Latest Blog Comments
  • Another fantastic article Robert. Your tips are so insightful. I find speaking and writing to be two of the most effective ways of getting visibility.... read more
    By Duncan Brodie

  • Thanks Robert. This was a very helpful article. I have been making it a weekly ritual now, to read your blogs, as I work through the Fast Track progra... read more
    By Nancy Francisco

  • I am trying a questionnaire and personalised report approach to a freebie. Showing your expertise via the personalised report, delivering value and ad... read more
    By Robert Wilson

  • Strange how the sales funnel persists. It even gets adapted to the say an hour glass to incorporate what happens after you have a customer. The sieve ... read more
    By Robert Wilson

  • And if you do the first two really well, the third one will be easy. When you find the exact person who has the problems you can solve and you delinea... read more
    By David Frey

  • Kaya, this is a super post. I waited for years to write a free report that now brings me tons of leads. I got the idea for it from questions that I se... read more
    By MaAnna

  • Matt- I agree with Robert. The best freebie is one that is not a big expense for you to create and give away. The biggest expense with the CD idea wou... read more
    By kaya singer

  • Hi Matt, I think a physical produce like a CD would get more response, which is the upside. But the downside is the expense and the chance that your l... read more
    By Robert Middleton

  • Interesting post Robert. I have been testing giving away something physical such as a CD or a real book rather than just an ebook. What do you think a... read more
    By Matt Eve

  • I find it a lot faster to get business in person than online. For this reason I spend more time attending live events and giving presentations. Althou... read more
    By Judy Murdoch

One morning you get a knock at your door. 

Standing there is a gentleman in a suit with a clipboard. Looks like something 'official.' And then you glance past him and notice that in your front yard are about a thousand buckets turned upside-down.  

"What's going on?" you say, rather puzzled.

The gentleman with the clipboard lays it out for you:

"Sir, in your yard, you see 1,111 upside-down buckets. Under one of those buckets is $1 million in cash. It's yours if you can find it. You have one hour. Good luck!"

Now what would you do? 

Well, once option would be to start scrambling to turn over every bucket in your yard to find the $1 million. But you had better work fast, because you'd have to turn over one bucket every 3.24 seconds in order to get to them all. 

This fantasy scenario is not likely to happen. But you are presented with a somewhat similar scenario in your business every single day. 

At any given time, there are dozens, hundred, perhaps thousands of prospective clients out there who could pay you very good money for your services. They are like the turned over buckets. 

Until you connect with them, you won't know if they are ideal clients for you or not. You don't know if they have the potential to pay you thousands of dollars for your services or not. So, much like the buckets, you need to go through a process of "turning them over."

That’s called marketing and selling. 

 

You'd think it was a simple thing: Find a way to contact your most ideal prospects, send them information, invite them to a teleclass, perhaps. And for those who show the most interest, invite them to do a Strategy Session to explore working with you. Then convert some of them into paying clients. 

I've used this basic strategy for several years to generate all the business I can handle - well over a million dollars. 

The basic strategy and tactics are not all that hard. They are something you can learn. Yes, somewhat more complicated than turning over buckets, but hardly impossible. 

So what's stopping you? 

Let's go back to our man with the clipboard and all the buckets. He tells you what you need to do and clicks his stopwatch. But do you start to turn over those buckets?

Not on your life. 

You start asking him questions:

Who put all the buckets in your yard? Why are you doing this? Is there a catch to this? What if your neighbors see you in your yard turning over all those buckets? Won't they think you're a little crazy? And why do you only have an hour; can't you get more time? And couldn't you have done this with fewer buckets? 

But time's a-wasting and if you don't get to turning over buckets pretty quickly, that million dollars won't be yours. 

Back to our marketing and selling scenario. 

Do you say, "Wow, there's so much potential business out there. I can't wait to get started with my marketing and connecting with all the potential clients who could pay me lots of money for my services. Let's get started!"

Not on your life. 

Instead, you start thinking:

What if it doesn't work? And if I contact all those people, what if they reject me? If I ask to send them information, won't they think I'm being pushy? Shouldn't people just contact me? It sounds kind of complicated putting on a teleclass. I'm not really good at the selling process. I don't know what to charge for my services. Isn't there an easier way to do this? 

By the way, these aren't made up. I've heard them over and over again from clients who wanted to grow their businesses, but were stopped by thoughts just like these. 

Isn't it time to just start turning over buckets?

The More Clients Bottom Line: Marketing isn't all that complicated. It's a series of strategies and tactics that anyone can learn, practice and implement. Over time, you'll get better and your results will improve. Ultimately, by mastering this process, you'll earn more money than you can even imagine. And the only thing that can stop you are your thoughts. 

To lean more on how to achieve marketing mastery, go to this page:

actionplan.com/achieve-mastery

Please feel free to comment on this article and to share it with those in your social network. 

Comments 

 
0 # Teresa Riccobuono 2011-11-29 14:31
Hi Robert,
I have noticed that your last two blogs have mentioned fear of rejection. I thought you and your readers might like to ponder this variation of one of my favorite quotes. IF YOU ARE NOT PUTTING YOURSELF IN A POSITION TO HEAR NO, YOU ARE NOT PUTTING YOURSELF IN A POSITION TO HEAR YES.
How are you ever going to get to Yes, if you don’t take the risk of hearing No.
I remind my clients of this notion on a regular basis.
Thanks for all of the information, ideas and reminders you provide.

Teresa Riccobuono
Professional Organizer,
Business Consultant and
Work/Life Balance Expert
Simply Organized.com
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0 # Jim Van Meter 2011-11-29 20:44
Another way to turn over the buckets is to get help. When you find those 'good' buckets, take good care and nurture them. They may turn out to become helpers (referrers) to join you in turn over additional buckets and ease your task, and have a 'helper mulitplier' effect as new helpers are brought in!
Jim Van Meter
Tahoe Financial Planning
& College Planning and Funding
Safer Money Solutions
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0 # Kate L Williams 2011-11-30 13:03
Earlier today I was reminded: Strategy before tactics. As you remind us in this post, Robert, we need to have a strategy (e.g. tele-seminars plus follow up system). Our strategy gets us out of the office and into the yard, in front of buckets. And now we can "Just Do It" over and over again. I'm off to turn over some buckets today! Thanks for the great business marketing parable, Robert. It brings our dilemma and solution to life and keeps our thoughts on the positive, action-focused lighter side.
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