Make money as a Marketing Consultant helping businesses, large and small get more customers and more clients.

Every business wants more customers and service businesses n particular NEED more clients simply due to the nature of what a service business is.

If you are a consultant and you’re not yet providing marketing services then you’re leaving a lot of revenue on the proverbial table. Now is the best time, actually, scratch that — There will always be a high demand for Marketing Consultants that can help businesses grow. The trick however is to be seen, be trustworthy and also to be able to deliver the goods.

I’ll be writing more about this topic over the coming period but for now you should check Bob Bly’s guide Bob was one of my mentors) on how to make money as a Marketing Consultant

To discover more click here

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BAYO

This is from a friend of mine and I guarantee that you’ll love it.

There’s a boy who lives in my neighborhood named Ian. I don’t know him well, but he looks to be about eight or nine years old. Despite his young age, this boy has a remarkable business sense. Let me tell you what he’s accomplished.

One day I got home from running an errand and found a flyer in my front door. We get quite a few of those so my first instinct was to throw it away, but a picture on the flyer caught my attention. The picture was of Ian standing in front of the sign for the school he attends.

This caught my attention for two reasons…keep reading>>

I  was chatting with a good friend of mine the other day and we touched on the subject of plans for the next 90 days personally and professionally.

She ran through a typical list: get better at time management, reconnect with old business associates, spend more time with her kids, earn more money and hopefully work less, donate more to local charities etc.

“So, nothing about saving for a rainy day then?” I asked. “Everyone promises something along those lines.”

“Nope,” she answered. “Every time I say that. At the start of this year I even went out and bought a whole money management package and loaded it onto my laptop.”

“It’s supposed to make me see, very clearly, what I’m doing with my finances and where I’m falling short so I get motivated to do the right thing.”

“Now, months later, when I see the package on my desktop, it just makes me feel really bad and irresponsible.”

I could relate to some of that and I’m sure you can, too.

Getting the software made her feel like she was doing something to accomplish her goal.

However, just having it didn’t mean she was getting in good financial shape.

It’s the same as just like collecting a bottom drawer full of business cards doesn’t mean you’re networking is getting you any new clients for your service business.

Sure, it feels great to get them. It can make you feel as if you’re ‘connecting with people and doing something to advance your sales.

However, the truth is, leaving your local Chamber of Commerce meeting witha fist full of business cards does not equate to success in any shape or form.

It’s like buying a money management software application and never using it.

Let me ask you this…

If you do actually get a bunch of business cards, how many of them will you actually follow up on? What’s your strategy? Do you pop into your favourite forum and report how many cards you collected so you can have your ego stroked by people telling you what a ‘good job’ you’ve done?

Do you know exactly how many of those cards are actually worth an investment of your precious time? Do you know how many that are a good or great ‘match-and-fit’ for what you offer as an service business?

Actually let’s be honest. You probably took some just to be polite. How many of that kind do you have?

Can you tell me exactly how many of the cards you collected you anticipate turning into paying clients?

If you’re going to be brutally honest with yourself, you know what the answer is…NOT MANY.

So tell me then, why do you collect them?

Maybe because conventional networking wisdom says that collecting business cards equates to a well done job.

It means you attended a networking event and mingled with enough people to consider it to be a success.

From my standpoint of always working to be a better service consultant, I’m telling you that thinking like that is total B.S and it’ll only serve to make sure you’re always chasing after clients as opposed to them chasing after you (OK. Maybe not chasing after you but seeking you out actively) to do business with you.

Collecting and distributing business cards might make you feel good, but in reality, it means jack if either:

• the cards are from the wrong type of prospects or
• they get deposited in a drawer and you do noting with them.

This is why I strongly say that networking is a complete waste of time, the way the majority of service professionals do it.

BAYO

P.S. I’m not suggesting business cards are a waste of time outright. Actually, I’ll soon reveal to you a little-known strategy you can apply to your business cards to transform them into a powerful sales force for your local services.

Small business email marketing surveys reveal that around 46% of small businesses make use of email marketing in one way or another. Email marketing offers a way for you to send information to potential and existing clients on a pre-determined schedule.

There are various ways to measure the effectiveness of your small business email marketing efforts, when you measure, you’ll be able to adjust your small business email marketing campaigns based on a number of key factors.

More Engagement

Small business email marketing affords a way for consistent client or customer engagement. Your email messages can be scheduled using what’s known as email autoresponder software. This allows you to automatically respond to email messages you receive.

One of the most common examples of an email autoresponder is the traditional “Out of office” reply that people set up to notify any email sender that they are not available. Email autoresponders are a great tool for increasing engagement with your clients and customers. Small businesses that I consult with say that it’s a practical and effective way for them to quickly implement positive customer service best practices too.

Use Small Business Email Marketing Autoresponders in Different Ways

For instance, you could use your system to welcome users to your business or practice newsletter. You could use it to confirm account status or a purchase. Eve further than that, why not use it to request for additional information from your prospects, clients and customers.

Small business email marketing autoresponders can be used to guide your buyers through your sales process by providing product information, offering discounted rates and linking to a purchase page.

Small business email marketing, if you’ve not yet started to take advantage of small business email marketing, now is the time.

BAYO

On a regular basis, service professionals ask me to tell then the top service marketing strategy that I’ve seen. Without batting an eyelid, I can confidently respond with the fact that the most powerful service marketing strategy has very little to do with direct mail, blogs, referrals or any trickery.

You see, before any of these areas can actually have an effect on your professional service business, you’ve got to uncover and communicate how your practice or service business is different from all the other similar business that claim to do what you do.  You’ve got to get out of the ‘commodity’ business and stake your claim on a simple position or idea in the mind of your prospective client.
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This is what I mean…

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I’ve got a client who provides custom website design services. Essentially, my client uses tools to create custom websites for local business owners. This is often difficult to explain and can be even harder to attach a price to, making it difficult for a prospective local business owner to compare different companies.

As a way to differentiate his business, my client has started to offer something called Custom Coaching. Custom Coaching is a unique mix of programming and training. The best part I believe is that no one else offers anything like this. His local business prospects like the idea and ask to learn more. Based on what I heard last, this single point of difference has opened up a lot of doors for my client.

What can you do to make what you offer as a service different and unique and that will get clients to pre-qualify themselves to work with you?
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Update: Webinar for Winners get more information here
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It’s a fact that there’s no shortage of tactics for ‘doing’ things that will make clients love you and what you do and the services  you provide for them. What’s actually difficult is attracting the clients in the first place.

In my experience, most people who provide services are excellent at what they do – but the real problem is not knowing how to reach these prospects and also, what to say and do when you do get in front of them.

There’s a solution…Let them pre-qualify themselves by virtue of HOW you market and to WHOM you market, but before you can do this successfully, you’ve got to be able to ‘zero in’ on your ideal client.

It’s a fancy way of saying you need to ‘nichefy’ (I don’t even know if that word actually exists but it sounds great!). You’ve got to  figure out exactly who you would be saving by what you do. There are numerous benefits of defining your niche (or niches) and all of them are good.

Heard this before? Doing this already?

Then why don’t you have all the clients you need already? Why aren’t clients coming to you instead of the other way round?

Knowing is one thing – Doing and doing efficiently is another.

If you’re just starting out, I want you to thnk about the niche that will benefit the most from what you do and why. That’s all I want you to do for now.

BAYO

P.S. By the way. If you do know anyone who teaches that you shouldn’t have a niche I’d be glad to get their details.

Getting clients is really not that difficult at all, but most people that provide services chose to crown themselves as the ‘invisible service provider’ by making what I consider to be one of the biggest mistakes, and that is not having a clearly defined niche.

Forget about a magnetic marketing message right now, if you’re engaged in ‘spray and pray’ marketing because potentially, anybody could be your client, it doesn’t matter what your marketing message says.

.You could be talking to a tree…you’d be getting the same results – NONE!.

If you’re like many small business owners or service professionals marketing can seem like an uphill struggle and hard work, but how much of that is self-inflicted? Define your niche and define it in such a way that if you handed me a description and I entered a room full of great ideal clients and those who would do your marketing efforts more harm than good, that I’d have no trouble communicating your message and asking the qualified ones to follow me…to you.

Can you do that? Many people can’t. Remember, it’s not what you know that counts, it’s what you’re actually doing in your busines that rally matters.

What are you doing and what do you need to fix right now so getting clients becomes easier?

Go do it!