There’s nothing more important to getting referrals than becoming known for what you do.

You do this with spectacular work for your clients and by being able to articulate what makes a good referral for you.  When you’ve got that down, sprinkle in one of these three tips and you’ll really thrive.

Related posts:

1. 10 Ways to Generate More Referrals
2. Attract Way More Clients with Way Less Effort: Free Teleseminar
3. Free teleclass: How to Get More Referrals

For too many small business owners and solopreneurs, getting more clients seems wrapped in an air of mystery. Why is it that some business owners get all the clients, while others struggle? If you are among the latter group, it could be that you have fallen for some of these client attraction myths.

Client Attraction Myths as Old As Zeus! Image via Wikipedia

Myth: I need an impressive sounding name or title (listing all of your qualifications) to get clients now.

Reality: Although your official qualifications may make you better suited for the job or you may feel that they give you an aura of prestige, clients do not really care about your title or your academic background.

If you focus your marketing on being a “certified” this or a “registered” that, you are ignoring what is most important to your clients – namely themselves and their problems, not you. We call this an “audio logo” as opposed to a job title. Your audio logo is so important that it is lesson number one in Attracting Perfect Clients.

Myth: If I just do a great job, I’ll start getting referrals and business will develop on its own.

Reality: Of course, doing a great job with your current clients is the foundation for client attraction in the future. However, it is unfortunately not true that your satisfied clients will automatically refer you to other clients.

To get referrals, you have to ask for them. Furthermore, you have to teach your clients whom to refer to you to. For more information on this topic, check out our program Asking for Referrals. It’s usually $17, but you can get it now for free at http://askingforreferrals.net/.

Myth: Some people get all the luck when it comes to client attraction!

Reality: I hate to break it to you, but luck has nothing to do with getting more clients over the long term. At Enlightened Marketing, we’re big believers in including “magical thinking” in our marketing.  That’s our term for things that work, even though we don’t know exactly how or why.  It could be affirmations, prayer, holding intentions, thinking positive thoughts or whatever works for you.

There is a big difference, though, between magical thinking and luck. Magical thinking is a way of bringing fun, lightness and positive energy while still focusing on our goals and being intentional about everything that we do.

Luck is merely wishful thinking – or, worse – self-defeating thinking. It’s the difference between going to a networking meeting and holding the intention “I’m going to deliver a great audio logo today and therefore meet a prospective client!” and merely thinking, “Oh, I hope I get lucky today and find some clients.”

Do you believe any of those myths? If you do, start taking action today stop their damaging effects on your business.

How have audio logos, asking for referrals and magical thinking benefited your business?

Related posts:

1. A Day in the Life of Your Ideal Client

Reenactment of Samantha's Reaction to Night Work Album Cover

The other day, I bought a new record, the Scissor Sisters’ Night Work. While I was having my first listen and gazing at the album sleeve, I realized that there was a great lesson in it for enlightened small businesses.

The album cover itself is not of the traditional “glamorous picture of the band” type. Rather, it is a somewhat sleazy and very direct photograph by Robert Mapplethorpe, the renowned (and controversial!) artist who had his heyday in the 1980’s.

The album cover makes a very bold statement about the contents of the record. The black and white picture has a late 1970’s or early 1980′s look, and the title, “Night Work” implies an album full of music suitable for late nights on the town. Furthermore, if you do not like the subject matter of the photograph, you probably will not care for the lyrics of the songs, either.

But what makes a pop group’s album sleeve a case study for small business marketing?

1. Well, it sets up expectations in the customer. It says, “if you like somewhat sleazy ’70s music, buy me.”
2. It also increases customer satisfaction for the perfect customer, because they get exactly what they were expecting.
3. Finally, it warns away imperfect customers who recognize that this record is definitely not for them.

Does your packaging – for example, your website – evoke the right expectations in your clients?

Let’s take a look at another example: the Enlightened Marketing website, which is currently in its second version. Now, you, the Enlightened Marketing community, are the judge of whether the website creates the right expectations for when you work with us. I can say, though, that the new design arose in part directly from your feedback. Again and again we heard (with regard to the original website): “The design of the website does not match up with the energy and inspiration that we feel when we work with Enlightened Marketing.”

Therefore, when we designed the look of EnlightenedMarketing.com, we combined earth tones with the bold orange highlights and included a dynamic picture of Samantha in the header to boost the energy level.

The look and feel of your brand needs to be both congruent and consistent.

• It must evoke the right expectations in your clients – and help fulfill them.
• It needs to be consistent, because consistency builds trust.

For example, when we launched Attracting Perfect Clients, we included familiar imagery and used the same color scheme. Even though Attracting Perfect Clients is by far the most affordable option for working with us, it still combines the proven, Fortune 100-tested help you expect, mixed in with the energy and the “magical thinking” that can make your marketing enlightened.

Now, remember when I mentioned the packaging scaring away the wrong clients? Our website does that, too. See the flower in the logo? That “more joy” part of the tag line? Those send out signals to clients who expect cut-throat tactics that they will not feel at home in the Enlightened Marketing community.

So, when you are evaluating the design elements of your brand – your website, stationery, business cards, etc. – there are two questions that you need to ask yourself:

1. “Does this create the right expectations for my perfect client?”
2. “Is this consistent with my brand and what I’ve taught my audience to expect?”

By approaching with intention these issues – congruency and consistency – you will attract clients who are the right fit for you, create expectations you can fulfill and build a trustworthy and profitable brand.

No related posts.

Today we conclude our short series on “looking” like a serious business.  Our first post was about aligning your appearance with your brand, and the second detailed a higher priority than your website.

One FAQ I get is: “I work from home, and I’m a little embarrassed about it. Does working from a home office damage my credibility?”

More joy, some productivity challenges

Not necessarily.  There are many good reasons to work from a home office, including cost savings, tax breaks, a smaller ecological impact and time saved by not commuting, and the ability to be closer to family throughout the day.

There are also good reasons to locate your office outside your home, including visibility with potential clients, access to equipment and technology, privacy, in-person meetings and the potential for increased productivity.

While the days of start-ups spending all their millions of seed capital on cool offices are long behind us, offices still say a lot about brands.  That doesn’t mean an expensive skyscraper office is the only way to go. It just means you should decide what kind of office fits you and your brand best.

Ask yourself these three questions when deciding what kind of office situation is best for you:

1. What is required to deliver my brand’s solution to my clients? If you’re a therapist, you probably need an office outside the home in which to meet with your clients. Services requiring special equipment, like printers and caterers, and those who collaborate with several people in person, such as attorneys or trainers, may locate in offices as well.  

2. In what conditions do I do my best work? Having worked in both private offices and cubicles in my corporate days, I know I need a quiet place to work without distractions.  I also find that I’m more peaceful when I’m able to be near my dogs and take a break now and then to walk them.

While I spend most of my workday on the phone with my clients while in my home office, I will occasionally work from the library or an office in town for a change of pace.  A close colleague finds those conditions too isolated and depressing. She needs more in-person interaction to keep her in her productivity and joy zone.

Disregard what you think you should do. Combine your ideal working conditions with what you need to deliver your solution to your clients.

That will point you to the right office situation.  Then ask yourself:

3. What do I want my clients to know or understand about my office? Make a case for why you work where you do.  If everyone is in the expensive, prestigious part of town and you’re not, you can build a case for investing in the revitalization of neglected areas.  (I’m not suggesting you say something that isn’t true; I’m recommending you present your reasons in their best light and not be ashamed of a potentially negative interpretation.)

You carry your legitimacy within yourself.

Some of my clients serve large corporations and believe working from a home office lacks legitimacy or credibility of one located outside the home. For them, I can only tell you: you carry your legitimacy within yourself.

There are well-known consultants and experts working from home offices who are never challenged about this.  Why?  Because their work is so good that no one cares where it’s done.  I once heard Alex Mandossian say that he wants to be the first work-from-home billionaire.  Personally, I like how that sounds!

How about you? Where’s your office, and why did you choose that place?  Do your clients seem to care where you work?

Related posts:

1. Brand Experience: Work those Brand Touchpoints

Subscriber Deborah, a “struggling new business owner,” writes:

I started my business several times in the last two years thinking that I need something more to get it off the ground.  I struggle with developing the “things” that make me “look” like I am a viable, serious business and not a hobby.  One of those “things” is a website and a blog.  What are your thoughts?  What do you need REALLY to look like a viable business these days?

I’d say to look like a viable business you need clients.

Believing that you “need something more” keeps you stuck in waiting mode, and a lot of businesses die in that place.

Stop struggling with things that make you look serious, and get in front of potential clients right now. If they hire you, you’re obviously viable and serious in their eyes.  

If, however, you can’t get clients during in-person interaction, you have one of three problems:

• You’re not clear about what you’re doing (a common issue – not as obvious as it seems)
• Your message is confusing
• The market you’re reaching doesn’t want it.

If you’re not clear about what you’re doing, spend some time thinking about how you’ve helped people in the past. What were things like for them before you started, and what results did you get for them?  Talk to those you helped and ask how they benefited. If this is a new business, imagine the answers to those same questions.

If a confusing message is your problem, it’s time to take what’s inside you and form it into a concise and compelling audio logo, whose ingredients are:

• Who do you help?
• Which of their problems do you solve?
• What solution or outcome do you provide?

If your services and message are crystal-clear, yet you still aren’t getting clients, you may NOT have a viable business. You can look at changing audiences or pricing and delivering your services differently.  Not every business IS viable, and you certainly want to know it before you invest a bunch of money into it.

But what about a website and a blog?

I want you to erase any excuse for going out and attracting clients now! You don’t need a website or blog to talk to your friends and colleagues, get out to networking events and go speak in front of audiences.  Your audio logo is your main tool.  Yes, a website is incredibly important and can catapult your business long-term. And later, when you have enough funds to invest comfortably, you can build a “real” website.

Agree? Disagree? Have an awesome website but no clients? Let me know in the comments below.

Related posts:

1. 10 Habits That Keep Your Business Going
2. Attract Way More Clients with Way Less Effort: Free Teleseminar
3. Blogging for Clients – Why Every Small Business Needs a Blog

Subscriber Drew Noble writes:

I just want to say how much I appreciate your blog and newsletter. I’m a 25 year old who just started her own marketing consulting company. I’m so glad that someone finally said what I’ve been thinking all along: Elevator pitches are stupid!  I hope you will write a blog post about “dressing for success” soon. I am curious as to your opinion.

Two of our main values here at Enlightened Marketing are joy and effectiveness. These are the driving forces behind everything we do.  If it doesn’t make you happy, you shouldn’t – and probably won’t – do it.  And if it doesn’t work, why do it at all?

Dressing for success doesn’t have to be an either/or, so I’d look for a way to dress that is effective and also feels joyfully aligned with the truth of who you are.

What’s effective dress?  Your personal appearance is the packaging of your brand, just as a cover design positions a book, or box art sells the product inside it.  You want your appearance to convey:

• What people should expect when working with you.
• What kind of experience they’re likely to have
• Whether you and your target audience are a good fit for each other.

A few years back my client Denise, a massage therapist, asked me about what she wore at work. She felt she SHOULD wear scrubs “like other massage therapists do,” but she longed to wear the brightly-colored T-shirts that she tie-dyed herself (joy).  She worried that she’d hurt her business by doing so.

I asked Denise whether she did sports or medical massage or anything else associated with scrubs.  She didn’t.  She specialized in relaxation, stress release and might even use aromatherapy or crystals if a client was open to it.

By presenting herself in scrubs, she was actually sending an inaccurate message.

When Denise realized she not only could wear her tie-dyed shirts, but she should do so to align better with her brand, she was overjoyed.

Related posts:

1. Personal Branding for Professional Success
2. Home Office: Bad for Brand Credibility?
3. Brand Experience: Work those Brand Touchpoints

From all the highlighting in my copy of The Zen of Social Media Marketing, the inside pages have started to look like the cheerful yellow cover.  There were several smart ideas I wanted to capture, as many for myself as for my clients.

The book is subtitled “An Easier Way to Build Credibility, Generate Buzz, and Increase Revenue,” and I have to say it really delivers on that promise.  While social media marketing seems incredibly overwhelming to all but the 2% who are clearly thriving on it, Shama Hyder Kabani’s book makes it feel possible.

You could boil all the advice in ZSMM down into this list from Shama:

Strategic first. Be human. Have patience.

Like all good advice, it’s universal.

In the opening chapters Shama shares general marketing principles and online marketing basics that need to be in place before you try to leverage social media. Summed up in her ACT Blueprint – Attract, Convert, Transform – it reminds you that there’s no magic social media will do that will make up for lack of a business model.  Basic ideas, like the futility of driving social media traffic to your website if you don’t have an email capture system, are explained here.

Social media engagement is about having a compelling brand that attracts just the right people to your website and, better yet, your blog. Unless you begin the process with intention and a strategy, Shama explains, it’s likely to be a waste of time – which is what most disgruntled small business owners experience in the beginning. Now many wonder, “Why should I even get on social media if it’s a time suck that may not yield results?”

First, it’s where people are. Your prospective clients are there, AND they’re already talking about you. Unless you engage them where they are, somebody else will.  Second, after you read ZSMM you’ll learn exactly how to do it efficiently and for maximum results.  While I wouldn’t call it easy, I would say it becomes measurably simpler.

The bulk of the book is dedicated to the main social networking sites – Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn – and to online video, the “next frontier” of engagement.

The chapter on Facebook sets the stage with a collection of tools, dos and don’ts, daily and weekly action steps and an intriguing (and motivating!) case study from the Peabody Hotel in Memphis.  Shama’s advice here teaches beginners how to make a good first impression, “Use the status updates in a strategic way,” and also coaches more advanced users how to set up and leverage Groups: “Do not create a group around your brand or business …

“Groups are best built around an idea, a thought, or a topic.”

I sure wish more people followed that advice!

As a Twitter fan I loved her chapter on it, especially reading, “You can get clients and customers directly.” Shama reports at least two leads a week come to her company from Twitter.  My favorite tip here was to use the search function to find relevant conversations.  I actually subscribe by RSS to some of my searches, a convenience I like. Once again valuable tips abound, including a note not just on what to Tweet, but how to turn mundane Tweets into valuable ones.

I enjoyed the emphasis in the LinkedIn section on keywords and search engine optimization to get bigger benefit from your profile. I’d also never heard anyone talk about answering a LinkedIn question (from the LinkedIn Answers section) on your blog and posting the reply link there.  Details like this really make the book worth reading.

My favorite chapter, because it’s so new and interesting to me now, was Video: The Next Frontier. If you’re not sure about how to use video or what the myriad benefits are, you’ll be a believer when you see the case study presented by Dave Kaminski of Web Video University.  Dave shares the success principles of his best students:

“They stop thinking about it, they start doing it, and they never quit.”

The 12 (twelve!) social media profiles from the back of the book show again and again how the Internet has leveled the playing field for small businesses and, notably, non-profits.  What I find interesting is how those with smaller budgets are forced to be more creative, and how a clear sense of mission drives them to engage more than reticent entrepreneurs.

Have you gotten results from social media? Are you looking for a simpler approach you can follow to finally get some results?  Share your experience or a favorite tip in the comments below.

* I was gifted a copy of this book by Shama and also contributed a tip to it, found on page 8. The link above is an affiliate link to Amazon.

Related posts:

1. Got a Social Media Marketing Strategy Yet?
2. Strategic Alliances: Deepen Online Connections Offline
3. How to Avoid Overwhelm

After 7 years in Russia, I take kefir for granted. You may not know what it is, but when I say it’s an Eastern European dairy product that– I’m usually interrupted by someone:

“Oh, is that the yogurt drink that helps you live to 100?”

Yep, that’s pretty much the definition. Kefir is a cousin of yogurt and, while I couldn’t drink the real stuff in Russia (too sour and awful-tasting), I do love the fruity kind they sell at Whole Foods.

When I bought some recently at Kroger, the checkout lady asked, “Is that the stuff that you drink and live to 100?”

Literally repeated the exact same words as before.  The checkout lady!

I’m sure you’re wondering, “What the heck does this have to with branding, or marketing or anything except living to 100?”  I’ll tell you …

You want your brand to be like kefir.

Even though kefir is a commodity, we can use the way it’s described as a lesson for our own brands.

• Is your message clear? It should be understood immediately – without diagrams, stories, explanations or Power Points.  “Live to 100?  I want that!”

• Is it compelling enough to get attention? Seems like the whole “live to 100″ thing has caught on.  Where did that come from anyway?

• Is your message benefit-oriented? Kefir has such a big benefit (live to 100) that people forget the features – runny yogurt, sour flavor, probiotics….

• Is your message concise? We may bemoan the sound-bite attention span, but they sure are easy to learn and repeat. Our new barbeque grill has us chuckling “Stop, Drop and Roll” all the time now.  Concise for a reason, right?

• Is it consistent? You may find it hard to believe that the same words are used to describe kefir every time someone mentions it.  But, interestingly, when my clients field customer surveys, they find the same words being used to describe them over and over! When you find out what they are, you can use those words to describe your brand to prospects.  If you don’t like them, define your brand better and teach new ones.

Kefir’s reputation has become a kind of meme or ideavirus, passed through word-of-mouth almost word-for-word.

We business owners would love to have a message that catchy! How to do it?

1.    Name the biggest benefit you deliver. It’s doesn’t have to be immortality. My car insurance guy once walked from his office to a little fender-bender I had.  I tell that to everyone who asks me about him.  Yours may be about increasing revenues or self-esteem, helping people get the job they want or express their anger safely.

2.    Craft it into a concise sound-bite. This is always harder if you don’t know the full message, so think first about whom you help, what problems you solve and the unique results you deliver.  Then you can whittle it down to a nugget like “the pain-free massage therapist.” I always say my favorite photographer takes the most beautiful photos that still look like you.

3.    Repeat it exactly, without variation. Once you get the language you want, stay consistent.  Too often we get bored with a message we’ve heard repeatedly. But your prospects have not learned it yet – and won’t if you keep changing it!

I had a client whose brand message changed every meeting. I realized he liked tinkering with it.  This is like putting a plant in your garden, then digging it up and moving it every day.  It may be alive, but it will never take root and flourish.

What’s the “kefir”  example in your experience?

No related posts.

Thanks to an online randomizer, I was able to select 20 winners from nearly 800 who entered to win an Audio Logo (elevator speech) Makeover.  It was so hard to pull only 20, since I wanted everyone to win!

An audio logo is the most concise verbal form of your brand. If it’s not working for you, there’s discomfort at not being able to express your truth fully and frustration when you can’t get all the clients you want.  

If your name is below, congratulations! I look forward to working with you and will be in touch by email in the near future.  :)   If your name wasn’t selected, please join us next Tuesday for a free Q&A call about our Done for You Gifts, the Audio Logos and perfect Client Intake Forms.  Those on the list will get dial-in info; grab your gifts and join us here.

Winners of the Audio Logo Makeover

Christine Byrne, Asthma Care Canada
Kate Kelly, http://execassistllc.com/
Joyce Courtney, http://www.thehomecourt.net/
Marion Claire, http://marionclaire.com/
Judy Pennington, http://legacypartnerscoaching.com/
Amy Johnson, http://diligentjoy.com/
Melissa Galt, http://melissagalt.com
Anissa  Wardell, http://thepublicistsassistant.com/
Theresa, http://abetteryoucoach.com/
Judith Wentzel, EFT Coaching And Consulting
Karen Finn, http://lifetailoring.com/
Dorothea Healing Voice, http://dorothea-healingvoice.com/
Judy Cocchiarella, http://footsolutions.com/
Howard Popliger, http://www.epicdevelopment.ca
Virginia Eubanks
Win Day, http://www.inform2enable.com/
Julie Kay, http://www.jkld.co.uk
Dawn Jensen,  virtualoptions.net
Brian Huse, http://www.robotics.org
Darrell Hyatt,  http://www.enablingabilities.com

If you didn’t win, please don’t despair.  Join us for the free call next week, or schedule your own makeover today.

No related posts.

Many business owners regard competitors with resentment, fear, envy and disdain. It’s like every time we look at them, we’re reminded of how they’re taking money out of our pockets.

As you know, one of my main values here at Enlightened Marketing is abundance – the belief that there is plenty for everyone.  Especially when we each do exactly what we’re supposed to be doing: delivering value from the center of our gifts.

Another term for the center of your gifts is your “brand.” Effective brand messages tell the world who your products and services are for, and why you’re the best choice for them.
Repeat: why you’re the best CHOICE.

That means the person considering your brand is doing so relative to the other options available.  Some people call those options competitors, and I do too sometimes.

But most of the time, I like to call them Alternatives.

Regarding those other options as competitors evokes scarcity mentality in me.  It makes me feel they’re out to get me … that there can only be one winner … that there’s not enough for us all and I better get my share!

However, when I call my competitors Alternatives, I feel expanded again. I feel like people who resonate with me will call me for my services, and those who don’t won’t.  And I’m cool either way.

The interesting thing about brand choices is that it’s rarely about good and bad; instead, it’s about For Me and Not For Me.

It’s not that I don’t like brand Nike.  After all, they have about the most amazing slogan and logo of all time.  I just live on Planet Reebok.  Reebok is For Me; Nike is Not For Me.

In branding we call this Preference. We want our target market to prefer us to the alternatives.  To achieve that, they must believe we’re a better choice.

Here’s how I help my clients understand the Alternatives to their business and how to build preference with their intended audiences:

1.    Evaluate to Differentiate.

The entire point of branding is to identify how you’re unique.  That’s why you must study the alternatives’ value and yours enough to understand the differences. Phrase these differences as meaningful outcomes for your clients.

“We provide women business owners with information that empowers them to make wise investment decisions.”  Differentiated outcomes here promise copious information, solutions tailored to the needs of businesswomen and independence in decision-making.

2.    Think expansively about alternatives.

I heard organizing expert Barbara Hemphill on a call once say her “main competition is apathy and resignation.” I always ask my clients to position their brands against the alternatives of “doing nothing” and “doing it myself.”

Think about it this way: if you don’t get the business, what happens instead?  That’s your real competition.

3.    Respect the Differences.

It’s rarely effective to elevate your brand by cutting down the alternatives.  Instead, try to understand who might choose NOT to work with you and why.

“For whom would doing nothing be a perfectly good option?” I ask my clients.  Well, people who aren’t really bothered by their current situation. When they need a change, they’ll take action.

“For whom might doing it themselves be a perfectly good option?” Probably someone who doesn’t have the budget to hire help.  Also, someone who prioritizes personal accomplishment over expert advice.

Rather than denigrating the poor quality of a low-priced alternative, well-known hair care products advertised, “it’s expensive because I’m worth it.”

How can you highlight your advantages without trashing the competition?

4.    Support your claims.

When anyone can claim any differentiator, it’s always more effective to provide some evidence.  Testimonials, case studies and market research all provide evidence that what you’re saying is true.  Removing just a little risk from your prospect who’s deciding whether to choose your brand always helps to turn preference into purchase.

In this way, we can perform a “Competitive Assessment” without negativity.  We ensure the clients who’d call you For Me will beat a path to your door, and the rest can enjoy other alternatives.

It’s win-win-win all around.

photo by on1stsite

Related posts:

1. Attract Way More Clients with Way Less Effort: Free Teleseminar