The More Clients Blog

Find Time to Write Your Book

By Robert Middleton - Action Plan Marketing

A book can be the ultimate marketing tool for independent professionals.

It can establish you as an authority, boost your credibility instantly, attract higher-caliber clients automatically and more. It can give you the edge you are looking for in the new economy.

With all these benefits, you would think that every forward thinking independent professional would have their own book.

But, as you know, that’s not the case.

As I mentioned in last week’s eZine, although 81% of adults “want to write a book someday,” most never even start it. Of those who do, most never finish it.

My friend, publishing and marketing expert John Eggen, knows this firsthand. Over the past 27 years he has worked with countless independent professionals who are authoring their first book. He sees the struggles they face.

John says the #1 reason people give for not writing or finishing their own book is: “I don’t have enough time to write a book.”

If time is precious to you, and you want to write and publish a book, here are 10 steps from John’s system that will allow you to create your book in the time you’ve got.

1. If your time is more precious to you than your money, then you could get your book written in just an hour a week for 13 weeks or so by hiring a ghostwriter. Fifty to 80% of all business books today are ghostwritten, according to John’s research. If you know where to find them, there are many qualified and talented writers out there who can do it for you, even on a tight budget. 

If you don’t want a ghostwriter, here’s what you can do:

2. You can create a great deal of quality content quickly by writing in short, 30-60 minute bursts. Set your kitchen timer, start writing and don’t stop until the timer goes off. You’ll be amazed at how much you can accomplish.

3. Write your first draft like all the pros do, without editing it. When you don’t stop to edit you put your analytic mind aside temporarily and just open your creative flow, unencumbered by those pesky backspace and delete keys. You build up a very powerful momentum when you do this.

For the average-sized business book, John teaches that, if you write just 2 unedited pages a day (fast, when you avoid editing), you can get your first draft written in 90 days and have your book in your hands in 6 months.

4. Speak it into print. This is even faster. If you speak at 100 words a minute (as most of us do) and the average business book is roughly 50,000 words, then you can speak your unedited first draft in just 8-9 hours and have a 168 page book published within 90 days.

5. Keep your book simple. John teaches that there are strategies that allow you to create a quality book using simple ways to organize the chapter content that save a lot of time.

For instance, one proven strategy to write a book fast is to organize your content as "101 Ways to _____." Simply fill in the blank with your topic. For example, bestselling author and speaker Wayne Dyer wrote a popular book called "101 Ways to Transform Your Life."

6. Make appointments with yourself to work on your book. Put them in your calendar and make those appointment times sacred. Don't miss one of them for anything less important than a medical emergency.

7. Make money from your book before it’s even published, and use it to pay for the time to write and publish it. John has quick, free and easy ways to do this. Using them, my clients have reported earning from $22,000 to $150,000 in new revenue while writing the first draft of their books.

8. Turn time devoted to time-wasters (such as watching TV) into time you invest in creating a client-attracting book. If you watched television just half an hour less every day, you would instantly release at least 15 hours a month for writing.

9. Make better use of your down time. This includes your commute to and from work, lunch times, or times spent in waiting rooms, or airline flights, etc. This is time you could be using to write or dictate some of your chapters. In fact, entire books have been written this way. If you devote just 15 minutes of down-time every day, that equals 8 hours every month.

10. Always carry pen and paper and keep some in every room of the house and in the car for those random moments of inspiration. If you rely on memory you will lose some very inspiring ideas. It happens every day so don’t let it happen to you.

And here’s a bonus step from his system:

Of course, if you use the above steps, John says you’ll probably never need to use this step.

But many people have reported writing their books successfully by getting up an hour earlier and using this “Golden Hour” to write while the rest of the world (your family, anyway) still sleeps. If you're more of a night owl, then turn off the TV and try writing for an hour before you turn in.

Using steps like these is how busy professionals write and publish books in the time they’ve got. More than 244 of my clients have worked with John and succeeded by using these steps.

To help you get the book inside you written and published successfully, I have asked John if he would let me interview him in a teleseminar. Join us! You will learn how to:

"Get a Client-Attracting Book Written, Guaranteed"

I will be tapping his decades of experience to uncover what it really takes to get a book written, published and leveraged for maximum impact. And how to do it with a busy schedule.

Here are the details:     

Date: Thursday, March 11     

Time: 5:00 PM until 6:15 PM Pacific time     

Where: By teleconference     

Price: Free

To Register: http://tinyurl.com/yhw9p3m

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The More Clients Bottom Line: Don’t make "lack of time" an excuse for keeping that book of yours inside of you. Take advantage of all the big benefits that having a book affords you, and write one successfully using what you will learn in this teleseminar.

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Which of these ten steps will you use to free up your time to write your book? Please share your answer on the More Clients Blog by clicking on the Comments link below. 

The Book That's Inside You

By Robert Middleton - Action Plan Marketing

Last week I shared my friend John Eggen's keys to publishing success and how his keys can apply in virtually anything: 
    

#1 - Find Time-Tested Systems 
    

#2 - Get Training 
    

#3 - Get A Team 
    

#4 - Get Coaching

If you want to be a better business person, coach, consultant or speaker, you'll follow those four keys. If you want to get better at marketing and selling your services, you'll follow those four keys.

And if you want to write a book that helps your business, you'll follow those four keys as well, right?

Well, according to some research done by John Eggen, a publishing and marketing expert, unfortunately most people don't know or follow these four keys.

John told me that 90% of those who start on the path of writing and publishing a book don't even finish the book, let alone succeed with it. The book never sees the light of day. And even the ones that do get published only make an average of $12,500 over the lifetime of the author.

And if that isn't discouraging enough, how about the 81% of people who "want to write a book someday?" How many of them even start? How many die with that book still inside them?

Well, to be precise, it's a whole lot.

I wrote a book in 2001 called the InfoGuru Marketing Manual. It was self-published and sold a little more than 8,000 copies in both e-book and hard copy format. I earned about $500,000 from that book, and it's still selling. It also made a huge difference to the success of my business.

But I was lucky.

I couldn't call it a fluke because I'm a very determined and persistent person. Nevertheless I didn't follow John's success principles very closely.

1. Time-Tested System. Not really. But I had written a lot of articles and knew the basics of putting across an idea in writing. I brought together almost everything I knew about marketing into the book, and it actually worked.

2. Get Training. Not at all. Well, only through reading. I read, "Make Your Knowledge Sell" by Monique Harris and Ken Evoy. This was an excellent online e-book that taught me a lot, not only how to write it but how to market it.

3. Get a Team. I wish! I did the majority of it myself. However, I did get a little help with editing, organizing the book, and getting it designed. My typo-catch team were my early readers (and they caught a lot of them!)

4. Get a Coach. Barely. Remember, I like to do things myself. About the closest I had to a coach was a copywriter who helped me with the sales letter for the book. We went over that letter half a dozen times until we were both cross-eyed.

So, I hope you see what I mean when I say I was lucky. I know people who have created e-books that barely sold any copies. And notice that I've never taught a course on how to write and publish a book or e-book.

It's confession time.

Even though John has had hundreds of successes at working with people to write and publish their books, I've never gone through his program because I like to do things myself. I almost started it once, but never followed through.

And, as a result, my second book never got off the ground.

I think I wanted to be lucky a second time and do it myself. But this time I wanted a "legitimate published book." And because I didn't have the time-tested systems, the training, the team and the coaching, it just didn't happen.

Now how about you?

Do you have a book inside you? Have you been thinking about it for years but never even started? Or have you started and got part of the way there but never got it completed? Or perhaps you completed it but it never did much for your business. 


The question is, where do you go from here?

Well, if this is more than a dream for you and you'd really like a book to help take your business to a whole new level, I want to recommend you attend a teleseminar next week on the topic of:

"Get a Client-Attracting Book Written, Guaranteed"

In this teleseminar I'll be interviewing John Eggen again and asking him some very poignant questions on what it really takes to get a book written, published and leveraged for success.

Personally I'm interested if his four success principles really apply to writing a book. Does it actually come down to systems? What about talent? What about a lifetime of experience?

And then, why a book in the first place? John insists that a book is the mostly widely accepted symbol of authority. But even if that's true, will it really make a difference in my business? Will it help take my business and the businesses of my subscribers to the next level of success? How exactly does that work?

In addition, what if I write the wrong book; then what? What if it consumes my whole life and business; can I avoid that? What if it takes too much time and money to get it published? And finally, how can I become the next Malcolm Gladwell? Man, I'd really like that! (or would I?)

Anyway, we'll talk about this and more. And if you have these kinds of questions about writing and publishing a book, I invite you to join me next week. Here are the details: 


Date: Thursday, March 11

Time: 5:00 PM until 6:15 PM Pacific time 


Where: By teleconference 


Price: Free 


Reservations: www.mypublishingopportunity.com

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The More Clients Bottom Line: Don't die with a book still inside you. Learn how to take what's inside you using John's four cornerstones of publishing success and turn it into a book that makes the impact you've always wanted to make.

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What's stopped you from starting or completing a book? Please share on the More Clients Blog by clicking on the Comments link below.

Magical Thinking - Not!

By Robert Middleton - Action Plan Marketing

What do you do after watching the Olympics late into the evening?

You surf the channels and watch some infomercials. At least that's what I've done more than a few times. And what should I come upon on Sunday night other than another infomercial by Kevin Trudeau for an audio program called "Your Wish is Your Command."

Trudeau is famous for books touting information that "They don't want you to know about." They, of course, being the government, the man, the establishment.

His infomercials are about the most persuasive ever made. He is amazingly convincing. But are they true?

Well, apparently "They" don't think so, as Trudeau has been slapped with lawsuits claiming deceptive advertising, has spent two years in jail and had been fined millions of dollars.

But... he is so believable!

Why is that? Well, he preys on weak minds (you know, minds like yours and mine). There is something in all of us that wants a miracle, a magic cure, an easy way out, a free lunch. That's our fatal weakness.

And Trudeau discovered that if he preyed on that weakness, and made ridiculously outrageous claims of magical cures that were being suppressed by the establishment, that people would actually believe him.

And they did, in droves.

Now, the purpose of today's eZine is not to beat up on Kevin Trudeau, although I would warn you to stay away from the books and programs he hawks on his infomercials. (If in doubt, do a search on his name in Google.)

My purpose today is to share the not-so-magical keys to success.

I was having a conversation with my friend and colleague John Eggen last week. John runs a very successful book writing and publishing program that I've endorsed for several years.

John emphasizes his four cornerstones to publishing success. And as we talked, I remarked that his system was really a success formula for anything, for business in general – for marketing, for great musicians, mathematicians and even Olympic athletes.

Here are John's Four Cornerstones to Success:

Principle #1 - Time-Tested Systems

You need to follow time-tested processes and systems that have been used and proven over time to produce results. Every legitimate discipline has these time-tested systems. And if you want to have success, you need to study and apply them. There really are no secrets, but that doesn't mean these systems are easy to find.

Principle #2 - Training

You need training in these systems. At the very minimum, you can study them in books if you're a good at teaching yourself. But most need more guidance than that; they need step-by-step directions on how to get consistent results. Everyone, from Wizards at Hogwarts to doctors in medical school, need training.

Principle #3 - A Team

You need a team to support you. This is one I've resisted and disregarded. After all, I became an Independent Professional because I wanted to do things my way. But that's usually the hard way. Support, ideas, and simply getting others to do the things you're not good at, is a much faster way to produce results.

Principle #4 - Coaching

Coaching, mentoring or tutoring as it's often called, is just as, if not more important than the first three. Coaching is hands-on guidance and support from someone who already knows. Not only will a coach point you in the right direction, they'll steer you back on track when you go off course. Coaches tend to multiply results; they make champions.

Now what's wrong with all of this?

Despite the fact that applying these four success principles is, in my opinion, the only truly legitimate way to increase your chances for success in any pursuit, it takes something that most of us don't enjoy too much - hard work!

No magical thinking here. No instant success. No free lunch.

But what you can do is search for the very best knowledge about how to do something. And then seek the best training, team members, and coaching to increase your chances of success even more.

Kevin Trudeau probably knows this as well; he just couldn't sell as many books if he told people that!

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The More Clients Bottom Line: Don't get caught up in the Kevin Trudeau trap of magical thinking and instant success. It doesn't exist. There are no silver bullets. But that doesn't mean that there aren't many very reliable paths to success. You just have to find them, follow them and take action.

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What's your system for success in the coming year? Please share on the More Clients Blog by clicking on the Comments link below.

The Goop Guy

By Robert Middleton - Action Plan Marketing

Imagine sitting in the middle of a swanky shopping center, a male cosmetologist hovering over you, with goop slathered all over your face. Not a pretty picture. But that was me on Friday.

How in the world did I get into such a situation?

Well, it started innocently enough. I was in San Francisco for MacWorld and stopped by the upscale downtown mall to pick up a few shirts at Nordstrom's and find a Valentine's day gift for my wife.

As I was wandering aimlessly through the mall, I noticed a number of young girls handing out a sample drink of some sort. I was thirsty, so I grabbed a dixie cup of the elixer and gulped it down.

Before I could blink HE was talking to me. I say "HE" because I don't think I ever got his name. He was totally focused on me for the next half hour.

Have you heard of the goji berry? he asked innocently enough. Well, no I hadn't. Oh yes, it's one of the world's most powerful antioxidants, and the company he worked for, "The Secret of the Himalayas," was the purveyor of all things goji berry.

Before I could blink he was was looking at my hands and commenting on how dry they looked and asking what I used to moisturize them. Me, I'm a guy. We don't think about that kind of stuff. But before I knew it, I was rubbing my hands with an exotic product called Hunza Apricot Treatment.

It felt kind of like wet sand. I rubbed it in and then he rinsed my hands ever-so-delicately with a spray bottle. Next was Body Butter, a light moisturizer that smelled like coconut and apricot.

How did my hands feel now? he implored seductively.

Well, by this time I thought this was pretty nice stuff and would make a nice Valentine's gift for my wife. I was sold. OK, now let me outta here.

Not so quick!!

The Body Butter was followed by by the exotic Goji Peel, then another moisturizer and toner which he proceeded to rub into my wrist as he regaled me with the superior qualities of these sublimely divine body products.

OK, OK, enough already! I'l take the Apricot Treatment, the Body Butter and the Goji Peel. My wife would be happy and I could get back to MacWorld.

But wait, he was willing to give me the dispenser of special moisturizer for only $50 and throw in the toner for free. How could I possibly say no to that? I pulled out my credit card and $240 of my new-found products were wrapped up and ready to go.

But just one more little thing.

He looked soulfully into my eyes and asked me what I was doing for those bags so strategically placed beneath them. Bags? I have bags under my eyes? Apparently so.

And before I knew it I was sitting on a stool being slathered with eye goop. By now I was having fun. This guy was such a consummate salesman I couldn't believe the path he was taking me down.

Here I am, a guy, considering goop to put under my eyes every day! When would it all end? Then I realized it. It would never end. As long as he had my attention he would continue to sell.

Then he showed me the prices. $175 for the eye rejuvenator and $275 for the collagen cream. Yeah, how on earth did we live before collagen? And don't forget the mask that was now spread over the right side of my face.

He gently wiped off all the goop with delicately moisturized cotton puffs and then had me look in the mirror. Did I notice the difference? Well, actually I did. My right eye was now definitely less baggier than my right one. Wow, this stuff works!

But at that price? You gotta be kidding me!

But suddenly I learned that, for a very limited time, and just for me, he could give me the first two products for a greatly reduced price and throw in the third for free.

Well, I finally got ahold of my senses and thought... There is no friggin' way I'll use this eye stuff for more than a few days, feel like an idiot and regret my purchase. My sanity took the upper hand and I told him firmly, thank you, but no.

An average salesperson would have moved on. But not my guy. I think he used about five more closes (don't you care about your eyes? was the most heart-rending) before I took off.

Nevertheless, as I gathered my bags and walked away and down the escalator to freedom, I looked back and still saw him enticing me back to his parlor of lotions and potions, never really giving up until I was completely out of sight.

My only regret was that I hadn't pulled out my Flip Video and recorded him in action. It was in my pocket, but as I contemplated returning I knew I probably wouldn't get away without buying that damn eye goop.

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The More Clients Bottom Line: If most Independent Professionals had one tenth of the focus, persistence and charm of this guy, they'd be making ten times the income. No, you really don't have to manipulate, but certainly you'd know exactly what to say to make your services compelling and valuable. You'd have a great answer to every single question your prospects asked, and always have another way to move the sale forward, no matter what.

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Where do you stop when it comes to marketing and selling yourself? Would you stop before Goop Guy did? Please share on the More Clients Blog by clicking on the Comments link below.

Economic Stimulus Package

By Robert Middleton - Action Plan Marketing

This past Saturday, there I am in the middle of the Big Shift Workshop and Bill Baren is presenting at the front of the room about money goals.

Well, this is nothing new to me. 

I had already set my financial goal for the year. My intention was to generate $400K in new business, about the same as I did last year. After all, I'm doing fine on that (and I don't want to get obsessed and work too hard to make more.)

But then Bill drops the bombshell.

"OK, now that you have your big financial goal for the year, double it!"

Hmmm. OK, that means $800K. Well, that's a lot. I'm just a one-person business after all, and I'm not interested in hiring people or working twice as hard. And my real focus is on making a contribution, not chasing after money.

So, nice idea Bill, but I'll pass. Not a problem.

But then I ask myself, the question, "What if I actually did a budget for $800,000? Why not?"

My basic household and business expenses would stay about the same, but I could double up on my mortgage payments and pay off my house in three years, not seven. OK, that's not bad.

And I could also double up on my retirement savings. Nothing wrong with that. I made a few more rough calculations and figured out that I'd still have about $7,500 left over every month.

I thought, "I'm not sure what I'd do with that (but I think my wife would find a few ways)! I still don't want employees or need a new computer, but some new furniture, a little more travel and bigger donations to charity would be nice."

"And of course if I made more money it would mean I'd be offering more programs and services and making a difference in the lives of more Independent Professionals."

After a few minutes I started thinking, "How on earth can I live without making $800,000 per year!"

Well, of course I can, quite well. But this exercise had opened me up to thinking a little bigger and I noticed that where I didn't think I was limited, I really was.

Interestingly, since that exercise, I can't stop thinking of new ideas and programs that I could offer that could ultimately generate even more than $800K!

I try to resist acting impulsively these days (it's gotten me into a lot of trouble in the past) but I'm writing down those ideas and plans, letting them ferment for awhile and see where they go.

Next week I'm having lunch with Bill Baren.

We'll kick over some of these ideas and see where they take us. Whenever I talk to Bill, I see new possibilities and get inspired. I'll keep you posted!

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The More Clients Bottom Line: Are your goals too small, your vision too limited? Sure, money might not be the most important thing to you (I hope it's not) but when you make more money, you're serving more people. That in turn enables them to help more people, and so on. Perhaps this is exactly the economic stimulus package we need right now!

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What's your financial goal this year? And if you reach that goal what difference would it make? Please share on the More Clients Blog by clicking on the Comments link below.

Getting Out of A Rut

By Robert Middleton, Action Plan Marketing

There I am this past Sunday, sitting in the lobby of the Marriott Hotel near the SF Airport, surrounded by ridiculously enthusiastic coaches, consultants and online marketers.

I'm arguing with them why I can't do a video for my web site.

They tell me to get past my limitations and just do it. It will make a huge difference to my business, etc., etc.

I'm not buying.

Then over walks Lisa Nirell who will be one of the presenters on the Extreme Business Builders Cruise in August and says, "Why don't we do that video for the Cruise web site?"

Well, what could I say?

Bill Baren, grabs his Flip HD video camera and we find a quiet corner of the lobby and record a fun 2-minute clip about the cruise. I've just posted it here. Take a look.

 

Learn more about the Cruise at this link.

Wow, that was a quick turnaround. And what's the lesson in all of this? Several things.

1. Get together with your peers and make it fun

This was a weekend program I put together for all the people I interviewed for the marketing Club this past year. We got together to build business relationships and collaborations. And it was insanely fun and productive. I came away with a year's worth of good ideas.

2. Put yourself in situations where you'll be supported

This crowd was so supportive and fun to be with it was hard not to accept the support. Me on video? No way! OK, so I'm not as photogenic as Lisa, but this really worked and it was done in a spirit of fun and camaraderie.

3. Don't take yourself too seriously

I see this all the time and I'm guilty of it as well. We worry about writing an article or giving a talk or even networking, because we don't have it all together. Well, tell yourself: "Get over yourself!" 

The idea is not to be perfect, but to be authentic.

Another thing — Daphne Gray-Grant (the writing coach) came up to me during the weekend and told me: "I know how you can build your eZine list faster. Tell more stories." Well, she nailed me on that one. I tell everyone else to do this but don't have enough in this eZine.

How did I do today Daphne?

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The More Clients Bottom Line: If you want to make things happen in your business, you need to get into harm's way - that is in the way of support, ideas, collaboration, participation, and unlimited thinking. Or you could sit around all day and argue with everyone why you can't make that video.

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What are you doing to get out of your rut and move your ideas forward? Please share on the More Clients Blog by clicking on the Comments link below:

Science Fiction Marketing Plans

By Robert Middleton - Action Plan Marketing

I always love it when the topic for my eZine is handed to me on a silver platter the day I'm going to write it!

Here's what happened:

I got a call from a person in a coaching organization who was looking for experienced business coaches they could take through their advanced coaching program.

The offer: The program is six months long and would train the participants in their successful coaching methodology. Then they would provide an ongoing flow of coaching clients to those they had trained. Price tag was $5,000.

Now this really isn't a bad offer, especially if the coaching was high quality and if they sent a lot of business to the trained coaches.

But the way they were marketing this was science fiction.

I'll explain their plan in a minute, but first let me define science fiction marketing plans: "They look good on paper but they won't fly."

Science fiction is great for books and movies.

Take the movie, Avatar, for instance (highly recommended, by the way)! - Let's see, grow a humanoid from alien and human dna that looks just like the aliens but has zero brain impressions. Then put a human in what looks like a tanning bed and transfer the consciousness of the person into the home-grown alien. Viola, you have a blue alien who is 12 feet tall and with a human consciousness!

It looks great on paper, and made one hekuva movie. But the technology isn't quite there yet. It's not something we can accomplish yet with our existing technology - plus there's quite a shortage of mindless, blue alien bodies to go around.

Here was the marketing plan of this organization:

First what we'll do is contact coaching schools and organizations who have strong connections to top-notch coaches. Then we'll ask these people and organizations to give us the email and phone numbers of these coaches so we can call them up and enroll them into our program. Done deal!

Sounds good on paper, but here are the reasons it's science fiction:

1. Why should I give you the names and contact information for top-notch coaches I know? What's in it for me? Nothing.

2. If you then contact those coaches and try to sell them on the value of this program, why should they sign up? Only on the strength of the referral? That's a very, very hard sales job because there was zero information, education or warming up of said top-notch coaches.

These two things relegate the plan to science fiction, because they ignore two important facts of human nature: a) Very few people will do something for nothing, and b) People who know nothing about something are unwilling to engage in a selling conversation.

How they could make this a real, workable marketing plan:

1. Offer your referring sources a reward (such as a percentage) of the program fee.

2. Educate the coaches through endorsements, online information, teleclasses, and other marketing info that will warm them up.

3. Do advertising in a coaching magazine to educate people about the program and send them to your web site for more info, teleclasses etc.

4. Have people who are interested in the program fill out an application form to make sure they are qualified.

5. Set up appointments with only the most qualified, top-notch coaches and convert a percentage into program participants.

This approach would take time and planning, but it actually has a real chance of working. The science fiction plan, on the other hand, will likely crash and burn.

The question is, are you basing your marketing on science fiction principles? These principles have never worked and are not likely to work for you either.

And heck, this plan wouldn't even make a good movie!

You need to know human nature to market successfully. You need to understand what people respond to and why. You need to understand that people will only act in their own best interests, and also need to have some degree of familiarity, trust, and information about a service before they will take the next step.

This is not rocket science. But it continues to amaze me that people hang all their hopes on a plan that looks great on paper but has no chance of flying.

Check your basic marketing science before you launch your plan.

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The More Clients Bottom Line: Some things will fly and some won't. In order for a marketing plan to fly it needs to be based on proven principles, not hope. If you want to attract more business, learn the principles that work and then test them until you have a proven plan that will attract clients every time.

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Tell us of a science fiction marketing plan you tried that crashed and burned. Please share on the More Clients Blog by clicking on the Comments link below.

Results: Will or Environment?

By Robert Middleton - Action Plan Marketing

These days, I'm putting a lot of emphasis on things like high-end programs and thinking big. For me, and for those in my Marketing Mastery Program, this has yielded some amazing results.

When I was looking at the monthly report of one of my Mastery participants, I saw that she had more than tripled her income in just one year.

In the course of the program, three people have completed books, while others have sold programs at a higher rate than ever before. And most are looking at their businesses in a completely new way.

Do you want big results in your business?

Actually, we all say we want big results. But then we get stopped, over and over again. We think we are stopped by circumstances, by other people, by bad timing and bad luck.

This is never the case. We only stop ourselves.

What is observably true is that we let ourselves be triggered by circumstances. We have an idea, a goal, a plan and we start to put things into action. And then something happens.

A teleclass gets poor results, or someone doesn't return a call, or a new service you developed generates very little interest or response. Those are the triggers.

What gets triggered are thoughts and emotions.

And when a trigger happens, you can go in one of two directions: You can become identified with the thoughts and emotions or you can dis-identify with the thoughts or emotions.

Identification: "Nobody is interested in what I have, I'm a terrible marketer, I'll never make this work. Why did I bother to try this in the first place? There's no way it will ever work."

We've all been there; and we can get stuck there for a long time.

Dis-Identification: "That's interesting that I didn't get the response I wanted. I need to find out more about what happened. Is it the message I sent out? Perhaps it's the timing? Let me take a closer look at my plan and the letter, make some changes and give it another try."

From this place, we're back on the horse in minutes.

Sounds simple, doesn't it? It's not!

Unfortunately, most of those triggers are hard-wired. Something happens that opposes your plans and, before you know it, you're upset and ready to give up. It wasn't a conscious choice, but an automatic reaction.

To dis-identify from our triggers takes a tremendous amount of intentional, conscious work. It takes stopping and thinking instead of reacting. It means taking responsibility instead of blaming. It takes focus and waking up instead of falling asleep.

But if it's so hard, is there a way to actually do it?

Someone once said: "Environment is stronger than will."

Our wills are pathetically weak. We try to dis-identify when we are triggered, but we are so trained to identify that it usually takes tremendous effort and endless repetition to get past old patterns that hold us back.

So good luck with the "WILL approach"!

What makes the biggest difference for most of us is a change of environment. And there are many ways to do this. A change of environment can mean adopting different systems, the support of others, individual coaching, or group programs.

Different Systems 

Think of a recipe. If I asked you to bake a chocolate cake from scratch, you'd probably end up with an icky, inedible mess. A recipe creates a new environment - a time-tested path to success. Follow the chocolate cake recipe and, with a little experience, you'll have a delicious cake to show for your efforts.

This is the purpose of the Marketing Club, for instance. It's full of time-tested marketing recipes that you can easily follow.

Support of Others

Support can provide methodologies, such as recipes, but can also provide the emotional support to keep you going despite the triggers. "Yeah, I've been there before. It's discouraging when a marketing approach doesn't work. But maybe it just needs some fine tuning. Let's look at the possibilities."

Mastermind groups are great for this. I'm always in a mastermind group that gives me frequent reality checks.

Individual Coaching

Working with a guide who is committed to your aim and who is not identified with your triggers is also a powerful way to go. You still need recipes, the how-tos for producing results, but a coach can keep putting you on the right path.

Group Programs

These are my favorite, because they combine all of the above. They provide the how-to recipes, the support and the coaching. I've found that a good group program can get you thinking big and make sure you follow-through on your dreams.

Which approach will you choose? Here are two options:

Marketing Club

Marketing Mastery

The Big Shift Experience

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The More Clients Bottom Line: Getting triggered when you fail to reach your goals is a given. It happens to everyone. To dis-identify with the triggers you need to understand your limitations and change your environment to one where you get the support and systems needed to stay on track.

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What support will you get to stay on track this year? Please share on the More Clients Blog by clicking on the Comments link below.

How to Launch a Service or Program

By Robert Middleton - Action Plan Marketing

This week is launch week!

OK, what does that mean?

It means that I've been planning the launch of the next Marketing Mastery Program for several months and this is the week I'll be opening up the program for applications.

I've been studying a lot about program and product launches through Jeff Walker's program "The Product Launch Formula" and I thought I'd share some of the things I've learned and how I'm implementing them in this launch.

Seed The Program - If you have a program, product or workshop coming up, don't just announce it cold - warm up your audience by "seeding your program." One way to do this is to mention it in as many ways as possible (without yet selling it).

For instance, in the Marketing Club Coaching Calls I've mentioned the Mastery Program several times. I've dropped hints about it in the eZine. In doing so, I've created some anticipation for the program and many people are waiting for the launch.

Preview The Program - I've done this through teleclasses in November and December and then made those teleclasses available as recordings. Over 2,000 have opted in to be on those teleclasses or listen to them.

But the teleclasses haven't been a big pitch for the Mastery Program, they've been educational how-tos that talk about some of the approaches I use in the program, specifically the "H.E.O.B" or High-End, Outcome-Based Programs.

I always want to give value. After all, only a very small percentage of those who listen to these teleclasses will end up in the program. Why not help them as much as possible while I'm doing the program launch? Everyone benefits.

Set a Launch Date - The idea is to build some excitement with a specific date. I love that Apple is able to do this with a product where nobody even really knows what it is! But on January 28th, we'll all be salivating to find out!

Your launches and my launches are going to be much more modest and perhaps less suspenseful, but you can still do it by setting a date and then building interest over time.

Use an Application Form - This is one of the smartest things I've ever done in my marketing. I really want people in this program who are ready to kick it up a notch. I'll have a lot of people apply and this helps me determine who the most ideal candidates are.

Make it Time Limited - The application period for the Marketing Mastery will be just one week. I don't want to stretch it out like I did last year. That's a lot more work and there's no sense of urgency.

Be Selective - I want to avoid emailing everyone on my list, so I built a list of those who are most interested. I now have a list of about 2,000 who are ready for the launch announcement. To join them, go to this link:

This gets you on the launch notification list and also includes the recordings of the two teleclasses. If you're not on this list, you won't be notified on Jan 14th.

Be Authentic - You might say that the biggest work of marketing is to ditch the hype and tell it like it is. When the program launches you'll get the "straight skinny" about it, without BS and over-embellishment. It is what it is and I let it speak for itself.

Use these ideas the next time you launch a program. You'll build a little excitement along the way and have more fun than the average marketing activity.

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The More Clients Bottom Line: It's important to understand the difference between marketing and launching. Marketing is general visibility and promotion. But a launch is marketing for a specific service, program, or product where you want to create special attention and get a much higher response.

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How can you add service and program launches to your marketing this year? Please share on the More Clients Blog by clicking on the Comments link below.

2010 - The Year of Collaboration

By Robert Middleton - Action Plan Marketing

As you begin a new year in your business, do you have a theme or direction for your business? I have started doing this annually and it makes real difference in my focus and the projects that I take on. It helps to align everything.

2009 was the Year of Contribution. This year, it's the Year of Collaboration.

One thing I know about myself is that, above all else, I like to do things by myself. I'm not a natural collaborator. But I've finally realized that if I want to make a bigger difference, I need to partner with others on various projects.

To give you an idea of what I'm up to (and perhaps get some inspiration for yourself) here are some of the projects I am currently working on:

1. Marketing Club Expert Interviews

Not only do I interview two marketing and/or business experts each month, I will often partner with them. That is, I will introduce you to the products or services that they offer.

My criteria for selecting partners is very high: they must not only have a product or service that can help you grow your business, they must be self-practitioners of their own methodology (walking their talk) and have the highest standards of integrity and excellence.

If you think you fit that profile and have a valuable product or service, please feel free to contact me about doing an interview that will offer substantial value to the Marketing Club and to the subscribers of More Clients.

Learn more about the Marketing Club here.

2. EZINE Success Academy with Linda Puig

I'm doing an interview with Linda for the Marketing Club this week on eZines and newsletters. She has a program called the "EZINE Success Academy" for coaches and other solopreneurs. It's a complete turnkey system for creating your eZine content and marketing systems for a full year.

Learn more here.

3. The Big Shift Experience - February 6 & 7

This is a two-day workshop in the SF Bay Area with my colleague Bill Baren, one of the savviest and nicest small business and marketing entrepreneurs I know. I'll be leading part of the workshop as well. I'll have more information on the workshop and will forward it to you in a few days.

4. John Eggen's Leading Mentor Program

I've been working with John to introduce his intensive book-writing, publishing and marketing program for several years. John has worked successfully with hundreds of clients to publish a book that has enabled them to grow their businesses faster.

I'll be doing a teleclass with John in February. But in the meantime, you can subscribe to his mini-course on book publishing and marketing....at this link.

I have many other things in the planning stages that I'll roll out as the year progresses.

In addition, I'm making many important changes to the Action Plan Marketing Club that will enable you to interact more with fellow participants, post information about your business, and much more. It's in the building stages as I write this. Stay tuned!

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The More Clients Bottom Line: 2010 is my Year of Collaboration and I'm committed to working with more people who can help my subscribers and clients thrive in the coming year.

I encourage you to create a business theme for yourself this year and then set specific goals to realize that theme.

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What is the business/marketing theme for your business this year? Please share on the More Clients Blog. Just click on the Comments link below.