You need more customers, yet the traditional avenues you’ve been using just aren’t delivering as many as you’d like.  Tweeting and publishing articles in online directories may bring the occasional lead, and those leads sometimes do turn into customers.  But publishing enough articles to get more than a trickle is a lot of work, and you’re starting to have doubts about the effectiveness of that approach.

Another option, submitting press releases, also works to some degree, but it  generally just bring in a few leads at a time, unless you hit the jackpot and get covered in the national media.

Naturally, an occasional lead here and there isn’t enough to create a thriving business.  You need lots of leads, and targeted leads at that. And you need them fast.  But how can you get them?

One way to get leads quickly is paid advertising. However, unless you have plenty of experience and really deep pockets, experimenting with pay-per-click and Facebook advertising can leave you broke faster than you can say, “What the heck!”

But fear not.  There are plenty of out-of-the-box ways to connect with potential customers.  And one of the best ways to do so is to attend live events.

Meeting customers and prospects in person gives an added dimension to the relationship. Many people come to the online world with a certain level of skepticism, almost like they’re expecting to be ripped off. But if they have met you in person, you’ve broken through that barrier of distrust and you’re that much closer to the coveted “know-like-trust” triumvirate that makes for great customer relationships. Here are five ways to find customers in “the real world:

1. Teach a class in your field. What better way to reassure people of your likeability and trust quotient than by teaching them valuable skills face-to-face? Local recreation departments, chambers of commerce, senior centers, continuing education programs, gyms, churches, Jewish community centers and similar venues offer ample opportunities for you to strut your stuff. You can teach a one-evening seminar or an ongoing class – just make sure to pass out business cards, collect contact information, and follow up!
2. Take a class in your field. You may think you need to TEACH a class to make valuable contacts but that’s not the case. Taking a class in your area of expertise can actually give you more time to network and connect with other students. Make sure to circulate before and after class, handing out business cards and meeting as many people as you can. Follow up after class too. You could organize a post-class get-together to discuss what you’ve learned, or spearhead an email list where you can continue to share ideas and build relationships.
3. Attend lectures and seminars. I recently received a mailing from my alma mater regarding a two-day leadership symposium. My immediate thought – what a great opportunity for a high-level executive coach! He or she could attend and get exposure to hundreds of professionals with a strong interest in leadership – a pre-qualified collection of leads! Whatever your field, make sure you’re attending industry events not just for the information, but for the opportunity to connect with possible leads as well.
4. Identify your competitors, and go where they are. Who are your competitors, and where do they “live?” If you’re in the fitness field, your competitors will be personal trainers at gyms. They probably frequent health food/vitamin and supplement stores, athletic shoe stores, and gyms. What if you posted a few of your cards on the bulletin board at the running shoe store, or handed them out at the finish line of a foot race? Picking off some of your competitors’ customers isn’t mean, it’s smart marketing.
5. Go to trade shows. You don’t have to pay exorbitant fees to exhibit at trade shows in order to take advantage of the traffic. Go as an attendee and strike up conversations with other attendees, exhibitors, and workers. Hand out those cards, and have an upcoming event to tell your new friends about. Walk the floor and “work it” as much as you would if you were exhibiting. You’ll have more freedom, and more money left in your pocket at the end of the day.

The whole secret of attending in-person events is to determine where your ideal prospects may be, and be where they already are. They’re ready for you – you just have to find them.

And if you are looking for a live event that not only helps you find clients, but teaches you the strategies to get them, check out http://businesscharmschool.com

Well, I don’t  about you but things are a bit stressful over in the land of the Cherrys and my business. I have a live event coming up, school is coming to a close, and we’ve all had colds. It’s just full of stress at the moment and I am almost at the point of overwhelm.

So what can you (and I) do when stress hits?

When feeling overwhelmed by stress, it’s important to try to identify specific stressors and to examine how you cope with them. You can then work to avoid, alter, adapt to, or accept the stressors in your life.

1. To avoid unnecessary stress, learn how to say no. Know your limits and stick to them, in both your professional and personal lives. Whenever possible, steer clear of people who cause you stress. Take control of your environment – if scary movies make you anxious, for example, don’t watch them. Stay away from hot-button topics like religion or politics if they make you upset or cause conflict. And finally, pare down your to-do list. Separate the “shoulds” from the “musts” and drop anything that is not truly essential.
2. To alter stressful situations you can’t avoid, express your feelings rather than bottling them up. If something is bothering you, convey your concerns openly but respectfully. At the same time, remain open to compromise. When you ask someone to change their behavior, be willing to do the same so that you can find a happy middle ground. Be assertive and deal with problems head on, doing your best to anticipate and prevent them. And finally, manage your time better. Don’t stretch yourself too thin and end up running behind.
3. If you can’t avoid or alter the stressor, you can adapt to it. Learn to view stressful situations from a positive perspective. You can reframe a traffic jam, for example, as an opportunity for some reflection time. Also, look at the big picture of a stressful situation. Ask yourself how important the stressor will be in the long run and whether it’s really worth getting upset over. If not, refocus somewhere else. Adjust your standards as well. Don’t set yourself up for failure by demanding perfection from yourself and others. Focus on the positive by thinking about all of the blessings in your life, including your positive qualities and gifts.
4. Accept the stress you cannot change. Don’t try to control the uncontrollable – a category that encompasses many aspects of our lives, including other people’s behavior. Focus instead on things you can control, such as your reactions to problems. Again, look for the upside when facing major challenges and try to see them as opportunities for growth. When the stress gets to be too much, confide in someone you trust. Expressing your feelings can be cathartic, even when you’re powerless to change a situation.
5. Learn to forgive – yourself as well as others. Accept the fact that we live in an imperfect world, and people make mistakes. Let go of anger and resentments and move on.

Remember that an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure, so take time to relax and have fun when you detect symptoms of stress in your life. Set aside to time to rest, spend time with positive people, and do something you enjoy every day. And most of all, keep your sense of humor – including your ability to laugh at yourself.

Last time, I shared with you why mistakes are an important component for business growth. But there’s more to making mistakes profitable than saying, “Ooppsie! Me bad!”

Here’s what you should do:

Want more strategy on using what you have to make more profits (including your mistakes) then go to http://BusinessCharmSchool.com to find out more.

I know the subject line of this post seems counter-intuitive, but trust me, mistakes are an important part of being an entrepreneur.

Let me explain in this video:

Share with me your valuable mistakes in the comments.

Many people think sponsorships are as easy as generating one good proposal and sending it out to thousands of potential sponsors. But the fact is blanket sponsorship proposals are like trying to put out a grease fire with a super-soaker.

Not only isn’t it efficient, but with grease and water, well, that is just a bad situation in the making. Let’s take a look at five reasons blanket sponsorships don’t work.

1. No Two Companies Are Alike

What one company needs, the other may not. Company A might have a hole in their advertising budget to fill, while the other is just looking for a great marketing strategy to invest in. If you offer the same thing to both companies, they aren’t getting their needs met and will immediately decline your proposal without much thought.

When you focus on their individual needs, you are much more likely to get positive results and cash in hand.

2. Generic = Garbage Can

There is no pop or pizazz to your proposal. A generic proposal is a red flag to a sponsor because to them you are not showing them how a partnership with you will truly benefit them. It shouts “gimmie, gimmie!”, instead of ‘let’s build a great relationship and reap the benefits together.”

By tailoring your proposal for each company, you show your thoughtfulness and ability to stand out from the crowd.

3. When You Assume…

When you assume all companies have the same needs, you completely discredit their motivations. Every company has different missions and goals, even if they serve the same market – or even have a similar product.  The bottom line is this: if you are not concerned with what a company needs, why should they bother with what you need?

4. Rocky Reputations

Once you have submitted a blanket sponsorship proposal to every company you can think of, you automatically get the bad reputation that comes with it. Don’t think that company execs and competitors aren’t talking to each other. Once you are found out, you will have to work twice as hard to get in front of decision makers.

So take the time and create individual, customized requests. In the long run it will be easier to take the time to craft a proposal that works for each company rather than try to make up for the sour taste you put in their mouth with a blanket proposal.

5. How Would You Feel?

Put your feet in the shoes of the decision maker who gets your generic proposal. What if you got this proposal from someone else? If you are really honest with yourself, you will see it probably doesn’t fit with your vision and is no where close to the past sponsorships you have awarded. Not to mention, there is nothing special about this proposal and the ideas aren’t even creative. You are just being used for your money. What would you do?

Sponsorships are great to have, but they do take some work to make possible. Take some time and craft each proposal with a little creativity and individuality. Your efforts will pay in the end.

If you want to learn how to get sponsorships the RIGHT way, join me for Business CHARM School. As part of the 3-day live event, we’ll focus on how to find the right sponsors for your projects, AND how to get them to say yes, without generic proposals. Go to http://businesscharmschool.com

If you are looking for ways to grow you customer base and get more sales, webinars can be a great asset to your promotional tactics.

Why webinars? The best part about using webinars versus teleseminars is that it provides a visual. Many people learn more and are more motivated when they can ‘see’ something rather than just hear it. In addition, it can keep the attention of multi-taskers (you know, the folks who are not actively listening because they are also doing other things).

Here are some suggestions to include webinars:

1) Using Webinars to Bring in New Customers

Webinars can offer a great “hook” to get new people into your marketing funnel. Publish a free webinar  on your Twitter feed, your Facebook page, your email list and any other way you can. Users who may not necessarily want to buy a product from you right away  may like you enough to sign up. Giving you an opportunity to market to them later.

Once they sign up, you’ll have a much better chance of making an impression, building a connection and turning them into real prospects.

2) Use It to Create Reciprocity

The principle of reciprocity essentially says that “When someone does something good for you, you want to do something good for them.”

This is the reason why many donation-seeking canvassers will give you a rose or a free gift before asking you for money: giving something to someone causes them to want to give back.

In a webinar, you give people something extremely valuable for free: information.

Even if someone listening to you doesn’t buy on the spot, they’ll still reciprocate by giving you something else that’s valuable. Usually, that’s their attention – in giving you their email, opening your emails etc.

3) Use It to Generate Sales

Using webinars to generate sales can be quite challenging to master. However, once you have the skill down, it can be an incredibly powerful sales tool.

A webinar allows you to give a full length sales presentation to a captive audience. As long as you deliver hardcore value alongside your sales pitch, you stand a very good chance of both building connection with your market and making a lot of sales.

It works because it involves taking all your listeners through the whole emotional sales process: interest, the feeling of the problem, desire for the solution, proving that you can deliver and then really painting the picture of them having the problem solved.

4)  Use It to Sell High-Ticket Items

Finally, webinars can be one of the most effective ways of selling high-ticket items.

It’s very hard to convince someone to part with $10,000 over email, in a sales letter or even on video. However, if they get the chance to interact with you in a teleseminar, they’ll get much more of a sense of who you are and whether they can trust you.

You can build trust with high network individuals to sell high-ticket items that you just wouldn’t be able to sell any other way.

Want to learn more about creating effective webinars? Want the promotional templates to help you attract more people to your webinar? Then check out this month’s Tweak It and Profit, where you’ll get it all for only $47! Go to http://TweakItandProfit.com

Learning is an important part of entrepreneurship. When you invest in yourself, you are focusing on improving your skills and make more profits.

In this video, I share some tips to make every learning experience the best possible, whether you are reading content online, attending webinars and seminars or going to a live event or workshop.

Interested in learning more about Business Charm School? Go to http://BusinessCharmSchool.com

People seem to have the misconception that only a select few are able to unleash a steady flow of creative genius.

That’s not true at all. The fact is, creativity is very much like a muscle that needs to be exercised in order to consistently give out great results. If you don’t practice harnessing creative thinking, this skill will very much atrophy and become extinct. But keep working and this skill will soon come to you in a snap.

So how do you unleash your creative thinking?

Well, the first thing is to become a human leech. No, I’m not talking about just sucking the blood out of every living being available, I’m just saying that you should take in as much knowledge and learning you can find. Read everything available — good and bad, and keep your mind open to the infinite possibilities of the universe. The more you know, the more you’ll want to know, and the more your faculty of wonder will be exercised. Prepare to be amazed at little facts that add a bit of color into your life.

Focus on a creative activity everyday. Yes, it’s an effort. Even doodling is a creative activity. Don’t let anything hinder you. Mindlessness may be a creative activity, but for people who are just starting out to unleash a little bit of creative thinking in their lives, it is helpful and encouraging to have concrete evidence, that, “hey, what I’m doing is getting somewhere.” So why don’t you try it. Practice drawing for a couple of minutes each day. Bring out your old camera and start snapping photos like crazy. Keep a journal and make a point to write in it religiously. Another cool idea is to write by describing something with your five senses. Try to avoid vague adjectives like “marvelous,” “amazing,” and “delicious.” Before you know it, you’ll have built yourself a tiny portfolio, and you’ll be amazed at the growth you’ve undertaken after amassing all those works of art. Who knows, you might actually take to liking those things you do everyday. Pretty soon those things will become a part of you and you’ll be addicted to these creative exercises.

Think out of the box — or don’t. Sometimes, constraints are actually a good thing. Limitations discipline you to work within your means. It enables you to be more resourceful. Creative freedom is great, but limitations enforce discipline.

Try something new everyday and let your experiences broaden your perspective. Explore a new district in your neighborhood. Spend an afternoon in a museum to which you’ve never been before. Chat up someone on the bus. Open up to the people around you. As you thrust yourself out of your comfort zone more and more each day, your sense of adventure grows and so does your zest for life. Think about it. When was the last time you did something for the first time? If it’s been a while, I tell you, you’ve been missing out on a whole lot of experiences that could’ve added to your growth, emotionally, mentally, physically, or spiritually. Why don’t you try bungee jumping today? Not only will you learn, but you will also have plenty of stories to share, enabling you to practice your storytelling skills and making you the life of the party.

Embrace insanity. No, not to the point of practically admitting yourself into the mental ward. As John Russell once said, “Sanity calms, but madness is more interesting.” Exactly! Every creative thought was once deemed insanity by other “normal” people at one time or another. Luckily, that didn’t stop the creative geniuses from standing by them. The thing is, sanity or being normal confines people to think… well, normally. Within limits.

There are only two ways to get down a business ‘river’. You must paddle or you must float.

And although floating is easy on the surface, you may find that floating can take you in directions you don’t want to go.

That’s because if you’re floating, you’re on the defense; if you’re paddling, then you’re on the offense.

In today’s business climate if you’re not on the offensive then you’re being whipped and buffeted from every side by the obstacles you encounter. If something isn’t working in your marketing and you’re a floater then you just wait until next week, or next month and see if it improves. But if you’re paddling and guiding your business, then you’re busy working out how to fix what’s not working so you can get where you want to go.

If you are simply floating along, you understand how to complete a strategy (which actually means you’re implementing a tactic,  not strategy).  If you are paddling, you have the ability to understand not only how to do a strategy, but WHY it works. That way you can ‘adjust on the fly’ to change your direction when an obstacle comes your way.

All to often, we look for that magic bullet – that one magic tactic that’s going to propel us to the next level. And we all know, in our hearts that it doesn’t exist. Yet still, we try to float.

In this business environment, it’s sink or swim. Unless you’re on the offense – paddling instead of floating – you’ll lose your edge and be left in the dust by your competitors. Personally, I’d rather be paddling my little heart out instead of being tossed by whatever winds blow my way.

Floating is a nice concept, but that’s all it is – a concept of the fictitious magic bullet. And I want you to swim. That’s why I ‘m hosting a free teleseminar on how to start living a CHARMed life. I’m going to focus on not just the how – but the WHYs behind many of the tactics and strategies you already know so you’ll be paddling confidently. Let me be the one who provides you with the oars and you can keep steering your boat! Check it out at http://BusinessCharmSchool.com/getcharmed

One of the biggest complaints I hear from business owners is that they do not have consistent cash flow in their business. And those ups & downs can really hurt.

So I share some ways to tame the cash flow rollercoaster once and for all.

Check out everything you will learn at Business Charm School at http://BusinessCharmSchool.com