Here’s the next episode in the new myth busting series so if you missed the first one you can find it here in text and podcast format: The Magical Online Product Myth

Today’s myth is a popular one!

I hear it all the time.  It’s the one where people say you don’t really need to know how to sell …

The reality is that if you’re in business, you’re in sales whether you like it or not.

And the sooner you decide to embrace it, the more money you’re likely to make.

I think this myth is so prevalent because so many people are afraid of sales and are therefore only too willing to grasp onto the idea that they don’t need to be able to sell.

First of all here are 3 signs that you may be afraid of sales:

1) You don’t regularly make offers to potential clients.

2)  You wish a sales genie would pop out of a bottle and sign up a new client for you - anything rather than ask for the order yourself!

3) You feel so uncomfortable about sales that sometimes you don’t make an offer to a potential client even if they’re a good fit for your programme. (Ouch)

Any of these touch a nerve?

Making sales is such a sticking point for many coaches and service providers that it can lead to undercharging, chronic over delivering and constant living in feast and famine.

So we’ve busted the myth but how do you learn to love sales if you find sales icky?

The Making Sales to Get Clients Tips

Create a sales system whereby you know exactly what to expect and when.

Create a sorting process so that you’re only speaking to ‘qualified’ prospects by which I mean they could be a great fit to work with you and are serious about considering doing so.

Take your potential clients through a strategy session or discovery session where you give them lots of value but at the same time you can evaluate whether they are a good fit for your programme.

Practice, practice and practice some more!  Like anything you won’t master sales until you make many offers to potential clients.

Focus on serving rather than selling.  It’s true you need to sell but you don’t need to be pushy about it and can instead hold your potential client’s highest good clearly in your mind as you make your offer.

I teach a process to my 3 Steps to Freedom clients called The 6 Ps of Perfect Client Enrolment because if you don’t plan to make sales then you probably won’t!

I’ve found both for myself and for my clients that although the ‘you don’t need to sell’ is indeed a myth, you can set yourself up to win and even begin to love making sales and enrolling perfect clients.

After all what better feeling is there than money flowing into your bank account as a result of the value you’re delivering and a new client excited to work with you?

So to wrap up on the don’t need to sell myth for today’s challenge ask yourself how can you help your perfect clients if you won’t sell to them?

If you’ve found this inspiring or helpful please share on one of your social networks and help me bust these crazy myths that are getting in the way of people making money and a difference.

I’d also love to hear from you on what you find most difficult about selling and enrolling new clients so please share in the comments below.

I’m excited to be creating a new free training series for you where we’ll debunk some popular myths that may be holding you back from creating the life and income you desire.

As is my style I’m going to give it to you just as straight as I see it!

Today we’ll kick off with the magical ‘get clients whilst you sleep’ online product myth.

Picture Sarah the big hearted health coach for just a minute …

She’s exhausted with chasing clients, over-delivering and undercharging so when she spots a shiny Facebook advert promoting a make money whilst you sleep video, she’s reeled in faster than a salmon in Alaska.

Her excitement builds as she drools over the guru videos and slips into dreaming about her carefree life where money pours in effortlessly and her new product flies off the digital shelf as she sips out of a coconut in Hawaii.

You’ve watched those videos right?

If you haven’t then you’ve been forewarned and you can thank me later!

Here’s the problem with this dream scenario.

It doesn’t really work that way.

Now let’s get this straight.  I’m not saying you can’t make money by selling a digital product whilst you relax and read at the beach.

What I am saying is that unless you have the following 3 key things in place it’s HIGHLY unlikely to give you the life changing results you desire and much more likely to give you an occasional cash boost.

1) A big list - we’re talking multiple thousands of targeted subscribers here, not a few hundred or thousands. 

Without a big list you’ll need to get affiliates on board which is a massive project on it’s own and not something to roll out lightly as it will take a lot of managing and promotion.

Or you could invest in paid advertising but for that you need a sizeable budget that you can afford to lose if it doesn’t convert the way you hoped.  You really need to know what you’re doing to create profitable adverts that convert so again that’s not something to dabble with.

One of the biggest marketing trainers, Brendon Burchard currently recommends investing $1k per day on Facebook adverts so if you have a highly converting guru funnel, ‘pay to play’ away!

For some this will be the way to go but I know that for most solo or small team service providers that is just way too much to manage as we’re busy serving clients and don't have the resources to continuously fine tune adverts and online marketing funnels.

2) Real feedback - data from your perfect clients of what they actually struggle with not what you think they might struggle with or you wish they would struggle with.

If you’ve been trying to figure out how to have a coaching, consulting or expert business that works without you then hold fire until you’ve at least got some solid feedback from real clients.

Yes, you can do surveys but they are notoriously difficult to interpret and can be very subjective which means not very helpful when it comes down to you trying to figure out what your perfect clients might actually buy without even speaking to you first.

So after years of trying to live the guru dream I’ve gone full circle and had my most profitable year so far, working with real clients in part-time hours.

What’s happened is that I now understand the needs of my perfect clients much much better and am now in a position to be able to create what they want and are willing to pay for.

The bottom line is that the fastest way to create 5 figure months in your service business is to actually be of service and help real clients get real results. 

This could mean shock and horror if you’ve been putting all of your energy into creating digital products in a darkened room, I know!

It’s a constant source of fascination for me that so many coaches and experts waste years doing this completely back to front. (I was one of them so I feel the pain!)

We’re reaching the tipping point where it has now become weird not to try to use Facebook to grow your business.

The problem is that even though you may know you want to tap into the digital economy - unless you’ve had extensive training, you probably don’t know where to start.

And why would you?

You’re ready to dream big and break free but you just don’t know how.

You have expertise in your ‘thing’ but that doesn’t mean you’re an internet marketing guru.

I see so many coaches and other business owners with expertise wasting so much time chasing the next shiny new tactic.

Tactics have their place and can give you a new lease of life with your marketing efforts but if you only have tactics with no underlying strategy they drain your time, energy and profits.

Here’s an example of tactic versus strategy using Facebook 

You hear that the best way to market your services is to run Facebook adverts.

The Facebook guru told you so and now you are super excited!

All you need to do is ‘pay to play’ so that your Facebook page finally gets some views.

So now you’re ALL IN!

This is what will turn your business around and this is how you’ll hit your big goals and attract all those perfect clients.

Let’s dispel this Facebook advert myth!

You buy the course and spend days trying to figure out how to run these bless-ed ads and you hook up your credit card and you’re finally ready to attract thousands of ‘fans.’

The only problem is that your first couple of adverts don’t get approved because you make some kind of rookie error that doesn’t comply with Facebook rules.

But no problem because you are EXCITED!

Facebook ads are the answer and you won’t rest until you have those babies running …

A couple more days go by and you finally get into the game.

You get some likes to your page.

Wow this is exciting right?

The fans are ‘LIKING’ your page and this seems to be working.

What now?

Your credit card is being debited every few days or weeks depending what Facebook deems appropriate at your time of reading this article.

Hmmm you think after a month or so of this.

But how do I actually get clients by doing this?

This is costing me quite a bit and I’m spending quite a lot of time tweaking my adverts so they keep getting shown but this is not paying the mortgage or building my client base!

But the guru made it sound SO easy, you think to yourself.

And this is exactly what I mean by chasing tactics without an underpinning strategy.

Now it’s important that you understand I’m not knocking Facebook adverts as a marketing method.

I’m not even knocking Facebook gurus …

If you’ve got the patience and the budget to play around with adverts then it may be a good way for you to go as ONE method in your Marketing Game Plan.

BUT if you don’t know how to turn those LIKES from what’s known as cold traffic into PAYING CLIENTS then you may as well be paying to play the lottery.

Or even worse, you may be paying to show your advert to your existing fans who you’ve already worked hard or even PAID to attract!

That one makes me a little crazy I must confess, even though I appreciate that Facebook is a business.

And this is where the strategy comes in.

If you focus on the shiny new tactic because it’s exciting but you don’t have the following in place:

- A way to convert your ‘Fans’ into real leads on your email list

- A solid client programme that your perfect clients want and are willing to pay for

- The confidence and strategy to enrol these ‘leads’ into your programme

- A programme to sell that covers the expense of your Facebook adverts and puts you into profit

Then you are likely just wasting your precious time and money.

There is a time and a place for Facebook adverts but they are not the magic elixir if you don’t have the foundation for client enrollment in place.

Sorry if I’ve shattered the myth but it’s important that you know this.

This week’s challenge is to keep this list handy for next time you’re about to sh...

This may seem like an unusual topic because you know you must market your business if you want a steady stream of clients…

Every business owner knows that right?

“Well, yes Rachel,” you might say, “of course!”

Logically when we start our business we know we’re going to have to do ‘something’ to get clients in the door whether it be virtual or steel framed.

The problem is that when we’re in the bubbling excited start up or ‘let’s go next level’ phase we have a curious way of ignoring reality.

We’re all jazzed up about our dreams and how we’re going to help our clients.

And rightly so…

If you don’t have a big why for your business the chances are when you hit a roadblock it will feel too difficult and you’ll quit or go back to playing small.

The challenge for today is to ask yourself if you’re really doing what you actually need to do to market your business or do other things keep getting in the way?

If you’re ready to face the truth you could translate that to, ‘or do you let other things keep getting in the way?’

What I’ve noticed is that when I don’t do what I know I need to do it’s often because I don’t really want to do it.  

And yes that may not come as a great shock to you!

You may have noticed that inner stubbornness in yourself.

It’s common for humans not to do what they know they really ‘should do.’

We are creatures of comfort and avoid confronting our fears literally as if our lives depend on it.

This can show up in many ways and it may be that deep down you’re feeling some fear around taking the actions you need to take.

Is it because you don’t know WHAT to do to market your service business?

This could show up for you by not having what I call a Marketing Game Plan.

That would mean that when you come to your ‘marketing time’ you don’t have specific and measurable methods in place to market your business.

So what happens?

Well, … yes … you guessed it. Nothing much!

Or lots of clicking around on Facebook, ‘networking,’ without a plan.

Another way being afraid of marketing might show up is in having no time on your calendar to do it.  It’s an easy cop out to say, ‘well I know I need to do marketing but I don’t have the time because I’m too busy doing xxx’

To this I have one question which I hope will jolt you into action.

If you don’t have time to market your business what do you have time for?

If you’ve already got all the clients you want or need and are hitting your revenue goals with ease then you have my permission to disregard this but the chances are that’s not the case.

Even if you’re ‘full’ you need to be extremely careful not to stop marketing whilst you’re delivering because unless you have a leveraged business model you may find yourself permanently in the feast or famine cycle.

So to summarise, one warning sign could be not having a marketing game plan.

Another might be not having sufficient time scheduled on your calendar to get your marketing activities done.

And another which by its very nature you wouldn’t realise is showing up for you is that you might be in denial!

You are very busy but you’re not actually doing any measurable marketing activities at all.

Whether you get a new client or not depends solely on ‘luck,’ which way the wind blows or perhaps referrals.

What do you think?

Do you recognise any of these warning signs showing up for you?

If you do then it’s time to face your fear of marketing and get into action!

I’d love to hear in the comments below if you recognise any of these warning signs and one thing you will do right away to market your service business.

In a recent free online training where I shared my new Magnetic Branding System we talked about the concept of the ‘One Trick Pony.’

In a hectic online world it’s easy to try to be all things to all people.

The problem with that approach is that you dilute your online presence and it’s very difficult for people to know what you can actually do to help them.

So yes you may do many things to help your perfect clients but you first need to get them in your virtual door.

What’s more brand magnetic for your perfect clients do you think?

Hi I can help you to do everything you might need to do for marketing your business online …

OR I can help you to create a magnetic brand that will have your perfect clients knocking on your virtual door, seeking you out for your expertise…

Do you see the difference?

Let’s take another example:

Hi I help busy executives to improve their health …

OR I help busy executives to drop body fat and lose inches from their waist

Can you see how much more specific the second version of each example is?

So how does this relate to the One Trick Pony concept?

It’s simply that it’s much easier for people to remember who you are and what you do when you lead with one thing and are specific about what your solution.

This in turn makes it much easier to create all of your marketing because you have clarity.

So yes I’m known as The Niche Expert and for Magnetic Branding but I help my VIP clients do lots of things to grow their business with the main focus on how to position themselves to get paid as experts.

This means that it makes it easy for them to get known for something.

And if you want to be paid and recognised as the expert in your niche you have to be known for something or you’ll just be another business consultant or health coach or whatever it may be for you.

You have to plant your flag and decide you’re going to step up and step out.

This may sound scary, especially if you’re an introvert and don’t like the idea of putting yourself out there.

Personally I think that’s what’s so incredible about building a magnetic brand.

It means that you don’t have to do half as much marketing because every step you take layers on more credibility and authority so that people seek you out online.

You also don’t need to be an expert in everything because you specialise in a certain area so it just makes sense.

We don’t have time today to get into more details about creating your juicy marketing message and the benefits of having your own branded system to attract clients and position you as the expert but you can find out more about that at my 7 Step Magnetic Branding System info page

This is a question I get asked a lot by my coaching clients who begin the journey with me to leverage the internet and get known for their expertise.

Whether you already consciously market yourself as an expert or you’re feeling hesistant of embracing your ‘expert’ status the chances are that you’ve encountered this mindset block somewhere along the way.

Most of us weren’t raised to consider ourselves experts.

It’s more likely you were reprimanded for being too big for your boots or after doing something out of the box you were slapped down to size with a brusk ‘who do you think you are?’

So it’s no wonder that when you market your business you may feel fearful of putting yourself out there with a personal brand.

We’ve been indoctrinated to play small, be good, walk in a straight line, not make waves etc. etc. etc.

Whether our parents and teachers were trying to keep us safe or whether they were disciplinary dragons doesn’t make much difference in this case.

The damage has been done and if you want to reach more people it’s now time to break free of these blocks that sabotage your success.

This is a unique time in history and I believe there has never been such an opportunity to make a difference for people with your gifts and skills and in the process become known for your expertise.

Because of this wonderful invention called the internet you are now able to create a business without any borders.

This means you can reach your perfect clients and customers based on their type and not by their location.

And this is what marketers really mean when they talk about building a tribe.

We’ll talk more about how to do that next time but for now give this some thought.

How exciting would it be for you to attract your perfect clients without worrying where they’re based?

Of course this won’t work for businesses that provide only an in-person services but for many there are usually ways to deliver your expertise via Skype, online, or even the trusty old telephone.

If you keep playing in the small sandpit and don’t take the risk of sharing your message in a bigger way you won’t be able to position yourself to be found online nationally or even globally.

The prediction is that by 2020 5 billion people will be online looking for products and services.  That’s approximately 2 billion new people joining the online party and the numbers have already 10xed themselves since 1999 according to internet stats.

Being on Facebook or Twitter is one tiny piece of creating an effective online presence but there’s a lot more to creating a brand that attracts your perfect clients on auto-pilot.

So now you’ve had a glimpse of what’s at stake here, let’s look at the mindset blocks that may be getting in the way of you claiming your magnetic brand.

Do you want to help more people but get so frustrated because you’re not an internet marketing guru, don’t want to be, but do want to market with authenticity?

Do you worry what your friends will think if you have the audacity to claim your online brand and start being really visible?

Are you fearful of coming across like a ‘know it all’ if you share your expertise online in a way that will reach more people than it currently does now?

What will your clients say if you raise your rates and actually get paid as the expert you are instead of giving away all of your knowledge by the hour?

These are just some of the questions that I’ve noticed may come up to stop you taking action as you step up to claim your authentic magnetic brand.

When you keep telling yourself these stories, before we know it another year has gone by and you’re still trying to have a greater impact and make more money using the same old tired methods.

What if instead you decided to tell a new story?

What if this is your time to step up,