For almost every small or solo business owner I’ve worked with as a coach, how to keep a steady stream of clients rolling into their business is the main challenge . But not for all.

Some businesses seem to soar quickly. They seem to have a secret that everyone wants to know. They call me because they are growing so fast they need me to help them put the automated systems in place that will reduce their workload and give them their life back. This is not a bad problem to have!

The businesses that have a flood of clients with seemingly little effort actually have a lot in common because they have several or most of the following factors in place.  Any of these can be the key to astonishing business growth. Take a few of them together and the results are truly impressive. Here’s what they did:

• Found an underserved niche with a group of hungry buyers
• Found buyers who had money to spend and were willing to spend it
• Found a niche where competition was minimal or manageable
• Developed a repeatable system for connecting and selling to these buyers that worked again and again.
• Developed a compelling, benefit laden marketing message
• Developed joint ventures and strategic alliances to dramatically increase sales
• Developed a strategy to get repeat business.
• Protect their time relentlessly
• Outsourced simple tasks as soon as possible

As you can see, there is no real secret. Measure your business against this list and see what needs to change.

I’d like to invite you to a free tele-class, How to Fill the Client Funnel Now, on August 12^th at 4PM ET.  This content rich class will show you a business building system that is designed to stop you from worrying and feeling overwhelmed and get you feeling powerful and profitable.

If you sign up now, you’ll also gain access to my Maximize Your Profits Now videos.

http://maximizeyourprofitsnow.com/

I think this class could be a turning point for you.

 My 13 year old daughter and her friends are totally into instant gratification. They are the sound byte generation.

We live in an instant gratification society. I admit to wanting things instantly because I feel I don’t have time to wait. I’m working on becoming more patient, I swear. Where did this come from? I grew up with snail mail, without fax machines and e-mail and without computers. As technology speeds forward, just about everything becomes instantly available. We begin to expect it and then feel annoyed when we have to wait.

The problem occurs if this way of thinking spills over into our business.  Being an instant gratification junky doesn’t serve you well if you expect an instant response to your marketing, instant results from what you learn from courses and books, instant response to your e-mails, newsletters, and offers. Instant success. You know those offers that promise to make you an instant fortune on the Internet in days if you use their system? They’re just playing a psychological game that feeds into our natural desire for instant gratification.

It’s easy to start a project or a business and feel excited, enthusiastic and motivated. It’s hard to accept delayed gratification, to stick in there until you reach the finish line even when you don’t see dramatic results right away. The most successful people I know spent several years seeing small, unimpressive results before they really took off. They don’t often tell you that but it’s true. This has been my experience with every business I’ve owned in the last 20 years. There were times when I wanted to quit, times when I thought I must be doing something wrong. But I stuck with it, made re-adjustments when necessary, studied and learned from mentors who were already succeeding, and it paid off every time.

So don’t fall into the trap. Buy into the dream instead. Persist.

We all have egos. How could you be a successful business owner without a certain level of self confidence? You make important decisions and take risks and you have to believe in what you’re doing.

However, that ego can get in the way when a decision you made turns out to be wrong. I’ve seen many business owners stick with something well after it was obvious it was hurting their business because they were too proud to admit it was a mistake. This happens in big corporations as well. Big companies continue to do things the way they always did them because, well, that’s the way they always did them. While the rest of the world moves forward, they remain the same until they become obsolete.

Whether it’s a product that bombed, marketing materials that aren’t working, or an employee that just isn’t serving your company well, you need to say “I made a mistake” and correct it. Maybe you even picked the wrong niche. It’s okay. Businesses re-invent themselves all the time. The marketplace constantly changes. It doesn’t mean you have failed, but that you have learned what doesn’t work.

I just heard a story on National Public Radio yesterday about Steve Jobs and Pixar. Pixar didn’t start out being the leader in computer animation which they are today. But when Steve Jobs (founder of Apple) saw an emerging opportunity to re-focus Pixar in that direction back in the 1990’s he jumped at it because he’s a brilliant entrepreneur.

No one likes to say they were wrong. But true leaders do so willingly, knowing that to waste even a day continuing to travel down the wrong road is costing them dearly.

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Up until about 10 years ago, if a product wasn’t available in your local area, or at best in a catalogue it was hard to find at all., making certain products more unique or valued. We all know those days are long gone. As it gets easier to create, find and sell almost anything, the marketplace becomes so overcrowded it’s mind boggling. In fact, it’s been proven that too many confusing choices can paralyze consumers. They want simple, specific solutions.

A few weeks ago I went to shop at Kohl’s department store. I was searching for a classic, solid colored nice looking, fitted t-shirt. What I found were racks and racks disorganized and overflowing with every possible type of big flowery print tops that looked like they belonged in the maternity department (that’s the style now and what were they thinking?). Several other women (all of us over 40) were commenting on the fact that they wouldn’t be caught dead in any of these tops. What I wouldn’t have given at that moment to see a nearby store that specialized in solid colored, simple t-shirts, shirts and sweaters! I suspect they would have been busy with people like me.

Want to stand out in an overcrowded marketplace? Keep it simple and focused. Pick a pressing need in a specific area of expertise and provide a stellar suite of solutions that works. Instead of providing a little of this and a little of that and trying to please everyone, dig deep and give your clients everything they need in your specific niche. This way people who want what you have will consider you the expert go-to person.

Identify the need or want.

You can do this by observing what people are searching for on the web when you do keyword research. You can keep a log of what prospects and clients ask for that you don’t currently provide. You can do a survey.

Plan a strategy to develop a series of products or services that provide solutions to different facets of this target client’s wants or needs. In the example above, my dream store wouldn’t sell just t-shirts, they would also sell other articles of clothing that had clean, simple lines. Now it’s a customer driven marketplace, so I simply need to do some web surfing and I will find what I want. But it would have been nicer to have it right there when I needed it.

Develop a strategy that will lead your client from an initial purchase into other purchases through building trust and by using up sells, coupons, and strategic marketing.

Rise above the confusing clutter by keeping is simple and going deep. You will create a loyal group of fans who will spread the word to other people who have the same need they do.

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Opening and running a small or solo business is a daunting task that takes courage, passion and grit. It often takes a while before you hit that sweet spot where clients and profits start to flow in and you begin to breathe a sigh of relief. You look forward to that feeling of elation that takes over as you realize that your dreams are coming true. You’ve climbed a mountain and reached the top.

If you feel like it’s a struggle just to keep your business chugging along and you’re wondering when you’ll get to that point, you’re not alone. Here are some important things to look at and think about now.

• Make sure you’re key products are something for which there is a clearly expressed need in your market-something for which people are hungry. Your prospects and customers will let you know what they want and you need to give it to them, rather than what you think they want.
• Check to see if your niche is overcrowded. Competitors may be crowding you out and you may need to re-focus in on a less crowded niche within your area of expertise.
• Carefully measure the results you get from your marketing efforts. Are you creating a flood of interested leads? If not, your marketing approach isn’t working and needs to change. You need a powerful, new strategy.
• Your message may be getting lost in the flood of information with which people are bombarded. Making your message fresh, unique and benefit focused-even remarkable and memorable- is key
• You’re great at what you do, but are you struggling with the “running a business” part, like marketing, selling, website, bookkeeping, systems? These Entrepreneurial skills will make or break you no matter how good you are at what you do. They need to be mastered.
• Do you have difficulty managing your time and staying focused on profit generating activities? The most successful 6 and 7 figure income Entrepreneurs are time masters.
• You’re great at the daily details, but are you good at big picture planning? Remember, no one else can be the CEO and strategy maker but you.
• Persistence and follow-through are key. Don’t give up if something doesn’t produce immediate results. I’ve seen people throw an ad in the paper and expect the phone to ring like crazy. When it doesn’t they pull the ad and move on to the next short lived idea. Have a strategy, then stick to your plan. Follow through and you’ll see results.
• Are you feeling some resistance to doing tasks you know are essential to your success? Many business owner clients have told me that they know what they should be doing but every time they try they find themselves procrastinating of doing a non-priority activity. That can lead to inertia. Tasks that drain your energy may be better outsourced so you can spend your time on profit generating activities. Outsourcing is a success strategy and more inexpensive than ever. Or break the task down into 10 minute segments. Anyone can devote ten minutes to a task, even if they don’t like it. What’s important is to keep taking action! Keep moving forward. It doesn’t have to be perfect.

If any of this rings true, know that you are definitely not alone. Every business owner has experienced some or all of these roadblocks at one time or another. And all of them can be over come! If you want to breakthrough to a new level of success and reach the top of that mountain you need a solid, proven business and marketing system that works.

Try answering this question: “What is the one thing, which if I did it, would make a huge difference in my business now?” If there’s more than one thing, write it down. Voila! You know what you need to work on beginning now.

To access a series of free videos that will show you a solid, proven business building and marketing system that can take you to a solid 6 figure small business income, go to http://www.MaximizeYourProfitsNow.com/

Janis