I have been speaking lately at a number of small business events and one question that I regularly field is people wanting to know how they can attract more clients, and do it quickly.
 

This is a trickly one really, as there are a number of steps that I take my clients through in my Fast Track Program to attract more clients, but they need to do the work for this to be successful.  There is no quick fix!

 

However, to help you on your way, I thought I would share with you part of a tele-seminar series I have been listening to by Elizabeth Genco Purvis.  In this she speaks about her “Rule of 3” system.

 

The Rule of 3 goes like this:  Choose 3 ways to get the word out about what you do.  And then do them consistently.  Now those of you, who have been listening to me for a while, will know that my success formula is:  Make a Decision + Stay Focused + Be Persistent and Success will come.  So seeing the word 'consistent' in her writing really struck a cord for me.

 

So as you decide on what three strategies you choose, you might like to consider Elizabeth’s recommendations:

 

1. Strategies that position you as an expert.  Writing and speaking are two great tools for positioning.
2. Strategies that allow you to repurpose – i.e. use over and over again! Writing is great for this, especially if you’re an author already.  Recorded classes and teleseminars are also useful this way.  You can create articles from your audio, and vice versa.
3. Make one of your strategies a newsletter.

 

So remember, it will be much easier to focus on three strategies or methods than running around trying to do everything.  And remember the 80/20 rule:  80% of your results come from 20% of your efforts.

Feel free to leave your comments and ideas as to what your strategies may be - here.

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It’s your dream, it’s your goal - so don’t let anyone take it away from you.

 

How often do you really get excited by a goal you may have?  It’s something that feels right and intuitively you know it will work, that right now it is the best decision for you and your business.  You share it with a few colleagues and friends, thinking that they too will be excited for you; after all, they are the people whose input is important to you. 

 

But you end up leaving the conversation feeling wobbly, and start to doubt yourself and your ideas.

 

These are conversations that I sometimes have with my clients – when they are sitting in self-doubt after allowing the ‘good intention’ of another to take hold of them. To remove yourself from this self-doubt and regain your belief in yourself and your dream you can use the following steps.  

 

1.  Sit in the ‘it’.  Whether ‘it’ is self-doubt, annoyance, frustration, anger or whatever you want to name it, allow yourself to ‘sit in it’ for a period of time.  Now the period of time can’t be all day, it can’t even be half a day - it needs to be no more than 15mins.  Enough time for you to process what is important and what is not important from the conversation.  Enough time for you to speak with an impartial person who will allow you to work through what your feelings are, and be willing to ask you the right questions to move you forward. 

 

2.  Make a decision.  It is important to decide whether or not the feedback is valid.  If you feel it is, then that is it – time to move on.  If you believe in your goal as your gut instinct, then make a decision to move towards your goal.  Be clear on what this decision looks like, and put together the steps that will help you achieve your goal. 

 

3.  Stay focused on your outcome and don’t get caught up in the day-to-day activities you need to take.  This sometimes can feel hard and overwhelming with all that you may have on, but trust that you are on the right path.  Give yourself the space to see what you need to do next.

 

4.  Be persistent!  By this I don’t mean you need to push, what I mean is that you need to pull what you need/want towards you by being clear on the decisions you make.

 

Let me know how you go the next time someone gives you intentional or unintentional feedback that makes you feel ‘wobbly’! Place your comments below.

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Yesterday I received an email from a client asking me to review and comment on some marketing material she had been working on.  I replied to her saying it looked good, except I couldn't see anything about the benefits & results her clients receive when working with her.  She replied, "I knew you would ask this!"  Today in a mentoring session with another client, I was about to ask her a question about what she saw as her benefits and results but before I could finish, she cut me off and said "I know what you are going to ask."

Clients who have been working with me for a while know that I always want to know about the benefits their clients receive when working with them.  The reason this is important is that your prospective clients aren't really interested in the process of how you do things.  For them to buy from you they want to know what benefits they will get.

So to help you identify your benefits and know your results, take the time to answer the following questions:

1.  At the end of the day, what do you really do for your clients?  What do they walk away with at the end of your time together?

2.  Write a list of all the actual results and benefits your clients get from working with you.

3.  Ask yourself, I assist my clients to....................

The reason it is important to spend time working on these questions is that it allows you to become clear on what you deliver for your clients rather than how you deliver your service.  When you are clear on what you deliver, two things happen (a)  your marketing message is easier to deliver and (b) you will attract more clients, as they know straight away what the benefits are in working with you.

If you really want to work out how you can attract more clients by focusing on your benefits and results, then why not register for one of my upcoming "Boost Your Business" Intensive ! Tweet

 

Want to know the fastest way to build your business? Get out from behind your computer and meet people! I am surprised at how many business owners will stay in their office trying to build their business, rather than getting out and building strong one-on-one relationships.  Taking the time to meet with people face-to-face will have the greatest impact in attracting more clients and building your business.  Here are my tips for getting out there:

 

1)  Use the 80/20 rule.  If you don't have a full practise/business then you need to be spending 80% of your time on business development. By this I mean networking, speaking and meeting people. Do the things that allow you to build relationships, meet potential clients and get your name out there.  This is especially important in the growth phase of your business.

 

2)  Go to events.  Whether you like them or not, networking events are an important aspect to growing your business.  You never know who you might meet at one of these events that may need your services, or know some who does. 

 

3)  When out and about, be clear on the benefits & solutions you provide potential clients.  Don't waffle when asked, "What do you do?" Know what you are going to say and be clear and concise with your message.

 

4)  Follow up!  You're wasting your time if you are out meeting people and not following up.  A follow up can be as simple as sending a "Nice to meet you." email.  You can touch on something from your conversation, send them one of your free products, or ask them how you can support them.

 

At the end of the day, have fun with getting out from behind your computer and be open to meeting lots of different individuals.

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Over the Christmas break, I was given some tickets to a Hi-5 concert so with two excited girls in tow, Michael & I set off for an afternoon of entertainment. Now to be honest, I'm not really that 'into' Hi-5, I always feel as if something is missing from their performance. So as I sat watching them live (in a half-full theatre), I started to think about what makes the Wiggles so much more appealling than Hi-5 and how this relates back to business?

So I came up with:

HI-5 don't seem to be clear on who their target audience is. They might like to think it is boys & girls aged between 0-5 but what they do and how they portray themselves does not reflect this.
Their songs and dance moves are complicated and seem targeted for an older group of 'clients'.
Their appearance is too complex - lots of different colours; each person wearing a different cut or style. And possibly even the fact that they have 2 guys & 3 girls in their group?
Their roles aren't clearly defined. Yes, they all dance and sing but they seem to want to out perform and out dazzle other team members, making the performance very busy.

The Wiggles on the other hand seem very clear as to who their ideal clients are ~ boys & girls aged between 0-5 years of age. Therefore they have targeted their songs, appearance, branding etc to this audience.
Their songs and dance moves are simple, uncomplicated and easy for their 'clients' to understand, repeat and remember. Any complicated dance moves are left to their support dancers, and in most cases are performed more in the background than out front.
Their appearance is also simple, uncomplicated and easy for their 'clients' to identify with: Purple shirt= Jeff; Blue shirt = Anthony; Red shirt = Murray & Yellow shirt = Sam. Each member dresses the same for simplicity. Even when Greg, one of the original Wiggles left, they still decided to keep his 'colour' as it was easy for the kids to continue to relate to them as a whole.
Their roles are simple and uncomplicated: Jeff sleeps; Anthony loves fruit salads; Murray likes to play music and Sam likes to sing! They seem comfortable in these roles and don't have to or feel the need to 'over' perform to get noticed.

Now, I could go on with the comparison, but I wont. Three things you can take away from this are:

a) Don't try to be all things to all people. If you do, potential clients may have a hard time trying to understand what you can do for them.

b) Keep it simple. Don't overcomplicate your message, or how you describe the benefits you can provide your clients.

c) Be clear on your message and repeat it over and over.  Do this until your clients are repeating if for you.

As always, I would love to hear your comments and thoughts around these articles. Place your comments below.

(Ps. I am partial to the Wiggles but that is because I used to enjoy watching them back in the 80s when they were the Cockroaches. Who would have thought I would still be listening to them now?)

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Leading up to the festive break, I was quite vocal in encouraging readers to spend time preparing and planing for 2010. These articles got you moving in relation to thinking about your goals and plans, but many have stayed in the space of inertia, when it came to actually putting your plans down on paper. This is not because of a lack of excitement but rather it seems by the over-analysis around how to do this the right way.

So I thought I would let you in on a secret:

Keep it Simple and don't over complicate the process.

So here is very simple process that you can use that will allow you to write your goals down.

Step 1: Determine your long term vision - 5-10 years.
Long-term vision is: (starting with a verb)
Eg., To be the leading provider of business mentoring services that allow entrepreneurs to grow their businesses.

Step 2: Bring yourself back now and focus on the next 12months but keeping in mind your long term vision.
Ask yourself: It is January 2011 and I have achieved the following in my business:
Then make a list of your achievements. Remember to make them specific.
Eg., I turned over "X amount" for 2010.
I facilitated "X amount" of total workshops; I mentored 'x amount' of 1:1 clients. Etc

Step 3: Break your 2010 achievements into smaller, measurable monthly action steps.
Eg., Each month I facilitate 3 workshops with 10 participants etc.
Keep working on step 3 until you have broken down exactly what you need to do each month to attain your overall 2010 goal.

Refer to my article on SMART goal setting to help you further and if you would like a simple goal setting sheet, please email info@debpilgrim.com and we will forward the form to you.
As always I would love to hear your comments and thoughts around these articles, so feel free to leave a comment below.

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This week I had the pleasure of speaking to a group of small business owners on the topic of Business Success. As I was speaking I realised that after 18 years of being an entrepreneur and small business owner, I am still excited by my work. That I really do love what I am doing right now! It was a privilege to be able to share with them, the steps I have used to create my business success.

I thought it would be nice to share these steps with you (again!), especially at this time of the year, when we can take the time to reflect and think about them further.

1. Have a Positive Enhancing Mindset - clear your mind of any negative thoughts. What you think about, you bring about - so wouldn't it be better to have thoughts that bring you health, happiness and success! It is your mind, you are in control of what you think, so take time to remove any limiting beliefs you have and replace them with beliefs and habits that will support you and move you into great success. If you are stuck on how to move into a Success Mindset than I would recommend working with Joanne Prior - click here to find out more about Jo's work.

2. Be who you are - allow you to shine through in your everyday work. Clients are drawn to you not only because of what you have to offer them but also because of who you are.

3. Be clear on who your Ideal Clients are and what problems/challenges you solve for them. The clearer you are on your ideal clients, the tighter your marketing message will be. The easy it is for you to attract the clients that you enjoy working with making your workday even more exciting and fun.

4. Understand that Marketing is key to your business success. This one concept is so important to grasp, because at the end of the day if you are not marketing consistently, your business won't grow.

5. Appreciate your clients. If you have worked out clearly who your ideal clients are, then adoring and appreciating your clients should come easy. How do you show appreciation to your clients?

6. Honour and respect your colleagues and contacts. Along with your clients, your contacts are an important arm of your business. I have to say that I love my contacts and colleagues their support allows my business to grow and develop. I also get so excited when I am able to refer them work and I am always looking at how I can connect different people together.and I am happy referring them

7. Work with a mentor. Since 1995 I have engaged a mentor to work with me. What I have always found is that my mentors have challenged me to step out of my comfort zone in relation to my business goals. At times this has felt uncomfortable but knowing that I have some one there to brainstorm ideas with, to show me a different way of doing things has always been very beneficial. To help me achieve my business goals for 2010, I have decided to engage two mentors ~ each one has a very specific role that they will play. I learnt long ago that I don't need to do this all by myself, that having this support allows me to grow quicker than what I would by myself.

Whether you are just starting out or have been in business for a while, I hope you still feel the excitement of what your business can do for you. That you still feel excited about the people you are meeting and the outcomes you are achieving. Is there something that you need to do differently? Now is the time to reflect on how wonderful 2009 was and consolidate your plans for 2010.


As always I would love to hear your comments and thoughts around what success means to you. Please place your comments below.

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Setting clear and specific goals completes effective planning. SMART is an acronym for Specific, Measurable, Attractive, Realistic and Time phased.

S: SPECIFIC & STRETCHING
A goal needs to be specific. Unclear goals lead to vague attempts to
achieve them. Specific, stretching goals extend you and in most cases lead to higher achievement.

M: MEASURABLE
You need to be able to evaluate your progress. Determining how to measure your goals can be difficult but try to keep it as simple as possible.

A: ATTRACTIVE
If you don't want it, you're unlikely to put in a sustained effort. Your goals need your buy in, so be clear on your cause behind the goal.

R: REALISTIC
You must be capable of achieving the goal, is it manageable in the time frame and with the current resources you have at your disposal?

T: TIME-FRAMED
You need to have an appropriate time frame in mind. If you are not able to assign a clear deadline within your goal, you may need to make your goal more specific. You need to have benchmarks along the way to help keep you on track.

Some Useful Tips:
To ensure that your goals are "SMART", ask yourself the following questions and make sure that the measures and timeframes are precise in the way you have written your goals.

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When working with my clients, a common thread that runs through each persons business is that somewhere along the way their business has takeover who they are and what they thought having their own business would be like.

Even for myself this has happened and now I am taking the steps to realign what my business looks like to me. To reconnect with why I have my own business. I am going to build the dream business! Bold statement I know but stay with me and lets see how this goes.

In creating your dream business be clear on what success looks like to you. For me success = freedom. The freedom to do as I want, the freedom to spend more time with my family, the freedom to allow DH more time with us girls, the freedom to travel and work from anywhere in the world, the freedom to contribute to our family finances.

So SUCCESS = FREEDOM and this is what I am basing my Dream Business around.

Let the journey begin and don't forget to check in every now and then to follow the journey.

To your bold success
Deb

Ps., Ask yourself: What does success mean to you? Leave your comments. Let's build a great list.

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