Attracting Clients: The Conversation that Keeps Signing Up Clients (part I of II)

In Steve Chandler’s ebook, “How to Get Clients,” he reminds us over and over again that no one ever got a client without a conversation.

Yet, every day, I talk with coaches and other service professionals who want to know the best way to get clients WITHOUT having to talk with them!  They want to know how to create a better LinkedIn profile, what to write in their newsletter, how to get more traffic to their website, if they should write a book or ebook or my personal favorite: how they can use Law of Attraction.

While each of those activities could attract clients, they certainly won’t if we aren’t also excited about having the conversation that moves the potential client to hire us and become a client.  It’s also easy to fall into the trap of overwhelming ourselves with so much marketing and self-promotion that we have no time or energy left to have the quality conversations that lead to people hiring us.

Why does it feel so attractive to hide behind social media, our blog, our website, the articles we write?  Fear.  If we send out an ezine, it’ rare that we hear “no.”  We may see a few “unsubscribes” or have a low “open rate,” but we don’t have to hear, “I’m hiring someone else.”  Or, “I can’t afford you” (read: I don’t see enough value in what you offer.)

If we allow ourselves to step past the fear and into the conversation, if we don’t take a “no” as personal rejection, but rather practical information, then we have created a rich environment to focus on the potential client, which already increase the odds of them becoming a client . . .

 

 

 

 

 

Conscious Choice: Whatever the Question, Love Is the Answer

“Darkness cannot drive out darkness; only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate; only love can do that.”
– Martin Luther King, Jr.

I have the good fortune to live less than a ten-minute walk from the “I Have a Dream Memorial” in City Park here in Denver.  Since I walk by it several times a week on my walks through the park, I often reflect on the short life and huge legacy of Martin Luther King, Jr.

This weekend at church, I learned something new about his message of love.  He talked about how he didn’t always like someone or like their actions, but he knew he was called to love them. 

I’d never thought about liking and loving that way and it resonated deep within me.  Bringing love to situations that I don’t necessarily like calls me to act from the better part of me.  If I see all of my words and actions on a continuum from the darkest/meanest part of me to the lightest/kindest part of me, then I chose to make a practice of choosing the love end of the spectrum more.

While it certainly isn’t always easy to love someone or some situation that I don’t like, I absolutely know it is worth the spiritual practice and spiritual discipline.  I am deeply and humbly grateful for the life and legacy of Martin Luther King, Jr.  His message inspires me to do my part in leaving my own legacy of love.

Would you like to join me?  What message is calling you right now?  How can you more fully live something that you value, something that calls to you as yours to do?  Feel free to post your answers in the “Comments.”

Clear Intention: The Gold in the Goal beneath the Goal

On New Year’s Day 2006, I received a phone call from my beloved then-16-year-old niece, Alisha.  Even though we live a thousand miles apart, we’ve talked on the phone frequently for several years.  At that time, if we’d talked 300 times over the years, I’d made 297 of those calls!  The three times she called me included the day she first met my new infant niece/her cousin, and two of her first days of school.  So her New Year’s Day call intrigued me.

She told me she was calling because she’d made a resolution to call me more.  Touched, I asked her what other resolutions she had made.  She told me she was thinking of a couple, but hadn’t made any definite commitments yet.

What a huge, heart-felt gift she gave me.  She further surprised me by telling me she thought she’d like to call about every 10 days.  I felt like I’d won the lottery!

Fast-forward four years, Alisha did call me more that year.  And these days, she calls as much or more than I do!  And I still feel so very  fortunate to have such a close relationship with her.

Thinking about Alisha back then, inspired me to re-examine how I approach and view my goals and resolutions.  I realized that to make our goals and resolutions more compelling, we must link them to the underlying reason for the goals and/or to helping others reach their dreams.

This year, I have a new financial goal in place.  I realize that one of the reasons I choose to make more money involves going to California more often so that Alisha and I can spend more time together.  Also, if I focus on the transformation that occurs for my clients, I get way more excited about the goal of making more money.

So, for me, I’m keeping my focus on spending more time with Alisha and teaching my clients clarity and confidence around themselves and their businesses.  As I anticipate the joy of spending more time with Alisha and I actually sense my clients loving themselves more and expressing more of themselves in their work, I feel super-charged.  I forget about my self-consciousness about making more money. 

Of course I’ll reach my new financial goals!  And, feel happy and fulfilled along the way . . .

Want to play?

How can you link one of your goals or resolutions to something you hold dear or to how achieving your goal could also help others make their dreams come true?  Feel free to post your answers n the comment section . . .

 

Clear Intention: Make this Year Different, Really!

Everything you desire, awaits you.  Just beyond your comfort zone.

To bring your 2010 dreams into reality, you will have to step out of your comfort zone.  Okay, take a deep breath.  You can do it.  Especially when you think about the price of not moving forward.  Would you rather feel some discomfort, or live without those new clients,  that passive revenue, your book out in the world, the wonderful man or more radiant health?

If you’re willing to commit in 2010 to becoming comfortable with discomfort, you can have everything you desire.  Would you like to start now? 

I’ve already made that commitment to myself.  And here’s how I’m practicing getting comfortable with the discomfort that change brings: every day I’m setting a clear intention to do something outside of my comfort zone.

Some of my stretches:

  • Asking someone for help.
  • Trying a new food.
  • Pushing myself beyond where I’ve been in my yoga practice.
  • Introducing myself to someone new.
  • Dreaming bigger.
  • Learning a new technical skill.  

To begin, make yourself a list of 20 possible things to do that stretch you.  What goes beyond my comfort zone may be easy-peasy for you.  Then, each day, pick something off your list, take a deep breath and begin to become friends with the unknown – the place where all dreams begin!

Hey, maybe for today’s stretch, would you like to share with us and post your list here on the blog?