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How To Connect With Potential Clients: The Fire Element

Thrive Academy Blog July 23, 2014

Do you ever not know what to say when you meet someone new?

Especially at a networking event... 

Sure...you can ask, “What do you do?” 

But if you’ve ever felt shy, nervous or insecure at a party, live event, networking event (or anywhere where the intention is to mingle), you’re really going to love this video, where you’ll discover some of our secrets for how to connect with potential clients.

Some people think that just because we’ve become so successful, that we never experienced the frustration of not knowing how to attract the right clients.

But this isn’t the case… 12 years ago, when I (Sharla) first started my acupuncture and coaching business and went to events where the intention was to connect with potential clients, I always thought, “I must be the youngest and most inexperienced person here.”  This was a nerve-wracking experience. 

Can you relate?

It feels great to be on the other side of this, now that I’ve got the confidence and credibility I was missing back then.

And even if you feel confident about your work, being in situations where you’re meeting new people may still feel like a challenge.

This is why I made this short video for you on how to connect with potential clients using the Fire Element. 

We’ve had so many people tell us that when they really understood how to use the Fire Element in their Heartselling™ conversations with potential clients, it became easy to meet new people and all that nervousness went away.

Enjoy the video and please leave a comment below.

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The First Steps To Getting Clients

One of the biggest questions people ask us is, “I’m just getting started. What should I do first to get clients?” 

People may tell you to do one of the following:

  • Create a website,
  • Try to get speaking gigs,
  • Create a business card,
  • Brand yourself or
  • Start building your email list, for example.

It can be totally overwhelming!

theFirstStepstoGettingClientsWhile all of these things are important to consider, these aren’t the first steps to getting clients. And you can spin your wheels for months (or even years) working on the list above and get little or no clients from all of your hard work.

We want to save you from the agony of working on the things that don’t really make much of a difference (contrary to popular belief) until you really understand what works to get clients fast. (BTW, the list above is an important list to consider…just wait to work on this stuff until you’re sure you have a sustainable business and you can count on yourself to attract the right clients.)

We’ve made millions in our business over the last 10 years and we know what it takes to get clients.
But 12 years ago, I thought that getting clients for my life coaching “business” meant hanging flyers all over town and waiting for my phone to ring.

This strategy worked.  My phone did ring.  The only problem was that on the other end of the line was my mom… suggesting I get a J-O-B.

Since I couldn’t even get one private client to pay me money, I took her advice.

As I sunk into my depressing, full-time J-O-B, I found myself getting jealous when Sharla’s business started to thrive.  But another part of me was fascinated.

Before my eyes, I saw a VERY simple, 3-step system to getting clients.

You may be RELIEVED to know that you can successfully work this 3-step system, WITHOUT the following 4 things that most business coaches will tell you are necessary.

You don’t need:

 

  • A fancy business card.

    In a Heartselling™ Conversation, it is MUCH more important to their card (so you can check in with them) than it is to give them yours.  After working with thousands of clients and making over 10 Million Dollars in our business, we STILL don’t have business cards.  If you don’t have business cards yet, and feel insecure about this, you can simply say, “I am in the process of creating a new card, but in the meantime I would love to get your card so I can check back in with you about ____________(something from your conversation that is check-in worthy).”

  • A fancy website.

    Unless you are driving people to look at your website, it will get lost in cyberspace.  The best thing websites do, when you’re just getting started, is to give you a tiny bit of credibility.  But you can get credibility in other ways (that don’t cost anything) when you master the art of positioning yourself (you’ll discover more on how to position yourself in next week’s blog and in our new Client Attraction Mastery Home-Study Course that we’ll be unveiling soon).

    If you don’t have a website yet, “I am in the process of creating a new website, but in the meantime I would be happy to answer any questions you have about how I might be able to help you.”

  • A fancy flyer or brochure.

    Brochures aren’t a bad thing.  But don’t expect your brochure to do anything big for your business.

  • Fancy branding.

    When you are first starting out, you have 2 main jobs:

    1. Get clients
    2. Discover what makes your services unique.

You will actually discover your unique brand BY working with clients, rather than the other way around.

Going through a branding process can speed up this discovery, but we would hate for you to brand yourself, only to discover that your business is different than what you thought it would be. 

After investing over $200,000 in total to re-brand our business, we can say that to go through a process like this when you’re first getting started might be premature.

A lot of people wait to get started until they have these 4 fancy things in place, not realizing whilst these 4 things are great, they are not necessary to attract clients.

The best way to discover what to write on your business card or brochure is through having conversations with potential clients and noticing what inspires you and has your potential clients say “YES!” to you.  We call these types of conversations, “Heartselling™ Conversations.”

This leads us to our simple 3-Step System:

  1. Have a Heartselling™ Conversation with a potential client and discover how you can help them
  2. Offer your Potential Client a Free Consultation
  3. At the end of the Free Consultation, invite them to sign up for a package of your services.

When I saw how easy this could be, I set a goal to get 10 clients in one month so I could quit my J-O-B.

I gave about 10 Free Consultations that month, and got 5 new paying clients.  I was so fired up and confident that I couldn’t wait another day to give notice.

I quit my J-O-B that month.  Shortly after that, I got 16 clients in one month.  That was when I knew I had mastered Heartselling™.

That was about 11 years ago.  I haven’t looked back since!

Let us know what you got from this article by leaving a comment below. And share with friends if you found this valuable.

"Want help with your free consultation?"

One of the first hurdles healers, coaches, and holistic practitioners face when they start doing free consultations is knowing what to do when someone whom you know in your bones you can help says, "I can't afford it."

If you've ever heard this then we invite you to join us for a free Masterclass, "Transform 'I can't afford it' Into a Deep 'Yes'".

Click here to register and you'll find out how to gracefully answer this question and much more.

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How To Package Your Services So You Can Give Yourself A Raise

give yourself a raise

Do you want to give yourself a raise?

If you’re still only offering your services by the hour or session, you’re losing the opportunity to not only make more money, but also get better results for your clients.

We’ve taught over 25,000 coaches and holistic practitioners how to attract clients. And one of the most common questions we get asked is, “How do I create a package?”

Today’s video shows you how to give yourself a raise by offering packages (instead of just one session at a time).

You’ll hear a real live example of how a hypnotherapist gave herself a raise by offering packages.  You’ll also hear how offering a package can make you feel so generous when someone asks you, “How much do you charge?”

Comment below and share how you will package your services and give yourself a raise.

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Do you really need a niche for your coaching business or holistic practice?

So many Coaches, Practitioners, and Entrepreneurs come to us with questions about their niche; many wonder if they really need one to be successful.

After working with over 20,000 people, here’s what we’ve discovered…

When you don’t have a niche, you end up doing business the hard way.
(This may seem like unfortunate news, but let us assure you that this can actually be great news for you!)

Sharla Teaching at Get LeverageSo what is a niche?

A lot of people say it’s a specialty, but this isn’t really true. After all, you could specialize in authentic Thai massage or a particular style of coaching, but that isn’t a niche.

We define it as a problem that you solve for a specific group of people.

For some people, creating a niche is counter-intuitive, so we want to share 3 really powerful benefits that you get when you create a niche for yourself.

Benefit #1: You Become an Expert

After 100 hours of studying and working in a particular field with a particular problem, you will form a level of expertise. After 1,000 hours you will develop mastery. Within a year you could develop a high level of mastery within one niche.

When you first get started with your niche, you’ll most likely feel like a novice. Every person who starts with a new niche, starts as a beginner. (Even the people who you see as experts now...they were once beginners). You’ve got to start somewhere! So if you think you’re not an expert at anything, then get started with a niche and after three months, you’ll gain more confidence. By the end of one year, you’ll become an expert.

If you choose not to have a niche, you’ll be a jack of all trades, master of none.

Do you want proof?

Who gets paid more, the heart surgeon or the family doctor? The heart surgeon, because she has a specific expertise – she spent tons of time studying all of the details associated with the heart.

It is simply impossible for the family doctor to gain that much knowledge about the entire human body. And people seek out the specialist, who will help them with their specific problem.

Benefit #2: Become a Big Fish in a Small Pond

When we first started out, we didn’t really know what we were doing, we just knew how to fill our schedule with clients. That’s all we knew how to do. Our clients were asking us how we did it, and we told them. We didn’t really have a lot of training in it, we hadn’t gotten MBA’s, we’d gone to a few seminars, applied a few things, and then we had a full schedule.

So we started to share what we were doing with others and before you knew it, a lot of people (in Santa Cruz) had heard of us (especially the Coaches, Practitioners, and Entrepreneurs). We became a big fish in a small pond.

And that’s how we grew from zero to $175,000 in our first year. All of our clients were local that first year. We were the go to people in Santa Cruz for marketing and growing a successful business if you were a Coach, Practitioner, or Entrepreneur.

When you don’t have a niche, you end up being a small fish in a big pond. If you’re just helping people live the life of their dreams, you’re competing with Landmark, Tony Robbins, Wayne Dyer, Byron Katie, and Marianne Williamson. You’re competing with all those people who’ve already established themselves.

It’s much better to form one specific area in which you become an expert.

Benefit #3: Attract Referrals

When you have a clear niche, people know exactly who to refer to you. This is a huge benefit, because people in your niche know other people who are also in your niche.

Say for example, you work with single women who want to meet the guy of their dreams. Or professionals looking to leave their job and start their own business. Chances are, these people know others LIKE THEM dealing with the same kind of problem.

And if you can help them solve their problem, they’re going to tell everyone they know about the great work you do… and this is a great way for you to start getting more referrals.

We hope you’re convinced that it’s essential to your success to choose a niche, so you can easily start attracting new clients into your business.

Tell us about what you’ve learned about needing a niche and how you think this will change your business on our Thrive Academy Facebook page.

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