You know about the 80/20 rule, right? It’s the guideline that 80% of your return comes from 20% of your investment. For example, 80% of your referrals come from 20% of the people in your network. 80% of your new business comes from 20% of your prospects. 80% of your new contacts come from 20% of the networking activities you engage in. And so on.

Like all such guidelines, this one is inexact, but helpful. If used correctly, it makes you stop and think. Where are most of your returns coming from? And where is most of your effort going?

Imagine how much less time and money you could spend on marketing if you could simply identify the 20% of your current efforts that are really the only ones that matter. You could let go of 80% of what you’re doing…

Continues here.

Productive networking consists of meaningful, relevant, focused conversations and online exchanges. Here are a few examples of what this sounds like.

Questions to ask others:

• Tell me about your work/current goals/challenges you’re facing.
• Who/what would be a good client/helpful resource for you?
• What is exciting you in your business/career/life right now?
• What can I do to help you?

Topics to discuss about your own work:

• This is how I help my clients.
• Here’s an example of someone I was able to assist.
• This is who would be a good client for me.
• Here’s how you will know when someone needs my help.

Topics to post about online:

• Here’s a useful resource for you.
• This is something I’m doing you might find valuable.
• Here’s a success one of my clients had.

I need some assistance — can anyone help?

[I]nstead of looking for a magic formula to avoid the work of marketing altogether, find ways to make it easier on yourself. Here are four suggestions that will help.

1. Choose a target market you enjoy spending time with, and whose issues and goals you care about.
2. Get help with crafting marketing messages if messaging isn’t your strong point.
3. Use role models, recommended advisors, or a trusted system to identify only the best marketing approaches, then do what they advise.
4. Use the support of a buddy, coach, or success team to help you follow through on your plans, market consistently, and break through fear and procrastination.

First, C.J. Hayden asks “Not Enough Clients?  What’s in Your Way?”

Instead of trying to fix your marketing by just seeking out more ways to meet people or collect names, email addresses and phone numbers, stop for a moment. What is the problem you’re trying to solve? In other words, what’s really getting in the way of your marketing success?

And Lynn Grodzki looks at “Essential Connections“:

[T]the resource of connection — with community — is free. Having a strong professional community can build your practice, but sometimes attending a professional group feels like a waste of precious time.  So I wondered: What is the best strategy to finding or creating a community that really supports your life and your work?

What’s Stopping You From Getting Clients… and What To Do About It

Learn how to overcome the challenges you are facing and get the tools to help you grow a successful and thriving practice. C.J. Hayden, best-selling author of Get Clients Now!, will teach you how to attract more clients with less effort.

Much of the popular wisdom about how to succeed as an independent professional seems to center around saying yes…

Here are six examples of situations where you may want to consider saying no:

1. New clients who don’t fit into your niche.

2. Networking with people who have no connection to your niche.

3. Clients who take more effort to pursue than their business is worth.

4. People and organizations who ask for your time but do nothing for you.

5. Ads, promotional schemes, and exhibit space that don’t fit your budget.

6. Flavor-of-the-month marketing approaches.

Details/explanation at Get Clients Now.

“I don’t have enough clients,” one of my students told me. “I’d love to put more effort into marketing, but I’m so busy, I don’t have the time.”

This independent professional’s dilemma might seem humorous, but it’s no joke. I’ve heard this complaint repeatedly from professionals and small business owners. You’d think the solution would be easy – just drop whatever else you’re doing and spend more time on getting clients. But making that adjustment is often not so simple.

Five too-busy-to-get-clients situations explored in the rest of the article, posted here:

http://www.getclientsnow.com/too-busy-to-get-clients.htm

C.J. Hayden, MCC, CPCC is the author of Get Clients Now! (AMACOM, 2007), Get Hired Now! (Bay Tree, 2005) and The One-Person Marketing Plan Workbook, and a contributing author to Guerrilla Marketing on the Front Lines. C.J. is a business coach, consultant, and speaker who teaches people to make a better living doing what they love. Her company, Wings for Business, specializes in serving entrepreneurs, self-employed professionals, and people in marketing and sales.

C.J. is a former corporate productivity consultant with over 30 years experience in business management. She has been a professional trainer since 1978, a full-time consultant since 1990, and a coach since 1992.

A new, 28-day program with Joan Friedlander begins January 12, 2010.

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