The past week I’ve attended a couple of networking sessions and in one of those events we were talking about the lessons we’ve learned in our business careers so far.

The chair lady asked each of us to quickly share (in less than 2 minutes) what we will do if we had to start over from scratch. Since she knew I had online business, she asked me specifically to explain how to set up an online business and attract clients via your website. 

I actually smiled, because starting an online business and attracting clients via your website is a process. It takes time.

It is not something that necessarily happens overnight.

There is no quick fix or magic bullet for getting started and getting more clients. However, I also know that when you follow a process and a step-by-step plan, you can reach that point of getting clients and making money in your business much faster.

So, I stood up and this was my answer.

Here is exactly what I will do today if I had to start all over again.

Step 1: CHOOSE my audience

I will first of all choose and make a decision on a target audience. I will…

• Decide who I would like to work with;
• Find out what problems they have…. that I can solve;
• Craft a marketing message so they understand how I can help them and then
• Position my business in such a way to solve those problems for them;

Step 2: Identify where to FIND them

After I know who I want to work with and what I will say to them, I will start looking for places where I can find them in large numbers and inexpensively. This can include social media groups, forums, networking events, trade shows etc. I will ensure that I am consistently present in those places – either in person or via my marketing materials and will create a varied and continuous marketing outreach strategy to inform prospects how they can benefit from working with me..

Step 3: Set bait to HOOK them

I will direct all my marketing efforts (from Step 2) to my website.  So in Step 3 I will create a website and use the marketing message (from Step 1) to attract my ideal clients (the bait). I will put 1 or more valuable free resources on my site that addresses the specific needs of my target audience (the hook). This will provide me with an opportunity to capture the contact information of ideal clients that are interested in what i have to offer.

Step 4: Follow up to KEEP them

This is the important part. Having people in your client pipeline or on a list means nothing if you don’t create a relationship with them. So, I will use systems to  stay in touch with them on a regular basis and continue to deliver value. The truth is: you never know how long it will take someone to become ready to work with you. When you follow up, stay in touch, and send them great information that they can use, your prospects won’t forget about you. It furthermore gives them an opportunity to really get to know and trust you. When they are ready and need the solutions you provide, you will be the first person on their mind.

Step 5: Have something to SELL them

The truth is, you do not have a business and you cannot make money if you do not have anything for sale. Also, you need to ask for the sale in an authentic way. So, I will deliver a service and/or create a product or program that addresses the specific needs of my target audience (from Step1). This will be available through my website, and I’ll have a varied and continuous marketing outreach strategy to inform prospects of it and how they can benefit from working with me..

Step 6: Monetize and EXPAND

In this step, I will enroll clients into my business, enjoy my income and start expanding my business by better leveraging my time, money and knowledge.

In a nutshell, these are the 6 steps that I will take if I had to start from scratch. Obviously it sounds over simplified, but this covers the total process any online business can follow to grow and expand their client base,  from scratch.

The post If I Had To Start From Scratch – 6 Steps To Start An Online Business appeared first on CreateClientChemistry.com.

Are you like me?

When I started my business, I had clear goals of what I wanted to achieve – e.g. how many clients I want to work with and the income levels I want to reach. But at the time, I didn’t really create a solid marketing plan around it.

It was just easy to go with the flow and do what feels right in the moment. Can you relate?

If so, is it working for you?

After my first year in business, I knew this hum-ham approach wasn’t working for me. At all.

What I found, was that without a plan, important projects were often put on hold, or they crept up on me and there was simply no time to create effective marketing campaigns around them, or things were simply forgotten, and at the end of the year, I didn’t reach my business goals.

But then I got a little bit smarter and decided that it is important for me, for my business, and for my life to create a written, yearly marketing plan of what I want to achieve within a given year.

I am not talking about a plan incorporating ALL the little details. I’m just talking about a plan where I can see the whole year at a glance. A plan to make sure that I schedule the most important business and marketing activities, so that I…

• don’t forget about stuff,
• give myself enough time to pull things off and
• easily monitor the progress I make against my goals.

I call this my annual marketing and event calendar.

It’s a  1-page document that incorporates the weeks of every month to give you a full-year at a glance.

Every year, I populate this document with the most important events and projects that require any sort of marketing activities. I also make sure that there is at least one event or marketing campaign each month that can lead to new clients and new income.

Within this plan, I don’t put down specific dates; just a rough idea of when I want to implement or do something. Then, I print a copy and keep it next to my computer (a printed copy is handy for making quick notes and for referencing where I am currently).

The results of this?

For the past 3 years, I not only reached all the goals and activities on the annual plan. I’ve doubled my income year on year.

So for me, a yearly written marketing plan – even if it is just a basic overview of the most important activities – is an absolute must in any business.

Here are 7 reasons why I believe an annual marketing plan is important:

1. An annual plan will help you clarify your ideas and most important priorities. It will help you determine what you want to focus on for the year, and when you want to focus on it.

2. An annual plan will help you make crucial decisions. With your plan, you know what is important, and is now in a great potition to say “yes” or “no” to opportunities coming your way. With your plan in hand you have more clarity – and the courage – to manage new opportunities rather than to be managed by them.

3. An annual plan will enable you to maintain balance. You’ll be able to quickly see which months are extremely busy and which months are not. It will help you spread out activities so that you do not overwhelm yourself and have enough time to complete things. Also when you are not able to move things around, it will help you to plan in advance on how you will manage those busy times. And, when you find some months are completely empty, it will give you the motivation to find opportunities and activities to grow your client base for that given month.

4. An annual plan serves as a road map for accomplishing what matters most. It gives you a quick glance of what is coming in the next few weeks or months and prompt you to start thinking about those things that will need attention in the near future. It’s like identifying the markers and waypoints along the journey, so that you have enough time to create an action plan for completing them successfully.

5. An annual plan is a valuable financial tool. When planning out your projects and marketing activities per month it is easier to make projections about the number of clients and income per month to ensure it all adds up to your yearly financial goal . Then you can simply evaluate your actual income per month against the projected income to see if you are still on track.

6. An annual plan measures your progress. It tells you where you are and what you still need to do to reach your ultimate goal.

7. An annual plan helps ensure that you don’t finish the year with regrets. For many entrepreneurs, their years are not turning out like they had hoped. They are disappointed, confused, and discouraged. But it doesn’t have to be that way. While you can’t control everything, you can manage your business with a plan and dramatically improve your chances of closing the year on a high note.

So, get started today with creating your own annual plan and let’s make this year your best year, yet.

To Your success

*Photo courtesy of  twobee | freedigitalphotos.net

The post 7 Reasons Why You Need An Annual Marketing Plan appeared first on CreateClientChemistry.com.

Doubling your income, doubling the number of clients you work with, doubling your enjoyment of having a thriving business, doubling how you experience life… doesn’t always require a major overhaul.

It only requires two simple things:

1. Set the intention via a clear GOAL &
2. Get into ACTION!

I believe that goals and taking action can take you beyond your limits to a world of unlimited possibilities.

But you have to set the right type of goals in order to take the right actions.

Many people set goals, and specifically business goals, that are “uninspiring” – goals to only get enough to pay the bills, to get by, to survive, to make it through the day. In short, many are caught up in the trap of only making a living rather than designing an enjoyable life.

The problem is that lousy goals will not take you beyond your limits into a world of unlimited possibilities.

You need to start dreaming bigger, and start getting clearer on the things you really want!

When we first set large goals, they may seem impossible to achieve. But the most important key to goal setting is to find a goal big enough to inspire you – something that will cause you to unleash the power within you.

The way I usually know I’ve set the right goal is when it seems impossible but at the same time it’s giving me a sense of crazed excitement just to think about the possibility of achieving it.

For me, achieving those big goals is like building a 2000 piece puzzle. (Oh, did I mention I love puzzles? LOL).

So, let me explain….

Imagine trying to solve a 2000 piece puzzle without looking at the picture on the box. I bet it will be an extremely difficult task and you might even give up at some stage. But when you have the puzzle picture right next to you, solving that puzzle becomes a whole lot easier.

It is the same with setting and achieving your goals for this year and beyond.

When you think about what you want for your business this year, it might be to achieve a certain level of income; or work with a certain number of clients per month; or create a new way of serving clients; or…[fill in your goal].

That is your puzzle picture.

That is the picture you must keep in your mind so that it can direct all your actions.

And then equally important is to really look at this picture so that the details can become more and more visible.

Because when you are clear about what you want (i.e. when you have a clear picture of your dreams and your goals) and are really inspired on achieving it, your brain has an amazing power to pick up information and decipher opportunities. You then become hypersensitive to strategies, ideas, people and plans that can help you meet those goals.

But having that clear picture about your goals is not merely enough.

It is also necessary to take persistent action on all the opportunities, strategies, ideas and plans that present themselves to you.

Let’s go back to our puzzle example to illustrate this.

You see, if you’re just staring at, and admiring the picture on the puzzle box, and taking in all the beautiful details, the puzzle can’t be completed.

You need to take action, empty the puzzle box on a table and start turning over the pieces one by one.

Only then can you slowly start building the puzzle, one piece at a time.

In the beginning it might seem like an impossible task and you might try to put pieces together that just don’t fit.

But when you persist and consult the puzzle picture regularly, you’ll start taking in the details and you’ll start to look for, and find the pieces that obviously fit together. Only then a small recognizable piece of the overall puzzle will start to take shape.

As you progress with one piece at a time, the bigger picture unfolds and eventually the puzzle on the table represents the picture on the box.

That is when you achieved your goal.

Tony Robbins says that: “Setting goals is the first step in turning the invisible into the visible. It is the foundation for all success in life.”

So take that first step in doubling your results this year.

Set the goal.

And then, follow up on it with consistent action.

Remember, your goals provide a magnificent direction and a way to focus your attention on those things you regard as important to you. Keep it at your side – just like you’ll keep the picture on the puzzle box next to you when you solve a puzzle.

No goal or dream for this year is impossible. You can do it!

Here are some practical action steps to help.

1. Grab a cup of coffee (or your favorite drink).
2. Find a quiet place and start dreaming about your business (or your life). What do you want your business to be like in future? What would you like to have? Don’t limit your thoughts – just dream.
3. Put in some details. Build on that dream and get a clear, vivid picture of it in your mind.
4. Put all your thoughts on paper or create a visible vision board.
5. Keep it close where you can consult it every day.
6. Create a couple of shorter-term goals. Goals that excite you and will move you closer to that dream.
7. Decide what is the first step (or next step) you can take TODAY to put you on the journey of achieving that goal.
8. Then go out and DO it.
9. Repeat steps 7 and 8 until you reach that goal.
10. Finally. Enjoy the journey!!

To Your Success

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The post These 2 Simple Things Can Help Double Your Clients and Income Results appeared first on CreateClientChemistry.com.

What? Did I hear you say….”yes”!

Well, don’t feel too bad about it. For most solo-preneurs, this is a common problem.

We have to wear so many different hats in our businesses and have to do everything ourselves that it is easy to put marketing on the back burner and only focus on it once everything else (like doing your admin, cleaning your office or walking the dog) is taken care off.

And common reasons for this are that for many, marketing is not the most enjoyable activity. They even intensely dislike it. Or they don’t know where to start with it.

This is perhaps an over exaggeration, but the fact of the matter is, it often happens that we don’t give marketing and getting clients the attention it need.

And when you put marketing on the back burner and only focus on it once in a while (when all the other fires are put out), you never really get to do it properly. The scary thing is: if you don’t do your marketing consistently you don’t have clients consistently…. which ultimately results in uneven income or no income at all

Here are 5 things you can do to make marketing a priority in your business this year:

1. Plan your marketing activities

Pull out your calendar and write down a number of ideas how you’ll market you business each month of the year. Look for things like special vacation days – e.g Valentines Day, St Patrick’s Day or Thanksgiving and plan special marketing activities around those days. Write down events that you know are taking place and brainstorm how you can use those events to market your business. The thing is: even a rough plan is better than no plan. Just have something on paper that you can refer to frequently and that will keep you on track.

2. Pick marketing strategies that fit the goals of your business

Don’t do marketing just for the sake of marketing. To make your efforts hit the mark, pick marketing strategies that will reach your ideal clients effectively. In other words: go where your clients are! If you for example know your ideal clients are international speakers, it won’t help much putting an advertisement of your services in your local newspaper.

3. Create a frequent and regular communications campaign

A simple rule of marketing success is that it’s necessary to stay in touch with clients and prospects on a regular basis or else they forget who you are and what makes your services so wonderful. So stay in touch with regular communications: create an email newsletter filled with helpful info and send it out regularly; send unexpected greeting cards for birthdays, Valentine’s day, Easter or Christmas; send a small gift; pick up the phone and call clients to ask how they’re doing. Staying in touch does not need to be expensive. A little bit of creativity, can take you a long way.

4. Make time for marketing daily

Block out chunks of time in your calendar daily where you do nothing else than marketing. It will take a bit of self-discipline to stick to these time-slots in the beginning, but in the end it will bear fruit. Here are some things you can do every day, to market and grow your business: Follow up with a potential client who showed interest in working with you; send an introduction email to potential clients; attend a networking event (online or offline); create a blog and write a new blog post; post your article on social media sites and invite people back to your website; create a Facebook ad; call a past client and ask for a referral. Marketing doesn’t have to be complicated. Just make a commitment and do it.

5. Persevere and be consistent in your marketing efforts

It won’t help much to crank out a few marketing activities only when the appointment book looks a bit empty. Marketing is a process – it rarely creates instant results. The marketing activities you do today will bring in clients in future. So do your marketing every day. Persevere and you’ll fill your business with clients faster than you thought possible.
Remember, your clients need your help. They’re stuck and are searching for someone to help them solve their problems and frustrations. That someone is you! It is your duty to help them take the first step to get unstuck…. that’s what your marketing is all about. So, make marketing a priority in your business this year

To Your Success

The post How To Make Marketing A Priority In Your Business appeared first on CreateClientChemistry.com.

People can’t work with you if they don’t know about you.

This is the first and most important principle in the expression, “people buy from people they know, like and trust.”

When it’s spelled out this way, it all sounds pretty obvious, right?

Yet, there are so many entrepreneurs who don’t have enough clients, simply because they are unwilling or even afraid to share their message and to take action on their marketing.

I’ve literally had women say things to me such as, “I don’t like to go around telling people what I do. I rather prefer to wait until I know if that person is a good fit for my business and then I let them know that I’m a coach / consultant / trainer / therapist / virtual assistant etc.”

My response is sometimes: “So how’s that working for you?” 🙂

The thing is, whether you have a professional services business, sell physical products or sell information products or some combination of those, one of the critical ingredients to growing and sustaining your business is to get your business / services / products in front of as many eyeballs as possible.

That means getting in front of many more people than just the few hundred or even a few thousand people who subscribe to your e-zine list, your Facebook fan page, follow your tweets or happen to stumble across your website.

Thus, to truly be successful and grow your small business, your marketing must include tactics and strategies that put your business and your expertise squarely in front of your ideal clients.

Every day.

It is extremely important to actively extend your reach to more and more people within your target market on a continual basis.

So, how do you know which marketing and client attraction tactics are best for your business?

Well, it is those marketing tactics that:

• Effectively reach your target audience where they typically hang out.
• Easily reach a large number of your target audience with little time and energy from your side.
• You enjoy most and thus are most likely to stick with.
• Fit your time frame and budget.

A big part of this is also simple trial and error. So, don’t give up on a tactic after just one attempt. There’s always a learning curve involved, and marketing requires repetition, consistency and continuous improvement.

So, to get those creative juices flowing, below is a list of more than 30 ways to market and get your business in front of more eyeballs.

1. Know who you want to work with
2. Have a magnetic marketing message and 30s self-intro that engages people
3. Know how many clients you need, to reach your income goals per month
4. Have an effective marketing plan
5. Go to networking events
6. Hold a grand opening/re-opening of your business
7. Host your own live events and workshops
8. Invite target clients to a wine tasting
9. Join the board or organizing committee of 1 or more associations
10. Speak to groups at least once per week
11. Have a client attractive website
12. Place your URL in all your social media profiles
13. Write a free e-book, special report or e-course to give away
14. Use keywords to improve your website ranking
15. Submit your website to online directories
16. Blog regularly
17. Contribute guest articles to blogs
18. Hold tele-classes, webinars
19. Invest in pay-per-click advertising on sites like Facebook , Google, Yahoo! and Bing
20. Submit articles regularly to article sites
21. Post videos on YouTube showcasing your expertise
22. Join forums where your target market spends time
23. Send out a regular newsletter / e-zine
24. Create a direct mail campaign – newsletter, postcards, etc.
25. Call a client / new prospect each day
26. Contact a local magazine to do an article on you
27. Invest in “yard” signs
28. Pass out flyers
29. Have a custom iPhone App developed
30. Identify the 20 percent who can get you the 80 percent
31. Show up at places that scare you
32. Continuously improve your marketing skills
33. Have a coach / mentor

There’s truly no limit to the creative ways you can get your business in front of more people and attract more clients.  The above list is by no means complete, but it will get you started for now…..and remember, effective marketing and getting more clients ask that you only take one small step every day to expand your reach.

So, start small, take consistent action and expand from there.

I also want you to understand that when you offer a service or product that can improve someone’s life (which most of us do), then you’re doing a disservice to the world by not letting more people know about it.

So, go out there, do your marketing with confidence and create some awesome client chemistry this week!

To Your Success!!

Image source: Ambro / FreeDigitalPhotos.net.

The post 30+ Marketing Tactics to Fill Your Business With All The Clients You Need appeared first on CreateClientChemistry.com.

The good news however: It’s often easier than you think. But, it does require you to spend some time upfront to get more clarity about what you want and need to do.

So, here are 3 easy and straightforward (but absolute key elements) to incorporate in your marketing when you want to reach more people.

1. Create A Plan

It sounds obvious right, but it’s amazing how many people work without a well-thought-through marketing plan.

And whether you believe it or not, a workable plan can have an amazing impact on your business because it provides clarity, purpose, and direction on how to attract and retain clients.

What I found it that without a plan it is difficult to have continuity in your marketing and you often find yourself doing a lot of marketing…. but you do it haphazardly… a little bit here and a little bit there, without getting real and tangible results.

Implementing and working according to a marketing plan, however gives you the focus you need and keeps your marketing consistent. It furthermore keeps you accountable to do what you’ve set out to do and inspires you to achieve the marketing goals you set for yourself. All this enables you to keep momentum and consistently reach more people – thus increasing the probability of getting more clients.

So, if you are running your marketing blindly, perhaps it’s time to think about creating a plan to do it more effectively. And remember, your plan doesn’t need to be a long, boring document. It can be a simple 1 page document outlining the basics such as:

• Who you work with
• Where you’ll find them
• What marketing methods you’ll use to reach them
• When and how often you’ll use each marketing method.

The journey to reaching more people and getting more clients always starts with creating a plan and working your plan.

2.  Have a Multi-Channel Marketing Outreach

If your business is doing okay with only one or two marketing methods, that’s great! But, just imagine what you can achieve if you use five or six proven marketing methods consistently?

By creating a multi-channel marketing approach, you establish more ways for potential clients to hear about you and eventually enter your client pipeline.

An added benefit is if someone doesn’t respond to one of your marketing tactics, they might respond if you present that same offer to them in a different way. E.g. one person may totally ignore an email (because he is just not a reading type of guy), but he might jump at your offer when it is presented in a video he can watch.

A multi-channel marketing approach can include many different methods e.g. your website, blogs, emails, social media, videos, collaboration partners and JV’s, speaking, live events, referrals, the media, paid advertisements, books, articles and many more.

The idea however is not to implement every possible marketing method in your business, but to use the 5-6 methods best suited for your business and your specific target audience.

Using different marketing methods and having a diversified marketing outreach ensures you reach more of your existing prospects in ways that suite their style best AND it helps you to reach more new people that can enter your client pipeline.

And by the way… include these methods in your marketing plan to ensure you do them consistently

 3. Put Your Business In Front Of Large Client Audiences

Having 1-on1 conversations with prospects are great and often a quick way to get one or two clients fast. But, it is often a slow and time-consuming way to grow your business.

When you however put your business in front of large client audiences, it makes your marketing easier, more cost-effective and help you reach more people simultaneously.

The important thing here is to ensure it is the right audience.

It is therefore important to know who you want to work with. Once you know who your target audience is, you can identify local businesses that serve the same market segments or identify who else in your industry or in another industry is already speaking / working with that audience.  This gives you a change to form a collaborative partnership or joint venture with those individuals.

Contact these potential partners and offer to add something of value to their audience. This way you not only raise awareness of your business, but you reach more people and increase the likelihood that they will end up on your doorstep because they’ve heard about you from someone they already trust.

Also think about organisations, events or places where your target audience regularly hangs out and then ensure you are also present there.

So, here is what I hope you take from this article:

Consistently reaching more and more people to grow your client pipeline and your business is not really that difficult. The important things to do, is to:

• Create a plan how you will do it…. and then work your plan.
• Incorporate different marketing methods to give you more reach and leverage.
• Reach out to possible partners who already did the work of gathering your audience for you.
• Be present in places where your audience hangs out in large numbers.
• Put yourself and your business in front of these larger audiences and wow them with what you can do for them.
• You’ll be amazed at the results 🙂

To Your Success

 
PS: If you enjoyed the article, you are welcome to share it using the social media buttons. Thanks!

The post 3 Easy and Straightforward Keys to Consistently Reach More People appeared first on CreateClientChemistry.com.

 That is some pretty good marketing advice as well, because your marketing message can take your business to the next level and as a solo-preneur it is foolish to try and be all things to all people. If you are trying to meet the needs of a broad spectrum of clients, you may end up being so generic that you’re not meeting the specific needs of any one target group.

Alternatively, when you focus on (and thoroughly understand) a specific smaller target audience, it enables you to develop an effective marketing message that will resonate with them and bring more high quality, ideal clients to your doorstep.

Take for example a person that sells insurance.

Who needs insurance? Individuals? Employers? Small businesses? Large corporations? Well, the answer is all of them – but their needs are not the same. So, if the insurance guy focuses on one targeted group (for example self-employed individuals), he can truly understand what makes that group “tick”….and it will be totally different from what large corporations or even small business owners need. But by understanding his target audience, he is in the best possible position to develop a strong marketing message that resonates with that specific group and enables him to attract them as clients.

So What Is A Marketing Message?

Your marketing message is what you communicate to your target audience. It is the big idea and solution you want to share with the world.

The way I look at it is like this: you want your marketing message to be compelling – a way of describing your business to your ideal client that will make them respond enthusiastically; a message that will make them say: “Wow. You are exactly what I’ve been looking for all this time. How quickly can I start working with you?”

To get this type of enthusiastic response, it is critically important to have a message that positively resonates with your audience. And because people are naturally wired according to the what-is-in-it-for-me-principle, your marketing message needs to tell them that. Thus, as a minimum, your message needs to include a description of:

• Who you work with (your ideal clients / target audience);
• What particular struggles or problems they’re experiencing right now;
• How working with you will solve those problems;

Where Can I Use My Marketing Message?

Once you’re clear on all the above points, you can use it in various formats.

You can use it in:

1. A written message. For example the content on your website, a sales page, the bio in an article that you’ve written, a brochure or your business card. In other words any content or marketing materials that you write and people read.

1. A verbal message. This can be your 30s introduction speech when people ask you what you do for a living or your signature talk, at networking events or any other verbal communication where you speak to people about your business and what you offer.

1. A visual message. That is your website look and feel, your business name, logo, tagline, the colors you use, your videos, the total image you project to the outside world.

…and it’s important that all three work in unison to send out the same message.

Why Is It So Fundamentally Important to Get My Message Right?

People are naturally wired according to the “WIIFM” way of thinking. Before they make a decision to work with you, they immediately think: “What’s In It For Me”.

Just think about it. You are bombarded with so many marketing messages every day: via email or on TV, over the radio and on billboards when they drive around. And the truth is: if those marketing messages are not directed to you specifically, your mind automatically filters out 99% and you simply ignore it! Right? You don’t take action on any of them.

But when you see something and realize: “There’s something in it for me”. That is when you suddenly stop and take notice.

It is the same for your prospects and clients. So, your marketing message must specifically addresses your target audience, so their minds can immediately pick up the wave and know there’s something in it for them.

Remember… it is your marketing message that takes your business to the next level because it can ignite your audience into action and position you as the leader in your field.  The big idea of your marketing message is to join the conversation that’s already going on in the heads of your target market so that you connect effortlessly with your audience, they feel understood on the deepest level, and you are naturally perceived as the expert you are.

So go out today and create your compelling and jaw dropping marketing message and if you’d like more support on crafting a powerful and effective message that magnetizes and gets your target audience to fall in love with you, check out my Create More Marketing Momentum Program here.

To Your Success!

The post Master Your Marketing Message – Do People Really Know What You Can Do For Them? appeared first on CreateClientChemistry.com.

It’s like, you know you need to do marketing and you know you need to do some planning, but it’s a constant battle to commit to any of them. Worst, if these two words are thrown together into “Marketing Plan” – then it’s enough to run away from.

The problem is that women are often afraid to create and stick to a marketing plan.  They might feel:

• Creating an effective marketing plan seems messy and hard.
• They don’t know what will happen in a month, much less six months… and thinking ahead is kind of scary and mind-boggling;
• Committing to the actions they put on their plan today, can limit them in some way. Especially if something new or more exciting comes up in a few months’ time;
• Planning has just never work out for them. Even if they’ve made a plan in the past, they could not stick to it. So they stopped planning, period.

The truth however is, marketing planning should not be hard, messy or scary at all…and it is something you should do as much as possible – especially when you are still carving out your business success. And if you’ve found that planning didn’t work in the past – it is not necessarily the fault of the planning process.  It’s often the strategy that you used to execute (or not execute) your plan.

So, to make your marketing planning and execution a bit easier, think about it this way. It is simply about creating an effective, step by step road map to relieve stress and make running your business easy and fun.

Imagine the amount of stress that will go away when there is no more guessing about what marketing activities to do when. Think about the relief when you experience more and more clients entering your client pipeline or contacting you to inquire about your services. Visualize freeing up your time and starting to earn a better income so that you not only can grow your business, but also create the life you want…

All because you’ve committed yourself to creating an effective marketing plan and to implement the things you’ve planned.

So let’s look at what an effective marketing plan is supposed to be.

Well, a marketing plan is NOT this thick, dusty “whoowhoo” type of document that you prepare once and then put in the bottom drawer of your desk never to consult again.

Your marketing plan should be a living document on your PC or up on the wall where you can SEE it and access it on a daily basis. It should be this road map (or GPS) that you consult daily to show you what you need to do today (or this week / month) to promote your business and get those clients.

Thus, for marketing planning to be effective you MUST incorporate the following 6 crucial elements:  

 1. The EXACT GOAL you want to reach. This can be for example earning a specific amount of money this year or selling x copies of a new product or filling a tele-class with x attendees or getting x new clients this month or whatever – just any specific goal that will bring money into your business and that you need to do some marketing for.

2. WHO specifically you want to attract as clients. In other words who do want to work with (ideal clients) or who you want to sell your products to. If you do not know who you want to attract with your marketing efforts, marketing can be such a waste because then you cannot make offers or reach the right people with your marketing.

3. WHERE you will find these people.  It is important to “fish where the fish are”. If you can find your target audience in large numbers, it makes your marketing much more effective. It saves time, effort and even money and will results on higher returns on all your marketing efforts.

4.WHAT to say to your prospects once you’ve find them. It is all about getting their attention and then inspiring them to take some sort of action (e.g. clicking a link; getting on your list; calling you to set up an appointment; signing up to work with you).

5. HOW you will effectively reach them to put your message in front of them. Your target audience will mostly dictate the marketing methods you should use. So it is crucial that you know who they are and then use those marketing methods that will have the best positive impact for your business. Then promote and stay in touch consistently to give your audience time to get to know, like and trust you.

6. Scheduling daily, weekly, monthly ACTION STEPS to keep you accountable for implementing all your marketing and thus reaching the goal you’ve set in step 1.

Bottom line: Doing marketing according to an effective plan will have an amazing impact on your business. It will give you peace of mind and greatly relieve the stress and anxiety of getting more clients, because it provides clarity, purpose, and direction on what to do when.

Through your marketing planning you’ve taken care of one of the crucial and fundamental aspects for creating a thriving business.

Execution of an effective marketing plan can lead to many more clients. When you have clients, you have a long-lasting business.

Your assignment:

Could you identify which of the elements above is lacking in your marketing planning process? If so, make a commitment to yourself this week to incorporate it into your plan… and, if you do not have a marketing plan yet, then take time this week to create your plan for the next month, 6 months or even this whole year. It will be time well spend… I promise 😉

If you need help with this or someone to guide you through the whole marketing planning process, visit the information-rich page and go over all the details of my “Create More Marketing Momentum” course here.

To Your Success!

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The post Do Solo-Preneurs Really Need a Marketing Plan? appeared first on CreateClientChemistry.com.

As a services professional, you know you need to market your business consistently to get more clients and greater returns on your income, yet it’s like you just never really get to do any effective marketing. You always find something else to do instead…. and in the end, your day went by and you didn’t get to do any marketing, right?

I know… I used to feel like that too, but not anymore.

I came to realize that as a service provider it is actually your responsibility to do as much marketing as you can.

The truth is: you have unique skills, abilities and experiences that can help so many other people who are looking for exactly what you have. In other words…

You have solutions to other people’s problems!!

So if you do not market your business and tell people what you do, you deprive them from the solutions to their problems that they are searching for!

When I realized this truth, my whole outlook on marketing changed and as a result, I felt more confident and open with my marketing and also started to see many positive results in my business. Results such as more focus, more self-discipline, more clients, better quality clients a higher income…in fact, my whole business became much more fun.

Understanding what marketing really is, helped me get so many things I want … and you can too.

There is however ONE big pitfall.

You can have the right intentions with your marketing, BUT if you do not have the right marketing FOUNDATION, it will still be an uphill struggle to get more clients and help the people you want to help.

In all honesty, it took me some time to figure that one out, but eventually I did and now I want to pay it forward…

So,  I’ve developed a training program to show you step-by-step how to implement the right marketing foundation in your business and how to build on that foundation with a rock-solid marketing plan to attract more and more clients to your business – consistently.   With the information of this training program you can start create marketing momentum that will bring you the clients and income you want.

If you want to go over all the program details, visit the information-rich page here:

I’m looking forward to share those insights with you!

Love and success

The post Is Marketing Standing In Your Way? appeared first on CreateClientChemistry.com.

Does your business have a winning edge?

Do you create, do or give something to your clients that lift your business up above your competition? In other words, does your business have that something that makes you get the clients while your competitors don’t?

That is called a “winning edge”.

Let me try to explain this by using an example of horses running a race.

As you know, horse racing is not only a prestigious sport; but there is also huge prize money involved and the horse that wins the race walks away with the bulk of this prize money –  even if he only wins by a “nose”.

In some races, the winning horse can receive up to ten times more in prize money than the horse that comes in second. This however doesn’t mean the wining horse have to be ten times faster than the second horse. He just need to be a little bit faster or a little better trained for this race or has a skilled jockey that can make a racing decision just a little bit better than the other jockeys.

It is the same in business. People who become successful and prosperous are sometimes just a “nose” in front of those who don’t! They do things just a little bit better or do things just a little bit different than the rest which then leads to extraordinary results.

Create prosperity in your business and give yourself that winning edge, by focusing on one or more of the following:

1. Distinction  

Be noticeably different from your competition. Luckily, it’s not really that difficult to create distinction, to stand out and be different from a crowd of anonymous competitors. You only need to do 1 of 3 things. You either need to

• Deliver a unique service that not many other solo-preneurs do, or
• Deliver a common service, but do it in a unique way or even
• Deliver a common service in a common way but then specialize in a particular audience.

2. Excellence

Strive to become excellent in what you do and be brave enough to set the standard in your industry.

Do everything to the best of your ability. When you sell a service, you need to fulfill with excellence – like dinner depend on it. Be a person of integrity and don’t manipulate the truth or cut corners to make a buck.

Excellence enables you to become trusted in you market place and not only to attract loyal clients, but also loyal partnerships  and creating thriving partnerships give you the leverage to spread your message even further and helps to create quantum growth in your business.

Regardless of what you do, always put your full effort behind it and don’t do anything halfway.

3. Service Value

Always serve your clients with value in mind. Give them more value than what they’ve bargained on because satisfied clients are the foundation upon which you can create more prosperity in your business.

Businesses with satisfied, loyal clients enjoy greater customer retention, repeat business, more word of mouth advertising and consequently greater profits.

The art of giving your clients value boils down to finding out what they want or what  they consider to be of value, then persuading them that what you offer will deliver that value.

Your Assignment for today:

With all 6 Success Strategies in mind, give yourself and your business the opportunity to become prosperous, Break away from the trap of only doing enough to “get by,” or being content with being “good enough”.

Focus on those things that can give you the winning edge in your business. Be distinct, be excellent in what you do and deliver exceptional service value to your clients to become prosperous and to take your business from merely surviving to thriving this year

Love & Success

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Click here for Part 5: Market & Promote Consistently

The post Create Prosperity: Strategies To Take Your Business From Merely Surviving To Thriving appeared first on CreateClientChemistry.com.