Deep down, you know that…

…every human shares a desire to feel important.

…every person on earth wants to feel significant, like they matter.

…every individual wants to feel special, like they’re more than a number.

And that includes your potential clients and customers.

The problem is many business owners and marketers treat their potential clients like cattle, a herd of faceless people who don’t have a soul.

But you’re different. You actually care about your people.

So when it comes to your marketing and how you communicate with your potential clients, it is vital that you embrace what I have been teaching my own clients for years, which I’m sharing with you in this week’s training.

Watch it now, because although it’s short, it has the potential to dramatically shift the impact of your marketing:

This applies to you whether you have a business where you feel comfortable using words like “love” or whether you work in an industry in which that isn’t quite the accepted norm (at least…not yet).

Ultimately, this week’s 5-minute video training comes down to empathy. How can you make the ONE person you are communicating with feel valued and special, even if you’re writing copy that reaches tens of thousands?

Is it possible to sell by being compassionate? If so, how??

Here are four strategies you can employ to have more empathy in your marketing:

1. See their world through their eyes.
2. Understand their feelings.
3. Communicate understanding.
4. Appreciate them as human beings. (Heck, even love them.)

There are so many people that are longing to feel appreciated, respected and seen. This is about having compassion for those you serve.

And ultimately when you do this, people want to consume what you offer to them.

When you act this way with your prospects, they want to be with you and invest in your services, products and programs.

It’s human nature to go where you are genuinely loved.

Will you do this? Would you be willing to slip into your heart a little bit more?

Will you start writing your marketing copy as if you are writing to your best friend? Let me know in the comments below.

(I think you’ll be really surprised when you do.)

You Rock!
Fabienne

p.s. From my heart to yours, I so appreciate you for being a part of this incredible community. I respect and admire the path you have chosen and love being on your team. Now go rock some compassionate copy, OK? 😉

 

I recently spoke with a new student about his business. Prior to joining our Business School, John experienced a tremendous decrease in revenue.

Despite putting his best face forward, he was stressed and not taking a salary.

He was worried – as anyone would be – about how to rebuild and get his cash flow back to where it used to be.

After listening to him and learning more about his business, I realized that his cash flow situation is actually really common among entrepreneurs at all levels, one that most business owners and entrepreneurs have dealt with at one time or another.

How do you increase your cash flow now?? Today I’d like to share with you John’s story and the solution I gave him to inject a business with cash, now. Here it is:

There are many reasons for a reduction in cash. John’s revenue decreased because he, for lack of a better term, had put all of his eggs in one basket by putting his major focus on just one big client. And when that happens, when one of your clients provides you with the bulk of your business’ income, losing them, or having them greatly reduce their contract, means trouble.

For some, it can even mean crisis.

Unless, you have a plan!

In today’s short five-minute video, I show you how to quickly recoup your cash flow, no matter if you’re making $8,000, $80,000 or $800,000 a year.

Once you’ve watched the video, my question for you today is: what will you do more of that worked to initially land your best clients and what will you stop doing right now to make room for increasing your cash flow?

I can’t wait to read your comments below.

Sending you lots of love,
Fabienne

P.S. Didn’t want to say goodbye for today without thanking you for all the well wishes on my TEDx Talk last week! I was overwhelmed with your love and support. The video of my 18-minute session on Activating Your Potential for Greatness isn’t up on TED.com yet, but I promise to let you know the minute it is! Enjoy and have a great weekend! In the meantime, you can watch this video to help you get ahead in reaching your business potential.You rock. xoxo

It goes without saying that networking is an amazing marketing method for building your business, which is why I encourage my students to join networking groups that meet regularly. Different groups meet weekly, monthly or even quarterly, which means there is a group out there that can work with every schedule. Through women’s groups, trade associations and local Chambers of Commerce, it is actually quite easy to find a networking group.

Another great way to make sure you are taking full advantage of networking is to seek out those individuals I personally like to refer to as “Centers of Influence” or COI. These Centers of Influence are the people who seem to know anyone and everyone – and they are great people to have as contacts.

Identifying your Centers of Influence will help you make connections to people who can power up your networking in ways you never imagined.

1. Identifying your COI

Whenever I speak of COIs, the number one question I get is: where can one find these amazing Centers of Influence?! The funny thing is that you likely have a COI in your life but you just don’t know it. So think of that friend you have who just knows everyone – and that person is your Center of Influence! If you don’t already have a COI in your life, the networking events and groups will help you identify one.

These COIs are master networkers who know droves of folks and can regularly refer you to the right people. Most COIs absolutely love to make connections and introductions. They like to provide referrals for when you need service or help. I call them natural “bridgers” because they get a thrill from bridging one person to another.

2. Meet with your COIs regularly

When you meet regularly with your Centers of Influence it will have a direct impact on growing your business, which is why it is important to meet with your COIs often. Making a point to stay in touch keeps you top-of-mind when they are out networking. Personally, I like to meet my COIs for lunch or a cup of coffee about once a month.

3. Getting referrals

Centers of Influence are one of the fastest paths to referrals. Even if you feel weird asking for referrals, just remember that your COIs really enjoy it. They feel awesome, valued, proud, confident and influential whenever they help their friends out. It’s a mutually beneficial relationship!

4. Reaching out to your COI

Because reaching out to others about networking is uncomfortable for some people, here is a sample email you could send: “Hi Jane. It’s been a long time since we’ve caught up. I’d love to hear what you are up to and also let you know what‘s new with me. How about meeting for coffee? My treat. When are you free?” I recommend coffee because that’s a lot cheaper than lunch or dinner.

You can reach out to COIs by phone, email, text or social media. If you want to connect with people outside your area, go virtual! You can Skype, FaceTime or try a Google Hangout. Be creative and find a way.

Your Client Attraction Assignment

Right now, make a list of 10 influential people who could be your Centers of Influence. Don’t get hung up on how well you know them. Remember, they enjoy networking and connecting people. You can even list 10 people you’d like to meet because of their influence and connections. Then contact them this week and watch your business grow.

This is just one of the many best practices we dive deep into with the students of The Client Attraction Business School, the premier training school for growth-minded entrepreneurs looking to quickly attract more clients and make more money. If you’re interested in finding out more, visit www.ClientAttractionBusinessSchool.com for more details. To speak to an enrollment coach, click here.

Are you currently tracking prospects and how they find you online? If not, start now. I can’t emphasize enough how important this is for building your small business.

You need to know how prospects find you so you can turn up the dial on that marketing tactic,or maybe even start a new one altogether. Without knowing where your potential clients are coming from, it’s impossible for you to know what’s working and what isn’t when it comes to both your marketing strategy and your online presence.

Here are two tactics for tracking your marketing results and understanding what methods are working for you.

1. Create a lead log

Whenever you speak to a new prospect, whether by phone or email, make note of it. I suggest that students make what I call a “tracking log” for all potential new clients. This way, all of the information is in one place. There are a few different options for tracking logs, including: a Microsoft Excel spreadsheet, a table in Microsoft Word, using software like Infusionsoft or ACT (for the high tech people!) or even just a pen and paper. It doesn’t have to be fancy – it just needs to work.

Each time you get a new bite, consistently ask every caller (or emailer) how they found you. If they don’t remember specifics, make note of what they do recall. Perhaps they read an article on the web, stumbled onto your site while surfing or were referred to you by a friend. Even ask them what keywords they typed into Google, but just be careful not to push. You don’t want this to seem like an interrogation! With time, you will start to see patterns letting you know which marketing tools are the most productive. Then, concentrate on those techniques.

For example, if you discover that most of your new clients come from referrals, you might want to establish a referral program, such as offering an incentive to anyone who sends you a potential new client. Announce this in your networking groups and let your clients know as well that they will be rewarded when a new customer signs up.

2. Install Google Analytics

Make sure your website has Google Analytics installed. This is a free service that tracks your website’s statistics and analyzes traffic patterns and visitor behavior. With Google Analytics you can find out your most popular landing pages, which sites refer the most traffic to you and which keywords people use to find you when searching for answers to their problems. If you don’t know how to set this up or read the data, hire someone who does so you can benefit from the information.

Once you have a better idea of how your potential and existing clients are using your website, you’ll be able to further improve these areas to leverage them even more and improve your pages that under perform. Find out how many visitors return to your site and what percentage of people are new. All of these factors can contribute to improvements in your website and your online marketing, as well.

Your Client Attraction Assignment

What tracking system do you have in place to know which marketing tools are delivering the results you need? If you don’t have a system, it’s time to create one. It’s okay to start small! Once this becomes a solid habit, you can expand to gather more details. Then be sure to look at your results quarterly so you know where to focus your time and money.

This is just one of the many best practices we dive deep into with the students of The Client Attraction Business School, the premier training school for growth-minded entrepreneurs looking to quickly attract more clients and make more money. If you’re interested in finding out more, visit www.ClientAttractionBusinessSchool.com for more details. To speak to an enrollment coach, click here.

As entrepreneurs, we are dedicated. Right??

Go-getters. Driven (in a good way), willing to serve our clients and give more value than others.

And at the beginning, we’ll often be (overly) accommodating to prospects and clients to get them in the door, and we’ll do whatever it takes to please them so that they sign up and stay.

And hallelujah! It actually works!

This type of bending-over-backwards gets them in the door; they refer people and they stay. It’s wonderful (at first).

But then, after a while, you begin to resent being so “flexible” and “accommodating,” and unbeknownst to the client(s), the relationship begins to feel toxic to you.

So, what do you do in these types of one-sided client relationships?? Click on the video below for the answer and to watch my new strategy:

Listen, I get it. It’s a conundrum.

On one hand, something’s gotta change. This level of “service” is just not sustainable and prevents you from growing your business and keeping your sanity.

On the other hand, expressing your resentment or making changes could mean losing those clients. And you don’t want THAT!

The elegant answer to your great-client-turned-toxic-client issue is in today’s 5-minute strategy video.

In it, I share with you the story of one of our Client Attraction Business School students, “John,” who felt like he was at the beck and call of all of his clients, continually bending over backwards at all hours of the day and night.

He felt trapped in his business, and wondered if he should throw in the towel and give it all up.

You’ll get to hear exactly what we did (and what you can do too) to set some boundaries with those clients and graciously stop people pleasing, for good.

The good news is that even if you are experiencing this right now, even if you are stuck in a cycle of being constantly present for your clients, I’m here to tell you that you can make a change. It’s not too late to take back control of your business!

After watching today’s strategy video, please share with me in the comments:

What have you allowed clients to do to you that you no longer find acceptable and how will you change that?

This is a topic that is near and dear to my heart, so I am super eager to read your comments and love you up!

Sending you lots of hugs,
Fabienne

p.s. Hey, do you know of an established entrepreneur who is answering emails on Saturdays and Sundays, getting phone calls and messages from clients at 10:30 or 11pm, and who sacrifices their personal time just to keep their clients happy? Please send them this blog with love and let’s help them make some changes, OK? Thanks so much for being so awesome. You rock. xoxo

Many of my students want to know how to squeeze writing into their busy workday, as it’s very difficult to find the time to work on a book while working full-time. So, I want to share how I have done this and what I have found to be the most effective process.

My initial method was chaotic
When I was writing The Client Attraction Home Study System, my business was booming and I was pregnant at the time. Obviously, I had a lot on my plate. Because of everything else going on, I initially tried to write here and there when I could fit it into my schedule. Unfortunately, this was not the best process for me, as I discovered that too much time between writing sessions made me unproductive when I did sit down to write.

Whenever I would find time to get back into things, I found myself wasting precious moments (and sometimes hours) rereading my previous words in an effort to pick up where I left off. I grew frustrated with my inability to jump back in and was tired of having to constantly re-familiarize myself with my voice and the ideas that I was trying to convey. I quickly realized that this system was not only not working, but it was truly a waste of my time.

Establish a writing schedule
Once I realized that my “write when you can” method was not working, I decided to try a more regimented schedule. I committed to writing on a regular basis, so I wrote every Monday through Friday from 6:30 a.m. to 9:30.a.m. I would leave my office so there were fewer distractions and interruptions, and go to Starbucks or a local diner. I chose places that were welcoming of customers with laptops (hello, free WiFi!), and where I could have a cup of tea and comfortably type on my laptop for a few hours. Every day, for those three hours, I forced myself to write.

Usually the first twenty to forty-five minutes were slow and uninspired. I would procrastinate by checking my email and catching up on the news. But once I finally settled in and felt caught up on where I was when I last wrote, I was able to dedicate myself completely to my work. With no distractions or thoughts looming over my head, I was able to produce quality content at an amazing rate. Plus, I still had the whole day ahead of me and did not have to worry about my writing interfering with my day-to-day work.

Take time off
Eventually, I decided to take two weeks off and make writing the book my sole focus. Without the distractions of work, I was able to get my writing finished in no time. While it was the best choice for me at the time, as I was under a deadline, I understand that taking time off is not a luxury everyone can afford. However, if you can make it work, it’s definitely an option worth considering.

Determine your best time of day to write
For me, I happened to write best early in the morning, but everyone is different. You’ll need to figure out the time that works best for you. I recommend trying different blocks of time in the morning, afternoon or late at night in order to discover when your creative juices flow easily.

Your Client Attraction Assignment
Do you have a writing project that‘s been on the back burner for a while? Dust it off and schedule blocks of time for writing. Give yourself a deadline to finish. That’s really important. If you don’t have a deadline, then there is no reason to focus on the project, stick to your schedule or feel the pressure to complete it. Make it real and give yourself a timeline. Think how happy you’ll be when the project is done! Happy writing.

This is just one of the many best practices we dive deep into with the students of The Client Attraction Business School, the premier training school for growth-minded entrepreneurs looking to quickly attract more clients and make more money. If you’re interested in finding out more, visit www.ClientAttractionBusinessSchool.com for more details. To speak to an enrollment coach, click here.

After just coming back from our big 3-day live event and also having recently returned from an event where I was an attendee, I thought it might be helpful to cover the topic of How to Get the Most out of a Live Event. Now, these strategies aren’t rocket science but sometimes a solid reminder is all we need to make a good event a great one!

1. Attend all sessions. You made the investment of time, travel, and resources to go to the event, so make being in the room at all times an absolute priority. Don’t skip sessions. Reschedule client calls. Be present at all times, open to the material and learning everything being presented to you. I recommend turning off your cell phone (no texts) and not surfing the web on your laptop. Get rid of all those distractions. This is your learning time, honor it with your full attention.

Make sure to always keep learning and attending events. That’s how you grow. (Click here to tweet this.)

2. Make amazing connections. Attending a live event gives you the opportunity to meet other attendees, sometimes from all over the world. Take advantage of meeting new people by networking and creating strategic alliances. Now is not the time to be shy and introverted. Introduce yourself during breaks and schedule lunch dates with other attendees. (Don’t forget your business cards!) Remember, the person sitting next to you at lunch may just be the one who has the answer or the resource you need. That’s how the Universe works!

Watch this week’s video strategy for all 6 of my strategies to ensure you take time off every year. It’s critical for your success.

Your Client Attraction Assignment

What events have you wanted to attend to further your business growth and personal growth. Find out when they’re happening and invest in yourself by registering. Then, use today’s strategies for getting the most of the event and you’ll start really getting a return on your investment.

This is just one of the many best practices we dive deep into with the students of The Client Attraction Business School, the premier training school for growth-minded entrepreneurs looking to quickly attract more clients and make more money. If you’re interested in finding out more, visit www.ClientAttractionBusinessSchool.com for more details. To speak to an enrollment coach, click here.

Today I want to talk to you about taking time off, for the sake of your business.

When I first started ClientAttraction.com, I planned out my schedule the way I wanted to live my life. I made it a point to set up my business so that I’d take a full day off per week, a week off per month and at least one month off per year—approximately 18 weeks of vacation per year. (Everybody needs down time to succeed.)

And for a while, that was my life and it was wonderful. I was incredibly productive when I was working and the rejuvenating time off gave me more creativity, until I got busier and busier and started multiplying my business. That’s when I hired full-time employees who counted on me to be there and to drive this train. So I stopped taking as much time off, feeling like I had a job again and I became resentful about it. But not anymore.

Every entrepreneur needs time off in their business to experience success. (Click here to tweet this.)

Let’s be honest. When it’s your business, it’s hard to shut off, right? There is no such thing as a completed to-do list and entrepreneurs often blur the lines between business and personal time. But if you want to be client attractive and you want to multiply your income, whether you’ve been in business for many years or are just ramping up, you must have down time.

Watch this week’s video for my 5 strategies to ensure you take time off every year. It’s critical for your success.

Your Client Attraction Assignment

Take the time now to commit to your time off over the next twelve months. Map it out for yourself and enter it onto your calendar. Follow my five strategies to set yourself up for success. Then, give yourself this precious gift of time and watch your business—and your life—flourish.

This is just one of the many best practices we dive deep into with the students of The Client Attraction Business School, the premier training school for growth-minded entrepreneurs looking to quickly attract more clients and make more money. If you’re interested in finding out more, visit www.ClientAttractionBusinessSchool.com for more details. To speak to an enrollment coach, click here.

As entrepreneurs, we move quickly in business. We make decisions more quickly than most. We are spontaneous and we have the technology at our fingertips to assist us even further.

But there are times in life and business, when we need to take a step back, slow down and think it through more carefully than usual, especially during those rare times of national, even global crisis. For us as a company, that has happened twice in late 2012 with two tragedies that hit very close to home here in Connecticut, where ClientAttraction.com is headquartered.

Six new guidelines to doing business with dignity, integrity and respect during times of tragedy. (Click here to tweet this.)

Both times—first during Hurricane Sandy (one of the most severe storms to ever hit the East Coast) then again during the Newtown school shootings, our nation experienced deep heartbreak as we watched our neighbors endure severe loss. And both times over that short span of two months, we as a small company with clients to serve, employees to support and year-end goals to meet, were in the middle of a major business launch.

Did we do everything right as a company in response to the tragedies? No. But we’re learning and applying what we’ve learned to our Best Practices so that as a company we can continue to get better at what we do, continue to improve our service to our customers and clients, and to always, always put people first.

Watch this week’s important video for my six new guidelines to doing business with dignity, integrity and respect during times of tragedy.

Your Client Attraction Assignment

Take some time to evaluate how you do business during times of crisis—what worked and what didn’t in the past? Use my six guidelines to help you prepare your own checklist. My advice is to do this in advance…before you ever need it.  My team and I would like to extend our sympathies to the city of Boston and to all those who were affected by this recent tragedy. I hope these strategies will help you do business with more authenticity, integrity and love.

Unless you’ve been living under a rock lately, when it comes to knowing how to market your business online using the web and the Internet, social media and networking platforms like Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn are receiving lots of attention as tools for Client Attraction.

And if you’ve used any of these tools, you can see how it’s easy to spend a lot of (wasted) time there. To attract ideal high paying clients from social media and also build your list of email subscribers, it’s important to remember that that the same rules apply for social media as they do for traditional marketing: give value and build relationships!

“To attract ideal clients using social media, give value and build relationships.”  (Click here to tweet this.)

As you know, here at Client Attraction we teach our clients and students that authentic and compelling marketing is all about PULLING prospects to you. With the use of a compelling marketing message and by offering high-content information that adds value, your audience is motivated to take further action, either by wanting to join your email list or even better – wanting to work with you.

And the same applies with social media marketing. So, when using social media, you want to be crystal clear on how you plan to effectively and strategically use these marketing tools and still remain “Client Attractive.”

Watch this week’s video for three great strategies when it comes to using social media to attract clients. 

Your Client Attraction Assignment

Apply the steps from today’s video with a focus on creating meaningful connections and establishing long-term value. As you do, you’ll cultivate the right relationships and as a result, prospects see you as Client Attractive. Focus on that and you’ll never be without clients, ever again.