The Internet is such a big place that it is becoming increasingly critical to ensure that your website collects visitor’s contact details.

Why? Because the alternative is that visitors click into your site, have a look around, think ‘hmmmm that’s interesting, I think I might come back later and find out more when I’ve got a bit more time’. Then they click away and they are gone… forever.

While they might intend to come back, they forget, they lose the website address, they forget to write your url down and so on. If you want each and every potential visitor to your site to become a potential client, then you need to capture their contact details and then keep in touch with them so they don’t forget about you.

The easiest way of doing that is to give something away for free on your website.

You might give them something physical like a voucher or some samples or alternatively you might give them something non-physical like an entry in a competition to win something or something digital like a recording, an e-book or a report. Digital and non-physical items are the best because they don’t cost you anything whereas a physical item does.

Regardless of whether is it is a physical product or service you are giving them or something non-physical which has perceived value, the client need to feel as if whatever you are offering is of high enough value to them for them to give you their name, email address and/or phone number.

You also need to ensure that whatever it is you are giving away is going to be of interest to your client. Giving away an e-book on ‘making more money’ isn’t necessarily going to be of interest to a client who came to your site looking for someone who does waxing in their local area. However an e-book on ‘How to have smooth, hair-free legs in 14 minutes’ might be!

Let’s say for example you are a holistic therapist and all these new people are calling up or going onto your website to check out what specific types of massage you do and how much it all is. You have potential clients who are right there on your website right now, interested in the Reiki, Reflexology and Indian Head Massage treatments that you offer. What now? How do you translate those website visits and those enquiries into cash? What can tip the scales to turn those visitors into revenue or profit?

Well, what about offering them a free download of relaxation recording that they can listen to before their appointment with you? Or a guide how to let the stress ooze away after work?

Whatever you decide to give away, it needs to be relevant to your business and what those clients are looking for. It also needs to be good value for their time. If your potential clients are taking the time to enter their details and read or listen to whatever it is you’ve given them, they need to feel as if it was worth their time afterwards.

Then when they start to receive communications or newsletters from you letting them know your latest offers, they will think back to the great freebie you gave them and think ‘yes, I really ought to book a massage’.

This is where it comes back to truly understanding that the market has evolved from the days when all that was required to build a successful business was the odd advert in the local paper. That still works for some types of clientele but for most, we need to focus on getting those client’s contact details and then building a relationship with them through our newsletters and marketing until they are in the right place in their lives to book or buy.

And your website is a great place to start. Take a look at it today and see whether it is capturing potential client’s details for you or if those visitors are drifting away and eventually purchasing or booking elsewhere.

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ABOUT THE AUTHOR: Rebecca Kepple specializes in helping business owners massively increase their client base and profits.  To get instant access to her free insider secrets report ‘The Top 7 Secrets for Massively Increasing Your Client Base’ visit: http://www.wellbeingbusinesssecrets.com/freedownload.

© Copyright Rebecca Kepple 2008

Want to use this article on your site or in your newsletter?  This article may be reprinted provided no part thereof is edited in any way and this ‘about the author’ section is included.

Now if any of you have read the E-Myth by Michael Gerber, you’ll know that happy clients who come back and back don’t just jump at you out of nowhere. To attract and retain clients who rave about your business, you have to be providing a technically great service backed by good business practices, all of which needs to be delivered with a smile.

In fact, Michael Gerber talks about in his book that the key reason most businesses end up failing is because the person who started the business was what he calls an excellent technician but not someone who is strong at understanding what’s required from a business perspective.

And while things have moved on a bit from when Michael Gerber first wrote the book that in essence is

There might be much more business help available out there these days. There might be way more self help books, far more marketing seminars and business owners in general might be much more switched on in terms of what’s required but in essence most people still get into business not because they want to OWN a business, but because they are incredibly GOOD at what they do and it just seems like the next logical step.

And that’s where a lot of people are today.  They become very very good at whatever service they provide, they want the lifestyle that can come with being self employed or a business owner and so they start their own business… a clinic, a practice, a salon, a spa, a mobile company… And then they realise if they want to make that clinic / practice / salon / whatever successful, they realise they’ve got to master the business skills too.  Because even if you are the most amazing therapist, coach, stylist, healer, therapist or practitioner in the world, you won’t make any money if clients don’t know you are there.

They can’t book if they don’t know your phone number.  They can’t buy anything if they don’t know where you are or what your website is called.  And they can’t become regular clients if they’ve never met you.  Which means the amazing therapist who started the business ends up feeling as if they are wasting their time because the business isn’t doing as well as they want it to.

So that’s why I‘ve done so much work over the years on learning what works.  I felt very much the same way.  I was working so hard to get my clinic going, we had amazing service but noone was coming in.  And I realised that while we could carry on giving the best service ever, it wasn’t any good if I was going to end up bankrupt because we didn’t have any clients coming in.

So I watched what the bigger more successful businesses were doing, adapted their strategies, copied them and then kept testing and refining them till I came up with a blueprint for running my business which worked.

And these strategies that I used in my first therapy clinic, I’ve used again in other practices since then and in fact I’ve even adapted the exact same strategies to use it in my current business today even though now I run a coaching business and membership site instead of the spas and clinics I used to run.

As Michael Gerber says, to get around the fact that most people’s key skill is their ability as a technician (or therapist or stylist or coach for many of you on the call), and they are in new territory with the business side of things, they need to find systems that work, adapt them to their business and then apply them over and over again for guaranteed success.

Some questions to think about… What about you?  Where do your key skills lie?  Is it in the technical, service side of things or is on the business side?  And what do you need to learn to move your business to where you want it to go?

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ABOUT THE AUTHOR: Rebecca Kepple specializes in helping business owners massively increase their client base and profits.  To get instant access to her free insider secrets report ‘The Top 7 Secrets for Massively Increasing Your Client Base’ visit: http://www.wellbeingbusinesssecrets.com/freedownload.

© Copyright Rebecca Kepple 2008

Want to use this article on your site or in your newsletter?  This article may be reprinted provided no part thereof is edited in any way and this ‘about the author’ section is included.

Most clients who book appointments with you both enjoy whatever service you provide and can clearly see the benefits of this service. If they didn’t, they wouldn’t have booked in the first place.

For example if a client books a massage, they can clearly want a massage and they know they will feel better afterwards. Or for someone who gets their hair cut, they know their hair is going to look better for it and they can look in the mirror afterwards and get proof of this.

What is the possibility that when that person comes in for their massage they think… “Gee this is great, my sore calf muscle is finally relaxing a bit.  But you know what, after this, I’m not going to book in for at least another 6 months because I actually enjoy hobbling around when it hurts a bit”?

Not very likely.  When that person books in for their massage they know its going to help them and they’ve got every intention of coming back again to ensure their calf muscle is fully rehabilitated.

And when that person comes in for their haircut, what’s the likelihood of them thinking… “Wow, I love this new haircut but I actually quite like it when the style grows out and there’s lots of split ends.  I don’t think I’ll book another hair cut for at least 8 or 9 months”?

Again not likely or they wouldn’t have bothered booking their haircut in the first place.

In reality those people are probably thinking “gee, I must book in for often, my hair looks fantastic” or “wow my muscle is really relaxing, I must ask if I should come back next week to get it completely back to normal”.

So in our marketing processes, we need to educate our clients.

Show them you are the expert and give them the knowledge to understand how they can help themselves.  It’s like the Chinese Proverb “Give a man a fish and he will eat for a day. Teach him how to fish and he will eat for a lifetime.”

If you take the time to build those relationships and you teach your clients WHY their hair starts to look a bit icky after a few months and HOW it is going to benefit them to book in more often, then they will make that decision themselves that they ought to book in more often.

And if you then start showing them what they can do in their day-to-day life to keep their hair looking good until their next appointment… they will respect you and trust your opinion.

And then if you are in regular contact with them, they will never go anywhere else.  Because they trust you, they like you, you’ve been helpful to them and you take the time to share your expert knowledge with them.

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ABOUT THE AUTHOR: Rebecca Kepple specializes in helping business owners massively increase their client base and profits.  To get instant access to her free insider secrets report ‘The Top 7 Secrets for Massively Increasing Your Client Base’ visit: http://www.wellbeingbusinesssecrets.com/freedownload.

© Copyright Rebecca Kepple 2008

Want to use this article on your site or in your newsletter?  This article may be reprinted provided no part thereof is edited in any way and this ‘about the author’ section is included.

In the latest book from Ken Blanchard’s “The One Minute…..” series called ‘The One Minute Entrepreneur – The Secret to Creating and Sustaining a Successful Business’ he gives an interesting definition.

If you look after your customers they will come back to buy again and if you motivate your team, they will help you build your business.

When was the last time you reviewed at what are doing to look after your customers and team?

Business is, in essence, about relationship building and the profit you make is the fruit of that relationship.

It’s a bit like people you might have gone to school with.  How many of them are you still in contact with?  If I look back to all those years ago, I’m only still in touch with a handful of the people I went to school with.

For the people that I’m still in contact with, we have a great relationship.  Since we are all busy nowadays, we might not see each other that often but we email lots and we chat regularly on the phone.  I know what’s happening in their families, they know about mine, and we still value each other greatly as friends.

But if I was to bump into anyone else that I went to school with in the supermarket, I’m sad to say its now been so long that I’m not sure if I would recognise them.

I bet if we did met in the supermarket, we’d end up going for a coffee and having a good long chat.  I bet they are still the same wonderful people that I knew in school.  However until that day when we might meet up randomly or re-discover each other on Facebook somehow and rekindle that friendship, I don’t count them among my closest friends.

Whether it’s personal relationships, or business ones, if you don’t stay in touch you lose that feeling of closeness.  But if you do stay in touch the relationship stays strong.

The same goes for both clients and your team.

If you want to build a strong relationship with your clients where they would never even think of going to someone else or missing their appointment, then you need to nurture this and allow it to flourish through regular contact.

Send an email, do a newsletter, make a phone call.  Reach out, make the effort and it will be rewarded.

For a team that supports you all the way - that will do everything to help you success - you need to look after them.  Make them feel supported, cared for and most of all, trusted, and they will help you move your business forward.

Most people genuinely want to be successful.  Very few ever try to fail.  If anyone in your team isn’t doing very well, perhaps look at it a different way and ask why.  Do they have the environment and help they need to be a success?  What else could help?  How are they feeling inside when they come to work?

And if you are the only person on your team, this includes looking after yourself.  If you are the only one building your business, its even more important that you feel supported.  Take a moment out when you need it.  Surround yourself with family and friends that really care and who look forward to hearing how your day was.  Do what you need the most to keep yourself motivated and energised.

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ABOUT THE AUTHOR: Rebecca Kepple specializes in helping business owners massively increase their client base and profits.  To get instant access to her free insider secrets report ‘The Top 7 Secrets for Massively Increasing Your Client Base’ visit: http://www.wellbeingbusinesssecrets.com/freedownload.

© Copyright Rebecca Kepple 2008

Want to use this article on your site or in your newsletter?  This article may be reprinted provided no part thereof is edited in any way and this ‘about the author’ section is included.

There are a million and one ways of marketing. However the key to success in today’s market is to make sure that instead of trying to ‘sell’ to your potential clients, you get their details, keep in contact and build a relationship with them.

This is called Lead Generation and it means that instead of a new customer just being a one-off bit of extra cash in your bank account, they become lifelong, happy clients who rave about you to all their friends!

Now there are two massive benefits to this approach:

1. The more happy clients you’ve got who are raving about you to their friends, the more referrals you’ll get. Which means you’ll get new clients calling you out of the blue all the time who are already sold on how great you are, instead of you having to work hard to find them and get them interested.
2. The other massive benefit is that marketing just got waaaaay easier! No longer do you have to feel the pressure of dreaded ‘sales’. All you are trying to do is pique some interest and get their contact details. In fact if you can get them interested enough, they will GIVE you their contact details so you won’t even have to ask!

And even better, most of the best ways of getting someone’s contact details are cheap or even free. Sounding good so far?  Definitely.

The key to making this work though is to ensure you’ve got at least 5 or 6 Lead Generation methods in place at all time.  The reason being is that if one source of potential clients dries up then you’ve still got several more to keep you going.

How many lead generation or marketing processes do you have in place at the moment?

I personally have a list of about 25 that I’ve found work really well for this industry and I try to make sure I use about 10 of these at any one time.  This means I’ve got a constant, steady stream of customers contacting me all the time, no matter what the season, economy, market or situation.  Which creates a solid business and an owner who can sleep at night!

The reality though is that most people find themselves so busy they only try 1 or 2 methods, if any.  They might have chucked out some fliers once or twice but they never really get a response so eventually they just gave up.  Or maybe they had some brochures printed and it costs thousands and noone came in.  Sounding familiar?

If you’ve experienced this and you aren’t happy with the level of new clients your marketing is generating, then take an hour out, go back and look at the marketing you did and check… were you trying to sell the potential client something, or were you just asking for their contact details?

Albert Einstein once said insanity was “doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results.”

Have a look and see if you can approach your marketing from a different perspective for different results.

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ABOUT THE AUTHOR: Rebecca Kepple specializes in helping business owners massively increase their client base and profits.  To get instant access to her free insider secrets report ‘The Top 7 Secrets for Massively Increasing Your Client Base’ visit: http://www.wellbeingbusinesssecrets.com/freedownload.

© Copyright Rebecca Kepple 2008

Want to use this article on your site or in your newsletter?  This article may be reprinted provided no part thereof is edited in any way and this ‘about the author’ section is included.

We all hear every day about how there’s a possibility of a global recession. No matter where you are in the world, you’ve probably heard about the housing market crash in the States. Depending on where you live, you might be hearing daily that the UK housing market is also looking grim.

Whether a global recession occurs or not, there will be people whose businesses go under simply because of the speculation about a recession. It’s incredibly sad but it’s a fact and it’s happened all throughout history whenever the economy has faltered.

The owners of these businesses slowly slip into a ‘doom and gloom’ mentality… they avidly read all the papers and intently watch all the news on the telly and worry worry worry about it all… and then as this negativity starts infiltrating their lives, they start struggling for clients. When this happens they take it as ‘proof’ and they moan about it more and more and worry about it more and more until they are literally frozen with fear.

They stop their business building activities because they are worried about a lack of cash and this then has an even worse affect on their business. Eventually they get to the point where they’ve not got enough money coming into pay their mortgage or rent. They’ll then either go bankrupt or they’ll have to quit running their business and take a job that they don’t want just so they can pay their bills.

For those that slip into this doom and gloom scenario, the only outcome is that everything will go bottoms up for them. However there is another way and it works in ALL market conditions… global recession or not…

This ‘other way’ is to strengthen your business to the point where you’ve got a continual flow of potential new clients walking in the door and a continual flow of loyal happy clients coming back and back… no matter what the economy is doing.

I’m talking here about creating a client base that is SO loyal that nothing short of the world stopping spinning is going to make them cancel their appointment with you.

The easiest way to start creating such a strong client base is to build yourself a database of interested clients and potential clients.  Then work in earnest to build a genuine relationship with them.  Send them regular newsletters.  Go above and beyond.  Give them free information.  Educate them on your area of expertise.  Help them.

Be generous with your expert knowledge and they will begin to trust you and before you know it, they will be knocking on your door wanting an appointment.

… so, what are your thoughts on how to get your business through the recession?  Leave a comment below and share them with everyone!

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ABOUT THE AUTHOR: Rebecca Kepple specializes in helping business owners massively increase their client base and profits.  To get instant access to her free insider secrets report ‘The Top 7 Secrets for Massively Increasing Your Client Base’ visit: http://www.wellbeingbusinesssecrets.com/freebiebook.

© Copyright Rebecca Kepple 2009

Want to use this article on your site or in your newsletter?  This article may be reprinted provided no part thereof is edited in any way and this resource box is included.

When was the last time you looked up to check if all the bulbs in your ceiling are working? Or looked around to see how bright it is in your reception area?

Having enough light is critical to sales. Especially in areas like your reception and your retail space. If clients are having to squint to see something, they probably aren’t going to bother picking it up to look properly, which means they lose interest and you lose the sale.

I’ve heard it said that you can increase sales by… Read more >>