I get lots of calls from struggling small business owners who say they need help with marketing because they only have a trickle of clients to help,  when in fact,  they want a waterfall.

They figure the problem is with their marketing and once they solve that, more money will come their way.

Early on in my first business I used to think that same way. I assumed I was just not presenting my programs correctly, and  if I  could figure that out, more customers would come my way. I wasted  a lot of time, spent too much money and got nowhere.

I was like many people who started a business from my own passion. I wanted to do something meaningful to me and make a difference. I developed a system that I knew would help people. It was good, so I  just couldn’t get it why they weren’t swarming to hire me.

I was approached by many savvy marketers who offered me great deals to put up advertising in cool places and they convinced me that thousands of people would see my ads. I got confused and side-tracked like many new entrepreneurs.

I am now aware that the very first thing you need to know is that there is a driving need in the world community that you will be addressing via your business. Without isolating that driving need first, you can’t build a marketing plan, you won’t be able to figure out your niche market or develop a business plan. You will be confused, overwhelmed and go around in circles.

Many  inventions have seemed amazing while still on the workbench in the builder’s garage, and then once taken out into the world, fell flat because there was no driving need for it and no shared passion. It was important only in the eyes of the inventor.

People won’t invest their hard earned dollars for something they don’t feel a driving need for, and this is especially real in the service based business realm. This is true for coaching, therapy, graphics design, web development, copywriting and many other great services that require a person to invest over a hundred dollars and make a big commitment.

Here are three questions to ask to help you get clearer about your business.

1. What is the driving need that you are addressing in your business?
There needs to be a deep need that is emotionally compelling.

2. What common passion do all these people have?
It can’t be just one person, but a large community of shared stories.

3. What do they want to do in order to have a positive, lasting change?
There needs to be an impulse for taking action for transformation and benefit.

Once you can clearly articulate the burning need, marketing becomes much easier and the money steam will flow a lot stronger. If you are running a business from your passion, this piece is essential!  It takes time to figure this out but unless you do it, you won’t have a business, you will only be your own best customer.

Listen to people, ask questions and you will know in your gut when you have figured out the driving need that your business will address. After that, my 7-step marketing circle will help you move forward.

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A website is one of the first things most small service based business owners focus on. Once your site is up and live, you feel real, and then of course you want people to visit it. You might assume that if people arrive there, they will be so enthralled with what you are offering that they will pick up the phone immediately to call you.

That would be great but it takes a strategy to make anything like that happen.

Websites have now replaced the brochures of the past. Some business owners still print brochures, but in truth, most potential customers will grab the brochure to get the web address. Once they visit your website, the brochure becomes less relevant!

All good web designers and SEO experts can help you get people to your site by key words and other magic tools. You can do your part by posting your blogs, writing articles and other things that drive people to your site. However once they get there, none of those things matter.

A good metaphor for this process is the traditional job interview. You write a stellar resume and cover letter, send it off, and if you have done a good job, you get an interview.  Once you arrive for the interview, your resume becomes irrelevant because it is all about your relationship with the interviewers and how well you market yourself in that room.

Once people arrive on your website, how they got there no longer important for them. You want them to stay there and navigate through the site and get involved. You want them to enter your pipeline. Here are five important things you need to do in order to increase the chances of that happening!

1. Build Empathy. Building empathy with your niche client is the very first thing you need to do. This means you need to know exactly who this niche person is, what problem their problem is and how they feel. It is all about feelings, not ideas and thoughts. In one second people need to feel that you are speaking to them and their issue. They need to feel like you get it.

Especially in service based businesses this is true because you are selling your service. Whether you are offering web development, coaching, therapy, copy writing or design services, it is your help that you are marketing, so people need to get the connection with you first thing.

2. Benefits. After building empathy you need to speak to the benefits people will receive that will directly solve their problem you have just mentioned above. People buy benefits. The benefits are not your programs or products.

Benefits are the outcome for the client and how this will help their life or business. How it will make a significant difference to them. It is all about them, not you. Empathy and benefits are the two main things that need to show up above the scroll line on your home page. This is your core marketing message.

3. Free value. Offering something of high value for free is essential. Whatever this is, it needs to be directly related to their problem and the help they want. This is the best call to action on your  homepage. Many people just print their phone number and invite people to call them. Very, very few people will pick up the phone and call. However they will download something if it looks like it will offer immediate help.

They key is to have a web form that people need to fill out in order to get it. You are trading this valuable freebie for their email address. Too many people build lovely looking websites and there is no way to track who has been there.

The freebie is a way for  find out who has liked your message enough to fill out that wee form. It is gold. Of course your freebie needs to be good value and have a captivating headline.  The headline is what will grab people.

4. Good navigation. I can’t tell you how many websites I go to and when I get to the bottom of the home page it just ends with a phone number to call. Even worse, I have seen some that say, “Thank you for visiting my site.”  That kind of thank you message is an ending line and it communicated that you are done.

In fact, the home page is only the beginning and needs to lead onward. The bottom of each page needs to have a link to the next page or pages. It needs to be easy  for people to know where to go next.  If it isn’t easy, they will click off in a micro-second.

Imagine your website is like a yellow brick road with streets branching out.  People don’t see the road or know where to go if you don’t have road signs and invitations. Links to other pages throughout your site is essential. One word highlighted and linked to a page with further information keeps people involved and they end of seeing way more of your site than the home page.

5. Multiple communication styles. People are all different and learn in different ways. Some people are visual and others are auditory or kinesthetic. Most people unconsciously share information the way they like to receive it. However, your way may only connect to a third of your visitors.

People will read your words more easily when there is eye candy. This means using spacing between lines. No more than four or five lines without a space is hard to read online. Using bold and italics and colors help as well, however it needs to be done so it is not chaotic. Too many different fonts are not easy on the eye. One font is optimum.

Occasional graphics or pictures can also help communicate your message. Good videos and audios casts are excellent for building empathy and connection. Making your site interactive gets people engaged. Self-assessments, tools, blogs are examples. Think of all the things that will provide more experiences for your visitors.

If you do just these five things your website will provide way more opportunity for people to stay and get involved.  There are more  things to add to the list, but this is a good beginning. A print brochure can’t do most of what I mentioned above.

The potential of websites is endless, however it requires you to really know your niche client and to acutely know what they want and how to connect with them. Have a look at your website from the eyes of your niche client and see how many of these five things are working for you.

I  sat at my kitchen table this morning with my cup of green tea, and like everyday, I scanned the comics and peeked at the astrology column. It  said, “Raise the bar a bit higher. You’ve done well for yourself and achieved a moderate amount of success.”

Wow- isn’t that true. I have achieved some success and that feels really good, and yet my entrepreneurial spirit and the part of me who wants to be able to retire before I’m 90, wants to raise that bar much higher!

It made me think about what I need to do in order to raise that bar higher and push through my own self-doubts and fears that slow me down. All entrepreneurs face these issues. You reach a place of comfort and enjoy the success that lives in that place. The question is, what do you need to do to push forward to the next level. It requires not only greater leadership of your own company, but also  the ability to take bigger risks as you walk into the unknown.

Here are a few things that I am doing and I hope these will also help you when you face your own inner demons that want to stop you from your potential.

1. Figure out where your weak link is. I developed my Whole Business Circle for my own self-assessment tool. It works. There are nine sections that correspond to the nine parts of your business. By using this tool you can find out where you need to focus so you can strengthen in that area. It gives a perspective and can help you to map a way forward.

2. Follow-through on tasks that are important. It is easy to get distracted with stuff you feel comfortable doing, and then not stay on track with the tasks that involve shifting your brain and developing in ways you are not as confident with. Lack of confidence and self-doubt can sabotage your forward motion and before you know it you have frittered away a whole day. I use a white board and write my list of things to do and then ask myself what will help me to keep moving forward. One step at a time is easier and before you know it, you will be more energized and focused.

3. FInd a support person/ mentor to talk to. The worse thing is to stew in your fears all alone. Talking to someone who understands can make a huge difference. That person does not have your subjectivity and can help you see your situation from a different perspective. Plus, it just feels good to talk and know you are not crazy!

4. Develop new behaviors that are aligned with the next stage you are reaching to. It might mean re-organzing your office, going for a walk in the early morning or hiring help from an expert who can support your next steps. It is impossible to grow and reach higher without shifting how you do things and getting help from someone who can support your growth.

5. Face your money issues. Raising the bar can mean receiving more money for your work. How does that feel to you and are you ready for that to happen? Look at your self-worth issues and the ways you mange the money you have now.

In writing this, it helped me to focus on these five things that I need to keep doing!  I know I can be even more focused. Do these make sense to you?  Please  comment add more things to this list.

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I talk to lots of entrepreneurs who say they don’t like selling and they won’t acknowledge this important aspect of their business. They figure that people will just gladly offer them money and they won’t have to ask for it.

Most of these people are also struggling to make ends meet because regardless of what kind of business you have, selling is always a part of the process and although it would be fun, people are very unlikely to chase after you to give you money for your services.

Most people are careful about what they spend money on. People who are generally spender types, will buy spontaneously and on a whim, but that is usually “toys,” or material things, not services that are higher priced and involve a relationship.

If you are offering a service, like coaching, healing arts, web design, graphics or another way of helping people, your potential clients will not be in any hurry to hire you. They want to be crystal clear sure and know they are making the right decision.

Example:

Last week I signed up for an eight week seminar. It is a series of classes that will hopefully give me tools to be more in control of my money; a very worthwhile focus. However, I was unsure about the return on my investment. It will be a big time commitment and although the $350 was not a lot, I have to be mindful of where I spend. I was cautious. Very normal!

In order to keep the cash flow happening in your business, you need to understand the psyche of your target client. In my case, even though I was interested, I was also very wary and almost didn’t register.  What helped me decide was that the tutor spent time talking with me about the benefits and she helped me make the decision. She invited me to join.

Here are three important and essential parts to successful selling your service.

1. Connection. Connect with your potential clients.  Listen to them, who they are, what they want, why they are interested. Paraphrase back what you heard. Make sure you understand their situation and give empathy. Empathy goes a long, long way.  People want to be understood. If you don’t demonstrate that you get where they coming from, you will never make the sale. People need to feel that connection first and foremost. The key is to learn to listen and provide empathy before anything else.

2. Confidence.  You as an entrepreneur need to be super confident about your specialty and your ability to provide the benefits your client wants. People want to work with experts and specialists who are secure in their ability, trained and skilled as this emulates a sense of trust that you will be able to provide what they need.

If you are operating from self-doubt, your potential client will feel it instantly and back away. They have enough of their own self-doubt and what they want is someone who  is self-assured. If this is your challenge, ask yourself what you need in  order to feel confident and then make doing that a priority.

3. Converting. Helping your potential client to make the decision and actually sign-up for your program, schedule a session or hire you for their job is a huge part of the sales process and where many people slip up.

There are two reasons why entrepreneurs drop off at this point.
One, you are uncomfortable about asking for money. This might have to do with your own self-worth or unresolved money  issues.

Two, you are worried about being pushy. You don’t want to be like that archetypal used car salesman and have people not like you. As a result, you  disappear and cannot help your client to make a decision at this important time.  In both of these cases, you are focusing on yourself and your inner blocks.

It is impossible to be dealing with your own stuff and also being there for someone else. Ultimately you need to determine which of these two issues are getting in your way and then come to a place of resolution so you can be there one hundred percent for your client and not be focusing on your fears.

If you follow my seven part marketing circle, selling is in pie piece number six.  What happens before that makes the selling part easy once you have resolved your own blocks. People will be ready to hire you if you follow the steps in this circle. These three points will help you to stay focused and on track.

Which of these points are the easiest for you and where do you feel you drop off?  I would love to hear your comments.