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My Notes From Unstoppable Entrepreneur Jonathan Budd Event: 5 Tips from Top Achievers

By Fay on November 27, 2012 in Affiliate Marketing, Business Planning, Business Success, Internet Marketing, marketing, mindset, productivity

My Notes From Unstoppable Entrepreneur Jonathan Budd Event

Ok, so we’re home from the event Unstoppable Entrepreneur and I’m writing today feeling that it’s the first day since getting back from our trip to the USA that I have a clear head. For some reason (we won’t mention age), it has taken a bit longer to get back into the swing of things but now we’re good to go!

Unstoppable Entrepreneur This was a truly amazing event. Yes, I spent over $3000 and more than 70 hours in travel to be there but just for being a reader of my blog, you get all the little marketing titbits I have learned at no cost.. is that cool? If so, please click the “Like″ button at the very top of this blog, just off to the left to show me some love! Did you do it? OK, proceed to my notes!

All the speakers varied in age, experience and income levels. But there was a common denominator to them all…. Persistence and determination!

At Unstoppable Entrepreneur there was also lots of talk about Mobile Apps, Facebook, Traffic, Sales Funnels and Mindset.

I’ll share more over time, but today….

5 Tips From Top Achievers…

Build the Plane While You Are Flying It

I first heard this saying from a brilliant marketer Lisa Sasevich. The concept is that you don’t need to have everything in place before you take action. When you get an idea, start to put it into action immediately. Make yourself accountable by announcing to your community what you are going to do. It might be a webinar, a presentation, a product or an event. Then the fact that you have placed yourself on a deadline will mean you are much more likely to follow through.

Build A Team

It’s important to recognize that your team is not only a reference to people who you may hire to build your business with you. It is also your colleagues, your list or community. It’s about building relationships with lots of people who you can rely on to support and encourage you to achieve your destination. Alone you will go a short way slowly; with a team you will go far, quickly. I know which I would prefer!

Include High Ticket Offerings

While many people have made a lot of money selling $9.95 e-books, you should recognize that it is much easier to achieve high income goals if you include a high ticket offering. There is information you have in your head that other people want! One of the easiest ways to create a high ticket offering is to offer a VIP day or private mentoring. You can offer this in any niche extremely successfully. My very first product ever was a VIP program that I sold for $5995, so you don’t have to wait until you’ve been in business for years before you offer personal or high ticket offers.

Fail Forward

If you focus on implementation and take action quickly you will soon discover that not everything will work out as well as you planned. But that’s ok!

Taking action and not getting the results you want is still better than taking no action at all. We all learn very quickly from our mistakes. I hate to burst your bubble… your business will never be perfect. It’s why so many wannabe entrepreneurs go to the grave with their “idea” that’s never fully realized. Don’t let that happen to you. Don’t live life with regrets.

Create An Effective Sales Funnel

Which do you think is more important – Product or Traffic or Conversions?

The answer is ALL three are equal. These three things do not stand alone and if any one part is missing – then you are leaving big dollars on the table.

It doesn’t matter how big your community is or how many people you have on your list – your first priority is to create an effective sales funnel. You have people opt in to get your information and then you offer at least one product (yours or someone elses). You track your results and tweak where necessary. THIS my friend is what will build your business.

POST YOUR FEEDBACK, QUESTIONS
AND COMMENTS BELOW!

P.S. If you would like to have a proven sales funnel working for you, check this out.

P.P.S. If this resonates with you, please pin, tweet or like this.

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Lasers and La Jolla From Jonathan Budd Event

By Fay on November 22, 2012 in Business Opportunities, Business Planning, Business Success, marketing, mindset

We had a blast at the Jonathan Budd Unstoppable Entrepreneur event, check out the video for the laser light show as well as some cool hotel shots…

Jonathan Budd Puts on a SHOW!

Honestly, I’ve never before been to such a crazy event! A $10,000 PER DAY laser light show, created by guys that actually work at Disney and more dancing than you can imagine. It truly was a KILLER event!

Loved hearing the presentation from my mentor Matt Lloyd who gave everyone a free copy if IM Revolution which explains how he has taken his business from $700/month to over $315,000 per month in less than 18 months!! I’ve managed to snaffle a free copy here for you if you want one! Matt only gave me a limited supply of free copies, so if you really want one, get it quickly.

San Diego is One of My Favourite Cities

Before the event we stayed in the heart of San Diego Bay and then moved to stay in La Jolla on the famous golf course, Torrey Pines for the event. It was beautiful, be sure to check out my short video tour and a couple life lessons too.

I still remember the first time I made it to San Diego. We had been in California to take them to Disneyland and took a day trip up to San Diego to SeaWorld. The kids were just 10 and 11 years old and we had a perfect holiday. That is when I first fell in love with San Diego and was thrilled to return. The Old Town, Coronado, Little Italy, the Zoo and the Bay were all just incredible!

If you go to San Diego, head to the Bay and take the harbour cruise and see the sea lions!

Video: Clips from the Jonathan Budd Trip

3 Tips To Building Customer Loyalty

By Fay on October 8, 2012 in Branding, Business Planning, Business Success, Internet Marketing, marketing

Creating Customer Loyalty, Retention and Engagement

3 Tips To Building Customer Loyalty

Building customer loyalty is not only a cost effective and profitable strategy, but in today’s business world it’s necessary. This is especially true when you remember that 80% of your income will come from 20% of your customers. If you think about these statistics it’s very surprising that so few people focus their marketing and sales campaigns on building customer loyalty and engagement.

I see it all the time in places like hairdressing salons. They will offer a great discount or incentive for new clients but if you are a current customer you have the privilege of paying full price. I’d really like someone to explain to me how this is building customer loyalty!

I can remember when I was a little girl and each week my parents would give me my pocket money. I’ve always been a lover of lollies (and I’m no different now!). So, as soon as I got my pocket money I would be off up the street to the little shop ran by a man called Mr Flick.

There were lots of shops in the street that I could have bought my lollies from, but I always went to Mr Flick’s shop. Why? Well for a start, he was friendly. He was always interested in what I was doing. And, a BIG reason I kept going to his shop was that he always put a few extra lollies into my bag more than what I had actually paid for.

He would always ask me “Is that all for you today?” Most of the time I just bought my lollies, but sometimes I might also buy something else for my mum or dad too.

Perhaps it’s time to rethink your marketing and sales strategies. After all many experts will tell you that it’s five times more profitable to spend marketing and advertising dollars on customer retention than it is to acquire new customers.

Building Customer Loyalty In Your Online Business

Here are a few simple strategies you can use to improve customer retention and continue building customer loyalty.

1. Add Massive Value

Reward your customers for their loyalty. Make them feel special by giving them incentives, discounts or added bonuses every now and then. The type of things you can offer to increase the value you deliver are:

A recording of a special interview you have done
Use your webcam or even mobile phone to quickly make a video with a special message or great teaching content
Share useful resources, especially ones you find that are free that your customers would find useful

2. Inspire and Share Your Story

Even though you and I might be very comfortable with doing business online, there are still lots of people who are very sceptical about passing over money or doing business on the internet. It’s especially important to do everything you can to share your personal experiences with your prospects and customers. This helps to build a personal connection and create that know, like and trust factor people are looking for when making their buying decisions. It’s common when you start your online business to resist mixing your personal life with your business life. Once you finally agree to share some of the more personal experiences in your life, suddenly your list will become much more responsive and you’ll notice profits increase.

When people know a little more about you as a person, it makes it easy for you to build rapport and connect at a deeper level with those who can resonate with your circumstances and experiences. As an example just take a look back to earlier in this email where I share a story of my childhood with you. Can you relate to that experience of mine? Does it help to build a deeper connection between us?

3. Create More Offers For Your Customers

Building customer loyalty is much easier when you have great products to offer. These products can be ones you have created yourself, or you can leverage of the experience of others and be an affiliate for someone else’s great products.

Once someone has bought something from you that they find great value in, they’ll be looking to buy whatever else it is you have to offer. It’s important to create a sales funnel that allows you continue to make offers for more products or services.

A mistake many marketers make is to burn their list out by making offer after offer after offer. If your customers have been inundated with meaningless “junk” mail and email spam, they will soon get tired of this and leave your community. On the other hand, if you continually provide good value, then your customers will be fine if you come along and make an offer to them for something else you endorse as being necessary or useful to their success.

Looking back now, I can see that it Mr Flick used all three of these strategies too, even all those years back. He gave me great value (an extra few lollies to a kid is awesome value!), he built a personal rapport with me and offered me more of what he had to offer to satisfy my needs. The thought of shopping anywhere else for my lollies would never have crossed my mind!

Take a few minutes today to consider what you are doing in your business to ensure you are building customer loyalty. No matter what you are currently doing, there is always room to ‘step it up a notch’. Try it and see what your results are – you could be very pleasantly surprised.

Here’s to your success!

Fay McLean

ARE YOU BUILDING CUSTOMER LOYALTY?
TELL ME WHAT YOU’RE DOING? LEAVE A COMMENT BELOW.

P.S. Here’s a formula for building customer loyalty, retaining and engaging your customers.

P.S. Oh, and one last tip – is to tell your customers you appreciate them, just like….

I appreciate YOU!

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3 Shortcuts To Build Your List Of Responsive Buyers

By Fay on September 27, 2012 in Business Planning, Business Success, Internet Marketing, List Building, marketing

Build Your List

Build your list! Build your list! Build your list!

I’m sure you’ve heard over and over how important it is to build your list in your online business. I have proof that the size of your email list is not the bee all and end all. Personally, I’ve made good money from what many in this industry would call a very small list. And, if list size were the only thing that mattered, why would the owners all those You Tube videos that have thousands of hits, not be mega wealthy?

More important than the size of your list is the relationship you have with them. How to successfully build a relationship with your list is a topic all of its own and I’m not going to go into depth on that today. I know it’s likely you simply want to get more people ON your list in the first place.

Yes, it’s important to always be looking at ways to build your list. The other just as important part of the equation, is to have conversions.

Right List + Right Offer = Conversions = Make Money

Build Your List – But With Who??

If you build your list with people who are actively looking for what you have to offer, your conversions will increase. No matter how big your list is, if you are not presenting offers to them that are converting, then size is completely irrelevant. The only way to have high conversions is to make great offers to the RIGHT audience. So when considering the question of “how to build your list?”, you have to follow that closely with understanding that it has to be the right list.

3 Shortcuts To Successfully Build Your List

1. Who Do You Want On Your List?

Know your ideal client like the back of your hand. List building will be a slow and painful process if you don’t have a clear picture of whom it is you want to make your offers to.

Your Awesome Free Offer (AFO) will be something you offer to giveaway for free in exchange for your prospects name and email. Put your AFO in front of your ideal prospect. If you are not clear on who you are trying to attract, you might as well be looking for a needle in a hay stack.

2. Best Ways To Build Your List

There are so many ways to market your business. Most people get completely overwhelmed and try to do too many things at once and then find that nothing in particular is working really well.

Lots of people will try to build an online business on ‘free’. Contrary to popular belief, all traffic strategies will cost you. You are going to pay for them in either your time or your money. The advantage of paid traffic is that you can get a result much faster if you are presenting great value to the right audience.

I recommend choosing just TWO methods of marketing and continue to do those until you have success before you move on to something else. Choose one paid method and one free method.

Paid methods would be things like banner ads, solo emails, pay per click advertising on Facebook.

If you prefer to use free strategies to build your list, then it’s going to take longer. One of the ways I’ve had the most success with is by participating in Giveaway Events. A Giveaway Event is where you contribute a product, along with hundreds of other contributors. Then you all promote the event to your list.

You get to put your offer in front of a targeted audience and build your list very quickly and you gather names and emails from people who would like a copy of your product. And your peeps get the chance to pick up great products for free. Everybody wins.

Giveaway events are conducted in almost every niche so you just have to do a bit of a Google search to find one that suits you. Here’s an example of one I’m participating in at the moment: Ultimate Social Media Giveaway

3. Build Your List With Focus!

Make list building a main focus in your business for a set period of time, let’s say three months. This would mean you allocate most of your time throughout your week for activities that will help you to build your list. It might look like this…

ACTIVITY	WHAT DOES IT LOOK LIKE IN YOUR BUSINESS?
Learning	Time going through video tutorialsLearning new technologyPhone calls to mentor/coach
Systems	Checklist for where and when you publish content each day or weekInstruction list on how to upload videos or edit audiosMake videos of how you want things done to send to your VA or assistantEstablish a referral or testimonial system
Content	Coaching or speaking to prospects or existing clientsWriting articlesMaking videos
Publicize	Set up a promotional calendar of what you are offering and whenSpeaking eventsCreating banner ads or writing autoresponders
Management	All those little admin tasksConnecting with JV’sMeeting with team members or VA’sReturning phone callsEmails
Gratitude	Maintain connections with people who can and do refer business to youSend thank you cards

When you see a Shiny Bright Object pop into your email, you can ask yourself if it will directly help you to build your list right now. If the answer is ‘no’, then you can discard it quickly knowing that you are staying on track with your priorities.

I’ve been as guilty as anyone when it comes to not being as focused in building my list as I could have been. But… things are about to take a turn! For the next three months I’ll be taking all of my own advice right here and making it a top priority for the remainder of 2012.

Is it time you made a stance and said ‘The time is now!”?

Come on, I know you can. You’ll be glad you did and I’ll be here to support you.

And anyway, no one ever had a list that was too big, did they?

WILL YOU JOIN ME IN MAKING LIST BUILDING YOUR FOCUS?

SHARE YOUR COMMENTS BELOW.

P.S. If you want to know how to have great interaction with your prospects as you build your list, this will help.

P.P.S. If you like this, please share it below (like, tweet and +1)

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Create A System The Simple Way

By Fay on September 13, 2012 in Business Planning, Business Success, mindset, productivity

The Simple Way to Create a System

There’s no point in building an online business only having to be stuck to your computer all day answering emails and putting out fires. That no fun at all!

After all, this type of business is about FREEDOM.

And you need to master something that most people ignore. We focus on “traffic” and “google”, when you should start with this one word..

SYSTEM

Now I have to admit that I have taken far too long to understand the importance of this – and this is why I don’t want you wasting loads of time like I have done in the past.

No matter what you do, you must be able to create a system out of it. And your system doesn’t have to be complicated to start.

As I began to work with more and more clients I realised that every time I was repeating the same information over and over to them. They would need to know how to set up their WordPress site – so I’d help them do it. They would need to know how to set up Aweber, so I would walk them through it. They would need to know how to get their product approved on Clickbank, so I’d walk them through it. I’d go over the process of how to create an awesome Opt-in offer.

Now, FINALLY!! I have created videos, templates and checklists for all those things that get repeated over and over again no matter who I am working with.

Or, if I have a new project or product I’m creating, I simply write down EVERY STEP and put it into a google doc. This makes it easy if you want to share it with a team. That’s it. I don’t leave anything to memory.

But it’s not just about documenting any processes, I also document what tasks need doing during a new product release.

For example, if there is a new product I’m creating, I might have the following in the document… (and yes, it’s a fictional product!)

1. Product Title and Summary: How to build your own membership site. It’s 4 online videos showing people how to build their own membership site. Step by step. We are going live on October 1st.
2. Price: $495
2. Set up sales page
3. Record a video
4. Write sales page copy
5. Create a new list in Aweber
6. Write autoresponder series
7. Link payment System
8. Refund Policy
9. Online Access page
10. Schedule date for promotion cal
11. Decide on Bonuses to offer
12. FAQ’s: this is where I’d add some typical questions like “is this for newbies?” “does it include software?”

Once this list is finished, I allocate deadlines dates to each of the tasks. Next step is to decide who is responsible for completing each task. It is mine, or am I going to delegate that to a team member?

Just by creating a simple document saves me dozens of hours in email, confusion and overwhelm.

Now get out there and start documenting everything.

Your coach has spoken.

DO YOU LIKE THIS? HAVE SOMETHING TO SHARE?
ADD YOUR COMMENTS BELOW

P.S. This is the most comprehensive systematized business model I’ve seen if you don’t already have your own.

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Did You Get Lazy in Marketing? (If You Want More Clients, Do What You USED To Do)

By Fay on June 6, 2011 in Blog, Business Planning, Business Success, marketing, productivity

I’m going to be open and vulnerable here. I’ve really let my fitness slide over the past 18 months while my business has been growing so much. After our holidays, I decided “That’s it!” I wanted to get help to get me back into great shape. So I was thrilled to find that Mark, my favourite personal trainer had moved back into town while we had been away. I went straight down there and signed up! And I’m proud to say that my health and fitness has once more taken its rightful place at the top of my priorities.

While I was huffing and puffing my way through my workout this morning, Mark was telling me all the things he was doing to promote his new business and get the word out. And I got to give him some great tips on how to get more new clients that he hadn’t even thought about.

I began to see how keen and enthusiastic Mark was to do WHATEVER it takes to get out there in a big way. To tell the community about his awesome services, in a super excited kind of way.

What tends to happen to most people after being in business for themselves for a few years is they become lazy in marketing. They rest on their laurels, and then often stop doing what they used to do to attract clients. Networking takes a back seat (like my fitness!); introductory offers stop; some no longer look for speaking opportunities like they used to. As money starts to tighten, the marketing slows down too, and then confusion sets in as they discover their client pipeline is empty.

Oh, there’s always great excuses as to why these things aren’t happening. I’ll hear “I’ve tried that once and things are different now, it won’t work again,” or “I’m not interested in doing that any more,” or perhaps “That sounds too much like hard work.” Someone I spoke to last week in fact was even beginning to wonder if she shouldn’t just give up, and return to employment.

While these excuses hang around, the well dries up and they are very thirsty!!! (This is NOT a fun feeling! This is the beginning of worry, stress, financial strain and sleepless nights.) Next, fear appears and they scurry for NEW ideas to use, or get attracted to the latest and greatest ‘thing’ that is the rage. Ever done that? Always looking for new, exciting ways to reinvent the wheel, while ignoring the proven strategies behind.

I’m not saying new ideas aren’t good, but ignoring the tried and true, proven strategies is simply asking for trouble. The new ideas don’t always create quick results. There is a learning curve that takes time to get new systems in place.

So rather than spending loads of money creating BRAND new strategies, often, by going back to what’s proven to work really well in the past is just the trick. It’s about going back to Marketing 101. The very things we cover in our Marketing Action Plan.

Why reinvent the wheel when all the hard work has been done for you already, and it’s proven to work?

There’s two places you can be on this: You either have EXCUSES or you have RESULTS.

So, I would ask you:

What USED to work for you to get new clients, that you been UNWILLING to do recently?
Are there things you did regularly at the beginning that you no longer do now?
Where have you dropped the ball and become a little lazy?
In the early days, what was your best way to get new clients?
Are you doing this now?
Are you WILLING to do this now?

If you need to boost your client load now, then stop everything and take a look at your Marketing Action Plan. Which pieces of the plan are you implementing regularly and thoroughly? Has the consistency of your marketing slipped?

It’s time to start with the foundations again. And, it’s time to recommit. The funny thing is, when you recommit and reconnect with your clients, and you start doing these things again, they WORK. Then what you discover is, you start getting more clients, the bank account starts to get fat, and you begin to LIKE doing these things again. How FUN your marketing begins to be again. This changes your whole demeanor. And, clients will instantly become magnetically attracted to you as a result. THEN, after the foundation is well and truly in place, new stuff can start to be added in. Have a go. It always works for me and my clients.

Now, if you’re struggling with what to do to fill your business right from the start, then follow a step-by-step system that feels easy and dependable. The Client Building Blueprint Home Study System avoids the “Shiny Bright Objects” and instead gives you piece by piece, the most important things to do so that you consistently build your community and constantly get new clients. It’s all step-by-step, and very easy to follow. So, you complete each step of the system before you move on to the next one. There are tools, templates, scripts and examples are handed to you on a golden plate. Easy. You can get it here: Client Building Blueprint

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Use Client Feedback for Small Business Success

By Fay on May 17, 2011 in Business Planning, Business Success, marketing, Sales Skills

Imagine you spend time creating a program that you feel is just what your clients need only to find that no one buys or registers interest. You can’t understand why… it’s everything you know they need. The thing is – it’s not about what your customers need, but rather what they want. This is a critical factor in making sure you continue to keep your existing clients happy, and how you will attract new clients.

You might ask, “How do I know what they want?” There is no point guessing or trying to figure it out on your own, that’s for sure. This can be expensive and disheartening. One of the easiest ways to find out what your clients want is by doing a survey or asking for feedback. Or in other words – simply ask!!

While I have been away these past weeks, I’ve been amazed and impressed with how many times I was asked to provide feedback on the service I received. This happened in our hotel in Kota Kinabulu (Malaysia) and again in several of the large stores I went shopping in while in Chicago. (A girl can’t be in Chicago without doing at least a little shopping!) The Americans do generally tend to provide more personal attention because they rely on receiving tips as part of their income. Nevertheless, I was impressed with the way companies in both countries were striving to improve how they could better serve their clients by asking them what they wanted, what they liked and what thought should be improved.

The way we do business today is changing. It’s more and more important to remember that you are not your customer. This means that what you believe will be a great program, product or service, may in fact be a total flop if it isn’t exactly what your clients want. Or, it could be the small, simple changes to the way you do things will keep clients happier for longer.

By getting client feedback here’s what can happen:

You will know exactly where to invest your time and effort when creating new products and programs. I’m sure you all have heard of someone who still has a garage full of books or CD products they produced for their clients before asking them what they really wanted.

It becomes very easy to mirror exactly the language your clients use in their comments to you. You can then go ahead and create a sales page, or email series, and be speaking the exact words that will resonate with your ideal client. In fact, they’ll think you’ve been reading their mind. This will make a huge difference in your small business success.

Feedback is the breakfast of champions. A champion athlete won’t get better results if they ignore the tiny and often smallest changes that help to improve their performance. Unfortunately some small business professionals prefer to keep their head in the sand and see feedback as criticism. They get upset, shake their head in disbelief and generally dismiss with offence, any constructive comments they might receive about their clients’ business experience. Don’t let this be you!

Be open to comment and constantly ask your clients how you can be of better service to them. You will be respected for your efforts. This alone will make you stand out from the crowd and you will get more clients.

As well as the more formal surveys or feedback forms, today you are fortunate to have the ability to ask clients to quickly jump over and leave you comments or feedback on Facebook. This is quick, easy and informal. It’s a great place for you to really take notice of what your clients are saying to you. You can easily ask questions each day as you post. Things like:

“Who else has trouble with……” “What would you most like to hear about ….” “I’m thinking of teaching a class about X – what do you think?…. “

Client Building Action Steps:

Commit to asking at least ONE question to your audience on your Facebook page every week and look carefully at the language they come back to you with.
Decide on one other way you will get feedback from your existing clients. What questions will you ask, what service will you use (Survey Monkey is really easy!).
Get excited because your clients will have told you what product or program you need to create next!

Oh, and one last action step: Pop below now and share with me what your biggest challenge in business is right now…

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Is Your Business Card Anything More Than Dead Wood?

By Fay on February 21, 2011 in Branding, Business Planning, Business Success, marketing

Business Cards

Is Your Business Card Anything More Than Dead Wood?

This week has been a busy week on the networking scene for me so there has been business cards all over the place. Your business card is one of the least expensive forms of advertising you can use and yet it is nothing more than dead wood for many biz owners.

A business card is often one of the first things you rush out and get yourself when you are thinking about getting more customers. This is not a bad thing, it’s just that often, you might not have thought a lot about how to make it into an EFFECTIVE tool that will get you more clients, rather than it being one of the first things that people put into the bin when they clear out their jacket pockets.

Bringing all the elements of a great business card together is something that can be taken for granted. Just this week, there was someone in my mastermind asking for feedback (great idea) on how to create a great business card. Then the real eye opener was when I was at a networking function. Here I am in a room full of esteemed business owners and there was a ‘business card draw’. You know the kind – all put your cards in and they get drawn out for a variety of yummy prizes. (Unfortunately I didn’t get to be a winner!). But here are the things I noticed. Often the organizer had to take several moments and really search around on the card for the persons name or who they represented; and, a majority of the business cards were blank on the back. This really upsets me! So much so, that I felt compelled to share with you the key elements of a GREAT business card to you can send yours out there to work FOR your business, rather than being bin fillers.

Are you getting the most out of your cards? Ask yourself:

Is my business card easy to read? – When a potential client looks at your card can they find your name and phone number without squinting?

If your business name is not self explanatory about what you do, then use a ‘tag line’ or description of the results you can get for your prospects.

Does your card include a picture of yourself? People buy from people they know, like and trust. By having a picture of yourself of your card means that it is much easier for someone to remember who they were actually talking to instead of giving your business name or business logo the majority valuable space on your card.

Can a potential client find your main phone number on the card? Do you really need all those phone numbers? If you get 1 fax a month, dump the fax number off the card. If you don’t have a storefront, consider dropping the street address.
Is the information correct? – Don’t cross out and write over on your cards, spend the money and have them reprinted. It makes you look unprofessional.
Should I print on the back of the card? ABSOLUTELY! This is the perfect spot for you to include some ‘pull’ marketing questions like:

“Are you serious about putting more money in the bank?”

“Would you like to take years off your age?”

“How great would it be to find an extra 2 hours in every day?”

Other things to include on the back if space is available:

Testimonials

The back of your card is also a great spot to direct prospects to you FREE offer on your website.

Is the text readable? If you vary from a white background make sure the text color is still legible. Black letters on blue backgrounds don’t make for easy to use cards. And don’t use scrolled fonts or italics, both of which can make text difficult to decipher.

Avoid scribbling information all over a business card in front of its owner. This can be seen as a lack of respect. If you need to write a short note on the card, do it after you have both parted.

Make it your plan to collect more cards than what you give out. You’ll get much better results by being interested in how you can help others rather than selling yourself and shoving a business card into every hand that is open. Collecting cards will mean you can be in control of the follow up.

I like to think of business cards as ‘little soldiers’ that are working on your behalf to get your more clients even long after you have given them out. People can pass them on to others and you have no control over how far they can go. So it only makes sense that they are well designed, accurate and informative. After all, how exciting is it when the phone rings and someone says “I got given your card by a friend and would like to talk about what you can do”!

Your Client Building Task For The Week:

Check every piece of information on your business card to make sure it is accurate

Does your card tell people what you do for them or is it all about you?
Do you have a ‘call to action’, Eg: Call NOW to… , Go to www…. To collect your…

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Get Known and Get Clients

By Fay on February 14, 2011 in Branding, Business Planning, Business Success, marketing, Sales Skills

Get Known and Get Clients

Are you up all hours of the night wondering when you’ll ever get yourself noticed by the rest of the world?

It can be really frustrating when you think that there are other people in business who seem to have all the ‘buzz’ around them and you are still trying to get just a few more clients.

Maybe you don’t feel confident enough in your ‘expertise’ to get out there in a big way and get the ‘buzz’ happening. Let me ask you this question – Are you are happy in your product or service and how you can deliver and get the results you say you can? Then this is one way that will give you credibility and confidence quicker than you think.

Some of you are going to cringe when I say this… but I have no doubt in my mind that speaking is one of the best ways I know to get more clients and gain credibility. Now before you shut off and say “Oh I couldn’t possible speak!” I want you to hear me out. When you know who your ideal audience is, it’s a brilliant opportunity for you to give a workshop, seminar or being a guest speaker about your topic and how to solve it.

Think about it. If your ideal client has a dilemma and you are offering up information on the solution, it only makes sense that they would come to the event or listen to what you have to say. And once they hear what you have to say, you suddenly have a room full of people who are going to create buzz around your topic.

There are many opportunities for you to offer yourself as a guest speaker. It doesn’t have to be to a big audience, you can start out very small. There are associations and groups that your ideal client is part of that you can approach. Many of these groups are just tearing their hair out trying to find great guest speakers, so you are in fact helping them out.

As you decide on your topic, develop what’s called a ‘Signature Talk’. This will be a talk that you can give over and over again with slight variations depending on who your audience is. It’s one that you can feel comfortable with and can really master. It also means you don’t have to prepare completely brand new content every time you speak. With time, you will actually become very well known for your Signature Talk and start to attract large audiences, and get more and more clients.

You can also use your Signature Talk to speak ‘virtually’. By giving a class or teleseminar on conference call service you can now reach a global audience. This is one of the quickest and most cost effective ways to build your list. The great news is that you are also delivering massive value to your ideal clients too!

If you haven’t already included this tool into your simple marketing plan, it’s time to seriously consider it. You don’t need to stress and worry that speaking to large groups is the only way to get results. It’s okay to start out very small and talk to a group in a relaxed environment which might even be your home. I started small but now I speak in front of hundreds of people, get paid to travel and speak at conventions and conferences. But it all started out with just a few in a small room.

I challenge you to come out from behind your computer, and work on this week’s action steps.

If you were to give a small talk to get started:

1. Where would you do it?

2. Who would you invite that would support you and give you a safe space to make mistakes?

3. What would you talk about?

I love to hear from you – leave your thoughts and comments below

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Are You Hungry And Teachable?

By Fay on February 7, 2011 in Business Planning, Business Success, marketing, mindset, productivity

Hungry

Are you hungry and teachable?

If you’re going to make money, you have to have a plan for a business model and get more clients. It really is that simple! I don’t want that to sound harsh, but I do want to tell it to you straight!

So many of you have longer visions of making big money goals – and that’s a good thing, but you can’t forget about making some cash now!

It has astounded me lately how many people I have talked to who say “Yes, I want to make some money.”. Then as the conversation goes on a little further, I ask them what they have specifically planned to create cash coming in each day. “Oh, I’m trying to get more clients to my website..”, “Well, I’m trying to put the word out there a bit more each day…”, “I’m going on Facebook as much as I can….”.

I’m sorry – but this is just not specific enough!

It could be time for you to revisit the reason WHY you are in business in the first place. Then, because of your reason WHY, what are your money goals? When you know what your money goal is, and let’s say it’s $50 000 for your first year, then that means you need to be creating $200.00 per day, consistently. That’s $1000 per week (allowing for a few weeks holidays) which is $200 for 5 days of the week.

So, now the questions are:

What are you doing today to build your list?
What do you need to do this week to get more clients?
What are you doing this week to get this cash coming in the door?

When you can confidently answer these questions, you will know exactly what you need to be doing day by day to achieve your goals.

“But Fay, I just don’t know the answer to these things.”

That’s ok! Perhaps you’ve not had your own business before. Maybe you’ve been in business, but this time it seems different and things are not going as well as they once did.

All you need is the right information!

Imagine if you were building a new house and threw some bricks on top of each other and popped in a window or two here and there. You aren’t even concerned as to whether some of the walls are brick and some are iron – anything will do. Then the day comes when it is finished and you realize that the finished product is not anything like you had hoped for. In fact, with the first strong wind you almost lose the whole house. Would you really spend so little time, energy and money on something so important?

No!! I would think that you would get expert advice right from the start. Get your home up and built by people who know what they are doing. This way you end up with a home that will provide you with comfort and joy for a long time. It will serve the specific purpose you intended.

Why is it that people have a different attitude with their business?

Albert Einstein once said “The definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results”. Think about this quote for a second and ask yourself, does this apply to the way you run your small business? “Oh, I’ll just try to get a bit more business and then get some help…”, “I’ll just start to make some money, and then ……”, “I’ll just…”, “I’ll just……”, “I’ll just……”

Is this making you cash every day?

Maybe your goal is only $100 extra per day? Getting cash into your pocket is about doing the right things every day. You have to create that formula for your distinct business.

Some of you think that money is just going to walk in the door or drop into the internet. You’ve got to have a model. You’ve got to have a plan to execute if you are going to stay in business and make money.

So, my first question to you is “Do you want to make money in business?” – yes or no?

The next question (and the answer to determine your level of success), “Are you willing to be teachable?”

This weeks action plan:

List at least three levels of your product or service that you have to offer your prospects
Make a list of people you are going to personally call on the telephone and “check in” with to see if you can be of service to them
If you haven’t already, create your business model and simple marketing plan for 2011

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My Notes From Unstoppable Entrepreneur Jonathan Budd Event: 5 Tips from Top Achievers

My Notes From Unstoppable Entrepreneur Jonathan Budd Event

5 Tips From Top Achievers…

Build the Plane While You Are Flying It

Build A Team

Include High Ticket Offerings

Fail Forward

Create An Effective Sales Funnel

Lasers and La Jolla From Jonathan Budd Event

Jonathan Budd Puts on a SHOW!

San Diego is One of My Favourite Cities

Video: Clips from the Jonathan Budd Trip