Marketing Your Business Effectively

Marketing Your Business Effectively
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Marketing Your
Business Effectively
A Quick and Simple Guide to Taking Charge
Of Your Marketing
By Wendy Hearn
Business Coach
http://www.Business-Personal-Coaching.com
Wendy Hearn Coaching
Midsummer Court
314 Midsummer Boulevard
Central Milton Keynes
MK9 2UB
UK
Tel: 01908 357899 Outside the UK, call 0044 1908 357899
wendy@wendyhearn.com
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Copyright © 2004 Wendy Hearn, All Rights Reserved
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Wendy Hearn
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Contents:
1. Introduction
2. Where To Start.
3. Biggest Marketing Mistake
4. Contacts
5. Marketing Materials
6. Your Ideal Business
7. Your Business Vision
8. Attracting Perfect Clients
9. Your Values
10. Your Strengths, Talents and Abilities
11. Your Uniqueness
12. What Inspires You?
13. Go With Your Energy
14. Your Reason Why
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15. Define Your Services
16. Understand Potential Clients’ Situations, Surface

Issues or Problems
17. Your Perfect Clients’ Needs or Concerns
18. Features Of Your Services
19. Benefits of Your Services
20. Sell Solutions Not Your Services
21. Whom Do You Work With?
22. Be Unique and Stand Out
23. Be Exclusive & Qualify Potential Clients
24. The Steps In Your Process
25. Develop a System
26. Test, Test and Test Even More
27. Marketing Tactics
28. Do I Need a Website?
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29. Hiring Experts
30. Potential Clients’ Reservations
31. Plan Of Action
32. Use Visualization
33. Your Comfort Zone
34. Support & Encouragement
35. Be Consistent
36. Keep Learning
37. Assess Other Businesses’ Marketing
38. Acknowledge Yourself
39. Feedback On Your Marketing
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1. Introduction
“I need paying clients.”
“How do I get new clients?”
“I struggle to make my marketing work.”
“I don’t know where to start with marketing.”
“I hate marketing and marketing myself feels horrendous.”
If you hear yourself saying any of these, then I’ve written

this ebook especially for you. I’m asked by many business
owners how they can gain clients quickly for their service-
based businesses. They’re either just starting their
business and don’t know how to market themselves and
their services, or if they have an existing business, they
may have done some marketing but find it a real struggle
and lots of hard work. The struggle comes from not
personally enjoying the marketing or because they’re not
getting the results they want, i.e., a stream of new clients.
When you’re in business, whatever that might be, you’re

also in the business of marketing your services. Like it or
not, marketing is essential to your business and will, in
some ways, always be a part of it. Therefore, you need to
find a way of marketing which suits you, your style and
which you actually enjoy.
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I truly believe you can find marketing that is enjoyable for

you. At one time, I didn’t believe I would ever enjoy it. I
thought it was a necessary evil, but now, not only do I love
it but I work with other business people to develop their
marketing!
Even if you believe you’ll never enjoy it, I invite you to be

open to the possibility that marketing may be enjoyable
and that you can become proficient at it. Believing you’ll
never enjoy marketing is only a story you’re telling yourself
and at any time, you can choose to tell yourself a different
story.
When I speak with most people about marketing, they

often say, “It just isn’t me” or “I don’t feel okay doing it”.
They feel that to even do some marketing, let alone
become really good at it, pulls them out of shape
personally and feels awkward. I believe this to be the case
when you haven’t identified your natural marketing style.
There is a way to market that suits you quite naturally,
which feels right for you, and I encourage you to discover
it.
I do appreciate how you currently feel about marketing. I

had no marketing background so I was completely naïve
when it came to marketing my business. I floundered
around for longer than I care to remember and at the back
of my mind, I hoped that new clients would appear as if by
magic, so that I would never need to do any marketing
again. I did say I was naïve!!
It took me a long time before I realised that marketing was

something I would always be doing, so I might as well find
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a way to enjoy it. This ebook is a brief overview of all that

you need to consider when marketing and is founded on
what I’ve learned over many years. Most of this learning
has come from actually doing the marketing in my own
businesses. Even today, my technique isn’t perfect and I
still make mistakes, but I just keep learning, moving
forward and gaining a deeper understanding of all that’s
required to market effectively.
It’s my intention to shorten the learning curve for you, to

share with you a process that will enable you to market
more effectively, as well as finding a way for you to enjoy it
and be proficient at it. The process that I outline will help
you to get to know yourself, your business and your
marketing even better.
This ebook is just a start. I encourage you to continue

learning about marketing, improving and ultimately
mastering it completely. Marketing is a work in progress.
The most important part is to take action, to get out there
and start practising.
Taking action is the most critical part of your marketing.

Without it, you’ll get nowhere and that is guaranteed! The
best education you’ll receive about marketing is when
you’re actually doing it. Even if you make mistakes, you
can learn even more from them. I can share my
experience with you but it’s down to you to do something
with it.
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If you’ve been feeling overwhelmed by all the possibilities,

just remember you don’t need to do it all at once. You
need to consistently take action and if necessary, by taking
small steps. Great oaks from little acorns grow!
2. Where To Start.
So, where do you start with your marketing? This ebook
focuses only on the marketing aspects of gaining new
clients. These may be new clients for a new business or
for an existing business. If you have an existing business,
you may have already covered some of these things. If
so, I invite you to go through them again to pick up new
ideas or to clarify some of the old ones. The more clarity
you achieve, the easier the marketing becomes.
Marketing is often a struggle when the water is muddied,

you feel unclear and you’re overwhelmed. In most aspects
of marketing, it’s always possible to achieve more clarity.
Each time you attain more clarity, your marketing will move
to a higher level. To help you see more clearly, keep
working through each aspect of this ebook. Each time I go
through it, I think, “Why didn’t I think of that before? It
seems so obvious now.” As you market, you will grow and
evolve personally, so each time you go through this
process, you’re at a different stage and who you’re being
as a person has shifted.
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3. Biggest Marketing Mistake

The biggest mistake I see when anyone markets their
business is that they start with one or two tactics, but have
no clearly defined marketing strategy. Tactics are specific
ways to achieve your strategy, such as direct mail,
speaking, writing, website etc – whereas a marketing
strategy is the starting point; it defines the overall
objectives and outlines a game plan.
If you start only with tactics, you’re doing things the hard
way because you may not be choosing the most effective
marketing tactics for you. Without a marketing strategy,
the tactics you choose won’t be as effective because the
actions will be scattered and not derived from a sound
game plan with all your objectives integrated into them.
You probably picked a tactic that someone else you know

is using or that they recommended and you think it will
work for you. Well, it probably will because invariably all
tactics work. You’ll find that each industry has its own
preferred tactic but this may just be a habit rather than the
most effective way of marketing for that industry.
You define your marketing strategy by looking at the

landscape, seeing what you’re up against and devising an
approach that will cut a clear, fast path through this. I’ve
never spoken to anyone who has had a clear marketing
strategy. I know, it’s sad that I don’t speak to many
people! ☺ But seriously, most business owners don’t
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have a marketing strategy; they operate purely from

marketing tactics. When you have a strategy, you’ll be
streets ahead of the competition.
Developing your marketing strategy is the only place to

start – you’ll know where you’re heading, you’ll have clarity
and focus. Tactics alone will leave you stabbing blindly in
the dark and of course there is a chance that you’ll reach
your target. But when you devise a strategy, it’s as if the
lights have been turned on. You can see your target
clearly and the simplest route to reach it.
With a marketing strategy in place, you can choose the

most effective tactics to reach your objectives. Your
strategy will be integrated into any tactics you use and
implemented at all times. This increases dramatically the
effectiveness of your marketing. Instead of achieving one
thing with each tactic and growing linearly, you’ll achieve
all your objectives with each tactic and this will grow your
business in many dimensions.
4. Contacts
Start with the contacts you already have. Even if you don’t
have existing business contacts, you will know many
people, or at least a few! Marketing is often approached
from a scarcity mindset. That is a perception in your mind
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that there’s not enough – whether that’s potential clients,

money or opportunities. With a scarcity mindset you’ll say,
“There’s not enough people to buy my service”, “I don’t
know enough people and those I do, won’t be interested in
my services.”
Instead, I invite you to approach marketing from a mindset

of abundance. This mindset says there is more than
enough and you can see there are more than enough
clients/business for you. Start by identifying all the people
you do know. You’ll be surprised how many people are on
that list. Even if they’re not likely to buy your services, you
may be able to tap into their network. You never know
who knows whom.
List everyone you know from friends and family to work or

business colleagues and professional associations. When
you’re clearer about what you’re marketing and to whom,
return to this list and break it down into:
1) Potential clients
2) People to educate about your services who could
refer potential clients to you.
3) Centres of influence. The people you know who are
well connected with a large network.
Incidentally, generating referrals from all your marketing is

a great strategy. You’ll need to have a system for keeping
in touch with these contacts, their networks and their
referrals. Systems are the backbone of your marketing
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and need to be tested and duplicated. A system can also

be implemented by someone other than yourself.
So with a clear system that you have tried and tested, it’s
easier to hand over to someone else to do the actual work.
This frees you up from the mundane tasks of marketing to
concentrate on doing the work you love and excel at,
together with those aspects of marketing that you do well.
It will also give you the time to grow your business by
working on it not just working in it.
5. Marketing Materials
Some marketing materials such as business cards are
essential. When you know specifically what you’re
marketing and to whom, you’ll have a better idea of which
materials would best support that. The trap to watch out
for is not to have marketing materials such as brochures
that allow you to hide behind them. It’s too easy to think
you’re marketing if you’re sending or giving out lots of
brochures. If it’s not bringing in results, such as new
clients, it’s not working effectively. Even if it’s a tactic
that’s brought you in one new client, it may still not be a
worthwhile return on your investment of time and money.
However, it’s often too easy with any of your marketing to

think that it’s worth doing even to get just one new client.
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In situations like this, you may then find yourself justifying

why you’re choosing particular marketing methods. Be
aware of this and examine the reason behind it. It could
be that fear has got in the way. The marketing materials
you choose need to be right for you and your business,
and only act as a support measure. They’re in addition to
you. They don’t replace you. Clients buy people and even
more so when you’re in a service business. They need the
opportunity to experience and connect with you as a
person.
In a way, a website is a type of marketing material, and is

a possible tactic for reaching your strategy. When it
comes to marketing, I often hear “I think I need a website.”
We’ll look at this later when we’ve covered some of the
basics.
6. Your Ideal Business

Before you start on any marketing, you need to know what
you’re working towards. Many people set out without a
clear destination in mind. Okay, you know you want
clients, but do you know how many and what those clients
would be like? Before you start attracting clients, let’s be
clear about what your ideal business would be like, look
like and feel like. You don’t want to attract clients and then
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find that you’re not doing the work you enjoy or you need
to work hours that don’t suit you.
You can design your business the way you want it to be.
Not what someone else says it ‘should’ be, but what you
truly want. I invite you to put pen to paper and design your
ideal business, including the hours you want to work, the
numbers of clients and the different services you offer.
Include anything else that springs to mind as you consider
what your ideal business looks and feels like.
Don’t stop short of going for what you truly want here. It
may be that you need to make some compromise, but only
do that when you’re really clear about what you ideally
want. This way it’s a choice you make rather than feeling
shortchanged. When you’ve finished designing your ideal
business, notice what you’ve become aware of through
this process.
7. Your Business Vision

We’ll start by looking at the big picture with your business
and then later, we’ll bring this down to specific daily
actions. Defining the really big picture requires you to
discover your vision – both personal and business.
Although they are likely to be connected, they will be
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slightly different in that one has a personal, the other a

business outlook.
Your vision is what you see as possible and it’s so big that
you’re not likely to achieve it ever. Your vision pulls you
forward naturally, inspires you and will be with you at all
times. Uncovering your vision can take time but evolves
as you become clearer about many aspects of yourself.
For now, just start from where you are and you can choose
to explore it more at a later date. So, what do you see as
possible?
From your vision, you’ll define your mission and your

mission is what you’re here to do. Your mission is where
you connect with the perfect clients for you. They will want
what you have to offer, so there should be a perfect match.
Rather than having clients you struggle to work with,
marketing from your mission gives you clients which will be
easy to work with.
The final part of this is to know your purpose and your

reason for being. All these aspects will be integrated into
your marketing so that it’s meaningful for you, rather than
going for some traditional sales pitch. It also means your
marketing won’t be a scatter-gun approach, wasting lots of
time and money on marketing that doesn’t fit you perfectly.
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8. Attracting Perfect Clients

Now let’s add some more detail to the process of attracting
your perfect clients. There are more than enough clients
out there for every business. All you need to do is define
them specifically and then find the best way to attract
them. So far, you know that your perfect clients would
relate to your mission, what you’re here to do.
Now you need to consider what it is about clients that

would make them a perfect fit for your business. When
you work with these clients, the whole process is easier
and more enjoyable. You look forward to working with
them and you’re able to be at your absolute best, rather
than dealing with clients that are hard work, stressful and
you dread working with.
If you’ve already worked with some clients, use them as

reference points and write down what it was about them
that made them perfect. Also write down what, if anything,
was negative about them and for each item, write down
what would have made them perfect – the flip side of the
coin.
Consider the qualities they possess, how they would show

up as clients and who they are. Continue to add detail,
evaluate and refine as you progress with your marketing.
When you’re in contact with any potential clients, be aware
of what they’re like and you may notice other things that
you want to add to the perfect client list. Or there may be
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things on the list that you now decide aren’t important to

you.
Your perfect client profile will need to be integrated into

every marketing activity you use, thereby discovering new
clients who not only bring in the money, but are also
perfect for you and the future of your business.
9. Your Values
Perfect clients will also be attracted by your values,
whether they are conscious of this or not. Values are what
matter to you and will have been expressed in various
ways through your vision, your mission and your purpose.
Being clear about your own values will help with all your
marketing. When you know your own values, you’ll be able
to see if they fit with potential clients, either from their
words or actions. This saves you wasting time on a
potential client which will either lead nowhere or to work
that is unsatisfying to you.
10. Your Strengths, Talents and Abilities
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Focus on your strengths when marketing. It’s all too

common for people to know their weaknesses and work to
improve them. You look at what you’re not good at, what’s
wrong and what needs fixing. Then you wonder why
marketing is hard work and why you don’t enjoy it.
Yes, there may be some new things you need to learn and
practise, or to extend the edge of your comfort zone. But I
invite you to start only from your strengths, not your
weaknesses. You may need to find a way to work around
any weaknesses, but concentrate on your strengths and
build on them for an easier route to successful marketing.
There are two different ways to use your strengths when

marketing. One of them is that knowing your strengths,
talents and abilities enables you to communicate them to
potential clients. Your unique combination of qualities may
be exactly what they’re looking for. Your strengths will be
one way to attract perfect clients and will enable you to do
the work at which you truly excel.
When marketing, you’ll let them know how your strengths,

talents and abilities fit their needs and particular situation –
assuming they do. If your strengths don’t match, you can
let a potential client know that you’re not the right person
for them.
The other area where you use your strengths, talents and
abilities is when you choose your marketing tactics. Too
many people rely on what has worked for others. Well,
this may work for you, but it’s much better to use
marketing tactics that play to your strengths.
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So, if you’re a good speaker and really enjoy it, it makes

sense that this should be one of your marketing tactics.
Don’t allow yourself to get caught in the trap of “there’s
nothing that I’m really great at”. Yes, there is and you may
need to dig deeper or be willing to see that there are things
that you’re brilliant at. It may also be that at first you can’t
see how you can use a particular strength when
marketing.
There is a way and I invite you to be open to seeing it.

However, start by writing down the strengths, talents and
abilities that you’re currently aware of. Keep adding to
them and refining them, and as you develop more clarity,
some connections will become clear.
11. Your Uniqueness

There are two parts to marketing from your uniqueness.
One is defining what is unique about you as an individual
and unique about your business; the other is, what is
unique about the services you offer. We’ll explore the
second part in more detail later. For now, we’ll focus on
you being a unique individual. When you’re truly in touch
with what’s unique about you, you’ll market from a position
of strength, abundance and clarity.
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Your uniqueness is made up of the strengths, talents and

abilities we’ve previously covered, and also your
background, past experiences, style, approach and most
importantly, your way of being. It’s the whole mix that
makes up you and that you’ll bring to the services you
offer. Knowing your uniqueness increases your
confidence and when you’re marketing potential perfect
clients, they will naturally pick up on this confidence. Your
communications will be much clearer and more specific.
12. What Inspires You?

When you discover what it is that inspires you, you’ll be
more enthusiastic and that’s attractive to clients. Not any
old clients, just the clients that are perfect for you and your
business. Your inspiration is tied into your vision, mission,
purpose and values. One of the things that inspires me is
‘possibilities’. I love it when there are many varied and
tremendous possibilities. My clients appreciate it when I
open up possibilities for them.
You’ll attract like for like, i.e. someone who wants to

emulate you. Again there are two parts to this one. One is
that whatever inspires you is likely, at some level, to
inspire and connect with your potential perfect clients.
They’ll either be the same things for you both, or
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something that a potential client sees that you have and

they want some of it, hence the attraction to you.
The second part to knowing what inspires you is so that

you can continually tap into this inspiration as you’re
marketing. Your marketing will need to be done
consistently and you’ll need to be enthusiastic about your
services. It’s your inspiration that will keep moving your
marketing forward each day.
I invite you to discover what leaves you feeling inspired. It

may be people, your environment, your thoughts and
ideas, or reading and music. Even when you know what
inspires you, at any given moment this may falter, so I
encourage you to take time out and re-energise your
inspiration. It may not take long and the investment is well
worth it. I also suggest that you make sure you’re feeling
inspired before you do any marketing. Even if you’re only
writing a few words for a marketing piece, it’s surprising
how people pick up that something’s not right, missing or
off-key about it.
13. Go With Your Energy

This is similar to being inspired and again you need to
recognise your own energy level. It doesn’t have to be the
“ra-ra” type of energy found in motivational events; it’s the
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energy that’s right for you to be creative, productive and

effective. It may be that it’s a more peaceful and grounded
energy that you have.
There will be times when your energy is just right and I

encourage you to go with this when you’re marketing.
Potential clients will pick up on this energy. On the other
hand, when your energy isn’t right, I encourage you not to
do any marketing at all. It will probably feel like a struggle
for you; you won’t come across well and you may feel
even worse because marketing from the wrong energy
doesn’t usually work. If your energy isn’t right, leave your
marketing and find something to restore it.
When your energy is right for you, harness the power and
stride forward with your marketing. If there are times when
you’re not sure what your energy is like, start some
marketing for at least a couple of minutes. You’ll soon see
what your energy is like and you can choose to continue or
leave it.
14. Your Reason Why

You need to know specifically what your reason is for
building your business. Without a compelling reason why
you’ll struggle to continue. Energy and inspiration will
also come from your reason why. When you have a
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compelling reason why, you’ll see the necessity of

marketing as a tool to reach goal.
Marketing will form an essential part of what you’re doing.

You’ll see the importance in the big picture; it’s not
something you need to put up with for the time being or
struggle to make yourself do. It’s essential that marketing
becomes a part of your everyday activities and that it’s
enjoyable for you to do. Your reason why needs to be so
strong that you jump out of bed in the morning looking
forward to the day ahead; seeing where marketing fits into
the picture.
I invite you to ask yourself, “What will building your

business give to you personally?”
15. Define Your Services

Now let’s shift the focus onto your perfect clients and move
towards having a plan to take action. You first need to
define the specific services you offer. When they start
marketing, too many people give their service too general
a name, e.g. coaching, web developing, consulting,
accounting, legal advice etc.
The problem is, this is too vague for many potential clients,
particularly if you want to attract perfect clients. Yes, this
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will give most people an idea about your services but it will
be too general and lack impact. Their impression of the
service you’re offering may not even be correct, because
clients have assumptions about different services. This
lack of clarity often results in potential clients not taking
action and finding out more about your service.
You need to define your services more specifically, which

will probably mean you end up with a number of specific
services or even a whole list. The more specific they are,
the easier it is to market and for potential perfect clients to
understand what you offer. Ensure that all your services
tie in with all the previous things we’ve covered. In
particular, what are the services that your perfect client
would want? There’s no point offering all the services you
possibly can, when some or even many won’t fit with your
perfect client.
Having previously defined what your perfect client profile is

for your overall business, you need to take this and
streamline it for each of your services. For a particular
service, this may mean adding or removing things that you
had in your general perfect client profile. This will give you
a perfect client profile for each specific or niche service
you offer. You need to know your services specifically to
know what you’re offering when marketing. This stops you
from becoming a jack-of-all-trades and you’ll be able to
stand out uniquely in the marketplace.
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16. Understand Potential Clients’

Situations, Surface Issues or Problems
The most important thing to a potential client is that you
fully understand their situation, surface issues or problems
and keep your marketing completely focused on them not
on you. Your marketing needs to start from the situations
in which your potential perfect clients would find
themselves. This means marketing to them on an
emotional level because all buying is done emotionally.
Define the specific situations, surface issues and problems

your perfect clients would be facing. The more specific
these situations, the easier it will be to reach and attract
clients through your marketing. You also need to
communicate in language your perfect clients will hear and
relate to. Consider what your perfect clients would be
saying about this particular situation, issue or problem.
Use the words clients use and not necessarily the words
that are used in your industry. This is all about the client
and they need to know that.
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17. Your Perfect Clients’ Needs or

Concerns
Your focus also needs to be on your potential perfect
clients when you’re discovering their needs or concerns.
Finding out what they need is essential to the process of
marketing and selling. Give clients what they want, not
what you think they want. When you understand fully what
potential clients need, offering them the right solution
becomes easy. They’ll feel heard and understood, and
hence more receptive to your solutions. However, only
offer your solution if it’s truly the best for them. If it’s not,
say so. You’ll benefit in the long run from this honest and
pragmatic approach.
Also, only offer your services as a solution if this is your

perfect client. If they’re not, don’t think you can adapt to
suit. In order to find out what your clients need, you’ll have
to be open to listening more than you think and be willing
to enquire further. As you spend more time with potential
clients, discovering their needs or concerns, you’ll notice
some similarities in the needs your perfect clients have.
The more you understand their needs and concerns, the
more you’ll be able to communicate this in your marketing.
List the needs and concerns your potential perfect clients

may have.
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18. Features Of Your Services

The features of your services are their attributes, the
factual statements. The features are what your service
does, how it operates and how it works. This is where too
many people focus their marketing because often they
know the technical aspects of their services very well.
This is a big mistake because features don’t sell services.

Potential clients buy benefits and solutions. However,
you’ll still need to understand specifically and
communicate the features, because potential clients will
need to know what it does and how it works. Then you’ll
use the features to support your benefits and solutions.
List all the features of each specific service. You’ll find

that many features are the same for each specific service.
However, it’s a good marketing habit to look at each
service individually. When you have your list, go through
them and mark the features your perfect client would be
looking for and rank them in order of importance. This isn’t
what you think is important; it’s what your perfect clients
would say is important.
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19. Benefits of Your Services

The next step is to define what the benefits are for each of
your services, i.e. what’s in it for the clients. In what way
will your service help them, leave them feeling better and
improve things for them? Dig deep and look for all the
benefits. Often the deeper we dig and explore, the better
responses we come up with.
Clients buy what’s important to them – the benefits. You

need to ensure that all your marketing contains this
important information, and in a way that your perfect
clients would understand, to help them to reach their
decision more quickly.
Look at your list of features and for each one, show the
benefit they will get. A powerful question to ask of each
feature is, “So what?” and keep asking this until you’ve got
to the most important benefits. Other questions to ask are
“What makes this feature important to clients?” and
“What’s in it for the client?” Now ask: what problems or
concerns can this feature address? You’ll discover the
benefits through this process.
Only keep on your list the benefits your perfect client

would want. To reach your perfect clients effectively, you’ll
need to speak in their language and this includes the
benefits that are most important to them. Prioritise the list
of benefits and decide which is the main benefit your
potential perfect clients want. You may find that for each
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of your services the number one benefit isn’t the same and
that’s okay.
You may find that, as you progress with your marketing to

understand potential clients and work with more clients,
you’ll change some of the benefits or even the number one
benefit. Never believe you know it all; be open to learning
more from clients. The more marketing you do, the more
you’ll learn, evolve and evaluate to take your marketing to
a new level.
To be even clearer about the benefits of your services,

take a further step and focus on the results they would
obtain from each feature. For each one you’ve listed, ask,
“What result would they get from ……. (insert a feature)?
20. Sell Solutions Not Your Services

When they’re marketing, too many people talk about their
services and go into a lot of detail about them. Potential
clients aren’t particularly interested in the specific services
you offer; all they want to know is whether you offer what
they’re looking for – a solution to their problems. They
want to know that you can solve their problems, so you
need to focus on selling solutions. From your list of
specific situations, issues or problems your potential
perfect clients would be facing, list the solutions for them.
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21. Whom Do You Work With?

Now you can start to bring all this together into a succinct,
powerful statement specifically defining whom you work
with. It’s essential to have a short statement of whom you
work with and what you do, for focus and clarity when
communicating with potential perfect clients. This acts as
your 10-second introduction, also known as an elevator
speech.
You can have many different statements, with each

explaining one of your specific services. You’ll use
whichever is the most appropriate with your potential
perfect clients. Keep these statements as specific as
possible because this makes it easier to attract perfect
clients. You need a short, precise statement which you
can use in much of your marketing and expand on as
required. The statement starts “I work with” and defines
specifically whom your service is for and either what their
problem or situation is, or the benefit they most want.
The intention is that it creates a desire and a curiosity for

more information from you and invites their question “How
do you do that?” Behind this, they’re also asking “Can you
do this for me?”
Pick the most appropriate statement for each marketing

tactic you use and the intended audience. So, if you’re at
a networking event with business people, choose the
statement that’s most likely to fit with business people. If
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you’re delivering this statement, don’t learn it parrot

fashion. You need to say it with passion, excitement and
an enthusiasm spoken from your heart with real meaning.
In order to do this, you may choose to know your

statements generally and let your intuition and energy kick
in at a given moment and trust yourself you’ll choose the
right words. If they’re a perfect client, then ideally you’ll
hear them say something along the lines of “Wow, how do
you do that?” Having caught their attention, you’re in a
position to take the next step with them. You will need to
know specifically what the next step is in your process.
22. Be Unique and Stand Out

Many business people think their service is of use to
anyone. When asked to identify their market, they’ll
answer “Everyone”. While this may be true to some
degree, this thinking will prevent you from marketing
effectively. Although everyone potentially could benefit
from your service, there are people who are more likely to
buy what you offer. Effective marketing requires that you
reach out to and attract these people, and these people
only.
One of the biggest mistakes in marketing is trying to be

everything to everyone. When you do this, you dilute your
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marketing messages. These messages get lost amongst

the millions of others. You need you, your business and
your marketing to stand out from the crowd. The best way
to do this is to understand fully the uniqueness of the
service you offer. It may be in the way you deliver your
service, the processes you use or the wealth of knowledge
you have in a specialised area.
When you know the uniqueness of your service, use it in

all your marketing to stand out from the crowd. Don’t be
another “Look at me, I’m the same.”
23. Be Exclusive & Qualify Potential

Clients
When you’re marketing, it’s extremely important to come
from a place of abundance, knowing that there are more
than enough perfect clients for you, even if you don’t have
them at the moment. When you come from a place of
scarcity, you’ll feel that there aren’t enough potential
clients and jump at the first ones that come along.
One way to feel abundant when marketing is to be

exclusive. In other words, you don’t work with just anyone.
When you were profiling your perfect clients, things will
have come up that you can now use to be exclusive. Take
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items from your perfect client profile and use them as a

way to eliminate some clients. This can be done by letting
potential clients know what they would need to do or be in
order to work with you.
You can also interview and pre-qualify a client to see if

they fit for you. Not only are you more likely to work with
perfect clients this way, but rather than ‘trying to sell’ your
service, they will want to buy it. This creates an urgency
and a desire for your service that may not have been so
strong before. To save time carrying out pre-qualification
with every potential client who contacts you, ensure that
much of this is implemented through all your marketing
beforehand.
24. The Steps In Your Process

You need to work out all the steps you’ll want a potential
client to take through your marketing. It’s no good having
a conversation with a potential client if you aren’t clear with
them what the next step is. You’ll come across as wishy-
washy and this isn’t attractive to clients. Having a clear
step by step process means you’ll know what’s next and
be able to lead the potential client forward. You’ll feel
more confident when you have a specific process. People
like to be led and they want to know that you know what
you’re doing.
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Define all the steps from the beginning, from the first
contact with you right through to the end, when you both
choose whether you’re going to work together or not.
Make the process specific and detailed. There may be
times when one or more steps are combined; that’s fine,
as long as you know where you are in the process and
what’s next.
25. Develop a System

Once you’ve defined the process, develop a system so
that all your marketing supports it. You’ll have a system
for moving potential clients forward from the initial contact.
The processes and systems may vary with each marketing
tactic you use. This will allow you to track all potential
clients, know where they are in the process and what
needs to happen next.
You’ll also need to develop systems for your marketing

prior to any contact with potential clients – a system for
methodically and consistently carrying out each and every
piece of marketing that needs doing. When you have a
marketing system in place, it’s easier to hand some of the
many tasks over to someone else to do. This will mean
that your marketing is happening without you personally
doing all the work. You can focus on the marketing
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aspects that only you do well or the work that you love
doing.
26. Test, Test and Test Even More

The processes and systems that you’ve defined will need
to be tested. In fact, all your marketing will need to be
tested. This is one of the most important activities of
marketing and yet it’s overlooked by the majority of people.
When you test every part of your marketing mix, you’ll see
what works, what doesn’t and what needs changing.
There isn’t one single part of all this that doesn’t need
testing.
You’ll need to test every individual part of your marketing

materials, your perfect client profile, the features, benefits,
results they want etc. When you come to choose the
marketing tactics you’ll use, you’ll need to test these
tactics to discover which are best for reaching the
objectives of your marketing strategy. Test whom you’re
attracting and make any necessary adjustments in your
marketing.
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27. Marketing Tactics

This is the place where most people start with their
marketing. The reason it’s so far into this ebook is
because it’s not the place to start. Most people choose
their marketing tactics based on what they’ve seen other
people use or because they’re familiar with them.
However, you need to choose the marketing tactics that fit
best for reaching your perfect clients and your objectives
most effectively.
There are many marketing tactics to choose from and

most have been around for a long time. As a general rule,
there are no new marketing tactics, only a new spin on an
existing tactic. The various tactics include:
• Networking
• Public speaking
• Cold-calling
• PR
• Direct Mail
• Website
• Newsletter – printed and email
• Workshops & seminars
• Writing articles and reports
• Email
• Advertisements – e.g. newspapers, magazines,
directories, radio, TV
• Referrals
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• Leaflets/flyers
• Postcards
Considering everything you’ve thought about and clarified

so far with your marketing, choose the tactics you’re going
to use. Ultimately, the more tactics you use, the more legs
you’ll have to support your marketing. However, each of
these tactics on their own can be quite large, so you may
want to start with one and then add more as your
marketing muscle develops.
Some tactics may naturally flow from your first choice. If,
for instance, your initial tactic is networking or a website –
as a means to keep in contact with potential perfect
clients, you may introduce the concept of a newsletter.
The important thing is that, in every tactic, you fully
implement your marketing strategy.
When you’re choosing what marketing tactics to use, you

need to think about where your perfect clients will hang out
and with whom. Where are you most likely to come into
contact with large numbers of your perfect clients?
28. Do I Need a Website?

A lot of people think they need a website as part of their
marketing and it’s something I get asked about a lot. A
website is one of my main marketing tactics so naturally a
lot of people find me through my website and think this is
the way they need to go. Having a website has worked
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really well for me; however, it may not be the best route for
you.
There are many advantages to having a website and it

may be one of the best tactics for you to use when
marketing. However, until you’re clear about your
marketing strategy and whom specifically you want to
reach, I suggest the idea of a website stays as a possible
tactic. After all, a website is just one of many options.
When you’ve got the clarity you need about your marketing
strategy, you’ll know if it’s one of the most effective tactics
for you to use. It’s too easy to invest time and money in a
website because it seems as if everyone else has one or
you think you ‘should’ have one. Before investing time and
money in a website, I suggest you consider all the
previous things I’ve mentioned and then see if this is the
most effective and natural choice for you. It may not be
the best way to reach your perfect clients.
You need to know from your marketing strategy what

objectives you want your website to achieve for you. If
you’ve worked all through the previous advice on
marketing and you do decide to have a website, you’ll
have done much of the groundwork needed to make your
website successful and effective.
The other point to consider is that many people see a

website as a marketing tool, which in many ways it is.
However, even the website itself still needs to be
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marketed, because without visitors, you’ll get nowhere. If

you decide to have a website, remember that there are
millions of websites and yours will need to be found. A
website that is lost among millions of others won’t bring
you maximum results.
Marketing your website will require knowledge of how to

market on the internet, including search engines,
directories, ezines etc. You’ll also need to develop
processes and systems for your website and test all facets
of your marketing.
29. Hiring Experts

There will be times when it’s appropriate to hire an expert
for some of your marketing, perhaps for PR or writing
copy. Before you hire anyone, I suggest that you first
develop a good overall idea of what you want. With your
marketing strategy in place, you’ll know the objectives you
want to achieve, and can communicate these clearly to
any expert.
What often happens is that an expert is hired because we

think we won’t have to do anything. We dump the job on
them, sometimes unintentionally, and then wonder why it
didn’t work well. However, they’ll still need a good
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understanding of your business and your needs, and

they’ll only get this if you know it yourself.
Generally, an outside expert will only have expertise in

particular marketing tactics, so you’ll still need to know the
overall picture of your marketing and you’ll still need to
have a mix that includes what they’re doing. If you don’t
know it and don’t communicate it properly, you could end
up with the expert doing a great job but it’s taken you down
the wrong path, perhaps by not attracting the perfect
clients for you. The time to hire an expert is when you
have a great marketing strategy and they have the
knowledge, skills or contacts that either you don’t, or
where it isn’t worthwhile for you to learn.
30. Potential Clients’ Reservations

One of the items you need to address through your
marketing is the reservations that your potential perfect
clients may have. They may have concerns about how
your service will work, what will happen and what they will
need to do. It may be that your service is new or different
and not what they’re used to. People like to feel
comfortable with their decisions. You need to look at the
services that you offer by putting yourself in your potential
clients’ shoes and see what they may feel unsure about.
Consider the reservations they may have and what may
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hold them back from using your service, and address them
through your marketing.
31. Plan Of Action

Action is the critical part and now we need to bring all the
strands together and arrive at a plan of action. This plan
needs to suit you personally. Now, I’m not a great planner
because I prefer to be in the moment and let it unfold, and
too much planning doesn’t allow me to do that. You need
to do as much planning as suits you.
If you’re someone who likes everything to be planned out

and this works well for you, then I encourage you to apply
your usual planning process to all that we’ve covered.
However, if you’re someone who prefers to be in the flow
and who takes inspired actions in the moment, it is
important that you keep focused. Without focus, the
actions you take will end up scattered all over the place.
This isn’t going to move your marketing ahead quickly and
effectively.
Focus comes from being truly in touch with your vision,

mission and purpose. This is your bigger picture and all
the actions you take need to be aligned with this. Focus
also comes from doing only a few things and doing them
well.
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So to be focused in your marketing, I suggest harnessing

the power of three. This means that, at any one time,
you’re only working on a maximum of three things with
your marketing. Pick the three areas you’re going to focus
on with your marketing, and then decide for each area
what the next action needs to be. This will give you just
three actions to take; it keeps you focused and not
overwhelmed when you think about all there is to do.
When you choose each action, tailor it to what suits you.

Sometimes it may be that the action is fairly small,
particularly if fear is getting in the way. At other times, you
may choose a larger action or even an outrageous one.
An outrageous action is one that really takes you out of
your comfort zone, pushes your edge and at the same
time is exciting for you. Be committed to these three
actions and when they’re completed (and only then),
choose the next action step from each of the three parts of
your marketing that you’ve chosen.
If other ideas or actions spring to mind, jot them down and

slot them in when they become the next obvious action.
Ensure that from your vision, mission and purpose, you’re
focusing on the right three actions for you. Your vision
naturally pulls you forward in the right direction and the
three smaller steps keep you moving ahead in alignment
with your bigger picture.
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32. Use Visualization

Using visualization in your marketing is a very powerful
way to be in the moment with it and for the next step to
unfold naturally. Visualization paints a picture in your mind
so you can communicate through the actual marketing you
do. It can be used to help you profile your perfect clients,
discover processes and systems, build your confidence,
keep you inspired and give you clarity.
Visualizing is a simple process, so start wherever you feel

comfortable, taking it one step at a time. To start the
process, close your eyes if possible, and
begin to bring any aspect of your marketing to life. See
yourself as the marketer you want to be so that your
marketing flows naturally and you attract your perfect
clients. Take notice of what's going on as you see this
picture; who you are being and what it looks and feels like.
Note your feelings as you're visualizing and it's the
positive, forward moving, enthusiastic feelings you need to
associate with. These feelings will enable you to move
forward in a natural, inspiring way.
Create visualizations for yourself around marketing and

use them often. I encourage you particularly to use
visualization first thing in the morning, last thing at night
and when your belief in yourself is faltering.
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33. Your Comfort Zone

For your marketing to be effective, you will need to grow
and learn personally. Often this will take you out of your
comfort zone. When you step forward with things that are
uncomfortable, fear will often appear. Fear often gets in
the way of marketing and as you work through all this, it’s
inevitable that fear will raise its ugly head. Be aware of the
times when fear shows up and stops you in your tracks.
The only way to handle fear is to face it and take action.

Don’t analyse it or beat yourself up for having fear. It’s a
normal reaction that we as human beings have. I invite
you to notice the fear, acknowledge it, become its friend
and then take an action, however small, to face it and
move beyond it.
Stepping out of your comfort zone will make you look at

the beliefs you hold. You will have beliefs about yourself
and marketing. Some of these will move you towards
success with your marketing and others won’t. The beliefs
you hold now, whether useful or not, will fit comfortably
into the box that surrounds your comfort zone. As you
step out of this in order to improve your marketing, the
beliefs that are holding you back will start to challenge you.
Be aware of these beliefs, choose a belief that will fit better
for you in terms of being an effective marketer, and then
take action to support and reinforce that new belief.
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34. Support & Encouragement

Fear and not taking action consistently will get in the way
of marketing effectively if you allow it to. Think about the
support, encouragement and accountability that you’ll
need to keep moving your marketing forward. Perhaps
you need to find a buddy and work together; supporting,
encouraging and holding each other accountable,
particularly when taking action.
Remember, you don’t have to do this on your own and

working with others often makes the process easer and
more enjoyable. A coach is the perfect partner to inspire,
challenge and encourage you. You’ll feel accountable,
supported and keep moving ahead faster and more
effectively.
35. Be Consistent
Being successful at marketing requires you to be
consistent. Jumping around and trying out many different
things invariably doesn’t get you far. It’s when you take
consistent actions that your marketing will start to bring in
the best results. You also need to get into the habit of
taking consistent actions now so that you don’t fall into the
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trap of finding that, because you’re not taking action, the

new clients coming in have dried up.
I’ve seen this happen so many times and, yes, I’ve done it
myself on more occasions that I care to remember! You
do some marketing, get some new clients, so you slow
down or stop your marketing. Then as you’re completing
the work with some of these clients, you notice that there
are no new clients in the pipeline. So you have to start
marketing again. This results in the ups and downs
experienced by many professional service businesses.
You’re either busy working with clients or busy marketing
and what you really need is a consistent mix of both.
When you’re busy working with clients, if you develop the

processes and systems that I’ve mentioned before, you’ll
know specifically what needs to be done with your
marketing, so you’re not lost. Some of the processes and
systems will kick in and work almost on their own, and you
can choose to have someone else do some of the admin
tasks related to your marketing. If you’ve done the
groundwork, continuing with your marketing will be much
easier.
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36. Keep Learning

Marketing is a big learning curve. Even when you’ve
learnt about every aspect of all marketing tactics, there will
still be plenty more to learn about yourself, your business
and your potential perfect clients. When you’re open to
learning you’ll continue to make improvements and won’t
become complacent. Each improvement you make
increases the power of your marketing. I invite you to be
open to learn continually about marketing as a whole.
Because there is a lot you could learn and you may feel
overwhelmed by it all, I encourage you to keep focused by
asking yourself each day this one question, “What one
thing specifically did I learn today about marketing and in
what way am I going to use this from now on?” After
asking yourself the question, give yourself the opportunity
to hear your response. The learning may have come from
something you read about marketing, a connection with a
client or something completely unrelated that sparked a
thought for you around marketing.
37. Assess Other Businesses’ Marketing

One way of learning more and improving your marketing is
to study what others do. This isn’t about stealing their
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ideas; it’s about seeing something that may ignite a spark

for you. Perhaps they include something in their marketing
that you hadn’t thought of, or you are reminded of
something you knew and you now decide to test through
your marketing whether it works for you or not. This is the
important part, looking at what others are doing and seeing
if, in any way, it could work for you.
When you’re reading other businesses' marketing

materials, be aware of how it leaves you feeling. I’ve read
some marketing stuff I disliked intensively and some that’s
really grabbed my attention. I invite you to look at what it
is that feels right for you and what doesn’t feel right, that
you can integrate into your marketing accordingly.
38. Acknowledge Yourself

Move beyond your comfort zone and fear, and perhaps
some of the new things you’re experimenting with through
this process of marketing may leave you feeling doubtful.
Results may appear very quickly and that’s great, but they
may take longer than you want. Apart from being exciting,
this period of growth may also leave you feeling the need
for a pat on the back – some acknowledgement.
Being acknowledged for what we’ve done and who we are

is essential to everyone and I invite you to make sure that
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you’re getting more than enough acknowledgement. If

you’re working with a coach, it’s a natural part of what they
do to acknowledge you. If you’re working with others,
choose to acknowledge each other. I believe the most
important thing is to acknowledge ourselves. Each day,
acknowledge yourself for at least three things that you’ve
done today or who you were being, for example, if you
faced some fear, then acknowledge yourself for being
courageous.
39. Feedback On Your Marketing

Whatever you think about your marketing, it’s going to be
your potential perfect clients that really count. They’re the
ones you want your marketing to speak to and attract.
You need to be open to their feedback on your marketing.
There may be some people who are your perfect clients
and whom you can ask directly for their feedback on any
part of your marketing.
The other way to receive feedback from your potential

perfect clients is to be open to all that’s going on when
you’re communicating with them. Notice what they’re
saying so you can see what needs adding to, removing or
improving in any part of your marketing. For example, you
may notice that they talk of a benefit that you hadn’t
highlighted as being of major importance, that you hadn’t
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even thought of. You may notice that many of them are in
a particular industry and you can choose to target this
industry more.
It’s surprising what you can learn from your potential

perfect clients if you open yourself up to it. Then take your
learnings and integrate them into all your marketing.
What I want for you is an abundance of perfect clients. I

encourage you to shift your marketing to being enjoyable,
effective and successful. Go on, you can do it! Keep
taking the actions and the results will appear.
To your marketing and business success.
Wendy
Business Coach
We work with individuals, businesses and organisations to

unlock their unique potential so that their marketing
produces outstanding results.
You and your company have massive potential, and

probably much more than you’re currently tapping into.
So, I invite you to consider, “What will it take for you to
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unlock this potential and achieve the success and results

you desire?”
Wendy Hearn Coaching
Midsummer Court
314 Midsummer Boulevard
Central Milton Keynes
MK9 2UB
UK
Tel: 01908 357899

Outside the UK, call 0044 1908 357899
wendy@wendyhearn.com
_____________________________________________________
52

Marketing Your Business Effectively

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Marketing Your Business Effectively

Copyright © 2004 Wendy Hearn, All Rights Reserved

We grow through recommendation.

Please share this ebook with friends and colleagues

Would you be willing to so this for me?

Then they’ll receive my latest tips, ideas and

I appreciate your recommendation of this ebook.

If this ebook has been passed on to you, please

Copyright © 2004 Wendy Hearn, All Rights Reserved

3. Biggest Marketing Mistake

6. Your Ideal Business

7. Your Business Vision

8. Attracting Perfect Clients

10. Your Strengths, Talents and Abilities

11. Your Uniqueness

12. What Inspires You?

13. Go With Your Energy

14. Your Reason Why

Copyright © 2004 Wendy Hearn, All Rights Reserved

15. Define Your Services

16. Understand Potential Clients’ Situations, Surface

17. Your Perfect Clients’ Needs or Concerns

18. Features Of Your Services

19. Benefits of Your Services

20. Sell Solutions Not Your Services

21. Whom Do You Work With?

22. Be Unique and Stand Out

23. Be Exclusive & Qualify Potential Clients

24. The Steps In Your Process

25. Develop a System

26. Test, Test and Test Even More

27. Marketing Tactics

28. Do I Need a Website?

Copyright © 2004 Wendy Hearn, All Rights Reserved

29. Hiring Experts

30. Potential Clients’ Reservations

31. Plan Of Action

32. Use Visualization

33. Your Comfort Zone

34. Support & Encouragement

36. Keep Learning

37. Assess Other Businesses’ Marketing

38. Acknowledge Yourself

39. Feedback On Your Marketing

Copyright © 2004 Wendy Hearn, All Rights Reserved

“How do I get new clients?”

“I struggle to make my marketing work.”

“I don’t know where to start with marketing.”

“I hate marketing and marketing myself feels horrendous.”

If you hear yourself saying any of these, then I’ve written

When you’re in business, whatever that might be, you’re

Copyright © 2004 Wendy Hearn, All Rights Reserved

I truly believe you can find marketing that is enjoyable for

Even if you believe you’ll never enjoy it, I invite you to be

When I speak with most people about marketing, they

I do appreciate how you currently feel about marketing. I

It took me a long time before I realised that marketing was

Copyright © 2004 Wendy Hearn, All Rights Reserved

a way to enjoy it. This ebook is a brief overview of all that

It’s my intention to shorten the learning curve for you, to

This ebook is just a start. I encourage you to continue

Taking action is the most critical part of your marketing.

Copyright © 2004 Wendy Hearn, All Rights Reserved

If you’ve been feeling overwhelmed by all the possibilities,