Why List Size Doesn’t Matter (Much)

I recently “came out of the closet” on a number that most big names in the online marketing space are all-too-slow to reveal.  Yep, I’m talking about that all-important list size.  (As of this writing, my list size is well under 1000, and therefore considered very small by most experts.)

Most marketing gurus teach that you need to build a big list of potential clients before you can successfully sell anything.  So how is it possible that I crossed the 6-figure mark last year within a matter of months, without a big list?  After all, “the money is in the list,” right?

Actually, not exactly.  The money is in the relationship you have with the people in your circle, including the people in your email database (i.e., your list).

When have a great relationship with your peeps, based on giving great value in every interaction, they’re happy to invest with you when it’s a fit for them.  The really cool thing for heart-centered entrepreneurs? Relationship-building is one of our natural strengths!  And as I can tell you from first-hand experience, it’s a heck of a lot of fun, too.

Here are my top 3 favorite ways to build the long-lasting love that leads to lucrative launches (sorry – I couldn’t resist):

Content, content, content. There is nothing like content to create the relationships that lead to paying clients.  Great content positions you as an expert in your subject area and demonstrates that you are a problem-solver.  Content also ethically activates some very powerful tools of influence, such as reciprocity (the urge to give back to someone who has given to you), likeability, and trust.

Remember that when it comes to content, quality and consistency count more than length.  Also remember that sharing information about yourself also counts as content.  Which leads me to tip #2…

Connection, connection, connection. Your clients don’t want just your announcements and they definitely don’t want ads.  They want to get to know you.  And they want to know that you care about them.  So tell them!  And better yet, show them by communicating with them on a regular basis (i.e., more than just once per month) and giving them great content they can use in their business right now.

Give before you get. A lot of spirited entrepreneurs fall prey to what I call the “buy my stuff!” syndrome.  You know what I’m talking about – where you only hear from them when they have something to promote, or their “newsletter” is full of nothing but promotions and announcements.

Now, if you’re guilty of “buy my stuff!” please don’t be hard on yourself – I’ve discovered that one reason why well-meaning entrepreneurs do this is because they don’t know what to do otherwise, or how to do it.  That said, if you have been “buy my stuff”-ing your clients, it’s time to make a shift.

What if you’ve got a list and you haven’t communicated with them in a while? There’s no time like the present to start.  Be yourself and send some great content – it could be an ezine, a video or a free report with tips.  Just be sure to re-introduce yourself and address “the elephant in the room” – that you haven’t sent them anything in a while, but you’d like to offer them something cool now.

If you are sending something to your list for the first time in a long time, let them know how they can unsubscribe.  They’ll appreciate your consideration for their time and inbox.  (If you do get some unsubscribes, what’s the big deal?  These peeps weren’t meant to be in your tribe anyway – bless them as they go on their way.)

No matter what, don’t put it off making contact.  Lack of relationship is one of the biggest reasons why spirit-rich launches fail and it’s something you have 100% control over.

My coach’s request to you: find just one thing you can do, every week without fail, to connect with your peeps, give great value and let them know you care.  Make it simple so you have no excuses for not doing it.  Then get going and make it a new habit – starting now.

© 2010 Elizabeth Genco Purvis.  All Rights Reserved.

Want to use this article on your website, blog or in your own ezine? No problem! But here’s what you MUST include:

Elizabeth Genco Purvis, “The Marketing Goddess” teaches spirited solo business owners and conscious entrepreneurs how to attract an abundance of clients, income, freedom and satisfaction in their business while staying true to their values.  Visit MarketingGoddess.com to claim your copy of “Grow Your Business With Spirit And Soul,” a 7-part audio workshop with everything you need to begin attracting more clients right away.

10 Simple New Year’s Habits For Soul-Inspired Business Owners

So the tree is taken down, the Yule log burned out, the eggnog all gone and the lights put away.  The new year is here!  It’s a time of reflection, looking forward, and making positive changes. Perhaps you’ve made a few New Year’s Resolutions for your life and business.

I don’t know about you, but I’ve never had much luck with New Year’s Resolutions. I think it’s because the overall vibe of resolutions feels negative to me, not positive.  Resolutions have always felt like an admission that there’s something wrong, and now I’m going to have to work to change it.  While there’s always room for improvement, I’d much rather make those changes in a way that feels positive and do-able, not like I’m climbing a mountain, or even worse, because it feels like I “should.” (Can you relate?)

That’s when I hit upon the idea of creating New Year’s habits. Unlike the makeover-style overhauls, habits are small, simple shifts that are supportive, not punishing.  They’re manageable, so you’re much more likely to succeed (especially if you take them one at a time).  Best of all, they can add up to BIG results over the long haul.

Wildly successful people have long known and understood that the key to success is habit and consistency. Think And Grow Rich, one of the most widely read personal development books of all time, came about when Andrew Carnegie challenged Napoleon Hill to study the characteristics of successful people, including their habits.  Million-dollar marketing coach Dan Kennedy has said, “If you look at successful people, look at the things they do without fail every single day. That’s what makes them successful.”

Below are 10 tried-and-true business-boosting success habits for the new year. Use this list as a checklist to see where your marketing could use a tune-up.  If you’re not doing any of them yet, don’t stress out – just pick one or two and get them going.

As you read the 10 ideas below, notice how simple most of them are.  Turn even 2 or 3 of them into new habits and you’ll be amazed at how quickly you make positive shifts in your life and business.

1. Reconnect with your passion. If you’re a soul-inspired business owner, chances are you’re driven to do what you do – that is, you have a reason why.  Maybe you’ve lived what you teach and now you want to help others. Maybe want to spend more time with your family.  Write down your why and read it often. Your passion is the fuel that makes your business go.  Passion is also absolutely magnetic to potential clients.

2. Reconnect with your vision. Where would you like to be 1, 3 or 5 years from now?  If you’ve never created a vision for yourself, now is a wonderful time to make one.  Be sure to write in the present tense.  “I am so happy and grateful that…”  Keep your vision close to you and read it on a regular basis (once a day is ideal).  Reading your vision should light a fire in your belly.  If you’re not excited after reading your vision, it’s time to change it.

3. Track everything. We all know that what you focus on expands, right?  Simple, elegant, and it works.  Ideas:

• Your income (track your income and you’ll get more)
• Clients (track clients and you’ll get more)
• Signs from the Universe that you’re moving forward (track your progress and you’ll get more)
• Things you’re grateful for (give thanks for what you have and you’ll get more)

One thing you’ll definitely want to track is where your clients come from. That way, you can keep your focus on what’s working and release what is not.  Your time and money are precious, so keep your marketing accountable!

4. Go for the relationship, not the sale. The key to success in a recession economy is better relationships.  It can be hard to focus on creating a relationship when you need clients and income now.  But the more you do, the faster both will come (and the better you’ll feel, too).  Better still, by building relationships, you’ll create a business that sustains you long after the crisis point is over.

5. Follow up with potential clients. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve met someone whose service I really needed, told them I needed them, and never heard from them again.  Lack of follow-up is a money leak, plain and simple.  Potential clients want you to follow up because it’s one less thing they need to remember.  Make service your top priority and follow up consistently, especially when that little voice inside is saying one thing (“They’re not really interested,” “they must have hired someone else”) and your rational mind knows it’s follow-up time.  (I’ve made this mistake myself and always kick myself later!)

6. Reconnect with current and past clients. It’s well known that it’s much easier to get repeat business than new business.  Your best clients are one of your most precious assets: emotionally, spiritually, and of course, financially.  They deserve a little love!  Make a new habit of checking in from time to time.  They’ll appreciate it, and you’ll both get the benefit of working with each other more often.  (Proof: one of my recent check-ins with a favorite client turned into another project, authentically and gracefully.)

7. Be ruthlessly positive. Being positive isn’t just about making you feel good – it’s good business.  Good news is like acknowledgment and approval: people long for it.   I don’t know about you, but personally, I’m sick of hearing that the sky is falling!  So are your clients.  Turn the experience of working with you into a blissful, healthy alternative by shifting your attitude.

8. Reject excuses, embrace solutions. Excuses keep you stuck.  Solutions move you forward.  Time to replace the old habit of slipping into excuses mode (“That won’t work”, “Nobody will pay for it”) for a habit that supports you.  When you catch your mind feeding you excuses, give it something else to do: find a solution to the problem.  Ask, “How can I make this work?” or “What would make it worth it to them?”  (Want the answer to the latter question?  Ask your best clients!  They’ll tell you!)

Your left brain is thrilled when you give it problems to solve.  Better yet, when you give your brain a problem to solve and a little bit of time, it will help you!  Instead of roadblocks, you get a clear path to whatever you want.

9. Commit to “just one thing” daily. To keep marketing simple, stick to basic, tried-and-true strategies and adopt a truly magical practice that I like to call “just one thing”: every day, do just one thing to build your business, no matter how small.  “Just one thing” uses the Japanese principle of kaizen: big results come in continuous small increments over time.  Commit to just one thing daily and you’ll never have to worry about where your clients are coming from ever again.

10. Gratitude. You know it feels good.  You know it works!  Now all that’s left is to make it a habit.  If you haven’t been giving thanks DAILY for all the money, business, and success you DO have, now is the perfect time to start.

Want more tips on spiritual, profitable planning for 2010?  Check out this article by my colleague and fellow Platinum coach Alicia Forest, and this one by my Platinum client Joanna Powell Colbert.  (And don’t forget to sign up for my fr’e'e 2010 Marketing & Manifestation call series!  Register here: http://www.6figuresoulbasedbusiness.com)

© 2009 Elizabeth Genco Purvis.  All Rights Reserved.

Elizabeth Genco Purvis, “The Marketing Goddess” teaches spirited solo business owners and conscious entrepreneurs how to attract an abundance of clients, income, freedom and satisfaction in their business while staying true to their values.  Visit MarketingGoddess.com to claim your copy of “Grow Your Business With Spirit And Soul,” a 7-part audio workshop with everything you need to begin attracting more clients right away.

Next FREE Training Call: 7 Marketing & Mindset Shifts for 2010

If you’re ready to grow your business (and yourself!) by LEAPS instead of tiny steps, transform your 1ncome and step FULLY into your purpose & power in 2010… then you’ll do whatever it takes to be on this call!

“The 7 Marketing & Mindset Shifts I Made To Take My Soul-Based Business From Struggling To 6-Figures+ In Just 10 Months… And How You Can Too!”

Date: January 5, 2009
Time: 7:30pm EST
Registration: http://www.6figuresoulbasedbusiness.com

In this content-rich call, I’ll openly share the 7 big shifts I made in my marketing and mindset that allowed me to nearly quadruple (yes, quadruple) my income in 2009.  You’ll learn:

• The 1 critical mindset shift you MUST make to stop struggling and finally create the income you truly desire and deserve

• Why the traditional “marketing funnel” business model sets you up for frustration, exhaustion, and failure – and what to do about it

• The 1 marketing step that effortlessly attracts high-profile attention, lucrative opportunities and a stready stream of your ideal, high-paying clients  (I resisted this piece for years, but once I took the plunge, my business took off)

• What 3 activities you must STOP doing – right now – and what to do instead to create the soul-based business breakthrough you want

• 2 powerful actions that send a “no nonsense” signal to the Universe that you’re ready to receive more money in your life and business

You’ll also be automatically registered for the next 2 calls in this special series, bonus video tips and whatever other special surprises I can dream up!

This call series is a special fr’e'e preview for my ALL-NEW coaching program, The 2010 Abundant Business Marketing & Manifestation Mastermind (affectionately known as the MMM).

The MMM kicks off in mid-February and I will ONLY offer it ONCE this year.  (It runs for a prosperous 8 full months!)  It is also the ONLY opportunity in 2010 to receive ongoing coaching from me WITHOUT having to pay my Platinum fees.

So if you’ve been looking for a way to get my ongoing personal support without the Platinum investment, I highly, HIGHLY encourage you to get on these calls.  You can nab your spot here:

http://www.6figuresoulbasedbusiness.com

Massive Social Proof Fail

Up late tonight burining the midnight oil on some copywriting and what do I see before me?  The opportunity for a quickie lesson in saleswomanship, persuasion, and not-so-pretty human nature.

So there I was, reading my Twitter feed.  Someone I respect linked to a post which lands me smack-dab on the site of a marketing strategist I’ve never met (online or off) but whose name I recognize.

The strategist’s picture in the banner at the top of the page is bold, confident… maybe even a little sassy. Definitely client-attractive.  The landing page looks great, with lots of yummy benefits, so I click over to the About page, so I can learn more about who I’m talking to, so to speak.

After a strong intro, I learn that this person is “the secret consultant to [very important people]“ including moguls, celebrities and industry leaders.  “Wow,” I say to myself, “I can’t wait to read her testimonials.”

Except that there aren’t any. (Testimonials, that is.)  At least none that I can find.

Actually, I take that back.  There’s an endorsement, from THE leader in this strategist’s area of expertise.  Unfortunately, said leader doesn’t mention specific results.

“Hrm.  Maybe she has some on her blog,” I think, hoping.  I thumb through the first couple of pages.  No mention of clients, let alone results she has helped those clients get.

(Maybe she mentions them in her Twitter feed, but after frustration at the absence of a testimonials page and the blog thing, my patience has officially run out.)

I did find lots of comments about this strategist, such that she is cool and awesome and an amazing person.  I have no doubt that she is.  However, as a potential client coming to her website, I’m not really interested in cool.  I’m interested in whether or not she can really help me.

I want to write, “I have no doubt that she’s really good at what she does and has helped her clients make a lot of money.”  Because I really hope it’s true.  But you know what?  I can’t.  Because I do have doubt. Not because I want to, but because I just do.

She alludes to lots of clients and experience in her bio, yet doesn’t call a single one of them out by name. I mean, what other conclusion am I supposed to come to?  The secrecy of her consulting may indeed be a legitimate reason for not having testimonials, but as a potential client, it doesn’t satisfy my need for proof, and it certainly doesn’t help me out.

I don’t want to have doubt, but I do.  And that sucks.  For both of us.

These are the things that go through your potential clients’ minds.  Ignore them at your peril.

(Do you have a system for collecting testimonials that get you clients?  If not, you can get one here.)

More Business Is Yours For The Asking (But You Have To Ask!)

So you talk about your biz with anyone who will listen, Tweet up a storm about your stuff and “get out there” all the time. But the results aren’t showing up for you (yet!). What gives?

If you were a client in one of my programs, I’d gently ask, “So are you asking for the business?”

More clients are yours for the asking, but you have to ask! You have to be very explicit about what the next step is, and yes, you have to ask your peeps to take it. In copywriting, it’s called a call to action: click here to order, sign up, book a session, or whatever your offer may be.

Now if this feels weird or pushy to you, let me assure you… asking them doesn’t mean chasing them! It just means you’re making it easy.

Take a minute now and put yourself in your client’s well-worn shoes. Maybe she’s looking at your website after a long day. She’s exhausted but the client magnet copy on your site catches her interest and she thinks, “Hrm.” She glances around for a way to contact you…. but the link is buried away somewhere. She really is interested but… it all seems like too much effort right now. (Sound familiar?) There goes someone you might have been able to help. Tragic!

Asking also makes it easy for your clients because follow-up is YOUR job, not theirs. If they’ve worked with you before and gotten great results (and even better, had a great experience in the process), chances are very good they’ll want to come back for more. But it’s not their job to be checking back with you to see if you have something new. Instead, it’s YOUR job to make life easy by checking in with them from time to time to say, “Don’t know if you’ll be interested, but I just wanted to let you know about [X].”

Several months ago now, I got a funny reminder of this myself when I was on the phone with MY coach. I reported that I’d just put together some brand spankin’ new coaching packages that I was VERY excited about, and within a few days, I’d had conversations about them with 2 potential clients who had come to ME after seeing some of my recent marketing.

He said, “You have a list of past clients and students who have taken classes with you, right?”

Me: “Right.”

Him: “So have you picked up the phone and started inviting people?”

I had to laugh. (This right here is a great example of why it’s so important to have a coach, by the way.)

Here are 5 places to boldly ask for the next step:

1. On your website. You should have a call to action on EVERY page. Yes, every page! If it’s not a page where your clients order a specific product or service, your call to action should be, “Here’s how to contact me.”

2. In your newsletter. Your newsletter is a value exchange. In exchange for providing great content, you get to let your readers know about your products and services. Always promote something in your newsletter, and include an explicit call to action to invite your readers to go to a page where they can find out more.

3. In your promotions. Double-check that your order links work and that it’s very clear what action you wish your readers to take.

4. At the end of a conversation. If you’ve connected with someone, be sure to ask “May I get your card and follow up with you?” If you’re talking to a client about signing up for your service, an authentic way to boldly ask for the business without pushing is to ask, “So is this something you’d like to move forward with?” (I LOVE this question!)

5. In a follow-up. If they’re not ready to move forward now, ask, “When would be a good time to check in again?” If you’re still in the “getting to know you” stage and business isn’t on the table yet, a great invitation is “May I invite you to receive my newsletter?” (Compare this to “Can I add you to my newsletter?”)

The more often you ask for business, the more business you’ll receive. (Another way to think of it: “If you never ask, the answer is always no.”) Train yourself to boldly and authentically ask for business as a matter of course, and soon you’ll have more than you can handle.

Need more help on boldly asking for the business, especially in a potential client conversation? Make sure you’re on my next f’r'ee training call on November 16 with my friend Helen Graves, where she will share simple, practical tips on how to transform interested potential clients into happily invested, high-paying clients. Few coaches teach this sensitive and important topic as well as Helen, which is why I can’t wait to share her wisdom with you! Register here (yes, the call will be recorded if you can’t make it): http://www.marketinggoddess.com/helen.html

© 2009 Elizabeth Genco Purvis. All Rights Reserved.

Want to use this article on your website, blog or in your own ezine? No problem! But here’s what you MUST include:

Elizabeth Genco Purvis, “The Marketing Goddess” teaches spirited solo business owners and conscious entrepreneurs how to attract an abundance of clients, income, freedom and satisfaction in their business while staying true to their values. Visit MarketingGoddess.com to claim your copy of “Grow Your Business With Spirit And Soul,” a 7-part audio workshop with everything you need to begin attracting more clients right away.

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