Would you like to build a profitable business doing what you love?
I believe it's currently the best time in history for you to create a lifestyle business. There are opportunities everywhere for you to connect with your ideal clients and help them solve their problems.
There are more entrepreneurs than ever out there absolutely smashing it and earning a huge income helping people, and of course there are a huge amount of entrepreneurs who are broke.
I know you're probably reading this because you want to share your message in a meaningful way. You want to make a difference doing what you love and help more people. And you want to work with your ideal clients and build a business that aligns with your ideal lifestyle.
If so, this is for you. I want to show you 7 potential roadblocks that are currently tripping you up or could trip you up in the future if you're not aware of them.
Here are 7 reasons you may be struggling to get new clients:
1. Not enough focus on D.P.A - Dollar-producing activities
This was by far my biggest problem when I first started my business.
In my recent blog 'How to Avoid the Perfectionism Trap' I shared a story about when I moved to London and started working at a new gym. I had no clients and no money and it was in the recession.
I'll always remember that lesson about how getting clients is about focusing on the dollar producing activities, like making offers, not the fun stuff like creating a logo, business cards, brochures or hanging out on social media.
The single defining factor in your success is how you spend or invest your time.
Sometimes we can feel that we're doing things that matter, but really we're just doing 'busy' work. Productivity means you actually produced something. Dollar producing activities directly lead to you making dollars.
2. No clear goals with deadlines
One of the main reasons I see people not producing the results they want is that they don't have clear, specific goals with deadlines attached.
We all know that when our brain is left to its own devices without clear commands and instruction, it takes the path of least resistance.
I had 'Write a blog' on my to-do list for years (still do) and barely managed to get it done consistently.
The single thing that got me to take action to produce regular content for my ideal clients was booking workshops. I'd book the venue, pay a deposit and then I HAD to run the workshop.
Or I'd decide on a date for a webinar, make it public, and that would give me the incentive to produce the content. I'll easily let myself down but I don't like to let others down.
Once you create contents for things like workshops and webinars you can leverage it everywhere.
If you struggle with inspiration for your organic content, create an event, book a date, set some deadlines and you’ll create more amazing content than you ever have before.
You need to fail fast, get things out the door as fast as possible and refine as fast as possible. A lot of people won't do this because they're scared of looking bad. But you can't be afraid of failure. It's the only way to truly learn and grow fast.
3. Lack of structure, systems, and support
Something I see a lot is incredibly well-educated people who have a lot of experience and knowledge in a range of modalities, but where they get stuck is joining all the dots together and making it work.
They don't have the structure or the systems in place behind the scenes.
If you lack structure, systems or support, you’ll struggle to be successful. Business is too hard to do without these things. They are crucial. All profitable business owners know this.
4. Being unwilling to invest enough time or money
I’ve had so many people over the years tell me that they’re not getting clients. I ask what their marketing strategies are and discover they haven’t spent a cent on Facebook ads, or they’ve put down $20 for one campaign, it didn’t work so they gave up.
A lot of people are brilliant at the modalities they teach, but not brilliant at business. Unless you want to work for someone else for the rest of your life, you must invest the time and money on learning business skills.
You need to know how to market yourself effectively, use social media profitably, write influential content, position yourself and your brand properly, know how to invest time and money and a range of other different skills.
The good thing is, everything is what I called overcomable. It's all workoutable!
Every skill you need to learn in business, you can learn. Business is a skill just like learning to cook or drive.
5. Not working with enough clients
There are two categories that most people fall into that are struggling to attract enough clients. Firstly, they haven't worked with enough people and they want to charge too much from the get-go without having enough experience or skills to charge that amount. So people don't end up signing up.
On the other end of the spectrum, there are people who are severely under-valuing themselves.
They wonder "Who am I to charge for this? I love it! It comes easily and naturally to me!"
The main reason they do this is because they have unconscious competence around their genius zone. They assume everyone can do or knows what they do and so they don't value it enough.
Another reason people don't work with enough clients is that they are scared of rejection. So they offer cheap prices or don't charge at all, then people don't value them. Or they can't make enough profit to sustain their business so they end up stuck in a job they're not passionate about.
6. Having too broad a niche
Having a vague or broad niche is definitely one of the biggest reasons why people struggle to get clients. They try to be all things to all people. They don't understand that marketing is about attracting some people and repelling the rest.
You know the old saying - if you try to chase 2 rabbits you'll catch none.
If you want to get great results for people, it's better to be a specialist rather a generalist.
Here are some examples of the difference between a broad niche and a micro niche.
Broad Niche:
“I help people improve their mindset and motivation”
“I help people improve their health and fitness and create a happier life”
“I help people create a thriving business”
Micro Niche:
“I help busy women declutter their homes in 6 weeks or less”
“I help busy Mum’s to improve their energy and reduce their stress with simple-to-follow exercise programs they can do at home”
“I help Coaches and Trainers to build a 6-figure lifestyle business”
One word of caution - don't let choosing your micro niche be another trap that stops you staying in action.
It takes time to develop your micro niche. It took me years. But don't let that stop you from moving forward.
If in doubt, choose 'you' a few years ago, before you learned what you learned to overcome a problem you'd love to help people solve.
Just decide and get out there and help people.
7. Giving up too easily
Business can be simple, but it's not always easy.
I bumped into a friend recently who had done her coaching course at the same time as me back in 2014. I ask her how her coaching is going and she says “Oh, I have a lot going on at the moment” which we all know is really code for “I’ve given up for now”
The truth is, it's never really the right time. I procrastinated for years on creating a lead magnet and a funnel and kept buying into the story that I didn't have time. But that's not true.
The reality was that I did have the time, it’s just that I didn't think I did.
I've been running my own business since 2003 and I estimate literally thousands of challenges that I've had to overcome and hundreds and hundreds of little things I've had to learn. You simply have to make one decision - to not give up!
When you delay your decisions, you delay your dreams. Life is always going to be busy.
If you think it's going to get easier the longer you wait, it's not. Things get harder not easier when you delay them.
If you know that having a business you love helping people is part of your destiny, and you feel you have it in you to do it, do it now!
Would you like help to overcome these client-attraction challenges?
I am running a NEW 1-day course in Sydney on Saturday, 16th March.
Do you struggle with perfectionism?
