In Rules for Renegades, entrepreneur — and runaway success story — Christine Comaford-Lynch says people have a hard time asking for what they want, thinking they don’t deserve it or will be considered pests. Flip it around, she says, don’t think of getting what you want – think about how you can help them.

First, learn to love networking. As you meet people, relationships will follow. I’ll never stop building relationships – it’s so fun and fulfilling. I use my LinkedIn network (www.linkedin.com) of over a million people so I can check in with business colleagues when I need to hire talent, connect my friends to people who’ll help them, and find friends of friends who will introduce me to people I want to know. I use Plaxo (www.plaxo.com) to keep my contacts’ information up to date.

Connecting people is like chemistry class. I put this and that together and see what happens. Sometimes it explodes, but usually it works out. Something better is created. That’s why I say, ‘Life = the people you meet + what you create with them.’ Whether it’s friendships, jobs, companies, products, families, fund-raisers, or pool parties, life is about bringing people together and seeing what happens.

1. Equalise yourself with others. We’re all equal. Just because people are powerful, rich, or famous doesn’t mean they are better than you. Practice equalising yourself with others; remembering this will enable you to more comfortably interact with others.

2. Build your networking momentum. Talk to people . . . all the time, in line at the store, at the salon, on an airplane. I’ve met amazing mentors, started businesses, and made new friends simply by striking up a conversation. Not sure how to start? Offer a compliment. There’s always something attractive or admirable to notice about a stranger. Be sincere about it.

3. Rolodex dip. This is a fun practice when you want to connect with someone but aren’t sure who. Flip through your contact database until you find a name that makes you smile. Then call that person up just to see how he or she is. Your contact will be surprised and delighted.

4. Daily appreciation. Appreciate at least one person daily. I often do this via email, so I can be thorough; often, to my delight, the recipients will tell me that they are saving the message for when they need a pick-me-up. You can also express appreciation over the phone or in person. Simply tell others how much you appreciate who they are, what they do, whatever about them moves you. They’ll be flattered, and you’ll feel great.

5. Sensei of the day. Each day I pick a sensei, a teacher. This is someone who has taught me a lesson or reminded me of something important in life. Your sensei can be a person, a pet, a plant, it doesn’t matter. The important thing is to acknowledge that there is much to learn and you are being offered valuable lessons constantly.

6. Join a networking group. Service groups (like Rotary and Kiwanis clubs), industry associations, and job function/title groups (such as associations for marketing professionals) are great places to learn the basics of networking, to meet new friends, and to help foster other people’s career dreams. Washington, Jefferson, Rockefeller, and Carnegie were all members of mastermind groups. You should be too. A mastermind group is a team of like-minded people who come together regularly to help support one another’s goals. (Check out the resources on my website, www.RulesForRenegades.com.) I am in two writing mastermind groups, where I’ve learned about self-editing, story structure, and pacing, point of view, and lots more. In my business mastermind group, I’ve explored new business models for online services and Internet marketing, how to hold a teleseminar, and how to market a book.

7. Find mentors, advisors, and friends to share goals with. Searching out mentors, building relationships with people in your field, figuring out how to get on the party-invite lists, and asking the publicity people in your company to share information about increasing your exposure are all good ideas. Think about how you present yourself, which is something that anyone at any level can work on. Setting up a monthly lunch with colleagues from other companies in your field, making a plan to meet someone who can teach you things (or swap services—one woman is helping me with a project in exchange for my providing business consulting to her)—all this is super-helpful.

8. Do the drive-by schmooze. Parties, conventions, and groups of all sorts are great opportunities, but sometimes you’ll be tired, not in the mood, or have too many events in one evening. This is when you’ll need to use the drive-by schmooze.

a. Timebox your networking. Decide that in 30 minutes you’ll do a check-in to determine if you need to stay any longer.
b. Let your intuition guide you. Okay, some of you may think this sounds flaky. Just try it though. Stand near the door, in a corner, or out of the way. Stop your thoughts. Internally ask to be guided to the people you need to connect with. Then start walking. You’ll be amazed at who you meet.
c. Make connections. Approach a person or group of people, introduce yourself, ask each person what he or she does for a living. Be genuinely interested.
d. Watch for the person you resonate with. You’ll always resonate with someone. When you do, ask the two most important networking questions:

• How did you get started in your field?
• What’s your ideal customer?

We all love to talk about ourselves, and these questions will not only help you form a connection with this person but will also tell you how to help him or her.
e. Offer help and follow through. If you can provide help, jot down ideas on the back of the person’s business card, commit to follow up, and then do it.

If you’ve had a fruitful conversation and want to take it further, offer to meet for lunch or coffee.
Again, follow through.

©Christine Comaford-Lynch – Extracted from Rules for Renegades (McGraw-Hill, 2007).

FURTHER INFORMATION

Serial entrepreneur, venture capitalist, consultant to many of America’s top Fortune 1000 companies, software engineer, high school drop-out, model, monk and Geisha trainee, Christine Comaford-Lynch has lived the kind of life most of us can only dream about. She has always gone after what she wanted—and gotten things done. She’s won, lost, worked, played, and every step of the way, she’s written her own rules. Visit her website www.rulesforrenegades.com for more.

Is your Marketing Funnel leaking? Entrepreneur, author and business advisor Milana Leshinsky reveals how to identify and fix the holes in your Marketing Funnel.

Every coaching business has a Marketing Funnel. The smoother your funnel runs, the more efficient and successful your business is. Here is an example of how your funnel may look:

Notice that there are three levels – free, paid and well paid. Many coaches skip the ‘paid’ level entirely, and try to sell their high-ticket items (coaching) to those who just requested free information. Other coaches don’t have the ‘free’ level in place, and wonder why their lead generation doesn’t work well.

You may have gaps or ‘holes’ on any of three levels. See if you can spot any ‘holes’ in your funnel:

On ‘Free’ Level:

Signature at the bottom of your articles isn’t effective enough. It talks about you instead of your giveaway or an exciting feature on your website.

You’re submitting your articles to places irrelevant to your business. Instead of, or in addition to, generic article directories, be sure to submit to handpicked highly targeted newsletters and websites.
Article topics are not quite relevant to your target audience or to your products. Don’t write about your trip to Thailand and expect prospects to contact you about coaching. This rarely happens.

You’re not capturing traffic from your website. Be sure to have a mechanism to ask for your visitors’ contact information, or you lose many potential customers.

Your free giveaway on the website isn’t enticing or relevant enough. Make sure your freebie is worth at least £10 if they were to buy it.

You’re not following up with people who request free information. Use auto responders to send out a sequence of lessons, tips or articles.

Your follow-up messages have no call to action. Be sure to invite people back to your website, check out a product, sign up for a teleseminar, or enrol into a coaching programme.

Newsletter is not doing its job at bonding with your readers and developing a long-lasting relationship.
Your website isn’t content rich to generate outside links and referrals. Add more articles and resources to fix this ‘hole’.

On ‘Paid’ Level:

Too many product offers on your website dilutes the focus and overwhelms the potential buyer.
Ineffective text copy on your website may cost you a sale every time.

No enticing bonuses for your products to increase the chance of a quick and easy sale from an excited customer.

Pricing problems – too high or too low. Test different price points and check out what competition charges.

On ‘Well-Paid’ Level:

Ineffective or no follow-up with customers who purchase your products. They may not even be aware that you’re offering coaching and other services.

Too many different coaching programmes and options confuse and overwhelm potential clients. Choose one or two main coaching options and focus your coaching page on it. List other options on a different page for those who’re interested.

Ineffective or too short sales copy for the coaching programmes or services. Remember, the higher the price, the longer your sales letter should be.

Coaching fees too high or too low. Ask your clients or customers what they think you should be charging, and check out your competition.

Wrong target market, no money for high-ticket items. This one will cause your revenue to stay low no matter what else you do.

Spotted any ‘holes’ in your marketing process? My recommendation is to fix them one at a time and test for at least a week. Otherwise, you won’t know which fix ‘magically’ worked

Milana Leshinsky, entrepreneur and business advisor, you can visit her site here: www.milana.com

A basic marketing concept that can have a huge impact on your profitability and the success of your business is ‘The Marketing Funnel’.

It makes it easier for prospects to make the decision to buy so your business becomes more profitable and you don’t have to work so hard to make sales.

Many service professionals struggle with converting prospects directly into high paying clients. They make the mistake of trying to sell their high-end services without first developing a relationship with potential clients. The second mistake they make is to offer only a high priced service without any lower priced options.

Marketing experts suggest that we provide an opportunity for people to experience our services and expertise at different price points. The theory behind the marketing and sales funnel – sometimes called a ‘pipeline’ – is that we offer something free at the top end of the Marketing Funnel, then a mid-priced option, and finally your highest priced services and products at the bottom of the funnel.

Here’s what you do to implement this Marketing Funnel strategy:

First, get lots of prospects in the funnel.

If you picture your funnel with the wide end at the top and the narrow end at the bottom, you want lots of prospects at the top of your funnel.

You need to first ‘cast a wide net’ by spreading your message to as many people in your target audience as possible. This would include prospects, current clients and former clients. You want to target your message so that mostly ideal prospects enter the top end of the funnel.

A great way to do this is by offering something free or at an extremely low cost, such as an article, an ezine, special report, e-course, audio download, a talk or a teleclass. The purpose is to entice them to allow you to add them to your database and contact them again. This introduces you to prospects and provides an opportunity for you to demonstrate your expertise.

Then, guide them through the funnel.

Once prospects have experienced your expertise and start to know, like, and trust you, they are more likely to open their wallets and spend more money on your services and products. Each level of the funnel as you guide prospects through represents increased familiarity and the potential for increased profits.

You offer your higher priced services and products only after they have sampled the lower priced option. As you provide several opportunities for prospects to sample your skills and knowledge at lower price points, the middle of your funnel starts to fill.

You can make money while earning the trust of clients and prospects by providing low to medium priced options for them to try your services. Examples of mid-priced options would be an e-book, information booklet, workbook, audio programme, group coaching programme, subscription e-course, teleclass or in-person group training, or assessments. Only then do you promote your higher end services, for example, your 1-1 services, weekend workshops, or home study programme packaged with audio recordings.

What’s in your marketing funnel?

Take out a sheet of paper, draw a funnel shape, and list the products and services you currently offer. Do you see any gaps in your offerings from free to high priced? Determine how to plug the holes by adding more product and service offerings and a range of pricing options.

Make it easy for prospects to make the decision to buy so your business becomes more profitable and you don’t have to work so hard to make sales.

You absolutely want to put this strategy of The Marketing Funnel into action in your professional service business!

Jan Marie Dore, MCC is ‘The Professional Women’s Success Coach’ and the founder of www.femalepreneurs.com.

She is known internationally as a Small Business Coaching expert, speaker, and author,