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 Q.

“I’ve heard you talk about the energy of business and how important it is to attract clients to you instead of pushing yourself on them. But how do I do this? I want to take action and when I hear things like this, it makes me think you want me to sit in a lotus position and meditate to get clients. That doesn’t seem realistic to me!”

A.

I love this question! And of course, you’re right on both counts.

I do think it’s important to attract clients to you and not push yourself on them — does anyone really like cold calls or pushy sales people? I used to force myself to do cold calls and I can tell you it was the worst part of my day. I know the energy I projected while doing them was forced, and it came through on the calls. It’s no surprise I wasn’t very successful at it.

And, you’re right again, attracting clients to you is way more than meditating. It involves 4 things:

1.) being very clear about the kind of clients you want to attract
2.) being as authentically attractive as you can be to the kind of clients you want to attract
3.) being visible to the kind of clients you want to attract
4.) being aware of the energy you project around this entire subject

1.) Be very clear about the kind of clients you want to attract

I can still picture myself gritting my teeth as I took direction from a particular client in the early days of my graphic design firm. I did not like the man, but I thought I wanted the work. He was intrusive and pushed his religious beliefs on me. He was arrogant and over-inflated his ability to get me connected to important people, and I fell for it. The work he promised me was soooo alluring . . . and of course, it ended up costing me money in the end. When I moved my office recently, I threw out boxes and boxes of the greeting cards I designed for him that never sold.

When I started being intentional about the people I wanted to work with, I was amazed at how often I’d lowered my standards and worked with people I didn’t really respect, just because I wanted the work. As I look back, the outcome of the work I did with people I didn’t respect or work well with was never my best, anyway. Funny how that works out.

Who do you really want to work with? Do you have a preferred client profile, not just by industry or niche, but by personality and working style of the individual you want to work with? Think about it — if you go back to your most successful projects and client situations, does a pattern appear? Don’t your favorite clients have pretty much the same things in common? Don’t those attributes make you want more clients like them? Write this stuff down while you’re thinking about it.

2.) Be as authentically attractive as you can be to the kind of clients you want to attract

Like attracts like, right? It’s funny how many business owners miss this part, and I did too. We want these fabulous clients, but aren’t really that great to work with ourselves. You have to ask, “What kind of people do my ideal clients want to work with? What attributes are they looking for?” Make a list and compare yourself to it — how do you stack up? I have to admit there were many times when I fell short and these two lists did not align.

I used to be late for meetings . . . a lot. Heck no, I’m not proud of it, but I’m trying to make a point here: I wanted clients who respected me, but in reality, I wasn’t really respecting them. Several of them called me on it, too. I’m sure I could go into my other faults, but what I really want you to get out of this particular point is — do you have some work to do to match up with your ideal client? If she’s looking for her ideal, do you qualify? And remember, we’re talking about being authentically attractive here, so no putting on airs or personas. I’ve had to do some work, for sure. Heavy, huh?

3.) Be visible to the kind of clients you want to attract

Okay, here’s where the rubber hits the road: you’ve got to get out there where your ideal client can see you. Consistently. This is your action step.

Where does your ideal client hang out? Is this an in-person kind of visibility you need, like old-fashioned networking, or do you need to be digitally visible, with social media? Or both? Or maybe you need to create some buzz with PR, or get out and speak — there are lots of ways to be visible to your ideal client. Just make sure all this work you’ve done to match your ideal client to you is presented in the right places — you have to be strategic about it — and that you’re sending the right signals.

4.) Be aware of the energy you project around this entire subject

So now we’re back full circle to the question of energy again. Your energy is real. People can feel it. And whether you’re conscious of it or not, you use it every day in your business.

You’ve heard that if you talk to your plants, they’ll be healthier and grow better. It’s been scientifically proven with special cameras that can photograph the energy fields of the plant.

During experiments conducted by Russian-born physicist Dr. Konstantin Korotkov, when a plant was exposed to “dangerous intentions,” its energy field got smaller. When intentions were positive, as when people came to the plant with a pot of water or even just a smile, the energy field of the plant increased.

If our emotions and intentions can affect plants this much, how much can they affect the people we want to work with — our clients and the people we want to have as clients? If a plant can tell if our intentions are right, and if it will increase its energy field because of our emotions, just think of the implications this has for business and our interaction with clients!

This strategy grows over time

So, while it’s not a quick fix and you’re not going to attract a new client tomorrow with this advice, I do believe “pull” marketing strategies are much more fruitful in the long run than “push” marketing strategies, and if you follow the steps above, you’ll see there’s much more to it than sitting around contemplating your navel all day.

And I think you’ll also find, like anything else in life that’s worth it, it takes time, but the positives far outweigh any frustrations. You probably didn’t gain the trust and loyalty of your partner overnight, or any other significant relationship.

And that’s what we’re talking about here, isn’t it? Relationships?

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Q.

“I don’t really know how to do marketing for my own business — I avoid it because it makes me feel uncomfortable. I’ve always gotten business by referral in the past, but I can’t count on that for regular business anymore. How can I start to effectively market myself without feeling like I’m being pushy, which then makes me apologetic and ultimately ineffective?”

A.

This is a really great question, and it has got to be one of the things I have to reinforce most in my clients — the real reason you owe it to yourself and your clients to market your business. Most small businesses have a problem with this . . . even marketing firms who create marketing campaigns for clients feel some degree of “ickiness” about promoting themselves.

Why you feel icky about marketing

First of all, why does the thought of marketing your company make you uncomfortable? It’s because marketing has gotten a bum rap. It’s all those years of dinner-time telemarketers and used car salesmen and people pushing products and services on you that you don’t want or need, and the strong desire you have to not be like those people and/or companies.

Well, you don’t have to be.

You can market differently. You can market with integrity.

What is marketing? 

When you think about what marketing really is, you realize you have a choice — and you don’t have to take the icky route.

Marketing is simply getting what you have to offer in front of people who don’t know what you have to offer. And if you do it correctly, marketing is getting what you have to offer in front of people who want what you have to offer. 

It can also be getting your ability to solve a problem in front of people who want the problem solved. 

There’s no pushing or coercing involved.

It’s like if you had extra potatoes

When we all grew our own food (no, I’m not that old, I’m being hypothetical here), there was no need for food marketing. If you needed potatoes, you grew potatoes. But what if you had extra land and extra potato seeds and one year you decided to grow extra potatoes for other people in your community — how would you let them know you had the potatoes?

You might decide to put them in a wagon and take them to the town square. (Because you grew these potatoes before the Internet and had no other means of distribution.) As a service to your neighbors, you would take the potatoes “to market” (hence the term marketing) so they would know you had them available. Maybe you’d find a piece of wood and write “Potatoes” on it so people could see your wagon and know what you had in it.

And if you were really helpful, you might yell, “Potatoes! I have potatoes!” every once in awhile so your neighbors could scurry over and take advantage of your bounty. They’d be so pleased you did this (because they needed to feed their families), that they would pay you well for your potatoes. You did them a service by taking your potatoes to market and letting them know they were available.

Everyone wins. No one feels icky.

You’re actually doing your prospective clients a favor when you let them know about the availability of your products and services

Have you ever searched for something you wanted to buy and not been able to find it? Sure you have. When you finally did find it somewhere, did you feel like you stumbled on a best-kept secret? Did you feel like telling the shop owner he should advertise more so people could find him? Yes? Would that marketing have felt icky to you, or would you have been grateful for it? I think you can see what I’m getting at.

Marketing that is authentic and correctly done is a service to the customer. And, businesses that don’t market themselves are doing a disservice to their customers by making their offerings difficult to find.

So think of potatoes the next time you think about marketing your company. Remember that someone is looking for your service — how can you get what you do “to market” so people can find you, in a genuinely helpful manner? What can you do that would make them feel grateful instead of icky?

When you’re putting together your plan, just leave the ickiness out.

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Do your clients truly value your work, allowing you to charge what you’re worth, and trusting you to do more for them?

You may think you’re describing your work’s true value in conversations with clients, when you’re really not. They may not be getting it.

If you don’t think they place enough significance on what you do, it may be because you’re not communicating well enough — and if that’s the case, you can’t blame them for not knowing.

It’s not your clients, it’s you.

This takes digging and thinking and putting some meat on the bones of how you talk to clients. It may be more you, ahem, than them.

Take a look at these five ways you may be talking about your work that stop clients from placing more value on it:

1.) You may be doing work you don’t believe in. If you’re not well placed in your work or if you’ve chosen the wrong niche — if you really feel you should be a dog trainer instead of the copywriter you are (but you became a copywriter because it was the path of least resistance), or if you should be working with authors instead of executives — it’s going to show in your work. It’s going to show in the way to talk about how you serve your clients. And it’s not going to sound as valuable as you think it does.

You’ve got to be passionate about what you do in order to interest people in working with you — you’ve got to be so passionate that they can’t help but see the value in it. If you can’t be passionate about your work, find a way to be passionate about the way you deliver it.

2.) You may be offering what you think your clients need instead of what they actually want. People value what they want, not what you think they need — it’s that simple. The first rule of marketing success is to find a starving market, not to provide something and then talk people into buying it. Do you know what your clients really want?

3. You may be talking from your point of view instead of your client’s. Things often look very different from the client’s point of view — have you put yourself in his shoes? Have you put your offer in language that shows you understand what he’s up against? I love the C.S. Lewis quote, “What you see and hear depends a good deal on where you’re standing.” Yeah, and the same goes for what you value.

4. You may be doing what everyone else is doing, or saying what everyone else is saying. Do you blend in with the crowd? Does your message sound exactly like your competitors’ messages? Do you “exceed customer expectations” or help your clients “get to the next level,” “live the life of their dreams,” or blah blah blah blah blah . . . Nobody values that stuff. Heck, no one even hears it anymore.

5. You may be telling them what you are instead of what you can do for them. Do you tell people you’re a coach or a web designer and leave it at that? Very few clients are looking for people with titles. Most clients are looking for solutions to their problems, results, transformations, or things that will make them feel great.

If you think you’re doing pretty well on this list and your clients still don’t value what you do, well, it may be time to look elsewhere in the client pool. Or find something else to do that people will value.

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Business Conundrum #31

Q. “I admit I don’t know how to market myself. I need to get my message out there, and I don’t know where to start. It seems these days there are so many choices – you have to have a killer website, you have to be networking, you have to be doing Facebook and Twitter, you need a blog – I just don’t know how to really go about it. Help!”

PowerSmarts #31

A. Marketing is a big subject, so let’s just start with the basics – like who your audience is, what you do for them, and what makes you different. Then we can talk about how to get your message out there.

1. Choose a narrow market

Choosing your audience is important – you can’t market to everyone. The narrower your audience focus, the more you’ll appeal to them, because they’ll know you’re concentrating on them (and you’re therefore an expert), and your marketing can be more specific. So don’t choose “small businesses,” choose “physicians.” Or better yet, choose “plastic surgeons,” or even, “plastic surgeons nearing retirement.” This doesn’t mean you won’t work with other small businesses, it just means you’ll only direct your marketing efforts to plastic surgeons.

2. Clearly articulate what you do for them

If you can’t accurately describe how you help your customers, it’ll be difficult to attract them. I know that sounds crazy but you won’t believe the number of people I talk to who struggle with this. Even when it’s not that different from what others in the industry do, many small business owners can’t describe what they do in simple language that makes sense to prospective customers. Go to a networking meeting and listen to the profusion of bad 60-second commercials and you’ll know what I mean.

3. Figure out what makes you different

Regardless of the industry you’re in, there’s bound to be lots of competition. Many other people are offering the same products and services you are. So why should anyone buy from you instead of the other guy marketing to plastic surgeons who offers what you offer? What have people said is the reason they keep coming back to you? And I’m not talking about things like meeting deadlines or staying in budget – those things are expected. What really makes you different – the really important reasons? This is the heart of the matter. Once you know this, you can tie it all together.

Your Message Triangle

Speaking of the basics, here’s a little graphic that will help you – I call it Getting Your Message Out There, because that’s what we all need to do. It consists of only three things, and that’s what makes it so powerful. If you take a look at your favorite places to spend money, you’ll see this repeated often – whether it’s Starbucks or Apple or the corner deli or the favorite coach you like to work with. Every business that gets through to you with their messages enough that you sit up and take notice, whether you actually purchase from them or not, has figured this out.

Corner #1: Difference They know what makes them different and they’ve figured out how to communicate it to you. No matter how big or how small they are, they tell you something about the value they provide to you — how they help, the excitement or inspiration you feel, something personal, something you can see as having a relation to your life. It’s not all about their products and services.

Corner #2: Consistency They communicate their value to you consistently. What they tell you is strong and steady and it doesn’t change much. They know what value they bring and they’re consistent in their communication of it.

Corner #3: Frequency They communicate to you frequently – you see their message often, in many different ways. They make sure they’re in touch.

Easy peasy, right?

So before you head off to create that killer website or write that blog, or even go to your next networking meeting, do this:

• Make sure you know who your market is so you can talk specifically to them
• Be able to clearly articulate what you do for them in words they can understand
• Know what makes you different and be able to talk about it in authentic and engaging ways

Then, the methods you use to get your message out there are up to you, as long as they’re used with consistency and frequency. You don’t have to do everything.

And doing anything, without having the above in place, is just wasted effort.

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I come from a creative firm background. So I bleed for creative firms. When my creative firm clients can’t talk about their difference and value, I feel it, too.

When I talk to creative firms about what makes them different, there’s a lot of hesitation. Because we do so little to market ourselves and rely on word of mouth and referrals instead (which sounds great but has its own set of problems – but that’s a whole other discussion), most of us don’t really know what, if anything, we do that’s different or why anyone actually should buy from us over the other guy. We all say the same things – we’re creative and customer focused, results-driven, fun to work with, etc. etc. – the same things clients hear from everyone else. And our websites all look pretty much the same, too – we show our portfolios on absolutely gorgeous sites.

We all look the same.

There are an awful lot of you guys out there, and so many of you do fabulous work – put yourself in your prospective client’s place: how would you decide who to work with? It’s so confusing for them, and we give them so little to go on. So can we blame them when they choose based on price? Or on the fact that the designer they chose is their son’s coach’s next door neighbor? We’re not really helping them choose when we don’t know ourselves, what makes us different.

It’s scary.

There’s also a lot of fear wrapped up in communicating your difference, and it’s the same fear our clients have when we try to steer them towards narrowing their niche or putting a stake in the ground with their positioning. It’s difficult to do marketing and design for a client who can’t decide what he is, when he wants to market to “the world” – and it’s no different when it comes to your own promotion. The fear is that if we say “this is what we do, this is who we are, this is what makes us different,” we’ll lose a portion of our market – and wouldn’t it be better to appeal to a broader audience?

They need to love you.

You know better than that. You know that the more specific you are about who you are and what you do and who you serve, the more attractive you’ll be to that particular group – and yes, others will fall away, but that’s a good thing. You can’t possibly work for everyone in the world. (Sounds kinda silly when you see it in print, doesn’t it?) I’m sure you’ve been asked before if you’d rather be given a luke warm or cool reception by the masses or be loved and have fierce loyalty by a few, and the answer is always “loved and have fierce loyalty by a few.” Because the fact is it’s a big world out there, and even very narrow niches have enough clients in them to make you lots and lots of money – if they love you. If they’re fiercely loyal to you.

And they’re not going to love you or be fiercely loyal to you if you’re still trying to appeal to the masses. They want to know you’re right for just one group: them.

So help them choose you. Tell them: Who are you? What do you do? What makes you different?

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Go and read Kevin Kelly’s 1000 True Fans post, if you haven’t already. This article has been around for awhile but the wisdom is clear and focused and evergreen: you don’t need to have a big hit or sell to millions or even thousands. All you need are 1000 true fans.

And that stuff you hear about how important it is to have great big lists of customers, friends, and followers? Terrific, if you can build them, especially if they’re targeted and responsive — but let’s face it, most of them just aren’t.

Want to make a living doing what you do? All you really need are 1000 true fans.

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I was doing research for a webinar about confidence a few weeks ago and came across the following snippet on someone’s blog. I have to tell you, it brought back some bad memories for me. I’m not going to credit the excerpt to anyone, even though I’ve reproduced it word for word, for two reasons: one, I’m not going to say kind things about it, and two, I never bothered to document where I got it and trying to retrace my steps at this point would be far too painful.

Here’s the excerpt:

You Have to Fake It to Make It?

The first step to succeeding in self-promotion is to fake it. Faking the confidence to put oneself out there and gain contacts can turn into authentic confidence, when practiced regularly. When potential customers and clients respond positively to being handed a business card, it can give a natural confidence boost and encourage further networking opportunities.

Handing business cards to everyone one meets is a sure-fire way to gain confidence and business. Engage in small talk, even if it doesn’t feel natural. Friendliness, professionalism, and a warm smile can go a long way.

Wince. Shudder. Oh, man, really?

I’m sorry. Truly. I apologize in advance for ripping this person’s prose. Fact is, it just doesn’t have to be so.

When I started my graphic design firm in 1984 (I know. I was a cave man.), there was very little in the way of resources for people like me. No internet, no blogs, no wikis, no coaches, no mastermind groups – can you believe it? – my only resource was the library. The library. How much info about building my business do you think I was finding there? Even after I went to all the trouble of getting myself in my car and actually driving there, once I got in the door of the place, the challenge of finding anything relevant to my business was monumental. Most of the books about business building were about manufacturing or retail and even then, they were usually obsolete. Magazines were a better bet, but even after hours of searching, applicable information often escaped me. It was very discouraging.

We’re pretty lucky today. Even my 86-year-old mother knows the way to find anything is to google it on her iPad.

Back then, I felt I had no choice. The only thing I knew was to fall back on the age-old wisdom (?) I’d heard whispered in the corner at professional association and networking meetings, “you have to fake it until you make it.”

So I did, and I hated it. It made me feel icky and sent me into a bad case of imposter syndrome that took years to undo, where I was continually looking over my shoulder, wondering when the imposter police were going to come and take me away for pretending to have confidence in my business. Pretending I knew what I was doing when I took my clients’ money and promised them marketing communication in return. When all the while I didn’t know if my business would even be around next year, next month, or even next week. Don’t get me wrong here, though – I had lots of confidence in my work. I knew I could do great work for my clients and they’d be getting loads of value in the exchange. I just didn’t know squat about what it took to run a successful business.

Okay, back to the snippet I found. Let’s look at it line by line:

The first step to succeeding in self-promotion is to fake it.

Are you sure? What an awful first step! Why can’t the first step be to look at the confidence you have in your work and build on that? I’m assuming we all come into business because we can do something awesome and we’re passionate about it, right? So why would we turn around and negate that right out of the gate by starting with something phony?

Faking the confidence to put oneself out there and gain contacts can turn into authentic confidence, when practiced regularly.

I prefer the phrase “feel the fear and do it anyway.” Yes, sometimes it’s uncomfortable to put yourself out there, but if you add phoniness to the fear you just become a freak. Go back to that confidence you have in your work again, and carry it with you when you go into situations that are new to you. It’s practice that will bring you confidence, not faking.

When potential customers and clients respond positively to being handed a business card, it can give a natural confidence boost and encourage further networking opportunities.

Are you kidding me? How often do people jump up and down with glee when you hand them a business card? Here’s the truth – no one wants your business card unless they ask for it, and even when they ask for it, it’s not like they’re going to do cartwheels. It’s just a business card. This writer is placing way too much importance on that card and missing the whole point of what’s behind the card – you.

Handing business cards to everyone one meets is a sure-fire way to gain confidence and business.

I sincerely hope you do not do this. Everyone you meet does not want your business card. It is not a sure-fire way to gain confidence and business, it’s a sure-fire way to piss people off. What is this writer thinking? Surely he hasn’t tried it himself or he would know. Oh, maybe he’s too busy being fake to notice.

Engage in small talk, even if it doesn’t feel natural.

Okay, now I’m going home. Wouldn’t it be better to talk about something meaningful? And maybe you’d have a chance of doing that if you hadn’t already pissed everyone off by forcing your business cards on them and being fake.

Friendliness, professionalism, and a warm smile can go a long way.

I actually don’t think he wrote this last line. Maybe he stepped away from the computer for a minute to give someone a business card and his wife finished the paragraph.

Here’s the thing: you started your business because you do something amazing, and you know it. When you talk to yourself about your work, you say some amazing and powerful things. When you talk to your friends and colleagues and people who get it, you can wax poetic til the cows come home about the benefits of what you provide. Why on God’s green earth would you need to fake anything? Tap into that awesome power when promoting yourself and, bingo. You exude confidence. People see where you’re coming from. They start to trust you. You become more client-attractive. And your confidence grows.

For me, all of this is in hindsight, of course. I did the faking and the business cards and yes, I’m sure I pissed people off, but thank goodness, I know better now. I know you do not have to fake it until you make it.

And now, you do, too.

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I’ve got a guest post running today on Parse, the blog for designers created by Jennifer and Ken Visocky O’Grady and presented by HOW magazine.

Mosey on over and take a look at “Promote Your Value (Even If You Lack Experience).” It’s about not having to rely on your years of experience to gain trust and credibility. I think you’ll like it.

And there’s lots of other good stuff by other cool people on Parse as well. So stick around and leave a comment or two.

Thanks!

Marcia