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I’ve been asked, “Bonita how is it that you’re able to get new clients into your programs and grow a lucrative business while working so few hours, and with such little marketing effort?

Is it because you have a huge list, or network like crazy?”

I can honestly tell you it is not because of either of the reasons above. My list is under 1,000 people, and I hardly network at all.

So, what’s my secret?

The secret is to carry out simple and consistent marketing and business-building activities on a weekly basis. Here are 3 things I do to get new clients, and build a lucrative, joyful business:

1. Consistent Marketing

You certainly don’t have to be doing every marketing activity you know about to grow a successful business. In fact, I tell my clients that I’d rather have them do one marketing activity consistently, rather than do 2, 3, 4, or more activities inconsistently.

If you network, network at events where your market niche or business referral partners attend consistently. If you speak, speak regularly. If you give preview workshops, have a pre-defined schedule when you deliver them. If you publish an e-newsletter, do it at least twice monthly (weekly is even better).

The truth is the only regular marketing I’ve done the past 18 months is publish an e-newsletter and attend carefully selected live events; the result—a 6-figure biz in 12 months, working an average 10 hours per week.

The take-a-way here is you don’t have to do every marketing activity you know about; you do have to be consistent.

2. Follow-Up with Everyone

Make it a habit to keep track of every single person you speak with about your services, as well as people who reach out to you. When you speak with someone and he or she doesn’t sign-up for a program, 99.99% of the time the answer is some form of “not right now.” A “not right now” does not mean a forever “no.”

So, if you keep track of the people who are the “not right now’s,” and follow-up with them in the future, this is a beautiful opportunity to build your business.

Think about how many “not right now’s” you’ve gotten over the last year, and how many of those people you’ve followed up with. Take action now, and reconnect with those people. Far from being pushy, this kind of follow-up is caring, generous, and deeply appreciated by people who need your help.

3. Move People past the “Freebie” Line

It’s been proven about 80% of people who have invested money with you, no matter what the dollar amount, are highly likely to do so again.

I’m sure many of you have people on your list who love the free stuff you give them, including the wonderful weekly, high-quality content of your e-newsletter articles—but they never spend a dime. The solution is to have a strategy to getting the “freebies” into paying clients. You do this by creating a system that gently guides your contacts over to the “Land of the First Purchase.”

A favorite and effective strategy of mine is to create a super-high-value, super-low-cost “no-brainer” offer, such as a teleseminar series. Offer this series monthly or bi-monthly, and set up an auto-responder email in your list management service that sends the offer a few days after someone new joins your list.

Another strategy is to set up an auto-responder series with a weekly tip and an offer for a free strategy session. This way, you provide value, and consistently encourage someone to contact you so that a conversation occurs where you can find out their needs, and talk about how you can help them with your services.

Getting new clients and building your business means working smarter. The simpler and more streamlined your systems, the more effective and powerful they will be to transform your business into one that generates the income you desire and deserve.

Watch for a No-Cost training call I am offering, “5 Best Strategies for Effortlessly Enrolling 3, 5, or 10 Clients Even if You Think You’ve Tried Everything.“    To register for this FREE No-Cost training call sign up at http://5bestnewclientstrategies.eventbrite.com.

Posted: Wednesday, March 9th, 2011 at 4:48 pm • Tags: clients, get new clients, how to get new clients, marketing •  Both comments and pings are currently closed.