Congratulations!  You have moved through Service Mastery where you got really good at what you do, then Business Mastery where you figured out how to think, act, and make decision like a business owner, and now you are ready to move on to the third phase of business growth —-Content Mastery – aka Expert Status. Take a deep breath, cuz this is where it gets fun!

In this stage you think like a marketer.  All the time.  If you were an artist, you would view the world through the lens of how you could get that image out in the world via the media you use.  If you were a writer, life is one big story that you want to tell.  And at the Content Mastery stage, your knowledge, skill, and expertise is the thing you are now looking at sharing in a much bigger way.

Before Content Mastery stage you may have had a brochure or passed around business cards here and there, and even maybe shot off a few newsletters when you felt inspired.  But no more! At this stage, content is king. Or queen…depending on your gender.

This is where you look for more and more ways to spread your knowledge.  The successful folks are blogging 3-5 times a week, touching their list 2-3 times a week, doing teleseminars, direct mail, publishing articles and ebooks, speaking, doing radio, and know that at this stage, their #1 goal is to be known as a trusted and credible expert. When all these things are in place, you can’t help but get new business because you have positioned yourself as the go-to person in your industry.

“Yes Therese, that sounds great, but how do you do all of that” I would imagine you are saying.  Here’s my formula to get you started:

1.  Own your expertise.   Start now.  Where ever you are in your business.  Look at the ways you help your clients and make sure you are asking them to tell you more about that!  Testimonials, client stories, and recommendations go along way to combat that little monkey in your mind that will tell you that you are not all that good.  Most of us are way harder on ourselves that we are with others, so take an objective look at what you bring.  Write it down and then monetize it if you will.  Example – what’s the value of what you bring to someones life.  The more you can capture this, the better you will feel about stepping up and saying, “Oh yea…I got it going on!”

2.  Narrow your focus.  Sorry but that whole “Jack of all trades, Master of none” just doesn’t fly in the world of marketing.  Home repair, sure…but you can’t play that card if you want to be seen as an expert.  And I do have to put this caveat in….even though you may do multiple things really, really well…you can’t communicate all that in one marketing message.  I was working with an acupuncturist that did all kinds of cool body and energy therapies, and also facial rejuvenation.  She’s obviously skilled at both, but imagine trying to appeal to the athlete who wants relief from his knee pain and in the same marketing message to the 55 year old gal who wants to look younger!  It’s not possible, so in her case I suggested two different websites to reach her different audiences.  The lesson here is that you can have a wide focus if you split it up in your marketing materials, but it will take you more time/energy.  The more narrow you can be, the more well known you get – faster.

3.  Discover what problems your market has.  Research, baby!!!  I discovered quite awhile ago that there is a difference between what our market NEEDS versus what they WANT.  We often try to sell them what we think they need, but if you do this, it will fall on deaf ears.  The trick?  Sell them what they want while educating them on what they need. Example – I was coaching a client on designing teleseminars for physicians who wanted to learn more how to market their practices.  My client was all about showing them how to do social medial (what they need) but that population has been marketing for years with brochures, ads (what they want), and more offline strategies.  So we had to do loads of educating them on what’s possible in the world of online networking (what they need.)  Got it?

4.  Write about how to solve those problems. It’s actually quite simple.  Write (or speak) with the perspective that you are giving your market solutions.  You can do this in your Facebook or Twitter posts, your blog entries, newsletters, and any talks you give.  Keep it simple!  I see people trying to throw the kitchen sink in.  In fact for the Teleseminar Sales Coaching that I do, usually the first thing I work with my clients on is cutting in half all the content they want to try to tackle in the time frame.  Here’s the rule of thumb- small chunks are better.  Cover 3-5 points versus 20-30.  And why don’t you go right now and make a list of ten problems that you could solve.  For each of those ten things, come up with ten ‘chunks’ that you could write about.

5.  Schedule it! I know I sometimes get stuck on what I should write about, so if I have the topics at hand, and time blocked out, it’s much more likely to happen.  My latest trick is to have a focus buddy.  My gal pal Natasha and I have been calling each other in the mornings this week committing to what we”ll get done.  It’s so easy to get side tracked that this one little element of support is allowing us both to keep in integrity with what we say we want to do, so try that one out.  (This blog getting out is part of my commitment to myself that having someone to speak that to then makes it real with a HARD deadline.)

There ya go!  Now it’s up to you to implement.  The end of the year is a great time to lay out your marketing calendar.  You could come up with monthly themes or topics, and have fun growing into the star that you are.

Blessings!

You know that feeling…

The one where you sit back and think, “Dang…I have worked, and worked, and worked, but nothing is happening.” You may see no new clients, have gained minimal revenue, and may be at risk for throwing in the towel and heading to the mall to sell shoes for Macy’s instead of chasing the entrepreneurial freedom that normally drives you.

Today I’m here to keep you off that shoe floor!  Don’t give up my friend, because the success you have been striving for could be just around the corner.

Recently, I was having a conversation with my friend Kebba Buckley Button about this very subject and how so many people have had a relatively crappy year, that they are ready to “give up five minutes before the miracle” occurs.  Kebba, being the wise healer/trainer that she is asked me if I knew how a tree grew.  She shared that once you put a tree in the earth, very often you won’t see it gaining in height for some time because it is strengthening it’s foundation – the root ball – and it can take years and years for this process to happen.  Then eventually, as if by magic, it will shoot up a few feet and keep growing and growing. 

I really saw that this is what happens in the business growth cycle.  So these are the things you need to strengthen in your business before your ‘roots’ are strong enough to shoot you out there.

Your vision -does this need to be added to?  Is the same plan you set in motion a year ago still serving you?  Take some time to get crystal clear about what you want, how you will feel, and who you need to be to carry this out in the world.  Write this down, share it, and reference it daily.  Vision boards are also great to keep nearby.

Your offerings – what else could you deliver to your market?  Are there any more leveraged ways to work and get information to the folks who will ultimately want to hire you?  What problems can you solve for your clients?  This can be a really fun survey question!  Just ask your market what else they struggle with and fill what you can.  You can use www.SurveyMonkey.com for this.

Your team – this is a wonderful one to take a look at, because even those of us who have been working with teams for awhile can still find ways where it could be even smoother.  Here’s my tip for you…Have you thought about bringing on a project manager?  I used to have three team members, but I was the one who still was coordinating/scheduling, etc. all the tasks.  When I realized what a drain and time waster all this was, I got a project manager who now manages that piece of it.  She saves me tons of time, and is WAY better at doing that stuff than I am! Look for areas where you can continue to pull yourself out of the operations even more.  (And if you need a recommendation, just shoot me an email.)

Your list – One of the main mantra’s I recite to my clients is, “You gotta love your list.”  But first you need to have a list, so where could you go to connect with more people who are interested in the work you do?  During this time, focus on adding new names to your database of folks who would be better targeted to what you offer.  When you get them on the list, reach out!  Call past clients, call new people you met, send postcards, or friend people on Facebook, LinkedIn or Twitter.  These people aren’t names in a database, they are RELATIONSHIPS waiting to happen.  Connecting is your #1 job.

Your systems – yes, systems.  Not sexy, but necessary.  If you need any help in this area, my friend Beth Schneider is the gal.  During the holidays if things slow down for you a bit, I’d encourage you to go through and see what you can automate/systematize.  Here are some examples – billing, new client contact, newsletter, follow up, speaking engagements, marketing, etc.  The list is endless, and the more you can create templates/checklists, the happier you will be.

Your marketing – are you connecting with your list weekly?  Please know that a quarterly newsletter is not going to get you anywhere!  It’s not overkill to be in the inbox weekly or even more of the folks who opted in, if you are providing great content and solving their problems.  BE BOLD!  I challenge you to move through your fear about upsetting someone and welcome those unsubscribes if they happen.  I just reframe that as clearing space on my list for people who resonate more with my message.  What I know is that the more consistently you market, the  more clients you will get. Bottom line.  End of story.  Just do it!  Remember that 80/20 rule…Eighty percent giving value and information, and twenty percent selling or promoting your stuff.  And another marketing lesson for you?  Don’t give it all away for free!  Think about training your list.  You want them to get used to pulling their wallets out and purchasing something.  This will happen if you have proven to them that you are a trusted expert who ‘has their back’ and will deliver good content.

There ya go.  Six things that you can work on when it feels like things are in the deep freeze.  The biggest thing during this time is to not give up, and not give into feelings of hopelessness, frustration, or self doubt.  Sometimes the best thing you can do is to surrender to what is. If what is is that things are slow for  you, reframe it as an opportunity to revamp and retool your existing business to one that will serve you even better.  It will turn around…just gotta keep the faith and do the right things for your business to water and nourish it on a regular basis.

I don’t wanna hear that anyone in my tribe is giving up and selling shoes these days!  Buying shoes, OH YEAH!

Blessings,

Therese

Tonight I interviewed Dr. Ira Bloomfield for his teleseminar about the top four marketing mistakes physicians and urgent care owners make.  He did an awesome job and one of the points he talked about what the chase for always trying to get new people in the door, at the expense of keeping happy your old customers/clients/patients.

Let’s look at this…

Most business owners spend the bulk of their marketing time and money on trying to find ways to get new folks in the door.  But do you know who your very best sales force is?  The loyal folks that are currently your clients.  These are the ones that you should be spending your money on so they know that you appreciate them.

Now for the biggie – do you regularly ask your clients to refer to you?  Do they even know you want to take on more business?  (This is where some business owners start squirming…this asking for the referral part.)

You can do it a few different ways.  The best is in person.  Say you are speaking with your client and they tell you how much they have gained from doing business with you.  In that moment, you ask, “Do you know of two other people who would like to get these results as well?”  Notice I said to ask for a specific number.  If you ask for “anyone you know” that is too broad.  Give them an easier time by asking for one or two names.

The next way is the more indirect way.  You can write up a short blurb in a newsletter, or send out a mailer with a few business cards.  Think about how people love to share when they find a great resource.  Why would you happy clients not want to tell others about  you?

According to Ira, you sort of owe it to the world to get your work out there, and most of your clients would love to share what great service you gave.  Your task?  To get up enough courage to create a referral system and begin to ask.

Another way to get some momentum in your biz?  Go back through your old customer list.  Again, no use in using the resources you have with trying to get new business if you have not made contact with folks who have used you before.  You can call, send an email, or maybe  a postcard.  The best thing to do is obviously to call and let them know you are thinking of them.  Maybe you share a new program or service, but mostly…just call to say ‘hey’ and see how they are doing.  You’ll be surprised at how many come back if you approach this with a genuine interest in their well being.

The final piece?  You’ll want to calendar this.  Make it a system, a scheduled task and a “must do” and you will begin to see some great results.

Blessings!

This has got to get the award for the WORST marketing ever.

Reading a bag of epsom salts (don’t ask!) I was surprised from a marketing perspective at what it said -

Epsom Salt – Magnesium Sulfate U.S.P – Natural Mineral

(And here’s where it gets interesting….)

A soaking aid for minor sprains and bruises

A saline laxative for the short term relief of constipation

A plant nutrient for vigorous lawns, flowers, plants, vegetables and trees.

Now I don’t know about you, but I doubt even brilliant marketers like my friend Michele PW or the famous Dan Kennedy could come up with copy for a product that helps with bruises, constipation, and gardening! All the marketing messages I teach about having to have a unified message just get thrown out the window with this thing.

As I re-read this bag of Epsom salts, I had the fantasy that a bunch of marketers were sitting around brainstorming, and finally they said, “What the heck, let’s just throw it all in.  We can’t figure out what to say, so we’ll just list the uses and let it go from there.”

With epsom salts, you pretty much know what you use it for.  And unlike coaching or whatever business you are in, there’s only one variety.  There’s not mint flavored, low fat, west coast, designer salts.  You get one thing.  Where you put it is your own business!  But it makes it easy because there’s only ONE way it’s delivered.

But in your business you don’t have the ability to have a crappy marketing message because you can’t figure out if you work with business owners, or mom’s, or teens, or people in transition.

That’s what this article is about.  Just because Walgreen’s can get away with having a generic product with bad packaging, as a small business owner, you can’t.  Your only choice is to narrow your focus, get crystal clear about who you serve, and what they get, and then go about creating compelling language around that.

So where do you start?

The things you need to be able to clearly articulate are what you do (as in your unique expertise) who you do it for (target market) and what problems you solve for them.  Most people start out as generalists, but the goal is to refine your market, offering and services even tighter as you get more and more sophisticated.  If you are stuck here, grab a mastermind partner or survey some old clients to get more information about how they benefited from working with you.

Why is this important?  Success is about being seen as the foremost expert in your industry.  Because unlike Epsom salts, there’s no one else like you!

Now go out an SHINE!!!!

Blessings!

While that was an amazing movie, and I usually love the concept of building first in your mind, as a marketer I have to warn you that it may bite you in the butt!

I was recently talking to one of my mastermind buddies, Natasha Allrich, about this very concept.  We were sharing the programs we were providing, and I told her about one I had done earlier in the year that truthfully, didn’t get the results I wanted.

Natasha asked one powerful question….

“Did you ask your market what THEY wanted, or did you just create a program based on what YOU wanted?”

OK, she busted me!  That is exactly where I went wrong.  I loved my concept, wrote killer copy, threw in loads of value….but never did the research to see if the offering and price point were what my fun lovin’ business owner types would want.

Have you ever made this mistake?  More than likely, yes.  We all do.

The secret is to go to your ideal clients and have them tell you what they would pay for.

I want to give you some tips on how to survey your audience.

1.  Online Survey – I use www.SurveyMonkey.com – Super easy and very low tech!  Make it short, but ask a few questions about price, content, and how to best deliver the program.  Example, would they like a day time workshop live or an evening virtual teleseminar?

2.  Pick up the darn phone – Calling your old (and ideal) clients about what they would want is a great strategy.  You have to stay away from folks who aren’t your market.  Example, your brother the plumber doesn’t get to tell you that you are charging too much….unless you are serving plumbers, that is!

3.  The power of social media – using Twitter or LinkedIn polls to get answers is another effective way.  You are getting access to way more people that you probably have in your neighborhood, so this is a no cost and easy way to gain some valuable information.

4.  Offer an incentive – you can add something to your newsletter or survey that if folks take a few minutes of their time, you will gift them with xyz.  It could be a free report, a $25 off coupon, entered into a drawing for a session with you, etc.

5.  Make sure you keep it short – no one is going to answer 47 questions.  But if you can come up with 3-5 questions that will get you the info you need, you are probably going to be able to get some good answers.

And finally…I’m gonna ask, because I’m not making the same mistake again!

Can I get your two cents?  I have a quick 3 question survey that I’d love you to answer to help me better design my 90 Day Marketing Makeover Program.  You can grab that here:

http://bit.ly/8gkwb

If you fill it out and email me telling me that you read this on the blog, I’ll enter your name into a drawing for a strategy session which is valued at $297 – cuz I REALLY appreciate you taking the time!

Now go out there and start asking your market what THEY want.

Blessings!

“How to Beef Up Your Marketing So That You Can Attract Clients You Love, Who Are Willing To Pay Great Money For The Work.“

by Therese Skelly

Here’s a little secret…unfortunately there is no correlation between how good you are, and how much money you make. You can be the best kept secret in town if you don’t have the right marketing message. And I don’t want that for you, my pretties!!! If you’ve been reading my stuff for any length of time, one of the messages I preach is how to own your expertise and get out there so you can serve those you are supposed to serve….while getting paid well! That is a beautiful thing.

Recently I was asked by the Arizona Holistic Chamber of Commerce to speak about “How to Sell Without Feeling Salesy.” It was a big hit because so many people in the holistic professions are very heart centered and marketing and sales is not usually something they have loads of training in. And one of the first points I made was that we have to remember that we are in the business of MARKETING whatever business we are in.

But what if you don’t have a clue about where to start? Or worse yet, you have the fear deep down inside that your marketing ‘sucks’ because it just isn’t working? How about if I shine some light on that for you?

As a bonus to the attendees of the AZ Holistic Chamber, I did a follow up live “Marketing Makeover” in which I spent about 35 minutes with Pam Fox, of www.LipStory.com. I’ll share with you the audio so you can listen and learn, but these are some of the main points I covered with her that you can use also.

Tip #1 – Be sure your website ‘calls out’ to your market. You have 3-5 seconds when people land on your page for them to decide if they are in the right place. At the top, in bold letters, do something that says – “Attention: (insert target here)”

You can use their identifiers like “coaches, consultants, and speakers,” but it’s really much more powerful to use language that is connected to their pain. Even better would be – “Attention frustrated coaches, consultants and speakers who have so much to share, but are sick of not having the marketing in place to get your work in the world so that you can serve the people you want and earn the money you deserve!”

See how that speaks more to both their pain and desire? Play with that for your market and notice if you get more web traffic.

Tip #2 – Your web copy should be about the visitor and NOT about you! A huge mistake I see is when some well meaning web designer (or even inexperienced copywriter) says, “Let’s put your vision, mission and purpose on the home page.” Yikes!!! This is where I go a bit nutto with my clients and tell them to immediately get that off. The cold hard truth is that if a visitor lands on your page and it’s all about you, they’ll click away faster than you can say, “What the heck just happened?”

After you have called them out (tip #1) then you need to tell them that you understand their pain.

Fresh out of Life Coaching School, I realized that while I was pretty good at coaching, I had absolutely no idea how to market and get clients in the door. I found a coach who had probably one of the worst websites I’ve ever seen. It was busy, didn’t navigate well, had no flow, and was amazingly effective…because of one thing.

He had a drop down box which said – “Are you a coach who feels like this:”

• “I love what I do but hate to market”

• I have so many good ideas but don’t know where to start

• I get overwhelmed with creativity and don’t know how to make money

There were about eight more of these, and by the time I finished reading his really annoying site, I was convinced that this man understood my challenges and hired him on the spot! This essence is what you have to put in the first paragraph of your site so your visitors are instantly connecting to you and deciding that you have credibility.

Tip #3 – Make your site also about data collection. I’m just gonna step out and be bold here – if you aren’t capturing names/emails of the folks who visit you, why bother having a site in the first place? People search and find your site, but may not be in a place to buy right then. But if you have a wonderful item of value like a special report that you give in exchange for their email, you can then market to them and begin to create that relationship so that when they are ready, you’ll be top of mind.

Your website is a tool for marketing, and not just a pretty brochure! (And if you are stuck on this one, you may want to get a strategy session with me because we can come up with what you could offer and how it is done.)

Tip #4 – Be in regular contact with your database. Here too is a place where you may have to buck up and get out of your comfort zone. Many people send a monthly newsletter and feel like they are being a pest, so you’ll be stretched when I suggest that WEEKLY contact is the best. Is that little voice kicking off in your head now telling you how you’ll be annoying them, and oh no…what if they get mad or unsubscribe? I say, let ‘em leave you!

It’s like this…you want to be the first person your target list thinks of. Imagine that you used a plumber six months ago and you thought he was just the greatest thing since sliced bread. But you stuck his card in a junk drawer somewhere, so when your pipes backed up again, you grab the phone book or Google and find the closest plumber. But what if every month that plumber you liked sent you tips on how to keep your plumbing working well? What if you had just gotten a post card in the mail reminding you that you were in need of an annual inspection, or even if the plumber had his office assistant call and thank you for your business in the past? (Those were some offline marketing tips, Gang!) Who would you call? Exactly – the person that was top of mind, and in this case, the plumber who was rocking his marketing.

Tip #5 – Be BOLD!!! OK, gotta admit, this is one of my faves. In fact, I have created a whole new program around the acronym of B.O.L.D. which I’ll be rolling out soon. What do I mean by this? It’s about staying true to your gifts, your quirks, your brilliance, and your way of doing things. In my B.O.L.D. program I speak about Owning your vision, Owning your Expertise, and Owning your style. Too often we try to be like our mentors or try to spin a professional image that takes away the personality and “relate-ability” we have. Being bold means making strong claims, having the courage to back them up, and doing in a way that is unique to you, and one that your ideal market will resonate with.

Tip #6- Leverage your marketing. You’ll hear as I coach Pam in the audio below, that I turn her marketing activities around by going from working 1:1 to finding the gatekeepers for her market. Here’s how it works. Let’s say you market promotional products and you are trying to sell to realtors. The one-to-one model is that you go to a networking meeting, find a realtor, have a good connection, then have a coffee date later to talk about what they do and how your services could support them. The leveraged model looks like this – you partner with the associations that realtors belong to. You get to either sponsor an event, positioning you as the expert, or you could speak at the event, or do something else to be in front of their members. Do you see the time differences? Look for the gatekeepers. That means you’ll know who your market is, and where your service can solve their problem. (That’s a huge factor in opening up relationships.) Listen in on how I did it with Pam, and you can get some ideas for your business.

Now it’s your turn! Listen to the audio and send me the top three things you are going to differently to get your expertise in the world in a big way. Click here to listen now.

Loving My ‘Hate’ Mail

There it was.  Right on my Facebook wall.  Not in a private message to me.  No…on the wall.  The snarkiest comment I’ve ever gotten, just sitting there for the entire FB world to see.

Earlier in the day I had written a status feed asking for some support in picking a title for a new opt in piece, and had ten wonderful folks giving their ideas.  They were kind and friendly and encouraging…all the things I know to be true about my Facebook community.

Then his message came in.  It went like this:

“I wonder, have you ever noticed how incredibly self-absorbed you are?  Everything seems to be about you, even when it appears to be about “helping” others.”

YIKES!!!!!!

In that moment, I had three thoughts running all together.

The first – “Ouch!”

The second – “What a jerk!”  (Ok, I am human and was offended)

The third – “Woo Hoo!…This means my marketing is working”

Thoughts one and two are pretty self explanatory, but this article really is about the third concept – the one that you may not have heard much about, so let me break through some of the myths of marketing here.  We all know that we want our marketing to attract our target clients, right?  But here’s the flip side…

Good marketing serves to REPEL the wrong client.

Most of us spend so much time trying to be all things to all people, hoping not to ruffle feathers, and ‘win’ clients over, that in reality, it serves only to make us invisible.

So when “G” decided to blast me, I took great comfort in that fact because he’s SO CLEARLY not my market that the fact that I pissed him off, means that who I am being is working.  See, I have made the commitment to play very full out.  That means being a bit edgy, singing karaoke, and showing who I am.  It’s all about authenticity.  And I know the “risk” of that.  When you are operating to be safe and not ruffle feathers, you fly under the radar, so would likely never get this kind of blasting.

But…you also never connect deeply with the folks that resonate with your message and appreciate your work.  The ones who need what you have to offer.

In fact, here’s a cool “God-thing.”

One minute after “G” sent this to me; I got this post on my wall:

“Hi Therese,

Just wanted to wish you a wonderful weekend! You are such an inspiration to truly live our dreams – I appreciate all your reminders – you consistently keep us motivated – and in the ‘mindset’. So glad to know you and work with you!”

This person is clearly MY TARGET MARKET so appreciates how I express myself in the world.  That’s what I want for you.  To have your ‘tribe’ clearly find you, connect with you,  and value the work you do.  Oh, then hire you as well!

Now I’m going to challenge you.

Do you have the courage to stop being bland?  Are you willing to take a position?  Trying to ‘play nice’ and get along are the rules we learned in kindergarten.  No great movement can come about when there are not courageous leaders willing to take the hits and speak up from the place of passion inside them.

Here’s my request.

Look at your website, brochures, 30 second commercial, and any other marketing material.  If someone got a hold of it, is it very clear who you serve, who you DON’T, and what you stand for?  What has to shift in you to get out from under the cloud of obscurity?  Trust me….the more you step up and play big, the more we all win.

In fact, I’m so inspired by “G’s” snarky comment that I’d love to help you in any way I can to be able to step up and stand out…and repel the folks you need to repel!  Feel free to send me your website and I’ll be happy to give it a quick scan and give you’re a mini-consult (no fee!) to tell you how you can tighten up your message.

Now go shine your light!

Hey, while this article is written mainly for coaches, consultants, and service providers, there are some great ideas that all business owners can use!

Like many of us who began our careers at an agency or in the corporate world, there is a moment when the idea of being self employed pushes itself to the forefront of our awareness.  The Entrepreneurial Bug has hit!  Visions of more freedom, more fun, and more “flow” are the catalyst for us to make the leap from the world of being an employee, to the new venture known as self employed business owner.

But where do you begin?  And how can you grow your income?  Having helped many coaches over the years accelerate their success, I have found the following three things to be critical when you are thinking of going it on your own.

Marketing -

Who is your target market?  Eager coaches fresh out of school or new to the business often think they can help anyone.  There’s a joke in the coaching field that says, “My clients are anyone who can fog a mirror.”  OK, hopefully you aren’t that vague, but the trick to marketing is to get as specific as you possibly can about who you serve.  The reasons are that, a) you will be more easily able to identify and market to the this group, and b) people can clearly understand what you do and whom you serve, so they can refer business to you, and c) it will position you as an expert.  This is the key.  Being a specialist rather than a generalist is where you want to end up.  Think about physicians.  You’ll go to your family doc if you need antibiotics, but if you need brain surgery, who are you going to call?  That’s right….the well paid specialist!

Usually when people hear that they have to narrow their target, there is a negative, knee-jerk reaction.  It seems counter-intuitive that in order to grow my business, I have to limit what clients I see!  NO!  You can coach or serve different kinds of people, but if you try to water down your marketing message to appeal to three diverse groups, the marketing materials will not be very effective.  The secret is to pick one group and market to that population.

Here’s an example of how to walk through the narrowing process.  If I ask you what your target market is, you may say…..

“I work with people who are in transition.”

Better would be:  “I work with women who are in transition”

 Now you’ve cut your market in half, so it’s more identifiable but still too vague.

 ”I work with women executives who are looking to re-career.”

 Now we can identify what kind of women, and what their goal or problem is.  Let’s see if we can refine it even further.

 ”I work with frustrated female executives in the IT field who want to have the freedom to create their own businesses, and they need some help starting them.”

 Now we have even a better description of the target client, what they want, and what their problem is.

 An effective marketing message will have someone thinking to themselves, “I know someone I can refer,” or “Hey, she’s talking about me…..I need to call her.”

 Money -

How can you charge a reasonably high fee when you are just starting out?  So many coaches struggle with this emotionally charged issue.  Here is what I suggest as a way to ‘grow’ into your fee structure.

Get as much experience as you can.  I know I said in the above section that you should specialize, and getting more experience is the most important thing you can to towards having a good sense of who you are as a coach.  Specialization comes usually from starting out as a generalist.

Thomas Leonard, who many consider the father of coaching, used to say, “Just get out and coach 100 people.  It will all start to make sense then.” After this much experience,  you’ll begin to see the natural gifts you have, discern who you are most comfortable working with, and by then end, you will have concrete results you can speak about.  That’s the key!  People don’t buy coaching because it “takes them from where they are to where they want to be” or for any of the other cliché ways we speak about it.  People will hire you to help them solve their problems.

The question is how much is that worth to your clients?  Currently coaching fees range from $150/month to the coaches who are charging $24,000/year and even higher.  The market has a huge spread, so you get to decide what you want to earn.  You will need to look at 3 factors to determine this.

Who is your target market and what can they pay?

Again, I can’t stress enough the importance of defining clearly your target market, but beyond that, you have to ask yourself if your market can pay you the fees you will need which will allow you to earn the income you have envisioned for yourself.  Maybe you love to work with college students.  You might love their ‘out of the box’ way of thinking and be quite drawn to their youthful nature.  But…can some of these folks pay $400/mo for your coaching?  Maybe not?  I’m not saying that you have to work with people you aren’t comfortable with just for the income, but you have to factor in generally how much the market can afford.

How many clients will you need to generate your income?

Let’s say it’s your goal to earn $60,000 this year.  In order to do this, you will need to bring in $5,000/month.  If you have a $500/month coaching program, you can get that with only 10 clients.  But if your fee is $250/month, the number doubles, and you will be looking at 20 clients a month to reach your goals.

Another important way to market and create income is by having a ‘funnel’ approach to your services/prices.  The theory is that coaching and consulting is a relationship where people need a high degree of trust to enter into.  For example, if I am picking up a book at the bookstore for $19, I don’t need the same level of trust or connection with you as if I am going to spend $5,000 on your services!

The funnel allows people to enter and sample your services at a much lower price point.

The way to structure it would be to create multiple offerings like this:

• Newsletter – free
• Special report – $9
• E-book – $39
• 6 week teleclass – $99
• 3 month group coaching – $249
• Monthly private coaching – $500
• Two day live event – $997

This allows people to get a sense of you and your ideas, products, and work style before they plop down huge money to do so. In the case of your struggling college students, maybe the monthly coaching would be out of their reach, but the teleclass series could be perfect for them!

      Mindset -

Do I even deserve to earn (DRAW IN) this much money?  This is the biggest factor I see in breaking through financial barriers and hitting new levels of success for  yourself.   How is it that “The Donald” loses all of his money, and then comes back earning more than before?  Have you noticed that there seems to be an internal set point which determines how much income people will allow themselves to earn?  Mostly, people will bump into their ‘stuff.”  I’ll speak more about that in the next section, as it has everything to do with mindset.  But for now, think about this story:

“A woman was walking the streets of Paris when she spied the great artist Picasso sitting in a corner café.  Mustering up all her courage, the woman approached the master, saying, “Pardon me sir, but could you be so kind as to do a sketch of me?”   Feeling in a good mood, Picasso took his pencil out, and in two strokes created a ‘portrait’ of the woman and handed it to her.  Delighted, she asked, “Sir, what would this cost me to buy from you?”  To which he replied, “That will be Fifty Thousand Francs.”  Aghast, the woman stopped, stepped back and said, “But that only took you a minute!”  Picasso looked at her and slowly said, “No, Madam….that took me my whole life.”

Truthfully, hearing that story allowed me to begin to charge more what I am worth.  The point is that all your life experiences, all your wisdom, education, and innate gifts are a commodity!  When you get how much you have to offer, you can easily begin to see the value of the services you provide.  And, when you can state clearly in results oriented language how a client will be benefited from working with you, the money will flow.

But where most people get stuck is in moving beyond their comfort zone about money and their own issues with desirability.  Years ago I worked for a coaching company where we charged $525 a month for coaching.  Being a relatively new coach, it was really a stretch for me to be able to justify my ‘worth’ to a prospective client.  I had been quite successful in my previous career, and didn’t feel as masterful in the field of coaching yet, so I never sold many coaching packages, because there was a part of me that didn’t believe in my value and could not stand behind the price point.  About a year into working with this company, the CEO began talking about the idea of devising a $1,000 month coaching package.  Whew!  If I couldn’t resonate with the $500 plan, can you imagine the fear I experienced at having to justify the $1,000 price to prospective clients?  I knew there was no way I could sell that because even though everyone around me was telling me I was worth that rate, I didn’t believe it.

My solution?  I hired a coach who charged $1,000 a month and worked with him until I ‘got it’ related to my degree of competence. That was being in integrity for me.  I figured if I was willing to spend that much money on my professional development and growing my business, that there were other people out there willing to do the same.  While it was a costly lesson, it did the trick.

I also had to answer for myself when I would be worth charging and earning more income.  So many people have an undefined sense of “I’m not enough” that there’s always more to learn, more to get, and more to figure out.  Instead of looking at all we have, we focus on what we aren’t.  For me it entailed asking myself the question, “How will I know when I’m successful and can charge what I’m worth?”  After getting the answer to that, I could take action and have been now able to set my rates at a fair market value.

 So if you were to answer the question, “What will it take for you to deserve to earn ___ income a year,” what would the answer be?  Maybe you need to hear from clients how you have made a difference in their lives.  What’s it worth when you save a person six months of job hunting?  How can you quantify assisting someone in helping them grow a business with much more money than they had anticipated?  When you begin to factor in these tangibles and some intangibles, you can see what a powerful asset you have been in your client’s lives.

This is where polling your clients comes in.  You may have a sense of what they have gotten from you services, but really dig deep.  Ask how their lives have changed, what they were able to do differently, and if possible, monetize the answers.  When you get this information, you can move through any critical voices or ‘old tapes’ in your head about what you are worth.  I knew I was on the right track when a client of mine who we took from not even having a business idea, to two years later creating a business that brought in $200,000 said to me, “By working with you, I am five years ahead of any other business that started at the same time.” I now can boldly tell people that working with me will help accelerate their success!  But I never would have known that fact had I not taken the time to ask!

And finally…play up!  Meaning, surround yourself with people whose income is where you want to be. Do you desire to earn six figures?  Then begin to find those people in your network and learn from them.  You have probably heard the expression that your income will be the average of the five people you hang around with most often.  You don’t have to ‘fire’ friends and colleagues if they aren’t where you want to be financially, but begin to add some new success models for you to follow.  You and your clients will be richly rewarded by it.

Here’s to your success!

Marketing Mistakes #2 -Thinking You Have to Spend Tons of Money

If you have been following me awhile, you know I’m going to start with the thing between your ears!  Yep, your mindset.  If you feel confident in your products or service, then you have half the battle won.  So many times people don’t feel like they have enough, are enough, know enough, so the “I need better marketing materials” thought is usually a smoke screen to cover up these faulty beliefs.  Years ago, when I suffered from this very challenge, a wise coach told me, YOU ARE FULLY COOKED!  He meant that I had enough, right where I was, to start my business.  So my little pretties….if you have any trace of this going on, you gotta ‘flip the script’ as they say and just commit to taking the actions necessary to get out there.

But, what if it wasn’t as hard as you thought to get your name in front of the right prospects?  Read below to discover some marketing mistakes that you can correct instantly for better results.  Check yourself to see if you are making these mistakes -

I can’t move forward unless I have the perfect website -I can’t tell you how many times people have said that they can’t really get any clients until they have a killer website.  I knew of someone who spent $5,000 on a site, cards, brochures, and all the bells and whistles and had never got a client!  She loved the creative design process, but was stuck in fear about really getting out there to promote the work she did. The moula that she put into that puppy would have been much better spent had she pounded the pavement or used that three grand to invest in some marketing coaching!

If you do get a site, don’t do all the fancy stuff with moving parts   If you need a site, you can do it a couple of different way.  You can go to www.GoDaddy.com and get your domain name there, as well as their WebSite Tonight.  You can do your own 5 page site (using their templates) for about very cheap.

And maybe you don’t even need a site at all.  If you want something that is up in cyberland with your info, a website is good.  Want something you can change content regularly with ease?

TRY BLOGGING!  It looks just like a website, and you can add content to it daily.  You can do it yourself for free just by going to www.wordpress.com.  It’s super easy, but I do suggest that you get a blogging expert to help you customize it or add in the applications.  I use Dave Barnhart of www.BusinessBloggingPros.com.

But I need a high quality, fancy brochure -You are a small business owner!  Sure, in corporate America the big marketing campaign is a must, but if you are waiting to launch your product/service because you don’t have tons of $$ to spend, you are in for treat, dear reader!  Here are some ideas to get you started….

Get it out of your head that if you don’t have the 30 page brochure like BMW does, or the website that does everything except your laundry.

Need cards, flyers or brochures – Just google online printing and you’ll find a ton of resources.

Need graphic design?  Go to www.crowdspring.com.  It’s a very cool space where you name your price, post your project, and designers will bid on it.  You keep it if you like it, and get a chance to see everyone’s work.

Following up will cost me way too much . Many times business owners make the mistake of always trying to get new prospects in their funnel, but completely ignore the ones they have!  This is probably the biggest mistake and the easiest to correct.  In addition to the email/auto-responder campaign that you should have, there are a couple of other ways to stay ‘top of mind.’

Send out Cards.  This is the easiest way to market yourself by doing killer follow up.  For less than a buck you can go online, pick a card, type in the address you want it to go to, create whatever you want it to say, and hit the send button.  The part I love it that you can send one card, or create a campaign to send tons of cards…all in a few minutes.  The cards are real cards, not just the e-cards.  You can use my link to check it out at www.sendoutcards.com/5407.

Voice Broadcast – I love this one!  Having just lived through the elections in November, you probably notice that you were getting tons of calls from your candidates.  Heck, Bill Clinton even called me!  Oh, he called you too?  Does that mean I’m not special to our ex-prez?  What it means is that Bill and all the others got a list of phone numbers, had it loaded in, and recorded a message to be broadcast.  It’s so easy.  I use www.voiceshot.com and it cost twelve cents a call.  I have used it to announce upcoming events, or to thank folks for coming.  If you have something you are marketing, do consider doing a voice broadcast because it’s different from email, and people will remember it.

So what did we learn today, class?  That Bill Clinton didn’t make 2 million personal calls?  Yes, that and the fact that it’s much easier than you think to get out there and market your business!  Pick one or two of the suggestions and let me know how you are doing with them!

Stay in action, and focus on the good!