Take your top ten article (http://www.discninja.com/wordpress/?p=12), and turn this into a Tip of the Day for your voice mail.  If you have a phone system that will allow you to have multiple mailboxes then you can set up your voice mail to say something like “To speak with Susan press 1.  To listen to the tip of the day, press 2.”

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Who would have thought that at almost-age 40, I’d own my first KISS shirt? Thanks to my good friend, Nancy Marmolejo, VivaVisbility.com, who bought it for me after seeing my fab photo with KISS star Gene Simmons.

I must say wearing it gives me a whole new perspective on life. I keep feeling like I should be blasting my 80s hair-band music and digging out my lighter. Ah, those we’re the days.

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For a few months now I’ve been musing over what’s happened at my chiropractor’s office. He has finally lost me as a client and I thought I’d capture the “lesson learned” so we all know exactly what to do if you want to chase clients away.

I should first say that I was an absolute raving fan. This guy is very personable, had completely reasonable prices and I believed his values were truly aligned with making a difference. He also had a great office staff that kept him on time and organized.

Within a two month period I probably referred him to over 20 people. So what went wrong?

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Creating a profitable business online is a process, just like creating any other business. Regardless of what it is that you’re offering, your cash flow is based on your sales. Once you know and implement the online business sales cycle (which anyone can follow), you’ll be able to create consistent cash flow for your business, too.

Here are the six basic steps in the online business sales cycle:

Step 1. Choose Your Prospects

“Prospects” is basically business-speak for potential clients and/or customers. So, who is the person who is ideally suited for your product, program or service? Who’s your ideal client or customer? Who makes up your target market? Is it parents, health professionals, copywriters, dancers, artists, entrepreneurs, boat owners?

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Ever wonder why someone as wealthy as Oprah cares about getting that special “free gift with purchase” offer at the department store makeup counter? You know, the one that includes the bright coral lipstick that doesn’t look good on anyone!

Because getting something for free feels good and smart business owners know that ALL buying decisions are based on emotion (with logic backing up the decision so it makes sense to the left side of our brain).

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What’s next after someone becomes your client? What’s next is to deliver on what you said you would, and more! As they say, "Under promise and over deliver." People expect you to deliver results. Surprise them by also going the extra mile over and over again. 

As soon as you get a new client, thank them for doing business with you. Send them a thank you note, an extra report or something of value. Let them know that you appreciate their business and show them you care about them. One small act that shows how much you value your new client can create a client for life. 

The formula for having your clients turn into raving fans is: good product + great service. Interestingly enough a good product + bad service gives you unhappy customers no matter how good your product is. 

A study has shown that it takes 16 times the effort to get a new client as it does to sell to an existing one. So treasure them all and treat them like a $1m client.

When selling your services, wouldn’t it be great if you could get to a “yes” quicker? So how do you do that?

There are several ways to do this. Some important strategies to use are as follows:

- Make it very clear in all your marketing materials who you serve, what problems you solve and what results you deliver. Chances are the people who contact you will be “pre-qualified” and will be in your target market and will have problems you can solve.

- Have testimonials in all your marketing materials which show results your clients have achieved from working with you. These testimonials will help you speed through the credibility part of the sales cycle.

- When a potential client contacts you, find a “reason why” they should do business with you now rather than later. You can either uncover a “reason why” by asking powerful questions or you can provide a “reason why”, for example, a time-limited offer.

Use these strategies regularly and you will find yourself getting to “yes” quicker.

A specific group of people you will focus on selling your services to is your target market. This is not to be confused with the problem you will be solving for this group.

Why choose a target market? You need to decide exactly who your audience is before you sell your services. Deciding on your target market lays a critical foundation for your business. When you get clear about who your target market is, you will know where to focus your selling and marketing efforts and where to focus your research efforts. You want to intimately understand your market: the problems they have and the language they speak. The greater your level of understanding of your target market the more magnetic you will become.

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The adage says that it is five times more expensive to get a new client (or customer) as it is to keep an existing client. So is there a formula for improving your client retention?

Alas, no. The answer will be different not just for different professions, but for each of us as individuals. Why? Because assuming that the quality of your product or service is good, what keeps people coming back is the relationship. And the elements that make your relationship with your clients special is as different (and special) as you are!

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