The More Clients Blog

The Thing That Bugs Me the Most

By Robert Middleton - Action Plan Marketing

Today an email from someone triggered a rather frustrated attitude I have about people.

People (including me) say they can't do something a certain way, and essentially it becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy.

- I can't learn it that way

- I need to know this first

- I'm can't make it work because

- I'll feel rejected if this happens

- I don't have time because

- I don't want to look bad

- Writing is hard for me because

- I can't exercise in the mornings because

What bugs me is that all of this is total nonsense, yet we believe it with a religious fervor. We set up a picture of how we want a thing to be and then decide those conditions are impossible, so we then justify not doing it with a clear conscience.

You see, I can't exercise in the morning because if I get up a little late, then I have to exercise for less time than I want. So I'd prefer to exercise in the afternoons after work... but I'm feeling too tired to exercise then...

Of course, I try to conveniently ignore that, and actually believe I'll get around to exercising before too long... if only my back wasn't hurting these days...

The excuses I hear about marketing, I can see much more objectively because I'm not stuck there. From the outside looking in, the things people say sound pretty crazy. Here's one:

"I can't follow your instructions because I want to do it my way."

"Of course, "my way" isn't working to attract any clients, but what the heck, at least I feel comfortable! I'm dong it my way, just like the Frank Sinatra song. Who cares that my marketing is a total loss, a complete and utter failure? I did it my way!"

What can I say? Change is hard. And our little, limited minds make it even harder.

Glad I got this off my chest! Now back to avoiding exercise.

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The More Clients Bottom Line: If you make excuses for not doing something, you're just lying to yourself. It's as simple and as painful as that. The question is, do you want results more than the the comfort of avoiding results? Hmmm. Maybe tomorrow.

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What excuses do you give for not doing stuff you know you ought to do? Get it off your chest as well. (please, no exercise tips) Let us know on the More Clients Blog by clicking on the Comments link below.

Beyond Killer Marketing Strategies

By Robert Middleton - Action Plan Marketing

In marketing, everyone is interested in "Killer Strategies."

A killer strategy is something that works explosively to attract a whole bunch of perfect clients to your business in almost no time and with practically no effort.

Instant Riches! No Effort!

Don't you think that if a killer strategy existed, that everyone would know about it by now and be using it to grow their business? If these strategies were so easy and magically effective, I wouldn't be in business anymore.

I'm reminded of the time several years ago when someone bought my InfoGuru Manual and then a few hours later, after downloading it, asked for a refund. He told me that it didn't contain any "magic bullets!"

However, there are several marketing strategies that can create "Big Shifts" in your business. A big shift is when there's a convergence of knowledge, implementation, and trial and error over a period of time until - POW - that strategy is producing results for you left and right.

In the webinar presentation I'm giving tomorrow, I give an overview of 17 of those big shifts in my business that I've had the good fortune to be very successful with.

So although I'm going to share these in some depth in the webinar tomorrow, I'd like to share a few of the 17 here that had the biggest impact on my business.

7 of my 17 Big Marketing Shifts over 26 years in business.

2. Creating a powerful business vision.

My vision was "To be the Go-To person in the San Francisco Bay Area for self-employed people who needed help with their marketing." This vision helped me stay focused and on track and to only offer services and program that aligned with that vision.

4. Making speaking the cornerstone of my marketing.

I've been doing speaking for all of my 26 years in business and only email marketing has been more powerful. The opportunity to share my ideas about marketing to an attentive group has always generated new clients. To speaking I'd also add teleclasses and webinars, although my first love is speaking to a live group.

7. Writing my weekly More Clients eZine.

This big shift literally changed my life and business. It changed things in so many ways. I became better and better at my business and became better at articulating my value as I had to commit my ideas to writing. It also enabled me to explode my email lists to tens of thousands of people, which expanded my marketing impact dramatically.

9. Developing the Marketing Ball Model.

The Marketing Ball Model has been a mainstay since about 2000. I haven't found a better model for attracting clients and it's been extremely useful in teaching my clients the step-by-step marketing process. A whole lot of people have had big marketing shifts using this model.

11. Discovering "The Work" to get unstuck.

Perhaps my biggest of all the Big Shifts, Byron Katie's Work process has given me a tool to get unstuck no matter the circumstances. My periods of stuckness in my business now last a few minutes, at most. It's as if there are no longer any barriers to creating anything I want to create in my business.

13. Developing and leading group programs.

This was a big shift financially. I broke the $100K mark by doing group programs and stopped working with clients individually. The great thing is that not only did my income increase, but my clients got more value and better results than they did in working with me one-on-one.

17. Launching the Fast Track to More Clients Program.

This was also a huge big shift as I developed a way to serve hundreds (and in the future thousands), of people by providing online access to all my past marketing programs and products for one low monthly fee.

All of these big shifts entailed learning about a particular strategy, studying it, trying it out, fine tuning it, and ultimately mastering it.

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The More Clients Bottom Line: Don't wait for a killer marketing strategy. Instead, make a commitment to learn the many marketing strategies that work brilliantly. All you need is patience and persistence and they will reveal their secrets to you - ultimately producing big shifts in your business.

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What long-term marketing strategies have you been using for years that continue to produce results? Let us know on the More Clients Blog by clicking on the Comments link below.

Are You a Client Cheerleader?

By Robert Middleton - Action Plan Marketing

The most fun I'm having right now is being a cheerleader for my participants in the Marketing Mastery Group.

I'm a taskmaster, as well, but if that's all I was, I'd probably have a revolt on my hands!

The purpose of a taskmaster is to give your clients very specific directions and assignments. It's also about teaching the how-to's, giving examples, and sharing success stories.

But I discovered that if the main focus is holding your clients' feet to the fire, things will get done, but often reluctantly, perhaps with resentment and most importantly, with an abdication of responsibility.

If your clients always need you to kick their butt to get things done, what happens when your consulting or coaching ends? It's so easy to fall back into old habits and go back to past patterns of avoidance.

But if you also spend a lot of time encouraging, pointing out what's working, and acknowledging your clients for all the great work they've done and the results they've produced (no matter how little at the beginning), something else will happen.

They'll start to see the work you are supporting them in doing can be a fun game that they can win – one small step at a time.

In helping the Mastery Participants develop their marketing skills and practices, it takes time to get the hang of things. Results don't come instantly, and the work is challenging.

In Chip and Dan Heath's book, "Switch," they talk about finding the "bright moments" or successful practices that others in a program or group are using and work at pointing those out much, much more than talking about what's not working.

This leads to more success and momentum on the part of the clients and a lot less stress and struggle on your part.

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The More Clients Bottom Line: If you want to produce change and results with the clients you work with, you need to be both a taskmaster and a cheerleader. If you don't embody both roles completely, you won't see the results that are truly possible.

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What do you to to support clients in producing results? Let us know on the More Clients Blog by clicking on the Comments link below:

A New Formula for Change and Growth

By Robert Middleton - Action Plan Marketing

Why is it so hard to change and grow?

You start out with the best intentions to learn something, or improve on an area of your life or your business. Of course, you've seen this with your clients over and over. 

Their exercise program, business, or their relationships, could all be much better than they are now. They know they need to change, but why is change so hard? Why so much resistance to change?

Two main things:

1. The force of habit. It's much more comfortable to continue doing the things you've always done. It's called your comfort zone. And even if the results are poor in your comfort zone, you continue with that behavior, even it it's self-destructive.

2. A state of denial. We can see the problems and mistakes others make and could offer endless advice for improvement. But we seem to be blind to our own shortcomings. The ego doesn't want to admit it's imperfect, so conveniently turns a blind eye to its many faults.

So given these self-imposed limitations to change, is it even possible to change - especially when it comes to things we're so comfortable with and in so much denial about?

Change or Die

I've been reading one of the best books on change ever, called "Change or Die" by Alan Deutschman. Based on extensive studies about change and our resistance to it, Deutschman lays out three deceptively simple principles for change. He calls them the 3-Rs: Relate, Repeat and Reframe.

Relate

Because we have so much built-in resistance to change, it's almost impossible to change unless we have the right kind of support. The key, as Deutschman say is, "...to form a new, emotional relationship with a person or community that inspires and sustains hope." This could be a coach or therapist for an individual, or for a business it could be an in-depth coaching, training, or consulting program.

And if you're going to help your clients make real change, it takes a lot more than information, even if the information is state-of-the art. It takes developing a powerful relationship with your clients where you sell them on the possibility of change, sell them on you as an agent of change and sell them on the approach you'll employ to effect that change.

We need to "sell the relationship" and then deliver on that relationship. Forming that solid relationship is at the very heart of helping your clients make challenging changes.

Repeat

Change takes time. It takes repetition and practicing new skills before the change becomes the normal way of doing things. And it's the relationship with the client where you encourage them to keep moving forward, step-by-step that makes the difference.

Nobody become a great athlete, mathematician, musician or marketer without this kind of long-term repetition and the guidance from a skilled coach, consultant or mentor.

Reframe

To change, it starts with your thinking, with your mindset, with your point of view. I've found that successful marketers, for instance, think completely differently about marketing than unsuccessful ones. Instead of a dreaded chore to be avoided, it becomes an exciting adventure.

And this process of reframing or shifting mindsets takes time, encouragement and support from an individual or group who has mastered this new mindset and has the patience to help someone discover these new, more empowering points of view.

How this model can transform your business

As a coach, consultant or professional service provider, you are hired to make change happen. And if you operate from these three simple change principles you are going to have a much easier time making change happen.

You'll realize you are the person who creates the conditions for change through a relationship where you are 100% committed to the the success of your clients. You'll see that it is up to the client to do the work; you can only support and encourage it. And you'll also see that changing mindsets is the key to changing behaviors and developing new habits that stick for a lifetime.

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The More Clients Bottom Line: If you want to see faster, more lasting change in your clients, follow this model of Relate, Repeat and Reframe. And I highly recommend Alan Deutschman's book "Change or Die." It has the potential to change your business, if not your life.

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What are you doing to help your clients change? Let us know on the More Clients Blog by clicking on the Comments link below: