About a year ago I had just moved. I kept thinking we need to get some things organized … but I kept putting it off.

Boom — the mail arrives on a Wednesday and in it is this postcard. Why did it get my attention?

I was in pain. I needed help and there it was in front of me. I went on to call this organizer and spent thousands of dollars with her. She was wonderful and efficient. She, in turn, joined my 10k program to build a new business of her own and we developed a wonderful relationship.

THAT direct mail postcard generated almost $20,000.

Marketing Sherpa recently released a chart that shows that direct mail is still considered an important part of any B2B marketing campaign. It may not have the “flash” of the latest social media trend, but it works.

So … think about shaking thing up a bit and send some direct mail. As much as I love Jaime, her postcard wasn’t that great, but it still worked. Here are some tips to make yours super effective.

1. Keep the message simple.
   One pain solving statement like: Are the boxes still not unpacked? or Still can’t fit in your jeans? or Not enough clients to keep the doors open?
2. Give a specific call to action.
   Do not tell the reader ten different steps to take or give options. Make it like a road map and very directional. Examples: For a free consultation ($400 value) before January 1st call: or Email X in the next 7 days and receive a free gift of X
3. Make it pop!
   Once I put a photo of myself holding a roll of toilet paper. Dan Kennedy put himself in a vintage cartoon car or consider a cool piece of art- anything that pops and makes you stand out and get attention.
4. A few mailers are better than one.
   Consider following up and have a series of mailers as opposed to just one hit.
5. Get diverse and creative.
   Think packages, postcards, envelopes, odd size postcards, or any other variation. Mix it up to get more attention and get more opens.

People ask me all the time … Which marketing methods work?

Answer: ALL if done well.

Combine direct mail with email marketing with video with social media….make it all a strong strategy and systematic. Lots of different touches always work!

Stop multi-tasking for one moment and grab a paper and a pen.

Now, answer this question: What is it that you would like to see changed in the world?

Write down your answer. Only give yourself 10-15 seconds.

If you had a difficult time answering the question, that is the reason your business is struggling. You have to be the change you wish to see in the world. How can you grow a business around that change if you don’t even know what your mission is?

When someone asks, “What do you do?” do you respond with, “Oh, I’m a life coach, Reiki healer, energy worker, underwater basket weaver…”?

If this sounds familiar, no one knows what it is you really do. They don’t care what your title is.

When you respond with your title (e.g. life coach, business coach, a Reiki master, etc.) you aren’t explaining the pain you solve for people. What solution do you offer?

When someone asks me, “What is it you do?” here’s what I tell people:

“I work with service professionals to make more money, help more people, and have massive impact.”

I don’t talk about the fact that I’m a coach. I don’t talk about how I was trained. Most people talk about the process of their work as opposed to the progress and results they offer. People really don’t care what your title or your training is.

Occasionally some people will ask for your credentials or why you’re able to do what you do, but for the most part, they just want to know, “Here’s my problem, here’s my pain, and how can you help me solve it?”

The second piece of this is, it’s got to be you. How often are you putting yourself out there and how often are you telling your story?

When I first started my business, I was sharing my movement. I was talking to people about how I could remove, heal, and help them through their pain on a daily basis. My goal was always to talk to 100 people a week.

You may be saying, “I don’t know who to talk to.” That’s an excuse. You do know how to reach people. You do know how to talk to people.

One of the first things that I suggest you do – I call it my one-mile radius rule, unless you live deep in the country and then you might need to do a ten-mile radius. Get in your car, put on a CD, and drive all over within a one-mile radius of your house. Look at everything through the lens of, “How could I share my message?” Not, “How can I get a client?” There is a difference. Focus on sharing your movement.

All of the sudden, the high school becomes an opportunity to do an expo or to teach at their adult education school. The diner with the Rotary Club sign becomes a place to speak. Businesses in your community become places to contact. The church, the community center, I could go on and on.

Everything you need to build a multiple six-figure business is within a one-mile radius of your home. You can have all the websites in the world, you can have the marketing materials, you can have all of that, but if you are not talking to at least 100 people a week, then you are not reaching enough people.

Once you are talking to people or reaching them in other ways, there is a possibility that you don’t know how to convert, which means you have a selling problem. You may be too salesy or you’re not selling at all.

The process for converting people into clients is called my “I CARE” system. It’s a five-step process. “I CARE” stands for:

• Inspire
• Clarify
• Ask
• Receive
• Embrace

If you are talking to enough people and still not making sales, you have an authenticity problem. This means you’re not bringing enough of you into it. When you don’t bring enough of you into it, you either are scared to death to sell at all, or you’re overselling and not being your authentic self.

When you meet people in PERSON and not just online you are instantly able to determine:

1. If they are the right fit for you as a client; and
2. They have a bond with you and your belief in them that will transform your business QUICKLY

We live in an age of smoke and mirrors. Lots of “behind the scenes” tricks going on which leave people skeptical and leery about choosing someone they don’t know or making an investment in YOU. I know we talk about them investing in THEMSELVES, but in the beginning all they are doing is assessing if you are a gamble or the real deal. In truth the internet does not help you win this battle, so why not eliminate the biggest gap in their decision making process and put your “outside” clothes on, brush your hair, put on little make up, and meet them where they are?  Right?

You laugh, but how many of you are reading this and haven’t showered all day, much less left your house to go shake up some business? I mean it people. You are sitting there pressing send again and again in your pajamas thinking that business will come and beat your door down. It won’t. I promise you.

This is the ONE thing that made all the difference in my business growth.

I always, from the very beginning, knew I had to go find them. They would never find me. So exactly how to I find the FAST PATH TO RESULTS? I sponsored. I sponsored everywhere and anywhere that would take me. I know you’ve heard my Whole Foods story, so I’ll spare you all the details here, but that is really the beginning of my path to fast results.

I knew I had to go where they were and where do people go without fail?  Week after week? The grocery store. Crazy right? But it worked. I got my first REAL paying clients while standing between the tomatoes and the bananas. Luckily I’ve found that there are “easier” ways to sponsor without having to sell a grocery store manager on why I should pass out life coaching tips in the fruit and veggie section. And through some amazing opportunities that my team continually researches, thanks to sponsoring, I’ve grown my list by hundreds in the last two weeks and earned OVER $30K from these sponsorship opportunities. Amazing right?

So what are you doing to get yourself out there?  Are you hunting for these opportunities to get yourself in front of your ideal clients? If not let me help you out a little with my short list of INCREDIBLE opportunities that are still out there just waiting to be snatched up:

Be The Change Event

The Be The Change Event is my yearly event for entrepreneurs that will knock your socks off. Our sponsorships are about 90% full, but we still have some space available if this is the year you are ready to step up and play big.

Shine Event

Ali Brown’s premier conference for women entrepreneurs.  She hosts a phenomenal event that is not to be missed.  You can get more details about sponsoring by contacting: http://www.alibrown.com/shine/sponsors.html

eWomenNetwork: Annual International Conference & Business Expo

Sandra and Kim Yancey host a spectacular event each year that is brimming full of bright successful entrepreneurs.   http://www.ewomennetworkconference.com/exhibitor

These are just a few I can think of off the top of my head, but there are HUNDREDS of ways for you to get up off that couch, and find the clients who need you most.

So, stop wasting time thinking something is wrong, and that if you just create one more amazing teleclass module THAT will be the turning point. All you need to do is leave the house and find them.  THAT will be the turning point to your fastest path to results.

So don’t miss out on a chance to be a part of our extraordinary Be The Change Event this year and join me in serving all the incredible entrepreneurs that need you now and just don’t know it: bethechangeeventsponsor.com.

I watch people want clients, but not take action. They are seemingly ready, but they complain more than ACT.

I know that’s a bit harsh, but it is the reality of being an authentic entrepreneur. If you are really ready to help more people, you have to market and move. So, I have put together 5 steps that are specific and aggressive. If you really want more clients, then jump in.

1. DECIDE.

GET serious about marketing. Get serious about spending 3-5 hours a day on getting new clients and filling your pipeline. This is not a time for excuses or to “kinda” do it. Are you marketing 3-5 hours a day? If the answer is not YES, then the answer is Hell No. Oops, excuse me. How do you do this? Make a plan. Map out the time. I built my business to six figures working a 60-hour a week day job. You can find the time if you agree to put all EXCUSES in the 2011 pile and burn them today!

2. TARGET.

Choose one specific pain or problem you will address and market only to that (losing 20 pounds, leaving corporate America, buying first home, making more money, etc.) So, again, choose one pain or problem your clients face and focus only on that for now. Tailor your emails, message and marketing to that one area and get as specific as possible.

3. FIRE HOSE MARKET.

Don’t trickle, network or mention your business. It’s time to pull out the big guns and take the fast fire hose approach. Email every friend and family member about the target you chose above in Step 2 on how you can help, go to THREE (yes I said three) networking events over a 10-day period, find one place to do paid advertising about this pain, email 10 organizations about speaking to their group on this topic, contact old prospects that did not sign on, email your database, etc, etc… This is just a start. Create a 7-10 day mega Fire Hose Marketing Campaign to reach every possible person you can, discuss that pain, offer your solution and have a way to bring them in (usually via a complimentary session.)

4. GIVE IT AWAY.

Come up with something that is a generous and authentic giveaway during this week that will give clients a “taste” of what you do. Some ideas are a teleclass, a workshop, a complimentary session, audio, e-book, etc. When you give the very best of you away, people will pay for the rest! Remember to make sure it is clear how they can take the next step to working with you.

5. BELIEVE.

Please don’t skip this. I know you may be thinking, “Well certainly I need to believe I can do it.” If you even thought that for a second, then you don’t already believe your own value and worth. People need your gifts. You can ease their pain, their challenge, their struggle. You do not attract clients without knowing deeply that YOU are needed and the way you share that is through marketing. Clear the cobwebs out of your inner being and breathe in the possibility not just for yourself, but for all those you will serve.

If you are struggling in business chances are, you are missing this one crucial secret. The good news is … anyone can do this. Really! The bad news is it forces you – the REAL YOU – to come out of hiding. Front and center. In a big way.

But in the big picture, its the best business plan you can ever have.

So, I ask the question, what if we stopped marketing?

If we stopped marketing we might all be surprised.  All the hype about passive income, sitting on the beach while you get rich, do less to make more, or this is the ONE system that solves everything is just hype – it truly is.  There is only one thing that will grow, propel, and sustain a 6, 7, or 20 figure business.  A movement!  So, all the drama of marketing is just that – drama.  To make a difference and make mone y stop marketing and start a movement.

OK, now let’s cover some basic questions:

Stop marketing?  Well, of course marketing serves a role in your business and you need to market on some level, but marketing alone and first is not going to solve your problems.  It is just a spoke in the wheel.  Creating a movement is the lynchpin… that is where you start.

What is a movement?
 
\’müv-ment\ An ongoing, informal group action that is inspired by a passionately shared idea and directed toward positive change

Friends, it is not in the emails, autoresponders, or strategy that attract people to you.  What is your passionately shared idea directed towards for positive change?  Building a business is not rocket science like many would like to scare you into believing – it is heart science.  But, there are a few major pitfalls to avoid~

• A confusing message/movement
• Keeping your movement a secret – not sharing your message and leaving the house to spread the idea
• Thinking you do not have to ask people to join
• Giving up

Just look in our industry and outside of our industry for huge success … it was all about movements and not marketing that launched these folks:

• Ali Brown created a new wave of communication – the email newsletter to reach more people
• Dr Oz transformed scary Dr talk into table talk and got a nation healthy
• David Neagle took complicated universal laws and simplified them for inspiration and optimum wealth
• Rosa Parks simply had enough and in an hour created the Civil Rights Movement
• Lisa Sasevich turned ugly sales into the invisible close
• Lance Armstrong turned cancer into courage

Folks, marketing helped these ideas get out, but it did not form them.  Your movement is the single most important element in your business.  Is yours clear?  Are you ready?  What will you change?  Stop marketing and start a movement.

(c) 2010 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

www.HelpMorePeople.com/minicourse.htm

Something that many coaches, healers and other helping professionals have a hard time wrapping their mind around is the fact that there really is no competition. There just isn’t. I don’t have any and I don’t think about it.

Let me explain what I mean…

I’m not a horse race person, but I’ve seen one or two. All the horses wear blinders. They are little flaps that go beside their eyes. They do that because the minute a horse looks at the horse beside them, it slows down.

In this same way you must run your own race in business. There are a lot of people who are overwhelmed, under-performing, under-implementing, and not doing what they need to do to grow their business because they are so engrossed in all of the newsletters and ezines and emails that are coming through their inbox making them feel “less than” magnificent.

Stop basing your value and your success on what’s coming into your inbox. Shut it down, put it in a filter, and go build your business. Go run your own race. Go tell people about your story, share your message, and share your movement.

The minute you begin to compare yourself to others, or you look to others for validation, it will slow you down and the phone will stop ringing.

People always want to know how to start with nothing and go to a booming business with multiple programs and affiliates. People want to know how to get traffic to their site and more people in the door.

The answer that no one wants to hear is that there is no magic pill! The way to build a successful, sustainable business is to start talking to one person, and then you talk to two people, and then you talk to those people about how they can talk to someone.

It’s the same basic process whether your focus is online or offline. About 90% of the work I do is virtual, but when you’re getting started, consider using what you have in your immediate vicinity. Look to your town or your community. Regardless of where your business is or whether it is primarily online or offline, your approach must be based around connecting with more and more people.

I had a private client once who asked, “How do you get joint ventures and affiliate partners?” I said to her, “The same way you make friends.”

Approach affiliate opportunities and joint ventures the same way you live your life. Just reach out to people. When you find yourself saying, “Gosh, there’s something about that person that resonates for me,” connect with them.

So many people try to put more mystery into this than there needs to be. Although it isn’t complicated, you do have to put the connection time in. Nothing gets built offline or online unless you take the time, the energy, and the commitment to make connection after connection after connection.

The wonderful quote, “Be more interested than interesting” is relevant to this. The worst thing in the world is to do when making connections or partaking in any kind of marketing activities like social media is to say something like, “Hi, I’m Suzanne! Buy my stuff!” Nobody cares!

You must walk into a business networking, marketing, or social media situation the same way you walk into a real party. Introduce yourself, talk with people, ask people about commonalities.

Walk into every room (or virtual event, or social media) like it’s your party. What would you do if it were your party? You would thank people for coming. You would ask them how they are. You would see what you could do for them. You would be more interested than interesting.

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

www.HelpMorePeople.com/minicourse.htm

We are in a new era of business. Things are shifting very fast. A lot of the old marketing techniques simply do not work any more.

I was recently on the phone with a friend who works in the online business management world. She is one of the leaders in that industry and has been doing it for many years.

We were talking about the fact that many business and marketing techniques are just not working anymore and that a lot of marketers are still out there selling them to people. They’re saying, “Yes, do this. Do this. Do this,” but the climate has changed. What worked at one time doesn’t work any more. This new era of business is much more hands-on.

Gary Vaynerchuk talks about this a lot. He puts it well when he says, “It is legacy over currency”. In this new era, the focus is on how to work with people to get the results they need and they want, not simply advocating the tactic of the month. It is about becoming a vessel for change in the world.

The dominant approach used to be very marketing-tactic-centric, and money-centric. It was all about emails and copy. I’m not saying that particular tactics or strategies are bad. I absolutely use many of them and they do work.

However, there is a difference between using a teleclass to “fill your funnel” and because teleclasses are a hot tactic, and using a teleclass to share truly valuable information. Years ago the prevailing model would have been to give no content up front and instead focus completely on selling. Now it’s the exact opposite. The focus now is being of service and providing as much value upfront. It is about being completely transparent and honest, and as generous as time allows.

Another example is the concept of a “niche”; it just doesn’t serve people anymore. A better way to look at it is discovering who needs you most. It used to be all about “positioning”. I now say it’s about forwarding your fingerprint.

In regards to delegation, over the last several years, the paradigm was, “How little can I work and how much I can make?” I think we are finally shifting back from being focused on delegation to being centered on service.

The tide is shifting fast. Some businesses and people don’t yet understand that there is a new dominant paradigm. It’s no longer enough to understand marketing. You have to be the change you want to see in the world to make the marketing actually work. The businesses who fail to take this into account are being left behind.

Unfortunately, many people would rather hide behind their marketing strategies or tactics and be able to blame them for their lack of success, than to get real about themselves and their authentic voice and stories and go out and share them with the world. It can be easier to blame the marketing strategies and systems than to embrace your vulnerability, and to go out willing to share your authentic voice and story every day.

For a while, you could market just about anything and make money relatively easily. Customers caught on and more and more business owners wanted something real behind the marketing. So people who are still marketing without a coherent message, real value, a movement, or “being the change” will ultimately not succeed.

This is a hard truth for a many people because it’s difficult for them to step into their movement. It’s difficult for them to realize that the only thing they really have to sell is who they are. But it can be done. And when it is, it brings a much higher level of intimacy and meaning to building and growing a business.

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

The single fastest way to get clients and grow your business is to get in front of people and get in front of them IN PERSON! There is nothing like a one-on-one connection to build the know, like, and trust factor, as well as hold someone’s captive attention. I am amazed how many entrepreneurs I speak with who have been trying to build their businesses from home. I know it is part of the appeal of an online/virtual business lifestyle, but starting with in person connections builds faster and more financially fruitful relationships. So, here are my top tips for making more money and impact by leaving the house!

1) Make certain you spend more time in front of people than in front of your computer! (Especially in the growth stages.) Making those decisions of best color for your website or researching what other people in your field are doing all have their place, but they do not directly bring you the opportunity to start a client conversation. Use the 80/20 rule80% of your time networking, meeting, and speaking and 20% of your time on strategy and research.

2) Don’t be so picky in the beginning. I hear people say they don’t like this group or they are not sure if that networking organization will do anything for them. Just GO! You have no idea who someone will know or who they might be able to introduce you to. You will soon learn which groups serve you and which groups don’t, but to start just go, meet, and share your movement.

3) Don’t have a drunk cowboy message. You know those people who you ask, “What do you do?” and 10 minutes later you are still trying to figure out what the heck they are talking about. Be clear and concise with a 2 or 3 sentence message. I call this your impact statement.

4) Act like it’s your party. Walk into every room as if you own it. Walk into every room as if these wonderful people have gathered here just to meet you. Greet them, be curious, ask questions, be gracious, and be in your power. People are attracted to confidence. Authority inspires.

5) Follow up and ask.

a) Follow up with everyone you meet within 48 hours, even if it is just a quick “nice to meet you” email. Be certain to ask how you can help them and offer them a session, a freebie, or an offer to move them closer to knowing your work.

b) Ask for what you wanta referral, an opportunity to share how you can work with them, or an alliance/partnership.

BONUS: Have fun! You are in a service business and one of the greatest joys of this industry is meeting people and building relationships.

(c) 2010 Suzanne Evans

www.HelpMorePeople.com/minicourse.htm

A common challenge for coaches, teachers, healers and other helping professionals is differentiating themselves from others in their fields.

The good news is you set yourself apart just by being born. People forget that. The nature of your unique life makes you different and makes you unique. I call this your intuitive intelligence.

You have not lived the same life that I have lived and neither has anyone else. Even if we have the same training and we sat down and decided to teach the exact same model to people, it would be different because we are different people.

Hold your hand up in front of you right now. No one shares those finger prints. Your marketing style, your business style, and your message all reflect that uniqueness.

Get off of the marketing hamster wheel for a while and ask yourself the question: “why did you get into this game to begin with?” There is a reason that you are reading this article. There is a reason that you’re doing the business you’re doing.

Someone reading this lost a significant amount of weight. Someone reading this made it through a serious illness. Someone reading this helped a child through a diagnosis. Someone reading this got divorced and they thrived through it. Someone reading this changed their lifestyle through health and wellness. Someone reading this built a business out of nothing.

Continually telling my story has been the most powerful business building strategy I have ever implemented, and it comes completely naturally because it’s my story. Framing it in a way that underlines my movement and the changes I want to see in the world helps me attract perfect clients.

Everyone has a story and any business must have a movement and a mission driving it. Don’t lose sight of the fact that it is your story that is going to heal people.

When I started my business, I finally got off my butt and decided to do something and change something. I came across coaching. I didn’t have a clue how to market. It was hard and it was painful, and there were some really difficult pieces.

Through that experience I healed a lot in myself, I healed a lot in other people, and I now have this really brilliant gift. I know that my purpose on this earth is to help people heal their shame around money and use marketing and business building as the tools to do that.

Keep it simple. Go back to the reason you got into your business or the field you’re in to begin with, whether you are an energy worker or a life coach or a marketing consultant. Why did you start this to begin with? Because that’s what you’ve lost sight of if you don’t have the energy to share your movement in a way that differentiates yourself from others.

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