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More Clients - the Online Marketing Newsletter
for Independent Professionals
from Action Plan Marketing
and Robert MiddletonIn This Week's Issue: What is the secret to re-energizing yourself
and getting back on track in your life and your business?
Vision and Purpose
I just completed a very busy period this weekend. I wrapped up
a semester of three Marketing Action Groups, filled four new
groups, and promoted, filled and led a weekend Marketing Mastery
Workshop. Whew!I'm sure you've had times when you wrapped up a big project, felt
a bit worn out and then subsequently felt a little bit empty when
it was all over. Was your energy drained and was it hard to think
of the next project, the next marketing effort?It happens to all of us.
There are probably dozens of ways to re-energize yourself, but
I'm only going to focus on one today. Mostly we think of external
things to do. Take a break, get a massage, reward yourself. I think
those are all very good, but they don't replace this one:Get in touch with your vision and purpose.
Wait, don't stop reading because you think that stuff is airy-fairy.
It's the most practical thing in the world. It's the source of your
fulfillment and your success. It's what keeps you smiling and
what keeps you going no matter how hard things get.Your vision and your purpose are not things you achieve. They are
the means to achieving everything else. They are not something
you get to some day. They are where you come from. They are not
something to figure out. You already know them.What is your vision and purpose? I promise you, they're in there,
but they may not be completely clear to you. And even though they
are there, it's as if they are hidden behind seven veils.You unlock the power of your vision and purpose by *expressing
them.* And the easiest, fastest and most effective way to do that
is to write them down. As you write or type, it will be as if your
vision and purpose flow through your fingers.So don't just discard this, "Sounds kind of weird to me," or even
agree with me, "Yeah, that's really true." Actually do it, write
down your vision and purpose. There is more than one way to do
this. Here are some approaches that have worked for me.Express your vision and purpose (which, by the way, are
essentially the same thing) as those things which you are deeply
committed to, such as the contribution you make in the world."I am committed to making a lasting difference to my
professional field and to the people who work in this field. I
bring, clarity, insight and expertise that makes a lasting
difference."Express your vision and purpose as a statement of your innate
talents and abilities."I am someone who is a great teacher, mentor and coach. I have
the ability to empathize with those I work with and then to
provide the guidance, direction and support they need."Express your vision and purpose as how you see the world being a
better place with the contributions you make."The world is a better place with me because I am constantly
giving. I put my attention and efforts towards helping people be
their very best."OK, hopefully that gives you an idea of what I'm talking about.
You'll only really understand however, if you take a few minutes
to write down several of these vision/purpose statements
yourself and notice what happens.You don't have to force them. They are right there. But once you've
written them down, I promise you'll experience a new sense of
energy and understanding about who you are, what your life is
about and how your business is a vehicle to realize your vision
and purpose.More on "Vision and Purpose" in Marketing Flashes below.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
It's not just what's in the manual.
It's what you do with it. Today's More Clients is very similar to
the first Action Plan in the InfoGuru Manual. And I think this is
the big thing that sets the manual apart from most books on
marketing.It's like a home study course. And doing the action plans are the
key to making it work. You don't have to guess what to do, you
just need to read a chapter and do the Action Plans one at a time.Pretty soon you'll start to gain momentum and an understanding
of how marketing works, because you'll start to see results in
your own marketing.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 "Vision and Purpose"
The key to the vision and purpose exercise is to write it down. In
these Marketing Flashes I'm going to explain the reasons writing
so important.* Writing helps you focus and clarify your ideas. If you're just
thinking these ideas, they tend to go around and around in your
head without resolution. What you think of for hours can often be
captured and resolved in minutes.* Writing gets your ideas organized and prioritized. To be
physically organized you have a place for everything and
everything in its place. When you write, all your jumbled, messy
ideas start to take a form that you can then do something with.* Writing something down creates space for the next idea. You can
only hold so many ideas in your head at the same time. By getting
them down on paper, it leaves room for more ideas to flow in.* Writing increases your ability to verbalize. I've noticed when
clients write down a marketing message, an executive summary
or an article, they find themselves speaking about these ideas
with more clarity and conviction.* Writing quiets your noisy mind. Ever have trouble going to sleep
at night because you kept thinking of all the things you had to do?
Then you got up and wrote a list of those things - and you
discovered it was really only two or three things? And then you
were able to sleep soundly.So get writing - starting with the vision/purpose exercise.
Until 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."* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
