the expert’s guide to marketingiiis.ca/.../04/marketing-guide-for-veterinarians.pdf ·...

1 | T H E E X P E R T ’ S G U I D E TO MA R K E T I N G P R O F E S S I O N A L S E R V I C E S

MARKETINGTHE EXPERT’S GUIDE TO

Professional Services For Veterinarians


T H E E X P E R T S G U I D E T O M A R K E T I N G P R O F E S S I O N A L S E R V I C E S

Table of ContentsIntroduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2

The Importance Of “Why” In Your Business . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8

7 Questions To Ask To Evaluate Your Business Direction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .10

Establishing Your Credibility and Authority in Your Profession . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .13

How to Make Yourself Unique in Your Marketplace . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .18

How to Read Your Prospect’s Mind and Figure Out Their Pain Points . . . . . . . . . . . . .21

How to Create the Right Marketing Message . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .25

5 Major Obstacles Marketing Must Overcome . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .29

4 Processes Every Business Must Have in Place . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .33

4 Easiest Ways to Double Your Business . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .37

The Case Against Just Using One Marketing Tactic to Get Clients . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .44

How to Create Your Ideal Customer Profile . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .46

The Importance of the 80-20 Rule and How It Can Help Productivity . . . . . . . . . . . . .48

How to “Upgrade Your Clientele” and Attract More Affluent Clients . . . . . . . . . . . . . .50

How to Attract Your Ideal Clientele Offline . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .53

How to Attract Your Ideal Clientele Online . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .56

The Importance of Follow Up . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .58

9 Key Skill Sets Required for Business Success . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .61

5 Time Management Strategies That’ll Help You Get More Done in Your Business . . . . .66

Social Media Cheat Sheet . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .69


Because I will show you how to do something you’re probably avoiding like the plague right now:

Attracting new clients to your business!

Unfortunately, they don’t teach you how to mar-ket your business when you went to school . If I could hazard a guess, I’m sure what you’ve learned about marketing was probably from friends, col-leagues, and what you see other professionals do in your area to gain more business .

Either that, or maybe you went to a few local semi-nars held by search engine optimization experts in your area . Or maybe you’ve been contacted by those “ad experts” who are trying to sell you ad space in the local paper—even expensive television spots .

There’s one thing for certain—there are so many confusing ideas regarding how to get the word out about your business that it’s extremely easy to undergo “information overload”…causing you to dither, procrastinate, “think about it”…to the point you throw up your arms in frustration and end up not doing anything at all .

This report is finally going to give you CLARITY in how you need to market your business . You’ll finally have a sense of direction regarding what strategies to implement, and which ones to forget about—depending on the stage of your business .

Imagine what it will be like when you wake up in the morning and you’re booked solid with plenty of customers . And think about what it

This report may be among the most important reports you’ll read all year.

INTRODUCTION

3


would be like to know exactly how many customers you’ll attract to your practice 3-4 months from now .

That’s what having a proven marketing SYSTEM will do for you .

It will put you at an elite place in business: possess-ing proven systems for attracting all the business you want without anxiety, worry and stress .

Why You Need To Read This With An Open MindMany of the strategies you’re going to read in this report will run contrary to what you’ve learned about marketing or advertising . Many professionals merely delegate the job of marketing and advertising to an ad rep whose job is to promote you on television, radio, or the local newspaper .

Here is how it typically goes when it comes to working with your local ad representative: they tell you they can get you on television or radio for an exorbitant fee . Then you write a big check without knowing whether the ad worked, or without any way you can mea-sure a return on your investment .

The good news is all the strategies we will reveal in this report are trackable and measur-able . That means you’ll know how many people came to your practice when advertising via Facebook ads, pay-per-click advertising or direct mail .


You see, most local ad representatives who contact you are trying to sell you “brand” or “image” advertising . This may work for big companies like Coke or Pepsi who can afford to spend millions of dollars on a Super Bowl ad, but not for a small business like yours .

For example, when Pepsi shows an ad during a football game, they don’t have any illusion that, at half-time of the football game, millions of people are going to jump up out of their seats and run out and buy a Pepsi drink . They don’t expect that to happen and it’s a good thing they don’t because obviously it doesn’t .

What they’re hoping for and what they’re buying is that, over a long period of time, by these sports fans seeing that Pepsi commercial over and over and over again, they con-nect it with this happy, pleasant event and they have warm, nice, fuzzy feelings for Pepsi and that when they are in the grocery store, all of that comes together in their mind and causes them to buy a Pepsi .

But for a small business like yours, you need strategies where you can measure the re-sponse for every promotion you implement to advertise your business . You need to use strategies that demand an immediate result, and are held ruthlessly accountable for that result .

There is also another rule of thumb you have to consider when it comes to marketing your practice . You need to “go against the grain” of what is generally acceptable and “normal” for your profession when it comes to marketing your business .

In other words, while other professionals in your city are using billboards and park bench-es to advertise, you need to be using more laser-targeted methods like direct mail and Facebook advertising .

You need to be doing exactly the opposite of what everyone else is doing when it comes to marketing a practice .


Here is a quote from self-help expert Earl Nightingale, who stated in his timeless audio program Lead The Field:

“Figure out what everybody else is doing, and do exactly the opposite. Because the majority is always wrong.”

That’s especially true when it comes to marketing your practice . While everybody else tells prospects to “call to make an appointment” you need to be doing something else to market your business . This is especially true when it comes to your advertising .

I bet you can open up your local Yellow Pages ads right now in your profession and see they all have the same headlines, call to actions and offers . That’s because many people in your profession are mistakenly assuming they’re doing everything right, since everybody else seems to be running the same types of ads .

This is something you need to be vigilant against, because, when it comes to marketing, you need to be perceived as “different” and “unique” in your prospects’ minds . That way they’ll choose you over anyone else in your profession, and in your area .

Create Your Hate ListOne of the things I teach is to create a “hate list” of everything you hate as a business person . The first item on the hate list is buying advertising where you don’t know whether it works or not .

We call this being an “advertising victim .” That’s where a salesman comes in and sells you on the next bright, shiny, new thing, and you take out your checkbook . You write a check not knowing whether the marketing is go-ing to work or not .

The next thing that should be on your hate list is cold calling or cold pros-pecting . This is “grunt work” that is akin to coal mining because it’s dirty, it’s ugly and it’s hard .

We’ll teach you how to become what we call a “welcome guest marketer” where—when you are attracting your ideal customers—they are coming to you .


Sure, you have more customers and you have more profits . But it goes beyond that . When you become a “Welcome Guest” marketer, you have more productivity and waste less time, meaning you make more money with less effort .

Finally, the next thing you should hate is not hav-ing control over how many customers are going to come to your business next month, 2 months from now, or a year from now .

We will show you how to transform your mar-keting into systems that are duplicable and replicable . You can turn them up when you want more clients or tweak the systems and turn them down if you want fewer clients . This will give you more certainty and control over your business .


However, many professionals realize that, once they’ve reached a certain level in their business, money and success don’t really move the needle when it comes to satisfaction in their business .

That’s the reason it’s important to “know your Why” in your business . It will help you stay committed to your goals and help other people get on board too .

Knowing your Why is extremely important be-cause you’re going to undergo a lot of growing

pains when it comes to growing your business . More money may not be the reason to see your-self through the tough times .

Here are some questions that will help you dis-cover your “Why”:

— What are you passionate about? This passion is different than watching your favorite football team or taking your dream holiday . I’m talking about a Why that’s not just about you—but is bigger than you .

People choose a profession for many reasons. Perhaps their parents urged them to move forward in that profession, or they

wanted to do it for the money.

THE IMPORTANCE OF “WHY” IN YOUR BUSINESS


In other words, what makes you come alive? Perhaps you can ask friends and family and ask them what they think your strengths are . It can be a real confidence booster to hear how wonderful they think you are, but you may come up with talents you never knew you had .

Another question to ask is, “If money were no object, what would you spend your time doing?” You can also look at what friends and family say about you, or what sorts of things people ask for you to do .

How will you measure your life? Most people measure success in life based on material possessions or net worth . Ironically, the things that matter most are rarely “things .”

Ultimately, you can find meaning in whatever you’re doing so you can achieve more fulfill-ment . Perhaps your purpose is to help as many people as possible reach financial free-dom through your services . Or, if you’re a lawyer, your purpose could be to help people navigate the complicated justice system . You need to figure out the correct answer for you and your business .

This is something you’ll need to think hard about, because knowing your “Why” will motivate you to take on challenges that will stretch you . It will also keep you going in times of trouble .


That’s why it’s good to take a “30,000 foot” view of your business and determine any deficiencies that need to be shored up, or opportunities that could be exploited .

Here are some strategic questions to ask that could lead to a major “aha” moment in your business .

1) How clear is your vision for what your re-sponsibility should be like in your business in the future? Do you want to someday sell your business? Build a team that does most of the “hard work” for you? Getting clear on this will help adjust course if necessary .

2) How well do you differentiate from your competition? And how clear are your strategies to differentiate yourself? The last thing you want to do is to be like every business in your area . This guide will help you in this regard .

3) Are you taking active steps in growing your business? It’s easy to stay complacent if things are doing well in your business . You have to find balance when it comes to actively growing your business and performing day-to-day operations .

4) Are you taking into account not just short-term, but also long-term priorities in

It’s extremely easy to get stuck in day-to-day tasks (meeting with clients, answering phone calls, etc.) and be oblivious to any

potential problems or opportunities.

7 QUESTIONS TO ASK TO EVALUATE YOUR BUSINESS’ DIRECTION


your business? An example is going to networking functions and building referral networks—activities that may not provide an immediate ROI, but will give you long-term success (vs . for example, a postcard campaign that’ll give you immediate results) .

5) Who is your competition, and what are they offering? This will give you ideas regarding how to position your business to stand out in your area . You could look at their websites and do a little “mystery shopping” to get this valuable information .

6) What is the long-term value of your clientele? Do you have a lot of clients who hire you over and over again? Or are you serving a lot of “one-off” clients who leave you after your engagement with them is complete . This will allow you to adjust your market-ing so you can attract the right people .

7) How well are you keeping your customers engaged with you? It’s important to stay “top of mind” with your customers so they’ll keep coming back for more . This could be ac-complished through newsletters, getting them on an email list, or follow-up direct mailings .

I hope these questions spark a few ideas that’ll help you shore up any weaknesses, and capitalize on any strengths in your business .

Business Challenges Facing Professional Service Providers

What are the “top challenges” facing professional service providers today? Survey respondents were asked to list the single greatest issue they face . One challenge clearly

stood out above the others and that was “attracting and developing new business .”

Attracting and Developing New Business

Finding and Keeping Good People

Dealing with Client Demands/Expectations

Dealing with a Difficult Economy/Competitive Marketplace

Strategy/Planning Issues

Maintaining Quality / Efficiency

Innovation / New Ideas

Leadership / Internal Change Issues

Budget Pressures / Other Financial Issues

Motivating / Managing People

0 15 30 45 60 75

72 .1%

35 .9%

31 .5%

28 .3%

26 .8%

24 .7%

22 .2%

21 .2%

20 .3%

18 .2%

Source: MarketingProfs . The Biggest Marketing And Business Challenges Of Today’s Professional Service Firms .


Let’s say that you want to buy a house and are looking for a realtor . You flip through the Yellow Pages and find a couple realtors who could be a perfect fit for you . One of the realtors has the usual credentials that they think will help them get more business—like the number of years that they’ve been in the business, or the number of people they have served, etc .

However, another realtor wrote a free report called How To Find The Best Deal On Properties In Rock-ingham County, Virginia (where you live) . You read the report and determine that the realtor does a

great job describing the best areas to buy a house in the area where you’re looking, and you end up learning a lot about buying a house .

You would naturally gravitate to the realtor who “wrote the book” on the subject . That’s because we as humans naturally gravitate toward author-ity and celebrity . We want to do business with the person who has “made their name” in their area of expertise .

You see, most professionals believe that “getting better” at their job is all they need to do to attract

What makes everything in this report a lot easier to implement (and the response rates of your advertising to increase) is being able to

establish your credibility and authority in your marketplace.

ESTABLISHING YOUR CREDIBILITY AND AUTHORITY IN YOUR PROFESSION


more clients . They think that years and years of honing their craft will automatically entitle them to getting more clients .

Of course, if you’re passionate about what you do, you’ll naturally want to get better and better in your field . But that is only part of the equation .

You have to establish authority and credibility in your marketplace in order to “stand out” from your competition . So, how do you establish authority and credibility in your marketplace? Let’s discuss sev-eral things you can do right now to get a leg up on your competition .

1) Give your prospects helpful information. That could be through a book, free re-port, video, audio, blog posts, direct mail, etc .

You see, the report you’re reading right now is an example of establishing my credibility in this field, which I’ve had to study in marketing my own business . I am giving you helpful information to 1) let you know that I have some expertise in this field and 2) I have the knowledge to help you solve your problem of getting more clients .

The goal of this report is to establish my trustworthiness so you see me as a trusted advi-sor . This allows me to become a “welcome guest” in your eyes, not an “annoying pest .”


Most professionals believe that all they need is a business card, an office and a website and prospects will magically come to them . That would be OK if there were 1-2 competi-tors in your city . But you’re competing with ten or a hundred other businesses and you need to stand out .

Creating helpful content through audio, video, podcasts, free reports, white papers, and blog posts helps you stand out and positions you as a trusted advisor . It will also help you attract the right clients because your content will help you “weed out” the tire kickers who don’t resonate with your message .

The best part about being seen as an expert in your field is that you can charge what you deserve . Sure, cold calling or cold prospecting have their place, but if you could have interested prospects “raise their hands” to read your content that raises their interest levels and “pre-sells” you, then you become a welcome guest in their lives .

However, when you’re hunting for prospects all the time, it’s hard to get away from being a commodity in your prospect’s eyes . You’re just seen as “another provider” and it’s hard to raise your fees .

The best part about being seen as an expert is that prospects are already predisposed to you . You don’t have to use any slick selling tac-tics to get them to do business with you—they’re already sold, and it’s just a matter of ironing out the details and signing on the dotted line .

Just imagine how much easier this will make your professional life! You’ll be able to get up in the morning and work with only qualified or interested prospects who pay you what you’re worth . That’s the power of being seen as an expert and author-ity in your field, and this will separate you from the other professionals in your area .


2) Be Authentic. Don’t make the mistake of “hiding” the things that set you apart from other competitors because you don’t think they’re relevant to helping you attract clients . Or perhaps you think clients aren’t going to care—they’re just interested in the core deliv-erable you’re going to fulfill for them (your products or services) .

Know that you need to be honest and transparent when it comes to communicating with prospects and clients . After all, they are buying you when they decide to do business with you . They will more than likely research 3-4 competitors before they choose you . And one of their main buying criteria is the experience they’ll get when they do business with you .

You see, most people make the mistake that customers only use price as the main differ-entiator when it come to determining whom to do business with . However, most people would gladly pay more for a better experience .

Here’s another example that piggybacks on the realtor example we addressed earlier . Let’s say that you’ve read the realtor’s free report he offered through his website and you liked what he had to say . Sure, you may have learned more about how to buy a house, but per-haps he was also authentic and “real” in his report .

Maybe he revealed that his passion and mission in life is to help people find the right home . Perhaps he told a story or two about growing up in the neighborhood where you’re looking to buy a home and his dad was a realtor as well . Maybe he talked about this family, his love for the local college football team, or even some of his hobbies .


This allowed you to bond with this realtor because he seemed like a real person—not someone who hides behind a desk or in an office all day . Or the typical realtor who just focuses on selling a house as fast as possible . It’s apparent that this person is a realtor for a deeper purpose than just to make a buck, and you really resonate with that .

That’s what I mean about being authentic . And that’s what you need to do to cut through the clutter of your marketplace .

3) Be Informed. It’s amazing how many professionals “throw in the towel” when it comes to figuring out what’s going on in their industry . They don’t subscribe to the free and paid news-letters, read the latest books, or follow what top influencers are talking about in their field .

If you’re going to establish credibility and authority in your marketplace, you need to have a lot of inputs in the way of newsletters, magazines, journals, etc . Otherwise, you’ll eventually hit a wall and run out of things to say when producing content for your target audience .

Your goal is to become the clearinghouse for “what’s going on” in your marketplace to your prospects and customers . So make a list of trade journals, newsletters, and gurus in your field and make time to stay informed by consuming what they have to say .

Here’s an important point: most professionals shy away from giving opinions or “standing for something” because they are afraid that they will offend their prospects . The truth is that, yes, you will offend some people who disagree with you, but you’ll also bond with prospects who agree with your opinions .

Consider the 2016 presidential election here in America . You had two of the most polarizing candidates in history in Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton . Ask a handful of people in a room what they think of either candidate, and they’ll tell you they either love or hate them .

So don’t be afraid to have opinions or “stand for something” in your in-dustry . It will help you cut through the clutter of your marketplace and magnetically attract the clients who do trust, agree and resonate with you .

To summarize this section, you can elevate your practice by establishing your credibility and authority in your marketplace and being seen as a trusted advisor to your prospects . This will help you rise above the glut of competitors in your area who are all doing the same thing when mar-keting their business .

And when you do so, you need to be authentic to your prospects and customers . Just being “vanilla” and not wanting to offend anyone isn’t going to cut it anymore . This will allow you to stand out and actually attract clients who want to do business with you .


You’re going to use your unique selling proposi-tion everywhere . It will be on your website . It will be on your business card . It will be in your emails . It will be everywhere because your unique selling proposition tells people why they should do busi-ness with you .

In fact, the question that your unique selling proposition answers is this:

“Why should I, your prospective customer, choose to do business with you versus any other option that’s available to me?”

Your answer cannot be something like “We offer quality” or “We give great satisfaction .” It can’t be “Because our service is better .”

These are marketing generalities and they fall upon deaf ears .

Your prospects and your clients don’t even hear that . It is simply noise and fluff . You need to have a specific answer that is benefit-oriented to your ideal client .

Let’s give you an example of a model to follow that has built a multi-million-dollar business in a very mundane market . If we were to say to you, “Fresh hot pizza, delivered in 30 minutes or less guar-anteed,” would you be able to recognize to whom that unique selling proposition belongs?

Most people would . Most people know it’s Domi-no’s . That single USP built the business .

One of the things you need to determine is your “unique selling proposition” (USP).

HOW TO MAKE YOURSELF UNIQUE IN YOUR MARKETPLACE


Here’s another example: “When it absolutely, positively has to be there overnight.” That’s FedEx . Notice that these unique selling propositions are more than simple taglines . They are benefit-oriented . They are not slogans – although they can be used as slogans . They convey strong benefits .

So, let’s talk about how you develop a USP using the Domino’s one as an example .

1) The first thing is a narrowly defined positioning: Domino’s did not say that they had the best pizzas or that they had secret sauce from the old country . They said the pizza will be fresh and it will be hot .

So they narrowly defined the positioning . When you try to be everything to everyone, you are nothing to everyone .

The more narrowly you can define your positioning, within reason, the stronger your ap-peal will be to your ideal clients and prospects .

2) Next up is meaningful specifics. Fresh hot pizza delivered in 30 minutes or less is not delivered “sometime .” It is delivered within a specific timeframe .

So, when you’re creating your unique selling proposition, you need to create it in such a way that it has meaningful specifics . That meaning is the benefit to your ideal customers .

3) The third part of this is a guarantee. “Fresh hot pizza delivered in 30 minutes or less guaranteed” is a great structure for a unique selling proposition .


Can you guarantee what the outcome of using your service will be? If you can, then you should put it in your unique selling proposition . You can always find something that you can guarantee .

So this is how you create your USP:• Narrowly defined positioning.

• Meaningful specifics.

• Guarantee.

Again the question that you need to pose to yourself is:

“Why should I, your prospective customer, choose to do business with you versus any other option that’s available to me?”You’ll then want to create an irresistible offer for your prospect that your target audience will jump on . Most advertising is vague or doesn’t have a strong call to action . One of the tenets of what I teach is there will always be a specific offer, and a specific call to action .

For example, an irresistible offer targeting someone who is looking to lose weight could be a free report entitled “7 Ways To Melt The Pounds While Still Eating The Foods You Crave.” The offer will then lead to a website or prompt them to call a phone number .

This is a fundamental principle of the type of advertising I teach in this report: there will always be a call to action . That way we can measure the response of each advertising piece so we can measure our return on advertising .

This is vastly different from “brand” advertising that deals with simply “getting the word out there” and you have no idea how it performs because there is no specific call to action .


It will transform how you talk to them, how you appeal to them, and how you market to them .

The basic way that most people choose their tar-get market is geographic .

If you have a local business, you might assume your customers mostly come from a 10-mile ra-dius around your business . Some people don’t get any more sophisticated in targeting than that .

Targeting with only geographic information is like getting in a plane and dropping flyers and hoping one hits the right person . That may be an exagger-ation, but the truth is that, with just some simple tweaks, you can make your geographic target

marketing much more effective .

Demographic information is about how old people are, how much money they have, whether they are married or single, liberal or conservative, what religion they are and so forth .

That’s another way to further define who your ideal customer is – and you need to do this – but again it’s very surface level . Geographic and de-mographic information is important, but we want to go even deeper .

Psychographics delve even deeper because it explains “why” people buy . It includes information like habits, hobbies, spending habits and values .

Now this is where things get exciting. This is where you’re going to know your customer on the level that you can’t even imagine.

HOW TO READ YOUR PROSPECT’S MIND AND FIGURE OUT THEIR PAIN POINTS


Demographics and psychographics will allow you to create your customer avatar—a de-tailed picture of people you would like to work with now and in the future .

Here’s an example of a customer avatar:

Demographic information:

– Male – Age 45-55– Married, with children– Dealing with issues such as weight gain and low energy– Household income $100+

Psychographic information:

– Concerned with health and appearance– Wants to lose weight and have a healthy lifestyle, but doesn’t have time– Political affiliation is conservative– Finds fulfillment in career and family – Will pay more for quality over economy

You can see that demographics only give you a hazy picture of your audience . Psycho-graphics give you so much insight .


So how do you determine the psychographics of your target market? Here are some questions to ask yourself:

– What keeps them awake at night, staring at the ceiling, unable to fall asleep as it relates to your product or service?

– What are they frustrated about? – What is causing them pain, right now, as it relates to your product or service?– What is the single biggest problem that you can solve for them? – What do they secretly, privately desire most?

The last question is very important . For example, most people may talk about making more money or getting more customers . That is the overt desire for most people .

But, for many people, what they secretly, privately desire most is to show all of those peo-ple who told them that they couldn’t succeed in their chosen profession – that it wasn’t practical, that they’d have to get a “real” job – that they were dead wrong . That is what they secretly, privately desire most . They may not verbalize it . But that is what they want .

How do you determine your market’s secret and private desires? If you’ve been in your business for a while and you think about it, you are going to come up with what it is, because you know them . It helps if you think about a current or past customer you would love to “clone” if possible .

If not, if you are just getting into a target market, one of the easiest things that you can do is just go to discussion groups and forums . Start reading what people are posting . You will


be able to figure out what pain they have just by reading their discussions . You will be able to see what they secretly, privately desire most .

Another way is to go to their trade shows . Get their trade magazines, and read them . It will become evident to you .

If you’ve been in business, if you just think about it, intuitively you will know what they secretly, privately desire most .

The bottom line is this: you must get to know your ideal customers, and what makes them tick . You want to know such things as:

• Where they live.

• How they live.

• How much money they make.

• What they do on weekends.

• What kinds of products they bought last year.

• How many kids they have.

• What food they eat for breakfast.

You want to know as much as you possibly can about them as people, about their desires, and their fears, and their emotional buttons .

Once you get this down, you’ll be able to make your marketing “magnetic” because you’ll be using words and phrases that’ll attract your target audience and become a “welcome guest” in their lives . If you refuse to dig in and get sophisticated about selection, discrimination, and target marketing so as to clone and attract ideal customers, there are three bad things that will remain true for you:

1) You will be conforming to what the majority of average businesses do; therefore

2) You will be prohibited from rising above the average income the majority of your com-petitors earn; therefore,

3) You will be unprotected from and perennially vulnerable to commoditization, competi-tion, and income disruption by recession or other adverse circumstances .

So start really researching the pain points of your target customers . You’ll get an immedi-ate “unfair advantage” over other professionals in your industry .


This is where you take all the research you per-formed while digging into the pain points of your ideal customers, and create an ad that will grab them by the lapels and make them eager to do business with you .

I won’t go into a lot of detail about ad writing, but I will give you some general tips that, when you sit down to create your next ad, will boost your chances of writing a winner .

If you think back to your days in college, you prob-ably had homework assignments that included writing term papers, and reports in various classes . The problem is you need a different “voice” when it comes to writing an ad that promotes your busi-ness .

When you write an ad, you need to make sure you write as if you’re talking to your ideal prospect as if they were sitting across from you at a bar or restaurant . That means you need to write in short sentences—even incomplete sentences .

In other words, you need to throw out the grammar book you had to digest in high school and college .

A good practice is to go to your local grocery store and pick up the National Enquirer . You can see how the copywriters and article writers keep the language simple so anybody can understand what they’re talking about . They don’t speak with big words or use long sentences .

This tip is very important because business owners tend to revert to what they were taught

Now that you’ve discovered your unique selling proposition and honed in on your ideal customer, it’s time to create

your irresistible marketing message.

HOW TO CREATE THE RIGHT MARKETING MESSAGE


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in English class when it comes to creating an advertisement . You need to resist this and simply “write like you talk .”

The next thing you need to do is to “enter the conversation that’s going on in your prospect’s mind.” This is a quote from the late, great copywriter Robert Collier . This is why getting to know your prospect’s pain points is extremely important when writing an ad .

It also helps to see yourself as a problem solver when writing an ad . Your prospect has a problem that needs to be solved, and the only way it can be solved is by doing business with you . This will also help when writing your ad .

Now here are six tenets of writing a great ad you need to implement for anything you send out that promotes your business:

1) There will always be an offer. All your marketing needs to have an offer telling your ideal prospects exactly what to do and why they want to do it right now . It should be irresistible and time sensitive and give them some kind of transformative value if they take action .

This is not just an implied offer like a store running ads “We’re here, come on in .” This should not be a common offer like “The Sale of the Century . This Weekend Only .” More of-ten, it would be a lead generation offer as we’ve discussed . A great deal of thought needs to go into your offer itself .


2) There needs to be a reason to respond now. The hidden cost and failure in all advertising and marketing is in the “almost persuaded .”

Customers were tempted to respond . They nearly responded . They got right up to the edge of response, but they set it aside to do it later or to mull over or to check out other options .

When they get to that edge, we must reach across and pull them past it .

There must be a good reason for them not to stop short or delay or ponder; there must be urgency .

3) There will be clear instructions. Most people do a reasonably good job at following directions .

For the most part, they stop on red and go on green; stand in the lines they’re told to stand in; fill out the forms they’re given to fill out; and applaud when the applause sign comes on .

Most people are conditioned from in-fancy in every environment to do as they are told .

Marketers’ failures and disappointments often result from giving confusing direc-tions or no directions at all, so confused or uncertain consumers do nothing .

People rarely buy anything of consequence without being asked . You must walk your prospect through the steps you want them to take in order to make the sale .

4) There will be tracking and measurement. If you want real profits from your marketing, you will no longer permit any advertising or marketing investments to be made without accurate tracking, measurement and ac-countability .

Forget about likes, links, opens, shares, reach, visibility, views, and engagement . All of that may be interesting, even indicative, but what matters is that for every dollar you spend, you can clearly identify how much comes back as a result .


5) There will be follow-up. When you invest in advertising and marketing, you’re not just paying for the customers you get . You are paying for each lead you generate, every call, every walk-in, every email, every reaction and response of any kind .

Doing nothing with even one lead is like flushing money down the toilet . It is a serious lapse in judgment and waste of precious resources every time you fail to follow-up with every lead or every customer .

We will talk about how to follow up with your prospect later in this report .

6) Results rule, period. Do not let anyone confuse, bamboozle or convince you that anything else is of any impor-tance . Nobody’s opinion counts… even yours .

The only thing that matters is the answer to the question, “What results did I get?” When you implement all these into your marketing approach and marketing messages, you change the way you communicate with your prospects and customers dramatically and forever .

Now that we discovered how to create an irresistible marketing message, let’s talk about how to get that message out to your target audience .


When your marketing overcomes all 5 obstacles, your business is sitting on a launching pad, ready to soar . Unfortunately, most businesses are 0 for 5, and herein lies the problem, but it also exposes the vast opportunities that await businesses that reinvent and transform their marketing .

The 5 Major Obstacles are:• Establish Credibility• Get Your Message Heard• Separate and Differentiate You• Position You as Top of Mind• Buy Shelf Life

Let’s discuss each one individually .

Establish CredibilityYour marketing must establish credibility . In selling professional services, you’re the one that often speaks to customers on the telephone . It’s you they meet face to face . It’s you they buy first; therefore, it’s your credibility that’s at stake . How you establish your credibility is you must give them information about you . This exposes the single biggest disconnect in our marketing today in its present form . It’s hard to establish credibility if all your marketing gives them is name, company, address, phone, fax, email, cell phone and web site . That’s the equivalent of name, rank and serial number, and it’s not delivering anywhere close to

There are 5 major obstacles your marketing must overcome if your business is to thrive while other competitors struggle just to survive.

5 MAJOR OBSTACLES MARKETING MUST OVERCOME


the information it should . There’s absolutely nothing about you . If you don’t reinvent your marketing and deliver a different set of information, then you’ve guaranteed a longer sales cycle as it takes longer for them to start to feel comfortable with you .

Prospecting in its most basic form is nothing more than applying for a job . The employer (prospect) is going to speak to and interview 3 or 4 different candidates (competitors) before they finally select one . Remember you’re applying for a job, and your prospect is always asking three things about you: are you credible, are you trustworthy, and are you qualified? It’s impossible to be credible, qualified and trustworthy if all you’re giving them is name, rank and serial number .

Get Your Message HeardYour marketing must get your message heard in a compelling way that moti-vates people to take action . I find that most professionals and businesses today have great stories to tell, but they’re not getting their message heard . Think about this…the person who can read, and yet doesn’t, is really no better off than the person who can’t read at all . As good as your story is, if the right people don’t know, it doesn’t matter .

You could have twice the credentials, and three times the experience and it still doesn’t matter until the right people understand . You’ve got to bring your story to life in a compelling way that motivates people to take action . If we’re going to touch people in a compelling way, we’d better understand how people buy . People buy first emotionally, and justify later with logic the emotional decision they’ve already made . If people buy first emotionally, then common sense would dictate we ought to touch them first in an emotional way . So how do we do that? We need to wipe the slate clean and reinvent marketing from the ground up and involve as many of the senses as we possibly can .

Remember, the more senses you involve in your marketing message, the stronger the first impression is and the longer the impression lasts . You need those two things more so today than ever before . You certainly need strong, powerful first impressions, because they’re forming lasting judgements about you as early as 4 seconds . Remember, you never get a second chance to make a great first impres-sion . One bite at the apple is all you get . If you don’t think the first impression is important today, I invite you to screw it up really good the first time and see how difficult, if not impossible, it is to redo . In addition to strong, powerful first impressions, you also need lasting impressions because it’s the longest sales cycle you’ve ever experienced .

Separate and Differentiate YouMost industries are becoming commoditized right before your very eyes . People see a sameness in the products and services offered, and today they see a sameness in you, the professional service provider . Dime a dozen, one on every street corner . That’s a tough place to have success from if you’re seen as one of thousands of look-alikes .


Your marketing must separate and differentiate you . People buy differences, not similari-ties . The last thing in the world you want to do is to look just like everyone else . What are you going to do to stand out in a crowded marketplace? Prospects today will speak to and interview 3 or 4 different competitors before they finally select one . It simply boils down to how do they see you versus the alternatives . And it’s not just in one business or in one industry . It’s happening all over . You’re seeing an explosion in growth of choice . What do I mean? Detroit used to put out 140 makes of automobiles . Today, it’s 170 . A few short years ago, there were only 4 types of milk in the grocery story . Today, it’s 19 . Not long ago there was only 1 contact lens maker; today there are 36 . It wasn’t too long ago your television had only 12 channels; today it’s 500 and counting, not to mention HD TV . There are 19 different versions of Oreo cookies in the grocery store alone . Our marketing continually reinforces dime a dozen .

You must find a way to separate and differentiate you . F .W . Woolworth made one of the greatest all time statements I’ve ever heard about selling . He said, “I’m not very good at selling; therefore, I must make it easy for people to buy .” If they’re going to speak to and interview 3 or 4 different competitors before they finally select one, whichever one makes their decision the easiest, wins . The problem is that we don’t make their decision easy . We actually make it quite difficult because we don’t give them anything to see us as different . Our marketing continually reinforces dime a dozen .

Position You As Top of MindYour marketing must position you as Number One in their mind when it comes to your specialty . There’s only room for one number one in the marketplace, and it’s yours for the taking because no one is in front of you . First in the marketplace owns the market . Just look at Apple and Microsoft with the iPod and the Zune . I don’t care if Microsoft had $100

billion in cash – Apple won . Apple was first in the marketplace, and they owned the market with over 80% of all portable music players . With the introduction of the iPhone, they solidified their lead . Now, it really is “game over .” It was game, set and match . Apple won .

Here’s another example . Look at what Google has done in just a few short years of being a company . You don’t even say “I’m going to search” for something

anymore . You say, I’m going to “Google ‘em .” Google is the brand; searching is what you wanted to do . Or if you have a runny nose, you ask someone to hand you a Kleenex . No, Kleenex is the brand; a tissue is what you want . My point is simply this . You must be top of mind when it comes to your spe-cialty . If I’m a real estate agent and they think of buying or selling a home, I want them to think of me . If I’m a financial advisor and they think of retire-ment planning, I want them to picture me . You want to own “top of mind” .

Buy Shelf LifeYour marketing must “buy shelf life .” Shelf life is one of the most critical is-sues in marketing today . What do I mean by shelf life? Shelf life is the abil-ity to keep your name in front of your prospect for a much longer period


of time . After all, it’s a longer sales cycle than ever before . Either your marketing has shelf life or it doesn’t . There’s no middle ground . You can’t have just a little bit of shelf life just like you can’t be just a little bit pregnant . You either have it or you don’t . If your marketing doesn’t buy shelf life, then your marketing has you out of sight, out of mind . With thou-sands of other options to choose from and they don’t even know you exist, how on earth do you expect to have success? Here’s why shelf life is more important today than ever .

There are more decision makers involved today than ever before . Prospects take longer to make decisions . Relationships take longer to build, and trust takes longer to establish . All of these factors are the reasons why it’s the longest sales cycle you’ve ever seen, which means marketing has to do things it’s never had to do before .

For most businesses today, they have absolutely no shelf life at all be-cause they don’t understand where shelf life comes from . Have you ever heard people say, “Half the battle is just showing up; the other half is just sticking around”? It’s true . So, if shelf life is so impor-tant, then where does shelf life come from? Shelf life comes from high-perceived value . The higher the perceived value of your marketing, the longer the shelf life it buys . We pass out paper business cards with a perceived value of 2 cents and everybody has one, and we wonder why we’re thrown out in 30 seconds . Out of sight, out of mind . Do you think you could experience more success in the next 12 months if you never got thrown out ever again? Sure you could . So you might want to wipe the slate clean and reinvent your marketing from the ground up so it has high-per-ceived value to keep your name in front of your clients and prospects forever .

ConclusionsMost professional service providers and small busi-nesses are 0 for 5 when it comes to these 5 Major Obstacles Marketing Must Overcome. No wonder business isn’t better .

When your marketing overcomes all 5 major obstacles, you can’t help but turn your business on a dime and have your best year ever .


There are 4 Key Processes required regardless of the product or service you sell .

In his excellent book The E-Myth, Michael Ger-ber said it best when he stated, “Until you have a business that runs independently of you, and not because of you, you do not have a business, you have a job and it is the worst job in the world because you work for a lunatic—yourself .”

This statement strikes a chord with virtually every business owner or professional service provider if they have been in business for any length of time at all . Michael Gerber’s advice is to spend time working “ON” your business and not simply work-ing “IN” your business . This is easier said than done .

Most people don’t have any systems, processes or procedures in place . They fly by the seat of their pants, or wing it . Management By Hope is the word of the day . Yet, every business can be broken down into key processes necessary to guarantee success . Once the processes are defined, they can be easily measured, quantified, tweaked and then vastly improved . In my business, these processes cover a wide area including sales and prospect generating activities, financial activities, produc-tion activities, operational activities, and personnel activities . Each can be improved and refined so they perform better and better .

When we examine our businesses, we find what we all know to be true: we are all creatures of habit .

The 4 Key Processes Every Business Must Have In Place will discuss what every business owner, entrepreneur, or anyone selling professional

services must have in place to achieve success.

4 KEY PROCESSES EVERY BUSINESS MUST HAVE IN PLACE


A McDonald’s franchise very rarely ever fails . Why? Because over the years, they have cre-ated a proven system . They have created a blueprint . They have systematized the routines in their business . Whether or not you like a McDonald’s Quarter Pounder with Cheese, it tastes the same in Chicago, Illinois, as it does in Palm Desert, California, or London, Eng-land, for that matter .

Before you go to work “ON” your business, it is necessary to realize there are 4 Key Pro-cesses that every business must have in place in order to successfully build a business that runs independently of you, and not because of you .

Creating these 4 Key Processes is like turning an aircraft carrier . It doesn’t turn on a dime . It takes 5 miles to turn it around, and so it is with your business . You didn’t get this way over-night, so don’t expect it to happen immediately . It’s all about progress, not perfection .

My suggestion is that business owners, entrepreneurs and professional services providers give themselves a full year to completely systematize the various routines in their business . This will allow the time necessary to build the infrastructure that lies beneath these systems to support the growth of your business . You can grow your business dramatically and then have it come crashing down without the right infrastructure in place to support the growth .

The 4 Key Processes are: 1 . Attract 2 . Convert 3 . Leverage 4 . Retain

Attract This first process that must be in place is a process to attract an abundance of the right type of pros-pects . The two key words here are “abundance” and the “right” kinds of prospect . We all know that nothing happens until someone sells something . What do they say? . . . “Shy salespeople have real skinny kids .” To make a sale we need a prospect who is interested, qualified and has the means to buy your product or service . Today, unfortunately, most professionals have low-ered the bar so much that our definition of a prospect is anyone who can fog up a mirror placed under their nose . As a result, we have too many of the “wrong” types of prospects that, in turn, become the wrong types of clients .

You never want to let any one prospect determine whether you have a good day, a good week, or a good month . The only way that can happen is if I have an abundance of the right types of prospects . I want so many balls up in the air that I don’t have time to worry about the ones that crash and burn .


Convert Once we have created an abundance of the right type of prospects, we need a process to convert prospects to clients, and close sales . Nothing happens until someone sells something . The challenge is how do we convert prospects to clients in less time and get them to come back . It is the universal challenge in business . According to Harvard’s Rosabeth Moss Kanter, “The ultimate corporate balanc-ing act: cut back and grow, trim down and build, accomplish more, and do it in new areas, with fewer resources .” That about sums it up .

What business owners and professional service pro-viders need to realize today is how fast they close the sale today simply depends on how well they start, and herein lies the problem . We do not start strong . It is actually our own marketing in its present form that is our biggest hindrance to closing more sales . In other words our marketing actually hurts us more than it helps us because it does not give the prospect anything close to the kind of information it should . (See 5 Major Obstacles Marketing Must Overcome.)

Leverage So now we have two processes in place to generate more leads and close more sales . How do we take this great client base we have started to build, and create the third pro-cess? How do we leverage these great clients into many more just like them? How do we generate never-ending referrals?

I start with the basic belief that most clients would love to refer you, but they don’t . It is not that they do not want to; it is simply that they do not know how to . That too can change . Most business owners and professionals would agree they do a very poor job of asking for and obtaining great referrals . This can change . There are three reasons why any business, entrepreneur or professional must become successful in referral-based marketing . Reason #1 - Referrals always tend to become our very best clients . Reason #2 - Referrals are the pre-ferred way people want to be introduced to a business or professional service provider . It is not the cold call of the day, the direct mail piece of the month, or the seminar with the best free food . Reason #3 - Referral-based marketing is virtually free . You could spend a small for-tune building your business through direct mail, seminars, hiring a publicist, newspaper ads, radio spots, television commercials or any number of other forms of advertising and market-ing . The most compelling reason is that referral-based marketing is virtually free .

Retain Once we have a process to generate a steady stream of qualified prospects in the pipeline, we will have a second process in place to convert a higher percentage of those prospects to clients . Once they become a client, we have a third process in place to leverage that


relationship into many more just like them through referrals . Now it’s time for the fourth process, Retain .

How do we retain the clients we have worked so hard to get? Client retention is one of the most important processes for the long-term success of your business . Otherwise, you’re always in the prospecting mode . It is easier to do more business with an existing client than it is to get business from a new one . It also costs much less to do business with existing clients through repeat business, in comparison to finding a new client .

Most businesses and professional service providers forget this absolutely vital 4th process . We are so focused on bringing on new clients that we forget to take care of the ones we al-ready have . The number one reason people stop doing business with a particular company or individual is apathy and neglect . That is difficult to understand when we work so hard and spend so much money to earn their business, and the number one reason we lose them is we neglect them to death .

We have no problem spending a small fortune bringing on new clients and next to noth-ing to keep them . For many of us, as fast as one new client comes through the front door, there is another one walking out the back door because they have been neglected . Client retention is truly one of the most important processes today; otherwise, we will always be in the prospecting mode searching for new business .

Conclusions These are the 4 Key Processes every business must have in place if they want to turn the corner and soar to new heights . Remember, growing a business is simply a function of the quality of the systems in place .

The more effective your systems, the more successful your business . With these four processes in place, the odds of you creating a business that runs indepen-dently of you, and not because of you, increase greatly .


If you look at each of the 4 Easiest Ways to Double Business as a piece of the puzzle, then the center-piece of the puzzle is this thing called “Marketing .” Regardless what product or service you sell, you’re in a marketing business . The sooner you under-stand your success comes more from “marketing” than any other factor, the sooner you’re on the path to creating great success in your business . The more effective your marketing, the more suc-cessful your business will be .

4 Easiest Ways To Double BusinessThere are many things you can do to grow a busi-ness, but I’ve whittled it down to the 4 Easiest Ways to Double Business . Einstein once said, “The significant

problems we face today can’t be solved at the same level of thinking as when we created them .” I think that statement has so much significance in the com-petitive, technology driven world in which we live and operate today . I think what Einstein was really saying was simply this…if you want a small increase in your business, change your attitude. If you want massive quantum leaps, you must change your thinking. We’re not talking about just being up 5% or 10% . We’re talking about doubling your business . Extraordinary times require extraordinary marketing ideas .

Stephen Covey, author of 7 Habits of Highly Effec-tive People, says, “Begin with the end in mind .” If the goal is to double business, then it all starts with this statement:

The 4 Easiest Ways to Double Business will focus on the 4 easiest ways for any business owner, entrepreneur or anyone

selling professional services to double their business.

4 EASIEST WAYS TO DOUBLE BUSINESS


To achieve something you’ve never done before is going to require you to become someone you’ve never been before .If you are going to take your business to a level you’ve never been to before, you’re going to have to commit to becoming someone you’ve never been before . That means growth takes you out of your comfort zone . The saying goes, “If you’re green, you’re growing . If you’re ripe, you’re rotten .” There is one constant that is absolutely vital if you’re going to have this significant increase in your business . You’re going to have to wipe the slate clean and reinvent marketing from the ground up . Marketing has to do things today it’s never had to do before—which is why everyone, whether brand new in the business, or a 40-year seasoned veteran, must completely reinvent marketing .

Let’s talk about each of the 4 easiest ways to double your business:

Closing More SalesNothing happens until someone sells something . Before you can close the sale, you’ve got to get in the door and get in front of the prospect . Most business owners and profession-als, once they’re in the door, face to face, in front of an interested and qualified prospect, are pretty good at closing the sale, but their biggest hurdle today is just gaining access, and it’s tougher and tougher to do . You’ve got over 226 million people on the Do Not Call list nationally . You’ve got voice mail, caller ID, and gatekeepers to keep you out . So how do we get in doors and close sales in today’s ultra competitive climate?


Remember, in the section 5 Major Obstacles Marketing Must Overcome, we said people buy differences, not similarities . The first step in getting in the door is separating and differentiat-ing you from the sea of competitors . You’ve got to stand out and give the prospect a reason to want to engage with you . The average individual today is bombarded with as many as 10,000 commercial messages and advertisements a day . You’ve got billboards screaming at you when you drive down the street . You’ve got bumper stickers on the car in front of you . You open your mailbox, log online, turn on the television or listen to the radio and you’re bombarded with more of the same . They’re even selling ad space on the bottom of men’s uri-nals in public restrooms . Where does it end? The challenge is two-fold . Even if you can find a way to separate and differentiate you, how do you break through the clutter and get noticed?

F .W . Woolworth, the founder of the Woolworth department store chain, made one of the greatest all time statements I’ve ever heard about selling . I think the reason his statement is so powerful is its sheer simplicity . Woolworth said, “I’m not very good at selling; therefore, I must make it easy for people to buy.” If your prospect is going to speak to and interview three or four different competitors before they finally select one, whichever one makes the prospect’s decision the easiest gets the business, and this is the major problem with most marketing today . We don’t make it easy . We actually make it quite difficult .

Closing Bigger SalesMost individuals selling professional services want to move up and prospect the affluent, higher net worth individuals . Financial advisors want to prospect people with substantial net worth . Realtors want to move up and prospect in affluent neighborhoods with bigger homes, larger sales prices and bigger commissions . Accountants would rather have clients that generate $50,000 a year in fees than $2,000 . Most professional service providers natu-rally gravitate to the affluent market .


I have learned two things about the affluent . First, the higher you go up the ladder as far as the quality of prospect you talk to, the more they respond to quality in the way they are approached . You generally don’t get the affluent with cold calling, direct mail or seminars . It’s tougher and tougher to do . You probably remember the Indiana Jones movie with the guy flailing the sword over his head and back and forth for what appeared to be a minute or two . Indiana Jones was about 15 yards away just watching . After about 15 seconds, Indiana took his gun out and shot him . The right tool, at the right time, to do the right job . We’re trying to get the right people, but we’re using the wrong set of skills to get them .

The affluent high-net-worth marketplace is special . They don’t grow on trees . They’re not a dime a dozen . They write large checks . In a word, they’re special .

They want to be treated special, and most importantly, they want to do business with a professional they perceive as special .The second thing I’ve learned is that the higher you go up the ladder as far as the quality of prospect you talk to, the better the gatekeeper is to keep you out . There is a direct correlation . The more qualified the prospect, the better the gatekeeper . The mistake many profession-als make when prospecting the affluent is they get shut out by the gatekeeper . What do I mean? The gate-keeper stops them dead in their tracks, takes a message, and no one ever calls back . The most successful professional service providers understand that you should never take “NO” from someone that doesn’t have the authority to say YES . I understand you are in a rejection business . No is part of the process to get to yes . I’ll take “NO” all day long if it’s from the same person that has the authority to say “YES,” but I will never let a gatekeep-er tell me no . So how do we get around gatekeepers? It’s actually fairly simple . I’ll send the perceived value of my marketing through the roof . If I have high enough perceived value, I’ll bypass the gatekeeper and get straight to the decision maker .

Gather Additional Business From Existing ClientsUntil you have 100% of each and every one of your clients’ business and 100% of their referral business, until you do, your existing clients are by far and away your very best prospects . We’re always out searching for the next hot prospecting list, when the best prospects we have are right under our nose . So how do we go back to existing clients and gather the additional business we don’t have?

This brings up the difference between the one-time buyer versus the lifelong, multiple buying client . It’s marketing that gets them to buy once . It’s your systems that keep them


coming back for more . Many professionals might think they have 200 clients when in real-ity they have about 30 clients and 170 one-time buyers . The scary thing about not having all of their business is that someone else is doing business with your client . If that other competitor is on their toes and plays their cards right, they can take that client from you .

There are three things that must happen to be in a position to gather additional business from your existing clients .

Step 1. Solidify RelationshipsYou must put something in your client’s hands that solidifies the relationship and reinforc-es the reasons they selected you, reminds them of those reasons, which instills confidence . As we all know, future business is simply a function of confidence .

The number one reason people leave their present professional is apathy and neglect . You see this every day . Professionals will spend thousands and thousands of dollars to get new clients, and then they won’t spend a nickel to keep the ones they already have .

Step 2. Educate FullyMost professionals assume incorrectly that clients understand all of the various ways in which they can help them . They don’t . Don’t make the mistake of assuming they un-derstand what you do . Instead, make sure clients understand all that you do by putting something in their hands that educates them fully . It’s funny . When those selling profes-sional services attend one of my seminars and follow the ideas taught at the seminar, they report back that 9 out of 10 of their clients said, “I had no idea you did all those things . Gosh, we’ve been doing that business down the street . Now that we know you can handle it, can we just transfer that business in to you?” That’s just a function of education .

Step 3. Establish CredibilityYou must finish the job that was started years ago . What do I mean? You never had to have credibility established fully to get them to buy once . Partial is all it took . At some point, you had established just enough credibility, you crossed a threshold, and they went ahead and made

their first purchase . At this point, the mistake most professionals make is they call them a client . Big mistake . They’re not

a client . They’re still a one-time buyer . Since we call them a client, we feel the job is done . We must

go back to our existing clients and establish credibility fully, not partially . To do that, we

have to deliver a different set of infor-mation with our marketing . Remem-ber, it’s you they buy first; therefore, it’s your credibility that’s at stake . How you establish your credibility


is you must give them information about you . That can’t happen with our business card in its present form because there’s nothing about you . It’s just name, rank and serial number .

Generate Never Ending ReferralsThere are 3 reasons any business or professional service provider must get good at asking for and generating great referrals . First, it’s the preferred way people want to meet you . They don’t want to meet their professional advisor through the cold call of the day, the direct mail piece of the month or the seminar with the best free food . A referral is the #1 preferred way people want to meet you . Second, referrals always tend to produce the best clients . And third, out of all the things you could do to build your business, referral-based marketing is virtually free . If you wanted to, you could spend a fortune in direct mail, run newspaper ads, commercials or radio spots . You could hire a publicist, host seminars or a myriad of other things, but referral-based marketing is FREE . It doesn’t cost a nickel, yet it produces some of our best clients .

Most people would agree referrals are the best forms of prospecting there is . Yet, we do a poor job of asking for and getting great referrals from our clients . Why? We make the client do all the work . For you to get a referral, your client has to sell you and explain what you do to someone else . I find it’s not that clients don’t want to refer you, they do . It’s not that they don’t want to, they don’t know how to .

Picture a bell curve . On one end you have about 20% of your clients that will refer you no matter . They just love to play the referral game . On the other end, you’ve got another 20% that, no matter what, will not refer you . They just like to keep matters private . They don’t like people to know who or what their business is, and no matter how good a job you do, they’re just not comfortable referring you . That leaves 60% of your clients in the middle that will refer you, if you make it easy for them to do . How do we make it easy? Don’t make your clients do all the work . How do we do that? Remove the burden off them . How do we do that? Create a tool that tells your story for them . Until you have something in the centerpiece of your referral marketing campaign that removes the burden off your client by explaining who you are and what you do, you’ll never get as good as you should or could when it comes to referrals .

ConclusionIf you look at the center of these 4 pieces of the puzzle, you’ll see that marketing is the key to success . Marketing touches all four of the easiest ways to Double Business . Reinvest in your marketing and watch your business soar .

Professional Services Planned Marketing Initiatives

What kind of professional services marketing techniques are professional service providers employing to solve their problems? Survey respondents were asked to indicate which

initiatives they expected to undertake . Their answers are below .

Try to generate more referrals

Increase the brand visibility of your firm

Updating/upgrading your website

Increase the visibility of your experts

Make existing clients more aware of the services you offer

Develop a more compelling message to potential clients

A content marketing program

Develop a marketing strategy/plan

A lead generation program

Finding a stronger competitive advantage

Conducting research on your target market

Training in business development skills

Conducting client satisfaction research

Rebranding your firm

Other

0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70

61 .9%

57 .9%

54 .9%

54 .5%

53 .5%

53 .2%

47 .2%

45 .5%

42 .5%

40 .8%

33 .8%

28 .8%

22 .7%

18 .7%

1 .7%

Source: MarketingProfs . The Biggest Marketing And Business Challenges Of Today’s Professional Service Firms .


The problem is you’re building your business on quicksand .

You need to use multiple ways to attract clients in order to build a successful business, and via mul-tiple media . In other words, when you get one of the marketing methods in this report to work for you, it’s now time to work on the next one, and the next one . And on and on .…

Because you’ll never know when one marketing tactic will start to drop in response, or stop work-ing completely . This is especially true when it comes to online advertising, which is constantly evolving . That’s why it’s best never to keep your

eggs in one basket when it comes to marketing your practice .

ConclusionImagine being able to predict how many people will do business with you 3-6 months from now . That’s the beauty of what I’m going to share in this report—promoting your business will be a sys-tematic and reliable process where you can simply “flick the switch” and magnetically attract more of your ideal clientele at will .

You will be able to get clientele who will contact you and say this: “You are the person I am looking

Many professions use just one or two marketing tactics to get clients. Maybe they’ve been successful at using postcards or

local pay-per-click advertising to get clients.

THE CASE AGAINST JUST USING ONE MARKETING TACTIC TO GET CLIENTS

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for…I want to work with you!” And they will be willing to pay a premium price to get the result or transformation you offer .

In other words, your business life is about to get a lot easier, and a LOT more lucrative . A lot of the business headaches you’re going through right now could be resolved—includ-ing when and where you’re going to get your next customer .

You will also feel greater satisfaction with your business because you’re serving your ideal customers—the people you were meant to work with .

Further, this isn’t going to be an arduous process that will take months . You’ll be able to do it with simple “dirt cheap” methods of marketing that can generate a flood of new busi-ness .

And you’re going to switch from a “hit or miss” method finding your ideal customer and create a predictable, reliable and measurable system that attracts your ideal customers like a porch light attracts a swarm of bugs . I guarantee that by following the ideas in this report that you’ll be able to sleep better at night, knowing you’re implementing all the tactics you need to ensure you are attracting all the business you need .

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They don’t actually sit down and figure out who they want to “clone” as their ideal customer . Therefore, the methods they use to attract cus-tomers are untargeted and haphazard, with no system or strategy .

As a result, they handcuff themselves by filling their pipeline with “dud” clientele . These are the people who frustrate you, waste your time, and make you question why you got into business in the first place .

For example, you can put up with an unruly or dif-ficult customer for 30 minutes at a time . I mean, you can stand anyone for just 30 minutes, right?

But what if your pipeline was full of these grumpy,

difficult customers? Those 30 minute ordeals can add up and create a lot of frustration for you—making your typical workday unbearable .

Instead, thanks to what you’ll discover, you’ll be attracting clientele who are high-value, treat you well and pleasant to work with .

Imagine waking up in the morning with your schedule full of your “slam dunk” clientele ready to work with you, who sought you out instead of having to chase them through “brute force” cold calling or cold prospecting .

And think about how much better your business life would be if you didn’t have to deal with customers who suck the life out of you and zap your energy .

Many business owners and professionals fly by the seat of their pants and work with “whomever they can get” as customers.

HOW TO CREATE YOUR IDEAL CUSTOMER PROFILE


I teach that it’s not just about the quantity of clientele you attract, it’s about quality . Sure, I’m going to teach you how to get more business than you can handle—but if those additional customers make your life miserable, why bother?

I’m going to share with you how to do that . But first, we need to get something straight . Most books will teach you that you need to cold call or cold prospect for these ideal pros-pects . To be honest, this is a “shot in the dark” approach that is painful, gut wrenching, and not necessary once you have the right tools and strategies .

I will show you how to magnetically attract your ideal customers…and not waste your time trying to “chase” them like most people will teach you . Working with people who are pre-disposed to do business with you is a LOT easier than working with customers you had to chase and cajole before they decided to do business with you .


His name is Wilfredo Pareto and the Pareto Prin-ciple was born . It’s a law that is extremely useful when prioritizing and managing your life .

This law especially means that, in any situation, 20 percent of your activities are responsible for 80 percent of the outcomes or results . That means:

— 80% of the money you make in your business comes from 20% of your customers .

— 80% of your clientele are coming from 20% of your marketing efforts .

Or…

— 20% of your ideas generate 80% of the results in your business .

The 80-20 Rule forces you to major in the majors . Unfortunately most of us major in the minors .

There are many examples of how you can ap-ply the 80-20 rule to your life . For example, if you take a look at the items on your “to-do” list, you’ll notice that only 20% of them are tied to important issues .

There was an Italian economist who created a mathematical formula for unequal distribution of wealth in his country. He observed that

twenty percent of the citizens owed 80% of the wealth.

THE IMPORTANCE OF THE 80-20 RULE AND HOW IT CAN HELP YOUR PRODUCTIVITY


You can’t earn 6 figures while you’re focused on $10 an hour activities .I’m not saying you completely ignore these tasks . I’m saying you just prioritize these impor-tant tasks over the lesser important ones so you can make a larger impact in your business .

So take a look at your business and brainstorm the following:

1) Which clients are giving you the most money? Perhaps you can create additional products or services that cater to these top 20% of customers .

2) What marketing efforts are giving you the biggest bang for your buck? That way you can invest more in that area of your marketing that’s giving you the biggest return .

3) What employees or staff are the most productive, loyal, etc.? Maybe it’s time to let go of some of the people who aren’t helping you achieve your business goals .

4) What items are you doing on a daily basis that give you the most impact in your business? If you’re too busy doing low-value tasks, you can probably find someone to outsource them to so you can focus on the tasks that are giving you the biggest return on your business .

The 80-20 rule is a useful construct you can use to take a look at what you’re doing in your business, and determine what’s going to give you the biggest impact in your business . Use it as much as you can, but don’t accept it as an absolute or you could make a mistake .


There’s a whole mass of potential clients who don’t make buying decisions solely based on price . These are affluent clients who are eager to pay premium prices in return for exceptional expertise and service .

However, to most professionals, attracting these affluent clients is like trying to find Nessie in the Loch Ness . They think using the same tactics and messaging to attract “regular” clients will work with attracting these high-net-worth individuals .

The good news is it doesn’t take any more work

to attract these clients . Plus affluent clients can be some of the most pleasant you’ll work with, because they are less price resistant and appreci-ate expertise and exceptional service .

You just have to position your business a little dif-ferently than you have been if you’ve been target-ing middle class folks .

Here is a quick profile of these affluent clients . As you read over this list, think about how you can reposition your business so you can attract these individuals:

The good news is you don’t have to settle for “whomever you can get” as a client. There are wealthy people out there who are being underserved because the majority of professionals target

the “mainstream” middle class clients.

HOW TO “UPGRADE YOUR CLIENTELE” AND ATTRACT MORE AFFLUENT CLIENTS


1) They like to buy professional expertise. They also like to buy comfort and ease . They would rather have more services “done for them” so they can save a lot of time .

2) They have more discretionary income. That means they are less price resistant than their middle-class counterparts .

3) They lack time. That means they prefer products and services that will make up for their lack of time .

4) They are extremely concerned about maintaining their prestige and status. They crave approval from friends, family and society in general .

5) They don’t want to lose their wealth. They are concerned about maintaining their assets .

6) They want to fit in. They want to make sure they wear the right clothing and look like they belong .

7) They are hard workers. They tend to work 50, 60, 70 hours/week . So they don’t have the same amount of free time as middle class prospects who work 40-hour weeks .

8) They want to know you have good business values. They aren’t interested in “fly-by-night” operations—they want to do business with someone who will be around for awhile .

9) They want quality products and services. So don’t try to impress them with run-of-the-mill products and services that cater to the masses .

Now it’s important to distinguish between a wealthy client and an affluent client .

A wealthy client is someone out of the book The Millionaire Next Door.” They do not flaunt their success, buy fancy cars and splurge on new houses . That’s how they became wealthy in the first place .

These clients make buying decisions based on value .


However, the affluent clients DO flaunt their wealth . They buy fancy cars, live in upscale neighborhoods and dine at the best restaurants . They may be high-income earners, but they tend to spend as much or more as they make .

That doesn’t mean they are bad clients . You just have to understand that they make pur-chases based on whether it will make them look good .

So how do you reach these clients?

1) Build you network. Referrals are a big mainstay of attracting affluent customers . They tend to do business with people they know or businesses that have been recom-mended to them .

The key is to be seen where affluent people hang out . This could include charity dinners, golf tournaments and country clubs . The key is to see networking as a long-term invest-ment that may not get you a client on the first try . It can really pay off months or even years in the future .

2). Look the part. You will have to review all your marketing materials and website and make sure they portray you as a high-class business . Maybe upgrade your wardrobe so you can give off an image of success and confidence .

The good new is, if you’re diligent about attracting these affluent clients, you’ll be able to charge more and work less because you’ll have fewer clients to manage . I hope these tips will help you “upgrade your clientele” so you can earn more income in your practice .


These days, everyone is infatuated with the Inter-net . But the Internet is not a business . It is a media and it is not the only media .

Many professionals are so enthralled by this shiny object that they are really diluting their marketing ef-forts and making it less effective than they could be .

So, while going online is one option—an option we’ll talk about in the next section—another option is to use traditional print advertising . This could mean direct mail, Valpak, Free Standing Inserts, or display ads in newspapers or local peri-odicals .

The question is what type of media should you use, and the reality is you should use a com-

bination of all the different media . Much of it depends on where your target market is located . If your target market is 80-year-old men, then probably using Facebook is not the best way to reach them .

Of course, I am not saying the Internet doesn’t work . You just need to be careful as seeing the Internet as a magic wand that’ll solve all of your business worries .

But consider this: according to Epsilon, 60% of con-sumers say they enjoy checking their mailbox and receiving mail . Why? Because there is an emotional payoff to consumers finding letters and other items that match their interest in their mailboxes .

This section will show you how to target leads offline.

HOW TO ATTRACT YOUR IDEAL CLIENTELE OFFLINE


People love opening “fresh” mail and discovering interesting information and offers that match their passion . Perhaps you’re too reliant on online marketing because it’s “cheap” and convenient . I mean, it’s so easy to send out emails and online campaigns because, after all, email is free and you only need $100 bucks to get started advertising via most social media and pay-per-click channels .

The problem is that Epsilon also revealed that 65% of people said that they receive too many emails every day to open them all . And E-Commerce Alliance Research found that a fast growing percentage of people express frustration and resentment at email marketing .

Here’s what this means to you: direct mail is the secret “X-Factor” that the most successful businesses in the world use to cut through the clutter of their marketplace .

Yet, you’re probably not using it because you’re afraid you’re going to get financially hosed every time you send out a direct mail campaign—or it’s going to take forever to put your mailing campaign together .

Most mailing houses can create a mailing and get it out the door in as little as a week . Fur-ther, you can work with a list broker to get a list of prospects that fit your ideal client pro-file—which is why it’s critical to go through the steps we described earlier in this report .

The best part is most mailing houses can send as little as 200 pieces of direct mail, so there’s no need to spend a lot of money to attract more business to your practice .

In other words, thanks to recent advances in automation and technology, it’s possible to send a mailing to your target prospects for a cost comparable to a lot of Internet-based marketing strategies .

Consider Every Door Direct Mail…Every Door Direct Mail is a program the USPS developed to help get more businesses to see the value of, and use, direct mail . Every Door Direct Mail allows you to blanket specific neighbor-hoods, and is therefore great for regional businesses .

The USPS recently reported that 81% of households read or scan their mail DAILY – while 76% of consumers have been influenced to pur-chase from direct mail .

Not only do the numbers show the success of direct mail, many business-es personally see great results from successful mail campaigns every week .


The tough part for the USPS is getting the word out about this . Many businesses are dis-tracted by shiny objects and online marketing . They often overlook the proven success of direct mail .

Every Door Direct Mail is a type of campaign that allows you to mail to each residence within a neighborhood . The USPS will literally make sure every door gets YOUR sales piece .

For example, if you want to send an ad to everyone within a 2-mile radius of your practice, Every Door Direct Mail will allow you to hit that specific area for a VERY DEEP DISCOUNT .

You can send any size standard flat mail piece for only $17 .8 cents per piece (postage only) . Normally, the price to mail a standard flat would be double or triple the Ev-ery Door Direct Mail rate (depending on the size of the mail piece you are sending out) .

PLUS:• You don’t need a postage permit.

• You don’t need a list of names or addresses.

• You don’t have to pay any annual fees.

• All you have to do is show up at your local post of-fice and drop off your mail .

If you have a regional business and you want to contact every-one within a specific neighborhood, then Every Door Direct Mail is a great fit for you .

However, there are a few drawbacks to Every Door Direct Mail that you should be aware of .

The USPS ONLY allows you to mail to everyone on a specific carrier route . You can’t seg-ment out some of the names or addresses … you have to mail to everyone on that spe-cific carrier route . You can’t pick and choose .

Since you have to mail EVERYONE on the carrier route, you can’t segment age or income or previous buying habits . This makes it extremely difficult to sell services that have a lim-ited group of buyers .

I want to be totally clear – this is only effective if you have a regional business that appeals to a broad audience .

You know your service and its prospects better than anyone . If you have a specific cus-tomer in mind, Every Door Direct Mail is probably not your best option . But if you want to reach every household or business in a limited area, this is a very cost effective way to meet your goals .


Many of these tactics (like email) are free, but it takes a lot of time to write the emails, load them into your autoresponder, and hope and pray they’ll get read by your target audience .

That’s why mixing offline and online marketing is the best way to go when marketing your business . It gives you the perfect mix of media to go after your target audience .

Here are several ways you can market your busi-ness online:

Google Retargeting. This is a tactic that allows you to run a display ad on sites showing Google

Advertising . You bid on how many impressions (the number of times you’d like your ad to be shown) and Google will show ads on sites pertain-ing to your market .

The best part is Google will show your ad to your prospects even after they leave your site . So if you have an irresistible message they didn’t respond to right away, you can essentially “follow up” with these prospects while they browse the Internet .

LinkedIn. This is more of a long-term strategy that allows you to build relationships with people on the largest social media site for business professionals . You create a LinkedIn Discussion

There are a myriad of ways to attract your ideal clientele online. The trick is to balance your time and money regarding

how to use these online marketing methods.

HOW TO ATTRACT YOUR IDEAL CLIENTELE ONLINE


Group, which allows people in your niche to discuss topics and ask questions in your industry . This is a way you can build your credibility and authority among a group of targeted prospects .

Facebook Advertising. This is the latest trend in online advertising, and it can work like gangbusters if you know what you’re doing . The thing you need to remember is people are on Facebook to look at crazy cat videos or catch up with friends—not to respond to your irresistible message . So you need to keep this in mind when considering Facebook Advertising as a strategy to build your practice .

What’s great about Facebook is you can target people by demographics and their inter-ests—another reason why it’s critical to get to know your target prospect .

Google Adwords. This allows you to display ads in your area pertaining to your niche de-pending on what they’re searching for in the search box . You bid on how much you’d like to show your ad when someone performs a search query, and Google will display your ad .

The best part is you can only display Google Adwords via location if you choose . So if your practice is local, you can target prospects within a 10-25 mile radius .

Social Media Posts. Many professionals are having success posting to social media ac-counts like Twitter and Facebook . The problem is social media is better if you’re trying to “spread the word” about your business a la traditional advertising . Plus posting to social me-dia can be extremely time consuming with no way to measure a return on your investment .

My recommendation is to focus on strategies that allow you to get more business now, and put social media on the backburner .

Use Your Business Blog To Get Leads. In addi-tion to establishing you as a thought leader in your industry, business blogs also provide excellent opportunities to generate on-line leads .

Place calls to action in the body of your articles, or on a sidebar, top bar, or footer . Calling your readers to action at a time when you are providing something of value to them makes them more likely to become leads .

Rather than creating a button that leads to a landing page with a form, you can also put short and simple forms right on the page, so people can quickly submit their information and become a lead .


Some say 6-8 (according to Salesforce), and others have said 13 or more (according to the Online Marketing Institute) .

Regardless, studies show that it’s certainly not 1 or 2 . It takes regular, consistent contact and follow up to turn cold leads and prospects into clients . Yet 79% of businesspeople give up after 2 or 3 contacts, according to a recent study by Microsoft .

The Microsoft study shows that 50% of busi-ness owners give up after the first contact with a prospect, and 89% of them have given up after the 4th contact .

But, the research showed that you start to earn top of mind awareness by the 7th contact, and you have a 90% chance of being called by the 9th

contact if they are ready to buy . Which leads me to an important point that you need to tattoo on your forehead:

You need to understand that your prospects are focused on other things in their lives other than your services. They are more interested in themselves, their families, and their businesses.

In fact, marketing strategist Jay Abraham talks about the power of staying in front of your most important, high value prospective clients . Here is a passage from his book Getting Everything You Can Out Of All You’ve Got:

“The best way to continuously generate business is to keep constantly in the mind and awareness of your

Have you seen the studies about how many “touches” or contacts it takes to turn a prospect into a client?

THE IMPORTANCE OF FOLLOW UP


prospects and clients. If you think about the interests and needs and well-being of them, at a higher and more continuous level than anybody else, you’re going to be constantly on top of their awareness. So when the opportunity presents itself, these people are automatically predis-posed to remembering YOU.”

That’s why having a consistent follow-up system in place is critical to your success because you’ll be able to stay in touch with people and show interest in them—not just when they are ready to buy .

By the way, I’m not talking about making a handful of phone calls or sending out a few emails . That will appear “salesy” to your prospect . I’m talking about building a genuine relationship with your prospect instead of just listing them as mere contacts, leads or op-portunities in your customer database .

It also makes the “sale” a lot easier because they’ve gotten to know you better by the 6th contact . Every contact greases the wheels—furthers the relationship—and separates you from competitors who have given up on them .

It shows your prospect that you’re there for them all the time .

Persistent follow up allows you to practically eliminate your competition because nobody else is doing it . It also frees you up from the pressure of having to be a great “salesperson” or having to read people .

You just need to be persistent and consistent when following up—traits that already lie within you—to separate yourself from the pack . It doesn’t take any special innate talent or skill, yet it’s the #1 ingredient in improving and boosting your clientele .

Thankfully, today’s technologies allow you to build relationship capital and stay “top of mind” in your prospects so you can: 1 . Consistently make these contacts and keep them front-and-center in a way that

provides value for your prospects .

2 . Consistently grow your database, so that new prospects are being seeded regu-larly . And there are prospects at various stages of the “sales” cycle .

60

And the best part is that everything is automated and only takes you 15-18 minutes to implement every day .

Failure to do this will relegate you to constantly serving clients who are ready “right now” to work with you, but who may not be your ideal clients . You are forced to work with these people because you don’t have multiple prospects lined up waiting for your services .

That’s because you don’t have the luxury to pick and choose whom to work with because your pipeline is empty .

For example, you’ll take on an “average Joe” client who is on a budget and can only pay X amount for your services . But he’s ready to go now, so you have no choice but to take him because no one else is calling you and you have to pay the bills and overhead .

Without follow up, you’ll be ignoring the affluent client who doesn’t make buying deci-sions based solely on price, has plenty of disposable income, and would gladly pay you a handsome premium for your product or service . Plus they’re well-connected so they could potentially recommend you to 15-20 more clients like him .

That’s not a great situation to be in . And that’s the predicament you’ll find yourself in if you don’t take the relationship building and follow up portion of your business seriously .

Here are several ways you can follow up with your prospects:

1) Email Marketing. The key here is not to pitch your prospects over and over again . A good mix is to send out 80% content and 20% pitch emails .

2) Physical Newsletter. This is even more effective because we already talked about the benefits of direct mail vs . email . The best strategy is to collect names and physical addresses of your prospects so you can send your newsletter .

3) Phone calls. Here, you want to make sure you always have a specific reason for contacting the prospect, instead of “checking in” or “touching base .”

To enhance your marketing, make following up a high priority .

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Let’s face it, regardless of what profession you’re in, you are in the business of selling something, whether it be yourself, your product or service or your practice .

I find that one can predict success to the degree they master these 9 key skill sets required for suc-cess in selling professional services .

The 9 Key Skill Sets are: • Prospecting—Identifying Key Niche Markets• Establishing High Levels of Trust• Uncovering Prospects’ Needs• Solving Problems with Customized Solutions• Handling Objections• Closing Sales

• Generating Repeat Business• Generating Referral Business• Creating Systems and Processes

These are the “majors .” Often times we major in the “minors .” We get caught up doing things extremely well that should have never been done in the first place . This brings up the difference between “ef-fective” and “efficient .” Efficient means doing things right . Effective, on the other hand, is doing the right things . If we’re going to drop the ball, we don’t want to drop it in these 9 key areas . You are only as strong as your weakest link . It’s also the weakest link that determines your income and holds you back .

If we put “Selling Professional Services” under the microscope, you’ll find there are only a few key

The 9 Key Skill Sets Required For Business Success will discuss what every business owner, entrepreneur, or anyone selling professional

services must have in place to achieve success.

9 KEY SKILL SETS REQUIRED FOR BUSINESS SUCCESS


skill sets one needs to excel in which determine your level of success . It’s similar to the Pareto Principle, more commonly known as the 80-20 Rule . The Pareto Principle says 20 percent of the activities in our day produce 80% of our results . Out of all the things you do every day, there are only a handful that are absolutely vital to master .

The key is to make sure the areas you excel in are the 20 percent of your activities that ac-count for 80 percent of your results . It’s interesting to see how so many professionals focus on turning their weaknesses into strengths . I find that to be virtually impossible . I could spend the next 20 years focused on turning my weaknesses into strengths, and at the end of 20 years, I’m completely frustrated, but I’ve got some really strong weaknesses . I decided to focus on the majors, the things I did really well, and delegate everything else .

So let’s talk about each of the 9 Key Skill Sets necessary for excellence in Marketing and Selling Professional Services .

Skill Number One: Identifying The Right ProspectsIf you try to be all things to all people, you become everything to nobody . Peter Drucker said, “Concentration is the key to economic results . No other principle of effectiveness is violated as constantly today as the basic principle of concentration .”

You’ve got to have the right offering for the right prospects, at the right time and convey it with the right message . The first key is to make sure you’re talking to the right prospects . It’s the single most important decision that directly affects our income down the road . If you want a schoolteacher’s income, talk to schoolteachers .

Skill Number Two: Establish High Levels of TrustNo “sales” occur unless trust is present . If you’re only paid when you make sales and no sales occur unless trust is present, it sounds like trust is going to be a pretty important component in our marketing mix . It sounds like we ought to figure out exactly what our marketing should deliver to be seen as trustworthy .

You’re not seen so much as trustworthy from what you say because people take what you say with a grain of salt . You’re seen as trustworthy much more from what other people have to say . We all have testimonials from clients . These actually carry more weight in pros-pects’ final decisions than anything we might say, yet we don’t utilize testimonials nearly as much as we should .

Skill Number Three: Uncovering Prospects’ NeedsJ . Douglas Edwards was the “father of all selling .” He correctly said, “Questions really are the answers .” Tony Robbins said it even better when he said, “If you’re not getting the right answers, you need to ask better questions .”


God gave us two ears and one mouth for one specific reason…to do twice as much listen-ing as we do talking . In sales, you can’t be receiving if you’re broadcasting .

For you to close sales, you’ve got to speak less and listen more .Only 7% of communication comes from the words people say, 38% of communication comes not from the words you say, but how you say them, and 55% of your communica-tion is non-verbal . It’s body language . It’s how you look and act . So, listen-ing is the key to uncovering prospects’ needs, and there are three ways professional service providers need to start listening if they want to be seen as the only logical choice .

First, we need to listen verbally, to the actual words that are being said . Second, we need to listen vocally, to how the words are being delivered and the meaning behind the words being spoken . Third, we need to listen “visually” with our eyes to see the body language displayed while the words are being spoken .

Often times, what is not being said (non-verbal) is far more important than what is being said .

Skill Number Four: Creating Customized SolutionsRemember, salespeople push products – trusted advisors recommend solutions . When you understand what people buy from you are solutions to their problems and the good feelings associated with them…when you understand that, you’ll see the need to make sure you’re seen by your customers as a valued and trusted advisor .

People buy “solutions to their problems” first, but today they want “customized” solutions . The days of the “you can have any color you want as long as it’s black” mentality are gone forever . No one has the same set of fingerprints and each client wants customized solu-tions specific to their needs .

It’s important to revisit one of my favorite sayings from legendary Zig Ziglar many years ago . He said, “You can get anything in life you want, if you’ll just help enough other people get what they want .” Truer words have never been spoken . As professional service providers, we need to stop focusing on making a sale and start focusing on making a difference in the lives of our clients .

Skill Number Five: Handling ObjectionsMost professional service providers look at objections the wrong way . They dread objec-tions . I feel a little differently . I think objections are your best indicator you’ve got hot pros-pects . If they are not interested, why do you think they would waste a second giving you


an objection? The only reason they’re giving you an objection is that they are interested and they just need some things clarified before they’re ready to make a buying decision .

I find there are only a handful of objections for any service . If we know that handful of objections and have done our homework in advance, we can tailor our presentation to overcoming many of their objections even before they come up .

Skill Number Six: Closing SalesWhen you have a product or service that you feel truly changes people’s lives, and is in their best interest to purchase it, closing sales takes on a whole new mean-ing . I fully expect everyone I speak with to buy . Why? Because I know what my service does and I’ve seen the thousands of lives that it’s changed . They say, “Enthusiasm sells .” I agree . So many profes-sional service providers today don’t believe in what they do and that conviction comes right through . Your prospect can tell if you’re in it for them, or if you’re in it just to make a sale and get a check .

The key is to never sell anyone anything, but instead focus your efforts on helping them buy . People don’t want to be sold . They want you to help them buy .

I believe most professional service providers focus on the wrong end when it comes to closing sales . We focus on the close, the contract signed or the deal done . I believe the close actually is in the beginning . The stronger you start, the faster you close . This is why it’s imperative that we wipe the slate clean and reinvent marketing from the ground up so we don’t focus on the close, but we focus on the beginning . How fast you close the sale today simply depends on how well you start . Start strong, close quick .

Skill Number Seven: Generating Repeat BusinessThe most important order you’ll ever receive from a client is the second one . It’s easier to get repeat business from an existing client than to go find a new one . Think about it . An existing client has already bought from you once . They already know you, like you and trust you .

This is why it makes sense to have a form of “drip marketing” in place to nurture the rela-tionships of existing clients . As a general rule, there are three things required to “gather ad-ditional business” from existing clients . First, you must solidify the relationship reminding them of the reasons they selected you in the first place . Second, you must educate them fully about all the many ways in which you’re able to help them . Third, you must establish your credibility fully, not partially . The amount of business you have from any given client is in direct proportion to the amount of trust, confidence and credibility you’ve estab-lished . This is one area where you can’t have too much . More is better here .


Skill Number Eight: Generating Never Ending ReferralsMany professional service providers say they don’t prospect because all their business comes from referrals . Aren’t referrals just another form of prospecting, albeit, the best form of prospecting? Most professional service providers do a rather poor job of asking for and obtaining referrals and this is such an easy problem to fix .

Most clients would love to refer you, but they’re not . It’s not because they don’t want to, they simply don’t know how to . There are 5 reasons why it makes sense to excel in referral-based marketing:

NUMBER 1: Inexpensive—it doesn’t require a nickel to start generating referrals .

NUMBER 2: No overhead—you don’t need a new computer, new software or a new as-sistant .

NUMBER 3: Prospect while you sell—you get to sell while you’re prospecting and pros-pect while you’re selling .

NUMBER 4: Continuous, one leads to another—if done properly, one referral will lead to another . We’re shooting for never ending referrals .

NUMBER 5: People refer upward—if our marketing has high enough perceived value, peo-ple tend to refer upward to someone who ends up being an even better client than they are .

Skill Number Nine: Creating Systems, Processes and ProceduresIt’s all about systems, processes and procedures . Growing your business is simply a func-tion of the quality of the systems you have in place . An amazing thing happens without a marketing system in place…NOTHING .

Any successful business must have at a minimum 4 Key Processes in place . In an upcom-ing section, 4 Key Processes Every Business Must Have In Place, we will focus on the four major processes to attract, convert, leverage and retain clients .


The good news is there are a lot of ways you can get your time back so you can start implement-ing these initiatives . If you’re like most profes-sionals, you can probably use a good primer on time management .

Here are 5 tips you can use right now:

1) Start with time logging. Start from the mo-ment you wake up to the moment you hit the sack at night . Track every single minute of your day and see where you’re wasting time . That

includes all the small moments you’re check-ing email, social media, and getting interrupted through the day .

2) Only check email twice a day. Turn off all your notifications and resist the urge to check your email all day . This leads to fragmented at-tention and can lower your productivity during the day .

3) Plan your day in advance. The worst thing you can do is start your day with no game plan .

I have given you a lot of strategies to implement in this report. You’re probably wondering to yourself: “When will I have time to

implement all this?”

5 TIME MANAGEMENT STRATEGIES THAT’LL HELP YOU GET MORE DONE IN YOUR BUSINESS


Set aside 10 minutes at the end of every evening to plan your day .It also helps to visualize your day when you go to bed, and when you wake up in the morning .

4) Schedule time for your interruptions too. You know you’re going to have interrup-tions throughout your day, so why not plan them? Schedule office hours where employ-ees can interrupt you . Don’t let anyone come into your office to interrupt you during any time of the day . You can also put a “do-not-disturb” sign on your door during non-office hours .

5) Figure out what results you want to obtain. This only takes five minutes, but will ensure you know what success will look like before you start . You can do this at the begin-ning of any phone call or activity .

I hope these tips help you get more done in less time . I also hope they boost your income so you can move forward in your business .


I hope you’ve enjoyed this FREE Re-port. If you implement what you’ve learned you’ll be in the Top 5% of your field. Attracting and developing new business is job number one. So now the ball is in your court. I’ve shared a wealth of information. Now it’s up to you to decide what you will do with it.

Appendix

Social MediaCheat Sheet

• Make your brand known and easy

to recognize visually

• Place a detailed description of

your business and a link back to

your website on your account .

• Post high quality photos (utilize

editing apps)

• Research hashtags and use the

ones your audience has interest in .

• Follow users within your niche (who engage in your brand)

• Tag industry influencers in your posts when relevant

• Mix fun and humor in your visual content .

• Reward your following with contests, coupons and discounts

• Advertise to your audience using Facebook data .

BEST TIME TO POST

ESSENTIAL TIPS

FUN FACTS TOP TOOLS• 2 .5 billion likes are generated daily from users

• More than 80 million photos and videos are posted daily

• There are over 400 million active users

• 47% of U .S . users utilize Instagram on a smart phone

• 75% of users are from outside the U .S .

• Users of Instagram are 58 times more likely to make

an engagement versus Facebook, and 120 times more

likely than on Twitter .

Sunday, Monday and Thursday 2-4 p .m . and 8-9 p .m .

• Use a recognizable profile picture

and attractive cover photo .

• Incorporate links to your website

within your profile description .

• Implement Call to Action buttons

on your fanpage menu .

• Share high quality photos and

videos consistently (not just of

your own content)

• Respond to comments from your fans .

• Place your Facebook page as a widget on your website to increase followers .

• Create contests and giveaways for your audience .

• Experiment with Facebook advertising to grown your brand and sales .

BEST TIME TO POST

ESSENTIAL TIPS

FUN FACTS TOP TOOLS• Over 1 .5 billion users worldwide .

• Average user spends over 15 hours on Facebook

monthly .

• Posts with photos receive 39% more user engagement .

• Incorporating emoticons in your post increases

comments by over 33% .

• Quotes receive 26% more likes and 19% more shares .

• 42% of marketers rely on Facebook for business .

Thursday, Friday, Saturday & Sunday 1 - 3 p .m .

• Use a high-contrast brand

image for your profile .

• Include your business URL in

your bio with a call to action .

• Keep your tweets short, mix in

funny and factual information .

• Utilize images and photos to

increase engagement .

• Use hashtags in your tweets .

• Respond to questions users ask

you, and tweet out questions

to increase engagement .

• Follow niche related people

and businesses and organize

them in lists .

BEST TIME TO POST

ESSENTIAL TIPS

FUN FACTS TOP TOOLS• Including images in your tweets results in 35% increase

in retweets .

• Over 500 million tweets sent out each day .

• 80% of Twitter users are on mobile devices .

• You can’t follow more than 2,00 people unless you have

2,000 followers .

• China has the most users on Twitter, over 35 million .

• 70% of small business are on Twitter .

Monday, Tuesday, & Wednesday 12-1 p .m ., 5-6 p .m .

• Use call to actions within your pins

to increase engagement .

• Include your website URL on your

profile page .

• Create evergreen images and your

content will be engaged with for

months .

• Review the Popular section and

pin related images .

• Pin 15+ times per day and spread them out hourly .

• Keep your pin descriptions to under 200 characters, along with a call to action .

• Include prices within your pin titles and descriptions to increase engagements .

• Implement the Pin It button within your website .

BEST TIME TO POST

ESSENTIAL TIPS

FUN FACTS TOP TOOLS• Over 80% of all pins are repins .

• 79% of Pinterest users are female .

• Pins live for months while Facebook posts live for a few

hours .

• 75% of all traffic is via mobile smartphones .

• 88% of consumers have purchased a product they

previously pinned .

• 49% of consumers have purchased 5+ products they’ve

pinned .

Saturday, Sunday 8-11 p .m .

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