Hi,

I'm trying to put together a buddy group to support people on the GCN program.
The group will be for people selling products and services to businesses rather
than consumers, i.e B2B marketing.

We are going to do the meetings on Skype - probably about every fortnight.
Anyone in American or European or equivalent time zones are welcome.

If you want more details email me at davidhinde@...

Kind regards

David

Readers, there's still time to register for today's Get Clients Now! 28-Day
Program with Grace Durfee, starting at 10 AM Pacific, 1 PM Eastern. Experience
the coaching, accountability, perspective, and support provided by our
road-tested marketing and sales program. In this highly effective action group
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team.

Get the complete details and register now at
http://www.getclientsnow.com/workshop_2.htm

-- C.J.

----
C.J. Hayden, MCC, CPCC
Author, Get Clients Now!™ & Get Hired Now!™
Wings for Business LLC, San Francisco, CA
(415) 981-8845 or (877) 946-4722 in the U.S.
http://www.getclientsnow.com
----
Guiding entrepreneurs to make a difference

Can anyone tell me if there is a workwook that goes along with
Get Clients Now, and if so where would one purchase it.

Thank you,
Judy

Hello

Further to my last post on 23 February, I'm looking for at least another GCN
buddy to join the group.

I've used the GCN buddy system before and it really helped to motivate me in my
business.  Unfortunately, members of the groups started dropping out one by one,
so I'm looking for some more GCN buddies.  I've tried working on my own, but my
motivational levels have dropped, hence why I'm looking for another group.

If you are a service provider and are looking for support and accountability to
grow your business, then regular group GCN calls would be ideal for you.

The plan is to have weekly or fortnightly group calls using skype.  Calls will
take place at a date/time that's convenient to everyone.

If you are interested in joining the group, please contact me via e-mail at
cli51@... and let me know if you prefer to join a weekly or fortnightly
group.

Many thanks

Carol

Judy asked:

<< Can anyone tell me if there is a workbook that goes along with Get Clients
Now, and if so where would one purchase it. >>

Judy, there isn't a Get Clients Now! workbook, but we do have The One-Person
Marketing Plan Workbook. This isn't a companion to the Get Clients Now! program,
but rather an extension of it. If you have done the GCN program at least once,
and are now looking to expand your 28-program into a 6-month or longer marketing
plan, this workbook gives you the tools to do that.

You can purchase The One-Person Marketing Plan Workbook as an ebook at
http://www.getclientsnow.com/marketing-plan-workbook.htm

-- C.J.

----
C.J. Hayden, MCC, CPCC
Author, Get Clients Now!™ & Get Hired Now!™
Wings for Business LLC, San Francisco, CA
(415) 981-8845 or (877) 946-4722 in the U.S.
http://www.getclientsnow.com
----
Guiding entrepreneurs to make a difference

Carol, are you B2B or B2C?

--- In getclientsnow@yahoogroups.com, "carolli65" wrote:

<< Further to my last post on 23 February, I'm looking for at least another GCN
buddy to join the group.

I've used the GCN buddy system before and it really helped to motivate me in my
business.  Unfortunately, members of the groups started dropping out one by one,
so I'm looking for some more GCN buddies.  I've tried working on my own, but my
motivational levels have dropped, hence why I'm looking for another group.

If you are a service provider and are looking for support and accountability to
grow your business, then regular group GCN calls would be ideal for you.

The plan is to have weekly or fortnightly group calls using skype.  Calls will
take place at a date/time that's convenient to everyone.

If you are interested in joining the group, please contact me via e-mail at
cli51@... and let me know if you prefer to join a weekly or fortnightly
group. >>

I'm B2C.  I've had a good response to my request, so I'll be in touch with each
person to find out more about them and their availability over the next few
days.

--- In getclientsnow@yahoogroups.com, "anoukflambert" wrote:
>
> Carol, are you B2B or B2C?
>

Readers, we�re getting many positive responses to last week�s Get Clients Now!
E-Letter, �Watch Out for Time-Wasting Prospects.� In case you missed it:

<< You've got a likely prospect taking your calls and asking you questions. It
seems like you're home free, and a sale should be imminent. But hold the phone.
The calls, emails, and questions continue. Maybe a meeting or two as well. Time
passes, and the sale seems no closer than before. Welcome to the world of
time-wasting prospects.

Here are four kinds of prospects to be on the lookout for, and some ideas about
what to do when you find them. >>

Read the full article at http://www.getclientsnow.com/time-wasters.htm

-- C.J.

----
C.J. Hayden, MCC, CPCC
Author, Get Clients Now!� & Get Hired Now!�
Wings for Business LLC, San Francisco, CA
(415) 981-8845 or (877) 946-4722 in the U.S.
http://www.getclientsnow.com
----
Guiding entrepreneurs to make a difference

Readers, in response to the recent Get Clients Now! E-Letter: "Watch Out for
Time-Wasting Prospects"� at http://www.getclientsnow.com/time-wasters.htm , I
received the following true story from Michael Lever in England, who kindly gave
permission for me to share it here. Marketers beware, this could be you!

-- C.J.

I'm a commercial property surveyor, in England, and I specialise in a particular
complex area of advice. My website is a fund of knowledge and provides tons of
free information so lots of people download info without telling me (which is
okay by me, I'm not into registration, etc, but I also get a lot of enquiries
that mostly convert. Last year, I received a telephone enquiry for my services
and after talking to the person for quite a while I wrote to them to confirm
instructions, by usual way of going about things. Later that night, I had such a
powerful intuitive feeling that I ought not get involved that next day I wrote
to the person again to withdraw the offer of my services. (I gave a plausible
reason.)

A couple of days later, the person called to say they were surprised and
disappointed to receive my second letter because on the strength of the
conversation they'd started to make arrangements to instruct me. Another
surveyor had to be disinstructed beforehand. I started off resisting but
gradually allowed my accommodating nature to be preyed upon. My terms were
confirmed and thereafter I travelled about 200 miles to see the property and
meet the person. (I never meet prospective clients before being instructed:
waste of my time; also I've many clients I've never met despite having acted for
them for more than 20 years.)

As the matter progressed, it became increasingly obvious that my intuition was
spot-on (as usual). The person's partner was technically my client but the
partner hadn't been available when the person contacted me. As soon as things
started to get more complicated, the partner was emailing me wanting detailed
explanation of every permutation that I ended up having to spend an inordinate
time explaining every subtly. Fed up, on several occasions I offered to resign
the instruction, whereupon full of apologies would I continue. It came to a head
when I submitted an invoice and was told in no uncertain terms that they weren't
going to pay and I was disinstructed. I replied to say what a relief. I didn't
press for payment, not worth the hassle.

The partner insisted I sent them all copy correspondence, which I did, whereupon
they started to pick holes. I threw the comments back. They instructed another
surveyor and about a month later e-mailed to ask what I thought of the advice
they were getting from that other surveyor. A few weeks later, they got really
stroppy when they discovered I'd not included in the copy correspondence some
communication they considered I should've, whereupon I had fun informing them
they were not entitled to it. Then several weeks later, I get another email
apologising for all the things that had been said before ad would I like to take
the instruction on again? No. I replied.

I'd recommended them to a lawyer and despite the lawyer only carrying out their
instructions, they refused to pay him as well, but the lawyer hasn't been as
easy going as me and is suing them for his fees.

I sum up the experience with this analogy. Imagine you're a new car salesman and
are showing a car to a prospective customer. Instead of the customer asking all
the usual questions, instead they ask you to tell them the name of the person
that had sapped the rubber tree to make the tyres.

Regards

Michael Lever
www.michaellever.co.uk

That is why I get my fee upfront. I'm sure you would advise the same, CJ?

Nancy J. Wintner, APR
GWN Consultants
5230 Fifth Avenue, Ste 401
Pittsburgh, PA 15232
412-681-9314
412-681-3122 (f)
"Your Bottom Line is Our Bottom Line"

Thanks, CJ:

Even though I, as a Yank, have no idea what "instruction" means in England, I
can see that this was an unusual case of the "client" being pathologically
dishonest.

Just as bad are all those prospects who are so indecisive that we end up losing
money by spending time chasing butterflies.

Over the years (decades, in fact) I've become far stricter with prospective
clients' use of my valuable time.

I ALWAYS calendar a closing date in my negotiations - and communicate it clearly
by voice and mail/email. If I use email for this, I always use "return receipt
requested" to ensure they got the email. My email client allows me to see if the
email was opened.

After we've discussed what I/they can do, what I/they will do, and what they
will pay me and when, I schedule a specific date and time to bring the process
to closure. I then confirm that the next day, and the day before by email and/or
phone.

If they use any excuse at that point to postpone, I inform them that I consider
the project dead, but will leave time for them to bring it back to life for 30
days.

I never initiate contact after that.

This sounds far harsher than it actually is when I have good rapport. In those
few cases where rapport was less-than-good, the deal probably should have died,
anyway.

--
Tom Markham
Area Director
(415) 830-4487
(800) 889-9924
tomm@...

Tom,

On 3/19/12 1:55 PM, Tom Markham wrote:
> If I use email for this, I always use "return receipt requested" to
> ensure they got the email. My email client allows me to see if the
> email was opened.

FYI, that feature also depends on the email client used to read the
email. I have mine set to never send return receipts.

   - George

--
   ----------------------------------------------------------------------
    * George Dinwiddie *                      http://blog.gdinwiddie.com
    Software Development                    http://www.idiacomputing.com
    Consultant and Coach                    http://www.agilemaryland.org
   ----------------------------------------------------------------------

Nancy asked:
<< That is why I get my fee upfront. I'm sure you would advise the same, CJ? >>

Nancy, it's always advisable to ask for at least some of your fee up front.
Although it's not possible in every line of work to actually get it.

As a coach, I ask clients to pay for their sessions in advance (which may be
just as the session begins). As a speaker, I ask clients to make a 50% deposit
to reserve the date, and pay the remaining 50% when I arrive, with reimbursement
for expenses due within 30 days afterward. As a writer, I can sometimes
negotiate a 50% advance before beginning work, but more often don't get paid
until I turn in the assignment. As a teacher, I have never been able to get any
advance payment, and have only been paid after the class was delivered.

When the standard practice in your line of work is payment after completion, you
can still request an advance, deposit, or retainer. When your request is denied,
you then have a choice -- to proceed without advance payment, to decline the gig
and seek a different client, or to change your line of work. I'm not joking
about that last choice! I know many professionals who have changed their line of
work due to difficulties in getting paid on time for what they used to do.

Whenever you are working without advance payment, you need to be very careful
about who you work for, and how much effort you put in before seeing some cash.
You should ALWAYS have a signed agreement if you're going to put in more than an
hour without advance payment, and be very clear about when and how payment
should take place. Even so, you can still run into problems.

I learned the hard way, when I was a corporate consultant decades ago, that
getting paid can sometimes be more difficult than either landing the job or
actually doing it. After an incident where it took THREE MONTHS to get paid for
my first month of work on a long-term, full-time contract, I established several
practices that served me well in future situations, for example:

   o Submit your first invoice for a large contract for as short a period of
time, or amount of work, as possible. Don't wait to invoice until a large amount
is due. Write this into your agreement, if needed.
   o Make sure your invoice shows every bit of information you can think of that
might be needed to set up a vendor account for you. Ask if there is a purchase
order number or other reference number that should be on it.
   o Include an IRS W-9 form ( or equivalent in your country) with your first
invoice, showing your Tax ID information. Don't wait to be asked.
   o Give your invoice a due date 10 days out. Don't say "payable on receipt" as
some will interpret that as "whenever"� and others will default to 30 days if no
date is given.
   o If your invoice requires approval before payment and you are on site, walk
it through yourself. Take it to the person who must approve it, collect their
signature, then take it to the next person in the chain.
   o When you get any sense at all that payment is being delayed because of cash
flow problems, become the squeaky wheel. This is not the time to be
accommodating.
   o If you don't want to embarrass yourself or the client with your requests to
get paid, and you don't have a bookkeeper or assistant, have a friend play this
role for you and call to follow up on your payment.

Getting paid may not be the most enjoyable part of the work you do, but it's
certainly one of the most important!

-- C.J.

----
C.J. Hayden, MCC, CPCC
Author, Get Clients Now!™ & Get Hired Now!™
Wings for Business LLC, San Francisco, CA
(415) 981-8845 or (877) 946-4722 in the U.S.
http://www.getclientsnow.com
----
Guiding entrepreneurs to make a difference

Tom said:

<< ...After we've discussed what I/they can do, what I/they will do, and what
they will pay me and when, I schedule a specific date and time to bring the
process to closure. ...If they use any excuse at that point to postpone, I
inform them that I consider the project dead, but will leave time for them to
bring it back to life for 30 days. I never initiate contact after that. >>

Tom, I love this approach, because it makes clear the level of professionalism
and accountability you bring to your work. It also shows that you know there are
plenty of client fish in the prospect sea, and you don't have to waste your time
with the ones who keep evading the hook!

I follow a similar practice with coaching clients. Once we have the
is-there-a-fit conversation, they say they want us to work together, but they
want to delay setting our first appointment, I tell them to call me when they
are ready, and don't follow up. I've learned over the years that someone who is
coach-shopping without being ready to commit to getting started is usually not a
serious prospect.

When I have followed up and gotten them to set an initial appointment,
invariably, I send out a welcome package, set aside the time... and they either
cancel the appointment or simply don't show for it, usually with some dramatic
excuse. Those aren't the folks I want as clients, and I'd rather just let them
go quietly.

-- C.J.

----
C.J. Hayden, MCC, CPCC
Author, Get Clients Now!™ & Get Hired Now!™
Wings for Business LLC, San Francisco, CA
(415) 981-8845 or (877) 946-4722 in the U.S.
http://www.getclientsnow.com
----
Guiding entrepreneurs to make a difference

I run a laser hair removal service from my home. Laser works well. Almost no
clients. (groupon is a factor) how can I build my clientele?

Sent from my iPad

There are 135.000 per month (!!!) searches on mobile devices for 'laser hair
removal' in USA.

Get a mobile website and start advertising your service on mobile devices.
That's where your clients are looking for your service.

I design mobile websites and provide marketing service. This is one of the
websites I designed recently:� http://MassageTherapyClinic.mobi

This is just an example. Your website needs to have a different name to get
attention of search engines.

I see that you are looking for the solution of your problem.

I can help. Get in touch with me.

Alla Goltsman
Web Developer
http://MobileDeviceClients.mobi

If people are not looking for solutions, there is no way anybody can help them.

Alla Goltsman
Web Developer
http://MobileDeviceClients.mobi
(732) 322-6545
Get Your Share of Mobile Market Pie

[PLEASE NOTE: This message had to be edited by your moderator because the full
original post was appended to it. This slows down posting of your message.
Please remember to edit your own posts before sending.]

hi - im in canada.  would love to hear from another small business owner who
does laser - how they combat groupon and bring existing and new clients in .

Kerry asked:
<< How did the comment below make it past the group moderator?
> I design mobile websites and provide marketing service... I can help. Get in
touch with me. >>

Kerry, this post was on the edge of our group guidelines. The poster did promote
her business directly, but only after providing some useful information to the
other member.

A more appropriate way to do this would have been to put her business details
solely in a signature box. But since her pitch was brief, I let it go.

What is NOT okay in this group is to send emails promoting your business that
are not in response to another member's query, or share no useful information.
It's also not okay to contact other members off-list to promote something
relevant to their query.

A moderator does read every post before they are made to this group, and people
that post purely promotional messages are banned from group membership.

-- C.J.

----
C.J. Hayden, MCC, CPCC
Author, Get Clients Now!™ & Get Hired Now!™
Wings for Business LLC, San Francisco, CA
(415) 981-8845 or (877) 946-4722 in the U.S.
http://www.getclientsnow.com
----
Guiding entrepreneurs to make a difference

Another system that can help many of us who receive periodic payments is
obvious: Use automatic withdrawal from their credit card account, or ACH their
bank account periodically.

Of course, you need to word the contract to not only allow you to do this, but
explain clearly what will be drawn, and when. Make absolutely certain, that if
your contract has more than one page, that there are lines at the bottom of each
page except the signature page for initials and date.

Nervy? NO. Your electric company, your bank, your insurance company have no
problem insisting on this type of payment.

I've been working with credit-card systems and ACH for thirty-five years -
specifically for other B2B clients, and am always surprised at how few know how
to put this into effect. Even fewer have any idea how inexpensive ACH
(bank-to-bank transfer, ACH stands for "Automatic Clearing House", the system
that controls these transfers, and credit
card payments)can be.

Even fewer know that in most businesses B2B credit card processing has a lower
rate than the rate charged for B2C merchants. I can state unequivocally that if
you are now taking payments by credit card, and if your card processor has not
mentioned this, you are either using a firm that wants to keep that extra profit
for themselves, or with one that literally does not know this fact. In all these
years I have never seen a single processor that automatically set up a B2B firm
with this advantage.

FYI: Although there are literally hundreds of Billions of dollars transferred by
credit card every year, there is only ONE statute that attempts to keep the
processors honest - and it was not set up with any teeth in it. So the
processors can - and do - simply set up clients to maximize their own profits.
Frankly, most do so unethically and with impunity. Enough rant.

Having an automatic withdrawal program from either credit cards or ACH can
eliminate invoicing, late payments, and "days-outstanding" debt.

You can literally set your next project to invoice at the same moment
you automatically withdraw from your client's account. The invoice actually
becomes a receipt - not a plea for payment.

Tom Markham
(415) 830-4487 PST
tommm@...
tomm@...

That's a good solution.

But how hard are these payments to cancel?

I use a very similar payment system: PayPal allows recurring payments.

It is very easy for the client to cancel the recurring payment once they decide
they don't want to use the service.

That's why a lot of people don't think too long and accept these type of
payment.

Alla Goltsman
Web Developer
Author, 7 Deadly Search Engine Optimization Mistakes To Avoid
http://MobileDeviceClients.mobi
(732) 322-6545
----
Get Your Share of Mobile Market Pie

Hello

I'm planning to run my first GCN group call in April and wondered if anyone can
recommend an online international calendar planner?

Rather than e-mail each person and ask whether they can make the date & time, is
there a free online system where you can view the proposed dates & time and
state whether you are free or not?

The callers will be from the UK, US, Argentina and we will be using skype for
the calls.

Many thanks

Carol

First: PayPal is a good alternative-especially for low-volume accounts (under
$10,000 per month). But the rates, at 2.2% to 2.9% plus per-item fees, can be
higher than Credit card costs, and are generally much higher than ACH.

Second: They are as easy to cancel as PayPal.

--
Tom Markham
Area Director
(415) 830-4487
(800) 889-9924
tomm@...

Wouldn't Google Calendar work for something like that?

On Tue, Mar 20, 2012 at 1:53 PM, carolli65 <cli51@...> wrote:

> I'm planning to run my first GCN group call in April and wondered if
> anyone can recommend an online international calendar planner?
>
> Rather than e-mail each person and ask whether they can make the date
> & time, is there a free online system where you can view the proposed
> dates & time and state whether you are free or not?

--
Visit www.kupchamkt.com

Carol,

There are several services that would work for what you have in mind but I
usually use the World Clock Meeting Planner:
http://www.timeanddate.com/worldclock/meeting.html

My other two favorites are:

    - Doodle - http://www.doodle.com
    - AgreeADate - http://www.agreeadate.com

If neither of those works for you, there are others that I can recommend.

Wishing you much peace, happiness and success,

Pearl 'Penny' Lane, C.P.C.

I started using Meeting Wizard -  <http://www.meetingwizard.com>
www.meetingwizard.com - and have been pleased with it.

Conni Wells
423-768-0476
cjwells@...
www.axisgroup1.net

Rachel,

On 3/20/12 10:47 AM, Rachel wrote:
> I run a laser hair removal service from my home. Laser works well.
  > Almost no clients. (groupon is a factor) how can I build my clientele?

I would think about who might come into contact with people who would
want your service. Maybe beauty salons?

Network with those people for referrals. Perhaps even give them coupons
they could offer to first-time clients, and even a referral fee for the
use of those coupons.

   - George

   ----------------------------------------------------------------------
    * George Dinwiddie *                      http://blog.gdinwiddie.com
    Software Development                    http://www.idiacomputing.com
    Consultant and Coach                    http://www.agilemaryland.org
   ----------------------------------------------------------------------

I offer psycho-spiritual workshops called soul strength seminars designed to
help people develop the inner resources to get in touch with themselves at the
deepest level and then translate that into more effective coping skills to deal
with difficulties, doubts and distractions in life so that they experience more
satisfaction and peace of mine. How do I reach people who are looking for more
out of life and don't know I can help them find a way to get what they want in a
group setting or individual counseling.
Shulamit Sofia

You should also network with dermatologists, who usually do not offer
hair removal, themselves.

--
Tom Markham
Area Director
(415) 830-4487
(800) 889-9924
tomm@...

Referrals is really big.  I concur with the earlier comment.  Every happy client
should give you two referrals.  Now you need to partner with those sites where
your clients hang out.

Any spas, yoga or Pilates sites nearby?  Go to them and offer a discount for
their clients.

Write an article on
1) what is laser treatment (is it hair removal, fat removal, skin tightening?  -
I do not know what laser treatments do ) and go to your local papers.  My little
town is always looking for ideas.
2)Do you help people look better in swimsuits?  Write an article.
3)Put up flyers in every local store that have a bulletin board
4) Partner with your avon lady and Mary Kay home rep.  Perhaps give the client
$5 off and the Avon lady $5 for each referral
5) Who is a leader?  Again I think of the Avon Lady.- give her a free treatment
with the agreement that if satisfied, she will give you three referrals.

You need to create Awareness of your offering and positive consideration towards
your offering.   You could even give talks to the Women's Group at the local
Chambers of Commerce.

Good luck
Jim of Business Mentors