All the forks stopped moving, and three business owners turned to look at me with a mixture of envy and curiosity.

I’m used to that reaction. I was answering a question about my business at a luncheon, and I’d just gotten to the part about having several passive revenue programs.

Everyone “gets” the passive revenue concept

A nice place to earn passive revenues

What’s amazing to me is that that everyone, even non-business owners, understand what would be possible for them with even a small stream of recurring passive revenue. I often describe my first program as bringing in “between a car payment and a house payment” every month. That’s a nice little chunk of change for no effort since 2010 when I finished writing it.

Take the First Step

My Director of Marketing, Andy Riegler Andrews, was with me every step of the way as I built my passive revenue programs. Now he’s pulling back the curtain to reveal exactly how we did it, and how you can too. It’s all part of a free webcast, “Get Passive Revenue…. the Simple Way!”

If you’re a coach, consultant or solopreneur selling a service, you can stop trading hours for dollars.

In the webcast Andy teaches:

• Three effective methods to getting passive revenue in your business
• 5 critical and common mistakes that can hobble your passive, recurring revenue for years (trust me – I made them ALL so you don’t have to!)
• The best strategy for maximizing PROFIT and minimizing effort
• The four simple elements you need to start earning passive, recurring revenue
• How you can take action and start getting recurring revenue in just a few days (I did say this was simple, didn’t I?)

Creating passive revenue streams is an investment in your future. Learn the step-by-step, simple formula I followed to generate recurring monthly revenues. GetPassiveRevenue.com

Photo by notsogoodphotography

Related posts:

1. Are you ready for passive marketing?
2. 5 Passive Income Lessons Learned
3. Get started with Branding this Thursday

Carrie is following up with three potential clients she met while networking. When two say no, she begins to feel desperate. Should she call the third one now or wait?

Enrollment in Mark’s program was lower than he expected. He sends email follow-ups to his subscribers, but no more join. Keep emailing, he thinks! Correctly?

Angie’s potential client is like a multi-headed beast. One partner wants to hire her immediately, but the other two have no interest. Despite hearing this in the second meeting, Angie continues to meet with the interested partner for weeks.

What is Magnetic Marketing?

Magnetic marketing is about attracting prospects to you. Other terms for this are inbound and attraction-based marketing. There are many ways to capture the attention and interest of your prospects, such as writing articles, producing content-rich videos and offering targeted events.

Although you have to ensure your content or offers get in front of your audience, the energy of magnetic marketing is inviting. 

Magnetic marketing doesn’t just occur at the start, when someone first learns about you. It’s everything you do to keep drawing them to you until they become your client.

The opposite of magnetic attraction is pursuit. Official terms for this would be outbound and interruption marketing. Some examples would be advertising, direct marketing and telemarketing; although email spam, telemarketing and junk mail fall in this category too.

Although some forms are illegal, the issue I see for small businesses and solopreneurs isn’t outbound marketing. It’s really the energy behind it; the energy of pursuit.

It isn’t that Carrie shouldn’t follow up with her new contacts; it’s that she shouldn’t chase them from a place of desperation.

Similarly, Mark and Angie are in the energy of pursuit, which causes them to ignore the facts.    This energy is NOT inviting. It feels pushy, brings up negative associations and ruins your results.

Why Magnetic Marketing Is Easier

The biggest thing that makes magnetic marketing easier is that it has the energy of inviting your prospects to you, so you don’t feel salesy doing it.

It’s also a naturally generous act – offering information, tools and other value with the intention of helping prospects decide for themselves if you are the best choice to work with them.

Example: One of my favorite ways to do this is with the Welcome Gift on your website. Do you offer some kind of free article or gift to encourage visitors to sign up? You can test different offers to see which converts better. To me the best offers are not only the ones that get the highest conversions but also appeal to those who’d be your perfect clients.

Why Magnetic Marketing Works Better

For one thing, if it doesn’t feel difficult and distasteful, you’re more likely to do it! Marketing that gets done works better.

But as with the website welcome gift, you’re looking to appeal to the needs and desires of a specific person – your perfect client. If you develop content that is aligned with their interests, you’ll push away those who’d be a poor fit and draw perfect clients closer to actually working with you.

In the case of Carrie, she can reconnect to her inviting energy and, while following up, offer something valuable to her new contact, like a free strategy session. Mark and Angie can also move on, knowing that chasing won’t work.

Let’s see – magnetic marketing is easier, feels better and is more effective. Are you ready to start magnetizing your marketing? A smart place to start is Attracting Perfect Clients.

Photo by Christian Gonzalez

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By hortulus via Flickr

Being passive isn’t always a good thing, but today I‘ll show you ways you’ll want to be passive in your business!

One thing that wears out coaches, consultants and other service business owners is that the more successful you get, the more you have to work. While it’s nice to have clients, it’s important to reduce the amount YOU need to work in – and on – your business.

Working IN your business usually refers to delivery: doing what you do for your clients.

Working ON your business usually means growing or taking care of it: marketing, admin, new program development.

You should keep your actual work IN your business to one-third or less of the time you spend working. That means if you work a 5-day week, you should work with clients no more than 2 days per week.

(I’m sure some heads just exploded.)

Here’s why: Because if you spend all your hours working on your clients’ businesses, you have no time to grow your own. Working ON your business – figuring out how to generate more revenue – should take 3 days of each week.

And guess what: if you want to earn more, you can work on your business to find ways to earn more while spending less time working with clients.

That may require a big transition for you. Some ideas here will help you with that:

First, let’s define the types of revenue you can have in your business:

Active revenue: this is what you earn when you do the work; basically, trading your time for money. Examples: coaching and consulting, as well as “Done for You” services like organizing or tax prep.

Leveraged revenue: maximize your hourly earnings by working with groups or having others do the work. Examples: teaching a teleseminar series, membership sites that require a minimum of your time or subcontracting with other experts to help on your projects.

Passive: Work once … and profit over and over again for years. Examples: eBooks and other infoproducts you sell on your website, “residuals” and subscription renewals, membership sites that require none of your time once they’re up and running.

Recurring: Revenue that comes in at a predictable time. All the above – active, passive and leveraged – can be recurring, which is a beautiful thing. ;-)  Examples: subscription fees, monthly payments for coaching programs, payment plans for any product or service, membership dues.

Now here’s the interesting thing: marketing can also be done actively, leveraged, passively and recurring.

Active marketing requires time from you: networking, speaking, producing content like articles and videos.

Leveraged marketing requires some time investment and upkeep, but achieves maximum results with minimal time. Examples: email marketing (send once, reach thousands), teleseminars and syndicated videos.

Passive marketing happens in the background, either by being done once or automated. Examples would be article marketing which, once you’ve done it, continues to send traffic to your site for years; and search engine optimization (SEO). Although SEO can be improved with ongoing efforts, several of my sites haven’t been touched in years and still get traffic and produce revenues – 100% passively.

Recurring marketing could be a weekly leads group you attend, an ezine you send regularly, blogging or social media interaction.

So, here are the ways you can organize your business to operate:

• Active marketing, active delivery
• Active marketing, passive delivery
• Passive marketing, active delivery
• Passive marketing, passive delivery

Which of these is most appealing to you? Which would you like to learn more about? Please let me know in a comment below, and I’ll be sure to write about it more in future articles.

Related posts:

1. 5 Passive Income Lessons Learned
2. How to Get Started Earning Passive Revenue

via Flickr By Nina Matthews Photography

When I first went into business for myself, I had a problem explaining to people what I did.

After my years at The Coca-Cola Company, I knew how to talk about soda, but presenting the value of my services was hard!

When I finally figured it out, I couldn’t believe how easy it was to get clients.  

So let me ask you…

• Are you feeling disheartened when your answer to “what do you do?” causes eyes to glaze over?
• Are you tired of prospects that don’t “get” your value and push back when you name your fees?

I’m hosting a very special teleseminar all about how to make getting more clients effortless, quick and fun!

On this call I will reveal….

• The proven recipe for a Self-Intro that’s SO jaw-dropping, it’ll have potential clients eagerly reaching for your card in seconds
• The easy way to explain your value so clearly that perfect clients say, “OMG! I need to work with you.”
• The 3 elements of your ACE^TM in the hole for more attention and clients
• Why it isn’t a niche that you need (and if you think you have one, it might be ruining your results)
• The 4 essential keys to the SECRET INGREDIENT unique to your business that draws clients like a magnet

Get your spot for this fast-paced teleseminar packed with actionable information here:

http://magneticmarketingessentials.com

The value starts even before the call, as I’m gifting you membership in my Magnetic Marketing Essentials program at no charge!

Make sure you sign up today – space is limited.

Here’s the link to secure your spot: http://magneticmarketingessentials.com

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There is marketing psychology behind the Small, Medium, Large concept.

While sipping a frozen latte, PR consultant Kelli shared a problem.

“Amazing,” I thought. “I’ve been focusing on this all month with my Inner Circle members. Does EVERYONE struggle with this?”

The problem of a single offer

Kelli is a consultant who only sells one thing: her time. The advice and service she delivers during that time is very valuable to her clients, but –-

There are only so many hours in the day, and days in a month.

I’ll bet you know other issues here, since nearly all the consultants and coaches I meet have them, too:

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For small business owners, the New Year brings  hope and opportunity for change but also challenges.  A few years ago I conducted a survey and learned:

• My subscribers’ #1 challenge was getting more clients
• Most were strapped for cash and couldn’t invest a few thousand for a custom client-attraction plan
• They were overwhelmed by too much information and needed LESS learning and MORE action.

Let me show you how client attraction can be easy  and effective – even on a budget.

Start by following these 7 Principles for Reliable Client Attraction

1. Use techniques that are proven to work in YOUR  type of business. Too often I see my clients wasting boatloads of money and time trying to get things to work that simply DO NOT.
2. Ensure you are visible on a weekly basis. Getting in front of your prospects, whether virtually or in person, will generate leads for you on an ongoing basis.
3. Follow up with interested prospects diligently. Don’t let the lack of a little discipline cost you a lot of revenue.  Build systems that make it easy for you to find and deliver the information your prospects need to make a decision.  Promptly!
4. Don’t be forgotten by your “brand constituents.”  Another form of visibility, a “keep-in-touch” strategy holds you top-of-mind with your network and ensures ongoing leads, clients, referrals and revenues.
5. Create and distribute client-attracting content. One of the most enlightened things you can do is generously share your expertise with prospects through free reports, teleseminars and ezines like this one. Done correctly, these samples are like an appetizer course which makes perfect clients hungry for more.
6. Reduce fluctuations by attracting online and offline. I’m all about balance and diversification. When you have both local and remote clients, in your town and around the world, you’ll have the freedom of a location-independent business.
7. Think active AND passive, for marketing and delivery. Boy, overworked solopreneurs “get” that passive revenue is a winner!  But did you know you can automate systems so your marketing is also passive? Attracting clients while you sleep – how awesome is that?

Implement These Principles in Your Business … The Easy and Affordable Way!

How would you like to have:

• My personal collection of step-by-step, proven client attraction techniques
• A program that’s affordable to join and use, even for those just starting out
•  Short action plans that arrive once per week, laid out for paint-by-numbers implementation.

That’s what you get in Enlightened Marketing’s wildly successful client attraction system, Attracting Perfect Clients.

“It Really Does Work!!”

Member Louella-Rosie Jones emailed me to report: “The impact of following your lessons exactly as you laid them out REALLY DOES WORK!! Your step-by-step methods are ones I never thought of, but because I read your weekly lessons and really, really, really followed the steps, I reaped the benefit. I was able to obtain my very first PERFECT CLIENT!”

Get Into Action Quickly

Attracting Perfect Clients will get you into action quickly, then build a solid client attraction system. It provides specific steps for turning principles like these into weekly tasks.

It’s a step-by-step program for filling your pipeline with a steady stream of perfect clients.  Each weekly lesson delivers one proven marketing technique from my own, private files of successful client attraction.

Within the first month Emra Smith reported: “One day I finally  got the nerve and struck up a conversation. From that unexpected  contact I got a 7 year-long training engagement worth over six  figures each year!”

Time to Bring in More Clients to Your Business?

All you need is a take-action attitude and in just 24 hours you can start filling your pipeline with a steady stream of perfect clients. It’s simple, effective and you’ll be thrilled with the modest investment.

Related posts:

1. Client Attraction Myths (and the Reality)
2. Still Using These 3 Awful Client Attraction Techniques?

Did you just add me to your email list without permission?

Often you hear us at Enlightened Marketing talking about “client attraction,” and indeed, when marketing is done right, it really DOES attract clients like a magnet.

Of course, once you have someone in your magnetic field, you want to intensify that relationship until you make a connection and they decide to invest with you. One of the most effective ways to intensify that relationship – electrify the magnet, if you will – is to use email marketing.

Keeping in touch with prospective clients using a service like Aweber is still one of the very best ways to build your business and reputation. This is because it enhances your status as an expert – and gives prospects real-life proof you can help them solve their problems.

Don’t Accidentally Repel Clients!

Unfortunately, many coaches and consultants make a very critical mistake when they begin their foray into email marketing.

That mistake is that they assume that all of the contacts in their address list would like to receive their email newsletter.

Let me begin my explanation by reminding you that the point of your marketing is not to reach just anyone… all of your marketing efforts should be designed solely to attract perfect clients. Having a list of 300 people who adore what you do and are eager to invest with you is dramatically more valuable than a list with 1,000 random people on it.

Possibly the worst scenario is to have a list on it full of people who do not want to hear from you. That’s because when they see your name in their inbox, they have a negative reaction – and that actually damages your business identity. It turns that magnet around and starts repelling people.

Now, I have a hard truth for you:

The vast majority of people do NOT want to be on your email newsletter list.

Just because they are your relative… or you went to school together… or you have worked together before does NOT mean they want to get your email newsletter.

Did you swap cards with someone at a networking event? That also does NOT mean they wish to get your email newsletter. In fact, if you add them to your email list without getting their express permission, your email newsletter can’t fail to annoy the recipient and damage your business identity.

So how do you add perfect clients to your email marketing list?

Offer them an incentive they want to have! For example, at Enlightened Marketing, we offer the multi-media JumpStart toolkit as a welcome gift. Another highly-desired topic you can learn about, just by signing up, is the easiest way to get passive revenue.

Sure, you will reduce the size of your list (at least initially) by limiting your email list size to those who have explicitly expressed their interest. However, you will have a list of perfect clients… attracted by your unique and special talents and eager to do business with you!

P.S. Photo by All-seeing angler
N.B. This post contains affiliate links. We only recommend products we use, trust and/or love.

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Instead of analyzing what ISN’T working, look for “successful efforts worth emulating” or bright spots.

That’s one of the points made by Chip & Dan Heath in my favorite book of recent years, Switch: How to Change Things When Change is Hard.

In case studies from malnutrition in Vietnam to pharma sales in Texas, looking for the bright spots saved time (sometimes decades), avoided blame and other distracting emotions, and best of all – got results.

It’s easier to model success than to figure out what’s broken, think about WHY it’s broken, wonder if our mothers are at fault for that, run some cost-based diagnostics and you know, generally dwell and worry.

Bright Spots - Quick, Simple and … They Work!

As you reflect on your year, keep bright spots in mind. It’s more motivating AND effective to avoid dwelling on all that didn’t work. Focus instead on “successful efforts worth emulating,” including your own!

At Enlightened Marketing we dedicate ourselves to transforming the businesses of enlightened entrepreneurs from exhausting, one-on-one consulting or coaching practices into sustainable, balanced, profitable businesses.

If you’re earning high 5-figures or even 6-figures but working way too hard for it, click here to schedule a Sustainable Business Strategy Session.

Bright Spots in Your Business

What worked for you? What was your favorite thing you learned this year? Where were you surprised by good results – even the smallest ones?

My favorite outcome of the year was building a team that performed like a well-oiled machine. Formerly a dreadful delegator (“If you want it done right, do it yourself” – bah!), I watched a number of projects move from start to finish without my involvement.

When I say I can teach you to earn more, more easily, I am speaking from experience!

I also enjoyed learning that whether I worked a crazed schedule from my home office, or an island schedule from our summer home on Martha’s Vineyard, it made no difference to my revenues.

OK, it’s a restful summer on an island from now on!

Bright Spots in Your Clients’ Results

We went back to past clients this spring to gather testimonials before a program launch and heard incredible stories! New clients, higher revenues … it was amazing:

Steve Moulton writes: “I worked with Samantha  to define my marketing message … it has  given me a lot of confidence and this week I started  working on the largest customer project I’ve ever  closed, worth over $150,000.”

Dr. Tom Wilk, whom I hadn’t spoken with in over a year, happily reported he’d had double-digit growth both years since we worked together. (Over 20 times return on his investment!)

 I also love “firsts.” Attracting Perfect Clients member Louella-Rosie Jones reported she got her “very first PERFECT CLIENT who pays my hourly fee without blinking an eye, and that makes  my heart sing – big time!”

And finally, OUR perfect client, Ellen van den Berg,  who’ll continue with us in the 2012 Enlightened Marketing Inner Circle launched her first “leveraged revenue stream,”  a teleseminar series in 2011.

In 2012 this will become a major revenue stream and the foundation of both leveraged and passive revenues, relieving the burden of time-intensive, one-on-one work. Yay, right?

What  bright spots in your business will you be looking to build on in the coming year? 

Thanks to Mr Physics for the Photo. 

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A successful dentist, my client “Luke” was looking for ways to grow his practice. One thing he identified was the need to get more patients onto treatment plans (a kind of recurring revenue) instead of ad hoc services.

There are many ways to establish trust ...

Like many, Luke doesn’t like to think of himself as selling. However, he was open to my suggestion that outlining treatment plans for his patients and helping them choose the right ones is actually giving medical advice – which means he is still acting in his role as a doctor.

When you help your prospect to make decisions that are in their best interest, you may be involved in a selling conversation, but you’re actually coaching or consulting with them.

In those cases where you honestly feel the best the thing your clients could do to solve their issues and get their desired outcomes, I believe it’s your responsibility as their advisor - and as steward of your God-given abilities – to speak up and tell them so.

5 Words That Help Your Prospects Make a Decision

I was introduced to this phrase by our family veterinarian. One day when she was advising me on my options, I felt overwhelmed and unsure how to proceed.

Sensing this, she said:

“Well, if he were my cat …”

I thought it was because I trusted her so deeply that I listened, and then followed what she said she would do. But on another occasion, when I was getting my car serviced, I had to choose which tires to I wanted – something I know nothing about. Not an easy decision, until my mechanic said:

“If you were my wife…”

Then he advised me the kind of tires he’d buy. I haven’t known him for more than a few years, and I see him rarely, yet I found I trusted what he said in that context.

When using this phrase in business, I find it raises your empathy and invokes all kinds of intuitive and wise thoughts you might not have accessed if you simply followed a sales “script.”

How do you imagine it fitting into your business?

On last week’s call I revealed what it takes to transform your exhausting consulting or coaching practice into a sustainable, balanced, profitable business in which you have more freedom and joy.

Since then, many listeners reported that they:

• Found my concept of a sustainable business – with diversified revenue streams and sane working hours - very appealing
• Have revenues ranging from scraping by to pretty good, but simply can’t sustain their current  pace
• Had some dissatisfaction with past programs and coaches who weren’t able to understand their kind of business and how they wanted to grow
•  Had a deep desire for ROI at last!

Here Are My 5 Words For You

If it were my business, I’d invest in a program led by someone whose business closely resembled the one I want.

The leader should demonstrate experience with my kind of business and have a history of generating tangible financial results. I’d step up and invest in a long-term program that would allow us to really dig in and focus not just on learning new skills but applying them, getting results and improving them.

If it were my business, I’d dedicate 2012 to transitioning to a new model, because I’d know I can’t continue at this pace, with this unpredictability for another five or ten years.

Begin the transition with a no-cost and no-obligation Sustainable Business Roadmap Session.

Thanks to Joi for the photo. 

Related posts:

1. Follow the Love: 5 Tips for More Effective and Joyful Marketing
2. Not Enough Prospects? Snap Out of It!
3. Words NOT to use in Ads or Messaging

Is your consulting practice a far cry from the business you dreamed of owning? Does it feel less like an empowering, exhilarating business and more like… well… a job?

If you’re like most consultants, you’re on a constant hunt for clients. Small biz clients are strapped for cash, and corporations are slower than ever to pay. When you have work, you’re too busy to market; and when you don’t have work — oh, let’s not even go there.

Believe it: you can transform your business into a full-time JOY for yourself – with steady revenues, increasing profits and more free time. Let me tell you how … but first – why are so many consultants out there still struggling?

Even Successful Consultants Have a HUGE Vulnerability

After I left my corporate job at The Coca-Cola Company over a decade ago, I started out with an offline model. My only revenue stream was one-on-one consulting, and my marketing was word-of-mouth and networking. Luckily, I had the powerful connections to create a 6-figure business my first year out, but …

Break your leg and your business is toast. How much will you make 4 months from now? Who knows?!

There’s no predictability in consulting.

Even my colleague who makes $1M per gig (omg, right?) stresses about finding his next client and having zero months. For me, those days are o-v-e-r …

Your Consulting Practice Needs a New Business Model

Today most of my revenues are from streams besides one-on-one consulting. I work personally only with a select group of Platinum-level clients who are ultra-committed to implementing and seeing results.

I reach thousands of prospects with the click of a mouse, and nearly all my clients come to me through my website. (Need a site of your own? You can register domain names for small businesses here.)  They are precisely the socially-responsible small business owners and solopreneurs I love to work with.  I still have clients in Canada, Beijing, South Africa and, yes, Little Rock (just 25 minutes away), but I mentor them from my peaceful home office, surrounded by my dogs and cat.

Most consultants feel they must sacrifice either business success or life balance. It’s just not true!

You, Too, Can Earn More, More Easily and Enjoy Leverage, Predictability and Peace of Mind

Join me for this free call – “Consulting Business Model Secrets”

On this jam-packed, 60-minute call, you’ll learn:

• The 5 biggest mistakes consultants make that keep them running behind
• The dirty little secret famous consultants aren’t telling you
• Your #1 priority if you want to grow your income swiftly
• The GIANT trap that sabotages more consultants than any other
• My favorite strategy for growing your biz FAST with sustainable results

This call will be free to attend or listen to as a recording until Dec. 7th only. I’m planning to make the recording part of a $97 product, available for purchase in late December. So please hop on this; I really want this information in the hands of more consultants (well, the good ones like you).

 If you’re ready to build more predictability and leverage into your business model, be sure to register today.

That one-on-one consulting model will wear you out eventually. Then what? It takes a new perspective, and new ideas, to move forward when you’re stuck. Discover how I broke free, so you can, too.

Photo thanks to Brian M Forbes

P.S. More of a coach than a consultant, but curious? It’s okay. I won’t be checking ID at the door.

Related posts:

1. Attract Way More Clients with Way Less Effort: Free Teleseminar
2. Softer Selling Skills for Coaches, Consultants and Solopreneurs