Browse published articles attributed to Fabienne Fredrickson, with full-archive search.
The mistake that most self-employed people in private practice looking for clients make is that they tell people about what they think they do, instead of the results the client wants to receive. The problem is, people don’t necessarily want a journey; they want a direct route to a solution. Essentially, they want RESULTS, first and foremost.
Do you speak often and wonder how you can get paid to speak? Getting paid speaking gigs is a real possibility. When you’re paid to speak, you’re earning money to give your presentation and get clients at the same time. Just keep in mind that the speaking business can be an entire business in itself, beyond the services you already offer. I still take advantage of speaking opportunities that don’t pay which, by the way, is true of many associations. Why do I agree to do this? Speaking, paid or unpaid, is good for many reasons: 1. For the exposure 2. To get clientsr
If you want to start attracting your ideal clients in droves, it’s time to do some serious drilling-down to find out as much as you can about that target’s critical problems.Without knowing their critical problems, challenges, issues and stumbling blocks, you simply won’t be as Client Attractive. The good news is, it’s relatively easy to find out everything you need to know about them. Put yourself in their well-wo comfortable shoes, completely, and then ask yourself these questions: What is it that keeps them up at night worrying (as it relates to what you do)?r
Are you tired of talking to prospects who give you a “glazed-over” look? That reaction can be a signal you are not clear on who is your ideal target audience. Determining a specific target group of potential clients will not only make your marketing easier, it will also help you close sales more quickly and easily.
QUOTE: “Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate. Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure… Your playing small does not serve the world. There is nothing enlightened about shrinking so that other people won’t feel insecure around you.”rn – Marianne Williamson, A Return To Love After sharing my personal “Video Vision Board” with my 10,000+ readers this week, I received a lot of comments and questions. One of the ones that stood out the most for me was this one: “Hey Fabienne, just watched the You Tube video. It’s awesome.
If your target is female entrepreneurs, that is great news. Why do I say this? Because they are an easy group to find! If this group is your ideal client, I’m going to share a variety of methods to help you reach women business owners. 1. Visit Women’s Associations
As a busy entrepreneur, you are probably creating articles, programs and teleclasses to provide value and attract more clients. But did you know your materials have more life to them than a one-time use? To make the most of your productivity, you want to find ways to leverage these creations to get even more out of them. I’m going to share a number of the ways you can repurpose your materials to make them work harder for you. 1. Combine blog posts to create an ebook 2. Record yourself reading your ebook to make an audio product
“How LOW can you go?” is what you think about when you do the limbo. Since we’re talking about marketing, I’ll ask you this: How BOLD can you go, in describing what you do? I was coaching a private client this week about how to turn his Kitchen Designer elevator speech into a conversation that elicits a prospective client meeting, right there at the networking event and in less than 5 minutes! The key?
If you are working to attract clients and create a positive mindset, affirmations will help get you there. What a difference they can make! In case you aren’t familiar with this mindset technique, an affirmation is a positive statement about a goal you want to achieve, written in the present tense as if it is happening right now. The First Step is to Write Your Affirmations. You want to craft a series of positive statements about the goals you wish to accomplish. For example, you might write about your business:r
It’s important to educate the people you consider personal advocates (those who know you, like you, trust you, love you and want the best for you), and let them know what you’re up to and who your best clients are. (If you’re just starting out, it’s a letter of introduction; if you’ve been in practice several months or years, write an “update letter” of how your practice has grown or new services that you provide.)
If you are just starting your practice, you may feel like you are stuck in a vortex of confusion about your marketing and what comes first. For example, so many clients have asked me, “How can I get out there when I don’t have my website yet? Not having a finished website can keep people from establishing a brand, getting a logo designed, printing up business cards, and more. When everything hinges on a completed and working website, it seems like nothing else can move forward. But, this is a big fallacy for people and I say this lovingly – it is total nonsense.
Have you noticed you are attracting interest in your business, but somehow you’re not getting more clients? When this happens to people, there is usually something we call a “chaotic vibration” going on.
Sometimes, for some reason, the brand new client decides to back out and not go forward with working with you, even BEFORE starting the work.There’s nothing more frustrating. Do you let them just walk away, or do you DO something about it? In my opinion, how to respond is directly related to the reason they’re backing out. Once you know, you can respond accordingly. It’s important to examine what’s REALLY going on and get down to the real reason why they’re not going forward with working with you. In my experience, it often boils down to the following:
“A desire can overcome all objections and obstacles.” -Anonymous You’ll always get objections. Let’s face it. You may have the world’s best service, the best product available in your category or industry, but no matter what you do, no matter how good you are, you’re always going to have to deal with objections. What’s the nature of objections, anyway? I believe most people simply have limiting beliefs of some sort; old conditioning that often keeps them from succeeding. It may be fear of failure, fear of success, fear of being ripped off, fear of overwhelm, etc.
“I don’t know the key to success, but the key to failure is trying to please everybody.” — Bill Cosby To attract clients consistently and with little effort, your marketing message must be clear and it must stand out. There’s no way around it. If what you say about your business and what prospects read about it isn’t sounding irresistible to them, they’ll move on to the next person. Guaranteed. So, your task is to stand out from the pack and to make prospects really stand up and listen to what you have to offer.
There are so many ways to follow up with potential clients. Some are less direct than others, but still help you build a relationship and stay in touch with prospects. I’m going to share three of the easiest ways to warm up prospects and stay in touch. 1. Your Irresistible Free Offer and ezine
Years ago, I felt like I was living a little bit of a lie. Everything I put out there on my website was focused strictly on business, both client attraction and marketing. However, when you get more familiar with my work, you can start to see what’s on the inside: my spirituality.
Not many marketing gurus out there talk to you about walking your talk. That said; it’s important to have your image fit what you do. Living your message makes all the difference in attracting clients. Your image is just as important as your marketing message and your claim in the marketplace. If you are a seriously overweight, out-of-breath personal trainer or a consultant whose own company is struggling to succeed, you’re probably not going to attract many clients, no matter what you say or do.
When I was first starting out trying to close the sale as an solo-entrepreneur, I would offer only one rate and the offer was basically “this is what I charge, take it or leave it.” So people would either take it or leave it. Then I realized that clients work in a different way. Many people like options (I do too). They don’t want to be “forced” into taking something that doesn’t suit them. They want the option of small, medium or large. There’s also some psychology to it.
What’s great about having a proprietary system is that it becomes what I call an “Accordion Talk” where you could deliver a 25-minute talk or two hours or a full day. It all depends on how much time you have for the presentation. The key is to provide a lot of content and value so the audience feels like they want to work with you, but – not give away the “how”. Follow this template and you can stretch it to fill as much time as you have for the workshop.
QUOTE: “Most people confuse wishing and wanting with pursuing. You must place your trust in ACTION.” – Price Pritchett I’ve been hearing this one question a lot recently: “Fabienne, what did you actually DO to multiply your 1ncome so quickly?
Ok, so you’ve identified your ideal client profile. The question you now have to ask yourself is, “Have I chosen a viable target audience?” meaning, is it actually worthwhile to market to these people? You can have all the focus, drive, and good intentions to market to a group of people, but if they’re not easily reached in large numbers and inexpensively, if they don’t congregate often or they’re too difficult to locate, it’s going to make your Client Attraction attempts much more difficult. Here are some questions to ask yourself (be a hard grader): Can you find them easily?r
If you want to grow your business, hands-down, you need an assistant. And by “grow,” I really mean “make more money.” Oh, I know what you’re thinking! “I don’t make enough money to hire an assistant yet. That’s just not something that I can do right now.” I know you’re thinking this because I thought the same thing too, at first. I resisted working with a Virtual Assistant (VA) for over a year. Then I tried it because I didn’t have any other choice. I was so busy working on client projects and actually seeing clients that I didn’t have time to market my business.
The real reason we make excuses around self-promotion is that self- employed people are afraid of what people might think. Our businesses are such an extension of who we are that we are very careful about how we talk about our businesses and what we say to others about it. The problem is (as I’ve said so many times before), if you don’t market consistently, you won’t have clients consistently. Period. So, how can you stop being afraid of what people might think of you? You need to reframe how you view marketing. Here’s what I usually say to a reluctant marketer:
“What you have to give is enough – if you give it with all your heart. ”rn-Chieko N. Okazaki For years, I’ve noticed how many of my clients stopped themselves from marketing because they needed to learn MORE. They’d already gone through the required training, and many were certified, but it was like something strange was in the punch bowl and they were all drinking it: the I’m Not Enough Yet fruit punch. Here are some of the things I heard from some clients and workshop participants.
I’ve often said that the 3 best ways to attract clients quickly and consistently are: 1. consistent networking, 2. a stay-in-touch vehicle such as an ezine, and 3. a Client Attractive signature talk. What’s a signature talk? It’s the one talk you give that you start to be known for, referred for, and the one you’ll know like the back of your hand. It’s the talk you give over and over again, the one you’ve mastered and the one crafted to attract all the clients you need.
One of the major complaints new clients of mine had before working with me is that, although they are sometimes able to attract a sufficient number of clients, the clients are not sticking around long enough for the person to make money or really help them. What happens is, they spend most of their working hours attracting new clients, as opposed to working with their existing clients and bringing them results. I don’t blame them. If clients didn’t work with me on a continuous basis, I’d have to work much harder tha I do now to make sure my new prospects list was much longer.
“I don’t know the key to success, but the key to failure is trying to please everybody.”rn- Bill Cosby No one likes a generalist (do you want a generalist performing a quadruple bypass on you, or do you want the best coronary surgeon in the country doing that?) so it’s time for you to get really specific on what makes you an expert in your field. A niche doesn’t always have to do with a particular type of client. Rather, it sometimes has to do with a particular situation you solve or some THING or RESULT at which you are considered an expert.
I once asked a few people to be part of my Research and Development team to find out what stopped them from getting out there in a BIG way to get clients. I also asked them to tell me the MOST they could see themselves making being self-employed. Honestly, I was saddened by the answers that ...
Getting clients through networking is important for you to succeed in your own business, no matter what level you’ve reached (start-up, ramp-up or already successful.) Problem is, while networking to get more clients, you may be unclear on “what to say” and “how to say it.” And that means you can easily make people’s eyes glaze over, which is NOT good for Client Attraction. Time to change that! The first thing for you to think about is your objective for networking. Ideally, there are two desired outcomes: to inspire an ideal client to want to work with you and begin the processr
What is the personality of your business? A lot of people have trouble growing their business very quickly and big because the business has a split personality. When I was first starting out in business when I had my nutrition business, I saw people who would say, “Oh, I’m a holistic nutritionist but I also do Reiki and I also do jujitsu and I also do bach flower remedies and I teach yoga.” That’s great but they would try to communicate what they did and people just didn’t really get it.
Today’s article strategy is how to hire effectively. I want to be really transparent with you on this topic. We hired our first full time, in-person employee three years ago and she’s still with us, which is so great. However, a lot of the people that we hired afterward are no longer working for our company. That’s because we hired very ineffectively. They were all lovely people, they just weren’t the right people.
Years ago, there was a question in my intake packet for new clients titled, “What is holding you back or slowing your progress?”, as it relates to attracting all the clients they need and having a full practice. Having worked with hundreds and hundreds of clients over the years, I’ve seen it all. Other than “no knowledge of marketing,” one thing seems to come up over and over again, and it happened again this week, with a brand new client. The client answered this: “Sometimes, the ‘Little Voice’ inside me asks, ‘Who needs my program anyway?
In practice building (and getting clients) it seems to be that most self-employed people just hope for the best. They simply keep doing what they’ve been doing and don’t have a strategy for creating the practice they’d be truly and deeply happy with. This is a big mistake in my opinion. I used to write down my goals each year, but it never really worked for me. I just didn’t feel really excited about my new goals. They didn’t seem to propel me in motion and so I kind of viewed them as being useless.
You’ve heard me get on my soapbox several times about needing to really hone in on your target audience BEFORE you go out there and market yourself extensively. One of the major reasons this is so important is that most people make the mistake of trying to market to EVERYBODY, fearing that if they niche themselves too much, they’ll narrow down their prospective client pool too much.
To dramatically increase referrals, it’s important to educate the people you consider personal advocates (those who know you, like you, trust you, love you, and want the best for you), and let them know what you’re up to and who your best clients are. If you’re just starting out, it’s a letter of introduction; if you’ve been in practice several months or years, write an “update letter” on how your practice has grown or new services that you provide. The fact is, most people who are your personal advocates will be happy to help (people LOVE to give referrals and to help a fr
It’s easy to see why video can be a powerful tool to help you sell more programs, products or services. The medium is very engaging and offers a fun way to share your marketing message. It also makes it easy for viewers to get to know you, leveraging the important Know, Like, Trust factor. To make the most of it, here are nine suggestions to create videos that sell: 1. Keep it short. Most video should be only a couple of minutes, which is enough to connect and get your message across.
How to follow up on prospects is one of the most common questions I get and there are as many experts with an answer to this as there are ways to do it. I take a cue from a good friend of mine who happens to be my life insurance agent.
Some solopreneurs go for their goals and Client Attraction assignments with amazing zest and enthusiasm. They’re the I-know-what-I-want-just-give-me-the-tools-and-let-me-at-‘em-Fabienne type of folks. Nothing gets in the way and they just get things done. The majority of folks, however, at one point or another, get stopped in their own marketing tracks.
Everyone likes a good story. This is especially true in business when you tell the passion-filled story of your success. That’s because listeners are captivated, aching to imagine their own success story too. What is a Compelling Story? Many entrepreneurs can actually point to a specific, defining moment or a series of determining events that brought them to where they are today. This is the foundation supporting your achievements which can provide you with instant credibility among your prospects.
It’s a phenomenon that happens to most people in business for themselves after a few years. When solo-entrepreneurs first get started in marketing their business, they have gusto, they have energy, and many take a no-excuses approach to getting clients. They’re WILLING to do what it takes, and they do it often (most of them). But after a few years, they begin to rest on their laurels, they get lazy, and after a while, they stop doing what they used to do to get clients.
Clients are always so curious about how I manage to get it all done. And it’s no wonder because now that I see it all down on paper, it does seem like a lot. But, before you think I’ve got it all figured out, let me be very transparent with you. I have a crazy number of emails in my inbox, many of which need answering. And every so often, a few things fall through the cracks. Hey, I’m human after all, but I’m better off tha I’ve ever been before.
Have you ever felt strange about marketing your services for fear of people thinking you weren’t successful enough or good enough at what you do?
Are you having trouble squeezing Client Attraction activity into your work schedule? If you already have a job or a growing practice, it might be tough. So how do you make time for the recommended hours you need to attract new clients? 1. What can you put the “pause button” on in your daily activities? I guarantee there are things you do that are not serving your clients or attracting new ones either. These time drains may include: - Checking and responding to email - Personal phone conversations - Surfing the web - Bouncing between tasks
If you’re anything like me, you’re being bombarded with ezines and emails that continually try to sell you something. Sometimes a particular ezine even arrives on a daily basis, and truthfully, I sit there at my desk, wondering why I subscribe, so much so that I often unsubscribe just as fast as I sign up for them.
How much time per day should you really allocate for marketing? I recommend that my clients spend up to 4 hours of marketing per day the first 6 months to a year in business or whenever they need a new boost of clients. Many people gasp at that number when I first share it with them, because they usually spend no more than 4 hours per week, if that. No wonder they’re having trouble attracting new clients!
If your business is just getting off the ground, you need to build your subscriber list for marketing from zero. This list will be used for email marketing and direct mail. Here are eight easy ways to start off with a bang! 1. Put your previous business contacts on the list. Even if you are doing something completely different, colleagues will be curious how and what you are doing. 2. Add your holiday card list to your list. Let your friends and family know what you are up to as well. They are likely to be supportive so don’t miss out on sharing your news with this close group.
You can have a business card that’s useless or one that gets you clients. Which do you want? Your business card should be considered a serious sales tool, something that someone will look at and get a very good idea not only at what you do, but what you can do for them.
Your newsletter, if done well, takes a good amount of time to write, design the visual presentation and then send out. That’s why finding additional ways to leverage that content to attract clients is a smart business strategy.
You may have a service that takes a little more explaining to help prospects and colleagues understand what you do. Not all services are immediately obvious in terms of who is being served or what the end benefits are. This can be challenging. Sometimes your marketing message needs to be refined a number of times to get it working just right. Or you may need to repeat the message several times for it to sink in. Try these five ways to improve communication and help networkers and prospects grasp your service more quickly.