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Is Your Ideal Client Big Enough For Your Vision?

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You know what an ideal client is—the made-up description of the perfect person who would be drawn to your services and products. We write this description down with such thoroughness that we know where she lives, what her income is, what her level of education is, and what her problems are. We understand her needs and address them with our services, our products, and our approach. We write every word of copy to her. We create every product for her.

However, what if the ideal client you are focusing on is not big enough for your vision?

Part of what I am doing now is letting people know about a whole mangosteen beverage that is making a huge difference in health and wellness. It is recommended that you drink three ounces a day, which turns out to be one bottle a week. We recommend people buy two cases a month so they don’t run out.

Now I recognize this as an investment in my health and my quality of life. For me it’s a personal health insurance. Someone recently pointed out that a lifetime on this product would not cost as much as a day in intensive care. I’d much rather drink fruit juice than go to intensive care.

But if you’re thinking small, if your vision of your ideal client is not big enough you might find yourself focusing on the person who you think might not be able to afford it. Your approach might be “why don’t you buy one bottle and try it” when in reality, the best thing for them is to buy two cases and stay on it for at least eight to twelve months. You’ll be looking for a person who cannot or will not be willing to purchase your product or service. You have the wrong ideal client—at least the wrong ideal client for success.

But if you’re thinking big, your ideal client will be someone who immediately recognizes the value of your product or service, has the money available, and is willing to invest in the benefits you offer.

My ideal client in this venue is a 50 year old woman who is health conscious, prefers natural products, may be feeling some of the aging process in her body, wants to change that and sees her health as such a priority she immediately goes on the two-case program and plans on staying with it all her life! And as a bonus, my ideal client is a healer at heart, loves her freedom, and wants to become financially independent. She is smart, business savvy, loves people, and is excited about both the product and the business opportunity.

See how detailed I got? Have I left anything out? Notice that she has the money. Notice that she is drawn easily to what I offer. Notice that she has the skills and ability to take advantage of the business opportunity. This is my target audience, these are the people I look for and write to and recognize when I come across them.

Then all I have to do is sort. I go looking for this person. If a person doesn’t fit these criteria, they are not a good match. I don’t pursue them. I move on. I keep looking for the people who match what I have defined as those who can receive the most benefit from what I have to offer. When I do, I’ll find the attraction is mutual and the partnership instantaneous!

This is about defining your niche market. You have choice with your ideal client. Because the product I’m working with is about health and well-being I could target people who are sick. I’m not going to rule those out because the testimonials of great physical results are amazing. However, I’m a metaphysician and I want to focus on wholeness, so rather than adding “has health issues” to my ideal client, I am focusing on improved over-all quality of life. That will influence the words I use in conversation and copy and will also set up the Law of Attraction to attract health conscious people.

Make your ideal client description big enough to fit your vision. Give him/her money to buy what you offer, the ability to immediately see the value of what you offer, and the easy decision to purchase.

Think Big! Think big for your ideal client! Focus on finding them and you will soon be surrounded by the perfect clientele!

c 2006 Cara Lumen www.caralumen.com

The Sales vs Education Marketing Approach

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As you begin to formulate and execute your individualized marketing plan, it becomes important to acknowledge and identify the two styles of marketing—Sales and Education.

I found that personally I was very turned off by what felt to me like hard sell, yellow-boxed, bonus laded, you-can’t-live-without-it sales pages while other people responded well to them. I also know they make money. However, I knew that was not my personal style and I wasn’t certain if that were the only way, that I could do it. I was attracted to a more gentle approach. Fortunately, a friend pointed out that there were two distinct approaches to marketing. Once was sales the other was education. Both are valued, both are successful. It helps to know which one you are.

In any team-building or coaching environment where people are learning to market their own business, we have to honor both approaches. Training for success must allow for both types of presentation. As I gather my MLM team, my job is to help each person be successful. I offer a 1:1 coaching session to every new business builder to identify their marketing style so we can tailor their marketing approach to match their values and intention.

Many of my Internet Marketing Coaching clients are coaches in service to others. My job becomes to help them incorporate the known sales technique of using benefit-laden copy that appeals to the emotion, with their core purpose, which is education and attraction.

Knowing that I am an educator takes the “selling” out of my contact with others. I still go through discover steps. I still look for their need. I still share my solution and I still close with a request for action, but I’m more comfortable feeling that I am simply sharing enough information for them to make an informed choice. I am less attached to the outcome. It has made a huge difference in my ability to approach people verbally and it reflects in the copy I use on my sales pages.

Give some thought to the style that appeals to you. Are you a sales person? Are you an educator? Look for sales copy that you like and add it to your Swipe File. Include some you don’t like so you can understand why it doesn’t appeal to you.

Be true to your values. You will attract clients and customers to you through the vibration of your being-ness. Don’t go against that grain. Don’t try to be something you are not. Reach out from your heart and let people know what you can do for them and show them how much you love doing it.

Whether you choose the sales approach or the education approach, it will reflect who you are and draw the perfect people to you.

The Cosmic Hug

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I don’t know the head count for people living alone, but we all have the same problem—we have no one to hug us, to touch us, to give us an encouraging and comforting pat on the back.

Babies die from lack of touch. What about grown-ups? What do we need? How do we feel love when we seem to be alone?

We learn to give ourselves a Cosmic Hug!

Here’s how it works. Simply wrap your arms around yourself and allow yourself to feel held, comforted, loved, cared for, supported, and cherished.

Experiment with which arm should be on top. See what feels better, you hands on your shoulders or you hand on your upper arms. But most of all, feel from the inside, accept the embrace, allow it to nourish you. Let it soak in and replenish you.

Another thing I like to do is hold my own hand. It may be a woman thing, I’ve been doing my strong woman number a long time, but for me when I take the outer part of my left hand in the grasp of the right hand I can imagine someone encouraging and loving me.

You have to put yourself in the mindset of the recipient, not the giver.

The left hand is the receiving hand. The left shoulder is the quelling shoulder. If you feel upset, hold your left shoulder. It calms you down. This works on other people too.

A long time ago, in a group of fellow Reiki Master Teachers, I learned to really hug. We embraced another, then stood silently in that embrace until we could both feel our energy merge and there was only one of us. Next time you hug someone, take your time and feel the mingling of your energies.

Are you a hugger? Do you offer to hug friends when you see them? Even a friendly arm around the shoulder feels good to both give and receive. Or take their hand in both of yours and spend a moment sending and receiving love.

You can consciously improve your hugability by being a hugger yourself.

We are never alone. We are an integrated aspect of a universal, all-encompassing infinite energy. It’s only when we forget that, that we feel alone, lonely, depressed, forgotten, or any number of untrue emotions.

Next time you start to falter, hold your own hand, or give yourself a big Cosmic Hug. And allow yourself to feel the serenity that infuses you. You are never alone.

c 2006 Cara Lumen, www.caralumen.com

The Care and Feeding Of Your Environment

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Energy is amazing. It can feed and nourish you or it can crowd and depress you. The energy you allow in your home environment is crucial to your well-being, productivity, and happiness.

I have an extra bedroom and bath in my home and have rented it out for years—because I don’t need the space and it bring in extra income. But basically, I’d rather live alone.

It’s tricky to choose someone to share your home on the basis of one interview. I have to rely heavily on my intuition. This last time I choose wrong. The energy of the occupant turned out to be one of defeat, of not trying, of withdrawal, judgment, and of not taking self-responsibility.

And of course, it affected my entire environment.

The person didn’t stay long and actually, he chose to leave, which brings me to another point. When you hold steady to your vibration, or raise it through new awareness, often some of the people currently in your life organically drop away because they are not comfortable with the level of your vibration. That seemed to have happened in this case.

When he left I invested time in cleaning and clearing the room. I washed the walls, I gave it reiki attunements, I brought in green plants to clear the room and added some crystals. I held a blessing for the space to help it heal.

Within days, I felt the result in my own life. My days are now filled with a creative flow that is incredibly productive, satisfying, and rewarding at a level that I have experienced for a long time. I looked at my journal and it has been amazingly smooth for nearly three weeks. I’m sleeping less as if I no longer am being dragged down. I’m happier. And I’m joyously productive.

Who we allow in our personal space can affect every aspect of our life.

Who are you hanging out with?

What new boundaries do you need to set in order to honor yourself?

What changes do you need to make to bring serenity into your space and your life experience? <br>

It may be a change in people. It may be a change in things. It may be a change in attitude. It may be a change in expectations.

When I had to move everything out of my home to lay new carpet a few months ago, I didn’t put everything back in and I rethought where I placed things. My office alone improved 1000%.<br>

Do you need to clean more to let your environment nourish you (or hire it done)?

Is your environment as neat as you’d like it to be?

Do you like everything you have in it or do you need to toss or replace some items?

Does your yard upkeep reflect the energy you want around you?

What new friends can you encourage?

What non-nourishing friends can you discourage?

After I started focusing on how much I wanted my home environment to take care of me, I got a surprise. A charming Frenchman who is a computer consultant, offered to rent the space for his home office! I get the income and I get to basically live alone.

You can have it all when you ask for it!

What do you want?

c 2006 Cara Lumen

How To Move From Hard to Easy

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Isn’t it funny how something that seemed hard in the beginning is really easy once you know how?!

I watched myself wading through yet another set of software instructions with the feeling it was a big mountain to climb. I wondered why I do that. Why I sometimes really have to gear myself up to tackle a new program. Yet I love to learn—ideas—not steps.

Where does our resistance to learn something new come from? Is it lack of self-confidence in our ability? Is it fear of failure? Is it an unwillingness to make the effort. There is a natural, innate resistance to change that we need to overcome as we approach any and every new possibility.

What tricks can we play on ourselves to help us keep moving forward? Is it the reward of knowing how to do something new? Is it the variety of things we’ll be able to do and create once we learn it? What carrot can we dangle in front of us to help us move forward?

I find that taking small steps and then creating something small from the knowledge spurs me on.

For instance, learning to edit sound in Sound Forge seemed enormous to me. I recorded a series of visioning experiences and was so proud when I edited a small glitch out of the first three-minute introduction. Yeah me.

Recently I recorded my first podcast—again only three plus minutes. I easily edited it and quickly and easily added music to it. Then I posted it to the internet and viola! I’m a podcaster!

When something seems hard, take one step at a time. Learn a new step, use it so you “own” it, and then learn to make another new step. Isn’t that the way we learn as children—one step at a time?!

As Leonardo da Vinci said, “It had long since come to my attention that people of accomplishment rarely sat back and let things happen to them. They went out and happened to things.”

Go happen to things! Be willing to attempt new things. Don’t be afraid something will be too hard for you to learn. Figure it out one piece at a time and put yourself back on track with each step you take. You’ll soon find yourself an expert instead of a beginner.

PS. You can hear my first podcast at www.thesuccessmagnetspodcast.com