This week I am meeting with my fellow Mastermind members to spend three days working on my business. I applied for the Mastermind at a marketing workshop I attended this past spring. In attendance at the workshop were several hundred solo service professionals who were looking for tips and strategies to implement into their business.
Why am I telling you this? Because attending events such as this, has been a MAJOR contributing factor in growing my business to its current level. Did it cost me money to attend this? YES! (The registration fee was $2,497!) Plus, I paid my own travel expenses AND took off time from my business. But was it worth it? ABSOLUTELY! I walked away with contact information for several hot prospects that were just itching to work with me.
Even better than that, I CHOSE to work with as many or as few of these individuals as I wanted and have had no qualms about charging my standard retainer and project fees. I ended up working with four new entrepreneurs who have been an absolute delight to work with. You see, working with just one of these prospective clients MORE than paid for the time and expense it cost me to attend the event. (In fact the combined revenue has been more than 10 times the investment to attend the event!) As an added bonus, it was another great opportunity to hone my networking skills and connect with lots of folks that I had never met face-to-face or hadn’t seen in a while. As you can see, this experience was a win-win all the way around!
What is the moral of the story? We are BUSINESS OWNERS and we MUST invest the time, money and energy in our businesses to grow and market them effectively. I try not to get irritated when I hear VAs say, “Oh, I can’t afford to go to any events, they cost too much money!” That thought should NEVER cross our minds, let alone come out of our mouths. If you tell yourself that you can’t afford to go, then you won’t go. So don’t tell yourself that! If you think you can’t afford to attend live events or invest in programs to enhance or gain new skills it is probably due to a two-fold problem:
1) You aren’t charging enough money for your services and
2) You aren’t setting aside money and time each month/year to invest in yourself and your business.
If you truly want to grow your business and start working smarter, not harder, you MUST invest in your business. It’s simply not optional. And if you are tired of working with DUD clients, who drain your energy, don’t pay you what you’re worth and don’t belong in your practice then you need to identify your IDEAL client and start getting in front of them.
The marketing workshop was filled to the brim with my ideal clients … smart, sassy, forward-thinking women who are ready, willing and eager to take their business to the next level. I was truly inspired by many of the people I met there and made some GREAT connections that I know will lead to new joint ventures, projects and other opportunities. That was EXACTLY the reason I chose to attend the event. . I had recently phased out two non-ideal clients from my practice and was looking to replace them. That’s why I went. And that’s what I got. Putting myself RIGHT in front of my target market and clearly articulating how I can help them improve their business guaranteed me new clients.
As you prepare your business and marketing plan for late 2009/early 2010, be sure you set aside time and money to attend live events to get in front of YOUR target market. It’s one of the fastest, easiest ways to grow your business quickly.
I’d love to know your thoughts on this article, as well as your experiences and questions, so please feel free to post your comments on the blog.
Action Steps for the Week:
- Choose one target market.
- Find online and off-line places where people in that market congregate.
- Look for 2 or 3 events that you would like to attend before December 2009.
- Register for the events and make plans to attend.
- Fix in your mind the problems that you solve for them and the big benefits that your clients receive from working with you.
- Prepare to attend the events and confidently share your expertise.
