© 2008 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.

Turn Indecisive Prospects into Paying Clients

2008-02-18T12:06:00.004-05:00

Imagine you've worked hard to market your services; you've attracted a prospective client, set up a "sales conversation" and gone through the whole sales process. Great job, but sometimes, no matter how hard we try, prospects don't always sign up on
the spot.

Sometimes, a prospect needs some time to make the decision on whether or when they'd like to start working with you. What I've noticed over the years is that when this happens, most always, the sale never happens, probably because life gets in the way and what's out of sight is out of mind.

Often, this means you've lost them for good. UNLESS you use some kind of method to get indecisive prospects to slide right into your practice, instead of slipping through your fingers. So I've come up with a fantastic remedy for this, which helps me and my students close the deal 97-98% of the times. If prospects don't bite on the 'sales' call, use what I call the "bookend" method. Here's how it works.

When a prospect tells me they need to talk to their spouse or needs some time to decide, or wants to ideally start in 2 months, I schedule a 5 minute "check-in" call with them (next Tuesday at 3pm, for example) so that we can follow up with each other without having to play phone tag or have to follow up with one another.

The great thing about this technique is that it puts a time limit in the prospect's mind as to when THEY would like to make the decision, and obviously, you let them choose when they'd like to have that 5 minute chat.

I essentially came up with this because I really dislike following up in this situation. It makes me feel like I'm chasing after them and I don't feel that this is Client Attractive. So instead, we agree that they'll call me on set date and virtually every time they do, and out of those times, they don't feel pressured, have had time to think about what we talked about, and are ready to make a decision to move forward. It's a great tool!

If for whatever reason they don't call during the time of your 5 minute check-in appointment, you can then call them or e-mail them asking if anything went wrong. This usually puts the prospect into a mode where they feel obliged to get back you, as they were the one who missed the appointment. Again, this is much more Client Attractive and ends up saving you a lot of time.

Your Assignment:

If a client doesn't sign up on the spot, make sure to bookend another date, so you don't have to follow up on each other for weeks. Use it as a "let's see where you are in your decision making process then." It works like a charm.

Having trouble with actually getting the prospect INTO the sales conversation in the first place? You're not the only one. The good news is, I've developed a way to close the sale 97-98% of the time and I share the entire process in my Client Attraction Home Study System™. I've outlined every Client Attraction technique in detail, and it's all there so you can start using it right away to get similar results. It's all step-by-step, not a big mishmash of things. So, you do step one, and when you're done with that, you move on to step two, and so on. SO easy. That's why my clients have gotten such great results from it. All the tools, scripts, templates, and examples are handed to you on a silver platter. You can get yours at TheClientAttractionSystem.com. Why struggle when you can just model a system t hat already works?

How To Be Your Own Best Advertisement (Without Being Client Repulsive)

2008-02-10T15:42:00.000-05:00

Entrepreneur Magazine called yesterday to get my take on how to be your own best walking advertisement without becoming offensive, off-putting or in people's faces. There's definitely a fine line between authentic self-promotion and being pushy. Today, I'll share with you one of the tips I shared with the editor for making people aware of your problem-solving resources, without becoming 'Client Repulsive'. The tip? GIVE GENEROUSLY.

It's easier to promote when you are GIVING something of high-value to a prospect. It's an approach of SERVICE rather than 'selling something' or trying to 'get something' from your prospect. GIVING is much more Client Attractive and takes the pressure off of the person (and yourself). Let's face it; people love to buy, but they don't like to be sold. So, make it easy on them by giving them something.

When working with private clients who want to quickly build a database of prospects and fill their pipeline consistently, we almost always create something called an "Irresistible Offer", something that has a high perception of value, offered at no charge. Something that will create the WOW factor and naturally PULL them in. For example, my website offers an audio CD at no charge on the home page. This is my version of the Irresistible Offer.

Instead of trying to explain my work at length to a prospect, which would turn someone off immediately, it's much easier to say something like, "Go to my website to order the audio CD at no charge and you'll also get a subscription to weekly marketing articles. My treat."

When you do that, two things happen. 1) There's a WOW factor that gets them excited. 2) They're often impressed that you would give something of such value at no charge, which makes you look even better in their eyes. And, 3) you let the high-content of your 'Irresistible Offer' demonstrate the value of what you offer, so there doesn't need to be any selling.

When you give good content at no charge, people automatically realize that this is just the tip of your iceberg and they'll get that your paid stuff will be even more valuable. It doesn't have to be a CD. It can be a special report, an audio download, a seminar or teleclass. Anything that has a high perceived value will work, as long as the content is very good. That way, marketing feels authentic to you AND to the person you're talking to.

Best of all, if the information on your giveaways is of high-content and high-value, word will spread quickly. They'll tell their colleagues, their friends, anyone who will listen, but only if you've given them something of value. And then it's just a question of providing more high content on a regular basis through easy stay-in-touch marketing vehicles, until the trust and credibility has been established and the prospect raises their hand when they're ready for your service or product. You'll be shocked at how quickly your pipeline will fill when you have the right 'Irresistible Offer'.

The key is, when you give generously, both in a giveaway and in content, you make it OK to offer other resources that will help that prospect. It's like reading your favorite magazine. When you love every article, chances are the ads in the magazine will also appeal to you. Same thing here.

Your Client Attraction Assignment:

So, start thinking about how you can give more generously:

A special report?
An audio download?
A CD? A live seminar?
A teleclass?

Once you put it together, make sure it's high-content (without giving away the farm) and that you have a way of continuing to speak to them regularly with more high-value stay-in-touch marketing vehicles. Then, you avoid being Client Repulsive and instead, you become extremely Client Attractive.

If you're looking for more ways to create a compelling marketing message and PULL clients toward you, I recommend the Client Attraction Home Study System™. I've outlined every Client Attraction technique in detail, and it's all there so you can start using it right away to get similar results. 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. SO easy. That's why my clients have gotten such great results from it. All the tools, scripts, templates, and examples are handed to you on a silver platter. You can get yours at TheClientAttractionSystem.com. Why struggle when you can just model a system that already works? (Reminder, it's going up from $247 to $697 soon, so act now.)

Outsource And Be Rich: The Little-Applied Secret ALL Wealth-y Entrepreneurs Use

2008-02-02T21:47:00.000-05:00

Let me share a big secret with you that all wealth-y solo-entrepreneurs know: If you want to have an ideal business, work less and make a whole lot more, I can assure you that you CANNOT do it by yourself. You must outsource!

You know how I know this? Because for years, I tried! For years, I tried to do everything in my business by myself, like the good "lone ranger" that I thought I was. You know what? It didn't work. In fact, a few years ago, I remember getting on the phone with my coach and crying for the first 8 minutes of our coaching call. He listened patiently as I sobbed and then said just one thing to me:

"Fabienne, Frank Sinatra didn't move his own pianos."

Silence on the phone. I stopped crying and it was like The Truth had been spoken. It may seem like a "duh" moment to you, but when I heard this for the first time, it felt like the skies had parted and the answer to all my problems were streaming down from the sky. I realized that I had been trying to "move my own piano", instead of focusing on my brilliance and my "genius" work – the stuff that I'm good at and that only *I* can do in my business.

The minute he said those words to me, a surge of energy went up my entire spine. I realized right then and there that I was trying to do the impossible by doing it all myself and that I would never be able to grow my business further if I didn't change the way I did things.

So I changed my whole way of doing business and I started DELEGATING different aspects of my business to others. And I'm deliriously happy to report that my business, my bank account (and my sanity) have never looked better!

Fact is, you cannot do it all on your own either. No matter how much you like to think that you can do it better, faster and more efficiently than anyone else, the fact remains that you will eventually burn out. In his book "No B.S. Business Success", Dan Kennedy talks about the worst number in ANY business is the number 1. Meaning, you never want to be the only one working in your business.

You MUST leverage your time and resources if you are serious about running a successful business, getting clients and finally making a good 1ncome being self-employed. There's just no way around it. And getting it ALL done means you have to eventually start outsourcing and delegating.

Thing is, you can wait like I did until you nearly crumble into a state of near exhaustion where things are falling through the cracks left and right OR you can come from a Full Practice Mentality and start getting assistance NOW, before you ever get to that place.

Proper outsourcing means delegating specific things to someone who's happy to do them for you:

Stuff you're not good at
Stuff you don't know how to do
Stuff you don't have time to do
Anything outside of your brilliance/genius (meaning, everything other than the stuff only you can do in your business)

Delegating allows you to strengthen your strengths, instead of trying to "better" your weaknesses. It means only working on your core competencies and focusing on your brilliance and genius work. In turn, you'll get more done, you'll make more mo-ney, and you'll enjoy more time off for the important things in life (like your family, your friends, you know, the important stuff.)

It's the ULTIMATE leverage!

Now, I have a team of 5 virtual assistants and one in-person assistant helping me on a part-time basis. On top of that, I get help from bookkeepers, attorneys, accountants, fulfillment houses, etc., so I can focus on doing what I do best: speak, write, coach and create products. Oh, and marketing too. Don't forget that. And because of it, I'm personally able to PRODUCE so much more than I've ever been able to.

But I know what you might be thinking. "That's fine for you, Fabienne, but I'm not in a place where I can bring on a whole staff of people." Well, believe me, I know about that because I used to be there too! This wasn't an overnight thing. It's taken me a few years to get to this point. But the good news is, you can start slowly and ramp up from there, like I did.

Here's what I want you to do:

Calculate what you're worth per hour when you're doing your Brilliance/Genius work; that which only you can do
Make a list of all the things you do each day
Attach a dollar value to what you could pay someone to outsource this to

Example: Let's assume you're worth $200 per billable hour. Ideally you should be generating $200 or more for EACH hour you work. However, I'll guess you're doing DOZENS of things each day that someone charges less for (and is happy to do for $15, $25, $45, $75, etc.) These are the things you want to outsource, so you can make $200 every hour you DO work. It's all about working smarter and more efficiently.

To justify this, REPLACE the time you've saved with doing your Brilliance/Genius work and working on your Client Attraction assignments. Why? Because marketing = more clients = more do11ars. Enough said. (That doesn't mean you can go goof off. That's NOT the point, at least not at the beginning.)

Makes sense?

If budget is an issue, just start small. Focus first on tasks that will immediately make you money (stuff you're not doing now, stuff you don't know how to do) and set a maximum hour cap per month. Then, as re-venue comes in, you can grow from there.

Within months of my taking the leap and doing this, outsourcing helped bring in so much mo-re mo-ney, I was able to increase the hours I could delegate and outsource some more and I eventually doubled my revenues in ONE year.

You can too. It's really easy.

Your Client Attraction Assignment:

So, take out a sheet of paper and do the following:

Calculate what you're worth per hour when you're doing your Brilliance/Genius work; that which only you can do
Make a list of all the things you do each day that don't fall within the category of your Brilliance/Genius work
Attach a dollar value to what you could pay someone to outsource this to
Begin to outsource and delegate, little by little

I guarantee that you too will catapult your 1ncome as you focus more and more on business development and Client Attraction, as well as your genius work. You won't believe you ever did it any other way.

Need some resources on how to clear the decks and make Client Attraction a priority by outsourcing? Then get a copy of the Client Attraction Home Study System™. I've outlined every Client Attraction technique in detail, including outsourcing, and it's all there so you can start using it right away to get similar results. 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. SO easy. That's why my clients have gotten such great results from it. All the tools, scripts, templates, and examples are handed to you on a silver platter. You can get yours at TheClientAttractionSystem.com. Why struggle when you can just model a system that already works? (Reminder, it's going up from $247 to $697 soon, so act now.)

© 2008 Client Attraction LLC. All Rights Reserved.

Fabienne Fredrickson, The Client Attraction Mentor, is founder of the Client Attraction System™ and http://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 http://www.clientattraction.com/.

Be Willing To Do What Others Aren't: Take Action, In Spite Of

2008-01-29T11:07:00.000-05:00

Sometimes, you just KNOW there's something you need to take action on to take your business forward. However, if you're anything like me, you've gotten stopped in the past, even when it's something you KNOW will create big results. You procrastinate, you tidy up your office, get another cup of coffee, ANYTHING to not get it done. Ever have that happen to you?

There are different reasons why you may be stalling from taking action. It could be that you don't know the next steps, that you're not sure how to move forward. That happens, but that's not what we're talking about today. Most likely, it's something deeper.

For me, the procrastination in moving forward is directly tied to the outcome, especially when the outcome really means a lot to me. When it's something meaningful, something BIG, it's a combination of, "Wow, I hope I don't screw this up" and simultaneously, "What will happen if I succeed? Can I really handle the success and the abundance that will come my way? Am I really cut out for this much good stuff coming into my life?" (Just writing that seems ridiculous, but that's what sometimes comes up, and I KNOW I'm not the only one.)

That's what I call your INNER game of Client Attraction (mindset) dictating your OUTER game of Client Attraction (marketing.)

Although I'm usually focused and take a no-excuses approach to getting things done, it happened again recently. I had set aside the time to finalize a big project and instead, I found myself doing things I "used" to do: going to eat something instead of sitting down to write it, cleaning out my office, even wiping down the desk, shopping for shoes online, and then I realized what was really happening.

I was momentarily being stretched past my comfort zone.

You see, this project is something I've wanted to do for a long time. It's everything I'm passionate about. It's about giving people the real-life tools they need to market their business, while getting them out of their OWN way, so they can actually succeed. It's my passion, it's my dream, and it's my calling (just reading that gets me choked up.) So, as you can see, this isn't a light thing for me. There's a lot at stake, both professionally and personally. And actually DOING it has me feeling a little uncomfortable. Thoughts keep creeping up: "Will they want it? Will they pay for it? Will they come?"

That creepy gremlin of self-doubt reared its ugly head once again. I thought I'd clobbered him, but he was back. Thing is, I wasn't going to let him win once again. So this time, I decided to take ACTION, in spite of the fear, in spite of the uncomfortable feelings of self-doubt.

The key was to recognize WHAT was stopping me from taking action. What was at the core? What was this all about? Once that was clear, I chose an action that would move me forward, in spite of any negative feelings, or what my inner critic or gremlins were telling me.

Then, I wrote down the action I wanted to get done THAT DAY. Just ONE action step. Admittedly, it FELT massive, but it was just one thing to do. Next, I asked myself how it would feel at the end of the day, having accomplished that one goal, that one action. I envisioned being really proud of myself, happy inside, and knowing that I had done something really good today. The day had not been wasted. Once that was done, I got to work on the task I'd been pushing off.

Well, every time this happens, the result is always the same. YES, the first few minutes are uncomfortable. I'm fidgety, a little anxious, I dread it. But once the flow gets going, once I'm committed to the project, it all just glides from there. When I'm in the flow, ideas start to surface that I hadn't thought about, concepts start to come together, and the whole thing just takes shape, making it easier than I thought it would have been.

After a while, you get a rush. That uninterrupted flow of creativity starts to take over and it's like you're riding a wave. At the end of the day, you're feeling a high, a pride, and a real sense of accomplishment. Not just because you took a step FORWARD for your business, but because you took that step IN SPITE OF.

Your Client Attraction Assignment:

So, I ask you today. What is it that you've been putting off? What is it that has great importance to you that you've been procrastinating on? What's one thing that, if you got it done today, would move your business forward immeasurably? What could you take action on, in spite of any feelings of discomfort, knowing that once it's done, you'll feel AMAZING?

Write down the action you will take, then the FEELING you will have after accomplishing it at the end of the day (or preferably, by 11am?) Focus on that feeling and just begin it.

Remember, successful people are simply people who are willing to do what others aren't. Are you willing to do that? It's a new way of looking at your life and your business: the no-excuses approach. Once you do, Client Attraction becomes big time easy.

I don't get out of bed in the morning to be average, to do what everyone else does. How about you? Try it.

OK, now you're ready to take action, but what if you aren't sure what to do to get clients? Then get a copy of the Client Attraction Home Study System™. I've outlined every Client Attraction technique in detail, and it's all there so you can start using it right away to get similar results. 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. SO easy. That's why my clients have gotten such great results from it. All the tools, scripts, templates, and examples are handed to you on a silver platter. You can get yours at TheClientAttractionSystem.com. Why struggle when you can just model a system that already works? (Reminder, it's going up from $247 to $697 soon, so act now.)

© 2008 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.

It's Not Procrastination, It's Fear of Rejection (Get Past It and Get Marketing)

2008-01-20T17:52:00.000-05:00

Have you ever been stopped in your marketing tracks because of procrastination and didn't know where it was coming from? This happened a few times with some of my private clients recently, and we noticed that every time, it wasn't really procrastination, it was a fear of some sort that was holding them back.

Perhaps you've experienced it too? The fear of reaching out to people, fear of failure, fear of success, fear of not doing something right, and the kicker, fear of REJECTION? I don't think I know anyone who's not experienced some form of fear of rejection when marketing themselves. I think it's innate for many of us. Problem is, it holds us back from doing what it takes to get clients. And it's got to stop.

Fear of rejection keeps people from marketing, from networking, from asking for the sale, reaching out, from getting help, from public speaking, from asking for referrals, and from collaborating with strategic alliances. You've heard me say this a thousand times: if you don't market today, you won't have clients in six months.

So, understanding that there's some sort of fear stopping you, what do you do about it? I've done a lot of research on this, for my clients, and for myself over the years. I've read books, special reports, and anything that was available on the subject. Problem is that most people just GLOSS OVER what you should do.

The "experts" talk about changing your mindset, thinking positively, and all that good stuff. OK, but that's not practical enough for me. I wanted to know EXACTLY what to do to eliminate the fears and limiting beliefs that have held me back in the past, and that I continually see my clients struggling with.

I've discovered there's more to getting clients than just the OUTER game of Client Attraction (marketing). There's also an INNER game of Client Attraction (your mindset and beliefs) and if you don't deal with the inner part, then you'll keep doing the same things (and making the same money) you've been making for years to come. I don't know about you, but I prefer to continue to grow and make more.

So, I went on an internal search for what the answer was and I found it. I've worked (and continue to work) on my personal growth and development, and I've broken it down into a series of steps that, when done in sequence, help eliminate the limiting beliefs and fears that hold us back from marketing (and shining, personally) in a big way.

Here's what you do:

Establish the root fear or limiting belief that's holding you back from marketing. (Fear of success, fear of failure, fear of rejection, fear of overwhelm, fear of what others will think of you, fear of doing it wrong, fear of asking for what you want, fear of saying no to someone, etc.) Let's pick fear of rejection, just for argument's sake, since it's such a biggie with my clients.
Think back to your childhood. What is the earliest memory you have of being rejected? Write it down. (I'm serious, don't just read this assignment, write it down. That's how you get results.) If you get stuck, then go back to what the original thought that popped up when you read the assignment. That's usually the big one that needs to be addressed first, even if you don't think it is.
Write down ALL the events in life in which you can remember feeling rejected (your parents, kids in grade school, high school, the dating years, cheerleading or sports tryouts, the working world, and of course, since being self-employed).
Now, think about what MEANING you created about yourself as a result of each of those incidents. ("I'm not good enough," "I'm dumb," "I'll never be good at marketing," "When I reach out, I get rejected," "I'm not cut out to make a lot of money," etc. Really spend some time on this, because that's where the healing begins. Be a hard grader.
Then, make a separate list of how these MEANINGS you created have stopped you in life. Did you stop reaching out? Did you stop taking chances? Did you retreat into a hole? Did you hold back from taking advantage of opportunities that could have advanced you? Write them all down.
Now, go back to the list of meanings you created and ask yourself, "What if what I THINK happened wasn't actually the case?" Here's what I mean: If you were rejected by your "crush" in high school after telling this person you liked him, imagine other scenarios other than "I'm unattractive" or "I'm not lovable." Could they have secretly been dating someone else? Could they have been shy and not known what to say? Could they even have been interested in someone their own gender? Write it ALL down.
This is a list of ALTERNATIVE reasons why they wouldn't have done the ‘right' thing by you, rather than thinking you were unattractive or unlovable. Now, look at this list and pick one, because I'll guarantee you, what you THINK happened is probably not what happened. Each person has their own writing on the wall and even if they said or did something unacceptable, we don't REALLY know what that reason was (we might never know what was going on for them at that time).
Reevaluate the limiting belief or your fear. Is it REALLY true that you were rejected? Could there have been another reason for what happened? Is it really WORTH your still being affected by this and having lost out on opportunities your whole life because of what one (dumb) person said or did? Is that event really WORTH you being stopped in your marketing now?
Decide to select the ALTERNATIVE reason for what happened and move past the fear. You deserve to not be stuck in your tracks any more. You deserve to be free from what others said or did to you in the past. You deserve to be successful and that's what I want for you.
If you can't seem to let the fear go, then just FEEL the fear, and do what it takes anyway. You've heard the saying: "Successful people feel the fear too and they do what it takes anyway." That's been my experience. When I feel myself getting stopped, I often use the process above, and then I just push through and get things done. Funny thing is, it's never as bad as what I had feared. Best of all, every time you push through a fear that stops you, you exercise that muscle. After a while, limiting fears or beliefs don't have a chance against you.

YOUR CLIENT ATTRACTION ASSIGNMENT:

Make a point to do the exercise above. Take an afternoon or an hour, and really work through what's stopping you. It can seem scary at first, but I assure you, when you actually do it, it becomes easy. And it feels so FREEING at the end.

You'll notice that you will start DOING more than before, taking advantage of opportunities, and getting better results in marketing. That immediately equals more paying clients, more results, and in my experience, financial freedom and being able to live the life you really want. I once read that the view from the other side of fear is SUCCESS. Are you game?

Now, if you clear the fears and still are not sure what to do to get clients in a way that feels easy and authentic to you, it's time to start doing things differently. The Client Attraction Home Study System™ avoids the "Bright Shiny Object Syndrome" and instead gives you the most important things to do to set up simple, solid marketing 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. (Reminder, it's going up from $247 to $697 in January, so act now.)

Did You Get Lazy In Marketing? (If You Want More Clients, Do What You USED To Do)

2008-01-13T13:28:00.000-05:00

It's a phenomenon that happens to most people in business for themselves after a few years. When solo-entrepreneurs first get started in marketing their business, they have gusto, they have energy, and many take a no-excuses approach to getting clients. They're WILLING to do what it takes, and they do it often (most of them).

But after a few years, they begin to rest on their laurels, they get lazy, and after a while, they stop doing what they used to do to get clients. Some stop networking; some stop doing free intro classes, either in person or over the phone; some no longer do as much speaking as they used to. They've slowed down their marketing, and then they wonder what's happened to their pipeline: it's empty.

Oh, and I hear a whole bunch of excuses as to why they're no longer doing these things, too. There's always a YEAH-BUT… "I don't FEEL like doing that anymore," or "I've already done that, it won't work again," or even "I'm tired, I don't want to work that hard." Some even begin to wonder if they should stay self-employed, ready to give up.

As a result of the excuses, the well continues to dry up and they find themselves digging the well when they're thirsty (Not fun: it creates sleepless nights and financial troubles.) Then, the fear sets in and they scramble for NEW things to do. Ever done that?

It seems they want to reinvent the wheel. They're looking for new ways of doing things and this creates a sometimes frenetic, frantic approach to getting clients. I believe this ties into the "Bright Shiny Object Syndrome" we talked about recently, always looking for something new to do, something exciting, while leaving behind the proven stuff.

However, what I've learned over the years is, doing something new doesn't always create results as quickly. The systems aren't as easy to put in place and there's always a learning curve for new stuff. What clients are surprised to hear is that, instead of creating BRAND new strategies, sometimes, we begin by going back to doing the tried-and-true, proven things that worked very well for us in the past. We go back to the basics: Marketing Pie 101.

Why reinvent the wheel when you can go back and do the simple things that are proven to work?

YOUR ASSIGNMENT:

My thoughts on this: You either have EXCUSES or you have RESULTS.

So, my questions for you are:

What have you been UNWILLING to do recently to get clients that USED to work for you?
Have you stopped doing something that you did regularly in the beginning?
Where have you gotten lazy?
What used to work for you in the early days?
Are you doing this now?
Are you WILLING to do this now?

If now's the time for you to ramp up your client load, then stop everything and take a look at your Marketing Pie. Which slices of the pie are you implementing regularly? Are you not being consistent with your marketing?

It's time to go back to the basics. And, it's time to recommit. The funny thing is, when you recommit and you start doing these things again, they WORK. And what happens is, you start getting clients, more mo'ney starts pouring in, and you begin to LIKE doing these things again. Marketing becomes FUN again. Your whole demeanor changes. And, you instantly become more Client Attractive as a result. THEN, once the foundation is in, you can start adding in all the new stuff. Try it. It always works for me and my clients.

Now, if you're stuck with what to do 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™ avoids the "Bright Shiny Object Syndrome" and instead 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. (Reminder, it's going up from $247 to $697 in January, so act now.)

© 2008 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.

Plan Out Your 3-Year Vision for Attracting Clients (and The Life You Really Want)

2008-01-04T11:45:00.000-05:00

In practice building (and getting clients) it seems to be that most self-employed people just hope for the best. They simply keep doing what they've been doing and don't have a strategy for creating the practice they'd be truly and deeply happy with. This is a big mistake in my opinion.

I used to write down my goals each year, but it never really worked for me. I just didn't feel really excited about my new goals. They didn't seem to propel me in motion and so I kind of viewed them as being useless. I never really looked at them, probably because they seemed like "shoulds" rather than "really-meaningful-wants."

Then I came across the concept of creating 3-year visions instead of just a list of goals for the upcoming year. This visioning wasn't just about business goals, but also family, financial, spiritual, and relationship goals. It became a "holistic" way of looking at what you wanted in your life. All the pieces looked like they would work together, but only because you were compelled to make it all work together, which was the first time I'd done that in such depth.

The coolest thing about visioning 3 years out came to me after I started doing this regularly. I noticed that ONE year goals were never too much of a stretch. They seemed like timid goals, goals that didn't really get me excited. But having to create a vision of what 3 years down the line would look like allowed me to REALLY think BIG.

Inhibitions dropped. My creative side started going and I really took time to see, "Hey, what WOULD I want my life to look like in 3 years, if I could have time to create it?" SHAZAM! I felt like I'd hit the jackpot.

The 3-year vision was a way for me to create something to strive for that REALLY spoke to me. Something that made my heart beat a little faster after I read it, excited to get going, and just a little bit scared of the thought of me reaching it. Now THAT would propel me into motion the way a yearly list of goals wouldn't be able to do. (By the way, my deep down secret is that I strive to reach these in 1 or 2 years, not 3, and that's usually what happens.)

So, each year, around this time, I create a 3-year vision of what I want my practice to look like. I write it in the present tense, as if it were 3 years later, that same day. For example, this past year I wrote mine on January 4, 2007 as if it was January 4, 2010, and I talked about all the things that had happened since 2007. All the things I'd accomplished in my business, with my finances, my investments, my family, and myself over the "last 3 years," which obviously hadn't actually happened yet.

Such a cool exercise and it really gets the blood flowing when you read it back to yourself, now and over the year.

"When you can clearly see yourself being there, you can see much more clearly how to get there. You can imagine the path to your dreams, and then start to actually walk it. Play an active role in your own future. Imagine with passion and detail how you'd most like it to be." —Ralph Marston, http://greatday.com

You see, I've figured out that it's not just about goals. Yes, goals are important, but the way I look at it, it's about focusing on what you REALLY want for your life, not the "shoulds." It's also about putting into effect the Law of Attraction in a big way. When you know what you want for your life, when you can imagine it with passion and feel what it feels like to have it, it's almost guaranteed to come to you.
So, this weekend, I'll be taking a couple of hours to work on my own 3-year vision. I wouldn't dream of not doing it. My success depends on it and it does for you too.

YOUR CLIENT ATTRACTION ASSIGNMENT:

Your turn. Sometime this week, create a 3-year vision dated January 4, 2011. Your 3-year vision must be one that will literally PULL you into your future, will scare you just a little bit, and make your heart beat a little faster than normal whenever you read this.

Make your 3-year vision very specific, realistic, and a big STRETCH (that's what's going to move you forward quicker than you would if you didn't have it). If you're right brained, use bullet points for categories such as business, finances, personal, family, spiritual, fun, health, etc. If you're left-brained, then write freely, and remember to keep it all grounded in the specific, with lots of MEASURABLES and TANGIBLES thrown in there so you can keep track of your progress over the next 3 years (that's what I do).

Be sure to write in the present tense as if it were 3 years from now… If it doesn't scare you just a little bit or get your mind racing, then it's probably not enough of a stretch. By the way, I just looked back to last year's 3-year vision and I was SHOCKED to see how many of the goals in my 3-year vision I'd already achieved in just a little over a year. This stuff really works!!

Once you've done your 3-year vision and are ready to get marketing in a big way for 2008, invest in your success by getting yourself the Client Attraction Home Study System™. It avoids all the unnecessary stuff and instead gives you the most important things to do to find your niche, get out there in a big way, set up simple, solid systems, so 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. So easy. All the tools, scripts, templates, and examples are handed to you on a silver platter. You can get it at TheClientAttractionSystem.com. (Reminder, it's going up from $247 to $697 in January, so act now.)

© 2008 Client Attraction LLC. All Rights Reserved.

Does Your Voicemail Get You Clients? Time to Change That!

2007-12-23T10:24:00.000-05:00

If you're serious about attracting clients consistently, I believe you should use every single piece of marketing "real estate" you can. Whether you've been in business for one year or 22 years, when you're marketing your business, you want to have systems in place that PULL in clients without you having to do much to make it happen.

It can even be as "little" as using your outgoing voice mail as a Client Attraction tool. One of the key things you can do to PULL people in that most people in business do not do, especially when they're working from home, is have an outgoing message on your voice mail or answering machine that describes exactly what you do, for whom, and what results they can expect.

The idea here is to have your voice explain what you do and how to give you referrals. So, instead of saying, "Hello, it's Mary, leave a message," you can say, "Hello, it's Mary of so-and-so business, helping (insert target audience) who struggle with (insert common problem) achieve more (desired outcome)."

Once they know exactly what you do and for whom, don't forget to list the best ways to reach you (other than phone): your e-mail, your website, and your tag line. Oh, and don't forget to include a call to action, like inviting them to visit your website and signing up for something. There are lots of different ways you can use your voice mail outgoing message as a way to get new clients. Remember to keep it pretty short or people will not want to call back.

Here's one version of mine, as an example:

"Hello you've reached Fabienne Fredrickson, creator of the Client Attraction System™ and ClientAttraction.com, where we teach self employed professionals and small businesses to attract more clients, in record time, every time. For more information or to grab your F.R.E.E. Audio CD and get weekly Client Attraction articles, visit ClientAttraction.com. Please leave a message and I'll call you back."

You'd be surprised how many people over the years became my client, when all they had originally was my phone number. As a result of the voicemail, they all told me they went onto the website, signed up for the ezine, attended teleclasses, and after a while, wrote in to say they were ready to work with me. Not bad for a simple voicemail message!

My motto around marketing real estate? "If you've got it anyway, use it to attract clients!"

YOUR ASSIGNMENT:

Create an outgoing message that can also act as a marketing tool, if it is brief. Include your tagline and e-mail address if it is easy to remember, direct callers to your website, and make sure to tell them about your newsletter or list any upcoming workshops you are promoting. You'll not only impress callers, you might just get a few new clients out of it.

Interested in more of these simple, highly effective marketing tools that attract new clients in the "real world?" Then it's time to invest in a step-by-step marketing system that will feel easy and authentic to you. The Client Attraction Home Study System™ avoids all the unnecessary stuff and instead gives you the most important things to do to find your niche, get out there in a big way, set up simple, solid systems, so 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. So easy. All the tools, scripts, templates, and examples are handed to you on a silver platter. You can get it at TheClientAttractionSystem.com. (Reminder, it's going up from $247 to $697 in January, so act now.) You can get it at TheClientAttractionSystem.com. (Reminder, it's going up from $247 to $697 in January, so act now.)

© 2007 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.

Stop "Moving Your Own Piano" (You'll Then Attract More Clients While Making More)

2007-12-15T23:29:00.000-05:00

Quote: " Invest three percent of your income in yourself (self-development) in order to guarantee your future." - Brian Tracy

Sometimes, the signs that it's time to invest in taking your business to go to the next BIG level show up without notice. Take this past summer, for example. The second call of my Preview Teleseminar Series for my workshop was scheduled and I was set to interview two inspiring and motivating solopreneurs on how they use the Client Attraction systems daily to make well into the 6-figures. We had close to a thousand entrepreneurs registered for the call and I was excited to host it.

Then, the unthinkable happened. As instructed, hundreds of people starting showing up 10 minutes early to make sure they would make it onto the line before it was maxed out. As I was greeting them, I kept asking if my two featured guests were on the line. My heart kept sinking further and further into my stomach as I realized neither of them could actually get on the line as moderators.

Call it a systems glitch, call it a disaster, there was nothing I could do. Emails were going back and forth, with my special guests telling me they were indeed on the line but no one could hear either of them. Meanwhile, nearly a thousand people were waiting patiently for us to figure out what was going on.

At that moment, I would have paid ANYTHING to be able to get an operator on the line to fix it for me. Anything.

I was crumbling inside, unsure of what to do. Have the call WITHOUT my two featured guests or reschedule it entirely? I chose to go on (perseverance) and asked everyone to hang up and dial in again, and was then able to get ONE of my guests on the moderator line. I interviewed her and it went great. Then, as she hung up to let the other guest onto the moderator line, I got cut off of my OWN call! I tried several times to get back onto the line and was blocked out for several minutes. (I found out later that Mercury was in retrograde.)

The whole thing unfolded like that scene from the movie Swingers when he leaves those messages, one after the other, sinking deeper and deeper into trouble. Have you seen it? Finally, I got on as a "regular" participant and had to keep the line un-muted for the rest of the call.

As I mentioned, I would have done (and paid) ANYTHING to be able to press a button and get an operator to help me. Throughout this episode, my intuition kept nudging at me saying, "Fabienne, you should have invested in your business and gotten the help you needed BEFORE this happened." But after years of frugally using basic services, I'd gotten too lazy and perhaps too complacent to spring for that PAID bridge line the million-dollar marketers are using.

The good news is, the call ended up being a huge hit. People wrote me to tell me how inspiring it was, how motivated they got as a result and ironically, no one mentioned the technical difficulties. Several people signed up for the workshop as a direct result of that call, and I was thrilled that no one even brought up the snafus. But I learned three MAJOR lessons that day:

Persevere. No situation is ever as bad as YOU think it is. You may be crumbling inside, but in other people's perceptions, it's just another day at the office. Keep going. It will always work itself out.
Let others take care of details for you so that you can focus on your "genius work", the stuff that actually makes you mo.ney. You see, Sinatra didn't move his own piano each time he sang at a gig. He had a team in place to handle those details so that he could focus on two things: Singing and Getting More Gigs. And that's what you should be focusing on too: Working With Clients and Getting More Clients. Everything else can be delegated.
Sometimes, it's time to put the frugal part of you behind and REALLY invest in your business. No more holding back. When it's time to grow, it's also time to take out your wallet and INVEST in making mo.re. That's what all the millionaire marketers do. My experience has been that, when I do invest in my business, it always comes back to me at least 4 to 10 times over. And although "money" is usually the excuse I've used in the past for not doing something (and I'm not the only one, you have too!), I've found that if I really look at a situation, I almost always have the resources to invest or can find a way to get them.

Just for the purpose of today's article, I'm adjusting Brian Tracy's quote from above:

"Invest three percent of your income in yourself [and your business] in order to guarantee your future."

YOUR ASSIGNMENT:

How will YOU invest in your business this week? Notice what you have NOT taken advantage of because you're using the excuse of "not having enough money." Using that excuse is an insidious form of self-sabotage. It's a mindset that keeps you playing small and limits your growth. Time to stop being frugal and take action. The money will naturally show up to help you pay for it (it always does.)

Like many others, you might be wondering what to do to take action in your business. Perhaps you're missing the how-to. Then it's time to invest in a step-by-step marketing system that will feel easy and authentic to you. The Client Attraction Home Study System™ avoids all the unnecessary stuff and instead gives you the most important things to do to find your niche, get out there in a big way, set up simple, solid systems, so 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. So easy. All the tools, scripts, templates, and examples are handed to you on a silver platter. You can get it at TheClientAttractionSystem.com. (Reminder, it's going up from $247 to $697 in January, so act now.)

© 2007 Client Attraction LLC. All Rights Reserved.

Think BIGGER About What's Possible For You and Get Out of Your OWN Way!

2007-12-07T16:07:00.000-05:00

In preparation for my Marketing and Mindset Breakthroughs Workshop, I asked a few people to be part of my R&D team to find out what stopped them from getting out there in a BIG way to get clients. I also asked them to tell me the MOST they could see themselves making being self-employed. Honestly, I was saddened by the answers that rolled in, and their answers were right in line with what I hear from many other people I've talked to about this.

You see, most people have very LOW expectations on what can be made in self-employment. The average from my polling was between $50,000 and $75,000, and the highest amount I heard was about $150,000. Using SYSTEMS and LEVERAGE techniques in marketing and running your business, you can totally change that to create an income that is FAR beyond what you've ever thought was attainable for yourself. (I know that it may not seem possible as you read this, but I promise you, it IS possible for you too. I've done it for myself and I've done it for countless clients.)

To help you change your mindset around that, I wanted to share a paragraph in Louise Hay's book ‘You Can Heal Your Life,' which has stayed with me since the very first time I read it years ago. Here's what she writes:

"I love the visualization of standing at the seashore looking out at the vast ocean and knowing that this ocean is the abundance that is available to me. Look down at your hands and see what sort of container you are holding. Is it a teaspoon, a thimble with a hole in it, a paper cup, a glass, a tumbler, a pitcher, a bucket, a wash tub, or perhaps you have a pipeline connected to this ocean of abundance? Look around you and notice that no matter how many people there are and no matter what kind of container they have, there is plenty for everyone. You cannot rob another, and they cannot rob you. And in no way can you drain the ocean dry. Your container is your consciousness, and it can always be exchanged for a larger container."

I was totally floored when I first read this. I remember "looking down at my hands" and seeing a very large bucket, one bigger than I could carry by myself, thinking that was a LOT. But when I read about the possibility of having a PIPELINE connected to this ocean of abundance, I was struck by the very small thinking I was doing. And frankly, I was upset with myself for having thought so small before.

It hit me like a ton of bricks that I wasn't asking the Universe for nearly as much as I could. So, I started "asking" for a bigger income, little by little, every year by adding about $50,000 to the previous year's revenue goals, believing that I COULD achieve it. And at the end of every year, I did achieve it, sometimes by a lot more.

Now, each year, I ask to DOUBLE my income, and my ability to help twice as many people attract more clients, and I either reach it, or come pretty close each time. Knowing that you can always trade in your container for a bigger one, and that you cannot "rob another" because there is an unlimited supply of what you want, what are YOU asking for and going after?

YOUR ASSIGNMENT:

Close your eyes and imagine yourself standing on the sand, toes in the water, looking out into the vast ocean of abundance. Yes, even if it feels corny or goofy, just DO it, no one's watching you! Besides, how you do anything is how you do everything, in business and in life. (If you're not willing to do THIS, then you're probably not willing to do much to change your mindset or what it takes to grow your business.)

Imagine that you cannot ask for too much because you can never exhaust the supply that is available to you and everyone else. No matter what you've thought up to now, know this:

There will never be a shortage of clients you can attract.
There will always be enough people who will pay you what you want to be paid and more.
There will never be a cap on how many clients you can help.
There will never be a cap on how many products you can sell.
There will never be a cap on how many attendees will attend your workshop or teleclass.
There is an inexhaustible supply of ways you can offer what you offer that your competitors don't offer.

The only person who sets that limit is you. The good news about that is you can break your current paradigm and situation at any time you choose. You can find a way to innovate and break the mold. You do not need to be tied down to what you have thought up to now.

Heck, if you're gonna dream, well darn it, dream BIG! Look back at your list of wants. Were you playing small? Were you playing too safe? Were you afraid to ask for a lot more? What came up for you? Now, tweak the list to think BIGGER. You deserve it and once you believe it is possible for yourself, you can indeed have it (that's what's been happening with me, so it can happen to you too.)

Many entrepreneurs stop themselves from having more because of limiting beliefs, self-doubt, and self-sabotaging behavior or procrastination and this currently keeps them from having what they say they want. I see this DAILY and it's got to stop. The good news is, it's easy to stop, when you know how.

I'll be giving you the solution to eliminating this in the soon-to-be-released ‘Client Attraction Marketing and Mindset Breakthroughs Workshop-in-a-Box' (including the 16 CD's from the sold-out 3-day August 2007 workshop.) It's truly life-changing. In it, you'll get all the easy-to-implement Marketing, Leverage and Systems strategies you'll need to FINALLY have more clients consistently, but also the MINDSET techniques I've created myself, to help you make the mo-ney you deserve, and have a lot more time off to enjoy it all. Why stay small when you can have it all? Look for the pre-release priority announcement soon.