Recently I had the privilege to be a panelist at a Dragons’ Nest event hosted by Connecting Women. Four passionate entrepreneurs presented their businesses and we gave them tips and ideas about how they can grow their businesses.

These two videos feature ideas I shared with two of the entrepreneurs. See which suggestions you can use in your business!

What are the buying barriers in your business?  What is keeping prospective clients from saying yes?  Take some time and really think about this.

If you don’t know, tell people about your business and ask them the main reason they would hesitate buying.

You can also ask clients who have already hired you what doubts or questions they had before they hired you.

Some common buying barriers are:     

- Fear (fear of taking action, of making the wrong decision)

- Investment (price)

- Uncertainty (about what they’ll get)

Removing buying barriers is not, I stress not, about discounting your fees.  Because the value is either there or it isn’t.  It’s about making it easier for prospective clients to say yes.

So how do you address buying barriers?  Here are some solutions:

FEAR BARRIER: Create a way for prospective clients to sample your business to be sure it’s the right solution for them (more on this here).  You can also offer a guarantee.

INVESTMENT BARRIER: Offer a payment plan and/or reduce the time commitment.  Cleary communicate the value they will receive.

UNCERTAINTY BARRIER: Identify and communicate all of the details about what clients will get, how it will work, and the results they will experience. You can put this on your website and create a FAQ section.

One barrier I recently removed from my business is the request to work together for at least six months (now clients can hire me for one month at a time).  Yes, I know that if you want to attract more clients and transform your business it is reasonable that it can take six months.

And often times, clients want to work together for even longer than that.  But some prospective clients only need help with one specific area and don’t require lengthy support.  So by offering coaching for one month a time, they have an offer that fits their needs and allows them to get exactly what they want.

If it is important to the success of your offering to have a required time frame, by all means keep it and explain why it is relevant.  You don’t want to reduce the effectiveness of your offerings in order to make a sale.

An option to remove a buying barrier in this case is to offer a payment plan where you spread the investment out over a few weeks or months.

You can also choose to offer both fixed packages and cafeteria style offerings (selling individual parts of a bigger offering).

This is what’s so thrilling about owning your own business.  It’s your business, which gives you the power to decide how to create, package, and offer your offerings.

To remove the buying barriers in your business: start by identifying what they are, take action to eliminate them, and then communicate your newly structured offer with prospective clients.

© Stephanie Ward, 2009

WANT TO USE THIS ARTICLE IN YOUR NEWSLETTER OR WEB SITE? You can, as long as you include this information with it: Stephanie Ward is the Marketing Coach for Entrepreneurs who want to set their profits on fire!  Grab your FREE copy of the special report ’7 Steps to Attract More Clients in Less Time’ plus business building tips, at: http://www.fireflycoaching.com.

As a business owner you’ve probably been asked to give a discount.  How did that make you feel?  Your response to that request is critical to the sustainability of your business as well as to your confidence.

Because after all you’re either worth the price you’re asking or you’re not.  No discussion.  This may sound harsh but if you don’t believe you are worth it, why do you expect your clients to believe it.

Reasons to stop discounting your pricing:

1. It’s no fun

2. It requires a time and energy you can use elsewhere

3. It creates a standard for other clients

4. You’re not getting paid what you’re worth

5. It can lower confidence in your business

Once you’ve made the decision not discount your prices, it will be much easier for you to simply say this in a friendly and relaxed way if you’re asked.  You’re mind is already made up so the answer flows naturally.

If a prospective client is not able, or willing, to pay your prices then they probably aren’t a good fit for your business.  Moving on from people who are not a match allows you to create space for clients who are willing and able to purchase from your business.

There will always be someone offering something similar to what your business offers for the absolute lowest price.  I hope you don’t aim to be that business.

The key is to focus on the value your services and products deliver, not what they cost.  People who truly understand the benefits they will receive when they buy from your business will accept the prices you have set because they understand the value they are going to get.

If negotiating is the norm in your business, there is still a way to be true to the value your business delivers without discounting.  First, get clear about the total value of the offering.  Then if you choose to, you can reduce the amount you deliver, along with the price, which means you are not discounting.

Another way to avoid discounting when negotiating is to stick to your original price and add a one-time, additional bonus for new clients.

While you’re thinking about eliminating discounting, please consider increasing your prices.  Seriously, when is the last time you raised your prices?  And when you did, what was the percentage of increase?  If it’s been awhile since you raised your prices, it’s probably time.

It’s natural that your expertise expands and deepens over time so why shouldn’t your pricing reflect that.  Whether or not you decide to increase your pricing, at least be willing to stand firm on your current pricing and don’t discount.

Think about it, you’ll save time and energy if you stick to your pricing.  And even better, you will feel confident about the value you deliver to your clients (oh yah, and be more profitable).    

So make the decision today that discounting your prices is not part of your business philosophy. Focus on the value your business creates for your clients and watch your business grow.

© Stephanie Ward, 2009

WANT TO USE THIS ARTICLE IN YOUR NEWSLETTER OR WEB SITE? You can, as long as you include this information with it: Stephanie Ward is the Marketing Coach for Entrepreneurs who want to set their profits on fire!  Grab your FREE copy of the special report ’7 Steps to Attract More Clients in Less Time’ plus business building tips, at: http://www.fireflycoaching.com.

As a business owner you know a lot of people, and you continue to meet new people.  This is your network.  But what are you doing with it?  How often do you connect with people in your network?  Do you have a plan to stay in touch consistently and develop your relationships?

If you’ve been neglecting your network it’s time to make some changes.  It’s never too late to begin where you are and start connecting with the people you know.

Networking is about giving first.  It’s about building relationships over time with people.  If you don’t invest in nurturing and growing your relationships with people in your network, then your network will become nothing more than a list of names in a database. 

When you stay in touch and develop relationships with people, your business will be top of mind when people need your products or services.  This also increases the number of referrals people will give to your business. 

To nurture a relationship, you must give it attention and energy. There are loads of ways to connect with people (many of which are very inexpensive).  You can:

* Pick up the phone

* Send an e-mail

* Send a note the old fashioned way (otherwise known as snail-mail using the post)

* Meet in person for coffee, lunch or a drink

Finding a reason to connect isn’t hard to do.  You don’t have to wait for something big to happen; little things can mean a lot too.  Here are just a few ideas:

- No specific reason, just to see what’s new and catch up

- Birthdays or anniversaries

- Sharing an article, book, website, or other resource

How often you touch base depends on the kind of relationship you have with each person.  For some people connecting twice a year is perfect and for others every three months is appropriate.  You might have monthly contact with people you know quite well and for very close relationships perhaps even more frequently.

Think about different types of people you know and how often you’d like to be in touch with:

> New acquaintances

> Current clients

> Inactive clients

> Former colleagues

> Suppliers for your business

The key to successfully nurturing your network is to create a structured plan.  Random acts of kindness and connection never hurt, but to really build a relationship it’s better to have consistent contact. 

To make it easy to stay in touch, you need to use a system to keep track of who you want to contact and when.  If you rely on your memory you won’t get very far.

You can create a system by setting reminders in your own contact database.  Or if you use Outlook, you can use the ‘Tasks’ feature where you can make notes with reminder dates.

The type of system you use isn’t important.  What is important is having a system and taking action.  Find something that works for you and get started today. 

By using a system, nurturing your network will become a regular habit and it won’t seem like such a big task. 

Spending the time and energy getting to know your network is an investment with an enormous return.  Not only is it fun, it will help you expand your business.    

Are you starting to see the value of reaching out to the people you know and building a relationship over time?  Make the decision to create a plan to nurture your network and build connections that will thrive over time.

© Stephanie Ward, 2008

WANT TO USE THIS ARTICLE IN YOUR NEWSLETTER OR WEB SITE? You can, as long as you include this information with it: Stephanie Ward is the Marketing Coach for Entrepreneurs who want to set their profits on fire!  Grab your FREE copy of the special report ’7 Steps to Attract More Clients in Less Time’ plus business building tips, at: http://www.fireflycoaching.com.

How often do you actually get to speak to prospective clients?  Do you believe that it would help your business if people could hear your voice? Imagine if you could ‘talk’ to loads of prospects without having to do it one-on-one.

The great news is that you can!  It is possible to convey information, once, and have it be heard an unlimited number of times.  How do you do it?  By creating an audio recording.

The human voice can create much more of a connection than the written word.  The spoken word is more personal than text on a page.  When people hear you speak, your passion and personality come across. 

Quality content for your audio recordings is critical.  They must contain relevant and helpful information that your prospective clients want, and need.  The content is absolutely not a sales pitch or the history of your business.  Think about topics like:

* Mistakes to avoid when…(fill in what your business offers)

* The best way to…(fill in what your business offers)

* How to…(fill in what your business offers)

* Steps to…(fill in what your business offers)

Think about how effective it would be to offer prospective clients valuable information in a format that they can listen to at their own convenience.  People can listen to audio recordings:

> On their computers

> In their cars

> On portable mp3 players (like an iPod)

Thanks to technology it’s easier, and cheaper, than ever to create your own audio recordings and share them with people.  All you need is a telephone and a computer.  There are several options available and one I have successfully used is Free Conference Calling and guess what, there’s no charge. 

Simply sign up, get the phone number for your bridge (this is just a name for a phone line) and you’re ready to go.  You can record the call and then download the file from their website. 

Once you have your .mp3 file (.mp3 is an audio file) you can copy it to a blank CD and give it away.  You can also make it available on your website. 

The phone number for this service is in the U.S. but that’s not a problem for people living outside the U.S. because there are many inexpensive options to call America, just do a search on the internet.

Format ideas for your audio:

- Have someone interviewing you on a specific topic

- Create a series of short audios of just you talking

- Put an inviting message on your website homepage

- Record a teleclass

- Record an audio ezine

- The length can be a few minutes up to an hour 

You can give a brief amount of audio information as a gift.  And you can sell larger audio recordings by themselves or in combination with an electronic document or printed workbook.

Are you starting to see the benefits of creating your very own audio recordings?  This is a super effective, low cost way to connect with prospective clients over and over again with a one-time investment of your time and energy. 

© Stephanie Ward, 2007

WANT TO USE THIS ARTICLE IN YOUR NEWSLETTER OR WEB SITE? You can, as long as you include this information with it: Stephanie Ward is the Marketing Coach for Entrepreneurs who want to set their profits on fire!  Grab your FREE copy of the special report ’7 Steps to Attract More Clients in Less Time’ plus business building tips, at: http://www.fireflycoaching.com.

All the experts kept saying it was a great way to give value, gain free publicity, and position yourself as an expert.  It was something I had planned to do for years and I finally did it for the first time in May, 2005 and I’ve been doing it ever since.  What is it?  Writing articles.  Don’t be like me and wait, get started today!

OK, I can hear the moans of protest from here, so let me explain what writing articles can mean for your business and perhaps you will be willing to give it a shot?  For those of you who love to write this is your big chance to get started or to write even more.

You don’t need to have a weekly or monthly newsletter in order to consistently write articles although this is a good way to make sure that you produce at least one article per month (it sure keeps me on schedule).

Pick a topic you are passionate about, one that allows you to provide insightful information that will help your clients, and start writing.  An average length for an article is 500-800 words.

Once you have completed your article ask a friend or colleague to review it for you and give you feedback.  If you’re going to take the time to writing something, make sure it’s the best it can be!

There isn’t room in this article to go into all of the details of how to write, there are plenty of resources out there if you need help in this area.

The point is that you, as the owner of your business, know a lot about the problems your clients face and how you can help solve them.  You have valuable information that people want and need, so why not give it to them? 

Writing is like any other skill, it takes practice and over time you will improve and find your own unique voice.

So what’s the big deal, what can you do with an article?  I’ll mention a few here, be creative and don’t limit yourself:

1. When you meet people who fit your ideal client profile offer to send them an article.  No sale, no pitch, just sharing something that will support them.

2. Offer your articles to strategic alliance partners for them to give to their clients.

3. Place your articles on your own website so visitors can see the value you offer. 

4. Once you have several articles you can package them together and voila, an instant e-book you can give away or sell.

5. Finally, a highly leveraged action to take is to place your articles on the internet where publishers go to find content for their publications.  This is really simple and it will cost you nothing.

There are different places to submit your articles on the internet depending on your focus and content.  Here are just some of the websites where I place my articles: Ezine Articles, Go Articles, Article City, Amazines, Idea Marketers,  and Business Know How.

To find more places where can publish your articles, search the keywords ‘article submission sites’ and any other keywords related to your business.   

Be sure to include a brief ‘author bio’ with each article you write and publish (see mine at the end of this article).  This way, when people read your article they know how to connect with you in case they want to know more.

Include a “call to action” in your author bio that invites the reader to take an action like: sign up for your newsletter, get a free report, or receive a sample of your product or service.   

Because you can allow your article to be re-published without permission you may not actually know how much exposure you have received.  To find out where you have been published simply type the name of your article into Google.

In some cases you will be contacted for permission even though it isn’t necessary.  You may also hear from people who want to thank you for allowing your article to be reprinted.

What will sharing your articles do for you?

- Giving people valuable information they can use makes you a resource and increases the possibility that people will think of you, and your business, when they have a need.  This is a way to let people get to know you and start building a relationship with you.

- You will increase your exposure by publishing your articles in many places.  Increasing your exposure increases your reach to potential clients. Think leverage! 

- You position yourself as an expert in your field by writing about the kinds of problems you solve for your clients.  Everyone wants to work with an expert.

These things will all contribute toward the growth of your business.  Don’t look for results overnight and stay focused on serving your clients by producing articles that will help them be successful.

Writing is just one of many marketing strategies you can use to grow your business.  Remember, the most important aspect of any successful marketing strategy is consistent implementation.  So please don’t write one article and then decide it doesn’t work and give up.  If you choose writing as one of your strategies, stick with it and leverage everything you create!

(c) 2005 Stephanie Ward

WANT TO USE THIS ARTICLE IN YOUR NEWSLETTER OR WEB SITE? You can, as long as you include this information with it: Stephanie Ward is the Marketing Coach for Entrepreneurs who want to set their profits on fire!  Grab your FREE copy of the special report ’7 Steps to Attract More Clients in Less Time’ plus business building tips, at: http://www.fireflycoaching.com.