A few weeks ago I attended a great conference with awesome speakers. They were passionate, polished and very knowledgeable. There was just one thing that struck me as very odd. So many of them crumbled when it came to the end where they were going to make an offer. I heard things said such as “I am not trying to sell you anything, this is not a sales pitch,…”. Why not??? Why do we need to even excuse ourselves for a sales pitch?

Sales is not a dirty word and I think it’s important we get over our resistance to it because none of us would even have a business if we were not actively selling something. As you can see from my newsletter I always have an offer for you out there even if it’s a free one.

I do understand that there is some backlash to events that are simply pitch fests and people being over that. AND, let’s not throw the baby out with the bathwater. The reason why there are so many fantastic free offers out there is because they inspire a certain percentage of everyone enjoying the free stuff to actually take action and invest in taking the next step. And it’s when they take the next step that they really see the big benefits. Because even though the free stuff is extremely useful, it is always only part of the picture.

Nobody can put years worth of study and experience into a one hour free teleseminar/webinar and the like. The purpose of the free offer is to showcase your expertise and to give the audience the inspiration and the confidence to take take the next step and commit to achieving their goal using your material, teaching, systems.That is a really important step as when you sell information/coaching/consulting you are always selling a result.

So the better you are at building people’s confidence that they can do what you recommend in order to get the results they want, the more people will invest with you. That’s what you want to achieve in your promo free give aways. So don’t be afraid to be generous when you give information for free and at the same time don’t be afraid to make your offer and invite people to take the next step. Your speech/free give away earns you the right to make that offer.

And believe me, there are  people who want to hear it, who are waiting for you to show them how they can find out more, so don’t rob them of the opportunity to invest in themselves!

Ok, I”m going to get off my soap box now, what do you think of this? I’d love your comments on this here on the blog, I promise I read every one of them, even if I don’t always get to answer everybody!

So drop me a line ok?

You may have heard it before: Experts get paid a lot more than Generalists, and the way to attract a lot of clients is to position yourself as an expert in your field. Being the accepted Go-to Person for your particular field is the easiest way to stand out and have clients choose your service over your competitors’. Ok so far so good. But how do we do this in the fastest way possible you might ask.

When people hear the word ‘Expert’ they often think of somebody who has been in one field for a long time. Many people balk at the idea of claiming expert status for themselves thinking “Who am I to claim I am an expert, I don’t know anywhere near enough to be an expert. When I ask clients how long they need to have been in a field before they can claim to be an expert, they often answer with “at least five years”. Hmm, so what are you meant to do in the meantime? Just accepting the fact that you are merely mediocre? Marketing yourself as a beginner?? No way. Nobody wants to work with a beginner. So who decides from what point onwards you can call yourself an expert?

And really it can be so easy if you just make that one small but important mindset shift that lets you claim expert status no matter where you are at and how long you have been doing what you’re doing.

Here is the all important question:

Who is your audience?

Expert status is always relative. Here’s an example. I am a total tennis novice. For me the tennis coach giving lessons at my local club is an expert at what he does. But for a professional player, like the world’s number one, Roger Federer he is not really the expert, he’s an amateur. Roger needs somebody MUCH more experienced and knowledgeable than my local tennis coach to assist him in his training.

Point being, who do you cater for with your expertise? If my local tennis coach compared himself to Roger Federer’s trainer, he would never be able to claim expert status. He will be forever an amateur. Feeling like the eternal amateur isn’t going to be good for his image and not very client attractive. Not to mention what it will do for his self esteem. But for a tennis novice like me, my local trainer is THE expert I want to work with as he can relate to me as a beginner, he knows how to teach beginners like me and he can easily take me to the goal I want to achieve when it comes to playing tennis. Maybe better than Roger Federer’s trainer who really would be totally bored working with a beginner like me.

Now how about you? If you are having issues claiming expert status, then who are you comparing yourself to? A competitor who has been in the industry you just entered for 10 years? Is that why you can’t claim to be the expert? And who are you looking at catering for? Where are they at in their journey? And what level of expertise will most serve them right now?

Now if you needed to be THE BEST to be an expert, then wouldn’t every local tennis coach be out of work while Roger Federer’s trainer was inundated with clients? I think we both know the local tennis coach down the road has nothing to fear from Roger’s coach. And both can quite happily call themselves experts, as they are both speaking to a different audience.

So what is your audience? And how far ahead of them are you? Can you take them forward the steps they are seeking to take? If yes, great then you are an expert in their eyes RIGHT NOW.

Next week I will share with you three ways you can position yourself as an expert almost instantly. Hint – check out my Client Attraction Week Telesummit where I team up with seven other experts to bring you highly effective strategies for positioning yourself as an expert…. you can attend for FREE, check it out… http://www.clientprosperity.com/telesummitsales

In the meantime, what are your thoughts on the whole Expert Status thing? I’d love to know, please leave me a note…

Running your business can be a lot of fun when things go well and clients knock on your door. And it can also become a huge energy drag if things are not going so well. While we all go through the ‘freak out days’ where we think we’ll never fill a workshop, that’s just part of the game, if the state of anxiety about getting enough clients persists, then it’s definitely no fun. It is all to easy to get drawn into the energy of wanting to ‘get’ the next client. And from my experience that is where the problem starts and the clients disappear.

It’s important that as entrepreneurs we stay connected to the energy of abundance, generosity and excitement around our business. It’s that high level of vibration where we are most creative that we are most client attractive. In other words, if you are enjoying yourself, your ideal clients will come to you.

So how do we stay connected to that energy of abundance? This is no woo-woo stuff, it’s really fundamental for a successful business. If you want to keep your sanity while building your six figure income business, you really want to be taking notice of my three top tips for staying in the energy of abundance and generosity that I want to share with you here

1. Be energetically connected with your ideal client
Yes, I wrote about the ideal client just last week, and I am mentioning it here again because it’s so important. This goes way beyond just collecting data. It’s really about being energetically connected with them, knowing what is going on for them on an emotional level so you can write to them and speak to them in your marketing message. It’s kind of like a free flowing continuation, working with you is just what is naturally happening next. Most Solopreneurs who struggle to attract clients are much more connected to what they want to provide than to what their clients want right now. Shift your focus and see what comes up. New doors may just open that you hadn’t considered before.

2. Be realistic with your goals
It’s easy to get freaked out if you have set yourself goals that are unrealistic. Check in with your goals, are they really achievable? There comes a stage where marketing (good marketing) is a numbers game and you need to know how many people you need to speak to in order to fill a program. It’s not necessarily a reflection on your service or product if not enough clients show up, sometimes you just haven’t got your numbers right. Most solopreneurs underestimate the amount of prospects and well nurtured relationships it takes in order to fill a program. So check in with your whole marketing campaign, is it built to create the result you want? Or do you need to adjust the bar?

3. The magic of pent-up demand
This is really about the energy you WANT to create. This one can be a little uncomfortable too, especially if you are someone who likes to please everybody at once. However pent up demand is a good thing. It’s the kind of energy you have just before the doors open to the Boxing Day Sales or the day really hot concert tickets are released and people are camping outside to get their hands on them.
I’m serious, that’s the holy grail of marketing. You can only create it if what you do is not abundantly available on every street corner. So have a look at what your clients really really want and give it to them, but not anytime anywhere.

If you want to learn more about how to build your business in a way that attracts clients to you, while you are in the energy of abundance and generosity, then attend my upcoming free teleclass http://www.clientprosperity.com/teleseminar03.html where I’ll be sharing with you how to design a Coaching or Consulting Business that attracts ideal clients and has them contact YOU.

And if you enjoyed this post, please leave me a note, I’d love to know what you think of it.

Your Database or ‘List’ as some people call it, is one of if not the greatest asset in your business. Your List are your subscribers, people you communicate with regularly usually via email, and who you build a relationship with.

Growing a subscriber base that is really responsive to your messages, that loves what you do and that responds to your offers is extremely important for your business success. Quality is more important than quantity here and again, you want to make sure the number of relationships you have grows steadily. The more relationships you cultivate and the better your subscriber knows, likes and trusts you the better.

Believe me, the more your database grows, the easier it is to market your programs and products and the more money you are going to make, simply because you will reach more people who are ready to do business with you at any given point in time.

So how do you grow your subscriber list quickly with lots of ideal potential clients who respond to your messages?

It goes almost without saying that you MUST know your ideal client profile. Knowing your ideal client makes it easy to tailor your message and to show them that you have the solutions they are looking for. So know their age, their gender, their income level, their typical life circumstance (eg are they an entrepreneur, a mom, an employed professional etc.), their attributes: eg. are they tech savvy, have certain hobbies, passions etc.

Here are 3 things you can do that tend to help your ideal potential clients find you and become your subscribers:

1. Write an Article about the most pressing problem your ideal clients have and outline your solutions. Be generous and give some of your best strategies. Telling them what the strategies are will inspire your ideal client to see what is possible for them and will position you as the ‘go-to’ Expert. Submit the article to relevant article directories on the internet, make it available as a newsletter contribution for other people in related industries who already have a relationship with your potential clients, or post it on relevant resource sites. Make sure you add your contact details including your website link at the end motivating people to go to your site to get more information.

2. Do a free teleseminar on the topic you wrote the article about. Collaborate with people in related industries who already have a relationship with your client base. Ideally your service should compliment theirs. Arrange for them to promote and endorse your free teleseminar to their subscribers. Their subscribers need to come to your website and leave their name and email address to get the free teleseminar. You can then start to engage them in a conversation by educating them about possible solutions to their most pressing problem. Again, be generous with your expertise but don’t give away ‘the whole store’. Make sure your collaborator benefits from this relationship so it’s a true win-win.

3. Create a massively valuable free giveaway that people tell other people about because it’s so valuable. You can record your free teleseminar and make the recording available to your subscribers. If it’s good they are going to want to tell their friends about it and so they come back to your site. Again, to get the free giveaway they need to register on your website and give their name and email address helping you to start a conversation with them.

Don’t be afraid to give great value, it will pay off for you, it always has for me. I know that a lot of my subscribers read my ezine, come to my free teleseminars and tell their friends and colleagues about it. People do start to know, like and trust me and that’s what growing your List is all about.

So go and spread the good stuff you have and you’ll attract lots of great new subscribers for your tribe!

Click here to listen to this blog post:

The silly season is nearly upon us. And if you want to have a headstart in 2010 then now is the time to really strenghten your focus one more time before going into party mode. There are a number of things you can do NOW to set yourself up for a headstart in 2010. And they’re all about planning ahead.

Most Solo-entrepreneurs take the ‘fly by the seat of your pants’ approach when it comes to their marketing calendar (I know I used to be one of them). But to really take advantage of opportunities you want to be clear of exactly how you want the year to unfold and what needs to happen to create the success you want.

Here are the things in order of priority that you may want to start thinking about NOW:

1. Lay out all your offers for 2010
If you really want to be super successful next year, then stop flying by the seat of your pants and start planning at least 12 months ahead. Be sure to put all program launch dates in your diary right now (don’t forget to also put your holidays in there). this will mean once the new year comes around all you need to do is execute. That’s where you want to be.

2. Determine all your List-building activities
How are you going to widen your Circle of Influence? Start looking for Joint-Venture Partners now that help you get your message out to the right people and plenty of them. What speaking engagements would you like to secure? Get clear about what strategic relationships you want to create next year and start planning for it now. What networking functions (or christmas parties) should you attend to help meet the right people who can help you/and that you can help in return?

3. Decide what to delegate and outsource
It’s important to secure help in advance. If you want to get big things done next year, you will need help. You cannot build an empire alone. Start looking for team members you might like to work with and have preliminary discussions with them now. It’s not easy selecting the right people once you are in the thick of it.
And not having them on board in time will slow you down. So make these decisions now.

4. Find out where your skills gaps are
Do you know what technical skills you need to get the ’show on the road’? What about your Marketing Know-how? Are you clear about how to package the value you offer? How to run a launch campaign for your programs that will actually work (instead of the old hope and pray method once the sales page is up?).
How to structure the webpage, how to increase your database etc.

Naturally I practice what I preach and I am launching a program that will answer all the how-to questions for you at an investment so reasonable, it will blow you away! Stay tuned for more info coming soon…

Of course my Platinum clients will get all of this info plus my personal attention applied to their business so they know exactly what to implement in their business. It’ll take all the guesswork out of it. Still 2 spots available in my Platinum 2010 Massive Momentum with Lifestyle Program. Listen to the preview call and find all the information here.

“Would you like to learn how to Package and Price your Unique Brilliance, so you can attract more ideal clients and turn your Passion into a prosperous and purposeful Business then visit my web site, http://www.clientprosperity.com, for free articles, free resources and to sign up for my free audio program “7 Steps to a Prosperous and Passionfilled Solobusiness” 6 Figure Solopreneur Coach Yvonne McIntosh .

Have you settled on a niche yet? I know it’s not an easy decision to make for most service professionals and it’s the most important decision you will ever make in your business. It can mean the difference between a thriving business and a total lemon.

A lot of people are resisting making the decision for the fear of getting it wrong and losing their business. I used to be one of them. Apart from the fear of losing clients I was also extremely fond of all the different things I was doing and didn’t want to let go of any of them. I love stimulation and variety (probably smiliar to you).

On thing I have learned over the last few years is though: You MUST settle on a niche to be financially successful (beyond the $100,000 ceiling you can just reach without making this decision, but you’ll be working hard to maintain that for the rest of your life).

I have a step by step process that effectively leads you to make that decision. Many of my Market your Brilliance Workshop attendees made the decision on the workshop weekend, they had huge breakthroughs. I want to share with you the fundamental questions that start this process off so you can get yourself into the frame of mind that helps you make this all important decision.

So here it goes, you may want to do this with me as we go through:

Step1: Find out what you are passionate about

There is no point starting a business when your heart is not 100% in it. That’s why it makes sense to do this process from the inside out and start with what your heart tells you. When you do this, don’t think about how you will make it happen, will someone buy it etc. that just sabotages the process. That comes later. For now just focus on what you are really passionate about. Believe me without this passion you won’t have the commitment you need to make your business a success. This is especially true for us heart-centred entrepreneurs. Being an NLP Expert I use processes here that uncover your passion by engaging the unconscious mind.

Step 2: Your ideal client and their problem

Who is it that you want to work with and what problem do you solve for them? This is the time to get really specific in articulating these things. The clearer you are the better. And yes that means some people won’t fit into your profile anymore. That’s the point.
If you don’t set a clear boundary around who you work with, then nobody in particular will feel spoken to. And here is the crux of it: If you can find 5 people that want to work with you because you offer exactly what they need and you are confident your solution will solve their problem, then you have a good chance of building a viable business. Because if you can find 5 then you can find more. It’s then just a question of how do you find them and that can be solved.

Step 3: Does your ideal client have enough spending power?

So you know they have a problem you can solve. Do they want to solve it? Is it important enough for them to spend money on solving it? Do they have the spending power to buy your solution? This is critical and sometimes overlooked. Some of the biggest problems we have are not the ones we spend the most money on solving. Ever thought about it that way? Look at your own life and your spending patterns, what do you really need (be honest) and what do you spend the most money on?

How did you go? Has your view of your niche changed at all? still undecided? If you need a way to tighten this up and really nail it down, if you are having a couple of alternatives to choose from here is what I suggest:

1. Go out and test your ideas on an audience of your envisaged ideal clients

2. Get help from a mentor who is unbiased and can ask the questions that you may be avoiding to look at because of fears or emotional attachments to a particular niche.

This is one focus of our Platinum 2010 Program. All my Platinum Program Members will be guided to making sound decisions on their niche so they have a solid base to build their business on. It’s much easier to see your vision unfold once you have made these basic decisions. Could it be time for you to step up and become part of a Mentoring Program that holds you to your goals and helps you to realise them with sound advice, savvy coaching and a great sense of community?
Go to www.clientprosperity.com/platinum to get your Platinum Invitation letter and application form.

Whenever I go to events run by people who have the level of success I aspire to have, I make a point of modeling their mindset, because I know that’s where it all starts.

Have you ever wondered how a Million Dollar passion-inspired Solopreneur thinks?

What beliefs they hold that have taken them to this level of success?

There are three key mindset aspects I took away from spending time with my Million Dollar Mentor and I want to share them with you here:

1. When making decisions, act from where you want to be, not where you are now

Say you want to create a 200,000 a year income business based on your passion (which by the way is a great goal to have, it’s a real point of momentum), then as an entrepreneur who has already achieved that,

1. What activities do you focus on?
2. What is your perspective when making decisions, what are you looking to achieve?
3. What do you need to let go of?

This is a really powerful concept and can move you forward big time.

Here is an insight into what that could mean for you: Most people who are aspiring to this income level need to let go of their focus on getting out to meet the next client and moving towards getting out to meet the next Joint Venture partner. Big shift in perspective!

2. Set your income high enough so you need to get things done differently

This was a big one for me. I realized that my income goals for next year needed to increase so I was forced to change the way I work and really step up and out of my comfort zone. If you don’t set a goal that is realistic but a real stretch, then you might cheat yourself by simply doing more of the same, which invariably gets you to get stuck.

Moving up the income ladder means letting go of your current work practices, adopting new ones and stepping into a new way of operating.

3. Plan further ahead, don’t start anything unless you can get at least 2 more streams of income out of it

Have you ever launched a new program, put lots of work into it, made money from it and then asked yourself, now what?

Every program you launch should seamlessly lead into a follow up of at least 2 other streams of income. You are robbing yourself of extra income if you don’t and you are robbing your clients of the opportunity to further benefit from your services.

How long is your planning horizon for your business? 12 months is a real minimum and the higher your income goals, the further out you need to plan. Knowing how to integrate different programs is a real essential skill for your 6 figure income success!

I personally love modeling people who are ahead of me without being at a Quantum Leap from where I am so I can see very clearly how I can get myself to the next level. It makes it very real and gives me the confidence to say, if they can do it, I can do it too!

If you want to know more about how to overcome the typical mindset challenges Solo- Entrepreneurs face, then join us for the free interactive one time only teleclass: “How to ditch the self doubt and step up to play a bigger game in your Business” this Wednesday 28 October, 6pm East Coast Australia Daylight Saving Time, 5pm Qld, 8pm NZ time. Register here: www.clientprosperity.com/teleseminar.html