One of the most frequently asked questions I get is: “How do you get clients fast”.
So today I want to share the “warm letter” strategy with you to help you get new clients in the next 30 days, or less.
The best thing about this strategy is you can do it when you just start out and need that very first client. It doesn’t cost a lot of money, you do not need to be a marketing guru, and you don’t need a fancy pansy website to have this work for you.
This strategy is about making a list of everybody you personally know. Then write and send a warm letter to this list.
What is a Warm Letter
A warm letter is a letter that you send to all the people you know to tell them what your business is all about. It’s like sending a letter to a friend and informing him about your new business: what you do, the typical clients you work with and how you help those clients. So it is written in a conversational style, and has nothing “salesy” about it.
When you write to someone you do not have daily contact with, you can just quickly remind them how you know them and then continue to inform them about your business, what you do, how you help your clients and how your clients benefit from your services.
Then end the letter with a specific purpose you have in mind: e.g. asking if they know someone that can benefit from what you offer (i.e. getting a referral) or asking the person to get in touch with you for a short discussion or discovery session to learn more about what you offer.
Who do you write this warm letter to
1) Everybody you know
This includes family, friends, previous colleagues, members of your church, fellow members of clubs and associations, even your hair stylist, personal trainer, etc. It should be quite a number of people, because on average most of us know more that 100-200 people personally.
The thing is, your family and friends and also the people you come in contact with on a daily basis have no idea what your business is about, but they can be a great potential source for referrals.
So the purpose of writing a warm letter to your family, friends and connections is to ask them if they know someone that can benefit from what you offer. Some people will be delighted to hear more about what you do and will have a referral or two ready to send your way.
With a simple strategy like this, you can have many new referrals to follow up with and convert into paying clients. You might even pick up a client from someone who received this warm letter from you.
2) People you want to work with
Perhaps you’ve identified people who you would love to work with and you know your services can be of great benefit to them. So, send them a “warm letter” and tell them about it! You’ll be surprised at the feedback you received.
The same sentiment applies here in that the letter is conversational and non-salesy. It merely informs them of what you do and that you really think you can help them. Even if you are hesitant and afraid to send out warm letters to people you want to work with, just think about it like this: What do you have to lose? Absolutely nothing! But you have a lot to gain! So send out those letters.
Here are a couple of real life responses you might receive.
1) “Thanks for the letter, but I’m not really interested.” Well, a response like that is okay. Not everybody will work with you anyway.
2) “Thanks for the letter, but right now I can’t work with you – perhaps at a later stage.” This is a great response, because this is now a hot prospect that you can follow up with later on.
3) “Thanks for the letter. I’d love to have a discussion with you to take this further!” This is a fantastic response, because now you can turn this person into a paying client during your follow-up discussion.
4) And from some people you’ll receive no response at all – which is also okay (you still didn’t lose anything)
Benefits of a warm letter
Using a warm letter is an easy, simple and cost-effective marketing strategy that works. Some of the reasons are:
You can do it when you just start out to spread the word about your business.
You can do it even when you are years in business.
You can do it for every new offer / service / product in your business, to update your network about changes in your business.
Through your letter you educate your “world” about what you do and this can have long term benefits.
You get referrals – sometimes from the most unexpected places.
You get many new leads that you can follow up with to convert into paying clients.
It gives instant results, but also has long term benefits and can send clients your way for years to come because people in your life now know what you do.
So, what I want you to take away from this article is that getting clients doesn’t need to be difficult or expensive… and sometimes your best clients might be right under your nose. So go andmake a list of everybody you know. Draft your warm letter. Put a personal touch to it. And send it out. That’s it!
To Your Continued Success
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How often do you put yourself in a situation where you are stimulated mentally, challenged and encouraged to step it up in your business physically, and inspired emotionally to do things beyond your wildest dreams?
If I can be honest, it didn’t happen too often in my entrepreneurial life – until I found an opportunity that quickly lifted me up and moved me into higher gear.
I think I can speak for a number of solo entrepreneurs when I say that: when you start your business, you expect it would take a lot of hard work to get it up and running successfully. But what you don’t expect is that in the process you become lonely and even start to feel distant from your family, your friends and even your social life. The reason for this is that even though everyone you know might be supportive, it is difficult to talk to them about your business, simply because they do not fully understand exactly what you do. You then start to crave conversations with people who are on the same path as you – someone who understands your situation, the decisions that you have to make and the pressure you are under – just someone with whom you are able to talk about your business issues.
For me that “someone” came in the form of joining other like-minded entrepreneurs in a mastermind group. Apart from getting the mental stimulation and an influx of fresh, new ideas when talking to others about your business, you are also motivated and inspired to take action on those ideas. That creates growth in your business and takes you from where you are now, to where you want to be.
Here are three ways a mastermind group helped me to grow so much faster.
Harness the Power of “Access”
Over the course of my business, I realized that having access to the things you need to grow, is what changes your life and current business position. This includes having access to the right tools, roadmaps and shortcuts so you do not have to re-invent the wheel and spend endless time, effort and energy figuring things out on your own. Also, having access to a group of like-minded individuals for on-going support, encouragement and sharing best practices, is just priceless.
When I joined my first group, I thought I had quite an extended knowledge on running an online business in general. But it just blew my mind to hear about the innovative ideas from the other members as well. I was able to learn so much from the successes and mistakes of others. I received excellent advice on my own business challenges, and vice versa I felt that I was able to contribute to the group with my own experiences. Overall it was a huge confidence booster.
Masterminding gave me access to the combined thinking-power of a number of other individuals to receive the tools, shortcuts and support I need to progress faster in my business.
Start Thinking Bigger
To really achieve more in your business, you sometimes just have to get out of your own head, and your own way.
We limit ourselves with pitiful excuses why we cannot do something: “I’m not good enough. I’m not in business long enough. I don’t know enough. I can’t speak English well enough”. As well as fears of: “What will people think and say when I start doing xyz! I’ll deplete my finances when I do abc.” Etc. etc…
What I however found is that when you surround yourself with people in a mastermind group who are on the same journey as you, you suddenly realize that all those fears and excuses are just keeping you small, and that in fact: Anything is possible. So you allow yourself to start thinking bigger.
You experience first-hand how other people have already done what you wanted to do – and they are not smarter, more knowledgeable or better than you. They just bit the bullet and did it! This is so motivating, because then you know you can do it too! That realization is not only empowering, but it also provides the inspiration to step up and take big leaps to grow your business faster.
Be Accountable To Someone.
Accountability is something that we all could use more of in our businesses and our lives, right? As a solo-preneur it is easy to procrastinate and let things slide a little while longer, because there is no one who keeps you accountable to implement. Sure, you could set goals and then try to keep yourselves on track. But the moment you know that someone else also knows about your plans and will keep you on top of it, you experience a whole new level of motivation and desire to accomplish things.
This new level of accountability is a natural progression of being part of a mastermind group. Subconsciously, nobody want to be the person who don’t make progress or who has to inform the group that you didn’t take action on what you’ve said you wanted to do. So as a result, you take more action, get the solutions and implement things faster. And in the end, you are astonished about what you’ve actually achieved over a short period of time.
So, whether you are starting out or own a well-established business, surrounding yourself with a group of advancing entrepreneurs offers an incredible opportunity to grow your business faster. In my own business it proved to be absolutely priceless. Both for my personal and professional growth.
It can do the same for you..
To your Success
P.S. If you have experienced the power of masterminding in your business already, please share with us in the comments below what you got out of it.
And by the way, if you feel masterminding is right for you at this stage and you want a mental, physical and emotional injection in your business, have a look at the brand new Client Chemistry Mastermind Program starting on September 17th, 2013.It is a carefully designed mastermind / coaching program to help you go from where you are now, to where you want to be. Click here for more details.
A good friend told me long time ago: “If you want to get married, you have to put yourself in situations to meet more men”. Not very romantic, but she was right.
Similarly, when you want to get more paying clients, you have to put yourself in situations to meet more clients.
Then, to get to a point where you can finally “marry a client” 🙂 or rather get them to work with you, often require a dating period as well. For some this period might be relatively short, and for others it might take years.
So, here are 6 universal steps to go from complete stranger to ‘tying the knot” with a client.
Step 1: Be Self-Confident.
When you believe in in yourself and are confident about what you offer, it makes a huge difference in how others perceive you as well. Your level of self-confidence can show in many ways: your behavior, your body language, how you speak, what you say, etc. So, think about it: When you look in the mirror, who do you see? Someone who is confident that she will be able to rock her clients’ world and help them solve their problems; therefor eager to go out, walk the extra mile to meet more clients? Or someone who is uncertain about her abilities and services; therefor rather stay in her comfort zone, fearing failure, avoid taking risks and wait for clients to come to her?
Step 2: Know what you want
I remember when I was still in high school, I had this picture of my perfect husband in my mind. He must be tall, dark and handsome, in a professional career, have a great personality and a smile that makes my knees go all watery. Well, I think I pretty much got what I wanted – my husband has all those qualities and many more! But just like dreaming about your perfect husband, you need to know what you are looking for in your ideal clients as well. Who are they? Where do they spend their time? What do they want? How can you help them? If you know who they are and where to look for them, it will make it easier to put yourself in situations and places where you can meet more of those clients.
Step 3. Break the ice
To get a client’s attention, you have to break the ice, right? Making that very first connection can be a make or break situation, and this is where the art of conversation (your marketing message) becomes so important. It doesn’t really help to try and pick them up with a sleazy pick-up line, but when you are genuinely interested in the person you are talking to, the other party can feel your sincerity and will be more interested in spending time with you. It’s like creating that first spark of client chemistry. One thing that really works well, is asking questions and then listening to what they say, because asking questions give you something to talk about, make the other person feel special because you are interested in them AND give you the opportunity to find out more about your prospects and what they really want. This helps you to also fine-tune your written marketing pieces so it talks more about the client and shows them the value you can provide to them.
Step 4. Invite them to spend more time with you
It really doesn’t help if you make that initial connection, and then not ask them to spend more time with you. This is the only way you will get to know each other better to see if you are a perfect fit. So ask your prospects out on another “date”. This is like giving them a “Call to Action”! Ask them to call you to continue the conversation (or even better, ask for their contact details and call them!). Ask them to sign up for your freebie and newsletter. Ask them to click on a link on our website. Just ask them to do what you want them to do. You’ll be surprised how many of them will do exactly what you ask and are happy to spend more time getting to know you.
Step 5. Make them feel special
Just like a guy makes you feel special when buying you flowers or taking you on a romantic picnic, or only dancing with you at a party, you can make your clients feel special as well. This doesn’t have to be something super big. It can be something small to show them that you care. Something as simple as staying in touch and regularly sending them a valuable piece of information they can use, or informing them of things that can help them, will make them feel special because they know you are thinking about them.
Step 6. Tie the knot – Sign the Contract
Okay, so over time you’ve spend time together and you both feel that you are a great fit – so now it is time to take this relationship to a new level, right. But what often happens is that you never pop the question and don’t ask your prospect to work with you… and they feel it is not their place to do the asking. So the two of you just carry on with having a great dating relationship that is not moving into “tying the knot”. Well, if you want someone to work with you, you have to ask them to do so. Luckily at this stage you have a whole history of dating and getting to know each other that asking the BIG question can be the most natural thing in the world to do and most of the time the answer will be a resounding “YES”.
So, in conclusion: Getting clients is like “dating”. It is not a one-stand stand, but has the intention of forming longer lasting, trusting relationships with your prospects; building on that initial “client chemistry” and setting the stage for tying the knot in the end.
To accelerate your business success, it is important to surround yourself with the right people: People who are all moving into the same direction and who and are either on the same path as you, or more successful than you.
Last week, In a previous post I talked about the power of associationand concluded that surrounding yourself with other successful people is a sure way to reach your goals and dreams much faster, because they inspire and motivate you to take action on your own plans.
So, today I want to give you a list of what I consider as the top 4 ways to quickly and effectively surround yourself with people that can help you progress much faster in business.
Here they are
1. Work with a Coach or Mentor
As a solo-preneur, the absolute quickest way to progress in business is to get out of your own way. The problem is, we often stand in our own way because we are too stubborn or have too many excuses for not getting the help we need – I know, because I was one of those stubborn people, but I quickly realized how foolish it is. As one person you only have limited knowledge and experience and it often becomes a situation where you don’t know that you don’t know. This is where a coach and mentor can be a great help. They can give you an outside perspective on your business and help you clarify how to implement existing strategies in your business or they can open up a lot of new strategies that you might never even have thought about before.
2. Join a Mastermind Group
Joining a mastermind group with individuals that are on the same path as you, can prove to be invaluable for growing your business. You receive valuable input from so many different people on challenges you experience in your business. And by listening to what the other members in the group do in their businesses, often sparks many new ideas on how to grow your own business faster. It furthermore lead to quicker results, because you leave each mastermind session with more wisdom, a better perspective on your own business and a truckload of motivation to take bigger risks and start implementing new things that enhances change and progress in your business.
3. Mingle With Advancing Entrepreneurs at Industry Specific Live- and Virtual Events
Whether an event is live (in-person) or whether it is a virtual event (via the internet), attending events where you surround yourself with a group of like-minded individuals can be one of the most inspiring and transformational ways to boost your business results. It gives you the opportunity to mingle with a variety of advancing entrepreneurs just like you. Simple discussions with people at events, not even mentioning the valuable learnings from the event host, can inspire, revitalize and motivate you to reach bigger heights in your business.
4. Read Great Books
Sometimes it might happen that you are in situation where, due to your location, it is difficult to reach out to the right people in person. I know, because it often feels that Qatar (the country I live in) is worlds apart from the people I admire and would like to hang out with. But what I found is that the next best thing to surrounding yourself with the right people is to surround yourself with their trainings and books. Many influential entrepreneurs have excellent training programs and have written great books that contain a brain dump of their knowledge. And as Rene Descartes once said “The reading off all good books is like conversation with the finest men of the past centuries”.
So this is my list of how you can grow your business faster when you surround yourself with the right people.
In the end, I am a true believer in the fact that people can achieve more together. Think about it for a minute, every single successful person always had some form of help along the way… and when you hear their story, it was mostly due to the people they associated themselves with.
Your take-away assignment: Evaluate your current business and make a decision today what your next step will be to put the power of association to work in your life. You can choose from the list I’ve provided above or use any other way that works best for you. But just do not procrastinate on this. Your business success is too important for you to leave this to chance.
To Your Success!
PS: Tell us in the comments section who are the people you surround yourself with. Who can we add to this list?
PPS: Also, if you enjoyed this post, I’ll feel honored if you share it using the buttons below. Thanks!
Did you know there is power in association and that the people who you regularly hang out with have a huge influence on your attitude, your determination, your beliefs, your inspiration and the outcome of your success? They impact on how you think about things, how you act on things and on the decisions you make on a daily basis.
It’s true, and that’s why hanging out with the right people is important!
Jim Rohn said it best. He described the power of association in one sentence as:
“You’re the average of the five people you hang out with most”.
For solo-entrepreneurs, this can be a scary thing to comprehend, because in reality, who are the people we spend the majority of our time with?
Perhaps a spouse or other family members who do not really, fully understand what we do and what we try to achieve with our business?
Perhaps friends who have no real clue of the challenges of entrepreneurship and are subconsciously trying to convince us that having an online business is a complete waste of time?
Perhaps moms at our kids’ after-school activities?
Ourselves – alone at home doing our thing?
This is not a great list of powerful associations, right?
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To raise the quality of your life and business, hang out with people who already are where you want to be.Click here to tweet
And the scary thing about it is that if we take Jim Rohn’s quote literally, it means that everything about you and your business will average out to be similar to those five people whom you are currently spending most of your time with!
So, is there room for improvement on your list of the top 5 people you hang out with most?
If I just look at my own life and business, then there will always be room for some improvement!
SO….to raise the quality of your life and your business, hang out with people who can inspire and motivate you! People who have been there and done that – who reached the place where you want to be. For example, if you want to become a better communicator, hang out with great communicators. If you want to be more positive, hang around with more positive and optimistic people. If you want to be a terrific entrepreneur, have a thriving business and make lots of money, spend time in the company of people who have mastered the art of entrepreneurship and are already killing it online.
This is why there is so much truth in the saying “birds of a feather flock together”. Just take for example a flock of birds migrating over continents during changing seasons. If one bird attempts that long distance migration on his own, he won’t make it. If he tries to join just any flock of birds flying by, he might not end up where he wants to be. It is only when he joins his own kind; birds heading into the direction he wants to go into, that he will eventually reach his end destination.
It’s the same with people. When you want to advance in your business, it is worthwhile to think about the power of association. Surround yourself with “people like you”. Key people who are either on the same path as you, or more successful than you.
So, here’s what I hope you take from this article: Hanging out and surrounding yourself with the right people is priceless and you can use this power of association to grow your business. Thus who you associate with is too important to be left to chance. Unfortunately, many solo-entrepreneurs never put it to work for themselves, because often their choice of who they hang out with is primarily driven by convenience or circumstances. But ultimately, you are in control and solely responsible for choosing who you associate with and who you spend your time with.
As a take-away assignment: look around and see who in your industry you want to spend more time with (online and offline). Who can you learn from? Whose business do you want to model your own business after? Then go out actively and start spending more time with them, learn from them and start working with them…
You Your Success!
PS: If you enjoyed this article, the greatest compliment you can give me is when you share it with others. It’s really easy! Just use the buttons below. Thanks! I sincerely appreciate it.
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Francis van Wyk is an experienced business and client attraction mentor who supports women solo-preneurs with planning and achieving business success online.
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To really achieve more in your business, you sometimes just have to get out of your own head, and your own way.
