From the Desk of Janet Barclay

After I wrote about Using the 80-20 Rule to Attract Your Ideal Client last week, Jacki raised an excellent question: "If you don’t have any clients to begin with, how are you supposed to find your top 20%?"

In the early days of running my business, the question "who is your ideal client?" always threw me for a loop. In my mind I was thinking "anyone who is willing to pay me" and I’m sure that is pretty typical for people who are just starting out.

Some time later, I completed an exercise as part of the Turbocharge Your Business program. To identify our ideal customers, we wrote down the characteristics we wanted them to have, e.g. "financially able to invest in his or her business." Because we often have a clearer idea of what we don’t want, we also wrote down the characteristics we did not want them to have, e.g. "doesn’t follow through with plans." The negative characteristics were then turned into positive ones, so "doesn’t keep appointments" on the "don’t want" side of the page became "keeps appointments" on the "do want" side, and then they were crossed out, to allow us to focus on what we wanted and enable us to attract that into our lives.

Within a month of completing the program, I was contacted by someone who not only had all of the attributes I identified during the above exercise, but whose ongoing requirements brought my income to the level I was aiming for, and who remains a valued client to this day. Maybe that client would have come along even if I hadn’t done the exercise, but this experience confirmed to me that the Law of Attraction really does work.

So, if you’re having trouble figuring out "who is your ideal client?" try the above exercise. If you need some ideas to get you started, you may find it helpful to read Erica Nelson’s article, 7 Powerful Tools to Attract Perfect Clients and Yvonne Weld’s series of blog articles on Creating a Picture of Your Ideal Client.

It never ceases to amaze me how the Internet has made it possible for us to make friends with people all over the world. One of the people I’ve "met" online is Marcia Francois, a professional organizer who frequently contributes articles to OrganizedArticles.com. Marcia lives in South Africa, so chances are I wouldn’t even have heard of her if it weren’t for the Internet.

Marcia can apparently get through her emails in only 15 minutes a day, and on April 15^th she’s going to share her secrets in a teleseminar appropriately named Conquer Your Email. This teleseminar is being delivered via Skype audio, so your only cost is the very reasonable registration fee. (You can even take advantage of special pricing if you sign up by April 9^th!)

I am so excited about this class that I’ve donated a copy of Maximizing Your Time with Microsoft Outlook 2003, to be won by one lucky participant. I may even sign up for it myself!

I can’t even remember when I first heard of the Pareto Principle – you know, the one that says that 80% of the effects comes from 20% of the causes. For example, we wear 20% of our clothes 80% of the time, and we spend 80% of our time with 20% of our acquaintances. In business, it’s said that 80% of your sales comes from 20% of your clients.

I recently attended a networking breakfast where I had the pleasure of hearing Dr. Tony Alessandra share some strategies for keeping clients and attracting new ones. He suggested that you create a profile of the top 20% of your clients, and seek more clients who fit that profile. It seems obvious, but how many of us actually do that?

He went on to recommend that you develop a plan to make it happen. The first step of the plan he outlined is to identify which clients are actively recommending you to others. Next, figure out what it is you do differently for those clients, and then start doing that for your other clients. That could be a bit more challenging to figure out, but I can definitely see the value in it.

Overall, I was very impressed with Dr. Alessandra’s presentation and I hope to have an opportunity to hear him again. Did you notice I said "hear" and not "see"? That’s because he wasn’t actually in the room when I heard him. This particular event takes place every month, with the presentation delivered by speaker phone. It’s really quite unique, because there isn’t an actual group to join, so you get to meet different people all the time. If you want to find out if there’s one happening in your area, simply Google "Breakfast with Fran" along with the name of your city or town.

I for one am very glad to see that March is over! Now spring is just a wee bit closer (the calendar says it’s here, but we know better!) and as I get ready for my upcoming series of teleseminars, I’m looking forward to opening my office window and letting in some fresh air.

Speaking of those teleseminars, the president of AORCP (the host organization) said it was OK to offer free registration to non-members to this Thursday’s session on Organizing Your Home Office, so if you’re interested in taking part, just let me know, and I’ll send you the information you’ll need to access the call.

Here’s what I’ve been blogging about elsewhere:

OnlineOrganizing.com - Technology as an Organizing Tool:

• For Girls who Love to Make Lists
• My Love-Hate Relationship with my Pocket PC
• Organize Your Email - Part 1
• Organize Your Email - Part 2

Introvert Retreat:

• Power Networking for Introverts
• Speed Networking for Introverts

I’ve also posted a new article to OrganizedArticles.com on A Website for Your Small Business.

Enjoy!