Have you ever become a victim of your own perfection paralysis when it comes to marketing yourself? I talked to a few clients this week who have been toying with the idea of putting together a talk to promote their services for months but havent done anything about it. The problem is theyre waiting to have the talk written, finished, practiced, the flyer completed and have a list of marketing sources that are lined up to promote the thing before actually selecting a date and getting it done. NONSENSE! If Id waited to have all things perfectly settled before moving forward with a talk, Id still have only 3 or 4 clients in my practice, and believe me, I wouldnt be moving forward very quickly. Instead, I believe in scrapping this traditional route and going backwards. Ask any clients of mine and theyll tell you Im notorious for getting my clients to commit to a date 4 weeks from today (yes, we actually have them pull out their calendar and select the date right then and there) and book the space, time, and title of the talk, before anything else is done. What are my clients reactions? Yup, you guessed it YIKES! I need to get my butt in gear and get things going! Im giving a talk in 4 weeks!!! Magically, everything always gets done. The talk is written, finished, practiced, the flyer is completed and they have a list of marketing sources lined up to promote the thing, and always before the deadline. I call this being PULLED forward by your marketing, instead of being a victim of Perfection Paralysis. When you set yourself up to stop procrastinating and to start working to make it happen, it works every time. In the past, I too have dragged my feet on picking a date for an event I wanted to give. Should I have it in the summer, should I wait til fall? Since nothing was happening, I pulled out my calendar, picked a date, gave my credit card number to reserve the space and then made it happen, and you can too! Theres nothing like setting a deadline and getting in gear to make it happen. Your Client Attraction Assignment: Your turn. Are you procrastinating putting together a seminar or big event to market your services and reach out to your prospective clients? End the questioning NOW and just pick a date. Commit and then everything will fall into place because youll HAVE to get it done. Now, thats what I call being pulled by your future. Use your coach or a buddy as an accountability benchmark, and then send them an email with the date of your newly scheduled seminar or workshop. The most accountable thing you can do though is to pay for the space ahead of time. Thatll get you moving! :) If you like the idea of this unconventional way to market that gets you clients, youll love the Client Attraction Home Study System for attracting all the clients you need with proven, systematic processes that will help you fill your practice quickly and consistently, guaranteed. 2005 Fabienne Fredrickson |
