If you want to grow your business to its next level, you have to fire yourself…
…from the day-to-day operations of your company, is what I mean.
You see, if you’re at a point in your business where you are making very good money (multiple six figures, maybe even seven figures, like our Leverage Track students) but are still doing a lot of the “doing,” you’re creating a scenario that is going to wear you out and not allow your business to grow.
(Believe me, this is all too common with our students who first enter our Leverage Track, and it was me for a lot of years too.)
In this week’s training, captured at our most recent Leverage Track meeting, I have some tough love for you and some good news too.
Watch it now (it’s only about 2.5 minutes – but wow, this concept has transformed so many of our business owners’ lives and it can change everything for you).
When we start a business, of course we do it all ourselves. We have to! Most of us bootstrap our way to success, which means we fund the growth of our business through sheer hustle and grit.
But there comes a time when we must stop this way of doing business and take a new tack.
This can be challenging on many levels, which is why I talk so much about the mindset of expansion and success, and how things must first change in your mind.
Listen, I know that it’s hard to let go of control. It’s hard to take on the commitment of paying a team. It’s hard to embrace structure and systems when it probably goes against the nature that made you an entrepreneur in the first place.
But there are so many rewards.
You get to step into your role as a leader and a visionary, so that you can create a system that is able to multiply and grow beyond your own efforts.
Once you make this shift the ONLY work that you do is the creation and execution of:
- The Big Vision
- The Big Picture Strategy
- The Company Culture, R&D and Positioning
- Big Picture Business Development
- Big Picture Operations
Notice a theme? Your role is to get out of the daily details and minutia and step into the big picture. Your role is to hire the people that will move the company forward – financially – through their efforts. Your role is to create a culture where everyone on the team is rowing in the same direction.
Hiring a team is what allows your business to move forward. Giving each team member the opportunity to be generative in their efforts, not only through their regular responsibilities, but through initiatives that grow the system of the business, allows the entire ecosystem to expand and grow.
And, by the way, it allows your revenues and profitability to soar.
Ready to take on your new role? I promise…you can do this.
Just fire yourself. 😉
Here for you,
Fabienne
P.S. As I shared in the video, this isn’t about hiring lots of people, throwing lots of money at your business and walking away – it’s about becoming the person you were born to be… Although it IS ok to go and sit on the beach too…sometimes 😉
If you are someone who feels a bit uneasy about marketing, you are certainly not alone.
I believe I can help you feel better about it in today’s video.
You see, I believe marketing gets a bad wrap, sometimes unfairly.
Contrary to popular belief, marketing is actually an awesome thing (a divine tool, as I call it).
And to do marketing right (and feel great about doing it) requires shifting from push to pull, from what you need to get to what you can give, from your heart.
Watch this week’s super-short training to learn more:
Marketing done the right way is THE thing that lets you help people using your unique skills, talents and gifts…and get paid to do so (so you can keep doing it).
Today’s 2 ½ minute content video is about falling in love with marketing because there are ways to absolutely market with authenticity, integrity and love.
I promise that when you do this you will feel great in your skin. And more than that, you can embrace this powerful paradigm:
“My job is to help this person get what they want so they can change their life.”
It comes not from a place of sacrificing your own needs, but from a place of understanding the fundamental truth that when you share your gifts with more people and create more value and transformation on the planet, the money follows.
Marketing is what allows you to receive, too.
So here’s my question for you today… How can you infuse more love into your marketing? Whether through speaking, networking or your communications, what commitment can you make to creating marketing that feels great to you?
I invite you to share your ideas in the comments below because I really want to read what’s true for you.
Here’s to you finally falling in love with marketing,
Fabienne
P.S. Remember – the thing you do, the service you provide or the products you sell people…they are your brownies. If you keep the amazing, warm, chocolatey deliciousness to yourself, there are going to be a lot of hangry (‘cause when I smell brownies and don’t get offered one, I get hungry + angry) people out there. Offer what you serve with love, OK? 😉
I know, it can be hard.
I remember back in the day when I used to get that knot in my stomach before I walked into a networking event where I didn’t know people.
Over the years though, I’ve learned that some of the best long-term relationships with potential clients and strategic partners can be created from meeting them at networking events.
Even though I can still sometimes get shy in a roomful of people I don’t know, I’ve learned to get over it. 😉
In this week’s short training, I share with you the exact words that I’ve used (for years now) to take the pressure off…
It’s only 3 minutes, but so many of my students have said these words changed everything for them. Watch it here:
Doesn’t it feel better when you think about networking in a way that doesn’t have anything to do with you?
Think about the last time that you were at an event and someone pulled the “pitch and shove” on you… (Meaning they launched into their elevator speech and then shoved their business card in your hand.)
Ick right?!?! Don’t do that. Do THIS instead, and learn that you too can fall in love with networking.
Here’s my challenge to you:
Find THREE events to attend (locally or otherwise) in the next 30 days. Get yourself there, use my mini-script to take the pressure off and learn about THREE people at each event.
You in? Let me know with an “I’m on it, Fabienne!” in the comments!
Now go meet some awesome people!
Fabienne
P.S. Isn’t “client attracting” way better than “client pushing”???
If you are just getting started and are looking for networking opportunities and speaking gigs, I have one very big piece of advice: start locally.
Here’s why this is so important when you are ramping up. When you network locally, it’s easier to attend groups or events more frequently.This will help you get to know people better. You can fully penetrate a particular area and get “well-known” in the community. Staying local means your network will build on itself as you meet more people who know the same people you do.
When you go outside your area at the beginning, you risk spreading yourself too thin. You won’t be able to benefit from the awareness that comes with meeting the same people over and over again. This is how important connections and relationships form.
To get more clients and build your business, you want to be seen frequently in your area. People will think you are everywhere, which is good for getting noticed. That’s when awareness for what you do starts to spread, which is exactly what you want.
In addition, I don’t need to tell you how quickly travel expenses can add up these days. Plus, traveling makes it difficult to manage your time and may prevent you from implementing your marketing plans. You’ll be at your desk even less.
When you focus on speaking and networking locally, you can manage your time far more effectively. This is especially important at the start of your practice.
Your Client Attraction Assignment
Have you done a thorough search for networking groups and associations in your area? If not, make it a top priority this week. Make a list everything you find. In addition, as you get out there, ask the people you meet if they can recommend other groups or associations. That’s a wonderful way to expand your circle of connections and discover opportunities you might not find any other way.
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.
Let’s be honest… Most entrepreneurs don’t have a great marketing plan—or any plan at all. Mostly, they hide behind their computers hoping for the best. Not on my watch! It’s time to get you out there in a much bigger way.
If you’re familiar with my teachings, you know that I often talk about the importance of your Marketing Pie, a term I coined. Imagine a pie with 8 slices. Each slice of the pie is something you do to either find clients already gathered for you, or pull them toward you in large numbers and inexpensively. This is something I share with my students of The Client Attraction Business School.
One of the best marketing strategies is to get out and meet potential clients through in-person networking. (Click here to tweet this.)
When you create your own marketing pie for your business, you craft a real PLAN for your marketing that allows you to get your message out. One big, delicious slice of that pie is for NETWORKING!
In the coming months, I’d like you to take a no excuses approach and become a permanent fixture at all events where your ideal prospects and referral sources hang out. Identify where you can spend time with them in large numbers and inexpensively. I’m challenging you to stretch outside of your comfort zone, get out from behind your computer and get out there!
Watch this week’s video for my three strategies to get you started.
Your Client Attraction Assignment
Your assignment for this week is to accept my challenge and start scheduling your spring and summer networking events. Get excited about it. When done right and on a consistent basis, networking will get you clients quickly. Years ago, I filled both of my private practices in less than a year each, and one of the slices of the marketing pie I focused on heavily was networking.
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.
When you are networking, you meet lots of new people and collect business cards. A lot of people immediately add these new contacts directly to their ezine list. But, that is actually against the SPAM laws to do this without permission. So how can you get the new contacts on your list?
The key is your Irresistible Free Offer (IFO). Going back to what your ideal clients really need help with – the issue they would do anything or pay anything to get their hands on, this is what you want to focus on with your IFO. The offer can be a free CD like I offer on my website, an important checklist, or special report, an ebook or even an audio download.
The next step is to print that Irresistible Free Offer right on your business card. The back of your card is often not used but this is great advertising space and it’s free! On my card it says, “To receive your free CD on how to attract all the clients you need, please visit ClientAttraction.com.”
Now you can go to networking events and hand out this card with your free offer. And even better, as you start talking with people and making connections, you can find the natural place in the conversation where it makes sense to mention your free offer.
This is what I used to say, “I don’t know if you know, but I have a free offer on this topic. I’d be happy to send it to you and you can also receive a free article every week about this. Would you like me to send that to you?”
Once they agreed and handed me a business card, I’d write a big letter “E” on the back for “ezine” so I could remember to send them the free offer and add them to my list. It’s so simple and makes it easy to get permission to comply with the SPAM law.
Your Client Attraction Assignment
To get comfortable finding those natural spots to bring up your IFO, set an intention to listen closely for these opportunities. Commit yourself to talking about your offer when you can. You may want to ask your friends if you can practice in a conversation with them. The more you talk about your IFO, the more comfortable you’ll feel, and the more quickly you will build your e-mail list through networking!
Remember, you are actually being of service when you share your yummy brownies with people.
Now, if you’re just starting out and trying to fill your practice in the FIRST place, then follow a step-by-step system of entrepreneur marketing strategies 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.
If you just started a new business, you may be wondering “What are the most powerful first steps I can take to market your services?” I know it’s overwhelming because there are so many exciting marketing opportunities. However, there are three particular methods that you can count on to jumpstart your business and get the traction you need to begin building.
1. Meet new people through networking
In order to find new clients, you want to meet lots of new people! That’s where networking comes into play. Do a search online to find the networking groups in your area and look for BNI which is also a referral group. Don’t forget about associations as well, which can be a rich source for potential clients. There are also philanthropic groups such as the Lions Club and Rotary Club that work together to help the community or chosen charities.
2. Start speaking to groups
Decide what your signature talk is and then find places to present it. The more groups you can speak to, the more you are seen as an expert in your field. Many of the networking groups, associations and clubs that you visit are looking for speakers. So, while you may visit at first to meet people, your second objective is to ask if they are looking for speakers.
One thing that can help is to write up a one-page document that pitches your signature talk. Come up with a snappy headline, keeping the problem you are solving in mind. Then include a list of benefits attendees gain from hearing what you have to say.
3. Start building your ezine list
Writing and distributing an ezine is a powerful marketing tool for any business. Once you start networking and speaking, it will be easy to build a list of people to market your services to. The ezine becomes your way to:
- Stay in touch
- Keep yourself top-of-mind
- Share tips and advice
- Set yourself up as an expert
- Offer products and services
Weekly or bi-weekly emails work best to get your readers engaged and in the habit of expecting your ezine. As you grow, you can add other emails to announce special offers or events. Shorter emails are more likely to be read. A catchy subject line will be the hardest working piece of the email to get people to open and read it.
I recommend using Aweber to manage your database and send out emails if you’re starting out. This service is easy to use, inexpensive to start and allows you to send professional looking emails that get through spam filters.
Your Client Attraction Assignment
Start by brainstorming topics to write about for your ezine. Think about all the subjects your ideal clients want to know about and how to solve their problems. Then you can start writing articles and create a stock pile for future use. It can be easier to sit down and write a few articles at a time to get a flow going.
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 Home Study 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.
Now, before you point the finger at me for bashing ALL things about what you already know about networking, let me say there is ONE thing that I believe in very strongly that past networking experts talk about over and over again.
Getting LOTS of people in your network.
The more people you know, and the more people know YOU, the more likely you are to attract LOTS of new clients through networking and referrals.
Think about it. If you’ve got 300 people in your network, and let’s just say, for fun, that 1% of them refer people to you on a monthly basis. Well, that makes 3 referrals per month.
But if you’ve got 1,000 people in your network, and that network generates the same percentage of referrals per month, 1%, then, that gives you 10 referrals per month. In just a few months, you’ve got a solid practice going!
And it’s been my experience that, when you DO have more than a 1,000 people in your network who become advocates of yours, you start getting clients real fast!
The key however, is in how you create this tipping point. And again, it’s not about entering each networking event you go to and throwing your cards at people, it’s about creating relationships that are based on trust. LOTS of them!
Your Client Attraction Assignment:
Make a commitment today to start growing your network to the Tipping Point. My networking is up to many thousands of people now, and you can imagine how many referrals I get from this network and all the networking I’ve done in the past.
If you estimate that you currently know (and are known by) say, 300 people, start working hard to be known and trusted by 1,000 people. When you’ve reached that, start shooting for 2,000, then more. The more people are in your network, the more you start tipping the scales in your favor.
It’ll be a process, and not necessarily a quick one, but the more you work towards this, the more you’ll love networking because of the RESULTS you’ll get from it, consistently. It’s addictive, trust me!
So, how many people are in your network now?
Want to learn more about The Networking Guru System™? It is simply one of the only proven systems out there telling you EXACTLY what to do to fill your private practice simply by networking. Nowhere else will you see such a complete HOW-TO on how to get clients consistently with worksheets, templates, and actual scripts that have worked, not only for one person, but for hundreds of private clients. Learn how to network so that you get great results from it and feel authentically yourself the whole time. I share ALL of them in my FREE Secrets of Master Networkers Manual.
Go here now to download your own copy and start networking like a pro for your business – TODAY!
Now that you’ve gotten clear on what networking isn’t and what’s slowing you down, it’s time to redefine it so that you can start taking advantage of it, starting now.
Contrary to what you’ve probably been taught, networking is NOT about pushing yourself on others (or being pushed upon by others) but about one simple thing and one thing only.
Building relationships.
I know, you were probably expecting something more earth-shattering than that. But, the simple truth is, Master Networkers understand that networking is about the long haul and it’s about building relationships, not GETTING something from others or putting something over on others.
Let’s examine building relationships and why that’s the NEW view I want you to take on networking.
Let’s examine how YOU would rather buy services.
When you’re looking for a new service, would you rather open up the phonebook and play “eenie-meenie-miney-mo” or would you rather ask a friend you trust if they know someone who provides that service?
Yeah, me too. I feel much better about asking someone to give me a referral. For some reason, when I know that my friend has had a great experience with that particular service provider, let it be a dentist or a plumber, I’m much more likely to just call and book an appointment, rather than question the expertise of the person
we’re talking about.
And so you see, it all boils down to that relationship with your friend, and the relationship that your friend has with the dentist or plumber. Without the relationship they have, you wouldn’t have ever been referred that person.
Your Client Attraction Assignment:
From today forward, I want you to start approaching the entire networking process with the objective of creating LONG TERM RELATIONSHIPS.
No more, no less.
Want to learn more about The Networking Guru System™? It is simply one of the only proven systems out there telling you EXACTLY what to do to fill your private practice simply by networking. Nowhere else will you see such a complete HOW-TO on how to get clients consistently with worksheets, templates, and actual scripts that have worked, not only for one person, but for hundreds of private clients. Learn how to network so that you get great results from it and feel authentically yourself the whole time. I share ALL of them in my FREE Secrets of Master Networkers Manual.
Go here now to download your own copy and start networking like a pro for your business – TODAY!
Let’s agree that there are different types of referrals from networking. The referrals that have a little business for us and those who have a LOT of business for us—also known as the Cash Cows.
Client example: A real estate broker client of mine has redirected her entire networking efforts to rub elbows with those who have a LOT of business for her, rather than just a little business for her.
During our coaching, we realized that she could either network with INDIVIDUALS (who sell one apartment at a time) or DEVELOPERS (who need to sell 15 units at one time). When the light bulb went on and after screaming EUREKA!, we looked for associations that she could join to create lasting relationships with real estate developers (Professional Women In Construction is one of them). She will now be networking there regularly and maximizing her networking to reach Cash Cows (i.e., getting a referral to sell 15 units rather than just 1). Next, she’ll be targeting architects. If she keeps this up, she is on her way to become an apartment selling machine!
Your Client Attraction Assignment:
Instead of going after ONE client at a time in networking, think about those people who have a LOT of business for you, instead of just a little business for you. Make a list of these.
Then visit the web to see if they have an association you could belong to. If they’re local, join the association. If they’re not, offer to write a monthly column for their association newsletter or speak at the annual conference.
Want to use this article on your website or your own ezine?
No problem! But here is 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 in.come, visit www.attractclients.com.
