I remember catching my very first fish off the pier at Wrightsville Beach with my Dad.  I also remember it felt like it took forever!  Actually, now I understand, it was only about 20 minutes…might as well have been 20 days to me.  I know many of you feel that way about catching your first client, but I can promise you, consistency pays off.  Keep holding the pole and you will get a nibble IF you are using the right bait.

I have heard people say they don’t like the word bait when it comes to clients.  I actually like it because to me it represents knowing what your client needs, wants, and desires in order to help them.   There are very few people that want to take the big bite immediately and jump into spending lots of money and time with you if they are not familiar with your work, and especially if they do not have a taste of something you have to offer them.

So, if you are struggling with attracting clients, making more money, and getting nibbles of interest, I suggest you first start by reevaluating your bait and what you are clearly offering your potential clients and customers.  Here are three ways to make your bait a bit more exciting and appealing.

1. Offer a freebie!  Do you have something on your website that really shows the best of what you do and offer and it is free?  This is a great way for people to have an initial interaction with you and want more.  Remember KLT Factor: Know.  Like.  Trust.  Your potential clients need to feel as if you understand them and have a solution to their problems.  Have a wonderful and content rich freebie to do just that.

2. How are you closing the sale?  Most helpingpreneurs do this with a complimentary session which is fine, but calling it complimentary says- free, no pay, low value.  How about spicing it up a bit?  When I changed mine to a Laser Business Strategy Session and added a required form to send in prior to the call, it made a much bigger impact on my conversion of sales and because it was clear and focused, the client got more out of it.  What could you re-name your sessions or replace your sessions with that has more impact?

3. Check your benefits.  Remember your greatest asset is the benefits and values you bring to people.  It might be time to redesign your packages and offerings.  Is there a “wow” factor item you can add?  Something no one else in your industry is offering that brings a punch to your packages?  Jazzing up what you offer can reinvigorate your “bait” and your energy in what you deliver.

We all love to be enticed, intrigued, and wowed!  That, my friends, is bait…have fun with offering your potential clients great opportunities.  Remember helping more people can and should be fun!

(c) 2009 Suzanne Evans

About the author:  Suzanne Evans is best known as the ‘action expert’ and has coached hundreds of solopreneurs to model her multiple six figure business. Learn how you can help more people, make more money and have more fun doing what you love by signing up for your free copy of the 5-Part Mini-Course ‘Awakening Your Authentic Entrepreneur’ at http://www.helpmorepeople.com

I started coaching about two years ago as a result of wanting to do something new and different. I had thought that I was going to get my doctorate in psychology, but I quickly learned that that was a terrible mistake – not because someone shouldn’t be a psychologist, but I would not be a great psychologist.

Then I found coaching and fell in love with coaching immediately. I hired a wonderful coach and knew this was for me. I went through a coach training program through Coach U and started my own business.

In about nine or ten months I had what would be considered a full practice, about 30 clients or more. Then in about 15 months or so it was a six-figure business. Now we’re on the way to doubling that business this year.

I had a lot of people coming to me saying, “How did you do this? I’d like to do it.” So I started coaching other business owners on building their business. I looked back at what my journey was and what my experience was, and asked, “How did I make some of those leaps in that amount of time? How did I have that amount of growth in that amount of time?” I began to document it and apply it to the clients that I had and started sharing that journey.

What’s important is that we all know to build a business, you have to market. I was following all the normal marketing. I was talking to all the normal marketing people and trying to do all the strategies, but I couldn’t figure out my niche. It was really hard for me and I struggled a lot.

I finally just said, “I don’t want to do it this way anymore. I don’t know if they’re right or they’re wrong, but it’s making me miserable so I’m going to do it my way.”

One of the first things I did was I gave up on the idea of looking for a niche. I really approached it as, “Who needs me most?” That was really digestible for me and tangible for me. I could get it. “Niche” kind of felt like, “Find a group, sell them, stalk them, get them, and get their money.”

I really looked at it as, “How can I tell my story?  How can I make my mess my message?”

That is the approach I have taken ever since.

I saw real value in it when I was sharing this approach with other people. They, too, were finding value in it and were really excited about it. This new approach allowed me and my clients to let go of all of that tension that they have around marketing and sales and building a business. They were really able to take their gift and leverage it, share it with people, and grow a business that helps more people and makes more money so they can enjoy more freedom.

(c) 2009 Suzanne Evans

I’d like to invite you to learn how to help more people, make more money and enjoy more freedom with the free 5-day mini course, “Awakening Your Authentic Entrepreneur,” at http://www.HelpMorePeople.com/minicourse.htm

Suzanne Evans is best known as the ‘action expert’ and has coached hundreds of solopreneurs to model her multiple six figure business.

Authentic Marketing – One Coach’s Story From Confusion to Clarity [ 5:36 ] Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

Authentic Marketing – One Coach’s Story From Confusion to Clarity [ 5:36 ] Download

Where do I start?  When launching a product, program, service, or new business everything has to be done.  Right?  A little overwhelming?  Right?  I know.  It is important to keep focused on the part of your business that makes everything flow… marketing.  When you are sharing the benefits and solutions you have for people, that is where we truly make the largest difference.  Then why do we so often put it last on the list?

We do what we know.  We know how to set up a workshop, a cooking class, create a pretty cover, or invoice clients.  Our mind pulls us back to “easy”.  Here are a few simple points to get the right things done while not spending all your time on the tiny details. 

1. Share first.  Create Second.  I know this feels backwards, but what is the point of spending hours, months, and energy creating something that does not yet have an audience?  Yes, you should have an outline, a time frame, and a vision, but let go of the details like the space or the delivery or the HOW.  When you get people investing in your services the how will reveal itself and everything you need, will appear.  It will.

2. Focus on direct relationship marketing if you are looking for more cash flow.  There is a lot we could be doing like tweaking our sites, adding more elements of social media, finishing our book, etc.  BUT if you need to increase your revenue quickly, ONLY focus on the marketing that will have direct results in income. (Having intro sessions, speaking at events, emailing/contacting joint ventures, following up with clients from the past, and re-connecting with people that have shown an interest in your services.)

3. Do not do it alone.  Get help or support.  If you are wondering why you are not making enough or have enough clients yet and you are doing everything yourself, that is one big AH-ha!  I recommend you outsource some of the day-to-day administrative tasks to a virtual assitant.  The details are all a distraction!  Delegate them!

4. Stop, breathe, and believe.  We usually get fixated on details because it is easier than marketing.  Yep.  See… I know the truth!  When you cannot seem to get out of the planning process stop, take a breath, and ask yourself what are you avoiding?  What is the fear?  Check in with a buddy or a coach to burst through that belief!

5. Help More People.  The perfect color, location, program, or detail does not help more people.  It is important to make your services and offerings first class, organized, and professional, but these details are not what change people’s lives.  The moment when they invest in themselves is where your client begins to change and shift.  Work towards that moment and the delivery of your work will be automatic.  I know you… you would never not deliver, follow through, or help someone.  Help More People.  You do that through marketing and sharing your services not through the details.

Go out and make a difference through reaching people every day.  It will help more people and make you more money.  THAT is a detail that matters!

(c) 2009 Suzanne Evans

About the author:  Suzanne Evans is best known as the ‘action expert’ and has coached hundreds of solopreneurs to model her multiple six figure business. Learn how you can help more people, make more money and have more fun doing what you love by signing up for your free copy of the 5-Part Mini-Course ‘Awakening Your Authentic Entrepreneur’ at http://www.helpmorepeople.com

I used to be a professional water skier in a former life.  (OK, I will dig up a picture at some point) and when skiing in a lineup, it is important to keep looking straight ahead to keep clean lines and not run into someone.  I always struggled with this.  If I am talking to you I need to look at you.  Have you ever driven with someone who turns their head to talk WHILE driving?  It can be scary.

I see helpingpreneurs do this in business all the time.  They look left and right to see what everyone else is doing.  They seek out approval behind them and catch a peak to see who is ahead so they can go into “catch up” mode.  And just like driving in the car, it makes for a scary situation.  And why are we looking left and right?  Competition.

“Every man in the world is better than someone else and not as good someone else.” Author: William Saroyan

No other business can be like yours.  YOU are what makes your service, product, or program uniquely yours.   There is no competition.  I know that is hard to remember at times, and even I have found myself rushing many times to do what someone else did.  I find that when I catch myself, I realize it is my own insecurity or fear sneaking up and I let it guide me.  When I listen to my intuition, I know that it is just my subconscious playing tricks on me….trying to get me to believe old stories that are not true. 

When I breathe (thank you Life Coach Mary) and recognize what the truth is, I know that looking to the left and right does not serve me.   I can only run my best race, serve my clients, and be in joy when I look straight ahead- that’s my goal line. 

So here are a few pointers to keep you from judging and comparing yourself, so that the BEST you and theAUTHENTIC you is always present.

1. When in doubt, hold your hand up in front of you.  Look at your fingertips.  No one else has those.  Only you.  Remember there is no competition.  There is no comparison.  There is only YOU.  Look straight ahead.

2. Feeling behind?  Stop and take stock.  Can you really be behind in business?  Whose rules are you following?  This is a great time to look at your goals, give your vision board a makeover, or start a treasure map.  This is your business, your life, your mission.  You are only behind if you are doing it someone else’s way.  Look straight ahead.

3. Be grateful. You simply cannot feel competitive, angry, or envious if you are in a state of gratefulness.  I just grab a sheet of paper and go- set a time for 10 minutes and write gratefuls until the time is up and it simply changes your entire perspective.  Look straight ahead.

You can’t help more people looking left and right.  Stay on purpose- look ahead and keep changing the world!

(c) 2009 Suzanne Evans

About the author:  Suzanne Evans is best known as the ‘action expert’ and has coached hundreds of solopreneurs to model her multiple six figure business. Learn how you can help more people, make more money and have more fun doing what you love by signing up for your free copy of the 5-Part Mini-Course ‘Awakening Your Authentic Entrepreneur’ at http://www.helpmorepeople.com

You have to believe in what you offer to sell what you offer.  It is the self doubt and shyness about sharing our gifts that most often keeps our rates low and new clients at bay. Every marketing tool in the world is useless without a deep knowledge and understanding that you can make a difference, what you do is needed and the gifts you have MUST be shared.

I had a client just this morning raise her rates significantly. She was scared, a little insecure, but she knew and I knew  that her value was not aligned with the lower rates and that her gifts are extraordinary. She just booked a new client at her new rate for a 3 month contract. How? Why? Belief and knowing.

Belief is when you must share what you do. You wake up in the morning and are compelled to market because your message is that important. Your ability to change outcomes is that powerful. You must embrace the knowing that people need you, they are waiting, this is your time. When you believe, your clients believe. When you believe, new clients see that and want more. When you believe, people are attracted to you and good comes through you. When you believe, marketing becomes natural and just flows.

Knowing. Knowing that it takes clearing the cobwebs and doubt in your own mind to move other people forward. Are you knowing in your services? Are you knowing that to be a leader, you must be a model? How can we truly launch others into success, healing, or movement if we are standing still? What is keeping you back from knowing that your gifts are valuable? And please here me loud and clear…if you are feeling this way, you do not need more training or education. You need a rebirth of the empowerment of just how special, unique, and transformative you are. You need a new certification, a certification of certainty–you know enough, you are enough, now go do good work.

Please don’t wait to share your gifts and help more people.  We all need you.

(c) 2009 Suzanne Evans

About the author:  Suzanne Evans is best known as the ‘action expert’ and has coached hundreds of solopreneurs to model her multiple six figure business. Learn how you can help more people, make more money and have more fun doing what you love by signing up for your free copy of the 5-Part Mini-Course ‘Awakening Your Authentic Entrepreneur’ at http://www.helpmorepeople.com