By Adam Urbanski, The Marketing Mentor

Are you rich and famous yet? Some people would have you believe that all you need to build a super-successful business are a good product or service, healthy self-confidence, and undying passion for your work.

If that were really true you'd already be filthy rich and obscenely famous, right? But fact is, the old "do a good job and clients will come" marketing advise is the biggest pile of rubbish ever invented!

So here is an eye-opening "BIG SECRET" that just might make "good fortune" come your way: it's not how good your product and service is, and it's certainly not your passion. It's your ability to attract and retain clients!

OK, so you already knew that, right? Now let me show you how fixing a few "little problems" in five key areas in your marketing system can easily make you out-smart and out-perform all those "highly skilled and motivated" folks with a deep aversion to real marketing.

1. Lack of visibility. If not enough people know about you, it will always be a challenge to get enough new business. If this is you, the following might be some of your challenges:

You don't know the value of each client and don't invest enough in marketing.

You don't do enough active marketing (getting your message out) because you are too busy doing passive marketing (tweaking your websites and brochures to make them "just perfect")

Your promotion dollars and efforts are spent in the wrong place or on the wrong activities.

Obviously, zeroing in a specific target market, knowing how much you can invest to get a client, and forking over a few dollars to get your message in front of a group of good potential clients would fix this problem in no time at all!

2. Lack of interest. If you find that people are aware of what you do but don't express desire to learn more about how you could help them, you've got a whole new different set of problems:

Perhaps you are confused about who your target market is and are barking up the wrong tree.

Your message might be confusing and people who know of you are unsure how - if at all - you could be of service to them.

Maybe you practice the "hop and drop" approach and quit each strategy before giving it a fair chance to start generating the results you want.

Finally, what might be missing from your marketing efforts is a clear call to action and a compelling offer that just gets people hungry for more.

3. Poor conversion. This is when you can't convince folks who express interest in your product or service to actually become paid clients. If this is your challenge, check if any of these statements right true for you:

You are unclear about the real value of your offer and find it difficult convincing prospects that it's worth paying money for

You don't have a process to uncover potential client's needs, get nervous in sales situations, and feel that it would be "slimy and unprofessional" to actually ask for the business.

Your idea of negotiating and closing the sale is to offer a huge discount off your regular price, hoping that will get prospects excited enough to take action (which usually isn't.)

You take the first "no" for the final answer and never give your prospects a chance to change their mind.

4. Poor retention. When clients use your services only once and don't come back for more. Any mega-successful entrepreneur will quickly tell you that this is how the BIG MONEY in business is made. Yet most professionals are oblivious to this and keep chasing new business instead of expanding their work with existing clients.

If you feel your clients aren't sticking around for as long as you'd like them to, explore these possible problems:

Your marketing promise doesn't match the reality.

You forget to set clear expectations at the beginning of each project so progress and results are unclear.

You fail to educate current clients how to maximize the benefits they get from working with you.

You only offer one type or one level of service, or you assume your current clients are already aware of all the ways you could help them, so you never make new offers to them. (BIG MISTAKE!)

5. Lack of referrals. OK, this is really confusing: you do a good job, you're passionate about your work, and you really care about your clients. In fact - they couldn't be more satisfied with their outcomes. But still - they don't give you nearly as many referrals as you know they could... Want to know why? Here it is...

Do you have at least one proven referral process you consistently use with all clients?

Do you educate your clients about your referral process and set the expectations of getting referrals from them?

Do you have tools that make it easy for clients to "give you away" to their friends and associates?

Do you make it a habit to ask for referrals and do you know the best way and time to do so?

Finally, do you immediately acknowledge each referral with at least a thank you card?

So listen, doing a good job and being confident and passionate about your work is certainly important. But just don't bank your retirement money on that alone! Consider throwing a bit of marketing savvy into the mix and watch your bottom line grow like never before!

Find out here how you can create a simple marketing action plan that finally gets you all the new business you want.

© 2004 Marketing Mentors. All Rights Reserved.

The Author, Marketing Mentor, Adam Urbanski, works exclusively with Independent Service Professionals who want to grow their business, attract more clients, and increase sales and profits. Visit his website for more free tutorial articles and how-to tips to creating a winning Marketing Action Plan.

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