Entries Tagged 'Good Practices' ↓

In my last post, I talked about why I’ve begun to trade goal-setting for visioning, and how to create compelling 3-year visions that propel you into action.

I find visions to be so much more exciting than goals. But I haven’t given up on goals entirely! Income goals remind me that ultimately, I’m in charge of my income. And you know what they say - what you focus on expands.

Here’s how to set income goals that get results:

1. Be realistic. I will be completely straight up here and admit that when I first quit my job, I “intentioned” a lot of ridiculous numbers within even more ridiculous time frames. Not only was I completely frustrated by not meeting them, I was also confused (”wait, why isn’t it happening?” *wail*).

Don’t get me wrong - it’s important to pick a number number outside of your comfort zone (see next point). And my numbers weren’t entirely unrealistic, just unrealistic for right then. But the result was a lot of emotional energy down the drain. Very counter-productive, needless to say.

Here’s what I completely failed to take into account: the growth-value-income equation. Your fees and income are all about what VALUE you provide to your clients. Want bigger fees and more money? Add more value. And sometimes that means you have to grow, both as a practitioner and a person.

2. At the same time, pick something that will be a bit of a stretch. You don’t grow when you’re in your comfort zone. What number would make you a little bit uncomfortable… make you wonder, “Hrm, could I?”… inspire you to push yourself… and most importantly of all, invite you to grow?

If you pick a number that’s a little higher than you’re used to, you’ll s-t-r-r-r-etch a little to get there. Ask yourself, “What kind of person do I need to be in order to (charge X / serve Y clients / offer Z)?”

3. Pick an emotional number. I learned this one from SEO expert Colin McDougall, who spoke at The System earlier this year. When Colin quit his job as a systems administrator (ie, computer geek) to pursue Internet Marketing full-time, he set a goal of earning $5,000 per month. Why? That was the monthly income at the “day job from hell.” A goal of replacing the day job income kept him focused on never going back, and kept him motivated.

4. Work backward. Once you have a ballpark number, now it’s time for brass tacks: how many clients/sessions/classes will you need in order to meet that goal? Is it realistic, but a bit of a stretch? If yes, hooray! If not, go back and adjust.

5. Think averages. Income goals are kind of like losing weight - it takes time to see results. Just as you wouldn’t hop on the scale every day when you’re on a diet, thinking in averages is more realistic and will help keep you from getting discouraged. You may not make your target number for a given month, but if you divide up your entire income for 3 months and divide by 3… you get the picture.

6. Review your goal regularly. Post it where you can see it, put it in your day planner, or work it into your scheduling and/or time management system. Whatever you do, make sure you review your goal regularly. In this case, “out of sight, out of mind” might as well also mean “out of bank account.”

And remember: your goal is not set in stone. If later you find that you need to tweak it down, that doesn’t mean you failed! Success never comes in a straight line. It’s those little adjustments that count. The more you focus on what you want and implement the marketing to get there, the sooner you’ll find yourself “tweaking” your income goals in the “right” direction: up, up, up!

This time of year always gets me thinking about vision and planning. It’s a good time for taking stock. July marks the end of the first half and the start of the second half of the year - plenty of feedback (from the first 6 months) and time to make adjustments (6 more months to go). The energy of this time of year is perfect, too - the fiery energy of Midsummer!

I’ve always been a big goal-setter (it’s a habit I picked up from my dad). Indeed, I can’t really imagine life without goals of some kind. But I have to be honest. Lately I’ve been questioning the whole goal-setting thing.Why? Well, if there’s anything I’ve learned from working for myself, it’s that nothing stays the same except change. I don’t know about you, but here’s an experience I’ve had more times than I’d like to count: I make a long list of goals - beautiful goals! - and I’m movtivated and pumped up and excited to meet them - I’ve even started working on ‘em! - and then… something gets in the way. A prject spiraled out of control, a better idea, or just… life.And all momentum comes to a screeching halt. (Sound familiar?)

I don’t know about you, but it’s enough to make me feel like making goals are a big waste of time. (quite literally - I can’t tell you how many times I’ve spent HOURS on a list of goals only for them to become irrelevant a month later). So, more and more, I’ve traded goal-setting for visioning.

What is visioning? Quite simply, visioning is painting a picture of what you’d like your entire life to look like - work, money, relationships, family, spirituality, everything - within a given time frame.

Visioning allows you to drop the inhibitions and “shoulds” of goal-setting and think BIG: what would you like your life to look like in 1 year, 2 years, 3 years? (I suggest a 3-year vision because it’s plenty of time to make the vision come true, but not TOO much time that it seems unreal.)

What would stretch you, push you, challenge you? Better yet, what motivates you, gets you really excited? A good 3-year vision should scare you a little.

Be sure to write down your vision in the present tense. Pretend it’s three years from now. “It’s July 1, 2011. So many things have happened since July 1, 2008. I left my day job in January, 2009 to become a full-time Reiki practitioner and I now have a six-figure income…”

But don’t stop with just your calling and your income. What does your home look like? Who is with you? What trips have you taken?

Don’t hold back! If your vision doesn’t get your heart racing, you’re not stretching far enough. Your vision should make you want to jump out of your chair. Make sure, though, to add plenty of specifics; i.e., tangible results that you can measure. If it helps, get a goals book or a vision book, where you can place pictures and talismans that remind you of your vision.

Once you have your vision, it’s time to work backward. What do you need to do to make it happen?

Don’t worry if you can’t figure it all out right now. But it is important to get into ACTION as soon as possible. Avenues you haven’t dreamed of to make your vision come true will open up to you… but only once you are in motion.

Lastly, print out your vision and keep it close at hand. Read it often, and allow yourself to really feel it happening now.

For fun, I thought I’d share a little more about how I came to be such a big fan of the just-one-thing strategy.

First, I can’t help but post this quote from mega-entrepreneur Dan Kennedy, mentioned in the BYMB newsletter this week (are you signed up?). It comes from his book, No B.S. Wealth Attraction:

“Finally, let me reveal one of my own, personal ’secrets of success.’ It is a daily discipline I have adhered to for more than 30 years. I’d wager I’ve neglected it less than 30 days out of the 30 years. I’ve adhered to it 10,920 out of 10,950 days. Every day, no matter what else I am doing or must do that day, even if in a full day of consulting, traveling across country, or on vacation, I still do one thing, if only one thing, one thing intended to ‘prime my pump’ to create future business for myself or my companies. It may be a small thing: tearing a magazine article that should interest one of my clients, scrawling a note on it and mailing it. It may be answering one item of correspondence, getting one fax sent, identifying a new, potentially useful contact, jotting a note, or sending a book. But no day passes without me doing at least one such thing. Although it is no longer required, it has been especially important to me over the years because a lot of my income is derived from delivery of services, such as speaking, consulting, coaching and advertising copywriting; so, in a way, I must sell ‘it’ and make ‘it.’ Most professionals stop selling while they’re delivering, so they have dry spells, roller coaster ups and downs. I have had more demand than supply of me and waiting lists of clients for many years because of my daily discipline of doing at least one proactive thing to attract business every single day.”

I did not learn this strategy from Dan Kennedy. I discovered “just one thing” back in 1994.

It was my last semester at Trinity College. Like many college seniors, my swan song came in the form of the dreaded senior thesis.

I can’t remember now how I hit on the strategy of doing just one thing, no matter how small, each and every day to get the thesis done. I’d like to think it was my own idea. Maybe I’d thought of it myself, but it was definitely floating around out there in the ether. I do know that I have never been an all-nighter kind of person, especially when it comes to writing. If the paper is not done the night before it’s due, it’s going to be late. Period. The thought horrified me.

I will never forget the day when, while sitting around in the cafeteria listening to everyone else bellyache and moan about their last-minute mad dashes toward the thesis finish line, I realized that mine was already done. 2 weeks early.

“And this comes as a surprise?” said a kid sitting across from me. He was staring into the abyss of being awake 24 hours a day for his last 2 weeks.

“I hadn’t even noticed,” I said, truthfully.

Silence.

“Um, I guess I’d better take it to Kinko’s and get it printed.”

The kid just shook his head.

Yes, they’re out there! And one of the coolest things about marketing is that you get to pick ‘em.

We could talk about this all day, and then another day, but my goal with this post is to not ramble. So I’m just going to list a few strategies to get you thinking… and writing. (Get a pen and paper handy - you’ll want to jot down a few things as you go through this list.)

1. Start with who you know. Namely, your current perfect clients! Think for a few minutes about who is coming to see you now. Can you name three favorite clients? What is it about them that’s so awesome? Jot down specific attributes. Anything goes, from how they act in sessions to what they wear. Jot it all down… then go deeper. That handmade vintage playing card jewelry that one of them wears is probably indicative of a creative personality and that might be attractive to you.

2. Then move on to the wish list. In a perfect world, what would all of your clients look like? Nothing is too wild.

3. Don’t be afraid to monetize this exercise. Yes, it’s perfectly OK to say you want to work with people who can afford to pay you - and then some! How much would you like to earn for each reading/consultation? What kind of a person could pay you that fee?

4. Make a list, draw a picture. This one’s pretty self-explanatory: use the information you’re gathering to create a picture of your ideal client. It’s ok if it’s a work in progress - you can always add to your list or picture later.

5. Tell everyone you know. Once you’ve got a good idea of who you want, start talkin’. You might not know it, but I bet you’ve got a great network around you right now - friends, family, and service pros like the guy who changes your oil, the mailwoman, the guy at the deli, the drycleaner… people who have lots of contacts, some of whom might be interested in getting some guidance from you, if they only knew…

Ah, but I hear you saying, “Ask the mailman? Dude, are you kidding?” Many times we don’t want to ask for what we want because we’re worried, even subconsciously, what people will think about us. So turn it around by simply answering the squillion dollar question: what’s in it for them? That way, the focus is on them, not you.

6. Go where they go. Where do they hang out? If you want to work with, say, yoga teachers, you probably won’t find as many of them at night classes for auto mechanics as you will at, say, a school for yoga teachers. OK, that’s a snidge facetious, but you see what I mean I hope. The real question to ask is, “Who has access to the people I want to serve, and how can I get access to them?” One simple example: if you want to work with stay-at-home-moms, perhaps there’s a group or club or networking organization you can speak at or lead a workshop for.

7. Don’t be afraid to let go. Yep, I’m talking about firing clients. Those clients. This might seem completely off the wall if you’ve never considered it, let alone done it, but bear with me here. “Those clients” may be paying your rent… but they’re also sucking up your time, energy and brain cells. When you create a space, create an intention, and back it up with smart and supportive action, not once but consistently, the results are fairly easy to predict. But you need that energy to do it. Don’t be afraid to release problem clients “for the good of all.”

Those are just 7 quick strategies to get you started. Don’t worry, we’ll talk about more! In the meantime, I’d love to hear your ideas and strategies in the comments.

[This work is copyrighted material. Please visit http://www.buildyourmetaphysicalbusiness.com to claim your free 90 minute marketing brainstorming session with Tarot Pro James Wells.]

One of the coolest parts of The Readers Studio for me was… the people! (But of course!)

I had about 30 of the 120 attendees sit in on my workshop. Many others told me they wanted to come, but darn it if that pesky, spritely Shawn Nacol didn’t have his own killer gig on writing going on at the same time (a tough call to be sure - lucky for me, Shawn gave me a copy of his handout, which should keep me busy for a while).

Many, many folks came up to me to talk marketing. Which was especially cool, as I got a bunch of great tips I can share with everyone on the blog. One of whom (let’s just call her our heroine) told me this story.

Our heroine is a client of Ruth Hayden, a financial consultant who works with women on the psychological aspects of money. Being tax time not too long ago, the two of them were going over the books.

“The books” don’t always add up, as we all know. Only in this case, the discrepancy might not be what you’d expect. After scanning the documents, Ruth turned to our heroine.

“So tell me,” she said, pointing to the Tarot reading section, “are you taking this thing seriously?”

Our heroine was a bit stunned. “Um, what?”

“Are you taking this ‘tarot thing’ seriously?”

“I thought so,” said our heroine.

“Because these numbers here aren’t showing me that!”

Are you taking your business seriously? As seriously as the readings themselves? It’s a fair question, no?

So often, we’re taught to thing negative, stay small, discount our accomplishments, whatever. You guys know all the baggage already, I’m sure. But then as readers, consultants, or whatever we choose to call ourselves, we have even more resistence to contend with. “Tarot|Astrology|Numerology|What-Have-You - you’re not… serious about that, are you?”

Dead serious, man. These are our clients’ lives we’re talking about. And our own.

Are you a professional tarot reader? A professional astrologer, hand analyst, or numerologist? Are you getting paid for your consultations? Maybe you don’t have goals worked out yet per se, but are you at least a step beyond “casual readings”?

Congratulations! You’re an entrepreneur! And that comes with a whole host of rewards… and responsibilities too.

In my workshop this weekend, we talked a lot about how much of your marketing is completely under your control. We talked about taking control. Step one of taking control is taking yourself seriously, even when others don’t.

You get to define what “taking yourself seriously” means to you and your business. But no matter what you decide, here are the three responsibilities that come with it (these too are from Ruth Hayden):

1. Knowing when you’re at work
2. Knowing when you’re not at work
3. Doing the stuff you don’t want to do (eek! more on that in a later post!)

Taking your passion seriously and yourself seriously is one of the greatest gifts you can give yourself. I invite you to ponder the question a bit today. I know I will.

Then go do just one thing…

PS: Are you signed up for the newsletter yet? First issue will go out in about a week or so. Just enter your name and email into the boxes in the upper right hand corner, click submit, check your email for one that says “RESPONSE REQUIRED”, and click on the link in that email.

[This work is copyrighted material. Please visit http://www.buildyourmetaphysicalbusiness.com to claim your free 90 minute marketing brainstorming session with Tarot Pro James Wells.]

In the last post, I gave you 25 things you can do in your business on a regular basis to attract more clients. I promised to follow that up with the most effective strategy I know to get a steady stream of clients and build a stable, fun, successful practice.

What I’m about to reveal truly is one of the best pieces of marketing strategy I can ever give you. I’ve used it myself - not just in marketing, but in many other projects. If you combine just this strategy with the “25 things” list (and your additions), you’ll double or triple your business - I guarantee it.

(Even though I’m giving it to you here and now for free, please don’t underestimate what this one strategy can do for you. Marketing guru Dan Kennedy used this strategy to become one of the highest paid consultants on the planet; as far as I know, he still uses it.)

I call it the “just one thing” strategy. (I don’t know what Dan calls it.) Like most things magical, its power lies in its utter simplicity:

Every single day, no matter what, do just one thing to market your practice.

Doesn’t matter how small it is. In fact, it’s good to do just a small thing more often than not - you’re more likely to do it.

Some days, you’ll do big things, like spend three hours working on your website or a brochure. Most days, you’ll do something small, like pick up the phone and say hello to a client, just because.

Size does not matter. The important thing is that you DO it. Every day.

Because next thing you know… three months have gone by, say, and you’ll have done NINETY THINGS.

Every little bit of marketing you do adds up… to increased demand for your services, increased fees, increased leverage, and a bigger business. (We’ll talk about each of these in turn on the blog and in the ezine.)

And because you’re not putting pressure on yourself to do any one particular thing on a given day, the prospect of a three hour project wonn’t freak you out. After all, you don’t have to do it today. (Oddly enough, without that pressure, the chances of you actually doing it increase significantly.)

Just one thing doesn’t seem like a lot, but 90 things really add up. (In case you ever doubt this, just take a look at your closet. Me, I look at my bookshelves and smile AND groan at at the same time. Heh!)

So I challenge you: what “one thing” can you do to market your business today? (See my last post for a few ideas.)

As the title of this post says, this is my favorite marketing strategy ever. It’s also my favorite strategy to complete any project. Why? Because it’s so painless.

You can always do just one thing.

[This work is copyrighted material. Please visit http://www.buildyourmetaphysicalbusiness.com to claim your free 90 minute marketing brainstorming session with Tarot Pro James Wells.]