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Many women entrepreneurs have agonizing difficulty ‘asking for the money’ when having a sales conversation with a potential client.   By not asking for a money commitment to enroll in their program, it quickly costs them thousands of dollars in lost income.

Following are actions you can implement immediately to make ‘asking for the money” a graceful activity you will begin to enjoy in your business!

To start, it is vital to get in touch with specific situations you have difficulty asking for the money.  Then, you must become aware of the financial cost of “not getting a handle” on these situations.

Typical areas women have trouble talking about money are:

• Making an offer in a Discovery Session (they freeze when it comes time to state their fees)
• Taking payment immediately over the phone (they wait for a check that never arrives)
• Making an offer to a client currently enrolled with them to invest in additional services (fear of being “pushy” / greedy)
• Asking a client to get current with payments (boundaries issue)
• Making an offer when speaking or training (fear of thinking ‘what other people will think’)

To transform your mindset into one of empowerment when ‘asking for the money,’ look at the list above and choose one situation that repeatedly crops up for you.  You may think of another situation you struggle with, as well.  Write your chosen situation down on a piece of paper.

Now, with your chosen situation, identify what it is you are secretly fear will happen; I’ve listed common reasons below.  Write down the fears that resonate with you:

• Being rejected
• Being judged
• Not being liked
• Losing love / friendship
• Losing business
• Worried what people will think
• Not being approved of
• Other fears

To make a change, you need to get in touch with the cost of not correcting this problem and calculate the financial cost.

To calculate the financial costs do the following simple math:

A. How many clients a month do you typically lose by not ‘asking for the money’ to make a sale?

B. What is the dollar value of each client lost?

C. What is the monthly cost of this situation (Multiply A x B)?

D. What is the yearly cost of this situation (Multiply C x 12 months)

If you’re like many women, you are now picking your jaw up off the floor because this situation is hurting your income BIG time.  And for many, the amount represents more than their entire year’s worth of salary from their business!

For a simple solution to immediately change this situation ask yourself the following questions:

“What if being afraid of the situation noted above were no longer important to me?”  

“What actions would I take?”

These questions are an opportunity for a breakthrough, and begin shifting your mindset around why you must become comfortable, so you feel confidence, ease and grace ‘asking for the money.’

Keep in mind that you are offering a service that has tremendous value to your clients.  By not making an offer to help them, you are depriving them of your gifts, and helping them be more successful.

Do you want to learn strategies how to generate immediate income in your business?  Stay tuned!  I’m excited about a *BRAND NEW* program I’m creating that is ALL about accelerating your income generation.

Do you know why you’re marketing? The first thing many women entrepreneurs will quip when asked that question is, “To get clients.”

It may surprise you this is not the reason you’re marketing.

And, not knowing “why” you’re marketing puts you at a steep disadvantage to successfully getting clients.

Before you market and make a sale, you must have an authentic marketing MESSAGE that resonates with your ideal clients, so they line up and willingly say “yes” to your offers.

When this happens, making the sale is easy.

So, what’s your message? (and, I’m not talking about features, benefits, outcomes or results)

Going deeper, the message I’m talking about is what MOVEMENT do you stand for?

Definition: A movement is when group action is inspired by a passionately shared idea directed toward positive change. A movement is inspiring, and brings out your audience’s passion, as well as your own, to change the world.

Marketing flows with ease when we emotionally engage our desired audience in what we stand for— why we do what we do— and, how we can help them when they “come along with us.”

Taking a stand on an issue makes you stand out from the pack. Being outspoken and having an opinion will get you noticed. Appearing “plain vanilla” is, well… boring. By taking a stand for something; something you’d ‘go to the mat for’ makes you interesting, and gives your marketing message juice.

Your goal is to share your movement frequently, and effectively, that selling flows easily from your marketing. Here is my movement statement:

“I am a stand for empowering women to assert their natural gifts to the world, to be independent, and to make choices to live their lives on their OWN terms, by creating a wildly successful, passionate businesses that makes millionaresses of each of them!”

I feel strongly about this because I value independence, and I want women to be successful running their own business. So many women aren’t successful. They barely get by, barely make a living, or they give up.

I just want to yell and scream, “Get the help you need! Let me help you! You can do it if you take a stand for yourself! Be in charge of your own life.  You don’t have to be dependent on anyone else!”

Is this a strong statement? You bet!

The bottom line is marketing (and sales) strategies and tactics can work if you’re solid in knowing your movement, and you express this message authentically and consistently to your market.

To reveal your unique point of view to start your movement ask yourself the following 4 questions:

1. What do I feel strongly about?
2. “What would I “go to the mat for?”
3. What changes do I want to see?
4. What is my movement?”

To create a highly profitable and successful business that can make you thousands and even millions of dollars, start a movement, and make this the centerpiece of your marketing communications message!

For those of you who are ready to stop struggling to get clients, want to SIGNIFICANTLY raise your fees, make more money in your business, while marketing LESS, call (847) 989-0513 to inquire about coaching with me in a 6-month Private Platinum coaching program.  ONLY 2 OPENINGS AVAILABLE.  If interested, call now to inquire to SAVE $$$ until DECEMBER 31, 2011.  (my fees are INCREASING January 1, 2012)

To create major transformation in your business, new patterns, habits, and behaviors must be put into play.

You have to consciously make new choices at every moment and with every action you take so that you are moved continuously closer to your goals and dreams.

It is important to recognize ways of acting that hold you back, otherwise you may never get to the heart of the problem why you can’t move your business forward. Once you identify self-limiting patterns, then you can consciously “catch yourself in the act” and make the necessary shifts in behavior.

Here’s a list of common ways women “take themselves out the game” and keeps them playing small in their business:

Overwhelm. Caused by trying to do too much yourself, not getting help, confusion about how to do things, over-scheduling.

Remedy: Take a step back and look at it from an “outside” view. What would you advise someone to do in this position? Decide what needs to be done, make a list, get help with things you don’t know how to do, get into action!

Comparing yourself to others. Looking at what everyone else is doing, and inevitably “falling short.”

Remedy: Stop comparing yourself to others because you and your business are unique. Put you, your desires, goals, expertise, and who you want to serve front and center in your business. Build your business model, marketing and income plan around YOU; not someone else’s idea of their business.

Indecision. Waffling back and forth about a decision you must make, which wastes a tremendous amount of energy and time. Common “waffle” decisions revolve around “who’s your niche,” what programs to offer, pricing issues, what to write in your e-newsletter, and so on.

Remedy: Make a decision and move forward. Don’t be afraid of failure, because it probably won’t happen to the extent you visualize it in your mind.  Things may not go as planned.  And, you can always course-correct and change your plan.

Not implementing. Usually caused by fear of failure, doubt, indecision, doing a lot of research about what others are doing, collecting data and information. All this causes your income to stay stuck.

Remedy. Make a decision. Put a time limit on the amount of time you spend on research. Remember, what you put together doesn’t have to be “perfect” or everything you know about a particular subject. Things WILL turn out okay.

Making excuses. Saying things like, “I’m not ready yet,” or blaming someone else or your coach for lack of results, being a victim, giving up your power.

Remedy: Take responsibility for results. Doing so restores power relinquished to others.

“Hiding out.” Not speaking up, not marketing enough, not being seen, hiding out behind computer, being the “best kept secret,” marketing churning (revising/refining materials, website, brand over and over and over again).

Remedy: Stop seeking perfection in marketing materials. Resolve to get out and meet prospective clients, network. Let your voice be heard in your e-newsletter, in meetings, on phone calls, group forums, etc.

Not asking for support. Not having a coach or community of people to support you in your growth, not being open to receiving help from others.

Remedy: Have people who support you in your realm. This could be a coach, a spouse, a coaching community, friends, family. People who believe in you and your potential, and will support you in your journey, provide you guidance. Anything great that’s been accomplished has never been done alone.

Over-scheduling. Being a “yes” person, over-committing yourself, never having “enough time.”

Remedy: Time block your calendar and don’t feel guilty about it. Time batch similar tasks together. Plan for creative and you time in your schedule. Say, “No” to requests that you don’t want to do or that won’t support you reaching your goals. Don’t let other peoples’ priorities and emergencies drive your daily schedule.

Perfectionism.  Working  and working it until whatever you’re doing is “just right.”  The result is you don’t get things accomplished quickly, delays occur, and your income suffers.   

Remedy: Striving for perfection is an unachievable task.  I’m not saying put low-quality work out, as this will hurt your brand image.  What you can do is strive for implementation—not perfection.  And when things aren’t perfect, try not to sweat it.  (I suffer from this one BIG time.  So, I know how hard it is.  Do your best, and keep moving.  Don’t “sweat the small stuff.”)

After reading this list you may come up with some of your own ideas how you self- sabotage your own efforts achieving success in your business.

My coach’s request of you this week is to take a look at this list and write down the ways that you are taking yourself “out of the game.” Which of the above topics resonate with you most?

Then, to make a positive shift and overcome these limiting behaviors ask yourself the following question—

“If I were to make a different choice in this moment, what would it be?”

By identifying your limiting behaviors and making better choices, you will overcome the very actions that are holding your business back on a daily basis. Once you do, your business will immediately begin to transform and beautiful things will begin to unfold for you!