5 Easy Actions to Boost your Business – Right Now

So, here’s the big question.  We are 6 weeks into the New Year. Is it going to be “just like last year” or are you pushing ahead with your new plans?

I’m really pleased with how my work diary is looking. Some nice corporate assignments all over the country right up till December and now trying to plug in some of the gaps with some more cruise work. I’ve also followed my own advice and deployed the famous Michael Port “Velvet Rope” onto one of my clients who are just proving too hard to work with anymore. Now, this is quite a big step as they gave me about $20,000 last year, but sometimes we have to be firm and follow our belief. So I’m working hard to fill the gap and I’m going to share what I’m doing over the coming months.

This issue  – 5 Easy Actions you can take to start earning more money this year, a couple of new resources AND a new Goal Setting program that is worth a look at.

5 Easy Actions to Boost Your Business – Right Now

1/ Look to your own Magic Circle.

I have a list that I update each year of 100 people I think who could help me out. They are sort of ranked in broad divisions, Top 10, Top 25 & then the rest. Some are colleagues, some are friends, some are even family.  At some point in the first couple of months of the year I make sure I contact each and every one and let them know what I’m up to. What work area I’m focussing on, what markets I would like to break into etc. It’s surprising who will come up with connections to put you into new companies etc.

For my Top 10, I call them directly. For the others I write a letter. While this letter can be a “form letter” in some regards, make sure a significant part of it is written for that person specifically.

2/Get their Card.

I don’t know how many business cards I’ve handed out over the years to people who said they were really interested in using me, but no contact was ever made. Get their card. Make it a habit, create a script to ask for it. And follow up.  Don’t leave it up to them to make the contact.

3/ Build a Prospect List Hotel by Hotel

Now, I don’t mean the infamous Paul Diamond/Joel Bauer “crash a function and start working” technique, but a lot of ideas and prospects can be found by cruising into any fancy hotel you see and start looking around. Check out the What’s On Today board. Firstly you will see the types of companies and organisations that hold functions. Some industries get together a lot, for training, celebrating and socialising. Some don’t. Once you have figured that out, it saves a lot of time and wasted effort in your marketing efforts. Then you will also get a feel for the individual companies that do it. Do they have trade displays with the event, do they have a gala dinner, etc .  You don’t need to talk to anyone at the time, just be confident, do it all the time and you will start building a great target list.

4/ Your Colleagues

This is a bit different to the Magic Circle list, but seriously consider who you will be referring work to this year. I have a small list of people I will refer clients to at the drop of a hat and I expect nothing in return from them by way of commission etc. They also send work to me, so it seems to balance out.  I always contact my 4-5 early in the year, inform them of plans and focus area and wish them well for the coming year. It works for me and it should work for you too.

5/  The 3rd Year Return

It’s always nice to be invited back to the same company or event in a following year. But sometimes YOU need to prompt this along a bit. A terrific technique is to follow up with the Testimonial you received at the previous event.  I’m not aiming to get two years in a row with most of my clients, though it sometimes happens, but to come back in the third. Now, sometimes the person who booked you may have moved on, but target the new person in the same role the old one had. The previous testimonial gives you a great way in and to connect with them. You can also suggest that a/ you have significantly different show and that b/ with staff turnover etc, a significant number of staff would be seeing you for the first time.  LinkedIn can be a great way to track changes in key contacts. And if your old contact has moved on, this is a great “in” into a new company. Once again LinkedIn makes this easy.

 

RESOURCES

I’ve updated the Business Resource List here on the MagicCoach site with a few new tools I’ve been using over the last few months. I’ve changed WebHost onto the significantly faster and easier to use Blue Host and added a couple of extra training resources.     Check it out here.

GOAL SETTING

Friend and supporter of MagicCoach  and fellow enthusiast for the Goal Setting process, Fred Moore has just come out with an interesting new program. Not only does he talk you through the way to set achievable goals in your life and business he’s got a terrific reminder/accountability system built right into it. This is aimed at the general public, not just Magicians, but it’s well worth a look at if you really want to get some goals achieved this year. Comes with Video Training, Worksheets and more

If you have been interested in doing something like the 100 Day Challenge with Gary Ryan Blair but found the price a bit steep, this might be a great alternative.     Click Here for full information!

VANISH MAGAZINE

Coming up in VANISH …  Are you thinking of going into a “Got Talent” TV show. Look out for my next article with insights from a recent Grand Finalist.

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