We asked 12 experienced social media professionals to share their best tips on Google+ for business with you.

Here are 12 ways you can use Google+ to promote and market your business…

by Fabienne Fredrickson

In sifting through emails from a R&D survey I launched a couple of years ago, I read the responses, and honestly, I wanted to cry. Don’t get me wrong. It’s not that I haven’t been aware that most solopreneurs have very low expectations of what could be made in self-employment (I’ve been at this for almost 10 years after all!), but I just didn’t know how LOW. Until I got the responses to the following question:

“What is the most amount of money you see yourself making as a self-employed person?” Not just this year, but EVER.

Close to 200 solopreneurs (mostly female) wrote in and shared with me their “Most-I’ll-ever-make-in-a-year” numbers. What shocked me was that the number itself was really LOW and the majority of people wrote in numbers within a short range: between $50,000 and $75,000. Sure, a couple of them wrote in $150,000, but even THAT seemed like a far cry from what I *know* is possible, when you shift the way you work, get good marketing in place, create systems for everything, outsource, and set up leveraged and passive streams of in-come.

But what really got me choked up was they didn’t BELIEVE it was possible and worse, some didn’t feel they deserved it. Their MINDSET wasn’t accustomed to thinking BIG, and truthfully that made me very sad, almost depressed. So I went about adding it to my Client Attraction coaching curriculum.

I had to find a way for them to stretch their thinking of what might be possible for them.Then I thought of an assignment I’d gotten years ago from my very first coach, Talane Meidaner, author of Coach Yourself To Success. Back when $3,000 a month seemed like a BIG goal for me to reach in my private practice, she asked me to pretend I was an instant billionaire. The goal was to expand what I believed was possible for me and to do it in just 5 minutes’ time.

Essentially, this Billionaire Game was about tapping into my every wish, desire, dream, and hope I’ve ever thought about. Where I wanted to travel, what I wanted life to look like, what I wanted to have, how I wanted to set up my business. What I liked about this exercise is the 5 minute limit didn’t allow me to think too much and instead to just do it.

So, I set my timer and frantically wrote down all the things I wanted for my life, and my business. It was a LONG list, and when I was done, it felt actually freeing to see what I’d written down. What I realized is many of the things on the list weren’t that far of a stretch, and I could live many of them NOW, if I made a few changes. But it also got me to start dreaming and imagining BIGGER things for my life.

The coolest part is it helped me expand what was possible for me. Things aren’t THAT out of reach and you can live a billionaire lifestyle now, which then feeds your mindset even more that you DESERVE to make more.

When I look back at the list I wrote back then, it’s really cool to see I’m pretty much living that exact life now. (Although I still don’t have a live-in spa chef and haven’t traveled to India and Vietnam for a month each yet, but those will come.)

Your Assignment:

Give it a try. This game will help you get past your restrictions around mo-ney. Grab a paper and pen. Imagine you’ve just become the billion-do11ar lottery winner. Not just a mi11ion. You now have more mo-ney than you’ll ever be able to spend.

The condition of winning; however, is you must write down 100 different things, whatever you want to be, do, or have on a piece of paper, and you have only 5 minutes to do so. So write fast, without over-thinking. Remember to write down every wish, desire, dream, and hope you can possibly think of.

Set the kitchen timer and see if you can come up with 100 different things. Don’t worry about any practical considerations of your list. Don’t let anything limit or stop you. You can do, be, or have anything you want. This is about expanding possibilities. Most of us start out way too small.

I promise you one thing. This will not only affect your mindset about what’s possible for you, it will also affect your Client Attraction. The more you begin to LIVE like a billionaire (on whatever your budget is), the more Client Attractive you will become. Try it and let me know how it goes, OK?

Need to figure out how to attract all the clients you want so you can make WAY more than you’ve ever made before? Then get a copy of the Client Attraction Home Study System. I’ve outlined every Client Attraction technique in detail, including outsourcing, and it’s all there so you can start using it right away to get similar results. It’s all step-by-step, not a big mishmash of things. So, you do step one of the system, and when you’re done with that, you move on to step two, and so on. SO easy. That’s why my clients have gotten such great results from it. All the tools, scripts, templates, and examples are handed to you on a silver platter. You can get yours at www.TheClientAttractionSystem.com.

2010 Client Attraction LLC. All Rights Reserved.

Fabienne Fredrickson, The Client Attraction Mentor, is founder of the Client Attraction System , the proven step-by-step program that shows you exactly how to attract more clients, in record time…guaranteed. To get your F.R.E.E. Audio CD by mail and receive her weekly marketing & success mindset articles on attracting more high-paying clients and dramatically increasing your in.come, visit www.ClientAttraction.com.

by Mark Silver

If you are going to go to the trouble of building a business, you want it to last through the fluctuating winds and storms of the marketplace. After all, it takes time, effort, and focus to build a successful business. No way would you go through all of that effort if it was just going to be blown down before you reaped the rewards.

So what does long-term stability mean in business? Looking at financial profitability seems to be part of it. People are buying or they aren’t. You are earning more than expenses, or you aren’t. You are paying your bills, or you aren’t. There isn’t a lot of wishy-washy-ness about profitability.

But, at the same time, we all know that profitability can go up and down. We’ve all seen businesses be profitable one quarter and post a loss the next. It’s clear that stability can’t be based only in profit.

Unfortunately, for most people in business, profit is the only measure they have for growth and stability. This is like building a single stilt, and then standing on it. How long can you balance on a single stilt, and how comfortable is that?

In sustainable business circles, there is a concept known as the “triple bottom line.” The triple bottom line consists of three areas: economic profitability- the traditional bottom line; community relationships- how your business relates, serves, and is nourished by the surrounding communities; environmental sustainability- how your business is nourished by, and nourishes, natural resources. These three together create a solid, sustainable, profitable business.

Does this really work? Or is this just a do-gooder strategy to try to get people to be “green” and “nice” in their businesses?

Let me give you an example. My wife and I saw a film recently “Broken Limbs: Apples, Agriculture, and the New American Farmer.” I think most of us know how hard the small family farm has been hit by large agribusiness corporations. Well, the new trend is for these farmers to take on sustainable practices and sell directly to customers and small retailers, giving quality and relationships instead of just the lowest possible price.

In this movie, one farmer, Gibbs farm in Washington State, had nurtured the physical environment in terms of sustainable farming practices, so that he wasn’t reliant on buying expensive machinery and chemicals. Stability! Profit! But, what’s more, he had also spent a lot of time nourishing the relationships in his business community.

In one scene commercial apple prices had been driven down to $21 a box. Gibbs told one retailer, with whom he had a trusted relationship- she knew he always delivered on quality, was good to his word, and, what’s more, they liked and respected each other as people- that he couldn’t honor that kind of price fluctuation. His price was $26 a box, or else “I might as well just feed them to my hogs.”

The retailer? I don’t remember her response word for word, but it was to the effect of: “Look, I trust him. He knows what it takes to operate his business, he knows his costs, and if he tells me he needs to sell them at $26 a box, I’m not going to argue with that. He gives us great quality, delicious apples that our customers have come to enjoy and expect- they aren’t going to quibble over the difference in price. They know they get what they pay for.”

Sounds to me like the triple bottom line creates a lot of stability, even when the larger market is in flux. A small farm successfully went head-to-head with a multinational corporation. Pretty impressive. And financial capital alone didn’t do it. Do you have relationships with your customers and suppliers that are built on enough trust that you can lean into them when you need to? Can they lean into you when they need to?

The bottom line- don’t make it a single. Make it a triple.

Copyright 2011, by Mark Silver, all rights reserved. Mark’s work focuses on helping people in small business make both a healthy profit and a real difference. Mark’s website, Heart of Business has many more articles as well as a great workbook.

by Maria Sariego

No one is more surprised than I am that I became an entrepreneur. In fact, I’ve been known to declare that I would never go into my own business. I had good reasons. I was married to an entrepreneur for 10 years and worked in small companies before finding my way into a large corporation. I was all-too familiar with the challenges. But, like a lot of other people these days it seems, I got the bug.

It happened four years ago, right after going through my second spinoff. Why not spin myself off, I thought? I was making a lot of money at the time, and as a single parent, I couldn’t ignore my financial responsibilities. But I also wanted to have more control over my destiny after years of being tossed around in various restructurings. I wanted to set my own hours. I wanted freedom. I wanted to do work that meant something, that changed lives. Okay … I wanted a window.

Apparently, I’m not the only one who values a high-quality life more than a steady paycheck. There are at least 16 million of us, by some estimates, and the number’s growing every day. There’s even a name for this ‘new’ breed of business owner: Lifestyle entrepreneur, or lifestylepreneur for short.

A lifestylepreneur is someone who goes into business with lifestyle, rather than money, as their primary aim. Money is part of the equation, of course; these are not financially independent people pursuing hobbies. But first and foremost are things such as flexibility to care for children or older family members, a desire to live in a particular place, or the longing to turn a passion into a livelihood.

The fact that these aren’t the kinds of high-growth ventures likely to attract investor money means they haven’t been the focus of a lot of studies. But there is growing evidence to suggest that this is, as author Mark Henricks states, ‘the new business style for the new millennium:’

Toronto-based research and consulting firm Warrillow & Co.found that only 10 percent of small-business owners are primarily motivated by achievement and sales growth. Independence and the desire to work in a particular trade motivate the other 90 percent.

A 1999 Lou Harris poll cited by Daniel Pink, author of Free Agent Nation: The Future of Working for Yourself, indicated that independence, setting their own priorities, and balancing work and family were all valued by entrepreneurs above making more money as reasons for going into business.

Many joining the lifestylepreneur ranks are women and Baby Boomers:

The Center for Women’s Business Research, a nonprofit research group in Washington, D.C., says the percentage of U.S. companies in which women own a 50 percent or greater stake rose from 44 percent in 1997 to 48 percent in 2004. Women start 424 enterprises every day, more than twice as many as men do. And the top reasons they cite for doing so is the desire to have more control over their own schedule and hours (46 percent), followed by frustration with the ‘glass ceiling’ at a big company (23 percent).

A study published this spring by the American Association for Retired People (AARP) found that among workers 50 and older, 5.6 million workers, or 16.4 percent, are self-employed, versus just 10.2 percent of the overall workforce. And, about one in three of those 50+ workers made the transition to self-employment after age 50.

Why now?

Why not now? A long list of factors is fueling the trend:

Downsizing and restructuring, combined with a weak economy in which laid-off workers can’t find new jobs and the costs of hiring labor and leasing space are lower, motivates more people to take a chance on launching a business venture.

Recent corporate ethics scandals have eroded employee loyalty and trust in their company, industry, or big business in general.

People are living longer, and those who might traditionally be thinking about retirement want to stay active, or need to work if their retirement savings took a hit in recent years, but don’t want a full-time or high-stress career.

Baby Boomers are in middle age, a time when the call of forgotten dreams and the desire to leave a legacy become stronger. Many have also become disillusioned with the pursuit of material wealth.

Advances in technology have lowered the cost of starting up a business, especially a home-based venture, and increased efficiency and productivity.

Does all this mean that becoming a lifestylepreneur is the quick path to an easy life? Not really. Some lifestylepreneurs do make more money than they ever did when they had a boss, and some do have more free time, but many lifestylepreneurs report working long hours or making less money than in their former careers (or both). So, there are still plenty of challenges to make the adventure exciting and precarious.

They also report feeling more satisfied, however, because they can call their own shots, build something of their own, work in their pajamas, attend their kids’ softball games, or shop in the middle of the week while the masses battle over the good bananas on the weekends. In other words, they get to live and work their way. And, many will tell you, becoming your own boss is a growth opportunity like no other.

I can vouch for all of that. Long hours, less money (at least for a while), excitement, frustration, pride, pajamas, and plenty of learning. Even though I spent six years earning my MBA at night while working in corporate, these days I feel that the second ‘MBA’ I’ve earned by being in my own business these four years has been far more worthwhile— not any cheaper and perhaps even more expensive—but oh, so valuable. I wouldn’t trade it for my old paycheck. Well, at least not today. Ask me tomorrow. I’m on my way out for a walk. It’s a beautiful day. I can tell. I have a window now.

Copyright 2004 by Maria Sariego.
Maria Sariego is a self-employment coach and founder of Lifestylepreneur, a company devoted to helping people create thriving businesses that support their life’s priorities. Her clients include solopreneurs, creatives, and home-based businesses. She is also in the process of launching her second venture, Believe Street, an online retailer of unique cards, journals, jewelry and gifts for inspired living.

by Robert Middleton

When I’m leading workshops and giving talks, and I get to the Second Law of Marketing – The Law of Uniqueness, I get the most puzzled looks and the most head-scratching.

It’s pretty easy to get the First Law of Attention – what you need to do to attract the attention and interest of prospective clients. Everyone can see the common sense in appealing to the “What’s in it for me?” inside every person.

But when it comes to “What makes you unique and how do you express it in a way that’s meaningful to your prospects?” it’s harder to see how to communicate this with impact.

I think this is especially hard when it comes to Independent Professionals. After all, a consultant, coach, executive recruiter, copywriter or trainer all do pretty much the same things as their counterparts. Don’t they?

Well, yes, but there are a few important ways that you can differentiate yourself. These ways will make you stand out and be memorable, but – warning – none of them are very sexy.

You see, marketing is all about sexiness. It’s about flash, punchy tag lines, and images that WOW you.

Yeah, but not if you’re a management consultant who helps develop leaders (much like all the other management consultants who help develop leaders). Being unique as an Independent Professional is more substantive and subtle.

Here are a few ways that work:

1. Define a Target Niche.  You’ve heard this before, but have you taken the plunge? It can be scary narrowing your focus to one narrow band of clients. The fear is that you’ll lose all the business you’re no longer focusing on.

But when you focus on everyone, you focus on no one. Think of it completely from the client’s point of view. They want to work with someone who knows their industry, their issues, their aspirations. And when you focus on a very targeted group, they remember you, they trust you and they refer you.

Look around and ask yourself some very important questions. Who do you really like working with? Where do you do your best work? Where do you make the most money? It’s often staring you in the face but you’ve never come out and said that you specialized in working with “XYZ clients.” Perhaps it’s time.

2. Define a Specialty.  This one is all about focus as well, but it can cross industries. A good example is my friend Jeff Rubin. Jeff specializes in producing printed newsletters for a wide variety of clients, from a training company to a Harley Davidson dealership.

You’d think that, in these days of eZine proliferation, newsletters are dying out. But Jeff’s business increases every year. The reason is simple – he’s extraordinarily good at what he does. And he does everything in newsletter production including writing, photography, layout, printing and mailing.

If you’re going to define a specialty, go deep; become the top expert in your field. Make it a goal to know more about the ins and outs of your profession than anyone in your field. And then provide extraordinary service so that you keep your clients for years and years as Jeff does.

3. Create a Model.  This one is a little trickier, but it can be ideal for Independent Professionals. It means not only standing out as an expert but as a “thought leader.” A good example is my recent client Ralph Jacobson. Ralph has developed what he calls “The Leader’s Toolbox.”

The Leader’s Toolbox stands out because it’s not just a new model for developing leaders; it’s a service made into a tangible training and leadership development process.

If you’re going to create a new business model, you first need to look at what is missing or not working in the marketplace. What’s outmoded or ineffective? Is there a way a business process has always been done? How could it be done better?

You’ll succeed at standing out in the marketplace if you focus on one (or more) of these areas of uniqueness. Don’t worry about being sexy or leading-edge. Just focus where it matters the most – on the needs of your clients.

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Marketing Flashes on “Standing Out”
Once you’ve determined your business focus that will help you stand out in a crowded marketplace, you need to market that message consistently and with impact.
* Master the explanation of your uniqueness in a concise sentence or two (not a paragraph or two) that answers the question: “What makes your business different?”
* Re-write the home page of your web site. Your target niche, specialty or business model should be crystal clear from the very first paragraph, and then that message should continue throughout the site.
* Write an article that highlights your uniqueness. If you’ve developed a new business model, create a “white paper” that explores your model in great detail.
* Create and deliver a talk that focuses on your uniqueness. If you’re going after the automotive industry, give talks to that industry and demonstrate your industry expertise.
* Publish an eZine or newsletter (like Jeff does) that focuses on your uniqueness. For instance, all the articles in Jeff’s newsletter explore ideas for better written communication.

This article, copyright Robert Middleton, Action Plan Marketing. All rights reserved. Robert’s web site is a comprehensive resource on marketing for Independent Professionals. For free marketing resources and valuable marketing tools visit www.actionplan.com

by Robert Middleton

You may have heard Voltaire’s quote, “The perfect is the enemy of the good.”

Striving to make our marketing perfect, we never actually implement a good marketing strategy. Perfectionism in crafting an Audio Logo or an eZine results in delays of weeks, months, even years. I see it all the time.

But it’s important to realize that there are two kinds of perfect. The first kind mentioned above results in failure. The other one results in great success. So you need to distinguish one from the other.

The perfect that results in success is embodied in the Japanese practice of Kaizen, or “continuous improvement.” Here, good is a stepping-stone on the way to perfect. You do the best you can and   put it out there. And then you tweak it and put it out there again.

Until finally it’s perfect — or close to it.

I have another favorite saying : “Anything worth doing is worth doing badly.” (It’s attributed widely to Herbert A. Simon.) This means that since you’re probably going to make a mess of it the first time around, it’s probably best to try something – anything – and learn from your mistakes.

It’s important to remember that those who are doing extremely well in their business and their marketing didn’t get there overnight. They built it one brick at a time. And some of those first bricks were not so perfect.

For instance, my first web site (from 1997) was pretty bad. Just this side of “butt ugly.” My second attempt was better. My third version was getting there and my fourth and final design actually works quite well and brings me all the business I can handle.

There’s also another enemy of good, and that’s “good enough.” We see this everywhere. The striving for perfection ended a long time  ago. Just look around…

I see it in my corner grocery, which sells peaches that look great but taste like sawdust. And you see it in marketing that is boring and mediocre. Marketing that lacks energy and conviction will not attract many clients.

Start to look at everything in your marketing from the eyes of a client. How would they react to your marketing?

Scrutinize your logo, business cards, web site, letters, eZine and presentations. And then tap into the vast collection of articles, books, ebooks, audio programs and professional services available to you. Finally, take the next logical step to make everything in your marketing a little bit better.

Two financial planners I met with yesterday were a good example.

They had created a complete marketing plan, marketing materials, letters and a web site, using only the guidance and action plans from the InfoGuru Marketing Manual. I was impressed by how much they had done on their own. It was a great start.

I know that if they keep chasing perfection, they’ll go far. But if they settle for what they’ve got, they don’t have a chance.

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Marketing Flashes on “Chasing Perfection”
* Let’s not focus on perfectionism, chasing after what we can never be, do or have, but on the wonderful game of chasing perfection by improving one little thing at a time.
* After thinking, planning, writing, designing and tweaking, you have something to show to the world. Put it out there boldly. About the worst that can happen is that people will ignore you.  You can live through that. They’re already ignoring you.
* Implement your marketing and closely monitor the results. If  you get some response, learn more to make it better next time.  If it’s wildly successful, make sure you understand what worked  and keep doing that same thing even a little better.
* Test a wide variety of things in various formats. For instance, I tested TeleClasses in 12- and 6-session formats. I did single  TeleClasses and free ones. I discovered success by offering very  inexpensive ones with large amounts of extra content.
* Fail your way to success. The more things you try, the faster you’ll learn what doesn’t work. By testing many marketing strategies, you’ll finally emerge with a handful that produce great results every time.

This article, copyright Robert Middleton, Action Plan Marketing. All rights reserved. Robert’s web site is a comprehensive resource on marketing for Independent Professionals. For free marketing resources and valuable marketing tools visit www.actionplan.com

By C.J. Hayden

The process of converting a prospect to a client can seem like it takes forever. You meet a prospective client, follow up with him or her over time, and hopefully have a chance to make a sales presentation or schedule an initial consultation at no charge. Then you follow up some more, trying to close the sale. Months can pass, or even years, between your first encounter and getting the prospect to sign on the bottom line.

How do you keep following up for all that time without being a pest? Is asking prospects over and over, “Are you ready to buy yet?” the best way to go about it? How can you build the trust of your prospects enough that they become willing to take the risk of hiring you?

The answer to these bothersome questions just might be found in this simple idea. Treat those prospects as if they were already your clients — they just haven’t paid you yet.

Imagine what it would be like to treat every prospective client you encounter as if you were already working together. Every time you contact your prospects, you offer an article they might be interested in, an introduction to someone who might help them with a goal, or an invitation to an upcoming event in their field.

When you meet with them, you listen to their problems and recommend solutions. When you contact them after a meeting, you suggest resources for helping them address the issues you discussed. The solutions and resources you recommend may include your products and services, of course, but you don’t stop there. You also offer answers that don’t involve hiring you.

The impact of this kind of generosity on your prospective clients can be dramatic. Instead of considering your calls or e-mails an interruption, they will welcome hearing from you. They will no longer count you as a salesperson or vendor, but rather as a valuable resource and important person to know.

I’m not talking about giving away the store. I don’t recommend providing the client with free training, spending hours addressing their issues at no charge, or otherwise practicing your profession without pay. It is completely appropriate to ask for and expect payment for doing your professional work.

But what I am suggesting is a shift in your attitude, to being of service instead of selling a service. Give your prospects a taste of just how valuable you could be to them if they were to hire you. Be generous with the information and contacts you already have at your disposal. It only takes a few minutes to pass along a phone number, clipping, or helpful web site, but the impact can be unforgettable.

The effect of this shift on you can be just as significant as the effect on prospective clients. You will eliminate those dreaded sales calls from your agenda and focus instead on what you do best   helping people. You will no longer fear or resist making contact with prospects, but will begin looking forward to it. Instead of selling, you will be serving.

The fastest way to turn a prospect into a client may be simply to change how you think about them.

Copyright © 2004, C.J. Hayden
C.J. Hayden is the author of Get Clients NOW! Thousands of business owners and salespeople have used her simple sales and marketing system to double or triple their income. Get a free copy of “Five Secrets to Finding All the Clients You’ll Ever Need” at www.getclientsnow.com.

By Chris King

For many years I have been told that to be successful I should focus. “Focus on one major goal.” “Focus on one niche market.” “Focus on one career.” “Give each of these all of your attention, energy and investment of time and effort, and you will become a rich success.” Well, I say, “No.” If you have read any of my biography, you know that I maintain what I call, “A Portfolio Career.” This is a combination of careers that also span a variety of niche markets and focuses. I use different skills and talents for each. There are times when I focus only on one. But, more often, I work on several of my areas of expertise within the same time period. Yes, life can get hectic and sometimes overwhelming. However, I can promise you that I wake up every morning excited about the day – and I can’t imagine what being bored even feels like. If you are like me and love the flexibility and variety afforded by multi-tasking (or think you would), then read on about the pros, the cons, and some of the ins and outs of having a “Portfolio Career.”

I have a feeling that the majority of free agents, independent professionals and freelancers are already handling a “Portfolio Career,” but may be feeling a bit guilty because they can’t describe their services in ten words or less. Well, I have news. It is believed by career forecasters that before long people who work one full-time job will be in the minority. As management guru Peter Drucker puts it, “Corporations once built to last like pyramids are now more like tents …. You can’t design your life around a temporary structure.”

To become a portfolio person, we must stop thinking in terms of having or not having a job. We need to take control of our life, make flexibility our credo and develop a portfolio of skills and activities, some for sale and some to be given as gifts. A portfolio is a collection of different items, but with a theme. Rather than working for one company, you take on various projects and cultivate several clients. A successful “Portfolio Career” fits together bits of work in our life to form a balanced whole.

If you are having trouble convincing yourself that this might be the way to go for you, here are the PROs as I see them: Flexibility, Creativity, Change, Autonomy (being in control), Excitement, Achievement, Development of Expertise and Many Skills, Personal Freedom & Personal Growth, Pleasure Doing What One Likes, Risk Taking, Variety, Fast Pace, Leisure Time, Money, Emotional Health, Meaning, Continual Learning. Do these appeal to you?

On the other hand, if the following CONs are distasteful to you, reconsider, start focusing and move on: Risk, Change, Lack of Stability, Overwhelming When Deadlines Overlap, Fast Pace, Lack of Leisure Time, Lack of Money (or financial stability), Pressure, Other People’s Opinions, Lack of Company Benefits and Lack of a Regular Routine.

There are different types of “Portfolio Careers:” Working as an independent contractor for a specified length of time. And, then on to another career! Working full time in one career, and adding on another or more part time careers. Having a variety of part time careers.

I love the variety of having many part time careers. To give you an example. Presently, I teach eleven fitness classes every week; design. develop and maintain websites; do training and coaching of presentation, computer and storytelling skills; write for four websites and three e-newsletters; produce a monthly, printed newsletter; do professional storytelling; and am actively involved as a volunteer in several organizations. As I mentioned before, life can become a bit hectic and overwhelming at times, but I love the challenge. There are weeks when I do concentrate on and devote more time to a particular project (which is actually “focusing”), but I always have at least two or three different activities I am juggling at a time.

When should you consider a “Portfolio Career?” I suggest starting a “Portfolio Career” the minute you have any dissatisfaction with your present work life (or lack of work life), the minute someone offers you some opportunity (either for pay or for volunteer) that sounds interesting or fascinating, or when there are several career areas you would like to investigate. The key to making the portfolio life work is planning, knowing what you are good at and being able to take risks. Fill in any missing parts by volunteering, trying out new areas, taking classes, listening to tapes, researching and being honest with yourself.

Start making lists to help put together a portfolio career that would work for you! There is something about writing lists that always works for me. Try it and see if it works for you.

Work I enjoy: What would I change: My skills and talents: My major accomplishments: What motivates me: My early ambitions: My preferred work style:

Self-description in power words: When Should I Add to My “Portfolio Career?” I add to mine when something I’ve always wanted to try is made available, and I feel that I can handle it without jeopardizing what I am already doing and “love.” When Should I Drop a Profession? I drop a profession when it has lost its excitement and joy. It is almost harder to drop something than to add a new opportunity. It has become a “habit” and “breaking habits is often harder than breaking bones.” One of the other great advantages of the portfolio life is that with having plenty of professions, when one isn’t working out, you can drop it without starving.

As you have probably realized by now, this isn’t for everyone, but it might be fun for you to try. And, at least, the next time someone frowns and says, “You would be better off if you focused more,” you can think of me, smile, thank them for the advice, then do what suits you and makes you happy.

Copyright Chris King, Creative Keys. Visit Chris at Freelance Living, for lots of articles on living the freelance lifestyle.

By C.J. Hayden

Let’s call the client Sandy. She was first referred to me by an instructor in the professional training program she was taking. (Hint #1: Develop referral partnerships with people who serve your clients.)

Sandy called me in March to inquire about becoming a coaching client. (Hint #2: Referred clients are more ready to buy.)

I asked Sandy about her situation and what she needed, then told her how coaching would help. (Hint #3: Listen more than you talk.)

We discussed the cost. (Hint #4: Communicate benefits before quoting prices.)

Sandy thought she would be ready to get started in June, so I asked to follow up with her then. (Hint #5: Get permission to follow up.)

I sent Sandy a copy of my print newsletter with a note summarizing our conversation. (Hint #6: Maximize every contact by following up.)

I called her at the beginning of June to see if she was ready to become a client. (Hint #7: Follow up when you say you will.)

Sandy returned my call with a voice mail message. It was the wrong time to get started with coaching; maybe six months from now would be better. But could she order a copy of my book? (Hint #8: Capture your wisdom in a way clients can sample it before hiring you.)

I mailed Sandy the book with a personal note and sent her an email, suggesting we talk again in six months. (Hint #6 again.)

If I thought I could reach Sandy by phone, I would have called, but she was a busy professional who sent every call to voice mail. (Hint #9: Use any available medium to follow up.)

Three months later, I sent Sandy an email, asking if I could subscribe her to my email newsletter. She responded by email saying yes. Three months after that, I called her again. (Hint #10: Find a way to follow up at least once per quarter.)

Sandy replied by voice mail that things had changed for her, and she was no longer interested in coaching. She thanked me for keeping in touch. (Hint #11: Consistent follow up makes you appear professional.)

I left a voice mail reply thanking her for her interest and asked her to keep my services in mind for her professional colleagues. (Hint #12: Ask for referrals when prospects don’t buy.)

I continued to send Sandy my email newsletter each month. Three months later, Sandy referred me a colleague, who became my client. I sent Sandy a thank you note for the referral. (Hint #13: Always thank your referral sources.)

Later that same year, she referred me another colleague who also became my client, and I thanked her again.

Several months went by, and a third person in the same field contacted me, and became my client. My new client named someone I knew, but wasn’t in touch with, as the person who referred her. I contacted the referrer to thank her, and discovered it was Sandy who had told her where to find me. (Hint #14: Find out who your referral sources really are.)

I thanked Sandy again. It was now two years from our initial contact. At this point, Sandy decided to become my client. The dollar value of my relationship with Sandy — her coaching fees plus those of the people she referred — to date has totaled approximately $35,000.

In addition to the hints I’ve dropped while telling this story, there may be more to learn by asking yourself a few questions. Where in this process might you have given up? Would you have written Sandy off after she told you she wasn’t interested? Might you have considered yourself a failure at selling because Sandy kept saying no for two years?

Notice that in all this time, Sandy and I had talked live only once. Do you stop trying when you can’t reach people by phone? Before she became my client, I sent Sandy a print newsletter, four handwritten notes, three personal emails, and eighteen email newsletters. I never did send her a brochure. Might you have sent Sandy a marketing packet after the first contact, and stopped there?

The next time you get discouraged because a client says he’s “not ready” to get started, or you feel like follow-up is a waste of time, remember Sandy. I contacted her 25 times over a period of two years. Each of the seven personal contacts took less than five minutes, and the 18 email newsletters were sent by an autoresponder. Thirty-five minutes of follow-up resulted in $35,000 in sales. What do you think, was it worth it?

Copyright © 2010, C.J. Hayden

C.J. Hayden is the author of Get Clients NOW! Thousands of business owners and salespeople have used her simple sales and marketing system to double or triple their income. Get a free copy of “Five Secrets to Finding All the Clients You’ll Ever Need” at www.getclientsnow.com.

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