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More Clients - the Online Marketing Newsletter
for Independent Professionals
from Action Plan Marketing
and Robert MiddletonIn This Week's Issue: Your "thinking small mind" may be
determining your success. How can you start to think bigger?
Thinking Bigger
This weekend I met again with my new Mastermind Group. There's
really something about putting your heads together with a few
other people who are committed to your greatness. It helps me
get outside of my "thinking small mind" that would prefer to have
its way, take it easy and be comfortable.For so many years I held the limiting belief that Independent
Professionals couldn't afford to invest in their businesses. As a
result, I limited what I offered to my clients. But I really didn't do
them any favors.When I started offering more comprehensive programs, first as a
marketing coach and later through Marketing Action Groups, I
discovered that my clients wanted to be stretched and challenged
and that they would gladly invest in themselves if the value was
there.Over the years I noticed that I wasn't the only one with "thinking
small mind." I would regularly see clients charge fees that were
too low, offer packages of services that were inadequate to get the
job done and have a general feeling that they really weren't worth
the money they were charging (despite ample evidence to the
contrary.)I invite you to challenge your "thinking small mind" and explore
what might be possible in your business if you started to think
bigger. Here are some areas you might want to look at:"I can't charge any more for my services."
Are you sure that's true? Are you currently charging more than
anyone else? Do you really know what your clients can afford? Isn't
it possible that value is more important than money? What's the
worst that could happen if you raised your rates? It is not possible
that your less profitable clients would leave and the more
profitable ones would increase?"My clients won't buy bigger projects or programs."
Can you absolutely know this is true? Have you actually tried to
package a more comprehensive program? Have you worked at
writing more compelling marketing materials to promote that
program? Have you looked at ways you could add extra value to
the program? Have you offered a guarantee that reverses the risk
to the client?"I'm not worth as much as my competitors."
Really... who says so? Have you closely evaluated the results
you've helped them produce? Have you looked at how much
money you've saved them? Have you looked at the intangible
benefits they've gained such as peace of mind and less stress?
Have you recently read any of the testimonial letters they've sent?"I can be successful, but not a *great success*."
Why not? Don't you have the same time available to you as others?
Don't you have the same access to information and ideas? Aren't
you someone who wants to make a difference and wants to excel in
what you do? You do have as much or more talent, patience and
persistence, don't you?Do you have a "thinking small mind"? Everyone does, but those
who continue to struggle with success tend to buy into or believe
what that mind tells them. Those who find success comes easier
simply question what they tell themselves and chose to create a
bigger, more compelling story with a brighter future.What story will you tell yourself about your business, about your
success, about your ability to market, about the income you
make, about the impact you have on others?I invite you tell a bigger story.
More on "Thinking Bigger" in Marketing Flashes below.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"When all else fails....
follow instructions." That's one of my favorite sayings. Another
way of saying it is "copy success." Marketing your services is trickier
than it looks. There are endless principles, strategies, practices
and skills you need to master to become a great marketer and
attract clients consistently.When I want to learn something new, I buy a book, a set of tapes or
videos. I invest a lot in learning from the pros. The "thinking small mind"
tends to say, "Oh, I can figure this out by myself." But how much time,
effort and money is that really going to cost you?If you want to be a better marketer of your services The InfoGuru
Marketing Manual is a great place to start.Why is the InfoGuru Manual for you?
- It was developed exclusively for Independent Professionals such
as consultants, coaches, trainers and other service professionals
who are great at what they do, but have a hard time consistently
attracting clients to their businesses.- The manual is based on a few powerful marketing principles that,
once you understand them, might seem obvious but are missed by
almost everyone (and implemented by even fewer).- The marketing principles contained in the manual will help you
increase interest in your services, build trust and credibility with
prospects, get prospects wanting to learn more about what you do,
and create a steady stream of word-of-mouth business.- It goes way beyond theory, vague generalizations or concepts, and
contains hundreds of hands-on marketing strategies and action plans
that are easy to implement, even if you have no marketing experience.- It includes foundational marketing information on things like creating
an attention-getting marketing message, and then goes into depth on
the most recent marketing techniques of web marketing and eZines.- You can read it like a book -- you can go through it slowly and
do the exercises like a home-study course -- or you can refer to it
whenever you have a question about marketing your business.- It comes with a boatload of extras, including audio files, articles,
and the InfoGuru Support Forum, where you can get any question
about marketing answered for free.- The Support Forum can be used to answer questions, provide
resources, and get "peer-review" of marketing materials, web sites,
proposals and sales letters, as well as explore the more complex
and confusing aspects of attracting clients to your business.- It will help remove the mystery and struggle about marketing
and selling that so many Independent Professionals experience,
and will help you realize that marketing can actually be fun.- It comes with my unconditional guarantee. Get it and try it. If you
don't think it's worth much more than what you paid, tell me and I'll
refund 100% of your purchase price.- Unlike most marketing information sold on the web, the manual is not
only available in digital form (.pdf file) for immediate download, but for
just a few dollars more you can get a printed manual as well.- The InfoGuru Marketing Manual was published in February of 2001,
and it's just as relevant today, because I add to it regularly with updates
of the manual that can be downloaded repeatedly at no additional cost.- If you are looking for one tool that will help you attract clients with
an approach and methodology that is highly effective but doesn't
compromise your integrity, you've found it!For complete details and to order online go to:
www.actionplan.com/infoguru.html~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Marketing Flashes on "Thinking Bigger"
* Think Bigger about your vision, goals and commitment to
make a difference. If you couldn't fail, what would you do?
If you couldn't think small what would your business and your
life look like?* Think Bigger about the clients you work with. Why just settle
for "any old clients"? Why not rase the bar and take a stand
for working with great clients who can pay well and will work
with you in partnership to produce results?* Think Bigger about your business relationships. Who could
you create something with, connect with, partner with? How could
you leverage your business relationships so that they empowered
and challenged you to be your best?* Think Bigger about the services you offer. Why offer the same
old services everyone else is offering? How can you stand out, add
extra value, go the extra mile? How can your business and services
be truly memorable?* Think Bigger about your marketing. Look at every single aspect
of how you put the word out about what you do and commit to
making it better. Create a killer web site, an awesome eZine,
and sales letters that sizzleUntil next week, all the best,
Robert Middleton
ACTION PLAN MARKETING
Helping Independent Professionals Attract More Clients~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
210 Riverside Drive
Boulder Creek, CA 95006
831-338-7790© 2004 Robert Middleton, All rights reserved. You are free
to use material from the More Clients eZine in whole or in part,
as long as you include complete attribution, including live web
site link. Please also notify me where the material will appear.
The attribution should read:"By Robert Middleton of Action Plan Marketing. Please visit
Robert's web site at http://www.actionplan.com for additional
marketing articles and resources on marketing for professional
service businesses."* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
