If you are ready to start delegating to an assistant, first let me congratulate you! This is an important and empowering step that will free you up to grow your business and attract more clients.

So how do you hire an assistant and figure out what they can do for you? Here are six steps to help you get clear on what you need.

1. Make a List of Tasks. Think about what you need help with more than anything. Spend a few days writing down every single thing you do in your business and in your life during the day. From picking up the dry cleaning to sending out letters, whatever it is – write it down. Keep track over a few days to get a good idea of what you really do.

2. Sort into Categories. You’ll discover things fall into categories. For example, categories might include: technology and social media, personal errands, office work and sending out mailings. This is what you can explain when interviewing assistants to see if they have the skill sets you need.

You may find you need a couple of assistants with different skill sets to cover all the bases. It would be unusual for a single individual to be good at everything.

3. Determine What You Can Pay by Task. Next to each item, make a note of how much you could pay someone to do this task for you. Some things will be $10 an hour and others might be $15, $20 or $30.

During each work day, you want to be able to focus on just two things between 9am and 5pm:
A) What brings in money
B) Marketing to attract more clients

Anything else could potentially be handled by a capable assistant.

4. Group Tasks to Get an Average Hourly Wage. Group tasks into categories by what you want to pay, take an average and then offer this as the wage. Whoever you interview and select can always counter offer by telling you that number is too low or say yes and take the job.

5. Number of hours per week. Give some thought to how many hours per week it takes you to complete your tasks. This will help you get a good idea of how much time you’ll need the assistant for and will help them understand your requirements.

6. Virtual Tasks vs. Working on Site. The last thing you need to figure out is if your assistant can work virtually or needs to get the job done in person. You may have a VA working virtually for technology related tasks and another who does your errands in person. The more you can delegate, the more time you have to devote to attract more clients.

Your Client Attraction Assignment
Once you complete this exercise, write up a brief job description which you can use to advertise for an assistant. This can also be used as your discussion points for the interview. When you have an assistant in place, you will have more time to attract more clients and bring in more money.

Now, if you’re just starting out and trying 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 System^® 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.

Have you noticed a budding niche in your practice? This can be very exciting to help you find clients more easily. But, it can also cause a concern for business people who are unsure how to handle this transition in their practice or don’t feel ready to commit yet to a particular niche.

Discover If You Have a Niche
First, here’s how to notice if you’ve got a niche starting. Take a look back at all your clients so far and ask yourself these questions:

• What made them call you?
• What did they need help with?
• Why did they choose you?

You can also ask these same questions about people who contacted you, but for whatever reason did not sign on with you. Often helpful trends can be found in both groups.

Create an Ideal Client Profile
Next create a profile of who seems to be your ideal client. Write it all down like you are describing a real person who needs your help and can benefit from what you do. This step will help you get clear on how to find clients that fit this niche.

So, for example, Mary is a raw food coach. What she noticed doing this exercise is that several clients came to her looking to compete athletically and prepare on a raw food or vegan diet. This is something Mary herself had already done which is why she was naturally attracting these people.

Once you recognize the niche you have growing, the question becomes, how do you talk about this with people and in your marketing materials?

A Script with Generalist Appeal and Niche Specifics
As you are networking, writing your warm letters or speaking, you can say, “I work with all sorts of clients, from people who are simply interested in introducing more raw foods into their lives, to people who want to lose weight. But I also have a growing specialty in helping people who compete in sports to do this successfully on a raw food diet.”

What you are saying between the lines is, “I’m a generalist, but have a growing specialty.” This allows you to niche slightly without have to completely redo all your marketing materials to find clients.

Your Client Attraction Assignment
So, if you have a nagging suspicion that you have a niche starting, practice saying, “I work with all sorts of people and I have a growing specialty in…” Try that and see how it helps you find clients who are seeking your niche, but keeps your options open for those who want general services as well.

Now, if you’re just starting out and trying 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 System^® 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.

Many entrepreneurs make the mistake of scheduling their appointments whenever the client is available, as opposed to thinking about when is best for them as a business owner.

Many years ago, I was hired by a chiropractor that had just opened up a professional practice out of her home. Prior to joining my program to work on her Client Attraction, she had just a few clients, mostly friends and family.

Schedule client appointments back-to-back instead of sporadically throughout the day. (Click here to tweet this.)

Other than not having enough clients, she was frustrated by two things. First of all, she had to be in the office at all times, ready to see a client at a moment’s notice in case someone just popped by. That made her reluctant to work on her marketing because she didn’t want to be ill-prepared if someone showed up for an adjustment. Secondly, she found herself having to prep the office six and sometimes seven days a week because she was scheduling appointments at any time the clients suggested.

In a matter of days, we changed all of that. She was able to maximize her time, spend more time on marketing and quickly grew her practice. Watch the video below where I share how clustering client appointments can make the biggest difference from the early stages of your business to the days when you need to manage a full practice.

Your Client Attraction Assignment

Take a look at your calendar: are your client appointments timed efficiently for you as an entrepreneur? Next time a client calls to schedule time, offer time that is available and best for your schedule. If you have not yet set hours of operation, do so and educate your clients on these hours. Use your free blocks of time for marketing, expanding your client base and growing your business as a whole.

I’m thrilled to introduce you to one of our standout students of The Client Attraction Business School™, public speaking consultant John Rasiej.  As always, we’d love to hear your feedback. Please post your comments and questions below. ~ Fabienne. Connect with John on Facebook here.

Public speaking is one of the fastest ways to attract new clients.  The on-the-spot connection you establish with one effective presentation is a richer and more holistic experience compared to a blog post, a video or even social media. Your live speaking engagement is able to convey your expertise, authenticity and accelerates the Know, Like and Trust factor for your audience.

Public speaking is one of the fastest ways to attract new clients. (Click here to tweet this.)

Speaking effectively takes more than getting up and sharing information. There are key creative strategies that form a deeper engagement and lead to more client conversations and conversions quickly.  Here are 5 that stand out:

1. Begin by immediately making the speech about your audience and the issue with which they’re challenged. They’ll have a vested interest to listen more attentively from the start if they know your focus is on them! When you begin by launching into your story or saying, “I’m happy to be here,” you’re making it about you.
2. Keep your speech to fewer than five points and ideally three so your audience isn’t overwhelmed.  Different from a workshop, people attending a speech at a networking event are not there for copious note-taking.  Getting past five points taxes listeners’ ability to focus.  You want to make your points memorable and achievable.
3. Avoid taking questions from the stage and let the audience know it’s to their benefit.  Taking questions cedes control of your time to someone else. Furthermore, if you take questions and resolve their surface need in the moment, your potential client has no reason to approach you after the speech.  By connecting individually at the end of your presentation, you gain the chance to learn their specific needs and establish possible follow-ups that pay off.
4. Your call-to-action needs to flow organically from the speech.  Every speech needs to take advantage of the audience’s focused attention while they’re physically with you in the room.  Your call-to-action will be more effective when it flows naturally out of the points you make as opposed to seeming like a tacked-on pitch or afterthought.  Create your call-to-action and then plan your points to lead your audience there.
5. Command the room with your stage presence.  Everything you do in front of your audience sends its own message.  How you take the stage, the way you stand and the certainty with which you deliver the opening sentences affect the audience’s confidence in you and your message.  Some techniques such as ideal stage position may seem counterintuitive; however they’re designed to enhance the connection between speaker and listener. Unfortunately many business speakers miss them.

Well-crafted presentations delivered skillfully will grow your business fast. Maximize the art of speaking to make an impact both to your clients and to your bottom line.

John Rasiej is CEO of Speak Louder Than Words, a consultancy that brings creativity to entrepreneurs so that businesses click when sharing their message with clients.The author of two books, “Speak  Louder Than Words” and “Speaking Leadership: 22 Essential Secrets to Make Speeches Succeed,” John combines over 20 years of acting and directing experience plusan understanding of delivering effective marketing speeches that lead to better connections and more clients. To find out more about these strategies and more ways to make your message resonate with the people you want to reach, connect with John at www.SpeakLouderThanWords.com.

It’s a new year! Are you setting business goals or new years resolutions? Maybe you are mapping out what the next year looks like for your business.

Whenever I am goal-setting or planning for our business, I always focus a big part of the effort on tracking business revenue. Why? Let’s face it: you’re in business to make money. If you don’t make money, your business, which is your passion as an entrepreneur, cannot survive.

Track your revenue consistently and compare it to your start-of-year goals. (Click here to tweet this.)

Here at Client Attraction, we’ve grown our business revenue consistently each year. Some years we’ve quadrupled, whereas other years have been more moderate in growth. We’ve been proudly recognized by Inc. magazine for the past three years as one of the fastest growing private companies in America. How do we do it?

We track our business revenue. First of all, what you track grows. You want to track all the numbers you want to grow in your business. This will help keep you accountable to your goals throughout the year, but also put you in the mindset for growth.

In this week’s video strategy we dive into tracking revenue, how often and what you need to specifically track. Watch below to take the first step to reaching your revenue goals.

Your Client Attraction Assignment:

If you haven’t already, map out this year for your business financially. How much do you want your sales to increase from last year? What is your goal for the year and how does that look at the middle of the year, each quarter and even every month? Hold yourself accountable to these goals by tracking, consistently and specifically. In 2015, when you look back at your revenue for the year, you’re sure to be glad you did.

Sometimes, no matter what you try, nothing seems to work to find clients and you feel like you’re going to give up or breakdown. First, know that you are not alone. Lots of business owners experience this and believe it or not, I still go through this. I’m a human being and it happens to me too when things just don’t go my way.

This is what I do when I get to the point when I’m really frustrated and wondering what the heck is going on. Try following these steps to break out of that mindset and get moving again.

1. Focus on Your Faith. You’ve got to have courage to stay the course because remember, it’s not about doing what’s convenient, but doing whatever it takes.

One way I focus on faith is by reading books like, Ask and It Is Given by Esther Hicks or God Works through Faith by Robert A. Russell. These types of books will inspire you, especially if you’re a spiritual person like me. You can find videos on YouTube for this same purpose.

2. Get Really Pragmatic. When you are in fear, it’s really easy to spiral down into a dark mood. I know because I have experienced this more times than you can imagine. No matter what level you are at, the beginning, the middle or the top of your game, there’s always something that can rattle you. So you want to try some practical methods to shift your situation.

• Use a Mantra or Affirmation. Here’s the mantra I use, which is a sentence that helps me to refocus on the possibilities and regain my positive outlook:

“I am positively expecting great results no matter what I see in front of me. The Universe is rearranging itself for my best interest right now.”

This is about knowing you can find clients and they are coming to you now. Then print this out and post it in several places so you see it often. Put a couple in your office, on your bathroom mirror, your refrigerator, near your bed so you’ll see it when you wake up, etc.

• Distract Yourself with Laughter. The next thing I do is try to come out of that fearful place by watching something that I know will make me laugh. It could be Ellen DeGeneres, the Cosby show, or Comedy Central. Find something to make you laugh which will lift your spirits and break that downward spiral. I also read People Magazine because it’s light and fun or play with my children. And these ideas also help you focus on the present moment rather than continue to worry about the future.

• Get into Action. Take the most likely steps that are right in front of you. Sometimes this means acting on opportunities that are right in front of you that you haven’t said yes to so far. Or you might tweak what you are already doing in order to get different results.

Your Client Attraction Assignment
If you are in the panic place, try any of the tips above to help you move into a more positive place and find clients. Remember, getting a part time job can sometimes tide you over until your business starts to take off and support you.

Now, if you’re just starting out and trying 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 System^® 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.

Following up on leads is ninety percent of the game, right? At least that’s what we hear. You spend all this time networking, marketing yourself, making cold calls and looking for the right client… but what’s the point of it all if you don’t follow up on the leads you already have?

Most people don’t follow up on prospects because of the following reasons:

• They’re afraid of appearing too pushy
• They’re afraid of being turned down or rejected
• Their negative self-talk gets in the way
• They’re afraid to have to talk about money
• They have a fear of failure
• They have a fear of success

Close the sale with people you know want to work with you before setting your sights on brand new prospects. (Click here to tweet this.)

But 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, 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 sale 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. Watch this week’s video strategy below to learn how to prioritize your leads and convert prospects into paying clients.

[youtube]http://youtu.be/d87igqPkhL0[/youtube]

Your Client Attraction Assignment

Go through your mental Rolodex, day-planner, Evernote or sticky notes to see who has expressed interest in working with you over the last six months to a year, but who hasn’t been converted into a client yet. Make a list of these people, gather information on them and begin to reach out. Focus on the prospects already available to you before you reach out to the top of the tree.

 

If you are just getting started building your business, you may find some tasks feel easy and simple and others drum up a bit of discomfort. This is totally natural. The key is to move ahead anyway as you expand your comfort zone. Practicing the uncomfortable parts of growing your business helps you to conquer and then excel at them.

For some business owners, getting the structure in place is easy. But, handling the conversation to sign people up for the “get-acquainted” call is what trips them up. If that sounds like you, I’ve got the solution.

Below, is my suggested script for talking about the get-acquainted call and how to position it with prospects. This might be a good one to print out and read over and over as you digest it and learn how to enter into these conversations more often to get clients.

This script shows prospects that you are confident about what you do, have a system and that they need to make the cut to become your client – it’s not just a one-way decision for prospects. Positioning the get-acquainted call this way creates more desirability as potential clients will want to be chosen by you.

“Just as much as you want to find out about me, I want to find out about you to see if you would be a good client for me. I cherry pick my clients because I only want to work with people who are going to get great results and who I am going to enjoy working with.”

“To do that, I suggest we set up a get-acquainted phone call to get to know each other for about 15-20 minutes. Because I don’t want to spend the whole time talking about me, I would like for you to answer a few questions for me and send them to me by email prior to our get-acquainted session. This way I can learn about you too.”

“I would also like for you to read my Interview with (your name here) which will answer many of the questions you have about what it would be like to work with me. I also ask that you read the testimonial sheet I’ll be sending you so you can see how others have benefitted from working with me.”

“Please read these in their entirety before we get on the phone call for our session so that you know everything you need to know about me. Then I can hear about you to see if I can help and answer any further questions.”

Then schedule the call, send the information and think about what you’ll say during the actual session to get more comfortable with that as well. The more you have this conversation, the better it will flow to help you get clients.

Your Client Attraction Assignment
You can practice this conversation with a friend, family member or even better a colleague you trust who can give you feedback on how you are doing. Don’t practice too long though before you test the script out for real. That’s how you’ll really get clients!

Now, if you’re just starting out and trying 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 System^® 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.

When you are building a business, you want a solution for accepting payment online that is reliable and looks professional and trustworthy to clients. At Client Attraction, we have switched providers as we have grown to accommodate different levels of service and higher numbers of transactions.

For many business owners starting out, they go for the smaller solutions. But the truth is, many of these services just don’t look professional or have limits that get in the way as you grow. That’s why we recommend you start out with a service for accepting payment online that can grow with you and continue to serve your company as your needs change.

In addition to credit card processing, many of the better services offer comprehensive small business packages that include email and database management. Plus, they can help you analyze your business based on data collected about sales and emailing.

This is a short list of companies below and not complete by any means. These are the ones we know about – some we have used and others we have not.

1) 1Shopping Cart. 1Shopping Cart is the service I used for many years very successfully and they have a lot of capabilities. It’s easy enough for you to be able to actually go in there and do things yourself. Although, it’s smarter to have your virtual assistant do it for you. What’s great about 1Shopping Cart is that you can do everything, from email to taking payments, all through a single gateway.

2) Infusionsoft. I moved up to Infusionsoft when I had about 15,000 people on my list and I was already making over seven figures. This is a great program and it helps you slice and dice the information in many ways for amazing business analysis. I do however want to mention that it’s not a simple program.

3) PayPal. In my opinion, PayPal just doesn’t look professional for your website as a way to accept payment online. While they have the capabilities, it sort of makes you look like a start up operation and nobody wants to be a guinea pig. I don’t recommend this option.

4) Practice Pay Solutions. With this service, you are getting your own Merchant Account. You can also do that with your local bank as well, but PracticePaySolutions.com is a good solution for coaches. I used this service many years ago and it was great. They have a virtual terminal, so you can plug in your client’s credit card number online for them and you can set up recurring monthly payments as well.

Your Client Attraction Assignment
Accepting payment online is something that requires doing research and due diligence. You want to know a company’s capabilities and ease of use, and then weigh that against the fees to make the right choice for your business. Thoroughly check out these options for accepting payment online and managing your database to be sure you get your needs met at a price that’s appropriate for your practice.

Now, if you’re just starting out and trying 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 System^® 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.

Social media: it’s all the buzz lately in the world of online and Internet marketing. Perhaps if you’re anything like me, it can be a little bit overwhelming.

It seems like every few months there is some new social media network or tool available. First it was Facebook, then Twitter, LinkedIn, Google+, Instagram, Pinterest, YouTube…the list goes on and on.

How are you using Twitter as a resource for networking and connecting with the right prospects? (Click here to tweet this.)

Today I want to talk to you about Twitter. Let’s get you started so you can use this social media site to take your Client Attraction to the next level.

Here’s why you can’t discount Twitter: their IPO just generated billions of dollars in value so it’s clearly not to be ignored. It is a very powerful marketing tool that I personally have used for years here at Client Attraction to generate not only more subscribers to our email list, but attract more ideal and high-paying clients, more high-quality and paid speaking gigs and strategic alliances that have turned into lucrative business ventures time and time again.

Before you try to tackle the “Twitterverse” on your own, let me give you some guidance so you can make the most out of this amazing networking and marketing resource.

[youtube]http://youtu.be/8l_m9SfaiT0[/youtube]

Your Client Attraction Assignment

Are you on Twitter yet? If not, you can follow my simple steps here to get started with your account. Trust me—this is easy and only takes a few minutes. If you’re on Twitter already, make sure you check that you have all the right elements in place with your account: profile picture, bio with description, link to your website and a branded Twitter background if you’d like.

I’ll see you on Twitter at @DerekFred. Until next time, Happy Client Attraction!