What’s one simple step to attract perfect-fit clients who love to pay you?

Quiz Questions

• 1.
  What stage of business are you in?

  • A.
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    I'm planning. I have lots of ideas (and questions!), I've made some plans, but I haven't quite made the leap and sold my offer to anyone. My main challenge is making my first sale.
  • B.
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    I'm building. I've tested out and sold my offer to my first customers, and am figuring out what works for my business. My main challenge is getting consistent sales.
  • C.
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    I'm finished building, and I'm redecorating. My business has been my full-time thing for a while. My main challenge is breaking through my income plateau or pivoting.
• 2.
  Which TV character most reflects your marketing personality?

  • A.
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    Leslie Knope. I have binders and binders full of a color coded 155 point plan for accomplishing my dreams. I’m not afraid to be visible, I’m hard-working and optimistic - but dang, the path forward looks like a mountain! Despite my good intentions, I’m not always successful at executing my goals.
  • B.
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    Fox Mulder. I'm an insider who's seen it all, the best kept secret in my niche, and I go deep with my people. I’m on a mission, and I know what I do is important. I’m here for the truth...until the funding runs out. Sometimes I’m so focused on the task at hand that I lose track of what's paying the bills.
  • C.
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    Willow Rosenburg. I'm quiet and whip-smart. Doing great work for others is my strategy and I thrive behind the scenes. I’ve done my research, I have amazing insights...but I probably need to spend some more time outside of the library.
  • D.
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    Gina Linetti. I'm a trendsetter with vision, talent, and skill. But I sometimes feel underappreciated by the mere mortals around me. I’m amazing, haven’t you noticed? If more people were paying attention they would know I’m the real deal. Why haven’t they paid me already?
  • E.
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    David Rose. I have a critical eye and high standards. I don't market much, but what I do share is exceptional. I’m wildly popular, some might even say beloved. Others say I’m a bit too controlling of the details - but I’m very uninterested in their opinion.
• 3.
  Why is marketing important to your business right now?

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  • A.
    I feel like I've been quiet for too long. I want more control over how many of my ideal customers find me!
  • B.
    I feel awkward talking about what I do. I'm not sure what to say! The people who know about me probably don't know much about my offers, and they aren't asking to find out more.
  • C.
    I’m talking to people, and sharing my offer - but not enough people are buying to hit my sales goals. I'm smart AF, but I don't know what's not connecting!
  • D.
    I'm trying to find THE THING that will light a fire in my business. I've changed up my offers, ideal client avatar, prices - and nothing has made a huge impact. I feel like I'm stuck on an endless hamster wheel. I'm ready to get traction!
  • E.
    I want to earn more, of course! But marketing brings out all of my comparison-itis. It’s hard to publish anything when I know so-and-so already did it better. I need more tools in my toolbelt to get myself over this hump.
• 4.
  What's your approach when it comes to connecting with other business owners?

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  • A.
    I’m the wallflower... if I do much "networking" at all. I don't know the right people, and don’t feel comfortable talking to internet strangers. I'd have to be kinda fake, you know? Plus, I don't really see the point.
  • B.
    I’m the star student. I invite a set number of people to coffee chats every month, and show up to every zoom meeting with perfect eyeliner. But I also withhold my unpolished projects because I worry I won’t be taken seriously if they see what a mess I am BTS.
  • C.
    I love meeting new people, and soaking up all the ideas people share! I get caught up in other people's confidence, and get seriously tempted to trade in my plans for what they're doing.
  • D.
    I’m friendly but guarded. I worry that other people might swipe my stuff! I want people to know what I do, but I worry about giving up my secret sauce. Then no one will need to hire me.
  • E.
    I’m a great listener, but I rarely speak up. I leave every coffee chat or mastermind call feeling like I’ve helped a lot of other people but not received any help for myself. So frustrating!
• 5.
  The hardest part of following through on your marketing plans is… 

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  • A.
    Plans? Why make plans when I can worry about it all the time instead? It's a hobby. Everyone needs hobbies!
  • B.
    I get stalled in editing and second guessing myself. I don’t hit send often. And when I do...omg, the whole process takes SO long.
  • C.
    I market all the time, but it’s crickets out there! Everyone says they love my content, but sales are a slowwww trickle. Maybe it's the algorithm?
  • D.
    I have a great strategy, and I really do try, but I always seem to fall behind on my executing my plans. It's hard to prioritize with so much else on my plate.
  • E.
    I hate feeling like a pushy salesman. It makes me uncomfortable, so I end up avoiding it. I probably haven't shared anything about my offers in the last three months.
  • F.
    I follow through and I'm selling - just not enough. I try not to focus on it, but I've noticed that all of my metrics are just... hovering in the same place.
  • G.
    I'm all about consistency, I ace this every time.
• 6.
  Surprise! A genie (who looks oddly like Seth Godin) appears and will grant you one marketing wish. You choose...

  • A.
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    I wish... to go viral! Now more people will find out about my work consistently. I’ve got a solid offer, I just need people to KNOW about it!
  • B.
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    I wish... to turn my following into engaged super fans! I want people raving about what I do and knocking down my door to get it.
  • C.
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    I wish... to hit my sales goals without talking to anyone!! Forget discovery calls, social selling, or sales emails...I want to relax and let the buyers come to me.
  • D.
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    I wish... to have the perfect strategy! I’d love to know that all of my marketing is magically correct so I can stop worrying if I’m doing this right.
  • E.
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    I wish... to be unstoppable! I'm already amazing at supporting other people, but I’m ready to stop feeling behind - or like I’m staring at a blank page - when it comes to working on my own business.
• 7.
  How would you LOVE to feel about marketing and sales?

  • A.
    I want to feel excited about my business growth. I want to check my numbers and be surprised by how I'm constantly being discovered by more of my best customers.
  • B.
    I want to feel sure about my messaging and actually execute on my plan. I want to know what to say to connect with my best customers, see that turns into sales, and feel proud that I’m finally getting somewhere.
  • C.
    I want to feel less tongue-tied and awkward. I'd love a straightforward way to invite people to work with me, and to know I’m doing it in a way that feels good to them too.
  • D.
    I want to feel like I have a flexible habit I can stick with. But I don't want to market all the time...I wish I could take a week off and know my income won't spiral!
  • E.
    I want to feel like I’m developing a reputation as a thoughtful, trusted advisor. I’d feel relieved if all of the great work I’m doing BTS could finally be seen and appreciated by the outside world.

Quiz Outcomes

• 1.
  It’s time to...Expand Your Circle!

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  If there was a yearbook committee for business owners, you'd be voted "Most Likely To Succeed". You’re ambitious, driven, and know what you want. You've done the research, stretched your comfort zone, and maybe built up a bit of a following, too. You’re selling, but it’s not enough...and you can’t seem to get past this plateau!Here's where you should focus to break through the barrier: Build your network!More people need to know about your brilliance, okay? Your message is ready for the wider world. Most marketing plans are about content, content, content...and that's great, but unless you're a huge corporation you’ll need more tactics than hitting “publish” to grow a profitable business. Without steady audience growth, your business is like a kid happily sipping on a fountain drink who’s parent doesn't order a refill. Eventually, there’s just ice in the cup! That sweet sugar rush grinds to a halt and a crash is on the horizon. The good news is that if you shift your focus towards expanding your reach, you'll be able to unlock a whole new level of success, community, and recognition.ACTION PLAN: Start a 100 People Project.Go speak to 100 people about the things you help with. If your audience is still new and growing, it’s a good time to engage with lots of people who resemble your ideal client and bring them into the fold. Don’t sell, just talk to them about it. See how they experience what you offer. Be generous, be helpful, and share belly laughs with people. Go out of your way to show how you’ll help them. Follow through, practice courage, resilience, and don't give up until you figure out what works for you. This tactic has fuelled some very successful service based businesses.If you already have a bit of an audience, it’s a good time to do more networking and make some business friends! Use social media to find people with similar-but-adjacent businesses, and who’s content you *actually* enjoy. Start conversations where there’s no direct payoff - you’re not trying to sell them something here. Get to know them, enjoy their company, and maybe it’ll blossom into a mutually beneficial relationship of cross-collaboration and referrals.Psst...The “100 People Project” was coined by my friend, the awesome Shenee, don't give me all the credit :)
• 2.
  It’s time to...say “Peace Out” to perfectionism!

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  You set the bar high and only deliver the best. You care deeply about doing a great job and go the extra mile to make sure everything is spot on. But it’s exhausting, isn’t it? Some days you’re stuck in an endless cycle of editing and reediting - never actually pressing send on any of your great ideas. Analysis paralysis takes you down and it’s another day of doing a lot but somehow never publishing or moving forward on what matters most to you. All perfectionists come by it honestly - it's a coping mechanism that makes you feel safe. It’s incredibly useful, but when it backfires you might notice that shame and self judgment holds you back. Here's where you should focus to break through the barrier:Practice doing things imperfectly!Your bar is set so high - can anyone even reach it? Holding on to unrealistic expectations of yourself is damaging to your morale and harmful to your progress. You’ll have less drama around your goals if you keep doing the work of separating them from your self worth.It’s time to practice being safe for your future self to make mistakes around. Decide that the value of your work (and the value of you!) is not dependent on perfect delivery. Instead, commend yourself for showing up and making attempts.Making friends with your perfectionism is a long term practice that I invite you to start exploring with a hefty side of self compassion. ACTION PLAN: Practice doing things imperfectly & start proving to yourself that it's enoughPractice being imperfect intentionally so you can prove to yourself you’ll survive. Edit that newsletter one time instead of seven. Send unfiltered text messages to your friends. Look out for the ways you beat yourself up and start making active choices to the contrary. That's how your ideas will finally start coming to fruition and your work will actually get out the door. Journal on one of these questions everyday for 6 days:What do you want to think about yourself when you do something imperfectly?How do you currently decide if you’re successful as a business owner?How do you WANT to decide if you're successful?Is your success open to interpretation, or is it tied to a specific metric?How much of the time do you currently feel like you’re successful as a business owner?What comes up when you look at your current thoughts about how you judge your success as a business owner?
• 3.
  It’s time to...Create a profitable system and humane marketing habits!

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  You’re following all the celepreneurs, reading their newsletters, downloading their PDF’s and absorbing every ounce of insight you can because you care so much about doing a great job for your own business. That’s committed AF! The thing is, that small army of teachers and experts is teaching what you should be doing (networking and blogging and SEO-ing and calling friends from high school...*shudder*) and that you should be doing more of it than you are, because it’s an incredibly profitable message for them. Those tactics might not be serving your business at all! Instead you find yourself stretched across 1500 different social media sites and strategies and burning out in the process.Here's where you should focus to break through the barrier: Find a marketing rhythm that works for you!It’s natural to want to look outward for trustworthy advice, especially when your income is on the line. But if you’re changing tactics every other day, no wonder it feels so overwhelming. Instead of trying #allthethings, create a humane marketing habit that you can actually commit to. One that doesn’t require you to shovel time into an endless toxic cycle of being under-booked, underearning and feeling ashamed that you aren’t willing to put in months of effort to implement ten different, separate, exhausting new systems from scratch. Forget the trends and find something that works for you, your business, and your bank account.ACTION PLAN: Create a repeatable marketing system that eliminates the guesswork for you.Write down the things you’re doing right now to get in front of more of your ideal clients. Which of those things are actually bringing in people for you? (Put aside what you’ve heard other people say and trust your own data.)Use that information to pick your focus. If you aren’t sure where to focus, start with something you like! Doubling down on the parts of marketing that you enjoy will help keep you consistent (no one is consistent at things that they hate!)If you love social media, rock on. Create a repeatable pattern of post types to ease up your content creation.If you love coffee chats, try templatizing your outreach emails so you can save some time and possibly delegate them.Create a system, but have FUN with it!
• 4.
  It’s time to...Invite more people to work with you!

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  The votes are in, and you’ve been named "Best Kept Secret". You’ve done an amazing job of listening for what people want and you've devised the perfect solution to their problems. But it’s surprisingly quiet on the homefront. You thought if you built it they would come...but where is everybody? Why aren’t they storming the gates for all you have to offer?Here's where you should focus to break through the barrier: Invite more people to work with you!You’ve done it! You have a fabulous offer and you should absolutely pat yourself on the back for it. But now you need to tell people about it and invite them to work with you. Shouting into the social media void isn’t enough. How can you start having conversations with the people you’d love to work with?If you’re bristling at the idea of sales conversations and don't want this to apply to you, hang with me for a second. I get it, the idea of selling your work can be fraught with lots of feelings - especially if you’ve been sold to in traditional, manipulative, or coercing ways. That kind of selling is BS, and is totally different from what we're talking about here. There are people out there who need what you have, are struggling without it, and have the money to buy your solution. In that context, having conversations with them is an act of generosity. No pushy, hard selling needed! And if you feel awkward, remember: feelings are not performance feedback. It’s awkward because you care and want to do it right, not necessarily because you’re doing it wrong or offending anyone. You’ve got this!ACTION PLAN: Regularly invite people to work with youThe next time you’re in a conversation with somebody and you’re talking about what you do for a living, if they need your help, try this script out: “Oh wow, I actually help [people] to [problem you solve]! I can shoot you over the information if that would be supportive. Are you looking for help with that?"Heads up, this is for organic conversations, NOT something to DM to strangers you have no relationship with! Don't be weird!If this kind of conversation never happens for you, and you’re not regularly meeting new people (hello, WFH crowd and introverted friends!) it's time to go and seek out opportunities to get to know more people, digitally or offline.
• 5.
  It’s time to...Help your ideal client before you sell to them!

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  You have a winning idea, and have put so much thought and care into bringing it to life... but now that it’s time to sell, you’re getting crickets. Why won’t anyone buy from you? Did you step in something? Do you smell bad? No, no, it’s not that. It’s that from the outside your business looks like the T.A.R.D.I.S - just a regular ol’ phonebooth. No one knows that the inside is a spectacle beyond their wildest imagination, so they walk right on by. Here's where you should focus to break through the barrier: Inspire confidence by helping your right people before you sell to them!There’s nothing wrong with your business! You just need to make sure the outside reflects the inside, to share the wonders within so people are moved to work with you.How can you show people the magic of what you do? This show and tell exercise demonstrates your credibility and builds confidence - it proves to people you really know your stuff!Don’t worry about giving away your “secret sauce”. Most people aren’t paying for the recipe, they’re paying for you to make the dish. They need help applying your solution to their specific situation. So even if you show them how it’s done, they can’t quite make it happen for themselves. ACTION PLAN: Start helping your right peoplewith their problem for freeWrite out a list of 10 ways you can help your right people with a problem that they have FOR FREE. Focus on ways that you can do this so more than one person can benefit from, so you aren’t running yourself ragged. For example:Dream up a sweet 5 minute training on one aspect of a problem they look to you for support withFilm a quick video that walks through solving a problem, or how to get a better result they wantShare an insight or reframe something for themInvite them to a free group classFocus on giving them a concrete experience of what it’s like to actually be helped by you.If you aren’t sure what kind of freebie works for your industry, go do a little research! Look at what other business owners are doing for their lead magnets. (You'll most likely find folks doing this fastest if you search Instagram.)One last thing: Don't get it twisted - this is not suggesting that you need to give away what you actually do for a living. You can, but unless you're a donut shop, it's usually a better idea to help in a more broad way.For example:If you're a therapist, you can share a practical technique.If you're a dog walker, you can share tips to stop leash pulling.If you're a photographer, you can share tips for selfies in your style.If you're a donut shop, you can share a beautiful donut phone wallpaper - or you can drop off a free order at your local coworking space to get in front of a bunch of new people.However you do it, get your goods to the people and you'll have them drooling in no time.