In my work as a booking agent for business owners who use speaking as a way to build their business, I have the privilege of writing (or rewriting) their bios which are used as their introductions when they speak.

Often a client is apologetic when they give me their information, as if they’re ashamed that their career didn’t follow a straight line. Or they’ll leave information out, as if having had a job for just a year or two or birthing a series of fledgling startups that never really made it was somehow a mark against their character.

If you’ve ever been guilty of this, it may be because you’ve bought into a belief that your path to entrepreneurship was supposed to have been clear, direct and successful, and any detours or dead-ends you took on the way means there’s something wrong with you.

According to this belief, here’s how things should have gone for you:

· At 17, you are clear about what you want to do for the rest of your life and go to a particular college primarily because 1) it gives you the right training so you can get hired easily, 2) it has a great career counseling department and/or 3) the connections you’ll make will go a long way over the years.

· Upon graduation, you get a responsible job in your field at a great salary and on a regular and consistent basis are promoted, receive awards and earn accolades from your colleagues and bosses.

· Because of your prominence in the industry, you are recruited at least once to take an increasingly-important position at a rival company where you double your salary and earn perks that boost your net worth to undreamed-of heights.

· After a long and successful career, you retire, but get bored with playing golf and goofing around the house so you decide to start a business. Your family supports you because they don’t see any harm in your “hobby,” but you feel invigorated and rejuvenated because you have a reason for getting up in the morning again.

For most of us, the reality is something like this:

· At 17, you choose a major because it sounds interesting and go to a particular college because 1) it is close to home so you can commute, 2) it is affordable, you have a scholarship there and/or the class schedule fits into your life, and/or 3) they accepted you.

· While in college, you realize that your degree is useless in terms of getting a job, so you take some classes at a local community college or trade school to get real-world skills. Upon graduation, you get an entry level job that seems beneath you and pays a just-over-broke salary, but you figure every general was once a plebe, and you have to pay your dues.

· You spend the next few years job-hopping trying to find out where you fit in the world, audition companies and careers, and finally settle into something that both interests you and pays decently, but which has nothing to do with what you took in college.

· After having quit or been fired, let go, downsized, right-sized or part of a corporate “profitability enhancement program” one too many times, you decide that the best boss you could possibly have is yourself. You start up a business from your living room and learn that frugality as a way of life isn’t so bad.

· As your business begins to make money, you pour most of the profits back into your company as an investment in your future, and slowly gain customers, a name for yourself in your local community, and the respect of your peers in the industry.

· When life gets in the way of your best-laid plans, you get bored or burned out with what you’re doing or get an offer you can’t refuse, you decide it’s time to move on to something else and either fold or sell your company.

· Eventually, you find your niche or a way to make a nice amount of money from doing what comes naturally or what you consider fun, and you settle into enjoying every day because work is now play.

· You watch your peers retire and see their awe as they realize they now own their own time and don’t have to report to anyone – which you figured out from Day One of being your own boss and remain the two primary reasons you stay self-employed.

· You have your retirement well-funded and figure you might slow down someday when work stops being so enjoyable, but for now you have things to do, places to go and people to see. Your family has long since given up trying to rein you in since they finally realize what you’ve known all along – the whole point of working is to have fun while you’re making money.

If you’re embarrassed that your entrepreneurial path didn’t take the route you thought it should have, I suggest you take some time to figure out why. After all, there’s nothing you can do about now, is there?

Janet White

The JW Speakers Agency, www.jwspeakersagency.com

About Janet White

This blog post was brought to you by Janet White of the JW Speakers Agency. This post is reprinted by permission from her e-newsletter Speaking of Business. Janet provides insights, suggestions and tips on low-cost, no-cost ways you can attract more clients, get more business from current clients and maximize the value of your time, money, and energy.

Spoiler Alert: Although this column is written from a woman’s perspective, men may find it enlightening.

It may seem like a stretch to correlate dating with recruiting clients, but go with me on this one.

The First Date

It was a wonderful date. He picks you up right on time and takes you to a casual but nice restaurant. The conversation is lively, engaging and has just the right touch of innuendo without being threatening.

He seems the ideal date – it was so easy and natural being with him you feel like you’ve known him your entire life. Later, he takes you home and gives you a tender, passionate kiss that curls your toes and makes you long for more.

He says, “I had a really great time tonight. I’ll call you.” You float upstairs, plop on the coach and anxiously wait for the phone call that never comes.

The First Meeting

It seemed like a good omen that the Starbucks where you agreed to meet is quiet for a change. As the conversation turns to business, he shares his story, tells you why he is interested in what you do, and takes copious notes as you give him a brief overview of your services.

He seems the ideal client – he has an immediate, important need, an acute understanding of how you can help him, and says he has the money and is ready and willing to move ahead.

He says, “I’m eager to get started” and gives you all the specifics you need. You float back to the office, send him customized proposal summarizing your conversation, and wait for the signed contract that never comes.

 
WHAT HAPPENED?

 
The Date

Despite what he said, how nice he was and how good you felt when you were with him, you’ll probably never know the real reason your first date was your last date with him.

Chances are you blame yourself: you were too flirty or too withdrawn, too high-spirited or too sedate, and/or too willing or too reticent to move to move to the bedroom.

Since you believe men should take the initiative in dating, you would never dream of calling him up, Clearly, he’s just not that into you, so you bury yourself in books like “Men are From Mars, Women are From Venus” and vow to do it differently next time.

The Meeting

You would think that because your meeting was professional and not personal, your client would tell you right out if there was going to be a problem moving forward. It wouldn’t make sense to lead you along if he wasn’t serious.

Chances are you blame yourself: you were too aggressive or too passive, too talkative or too quiet, and/or you went for the close or you didn’t define the next step.

Since you’re eager to grow your business, you overcome your reluctance and call him. The conversation is awkward and you feel embarrassed when he cuts the conversation short, so you bury yourself in books like, “Selling is a Woman’s Game,” and vow to do it differently next time.

I have had clients – even a few who have given me a deposit – go “poof” on me, and have some bits of wisdom to share in case it happens to you:

• Don’t take it personally: If you had a great meeting and it seemed green lights all the way and yet the other person has chosen not to work with you, chances are there were other things going on you have no way of knowing about that have nothing to do with you. However, it is safe to assume the problem is money and/or timing.
• Assume it’s the money: Even though he said he had the money, your client may backtrack because he’s about to make what he thinks is a major financial commitment. You can ease the situation by saying something like, “If the money is going to be an issue for you, perhaps you might want to consider other alternatives at this time.“
• A statement like this has several benefits: it takes the pressure off your client, who is probably embarrassed to admit the money is the problem; it enables you to move forward because you can’t afford a client who can’t afford you; and it keeps the door open for a possible future relationship with this client when he can afford you.
• Assume it’s the timing: Once you’ve determined that the money is not the issue and the client is still eager to get started but won’t, it’s now a matter of when, not if.

No matter how desperately you need this client, you must respect his decision not to move ahead, and you do that by saying something like, “Clearly, this is not the best time for you to get started. Perhaps it might be better for you to wait until the fall.”

A statement like this has several benefits: it takes the pressure off of your client to make a commitment right now; it invites him to make a commitment when he is ready to do so; and it enables you to plan for the time when he does move forward.

But the biggest benefit of all of this no-pressure approach is that you maintain goodwill with your client. You don’t know who he knows, and even if he never becomes a client of yours, he may end up sending you a whole bunch of other clients because he feels so good about the way you treated him.

Just goes to show – what goes around, comes around. Every time.

Janet White

The JW Speakers Agency, www.jwspeakersagency.com

About Janet White

This blog post was brought to you by Janet White of the JW Speakers Agency. This post is reprinted by permission from her e-newsletter Speaking of Business. Janet provides insights, suggestions and tips on low-cost, no-cost ways you can attract more clients, get more business from current clients and maximize the value of your time, money, and energy.

If you’re thinking about starting your own business, you’re in luck. There are hundreds of books, thousands of websites and lots of non-profit organizations like SCORE and college classes on entrepreneurship to teach you the basics.

In addition to all the information, I believe there are three key elements you must have in order to succeed as an entrepreneur:

• You must know what you want and are committed to having it.
• You must be willing to do what is necessary to get what you want.
• You must concentrate on the probability you’ll succeed rather than the possibility you’ll won’t.

Know What You Want: I often encounter people who say they want a business that “helps people.” And when I answer, “How are you going to help them?,” I get a dazed “deer in headlights” look.

One of the best ways I know to get clear on what you want in a business is to do a business plan. In the process of doing the plan, you will not only answer the obvious questions like what your business does, who it serves, what your challenges and opportunities are and so on, but you will answer questions that you don’t even know you have yet.

One thing you’ll never see in all the discussions about business plans is the emotional boost you get from seeing your business come to life on paper. You may have carried the idea around for years, but once you sit down and think it through, it’s only natural to get excited at the prospect of your dream becoming a reality.

But a special kind of commitment is needed because unlike getting a job, starting your own company is something that’s done through you, not to you. You will be the driving force behind your business, and most likely will provide most – if not all – of the money and resources you’ll need in the early stages, assuming you’re a sole proprietor.

You must be willing to do whatever is necessary: Failure is impossible when you know what you want and are determined to get it because you will do whatever is necessary for as long as is necessary to achieve your goals, and you won’t consider it a burden.

Sometimes this means changing your lifestyle and making financial sacrifices for a period of time; but those who are determined to achieve their goals consider these things to be temporary inconveniences.

I want to tell you about a friend of mine who had been very successful in the corporate world for many years until he was laid off at the age of 55. His wife, Jean, worked full time and his two sons age 21 and 23 lived at home.

Lee immediately poured himself into a lengthy, but surprisingly futile job search to replicate the position he had, and finally realized the reason nothing he wanted was showing up was because he really didn’t want it. What he really wanted was become a minister with his own church, a dream he had had since he was a child.

For three years, Jean was the family breadwinner while Lee devoted himself full time to his ministerial studies. No question, the family had to make some sacrifices because they had to live on one income instead of two, but they managed.

When Lee started his church, he gathered a small group of friends and rented a meeting room at a local hotel where he held weekly services. Three years after it began, the growing congregation still meets at the hotel, but Lee and his church’s Board of Directors have begun a capital campaign – and started searching sites – for their own building. Lee’s dream of having his own church is slowly but surely becoming a reality.

Focus on Success: In 1987, I got laid off from my job as Director of Public Relations for the country’s leading real estate consulting firm in New York, and rather than getting another job, I decided to be my own boss doing exactly the same thing for other commercial real estate companies.

The reaction from my family wasn’t exactly encouraging. My mother, who had worked as a high teacher in the New York City school teacher for 30 years, said, “How could you do such a thing? Think of what you have to lose!” My then-husband, who had worked for a big corporation his entire career, said, “Well, she’s not stocking inventory, so we can’t lose too much money when she fails.”

I ignored them both and plunged ahead since I had nothing to lose and failure was impossible. For the next nine years, I worked from home representing prominent local, regional and national commercial real estate companies, and became a prolific trade writer both under my own byline and as a ghostwriter for my clients for many of industry’s national magazines.

If you decide to take the plunge into entrepreneurship, just keep in mind that any negative, limited, fear-based “advice” you receive is merely other people’s opinions about what they believe is impossible for them.

Fortunately, you have your own opinions about what is possible for you, don’t you?

Janet White

The JW Speakers Agency, www.jwspeakersagency.com

About Janet White

This blog post was brought to you by Janet White of the JW Speakers Agency. This post is reprinted by permission from her e-newsletter Speaking of Business. Janet provides insights, suggestions and tips on low-cost, no-cost ways you can attract more clients, get more business from current clients and maximize the value of your time, money, and energy.

Take any sales course, read any sales book or scour any website on sales and you’ll run across statements like these:

There is no question that it is difficult to connect with the right person in a company. It can be frustrating dealing with gatekeepers, receptionists, and executive assistants. Not to mention that decision makers seldom return voice mail messages. And if you happen to connect with them, they often brush you off before you get a chance to tell them about your product or service.

Cold calling is a numbers game. You have to reach a specific number of prospects through cold calling in order to identify an opportunity. Because not every conversation will result in a good fit, numbers are crucial. It typically takes one hundred cold calling dials to generate ten opportunities and, ultimately, one sale.

Well, I have good news and bad news. The good news is that the above statements are not true; they are merely beliefs. The bad news is that if you hold these beliefs, you are having experiences “proving” these beliefs.

This is because of the Law of Attraction which automatically, consistently and continuously is turning your thoughts, feelings and beliefs into your experiences. Like it or not, whether you want it or not or whether it’s in your best interest to have it or not – you choose your experiences by choosing your thoughts.

In other words, simply because you believe it’s hard to get through to decision makers, few people will return your calls, brushoffs are part of the game and you’ll get one “yes” for every 100 “no’s,” you’re right.

It’s a vicious cycle – your negative belief manifests as a negative experience which solidifies your negative belief even more, which then out-pictures as an increasingly negative experience, etc. No wonder you hate cold calling!

Obviously, when you’re dialing for dollars, you want to hear “yes” a lot. Well, in order to get your “yes,” you have to understand that nothing you can say or do will make a difference in getting your “yeses” until you change the way you think about the process of cold calling and the people you are calling cold.

This is why the first step in successful cold calling is to shift your consciousness, and your words and actions will automatically shift right along with you. For example, instead of pitching, try teaching and explaining; instead of selling, try sharing. Do you feel the difference?

And because you’ll no longer feeling like you’re fighting a losing battle, you’ll be more relaxed, more confident and more receptive to the buying signals the folks you’re calling are now giving you. Let’s begin by examining the beliefs in the above statements from a slightly different perspective:

Belief: There is no question that it is difficult to connect with the right person in a company. It can be frustrating dealing with gatekeepers, receptionists, and executive assistants.

Truth: Having been a “gatekeeper” for five years, I can tell you that when you treat the secretary or other administrative person like a professional who is doing her job – instead of like an obstacle you have to overcome – you’ll dramatically increase your chances of connecting with her boss or someone better.

Belief: Not to mention that decision makers seldom return voice mail messages. And if you happen to connect with them, they often brush you off before you get a chance to tell them about your product or service.

Truth: And why shouldn’t they? If you are simply pitching without having done your homework about the company, its situation, challenges and opportunities and how your product or service might help them accomplish their goals, why should they talk to you? After all, when was the last time you took a cold call from a telemarketer who didn’t have a clue who you were, what you did or did anything more advanced than read a script?

Belief: Cold calling is a numbers game. You have to reach a specific number of prospects through cold calling in order to identify an opportunity. Because not every conversation will result in a good fit, numbers are crucial. It typically takes one hundred cold calling dials to generate ten opportunities and, ultimately, one sale.

Truth: Actually, unsuccessful, frustrating and demoralizing cold calling is a numbers game, and you have to reach a specific number of prospects in order to identify an opportunity because you’re dialing wildly, don’t have a clue who you are calling, or have the remotest idea why they should talk to you and it shows.

On the other hand, cold calling can be successful, fulfilling and rewarding when you target people most likely to be interested in what you’re offering, engage them in a conversation about their interests and explore with them how your product or service might help them. And when you suggest instead of sell, you make the buying process easy for your new client.

Finally, that statement about one hundred cold calls typically resulting in ten opportunities and one sale is a deeply-held and cherished belief that has long been accepted as fact by our society.

And if you’re one of the many people who hold that belief and have found it does take one hundred cold calls for you to make one sale, let me ask you a question, “How’s it working for you?”

Janet White

The JW Speakers Agency, www.jwspeakersagency.com

About Janet White

This blog post was brought to you by Janet White of the JW Speakers Agency. This post is reprinted by permission from her e-newsletter Speaking of Business. Janet provides insights, suggestions and tips on low-cost, no-cost ways you can attract more clients, get more business from current clients and maximize the value of your time, money, and energy.

I admit it; I love to sell. Actually, I love to help people buy and still get a thrill knowing that when they say “yes,” we both win. I’ve had some training and read a lot of books, and even gotten every job I ever wanted effortlessly (the ultimate “sale”), but I think the reason why I’m good at sales is because I never developed any negative beliefs around it.

I had two experiences – one while I was in high school and one in college that would begin to shape my thinking about selling, and the lessons I learned from them are still with me.

I grew up in New York City in the 1960s, home of the best Top 40 radio stations on the planet, and where MusicRadio WABC-AM reigned supreme, especially during Beatlemania and the subsequent British Invasion of pop music during the mid- to late-60s (Boomers, you remember).

When I was 16, I attended a teen conference where Bruce Morrow, aka “Cousin Brucie,” New York’s #1 disc jockey and now a broadcasting legend, was a presenter. While I was watching him, I thought, “I’m going to meet him,” but didn’t have a clue how I would.

“After all,” I reasoned, “he’s Cousin Brucie. He gets hundreds of fan letters a week and will never see mine, and even if he does, I’ll probably get a form letter.” But since I had nothing to lose, I wrote to him telling him I wanted to interview him for my high school newspaper. Note: I was not writing for the school paper.

Much to my astonishment, I soon received a letter from Bruce inviting me up to the studio. I grabbed a friend and we spent four magical hours with Bruce in the WABC studio while he did his show. The school paper printed the story, which was the first article I had ever written. I would go on to become a professional business writer and Bruce would remain a good friend of mine for several years.

When I was 20, I was Arts and Entertainment Editor for my college paper on Long Island, and we theatre majors were nuts over Broadway composer and lyricist Stephen Sondheim. At that time, he had closed “Company” the year before, was closing “Follies” and was in rehearsal with “A Little Night Music.”

I decided to interview him for the paper and figured, “He’s Stephen Sondheim. He’s has agents and secretaries who go through his mail and he’ll probably never even see my letter, much less respond to it. But, hey – it worked with Bruce.”

So I wrote him a letter care of the theatre where Follies was still playing, and much to my astonishment, soon a received a letter from Stephen inviting me to interview him in his home. I grabbed a photographer from the paper and we spent several wonderful hours in Stephen’s townhome in a very posh section of Manhattan near the United Nations. It was so posh his next door neighbor was Katherine Hepburn, who, unfortunately, was not at home.

Stephen Sondheim, this Broadway legend in the flesh, was so gracious, charming and totally unpretentious that at the end of the interview, I gathered up all of my courage and asked him if he’d come out to my college to speak to us. And he replied, “As long as I don’t have to make a speech, because I hate giving speeches.”I told Stephen we could work something out and would get back to him with some dates. About a month later, he drove out to Long Island, met with our little group, answered our questions and basked in our adoration. This was the very first time I would act as a booking agent. Many years later, I would make a living doing it.

Because I got my two “yeses” so naturally and effortlessly, I just took it for granted that anyone could do what I did. What I didn’t realize at the time that these two experiences taught me some fundamental truths about selling:

· If you want something, you must ask for it.

· Everybody is approachable with sincere flattery.

· The only person you should deal with is the one who has the authority to say “yes.”

· Most people want to say “yes” because it makes them feel good.

· No matter how important you think somebody is, they are just another human being.

· Truly important people have no egos and don’t play power games.

· Powerful intermediaries who shield important people from the rest of the world are usually a figment of your imagination or turn out to be people who are just doing their job and couldn’t care less whether you connect with their boss or not.

· If you want to accomplish a goal, you have to break out of your comfort zone.

· When you do accomplish your goal, other people will be amazed not only that you did what they considered impossible, but that you did it so easily.

· Everything is possible when you believe it is.

By Janet White

The JW Speakers Agency: www.jwspeakersagency.com

About Janet White

This blog post was brought to you by Janet White of the JW Speakers Agency. This post is reprinted by permission from her e-newsletter Speaking of Business. Janet provides insights, suggestions and tips on low-cost, no-cost ways you can attract more clients, get more business from current clients and maximize the value of your time, money, and energy.

It’s weird. Professional speakers, who are often paid thousands of dollars to give a one-hour talk, are expected to “sell from the platform” – that is, by using a short commercial at the end of their talk, they encourage audience members to go to their product table at the back of the room to buy their books, CDs, DVDs, notepads and sign up for their seminars, workshops and consulting programs. The problem is that when the pitch goes on too long, it can backfire.

But as a free speaker who is typically compensated only with a meal and/or a small gift, you are not allowed to sell at all, and if you do, you will alienate and offend the very people you want to attract. This is because you were invited to speak by a particular group; you were not hired by them. It is understood that you are there to educate, engage and entertain that group, not take the occasion to promote your own agenda.

The problem is that you ARE there to sell something, and you should expect the investment of your time, effort and money in securing and giving your presentation to pay off in terms of product sales, new clients, referrals or some other form of financial return.

Here are six ways you can encourage your audience to take action on your behalf without turning them off:

• Change your thinking: Think of sales of your products or services as a way to nurture your relationship with your audience, rather than as change in your pocket. The only reason people will buy what you have to offer is because your talk touched them or taught them something, and they want to take you home with them. Buying your book, CD, etc., allows them to do that.
• Remember that nobody likes to be sold, but everybody loves to buy: Pitching is offensive, but persuasion can be pleasant. Rather than trying to sell products, your mission should be to encourage people to want what you have. Since they came to hear you, they are already interested in your topic, and when you respect their intelligence and don’t pitch or push, you’ll find they will be interested in you and be more inclined to linger afterwards.
• Have a drawing using a sign-up form: Pass out a sign-up form for your ezine (email newsletter) and draw for a copy of your book, CD, or a free consulting session. As you give it to the winner, tell them and the audience that you’ll autograph their copy – and everyone else’s – at your table after your talk.
• Incorporate your product subtly into your talk: I recently heard an author who excerpted an exercise from her book and had the audience totally engaged by it. During her talk, she would occasionally refer to her book by saying, “This is on page ______” or “This is in the chapter titled ______.” It was extremely effective and completely unobtrusive.
• Be realistic: I wish I could tell you that you can expect X% of the audience to buy your products, but the fact is that each speaking engagement is unique, and so is each audience. When I was doing a lot of speaking for my book Secrets of the Hidden Job Market: Change Your Thinking to Get the Job of Your Dreams, my experience ranged from making no sales to selling 44 books in 30 minutes. Same talk but different audiences.

• Think relationships: Since people do business with people they like, your goal is to develop relationships with those who may have an interest in what you have to offer, and to encourage them to refer you to their friends. Your speaking success won’t be measured in product sales, but rather in the business that comes later.

So the next time you get up in front of an audience, don’t see them as prospects; think of them as people who are there to hear you share with them something they want to know. And very shortly you’ll discover why speaking is the most cost-effective way to generate business for your business.

By Janet White

The JW Speakers Agency

www.jwspeakersagency.com

About Janet White

This blog post was brought to you by Janet White of the JW Speakers Agency. This post is reprinted by permission from her e-newsletter Speaking of Business. Janet provides insights, suggestions and tips on low-cost, no-cost ways you can attract more clients, get more business from current clients and maximize the value of your time, money, and energy.

If you’ve been in business any length of time, you’ve probably had at least one “sales slump” – a period of time during which nothing seems to be working, no matter how hard you work. No one returns your calls, customers are slow in paying and deals won’t close. You feel disoriented, confused and if it goes on and on, most likely you begin to doubt your own abilities.

About.com suggests a three step process for breaking through a slump:

• Do Something: If you’re mentally paralyzed from a lack of sales you’re probably not thinking it through. Instead of avoiding sales situations, you need to seek them out as much as possible.
• Do More: If you would normally make 20 cold calls per day, instead make 40 or 50, or keep calling until you have five appointments, even if that means you spend ten straight hours on the phone. Talk to all your existing customers and see if you can upsell them new products, or ask them for referrals.
• Keep Doing It: Give each sales method a few days at least. If you’re still not reaping any benefits, then table it and try something else. And if you do start to see results on a particular strategy, do more of it! Stubbornness and persistence are the keys to defeating a bad sales slump.

SOHO Marketing suggests you dive right in:

• Develop a special offer for existing customers/clients and prospects. Use a short deadline so they must take immediate action or forfeit the special offer.
• Call your best customers and ask for their help. Explain that business is slow and you want to use the time to approach some potential new customers/clients. Ask them for referrals.
• Temporarily increase advertising in media where it is seen immediately (or almost immediately). For example, website and ezine ads, newspaper ads, First Class direct mail or postcards, radio spots, etc.

I take issue with both approaches. First, if you keep doing what you’re doing, you’re only going to keep getting more of what you’ve been getting, so doing more of it isn’t going to help your situation one bit.

Second, trying to force your circumstances to change may only result in a quick fix. There is only one truly effective way to reverse a slump in your business or any kind of negative period in your life, and that is to change your thinking and then take action in alignment with your new thoughts:

Thanks to the Law of Attraction, whatever you think about, hold strong feelings about or believe to be true becomes your experience, whether you like it or not and whether you want it or not; this is “Ask and it is given.”

Because the Law of Attraction reacts completely automatically and immediately to your instructions; you can use the Law by design instead of by default and get the short- and long-term results you really want. The key is to shift your feelings by directing your thoughts, like this:

• Force Yourself to Feel Good: Get quiet and think about your best clients, how you love your work and the passion you felt when you started your business. Actually it doesn’t matter what you think about, as long as you feel good. The whole idea of this step is to get you out of feeling bad.
• Remind Yourself That This Too Shall Pass: Any kind of a slump is temporary and is no reflection on you as a person or a professional. Just as it takes time to heal a cut on your hand, so it may take some time for your conditions to change, but when you keep yourself feeling good – regardless of what is happening around you – they will. That’s the Law.
• Bless Your Customers: Okay, so this is not a traditional marketing technique, but it really, really works. Instead of complaining about your slow paying customers, or that you can’t get in to see anyone or that no one is buying, want the best for them. Imagine them prosperous, successful and happy, which is exactly what you want for yourself.

The reason this works is what goes around, comes around. When you put out genuine good feelings towards others, they will pick up your vibrations on a subconscious level and automatically feel good about you. Don’t be surprised when they act warmly toward you the next time you call.

• Act As If Everything is Fine: Never tell your customers business is slow – if you can’t keep busy, they’ll wonder what’s wrong with you and why they do business with someone who can’t run their business effectively.
• Get out of the office: Now that you have the time, go visit all your customers so you can get a first-hand understanding of their businesses; chances are excellent you will walk away from these meetings with additional business and referrals. Want new clients? Start attending Chambers of Commerce, networking groups and trade association meetings (no, you don’t need to be a member or know anyone to go).

Finally, be grateful for the business that you have right now, whatever money you have in your bank account and all the good that is in your life. Do these things and you’ll turn a sales slump into a slam dunk every time.

About Janet White

This blog post was brought to you by Janet White of the JW Speakers Agency. This post is reprinted by permission from her e-newsletter Speaking of Business. Janet provides insights, suggestions and tips on low-cost, no-cost ways you can attract more clients, get more business from current clients and maximize the value of your time, money, and energy.