I thought you be interested in some ideas from an internet marketing webinar I attended this week.  While there are some unique aspects of this kind of marketing, the speaker's ideas were practical for any type of marketing.  If you know me, you also know I love alliteration – (the "C" theme below).

Here is my take-away and what I'm keeping in mind in my marketing actions.

1.  Courage
It takes courage to put yourself out there when you are marketing because your consulting practice can be very personal.  This is especially true if you a solo practice consultant. You may worry about whether prospects like you and what you offer. There will be times when they don't get what you do or why they should hire you. So I have to have the right mind set starting out to make sure I do the things that make me uncomfortable.

2.  Compassion
The best marketers get into the minds of their prospects and clients – they know (and understand) what keeps them up at night. People don't buy because they understand you and your offerings. They buy because they feel you understand them. This deeper understanding makes prospects and clients say "they really know me and my needs."

3.  Connection
Marketing is also about building a relationship with your audience. I disagree with marketing out of pain or fear. I want to understand what they fear or causes them pain (that's the compassion) but I also want to be considered a valuable partner by my prospects and clients. As one who loves to build relationships, this is less of a challenge for me than others – but something I want to do better.

4.  Consistency
I've heard this again and again from multiple sources on marketing. Having a plan AND sticking to it is key – you need both and many of us have neither. In addition, you may need to do something 10 or 20 times until you begin to see results. Most people stop too soon – and that's a key difference between an amateur and a professional.  Keep this in mind when starting any marketing strategy such as a blog or newsletter.

5.  Copy
Another repeated idea when studying marketing is the content and titles of your marketing information. I have to admit, this is the area I struggle with the most – making my headlines or subject lines grab the reader and make them want to open and read my content.

6.  Contribution
A speaker at a conference in January challenged us to become famous in our backyard – a challenge I have taken as a mission of mine for 2012.  My goal is to be the best at what I do – by continual learning and practice.  I am also focusing on what I can offer or share with others (prospects, clients, my community) – not just what I need for me to grow my business.

As always, I'd love to hear your thoughts on this – and any other "C" marketing ideas you may have.

Makes me remember one of Zig Ziglar's lessons: "Treat every day like it's the day before vacation and you will get more work done!"

Before vacation, I had no time to waste. I had an agenda of exactly what needed to be done and I put all my time and attention into doing it. Now that I'm back home, I already see myself slipping into time-wasting behavior, dawdling over unnecessary emails and spending too much time deciding what to do next.

In thinking back to my pre-vacation mindset, I can easily make a list of behaviors that allowed me to get more done during that week:

1. Make a short list of things that must get done. Don't stray from it. Of course, I have my long list. It goes on and on. But my short list is the "High Priority" version, stripped down to the real necessities that absolutely must be finished this week.

2. Do the hardest things first. When I attack the most difficult item on my list first thing in the morning, I'm working at peak energy, when my mind and body are fresh. Once the hardest task is out of the way, everything else on my day's list seems easier.  I don't have that hard task hanging over me, distracting me.

3. Control communications. Usually I check my email and social media several times throughout the day and take calls whenever they come in. These frequent interruptions are seriously distracting. Before vacation, as I began disconnecting, I saw my focus – and productivity – soar.  On vacation, I did check emails – but far less than usual. The world didn't end.  The Lesson: reduce interruptions by scheduling times to take calls, to check email and social media. Set autoresponders and voice mails to let people know when calls and messages will be returned.

4. Delegate others to act. Before leaving on vacation, most of us enlisted others to take over small tasks like watering the plants and collecting the mail. But as soon as we return, it's back to doing it all ourselves. Take a good look at your business and home life and see what tasks you can delegate to others. That frees you up to concentrate on what really needs to be done to move your business ahead.

5. Set deadlines and keep them. With vacation looming, I knew I had to get that short list completed in a set amount of time – before I got on that plane and left the country. I got very serious and focused – and a lot got done. Setting deadlines helps me stick to my list and avoid veering off in other directions.

What do you do before you leave on a trip that helps get things done? Share your thoughts and best tips with other consultants in the comments section below.

1. What are the key issues or challenges you are facing this year? Don't just think you know what the prospect deems important – hear it from them.
2. Who do they impact? This might be key for only one area of the organization, or a more widespread challenge. This might be a bigger project than you would have anticipated.
3. Who is most responsible to solve this issue or challenge? Make sure you are talking to the right decision maker – the one who will benefit (or lose) the most if this issue is not addressed.
4. What is keeping (or has kept) you from addressing this issue so far? It is good to know what is currently being done – or not done – to resolve this.
5. How imperative is it to address or resolve this issue right now?  Using a 1-10 rating scale helps both you and the prospect really see how much of a priority this issue is, especially if there is more than one issue on the table.

How do you uncover a prospect's real need, their commitment to resolving their need, and whether they are the right person to talk to?  As always, I would love to hear your thoughts.

To Your Success!

Buenos tardes!  I'm having so much fun in Mexico, I forgot today was Saturday.  Of course, if I was more organized, I'd have these written before I left – but that's a topic for another Saturday.

I've been reviewing this in my practice, and recently had a conversation on this subject with a consultant coaching client. Too often the control or power in follow-up after a talk/class/webinar is given up to the participant when you need to maintain that control. A common action at the end is "email me if you want a copy of my <whatever freebie you're offering>" or a last slide that says "email me for more information…"

Last week I shared your survey responses on the challenges of being a consultant.  This week I'm sharing your responses on the challenges of getting clients.

Your reported most clients come from referrals – either from referral partners or word-of-mouth.  Many of you have a desire to add more this method by learning to get more clients from online classes, live workshops or speaking.

Getting appointments is important and most seem to feel they are good at doing that.  Having more prospects to call, either for new business or to do more with current clients, is the thing you want to do better. 

As always, I'd love to hear your thoughts – do any of the survey results surprise you?  Do they match your views on this subject?

To Your Success!

Several weeks ago, I emphasized the importance of knowing what your target audience thinks are their challenges and compelling issues vs. what you think they are.

I wanted to know more about what's on your mind so I created a survey to learn more of your thoughts on selling your services and getting new business and clients.  The results were interesting – some things have changed in the past few years and some things have stayed the same.

Overall, you felt the challenges of being a consultant included:

• Finding new business  -               57.9%
• Pricing Services  -                       52.6%
• Conflicting Priorities  -                 31.6%
• Procrastination  -                        26.3%
• Gaps between projects or jobs  -  21.1%

Finding new business challenges include:

• Meeting qualified prospects (poor referrals or no money to buy topped the list of poor prospects)
• Consistent marketing efforts
• Having a clear verbal and written message of what you do – that the prospect relates to
• Time to do it all
• Taking clients you shouldn't because you need the income
• Staying top of mind with current or past clients for repeat or extra business

When I first had the idea for Consultants Gold in 2009, finding new clients and banking more money were the key needs I heard. Talented consultants were struggling or going out of business because they ran out of money.

Three years later, this need is still strong from consultants – regardless if they are just starting out or have been in business for a while.  It continues to confirm the need for what we do at Consultants Gold.

That's why we offer a FREE monthly TeleClass called Focusing Your Message to Get More Clients to help you better identify your ideal client.  Armed with this focus, you can seek out better prospects, fine-tune your marketing message and activity, and increase your referrals from others because they know who to look for too.  If you haven't registered for this yet, why not?  The only thing you have to lose is the business you would be getting.

To Your Success!

• Energy – the more activity I do, the more motivated I become.  I see AND run into more opportunities.  And this generates ….
• Enthusiasm – I see results for my efforts.  It's a great feeling to see my prospect and sales pipeline growing and growing.  And this generates …
• Earnings !!!  While many of us do this because we love it, until we win the lottery, this is not only a motivating factor in what we do but also keeps us in business.