Here are my tips on these three steps that you can implement right away in your business to increase your profits while working fewer hours.

Step 1: Specialize

People look for the best in a field when they need advice and solutions. If you strive to be the best you can be in your area of specialty, so you’ll stand out as the top service provider in your marketplace.

Get clear on what your greatest passions, strengths and expertise are, and build your business around that. Know what makes you different from your competitors and leverage that uniqueness. Developing a specialty based on both your expertise and unique personality will give you a very distinctive professional brand.

Offer unique solutions to solve the problems and frustrations of a smaller section of your target audience so that you will be seen as a specialist and not a generalist. Go deep instead of broad. You’ll be easily referable and you’ll be able to charge much higher fees.

To build a highly successful, highly profitable business, you must be an expert at what you do. You need to choose one market, focus on it, and grow it as big as you can.

Step 2: Simplify

Too many women are overwhelmed with all the actions they are taking to grow their business. They are making it much more complicated than it needs to be because they aren’t following a simple model.

You need to simplify and streamline your business so you can work fewer hours, have more freedom, and make more money. My motto is simplicity plus prosperity – I want them both.

Focus on those activities that will produce profit to grow your business and income. The most important activities in your business are marketing, sales, client service delivery, and new product and service development. Simplify your actions so that you’re devoting most of your time to attracting new business and delivering your specialized services, and delegate the rest.

Step 3: Systematize

When you’re just starting out and you have only a few clients, running your business is easy. Once you reach expert status though and have a full slate of clients, live events, information products and joint ventures, you get too busy to handle it all.

This is when you need to automate and systematize many of your business functions so that you are able to focus on your core strength. Lead generation, follow-up, product delivery, payment and registration can be entirely automated, freeing you up to do more high level work.

You can develop simple systems for everything in your business – email, client support, publishing ezines, articles and blog posts, posting to social media sites, managing your schedule, and processing payments to name a few.

Creating systems and automating will help you simplify and streamline your business so you can work fewer hours and make more money. Systematizing your business will give you much more income, freedom and fulfillment.

Take action on any one of these ideas on specializing, simplifying and systematizing and I can guarantee that your income and feeling of fulfillment in your business will increase dramatically.

I invite your comments below.

Wishing you much success!

~ Jan

WBECS brings together the thought leaders of the coaching world to share their knowledge and experience with practicing coaches. It offers an outstanding professional growth opportunity.

Sign up here for your Free Pass for the World Business and Executive Coach Pre-Summit – starts May 1st.

The presenters this year are the ALL STARS of the industry and will be sharing exactly what’s working today and include:

• John C. Maxwell: One of the top leadership coaches


• Dr. Marshall Goldsmith: Top thought leader in the field of management and change


• Daniel Pink – Bestselling Author on The Changing World of Work


• Brendon Burchard – 3 time NY Times best selling author


• Mary Beth O’Neill – Author of “Executive Coaching with Backbone and Heart”


• Michael Port – author of the Book Yourself Solid System


• Verne Harnish – Fortune Magazine’s Top 10 Minds In Small Business


• Vishen Lakhiani – Founder/CEO of Mindvalley, Passionate Leader of Global Change


• Darren Hardy – The visionary force behind SUCCESS magazine


• Brian Tracy


• Michael E. Gerber


• Sir John Whitmore


• . . . and more.

The free pre-summit starts May 1st and is a ‘must attend’ whether you buy a ticket for the full training event in June or not. The sessions are very high value and are completely sales pitch free.

Sign up here for the full COMPLIMENTARY PRE-SUMMIT SERIES.

I’ll be attending a number of the sessions myself – so may see you online.

To your coaching success!

~ Jan

Attracting clients can be effortless when you focus on your strengths rather than trying to improve your areas of weakness. There  might be something you are already doing that comes easily to you, something you might take for granted, but which could be the best way for you to connect with potential clients. If you spend more time doing that, rather than trying to do all the various marketing activities that are possible, over time you’ll achieve success.

Here are some ideas for growing your client base if you’re in the early stages of your business:

1. Get the Word Out
Who doesn’t know about you yet? Tell everyone you know about your new business.  Let them know what you do and who you do it for. If you get in the habit of always telling everyone you know what you are up to and asking for their help in growing your business, that may be enough to bring you all the clients you need. Ask for their support and ask for referrals. Keep them updated regularly. And – remember to always ask what you can do for them.

2. Focus on Benefits
Focus on the benefits of what you do, not on the way you do it or the process you use. One mistake professionals often make is talking about HOW they work with people.  Most people are interested in what’s in it for them, not how you do your work. People want to hear what outcomes or results they might expect from working with you, not how you are going to get them that result. For example, an accountant might say that the benefit of their work with clients is ‘peace of mind’, rather than saying ‘we’ll have your monthly statements ready on time’. Hear the difference?

3. Develop a Powerful Self-Introduction
Many self-employed professionals lack the confidence and the clarity to declare succinctly who they are, what they do, and who they do it for. It often takes time to find the exact words that will have an impact.  Having a clear self-introduction implies that you have made some choices about who your ideal clients are and what your strengths are in working with them. A simple formula for your self-introduction is to say who you work with, what their key challenge is, how you can help them solve that problem, and what the long-term effect of your solution would be for them.

4. Be Very Interested in Your Potential Clients
Don’t try to ‘sell’ your services. That’s too painful! Instead, engage in conversation with people and be REALLY interested in them – genuinely, of course. Stop trying to persuade people to buy, and instead, find a way to be in relationship with each person you speak with. Don’t use a canned sales talk; have a REAL conversation that reaches into the heart of what this potential client really wants to talk about.

5. Network Like Crazy
Every encounter you have is a chance to expand your network. In order to attract more clients, you’ll need to expand your circle of influence. You have to get the word out to everyone you know, then count on them to get the word out to everyone they know.  And voila – thanks to the theory of six degrees of separation, hundreds, or even thousands of people will know who you are and what you do. You can network through groups or associations, or even by volunteering. Your local paper will have a listing of events you can choose from in the weekly business section.

Make attracting clients fun. Make it a game. Challenge yourself to approach more people and strike up a conversation. Reframe ‘selling’ to ‘forming new relationships’ and you’ll be well on your way to having a steady stream of new prospects calling you.

There is no one right or best way to attract clients. Get your message out to as many people as possible. The more people who know about you, the more likely you will be to attract all the clients you can handle.

Free Teleseminar April 18 – “Four Simple Secrets to Attract, Sell and Enroll More Ideal Clients into Your Business” with Jan Marie Dore and Wendy Burge

If having sales conversations and asking people for their business is your least favorite part of getting new clients or customers – join us for this free sales training call.

Sign Up Here

In this value packed free training teleseminar you’ll learn:

* How to get really clear on the way you uniquely add value to people’s lives so you can EASILY ATTRACT MORE CLIENTS who want to work with you.

* Ways to gain clarity around your CORE OFFER and WHO really needs and will pay for what you offer

* How to engage in more AUTHENTIC SALES CONVERSATIONS to enroll more clients into your services, programs and products

* Tips on how to MANAGE the OBJECTIONS or typical concerns you hear when you ask people for their business

* Our PROVEN 4-STEP FORMULA to sign up more clients easily and authentically every time

If you’re struggling with knowing what to say to get more people to say YES! to working with you – you’ll leave this call feeling much more confident in having sales conversations!.

Find Out More and Sign Up Now for “4 Simple Secrets to Attract, Sell & Enroll More Ideal Clients” – Free Telesminar April 18.

I’d love to see you there!

~ Jan Marie

If you’re struggling with knowing what to say to get more people to say YES! to working with you – join us April 18th for this content-rich FREE teleseminar training.

Jan and Wendy will share with you strategies they have learned from their many years of experience in attracting and enrolling new clients into their businesses. They’ll share with you how you can grow your business with simple, authentic, heart-felt conversations.

You will learn:

• How to get really clear on the way you uniquely add value to people’s lives so you can EASILY ATTRACT MORE CLIENTS who want to work with you.
• Ways to gain clarity around your CORE OFFER and WHO really needs and will pay for what you offer
• How to engage in more AUTHENTIC SALES CONVERSATIONS to enroll more clients into your services, programs and products
• Tips on how to MANAGE the OBJECTIONS or typical concerns you hear when you ask people for their business
• Our PROVEN 4-STEP FORMULA to sign up more clients easily and authentically every time

You’ll leave this call feeling much more confident in having sales conversations!.

We’ll be giving you as much information as we can so that you can take action immediately on what we teach you. We know many of you will want more – so, we will also give you a sneak peek at our upcoming new program “CONFIDENT CONVERSATIONS: HOW TO ATTRACT, SELL, AND ENROLL IDEAL CLIENTS ONE HEART-FELT CONVERSATION AT A TIME”, a 5 WEEK LIVE ONLINE TRAINING to give you the model and proven formula to sign up more clients and customers. We’ll teach you exactly how you can sign up more ideal clients, make more sales, and boost your bottom line quickly without selling out your soul! STARTS TUESDAY APRIL 30th.

See you there!

~ Jan & Wendy

PS: Why not invite a friend or colleague to the call? The information we’ll be teaching you during this special training is so content-rich, they’ll thank you for it! Just use the ‘share’ buttons below.

This Credentialing Mentor Program supports coaches seeking the required hours of mentor coaching as part of their ICF credentialing process. The program is designed specifically to prepare individuals for their ICF credential or ACC renewal. It is suitable for coaches seeking any of the three ICF certification levels: ACC (Associate Certified Coach), PCC (Professional Certified Coach) or MCC (Master Certified Coach). It meets the ICF Mentor Coaching requirements, and is available in both group and one-on-one formats.

The following key requirements are included:

• Mentoring by an MCC for 10 hours within a 3-month period of applying for the ICF credential


• A thorough understanding of the eleven ICF Core Competencies needed for the level of credential sought


• A deeper understanding of the minimum skill requirements for ACC, PCC or MCC


• Observed coaching with detailed feedback to assist in preparation for your recorded coaching session submission or the oral exam


• Identification of your strengths and potential blind spots as a coach


• A letter from your MCC mentor attesting to your coaching experience and level


• Assistance with completion of the ICF credential application
• Worksheets, coaching techniques, and the coaching conversation model framework to support you in mastering the coaching competencies

Who Will Benefit from This Program
ACC Coaches seeking the PCC Credential, or PCC Coaches seeking the MCC credential from the ICF, or coaches seeking renewal.

Program Overview
ICF Credits: 10 hours that qualify as ICF Mentoring hours

Formats

• One-On-One: Individual program of one-on-one coach mentoring


• Group: the Mentor Coaching Group is a 10 hour program that includes 7 hours of small group coaching and 3 hours of individual 1-1 mentor coaching.

Facilitator and Mentor: Jan Marie Dore, MCC, PMC
Jan Marie is a Master Certified Coach, Professional Mentor Coach, and Certified Corporate Coach who has trained and mentored thousands of coaches since 1998 as a faculty member of Coach Inc. Jan has been mentoring coaches to successfully achieve ICF certification since receiving her PCC credential in 1999.

Dates and Fee
Next group program starts Wednesday, May 8, 2013 at 4pm Eastern / 1pm Pacific for 7 Wednesdays until June 26th. Global access by phone. All group calls will be recorded. One-on-one sessions will be scheduled at a mutually convenient time.

Your investment for 10 hours of coaching this intimate, transformational coaching circle is $995 if paid in full, or 3 payments of $345.

Please contact us for the Coach Mentoring Application and we’ll schedule a brief phone conversation with Jan Marie to ensure this is the right program for you.

What Coaches Say About Mentoring with Jan Marie

“Jan Marie is a gracious, generous mentor who models the very best of coaching. She shares her knowledge and encourages coaches to keep learning and growing in such a nurturing environment.” ~ Karen Marcus

“Jan Marie has a unique coaching presence. I was privileged to participate in her course and gained powerful knowledge and skill to go forth confidently in my coaching practice. She is a highly skilled and masterful coach and an outstanding leader.” ~ John Kurtz

“I found Jan Marie’s facilitation and leadership to be open, enriching and flexible. She is an excellent role model and gem of a teacher, always attuned to the participants and the materials.” ~ Deborah Rubyan

“Jan Marie is a fabulous coach model who goes beyond the call in providing relevant resources and sound advice. She is outstanding!” ~ Cherie Sprague

Contact us to request the Coach Mentoring Application and we’ll schedule conversation to ensure this is the right program for you.

How do they do that, you might ask?

There is a creative spirit within all of us. We just need to nurture it. Tapping in to your creative mind involves making a shift from your left brain to your right brain, from your linear mind to your more intuitive mind. Only by disengaging your thinking mind do you gain full access to your creative mind.

To access your full creative potential, you need to find ways to reduce the turbulence in your mind and the constant stream of never-ending thinking that goes on for most of us most of the time. Try practicing some form of creative silence or meditation. In silence, you receive creative thoughts and ideas. Inspiration will come to you from an infinite field of creativity that is beyond the inner dialogue of your thinking mind.

Time in nature, or in a beautiful natural setting, can also give you a window through which to access your creative inspiration and imaginative ideas.

Another way to access your creative potential includes practicing non-judgment. When you are judging things, your mind is always evaluating whether something is good or bad, right or wrong. In your unobserved thoughts, you are constantly labeling and classifying things. This constant evaluative process distracts your mind from really connecting in the moment and being present with the people and events in your life.

In A Course in Miracles there is a prayer that says “Today I shall judge nothing that occurs.” When you still your judgments, you still your mind.

Don Miguel Ruiz in his book “The Four Agreements” says that we create stories with our self-judgments – stories about ourselves that are not true. His first agreement is to “be impeccable with your word”, meaning not to use your words against yourself. Letting go of resistance, self-judgment or critical self-thoughts will allow your creativity to flourish and give you access to your full creative potential.

I’d love to hear how you access your creative potential. Let me know by commenting below.

To your creative success!

~ Jan Marie

ICF Credentialling Mentor Program with Jan Marie Dore, MCC

This group program supports coaches seeking the required hours of mentor coaching as part of their ICF credentialing process.

The following key ICF requirements are included:

• Mentoring by an MCC for 10 hours
• A thorough understanding of the eleven ICF Core Competencies
• A deeper understanding of the minimum skill requirements for ACC, PCC or MCC
• Observed coaching with detailed feedback
• A letter from your MCC mentor attesting to your coaching experience and level
• Assistance with completion of the ICF credential application

Click here for further information and to apply for the GROUP MENTOR COACHING PROGRAM

Private 1-1 Coaching

Want to create a customized plan to find your voice, clarify your core message, and access your full creative potential? I have opened up a few new spaces for 1-1 coaching clients. I’d be honored to be the one who lights your path this year because it’s my mission to help more women entrepreneurs just like you share their talents with the world and get their message out in a much bigger way.

If you’ve ever thought that I could help you build a business that makes great money and gives you more freedom while you bring your great work out into the world to make a bigger difference in people’s lives (who doesn’t want more of THAT?) – then simply visit this link and answer just a few short confidential questions so I can learn a little more about you.

If it sounds like a fit, we’ll schedule a phone conversation to confirm that we’re a good match and decide which coaching option is right for you – anywhere from a one-day intensive to one of my 3 or 6 month programs. If you have any questions at all, just contact us and we’ll help you out.

If you are an independent professional or small business owner providing services, here is a simple four step sales process you can use to close more sales and expand your business.

1. Generate Leads

Developing a list of prospects to market to should be one of your core marketing activities, and one of the main goals of your website. Some traditional ways to generate leads include asking for referrals, networking, writing articles, or speaking at professional associations and conferences.

You can also generate leads online by offering an enticing giveaway report or ecourse at your website, submitting articles to online directories, writing a blog, posting to someone else’s blog or a discussion forum, using pay-per-click ads, and advertising in ezines or at websites.

2. Fill your Marketing Funnel

Growing your business often comes down to a numbers game – the more people you have in your marketing funnel who are interested in your products and services, the more likely you are to be financially successful. Save a list of all your contacts in an online database so that you can easily follow up with them and keep in touch.

Implementing a marketing funnel strategy can have a huge impact on your profitability. Giving the customer alternatives can be an effective way to make more sales.

3. Keep in Touch

The more frequently and consistently you follow up with prospects and clients, the better your chances of growing your sales. You can follow up with a phone call or an invitation to coffee or lunch. Or, you can keep in touch with an email, a newsletter, an article, a postcard, or an invitation to a no-charge talk. Have a way to contact your leads at least seven to nine times because most people aren’t ready to buy the first time they meet you or visit your website.

4. Open the Relationship

This is my term for ‘closing the sale’. I like to reframe the beginning of the sales process as ‘opening the relationship’. It sounds less intimidating. Your goal in following up is to develop a relationship with prospects and demonstrate your expertise, not to promote sales. This is your chance to demonstrate that you really understand the challenges they are experiencing, and that you can help them solve their problems.

Get people interested in who you are and what you have to offer before you try to sell them anything, and your sales efforts will become effortless sales.

I welcome your comments below!

~ Jan Marie

ICF Credentialling Mentor Program with Jan Marie Dore, MCC

This group program supports coaches seeking the required hours of mentor coaching as part of their ICF credentialing process.

The following key ICF requirements are included:

• Mentoring by an MCC for 10 hours


• A thorough understanding of the eleven ICF Core Competencies


• A deeper understanding of the minimum skill requirements for ACC, PCC or MCC


• Observed coaching with detailed feedback


• A letter from your MCC mentor attesting to your coaching experience and level


• Assistance with completion of the ICF credential application

The Mentor Coaching Group is a 10 hour program that includes 7 hours of small group coaching and 3 hours of individual 1-1 mentor coaching and meets ICF requirements. Next group program starts April, 2013.

Click here for further information and to apply for the GROUP MENTOR COACHING PROGRAM

Private 1-1 Coaching

Want to create a customized plan to achieve “expert status” 2013? I have opened up a few new spaces for 1-1 coaching clients. I’d be honored to be the one who lights your path this year because it’s my mission to help more women entrepreneurs just like you share their talents with the world and get their message out in a much bigger way.

If you’ve ever thought that I could help you build a business that makes great money and gives you more freedom while you bring your great work out into the world to make a bigger difference in people’s lives (who doesn’t want more of THAT?) – then simply visit this link and answer just a few short confidential questions so I can learn a little more about you.

If it sounds like a fit, we’ll schedule a phone conversation to confirm that we’re a good match and decide which coaching option is right for you – anywhere from a one-day intensive to one of my 3 or 6 month programs. If you have any questions at all, just contact us and we’ll help you out.

You need to do three key things:

• Get clear on the one thing you do better than virtually everyone you know.
  Take time to figure out what you are really, really good at. Know what sets you apart so you can stand out and get noticed. Get feedback to make sure your strength is something people really want and will pay for in your marketplace.
• Highlight that strength in everything you do.
  Teach it. Lead with it. Leverage it. Package it. Promote yourself as an expert or specialist in what you do best. Communicating from a place of power and certainty about your core talent will make all the difference in your sales.
• Continuously demonstrate your unique ability.
  Demonstrate to prospects and clients how you can uniquely solve their problems with your core gifts and talents. Bring your unique ability into everything you do on a consistent basis.

It takes a shift in your mindset to claim the power of your brilliance and really own it. By doing this, people will naturally be attracted to working with you and you won’t have to work so hard at selling yourself.

It’s a power shift inside yourself that will make all the difference in your marketing being either highly effective are not effective at all. You can make this shift in your mind – even if you are currently struggling – and watch the lid come off your income.

Come from a place of helping others and knowing that you have the strength and talent to really help them solve their current challenges. Believe that you’re the best person to help them. Step into your power and claim expert positioning, and watch your income and sales soar!

I welcome your comments below!

~ Jan Marie

ICF Credentialling Mentor Program with Jan Marie Dore, MCC

This group program supports coaches seeking the required hours of mentor coaching as part of their ICF credentialing process.

The following key ICF requirements are included:

• Mentoring by an MCC for 10 hours


• A thorough understanding of the eleven ICF Core Competencies


• A deeper understanding of the minimum skill requirements for ACC, PCC or MCC


• Observed coaching with detailed feedback


• A letter from your MCC mentor attesting to your coaching experience and level


• Assistance with completion of the ICF credential application

The Mentor Coaching Group is a 10 hour program that includes 7 hours of small group coaching and 3 hours of individual 1-1 mentor coaching and meets ICF requirements. Next group program starts March, 2013.

Click here for further information and to apply for the GROUP MENTOR COACHING PROGRAM

Private 1-1 Coaching

Want to create a customized plan to achieve “expert status” 2013? I have opened up a few new spaces for 1-1 coaching clients. I’d be honored to be the one who lights your path this year because it’s my mission to help more women entrepreneurs just like you share their talents with the world and get their message out in a much bigger way.

If you’ve ever thought that I could help you build a business that makes great money and gives you more freedom while you bring your great work out into the world to make a bigger difference in people’s lives (who doesn’t want more of THAT?) – then simply visit this link and answer just a few short confidential questions so I can learn a little more about you.

If it sounds like a fit, we’ll schedule a phone conversation to confirm that we’re a good match and decide which coaching option is right for you – anywhere from a one-day intensive to one of my 3 or 6 month programs. If you have any questions at all, just contact us and we’ll help you out.