The Secrets of Master Networkers: How to keep your practice
consistently FULL just with networking!
www.SecretsofNetworkers.com
The Secrets of Master Networkers:How to keep your practice
consistently FULL just with networking!The proven Networking Guru
SystemNetworking Secrets and Methods REVEALED (including 18
worksheets to use right away) 2011 Client Attraction LLC. All
Rights Reserved. The Client Attraction Expert
www.ClientAttraction.com
60 Real-Life
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or
transmitted in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means,
including information storage and retrieval systems, without
permission in writing from the copyright holder, except by a
reviewer who may quote brief passages in a review.
The Secrets of Master Networkers: How to keep your practice
consistently FULL just with networking!
www.SecretsofNetworkers.com
The ContentsABOUT THE AUTHOR
....................................................................
1 A DEFINING MOMENT: HOW MY CLIENTS MADE ME WHAT I AM TODAY .. 3
WHAT EXACTLY IS THIS NETWORKING GURU SYSTEM? ......................
5 WHO WILL THIS SYSTEM WORK FOR?
............................................. 7 THE RESULTS TO
EXPECT
............................................................. 9
WHAT YOU NEED TO DO TO GET RESULTS
..................................... 10 HOW TO READ AND USE THIS
SYSTEM ........................................... 11 OK, LETS GET
STARTED!
........................................................... 12
SECTION ONE
.........................................................................
13 Section 1: Change Your Perception of Networking ASAP
.......................................... 14 Step 1. Get clear on
what networking isnt.
.................................................. 14 Step 2.
Redefine your idea of networking.
..................................................... 15 Step 3.
The Know-Like-and-Trust Factor.
..................................................... 17 Step 4.
The tipping point is key.
...................................................................
18
SECTION 2
............................................................................
20 Section 2: Prepare Yourself To Be COMPELLING and Client
Attractive .................... 21 Step 5. Get clear on who you
want and need to meet: your ideal clients. ...... 21 Step 6. Find
out where your ideal clients HANG OUT in large numbers. ....... 23
Step 7. Know your strategic alliances and best referral
partners................... 23 Step 8. Be able to reach your best
referral sources in groups ....................... 24 Step 9.
Clearly communicate what youre looking for with a Client Attractive
elevator speech.
..............................................................................
25 Step 10. Come up with a tagline and theyll really remember you
by. ............ 27 Step 11. Have a Client Attractive business
card. ........................................... 29 Step 12. Make
sure you have plenty of business cards.
................................. 32 Step 13. Wear clothing with
pockets.
............................................................ 33
Step 14. Wear your nametag properly.
.......................................................... 34
SECTION 3
............................................................................
36 Section 3: Fish EXACTLY Where The Fish Are
......................................................... 37 Step
15. Understand the different types of networking.
................................. 37 Step 16. Get really familiar
with Breakfast Networking Groups. .................... 38 Step 17.
Professional associations are key.
................................................... 39 Step 18.
Chambers of commerce, special interest groups,
etc........................ 40 Step 19. Focus your networking on
the Cash Cows. ...................................... 42 Step 20.
Know where to find good networking venues in your area.
............... 42 Step 21. How notable networkers can help you.
............................................ 44 Step 22. Find a
group you like and consistently go to it.
............................... 44 2011 Client Attraction LLC. All
Rights Reserved., www.ClientAttraction.com
i
The Secrets of Master Networkers: How to keep your practice
consistently FULL just with networking!
www.SecretsofNetworkers.comStep 23. Why you must become a member.
................................................... 45 Step 24. Put
together your Networking Pie.
................................................... 46
SECTION 4
............................................................................
47 Section 4: Learn To Break the Ice and Banish the Fear of
Networking .................... 48 Step 25. Stand by the door and
become a greeter.......................................... 49 Step
26. Use the Ultimate
Icebreaker...........................................................
50 Step 27. Pretend its YOUR party!
.................................................................
50 Step 28. Get known by the host.
...................................................................
51 Step 29. Avoid certain people and areas.
....................................................... 52 Step 30.
Feel the fear and do it
anyway.........................................................
53
SECTION 5
............................................................................
54 Section 5: Know Exactly What To Do and Say
......................................................... 55 Step
31. Create a dialogue that will pique their interest.
............................... 55 Step 32. What to do when its
your turn to talk. ............................................ 56
Step 33. How to turn their interest into an appointment.
.............................. 57 Step 34. Make a date
....................................................................................
58 Step 35. Ask permission to add them to your e-newsletter/ezine
list. ............ 59 Step 36. Use the back of their card
............................................................... 59
Step 37. The one question for non-prospects that will triple your
networking results.
...........................................................................................
60 Step 38. Always find ways to stay connected over time.
................................. 62 Step 39. Make a date and
circulate.
.............................................................. 62
Step 40. How to gracefully end a conversation and continue
mingling. .......... 63
SECTION 6
............................................................................
64 Section 6: Get Long Term Results Through Masterful Techniques
........................... 65 Step 41. Become a bridger.
..........................................................................
65 Step 42. Dont do the hard sell, ever.
............................................................ 66
Step 43. Add value, just for the fun of it.
...................................................... 67 Step 44.
Network indirectly.
..........................................................................
69 Step 45. Go for the long haul.
.......................................................................
70 Step 46. Set up a power referral partner wheel.
............................................ 71 Step 47. Attend
each meeting.
......................................................................
73 Step 48. Sit next to different people each time.
............................................. 74 Step 49. Get to
know every member outside the meetings.
............................ 74 Step 50. Become active.
................................................................................
75 Step 51. Get on the speakers calendar.
........................................................ 77 Step
52. Support others by using their products or
services.......................... 78 Step 53. Provide referrals.
.............................................................................
78 Step 54. Stay active even after having given the referral.
............................... 79
SECTION 7
............................................................................
81 Section 7: Using Social Networks to Get Clients
....................................................... 82 Step 55.
Have a clear objective and develop a strategy.
................................. 82 Step 56. Focus on the
long-term relationship.
............................................... 83 Step 57. Its not
about you, its about
them................................................... 83
2011 Client Attraction LLC. All Rights Reserved.,
www.ClientAttraction.com
ii
The Secrets of Master Networkers: How to keep your practice
consistently FULL just with networking!
www.SecretsofNetworkers.comStep 58. Be authentic, real and
transparent. ................................................ 83
Step 59. Social media is all about the conversation happening
online. ........ 84 Step 60. Be consistent and plan your time.
................................................... 84
APPENDIX OF THE NETWORKING GURU SYSTEM WORKSHEETS ..........
87
2011 Client Attraction LLC. All Rights Reserved.,
www.ClientAttraction.com
iii
The Secrets of Master Networkers: How to keep your practice
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www.SecretsofNetworkers.com
About The AuthorFabienne Fredrickson is founder of
ClientAttraction.com, ranked on the Inc. 500/5000 List of Americas
Fastest Growing Private Companies in 2011. ClientAttraction.com is
devoted to teaching entrepreneurs around the world how to
consistently attract ideal, high-paying clients, put their
marketing on autopilot and authentically create a highly successful
and meaningful business, while working less. Fabienne created The
Client Attraction System, the proven step-by-step program that
shows entrepreneurs exactly how to attract more clients, in record
time. Through her workshops, courses, coaching programs, and
products, Fabienne shows her students how to create an abundant
life they love. As one of the most influential and highly-acclaimed
marketing and success mindset speakers and business mentors in the
world, Fabiennes down-to-earth yet powerful presentations have
become legendary. She is a sought-after and much-loved coach to
thousands of heart-centered entrepreneurs around the globe.
Fabiennes unique ability is getting entrepreneurs to take immediate
marketing action on a systematic basis to produce dramatic results,
in record time. Shes dedicated her life to helping entrepreneurs
and business owners create a legacy of service, adding value to the
world in a lasting way and creating breakthrough paradigm shifts in
their mindset and their personal income; and then giving back. Her
books, newsletters, products, appearances and online reach now
inspire nearly 150,000 people each month. Fabiennes key message
that each of us is here to serve the world in a BIG way and that as
a result, we are handsomely rewarded for it has changed thousands
of lives around the globe. She fervently believes in the capacity
for each and every one of us to become the full expression of our
purpose here on earth, and to do so, we must take a no-excuses
approach to growing within. For that to happen, Fabienne teaches
her students and clients that any struggle on the outside is a
reflection of the struggle on the inside, and once eliminated, that
internal struggle gives way to all the abundance, financial and
otherwise, that a person deserves and seeks. 2011 Client Attraction
LLC. All Rights Reserved. www.ClientAttraction.com
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The Secrets of Master Networkers: How to keep your practice
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Highlights from Fabiennes inspiring career include:
Ranked on the Inc. 500/5000 List of Americas Fastest Growing
Private Companies in 2011 (#20 in Media category, #10 in
Connecticut and in the top 100 for Women Owned Businesses) Crossing
the million dollar mark in her business at the age of 38, in an
industry where most entrepreneurs barely make $20,000 a year (and
doing so with 3 young children at home) Subsequently doubling her
business nearly every year to the multimillion dollar level, always
making more in the last twelve months, than shes made in the last
12 years combined (both in prosperous times and in a recession)
Consistently and repeatedly helping 5-figure entrepreneurs cross
the 6figure mark, and guiding 6-figure business owners to easily
move to a 7figure business, while adding more meaning, purpose and
fulfillment to their daily lives Creating the worlds most
verifiable, repeatable Client Attraction System for entrepreneurs
throughout the world Conceiving and leading the Client Attraction
Winners Academy, a series of sequential coaching programs that
teach entrepreneurs exactly how to use marketing and systems to go
from 5-figures to 6-figures, from 6figures to multiple 6-figures
and then to 7-figures. The Winners Academy successfully mentors
hundreds of entrepreneurs every year, through its Gold Mastermind,
Platinum Mastermind and Private Client tiers.
The consistent feedback from hundreds of thousands of Fabiennes
students around the world over the years is that it is her
authenticity, transparency, vulnerability, humanness, sincerity and
compassion and love for entrepreneurs that separates her from other
mentors and is the catalyst to their expansive growth, both
personally and otherwise. To order Fabiennes FREE Audio CD, How to
Attract All the Clients You Need by mail and receive her weekly
marketing & success mindset articles on attracting more
high-paying clients and dramatically increasing your income, visit
www.clientattraction.com. Fabienne lives by the sea in beautiful
Stamford, Connecticut, with her wonderful husband, Derek, and their
three young children.
2011 Client Attraction LLC. All Rights Reserved.
www.ClientAttraction.com
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A Defining Moment: How My Clients Made Me What I Am TodayMany
people have asked me over the years how I came to be a Client
Attraction Expert. Believe it or not, I was standing in your shoes
just a few short years ago, wondering how I was going to pay my
bills. And then something happened: A defining moment in my life
took place in late 1999. In the middle of the night, I woke up in a
pool of sweat. I had tossed and turned all night. This was going to
be yet another night of no sleep. What was causing this anxiety? A
few months earlier, I had quit my corporate job and had started a
private nutrition practice out of my tiny apartment in New York
City. The apartment was so small that Id transformed my bedroom
into a part-time consultation room with the help of a Murphy Bed,
and my living room had become my "waiting room as well as a
makeshift cooking school. Id marketed myself like crazy and had
gotten clients right away, but not as many as I needed to have to
pay the rent. Worst of all, the credit card companies were calling
to find out when they would receive their payment. This was not
what Id bargained for. As I tossed and turned, I kept thinking to
myself, What have I done?! Why did I leave my well-paying corporate
job just to struggle to get clients? How will I pay my rent if I
dont get any more clients FAST!? Although I didnt want to admit
defeat, I felt my back was against the wall and I called my father
in the middle of the night. I told him everything Id been going
through. He sat quietly, listening to me, and after I explained
everything, after some time, he said to me, Fabienne, if theres one
thing I know about you, its that when you want something, and you
want it really badly, theres nothing thats going to stop you from
getting it. And then he paused. So, I want you to figure out how
youre going to get clients, and then go and do it. I didnt say a
word. It seemed so simple when phrased that way, but I sat without
talking. And a few moments later, I made the commitment to him, but
most importantly to myself, to immerse myself in absolutely
everything that had to do with marketing myself and getting
clients. And I did just that. I read every book on marketing and
networking that I could get my hands on. I took every 2011 Client
Attraction LLC. All Rights Reserved. www.ClientAttraction.com
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The Secrets of Master Networkers: How to keep your practice
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course that was available. I talked to experts. I essentially
decided to become my own mini-expert on how to get clients. And it
worked! Lo and behold, in less than 8 months, I filled my private
nutrition practice to full capacity: 31 clients! What dawned on me
during this process was nothing short of an epiphany: the aspect
that I began enjoying MOST about my practice was actually the
marketing of my practice, not teaching clients how to cook brown
rice and steam broccoli and tofu. Soon, my nutrition colleagues
began to hear about my success. They started taking me aside and
saying Fabienne, how do you have 30 clients in less than a year and
I have only 3? What am I doing wrong? Can you help me? Yes, indeed
I could. Id give them 2 or 3 things to do and told them to call me
in a few weeks to tell me how it went. Virtually every time, that
nutritionist called me back a few weeks later saying Hurray! I got
a new client! Thank you!!!! Tell me what else to do! Slowly, a few
of them asked if they could become clients, take my 6-month
nutrition program, but that they didnt want me to teach them about
nutrition. Instead, they wanted to find out exactly how they too
could attract many clients and keep their practice consistently
full. I soon found myself with a hybrid practice, half made up of
nutrition clients, half made up of other private practitioners who
wanted to know exactly how to market themselves. Helping these
people finally make money at their calling became extremely
rewarding to me personally. I was making a difference in peoples
lives. After a while, I made another commitment to myself. From
that moment forward, I was going to dedicate my professional life
to helping other struggling self-employed, sole practitioners get
more clients, consistently and in record time, and I would help
them end the feast or famine syndrome so many were experiencing.
And so my business coaching practice was born, and my clients made
me who I am today. The door of opportunity was banging loudly and I
didnt have a choice but to answer it. Since then, Ive worked with
several hundred private clients, spoken in front of thousands more,
and have created The Client Attraction System, a series of 10
important practice-building modules most every sole practitioner
needs to apply to get more clients, in record time, whether theyre
just starting out or have had a practice for years and need a boost
of new clients quickly, and most important, on a consistent basis.
2011 Client Attraction LLC. All Rights Reserved.
www.ClientAttraction.com
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The Secrets of Master Networkers: How to keep your practice
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What exactly is this Networking Guru System?The Networking Guru
System you have in your hands is simply one of the only proven
systems out there telling you EXACTLY what to do to fill your
private practice simply by networking. Nowhere else have I seen
such a complete HOW-TO on how to get clients consistently with
worksheets, templates, and actual scripts that have worked, not
only for one person, but for hundreds of private clients. Heres
what it includes: Section 1. Change your perception of networking
ASAP In this section, we look at all the myths and false direction
that so-called networking specialists have been teaching us for
years. Many of their teachings on networking either dont apply to
us, because were self-employed and NOT looking for a job, and many
are just not realistic in the real world. Here, we set the record
straight on what REALLY works for us in private practice. Section
2. Prepare yourself to be COMPELLING and Client Attractive You can
go and network all you want, but if you havent taken the steps you
need to take to make your marketing message COMPELLING enough for
someone to want to work with you, then you might as well have
stayed home. In this section, you will learn step-by-step how to be
really Client Attractive when out there networking, so that you 1)
dont waste your time and 2) start seeing some REAL results. Section
3. Fish EXACTLY where the fish are This section will help you
figure out where to reach your ideal clients and strategic
alliances where they can actually be found, in large numbers and
inexpensively, not by taking an ad-hoc approach. We also talk about
how OFTEN to network, which is something that comes up very
frequently. Section 4. Learn to break the ice and banish the fear
of networking If, by chance, you are someone who happens to be shy
or introverted, this section was created for YOU. It will teach you
proven ways Ive created and used hundreds of times myself to get
over the fear that networking in large groups can sometimes bring
up. We teach you the Ultimate Icebreaker, tactics for networking
with the right people without feeling overwhelmed or wanting to
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The Secrets of Master Networkers: How to keep your practice
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run out of the event and go back home. This is for many people one
of the most powerful steps to take to start seeing clients coming
in the door: feeling the fear and doing it anyway, but this time,
with proven techniques that WORK. Section 5. Know exactly what to
do and say If you dont know what to do and say in a networking
group or at an event filled with hundreds of people, you might just
walk away with nothing, instead of walking away with lots of
potential clients and strategic alliances. This section will teach
you exactly what to say and do, along with scripts that really
work, to finalize change things around for you. Section 6. Get long
term results through Masterful Techniques Finally, this section
deals with all the fine details that masterful professionals of
networking, those whove done it for years and been EXTREMELY
successful, use to keep their practice consistently full of
clients, and their pipelines continually filled with prospects. Any
one of these steps will help you do the same so that you too can
quickly become a Networking Guru and reap the benefits (in the form
of new clients, in record time and consistently!) Section 7. Using
social networks to get clients Social media and networking
platforms like Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn are receiving lots of
attention as tools for Client Attraction and its easy to spend a
lot of (wasted) time there. To attract ideal high paying clients
from social networks, its important to remember that the same rules
apply for social networks as they do for traditional marketing:
giving value and building relationships! This section covers how to
use popular online social networking tools to supplement the
results you get from traditional offline networking.
Congratulations!!! Your Networking Guru System is now in place and,
once you apply all these steps, you wont have to worry about
getting clients again. What youll find is that each Section of The
Networking Guru System includes valuable worksheets, lots of
practical assignments, proven resources and timesaving
recommendations. This means you dont need to reinvent the wheel to
get masterful about your networking efforts. The tools are handed
to you, ready to make your own.
2011 Client Attraction LLC. All Rights Reserved.
www.ClientAttraction.com
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The Secrets of Master Networkers: How to keep your practice
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Who Will This System Work For?This system works for people just
like you in private practice and other independent professionals
who are really good at what they do, but have never been taught
exactly how to attract clients through networking or set up systems
around strategic alliances so that they ALWAYS get new clients.
This means that if youre just starting out in your business, this
is perfect for you as youll learn exactly what it takes to have a
full practice, from square one. Its especially ideal for the
established sole practitioner that could use more clients (most
people could). The Networking Guru System will get you to reexamine
what youve done to network and market yourself so far, then
streamline, rethink, systematize and help you make your networking
efforts much more rewarding (in the form of more clients and more
money coming in). Whichever profile you fit, this Networking Guru
System was created for people who are absolutely excited and deadly
serious about getting more clients through networking and ending
what I call the 3 A.M. sweats, meaning, no longer waking up in the
middle of the night asking how will I ever get a full practice? Its
about taking a No Excuses Approach and doing what it will take to
grow your business. Ive worked privately with hundreds of the
following professionals (and the list is growing daily):
Accountants Acupuncturists Alexander Technique Teachers
Aromatherapy Practitioners Attorneys Business Coaches Career
Counselors/Coaches Caterers Charitable Giving Consultants
Chiropractors Cold Calling Trainers Consultants Copywriters
Dentists Estheticians Event Planners Feldenkrais Practitioners
Graphic Designers High Performance Coaches Holistic Health
Counselors Image Consultants Interior Decorators Life/Personal
Coaches Long Term Care Specialists Marketing Consultants Massage
Therapists Mortgage Lenders Neuromuscular Therapists Nutritionists
Organizational Consultants Personal Financial Planners Personal
Shoppers Personal Trainers Photographers Professional Organizers
Professional Pet Sitters 7
2011 Client Attraction LLC. All Rights Reserved.
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The Secrets of Master Networkers: How to keep your practice
consistently FULL just with networking! www.SecretsofNetworkers.com
Professional Voice Teachers Real Estate Brokers Reflexologists
Research Specialists Speakers Tutors Virtual Assistants Writers
Being a high-achieving go-getter myself, Im known to work best
with other high-achieving go-getters who are super-ready to get
going, and just want to know exactly what steps to take to get
clients. If this is you, then pick up this system and run with it.
It was written for YOU! This system is not for owners of large
companies or even medium-sized companies. Yes, Ive been told
several times that many of the concepts can be applied to your
business, but the independent professional is the person for whom
this was written. As a side note, it was also not written for
whiners or skeptics or people who make excuses because their
results arent the same. If you are one of these people, this may
not be the solution for you. It takes a lot of drive to put
something like this in place. Its your responsibility to make it
happen. Consider what youll do with this Networking Guru System to
be an action learning course and you will be expected to take
serious and consistent action. No excuses anymore, just a totally
different way of thinking and a full set of resources while you
achieve this incredibly exciting goal: more clients, consistently
and in record time.
2011 Client Attraction LLC. All Rights Reserved.
www.ClientAttraction.com
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The Secrets of Master Networkers: How to keep your practice
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www.SecretsofNetworkers.com
The Results To ExpectLets face it. You didnt get this Networking
Guru System simply because you wanted to go through the process,
just for fun. No, you got this because you want the results. OK, so
how quickly could you expect to see results? This depends on how
long youve been in business and how totally committed you are to
investing yourself and your time to do the networking assignments
outlined in the following exercises. And, youve got to put a lot of
work into this. It doesnt happen on its own, trust me, but its
really simple when you get started. And when you do the work, youll
be happy to see the results. Traditionally, a practice gets
consistently full in 3 or 4 years (sometimes even longer!), and
thats with lots of expensive mistakes. Expect a fraction of that
time with the Networking Guru System. That said, virtually all of
my private clients see results within the first couple of months in
the form of new clients or new prospects. They see more revenue,
start generating a lot of interest from referral partners and
experience having a consistently full pipeline of prospects. (For
more on Closing the Sale and turning those prospects into paying
clients, please refer to the popular Client Attraction Home Study
System, available at http://www.TheClientAttractionSystem.com)
2011 Client Attraction LLC. All Rights Reserved.
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The Secrets of Master Networkers: How to keep your practice
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What You Need To Do To Get ResultsDo all of your assignments and
fieldwork. Period. Be totally focused on networking for a period of
one year. Understand that its not a quick fix, its not magic and it
takes up to a year for you to plant the seeds and for those seeds
to grow into the fruit that you can enjoy. All my clients who have
diligently applied every step of The Networking Guru System have
successfully grown their businesses, in a LOT less time than they
would have on their own AND have made more money than theyve made
doing what they do. If youre asking yourself whether youll recover
your investment in this Networking Guru System, the answer is Yes,
a resounding Yes! Many clients are excited to report that they were
able to cover the small investment within a month, if not within a
single week, and THEN some! I want you to stop reading for just one
moment to ask yourself What is a new client worth to me, and what
is the average revenue I make from the lifetime of that one client?
Chances are, that amount will more than cover your investment
dozens of times over. Most likely, you will make 20 times what you
invested in this program in the next 3 years. Even better, the
information and skills you learn with The Networking Guru System
may just net you 100 to 1,000 times what you invested in the next
10 to 20 years. Something to think about What youre regularly
getting with this program is what I call a series of AHAs! that
will move your business faster than you would on your own. Expect
to get a lot of these. Thats what youre investing in, results, more
revenue, more clients, not simply a series of assignments and
worksheets.
2011 Client Attraction LLC. All Rights Reserved.
www.ClientAttraction.com
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The Secrets of Master Networkers: How to keep your practice
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How To Read And Use This SystemHeres some advice about how to
take it all in. My recommendation is to read this manual in its
entirety, without taking any action the first time around so that
you can let it all sink in. Its a lot of brain candy and will most
likely get you very excited to move forward. But its important to
take in the WHOLE picture first. Otherwise you might get
overwhelmed or wonder if youre going in the right direction. Once
youve read everything, start at the beginning again and take each
assignment step by step. Read the first tip of the first Section,
fill out the assignment and use the worksheets provided in the
Appendix. Dont skip any steps, even if you think you already know
the answer. Each step is there for you to use so that you dont have
to reinvent the wheel to get moving and to see results. Remember,
take this whole process slowly. Its Pace, Not Race. And it can
become a little overwhelming if you try to tackle it all at once.
Treat it like you would eat an elephant: one bite at a time. The
key is to do it. Have you ever read a book that you thought was so
good, chock-full of amazing ideas that you underlined it,
highlighted certain sections and dog-eared a few pages? Ill bet
that at least once in your life you put that book right back on the
shelf and never applied all the great ideas you read about. And
because of this, youre still in the same place you were before you
picked up the book. Well, I dont want you to do that here, so just
go for it. Your business is too important to not do this. Commit
yourself to this networking project. Know that its not always a
quick fix (although many clients of mine have seen results
extraordinarily fast) and that you actually have to do it for it to
work. Just make the time, make a commitment and take each and every
step. If you get stuck and are having trouble moving forward, drop
me and my team a line at [email protected] and well be
happy to help. Sometimes a little nudge can get you back on track
very quickly.
2011 Client Attraction LLC. All Rights Reserved.
www.ClientAttraction.com
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The Secrets of Master Networkers: How to keep your practice
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OK, Lets Get Started!Welcome to The Networking Guru System
Before we begin: If you are in business for yourself and dont have
a welldeveloped marketing and networking plan in place that works
to get you all the clients you need consistently, dont be hard on
yourself about it. Youre not alone. And the first thing I want to
share with you is Nothings wrong with you! What we all have in
common is that we were probably only taught our professional
tradehow to be a consultant, dentist, acupuncturist, financial
planner or real estate broker, but not how REAL Client Attraction
works and how to start getting clients quickly and consistently! In
fact, almost everyone who I speak to about their business does
almost nothing to promote it, preferring instead to wait for
word-of-mouth referrals. Problem is, these referrals dont always
come as quickly as wed like, right? Youve got to go out and get
yourself some clients instead of waiting for them to come to you or
you might not be in business for very long. The good news is, you
can do this! There are indeed ways to get them to come to you, but
youve got to do a few things first to make that happen, and thats
why youve got this extremely detailed workbook in hand. The 60
assignments and 18 worksheets of The Networking Guru System will
help you attract all the clients you need and can handle through
serious networking, must faster than what youre doing now. Now,
realize that none of this is truly rocket science, although I know
a few light bulbs might go off. It always happens. What I want you
to get from this is that you may know a lot of this, BUT youre
simply not doing it, and certainly not consistently enough to get
the steady stream of new clients you need. With that said, lets get
started. Good luck! And remember, Im here when you need me. J
Fabienne Fredrickson
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Section One
Change Your Perception of Networking ASAP
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Section 1: Change Your Perception of Networking ASAP Ah,
networking! Mention the word and you will get either one of two
reactions: Ugh! I hate networking. It doesnt work. Besides,
everyones in it for themselves and it takes too much time. Yeah,
networking is great. It helps me get lots of clients. I love
it!
Ask every self employed person you know and youll notice that
youll get about 80% of responses to be in the first category. But
the thing about networking is that is DOES work to get you clients
really quickly. I filled both of my private practices in less than
a year each, using networking and other Client Attraction
techniques. So why all the extremes of emotion around it? My gut
feeling is this: 1. People arent doing it correctly and therefore
often fail miserably when attempting to network. 2. They have
misconceptions about what networking really is about. So, Im here
to dispel the myths and get you guys going on a path of doing it
correctly, so that you not only start seeing REAL results from your
networking, but you also start really enjoying it. (I know, some of
you are shaking your heads right now saying to yourselves, Dream
on, Fabienne, Im NEVER going to enjoy it! But thats what my clients
had also said about marketing and Ive changed thousands of peoples
minds about it once they saw the results, so I can probably change
your mind too, if you let me.) J Step 1. Get clear on what
networking isnt. There was a time (many say its still going on now)
that networking was about entering a large crowded room of people
you didnt know, all dressed in stuffy business attire and your goal
was to walk away with as many cards as possible, exchanging them
frantically and promising to do lunch. And then, you were supposed
to follow up and make the sale. I dont know about you, but THAT
sounds horrible to me! And for the life of me, I cant even imagine
how that would be successful in helping you get clients. It feels
sleazy, slick and not the kind of way I want to spend an evening.
Besides, it doesnt fit my
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personality or my way of approaching life, and if youre anything
like me, it probably doesnt fit the way you approach yours, either.
No wonder 1) we dont want to do it and 2) it doesnt seem to work
for us! Its a totally wrong approach! (Sadly, when you read or hear
various networking pros talk about networking, some are STILL
advocating this grab-as-many-cardsas-you-can mentality and telling
you to push your services onto them, asking for the sale on the
first meeting. Yuck!) So, the very first thing I want you to do is
to banish what youve already learned about marketing and start from
scratch. In essence, Im asking you to UNLEARN all the myths and
allow me to show you what its really all about and how to approach
networking so that you actually get really great results from it
and feel authentically yourself the whole time. Your Assignment:
Take a sheet of paper and list everything youve been taught about
networking, what it means to you, what your emotions and feelings
are around it, and whats stopping you from doing it. The first key
to changing something is to recognize it, then understand where it
comes from and then, to make a commitment to changing it. Once you
realize that your feelings around it come from outdated sources,
youll be ready to implement the steps and concepts Ive outlined in
this Networking Guru System. However, if you keep reading without
changing your feelings about it, youll probably see yourself
becoming skeptical and thinking it wont work, most likely because
your preconceived notions are still there. So, its time to erase
the board and start from scratch. (Worksheet 1 in the Appendix will
help you get started.) Step 2. Redefine your idea of networking.
Ok, now that youve gotten clear on what networking isnt and whats
slowing you down, its time to redefine it so that you can start
taking advantage of it, starting now.
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Contrary to what youve probably been taught, networking is NOT
about pushing yourself on others (or being pushed upon by others)
but about one simple thing and one thing only. Building
relationships. I know, you were probably expecting something more
earth shattering than that. But the simple truth is, Master
Networkers understand that networking is about the long haul and
its about building relationships, not GETTING something from others
or putting something over on others. Ok, but lets examine building
relationships and why thats the NEW view I want you to take on
networking. Lets examine how YOU would rather buy services. When
youre looking for a new service, would you rather open up the
phonebook and play eenie-meenie-miney-mo or would you rather ask a
friend you trust if they know someone who provides that service?
Yeah, me too. I feel much better about asking someone to give me a
referral. For some reason, when I know that my friend has had a
great experience with that particular service provider, let it be a
dentist or a plumber, Im much more likely to just call and book an
appointment, rather than question the expertise of the person were
talking about. And so you see, it all boils down to that
relationship with your friend, and the relationship that your
friend has with the dentist or plumber. Without the relationship
they have, you wouldnt have ever been referred that person. Your
Assignment: From today forward, I want you to start approaching the
entire networking process with the objective of creating LONG TERM
RELATIONSHIPS. No more, no less.
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Step 3. The Know-Like-and-Trust Factor. I cant honestly remember
where and when I first heard about the Know-Like-and-Trust Factor
(who knows, I probably think I invented it! Ha!) Its so ingrained
in my way of thinking about networking, Client Attraction and
Closing the Sale, that I take its origin for granted sometimes. But
as you can see, I apply it to everything. It just works so well
that you too will want to apply it to your way of doing everything
from now on. OK, so what is this Know-Like-Trust Factor and why is
it so crucial to effective Client Attraction and networking? Well,
have you noticed that what sometimes stops us or slows us down in
the process of working with someone is often that we dont know much
about them, we dont know if we like them yet and we certainly feel
hesitant about working with them because we dont feel we can trust
them yet? This Know-Like-Trust Factor runs much deeper than you are
probably aware of. When you dont like or trust someone, do you feel
comfortable giving them your money and putting yourself in their
hands? Nope, I didnt think so. We give business to those we like
and those we trust and never the opposite. Simple as that. Now,
that being said, we have a greater likelihood of attracting lots of
new clients and referrals from those who already know us, like us
and trust us, and many times this means former colleagues, family
and friends, people already in our life. People who know us, like
us and trust us automatically become ADVOCATES for us. These people
can attest to you as a reliable person and can probably rave about
your services if theyve experienced them. This is extremely
valuable and should not be overlooked when building your practice
and setting out to attract new clients through networking.
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Your Assignment: Start by thinking about those people whom you
know, like AND trust. Dont you find it easier to send them
referrals than those you dont? Shift your thinking to create
relationships, over the long haul, with the main objective being
TRUST. Take every action to make this happen and youre on your way
to becoming a veritable Networking Guru. Step 4. The tipping point
is key. Now, before you point the finger at me for bashing ALL
things about what you already know about networking, let me say
there is ONE thing that I believe in very strongly that past
networking experts talk about over and over again. Getting LOTS of
people in your network. The more people you know, and the more
people know YOU, the more likely you are to attract LOTS of new
clients through networking and referrals. Think about it. If youve
got 300 people in your network, and lets just say, for fun, that 1%
of them refer people to you on a monthly basis. Well, that makes 3
referrals per month. But if youve got 1,000 people in your network,
and that network generates the same percentage of referrals per
month, 1%, then, that gives you 10 referrals per month. In just a
few months, youve got a solid practice going! And its been my
experience that, when you DO have more than a 1,000 people in your
network who become advocates of yours, you start getting clients
real fast! The key however, is in how you create this tipping
point. And again, its not about entering each networking event you
go to and throwing your cards at people, its about creating
relationships that are based on trust. LOTS of them!
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Your Assignment: Make a commitment today to start growing your
network to the Tipping Point. My networking is up to many thousands
of people now, and you can imagine how many referrals I get from
this network and all the networking Ive done in the past. If you
estimate that you currently know (and are known by) say, 300
people, start working hard to be known and trusted by 1,000 people.
When youve reached that, start shooting for 2,000, then more. The
more people are in your network, the more you start tipping the
scales in your favor. Itll be a process, and not necessarily a
quick one, but the more you work towards this, the more youll love
networking because of the RESULTS youll get from it, consistently.
Its addictive, trust me! So, how many people are in your network
now?
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Section 2
Prepare Yourself To Be COMPELLING and Client Attractive
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Section 2: Prepare Yourself To Be COMPELLING and Client Attractive
OK, so I hope Ive gotten you excited about the concept of reaching
a tipping point in your network through building relationships
based on a know-likeand-trust factor. But before you rush out there
attending all sorts of networking groups and functions, youve got
to do just a little bit of work so that youre not wasting your
time. Step 5. Get clear on who you want and need to meet: your
ideal clients. Before we move forward in your networking, we need
to get really clear on who you want to meet. Well first focus on
your ideal client. Now, to get clear on who your ideal client is,
lets first agree that there are several things that universally
constitute an ideal client: Those you really enjoy working with
Those who need your help, badly Those who recognize that working
with you is essential Those who can easily be identified and
contacted Those what will happily pay what youre worth, without
negotiating Those who will get great results from working with you
(and write testimonials to prove it) Those who will tell others
about you and refer other clients over and over again
Now, be honest with me. Dont you want a practice FULL of these
types of people? (Trust me, its a lot more fun and its not
difficult to get.) To have a practice filled with these types of
people, you need to stop networking with anyone and everyone and
start targeting a specific target audience. One of the secrets of
masterful networking is knowing WHO your ideal clients are (the
ones wholl recognize that working with you is crucial to solving
their problems, pay you what youre worth and tell others about
you), figuring out WHAT their particular issues are, WHY theyre
having them and HOW you solve them.
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Your Assignment: Get very specific on who your best client is. To
do this, you can start thinking of your most favorite current
clients (the ones that fit the criteria we outlined above) and
former clients. Write it all down: For individuals, it can include
their age, sex, and income group -- even where they live, if it
impacts your business. If you cater to companies, write down what
industries you want to work with, the number of employees, and
specific titles within the company. Now, write down your ideal
clients particular situation that you can solve, their struggles,
and any other common-denominator aspects that would be a requisite
for being a best client for your services. Get thinking about these
and youre on your way to crafting your ideal client profile. Once
you have that, marketing can be a breeze. This is one of the most
important steps you can take in attracting all the clients you
need. Do not skip over this part, even if you think you
already-kinda-know who they are. Note: If youre not currently
working with your ideal clients or need help in figuring out this
section (most people do), we go really in depth in forming your
ideal client profile and the viability of marketing and networking
to this ideal client in the Client Attraction Home Study System.
You can get your copy here:
http://www.TheClientAttractionSystem.com For deeper learning, I
invite you to check out my 3-day Client Attraction Workshops (see
upcoming dates, details and inspiring success stories at
http://www.clientattraction.com/events) as well as my sequential
coaching programs (The Winners Academy), where I teach my students
and clients how to use marketing and systems to go from 5-figures
to 6-figures, from 6-figures to multiple 6-figures and then to
7-figures, taking them past the million dollar mark. You can find
out more (and get a free DVD with videos of moving and
inspirational success stories shipped to you at no charge) by going
to http://www.clientattractionwinnersacademy.com . (Worksheet 2 in
the Appendix will help you get started.)
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Step 6. Find out where your ideal clients HANG OUT in large
numbers. Once youre clear on who your Ideal Clients are, theres
just one more thing we need to unearth, and its a crucial one. We
need to know where they live and where they hang out. Why would you
randomly network hoping to find your ideal clients when you can
find places to rub elbows with them in large numbers and at low
cost to you? This is much easier and gets you more results. Your
Assignment: Ask yourself the following questions: Where do they
congregate regularly? What workshops or seminars do they go to?
What conferences or conventions do they visit each year? What trade
shows will they attend this year? Where do they network? What clubs
or organizations do they visit regularly? What associations do they
belong to? Where will you find a roomful of these people? What
organization or group holds a list of these people?
(Worksheet 3 in the Appendix will help you get started.) Step 7.
Know your strategic alliances and best referral partners. To make
networking even more effective for you (and to quickly increase
your results), youll want to not only try to meet your ideal
clients, but strategic alliances as well. Strategic alliances are
people who share the same target audience or clients as you do, but
whose company or service doesnt overlap with yours. Strategic
alliances are usually your best referral partners and, in many
cases, youll have many different ones. Heres an example of a
strategic alliance scenario: If you were an Accountant/CPA, these
are what some of your strategic alliances could look like:
Financial Advisor Personal Financial Planner 23
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Bookkeeper Attorney Insurance Broker Small Business Banker Business
Coach Etc.
All of these types of people are possible referral partners to
you AND share the same type of client without offering what you
offer or competing with you. The idea is that these peoples
Rolodexes and mailing lists are full of your prospects and in
teaming up, you could both help each other spread the word and
refer your clients to each other. Your Assignment: Make a list of
which industries or types of businesses share the same client you
do and see what you can do to share your resources. Perhaps you can
do a seminar together, combine mailing lists for double the
exposure of direct mailings, send a letter of endorsement to your
clients about your Strategic Partner and vice versa, etc. Extra
credit assignment: You can also consider a Strategic Alliance to be
an organization made up of your Ideal Client whose mailing list is
made up of hundreds of thousands of your targets. This is another
great way of aligning yourself. How could you work something out
together that would benefit everyone involved and help you both
attract new clients? (Worksheet 4 in the Appendix will help you get
started.) Step 8. Be able to reach your best referral sources in
groups As you did with your Ideal Clients, its time to get clear on
how to reach your best referral sources and strategic alliances in
large numbers and inexpensively. You could essentially put together
an ENTIRE marketing plan around this technique, one that would get
you LOTS of clients, consistently.
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Your Assignment: Ask yourself the following questions: Where do
each of your strategic alliance groups congregate regularly? What
workshops or seminars do they go to? What conferences or
conventions do they visit each year? What trade shows will they
attend this year? Where do they network? What clubs or
organizations do they visit? What associations do they belong to?
Where will you find a roomful of these people? What organization or
group holds a list of these people?
(Worksheet 5 in the Appendix will help you get started.) Step 9.
Clearly communicate what youre looking for with a Client Attractive
elevator speech. OK, now that you know who youre going to want to
look for and talk to when networking, you gotta have something to
say that will make them: 1) want to work with you 2) want to refer
clients to you. An Elevator Speech is a marketing term that is
meant to describe the commercial you would use with an ideal
prospect in an elevator if you only had 20 seconds to get your
message across before reaching your floor. Its meant to describe
what you do in a very short amount of time, with the objective
being that this person will not only want your card, but will also
want to talk to you further. And I consider it a crucial part of
Client Attraction as a whole and paramount for masterful
networking, because if you cant say what you do in a compelling way
in LESS than 20 seconds, youre letting potential clients slip
through your fingers on a daily basis. Not ideal. The good news is,
its just a question of plugging things into the formula below and
memorizing it.
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My Elevator Speech formula: I work with (insert ideal client
profile) who struggle with (insert client challenges) and would
like to (insert results and benefits). What separates my service
from other (insert competitors) is (insert your Unique Selling
Propositions) and because of this, clients receive (insert
motivators and your claim). Would you like to know more? Heres mine
as an example: Hello, my name is Fabienne Fredrickson and I am a
Client Attraction Expert. I work with somewhat successful
self-employed professionals and very small businesses who struggle
to market their business effectively and need to attract a lot of
new clients consistently, without pushing so hard. What separates
my service from other business coaches is that I ONLY work with
self-employed businesses and I ONLY specialize in Client
Attraction, nothing else. Because of this, my clients receive
proven, undiluted, and extremely specific step-by-step information
on exactly what they need to do to get clients. As a result, those
who coach with me get more clients, in record time, and make more
money than they would on their own. Would you like to know more? I
get a lot of attention with that one. And every time I use it at a
networking meeting, I see people really listening to what I have to
say and then usually get approached by an ideal client or receive a
lead towards the end of the meeting. Not bad, huh? One thing that
needs to be mentioned is that people judge you on what you say
about your business (they cant help it, theyre trying to figure out
whether youre good at what you do, or not) and one of the things
they look at is your confidence level around how you describe your
business. Were not shooting for arrogance or aggressiveness, but
rather a casual confidence that makes them want to know more. And
thats why its important that you memorize your elevator speech.
Because you want it to roll off your tongue, easily and without
effort. VERY Client Attractive!
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Your Assignment: Time to work on your elevator speech using the
formula Ive given you above. Understand that it might sound canned
at first. The formula Ive given you is meant to be a starting
point. But once you practice it several times and start to memorize
it, youll find a way to round out the edges and make it really easy
to get attention. Note: If youre having trouble filling out the
formula (many people do), we go really in depth in all the
different components of the elevator speech formula in the Client
Attraction Home Study System. You can get a copy here:
http://www.TheClientAttractionSystem.com (Worksheet 6 in the
Appendix will help you get started.) Step 10. Come up with a
tagline and theyll really remember you by. So, imagine that youre
in a structured networking meeting (well talk about these in depth
in a little while) and that 30 other people are giving their
elevator speeches, looking for referrals from the group. Can you
imagine yourself forgetting what one or more (if not many) peoples
messages are? Ill bet you anything that most people in that room
will forget at least one persons elevator speech. And what if it
were yours? Youd be bummed. Heres what you can do about that.
Having a tagline or slogan can make all the difference in
networking colleagues remembering you. They probably wont remember
your entire elevator speech, but if you make it easy for them,
theyll likely remember your tagline. A tagline is something that
describes the entire essence of what you do, including results, to
a potential client or referral source, within just a few words. Its
essentially a reduction of your entire marketing message, or
elevator speech. Basically youre trying to reduce your essential
message into just a phrase, so you want to keep it short, memorable
and have it be results- and benefits-oriented if possible. In the
end, youre looking
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for something that your ideal client or strategic alliances will
remember and refer you with. My tagline is More clients, in record
time every time. An added bonus is that people will start to refer
you to others using your tagline. People do this for me. They tell
me that when theyre talking to a friend whos complaining about not
having a full practice or having a tough time marketing to clients,
theyll simply say to them, You should talk to Fabienne Fredrickson,
she can help you get More clients, in record time, and she does it
every time. It works. OK, heres how to come up with yours. Imagine
that youre cooking a large amount of broth on the stove (your
elevator speech) and youd like to reduce it to a thick sauce (your
tagline). It takes time, but sooner or later, youll get something
that will be the essence of your message, yet in a lesser quantity
and much more powerful. As I just mentioned, mine is More clients,
in record time every time. But it took me a while to get there. My
first tagline was, More money, more of life, better decisions,
faster growth. (Not exactly very easy for others to remember or
repeat.) And then it became More clients, more money, better
decisions, faster growth. (A little better, but still not there.)
And then, More clients, in record time, guaranteed. (Great tagline,
but I started attracting people who werent willing to put in the
work, so that wasnt ideal either.) And lastly, More clients, in
record time, every time. Now with the Winners Academy, Ive added a
new tag line just for that, Step-by-step Guidance, Expert Coaching,
Daily Accountability.
Now, understand that this evolution happened over a span of
several years. And you know what? Im still thinking about changing
it to have something in there about consistency because my clients
dont just want a lot of clients fast, they want a lot of clients
fast AND consistently, so Im working on changing it yet again. The
reason I took you through all these different incarnations of my
tagline is to reassure you that coming up with a good one 2011
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doesnt always happen overnight. And it can always evolve (just be
careful that it doesnt change drastically on a regular basis or
youll confuse people.) Its OK to spend some time with this, but
when youve got one, use it on EVERYTHING: Your business card Your
website Your marketing materials Your voicemail Your e-mail
signature file At the end of your elevator speech Etc.
Your Assignment: Distill your message down into a few words Keep
it memorable Have it be benefits- and results-oriented, if possible
Use your Unique Selling Proposition, if possible
(Worksheet 7 in the Appendix will help you get started.) Step
11. Have a Client Attractive business card. You can have a business
card that says your name, the name of your company and how to
contact you, or one that gets you clients. Which do you want? Your
business card should be considered a sales tool, something that
someone will look at and get a very good idea not only at what you
do, but what you can do for them. If youve got just one chance to
make an impression (in person or not) and youve got the space, use
it well. Make sure people know what you do, really DO, when they
read your business card. Give them a compelling reason to call you
to talk about working together. Or perhaps you want them to visit
your website or sign up for your ezine (e-mail newsletter). The
idea is to get prospects in action JUST WITH YOUR CARD.
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Heres an example for you: I got a call from a prospect a while
back, saying that she was ready to work with me to help her attract
new paying clients. She wanted to talk to me because she just
needed to see exactly how I worked and what my rates were. The
funny thing is, wed never met. And she wasnt referred by any of my
clients or colleagues. Instead, she had found my card in a doctors
office close to 50 miles away. Now, I can ASSURE you that I had
never been to that doctors office and that I hadnt gone to that
part of the state in over a year, but somehow my card found her and
compelled her to want to work with me. And that card probably cost
me no more than 10 cents. Not bad for a return on investment on a
marketing piece and the fact that I wasnt even there in the first
place! OK, so what should you put on your business card to make it
Client Attractive in a networking situation? It should have your
phone number(s), every way to reach you and can even have a set of
PULL marketing questions on the back that invite the reader of the
card to consider working with you. (Use the questions weve already
worked on in the Client Attraction Home Study System.) Its
recommended that you add your tagline to the card. And use the back
of it if you can! Let me give you an example of what your card can
do for you, even when youre not there. Heres the text to mine:
FRONT More clients, in record time every time. Client attraction
made easy. Fabienne Fredrickson Client Attraction Expert, Business
Coach, National Speaker Client Attraction Business Coaching
866-RAINMAKER (toll free) Local phone: 203-595-0068
[email protected] 2011 Client Attraction LLC. All
Rights Reserved. www.ClientAttraction.com
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FREE Client Attraction Tools at www.ClientAttraction.com BACK Not
attracting enough clients to your existing small business? Do you
wish you could turn more prospects into paying clients? Do you love
what you do but havent mastered the marketing yet? Do you feel the
financial pressure of not having enough clients? Do you sometimes
feel like youre pushing too hard? You can double your client base,
without spending a lot. Call me to share your own business
struggles, ask key questions, and talk about solutions, free of
charge. Fabienne is also a national speaker, widely known for her
popular Client Attraction trainings and seminars. Visit
www.ClientAttraction.com for details. This business card has also
prompted several colleagues to refer potential clients to me even
though wed only met once at a workshop Id given or at a networking
meeting. The information on the back allows the person holding the
card to self-qualify or screen themselves as to whether or not they
are an ideal client for me. And it gives referral sources ways of
describing what you do clearly and effectively when talking to
others about you. It has an invitation to call: Call me to share
your own business struggles, ask key questions, and talk about
solutions, free of charge, which is very important. We call this
the call-to-action. The objective should be to have a card that has
your ideal prospect say, Wow! I need you! when theyve read your
card. The key is to keep it legible, but to have real Client
Attractive information there, so that it works as part of your
sales force, even when youre not there to sell for yourself.
Resource: I have often used www.vistaprint.com for my business
cards. Why? Because I get to do things myself, online, whenever I
want to (even in the middle of the night). There is a free option
(yes, 250 free business cards for anyone and everyone, as often as
you like) and a customizable option where you can use the back of
the card for just $20 or so. (I choose this option.)
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I get to have my cards within just a few days of creating them. I
get to choose from dozens of impressive templates, and I can also
get postcards, letterhead and envelopes to match to create an
entire brand that is consistent in its image. Best of all,
Vistaprint is really inexpensive yet the quality is good. And
because its so inexpensive to produce 250 cards, I never order more
than 250 at a time (the minimum). Why? Because I like to tweak my
materials often! You will too. And throwing out 800 cards because I
want to change one small thing doesnt make sense, so I order small
and reorder whenever I need to. You should do the same. Your
Assignment: Ask yourself: What does my business card say to my
prospects? How do I differentiate myself from all of my competitors
with my business card alone? Am I actually attracting new business
because of it? Is there a call to action, an invitation to call me,
a compelling offer or point of differentiation that makes me stand
out? Ask yourself: What are people I network with REALLY doing with
my business card once they come home from where they met me? Is it
going in the circular file (i.e. the garbage) because they cant
tell what you really do for a living and what you can do for them?
Business cards are the Number One marketing tool you will use most
often to get new business. Create one that gets clients to call
YOU. (Worksheet 8 in the Appendix will help you get started.) Step
12. Make sure you have plenty of business cards. I know I shouldnt
even have to mention this one, but youd be SHOCKED at the number of
people I meet at networking meetings who arent carrying business
cards! I mean, what are they thinking?! I know that we have all
been caught once without a business card (even me!) but that needs
to be a total exception. If you regularly 2011 Client Attraction
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go to networking events without cards, my advice would be dont
bother. I had a colleague a while back who used to suggest that if
youre going to the beach, tuck a few in your bathing suit. In a
way, thats my take on it too. YOU NEVER KNOW when youre going to
meet someone, either an ideal client or referral source, that you
want to reconnect with. Make sure youre not scribbling your info on
a chewing gum wrapper. Its not that Client Attractive, trust me.
Your Assignment: Usually, its a matter of you not having re-ordered
your cards in time. Just make sure that you reorder early when you
start running out or get a bunch to begin with. If its a matter of
you not having thought ahead, just make it a habit to have a stack
of good business cards in your purse or wallet at all times and you
wont be stuck without. Step 13. Wear clothing with pockets. Have
you ever given another persons business card to someone by mistake,
instead of your own? I have, in the early days. (It was a little
embarrassing.) So I figured out a trick. Wear a jacket with 2
pockets. One for your cards, one for the cards you receive. Simple
as that. Its kind of a no-brainer but itll save you some
embarrassment and disorganization. Your Assignment: Make sure that
whenever you go to a networking meeting, you wear something with 2
pockets. Make a habit of this.
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Step 14. Wear your nametag properly. What Ive noticed from years
and years of networking is that there are smart ways to wear that
nametag and ways to avoid wearing it. The first thing is WHERE to
put your nametag or sticker. Most people are right-handed and if
you put your sticker or nametag on the left hand side, you make it
more difficult for the person to see your name. Put it on the RIGHT
hand side instead, and it falls right in their line of vision. I
usually only write my first name, in large letters, instead of my
full name. You just want to give them enough info to get them to
remember your first name (they dont really need your last name
until later, and theyll get that when you exchange business cards).
I also recommend not putting the name of my company, instead
preferring to put WHAT I do, which is more Client Attractive. Ill
give you an example: A while back, I was on my way out of an LTBN
meeting (Lets Talk Business Network) with my coat in hand and
someone stopped me right in my tracks. Id written Fabienne,
Business Coaching on my nametag in big letters instead of the name
of my company. Well, he stopped me and said, Hey, you do business
coaching? I need some help. Can we talk? If Id just put the name of
my company (which was not very descriptive at the time) or kept a
lot of info crammed into that small space, theres no way he would
have been able to read it and no way he would have stopped me. It
can make a big difference. Now, I just put: FABIENNE CLIENT
ATTRACTION And by the way, he became my client and stayed for well
over 6 months, which was a great surprise.
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Your Assignment: The moral of the story is, make it simple! Keep it
to your first name, write it BIG, write WHAT you do instead of the
name of your company and lastly, put your nametag high up on your
right shoulder, so that its in their line of vision.
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Section 3
Fish EXACTLY Where The Fish Are
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Section 3: Fish EXACTLY Where The Fish Are This section is about
where and how often to networking. People ask me this all the time
in seminars and in private coaching. If we take into account what
weve learned about networking in the first section (that its about
building relationships and creating the know-like-and-trust factor
for the long haul) then the answer to how often to network is easy
to answer. But first, lets get into WHERE you should be networking
to meet potential clients regularly, as well as your best referral
sources. Step 15. Understand the different types of networking.
When I ask certain clients or seminar attendees if they do any
networking, many of them say Yes, I network at parties sometimes,
or I talk to people at the supermarket when I go there. OK, good,
but thats not really the answer Im usually looking for.
Understanding that you may be a social, gregarious person, its
great for you to network anywhere and everywhere. I do recommend
that because you never know who youll meet. But what Im really
going after is where you go to network PROFESSIONALLY and how
often. Im talking about structured networking groups or meetings
where the sole intent or purpose is to meet other professionals
looking to make contacts and referrals to grow their businesses.
That said, there are several different types of professional
networking opportunities available to you, most anywhere in the
country, and even the world: 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. Weekly breakfast
networking groups Chambers of commerce Professional associations
Special interest groups or alumni clubs Animal clubs (Lions, Elk,
etc.)
The key is that each of these has a different approach to
networking, as well as different types of people youll meet.
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Your Assignment: Study the list of the networking groups I attended
in New York in the Appendix (as an example) and start figuring out
which will be best for you, in combination. Commit to making at
least two of these a part of your marketing plan. (Worksheet 9 in
the Appendix will help you get started.) Step 16. Get really
familiar with Breakfast Networking Groups. Weekly breakfast
networking groups (such as www.bni.com and www.letip.com) meet
weekly (obviously) and are BY FAR my favorite way to network and
something I almost make mandatory for my clients to attend and
join. My favorite is BNI (Business Network International there are
chapters just about everywhere in the world) and without it, I can
honestly say that I wouldnt have filled either of my private
practices (nutrition first, then business coaching) to capacity in
less than a year each. I can also honestly say that in the first
year alone for each of these businesses I started, 40-50% of my
client base came from BNI members and their referrals. And then
referrals of referrals. Did you get that? 40-50%! Thats HUGE! So,
when a new client of mine starts to complain that these groups meet
really early in the morning and that theyre not sure if they want
to show up that often, I look at them dead in the eye and I say,
Well, how badly do you want clients? Theres usually a long pause
and then they say, with a smile, Okay, Ill do it. And they never
regret it. The point is, if you really need or want to fill your
practice quickly, then just DO what it takes, and BNI is a must in
my book. As a side note, its that kind of NO EXCUSES approach that
will help you fill your client base faster than youre doing it now.
Do what it takes and the clients will come. Youve heard me say this
before: A strong focus now creates a different future later.
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On a last note about these weekly groups, its the WEEKLY part,
among many other things, that makes it so successful for many of us
self-employed people. Because were going after relationships and
the know-like-and-trust factor in networking, a group such as this
one will create a systematic way for you to meet with a group of
professionals close to 50 times a year. NOTHING beats that for
creating friendships and strategic alliances really quickly. And
thats how you get clients. Your Assignment: Go to www.bni.com and
click on your country, state, city and find a chapter in your area.
Youre allowed to visit twice without having to become a member.
Meet the members, check to see who could become a referral partner
for you (it only takes one) and remember that its not necessarily
whos in the group that youre only going to network with, but the
Rolodex of each person in that group. Thats pretty powerful. Visit
a couple of chapters, and then pick one, join and start reaping the
rewards. (Well talk about how to make the most of these in a little
while.) Step 17. Professional associations are key. OK, so now that
weve talked about meetings that deal specifically with networking,
nows the time to go HANG OUT with roomfuls of our ideal clients.
Professional associations provide a great filter for us in terms of
creating these roomfuls of people. If you think about it, you join
an association because the members have something in common, as in
an industry or a purpose of some sort. In terms of networking, that
saves YOU a lot of work in reaching your ideal client or referral
source. Whew! If you look back to the assignments and worksheets
you worked on in the last section, the ones about where your ideal
clients and strategic alliances HANG OUT, then this assignment will
be easy. Its a matter of finding out which associations these
people belong to or attend regularly. I belong to several
associations because my ideal prospects belong to the same groups.
For whatever reason, I tend to attract a lot of 2011 Client
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women clients. Out of 30 private clients I have at the time Im
writing this, only one is male. So, it actually makes a lot of
sense for me to belong to the National Association of Women
Business Owners (www.NAWBO.org) where I meet a handful of people
each time I attend an event who eventually become clients. Others I
meet have become referral sources, so its been a win-win for me.
Your Assignment: Using the list you came up with in the Ideal
Client and Strategic Alliances sections, start researching the
actual associations that your ideal clients and referral sources
belong to. Look them up on the internet, get contact information
and ask when their next events are (or look for the events calendar
on their website, thats usually easier.) If you like, you can even
go to your local business library, and ask the reference librarian
for the series of guides that list ALL associations in this
country, broken out by industry. Its mindblowing how many there
are. Once youve made a list, all you have to do is figure out if
theres a chapter in your area, when they meet or when their annual
convention is. Very cool. Then once you like a group, plug into
your calendar all the events already scheduled for the year and
make going regularly a priority to gain lots of exposure and create
long-term, mutually beneficial relationships. (Worksheet 10 in the
Appendix will help you get started.) Step 18. Chambers of commerce,
special interest groups, etc. In addition to professional
networking groups and associations, I added (especially in the
beginning) a sprinkling of other networking opportunities. Visiting
your local chambers of commerce can be really good, especially when
youre trying to create a presence locally or when you need a boost
of new clients. They usually have weekly or monthly meetings,
although the same people arent always there, which can be
considered either good or bad. Good if you want a fresh batch of
people each time, bad if youre looking for consistency in building
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Additionally, if they only meet monthly, then thats usually not
frequent enough to help you quickly ramp up your Client Attraction,
so I would use this as an ADDITION to my regular networking as
opposed to the cornerstone of it. Many of my clients are encouraged
to attend chambers in several different towns surrounding them. One
other group I like to attend is a Special Interest Group started by
a www.Coachville.com member, made up of other professional coaches.
At first, it might not make sense to you if you think that everyone
who attends is my competition, but I dont approach it this way at
all. As a matter of fact, I look at it quite the opposite way.
There are so many different types of coaches out there: Life
coaches, nutrition coaches, business coaches, corporate coaches,
sales coaches, ADD coaches, that theres plenty to go around. And Im
usually known as a big referral source for them since I only coach
ONE type of professional, the self-employed person who needs more
clients. Since mine is a pretty narrow niche, I refer out all other
types of clients to my coaching colleagues (and happy to do it) so
that I can focus on my core competency, which is Client Attraction.
In turn, they do the same for me, so having those relationships can
be very key in terms of networking. So think about what Special
interest Group is available to you and how you could give and gain
leads from it. Then, make this a part of your networking plan. Your
Assignment: Once youve got your professional networking groups and
associations in place, think about what other occasional networking
you can add to the mix. Kind of like your investment portfolio, its
good to diversify your networking activities so you get more
chances of attract clients that way and dont put all your eggs in
one basket.
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Step 19. Focus your networking on the Cash Cows. To take networking
to the next level, Id like to also talk to you now about Cash Cows.
Lets agree that there are different types of referrals from
networking. The referrals that have a little business for us and
those who have a LOT of business for us (these are the Cash Cows,
by the way). Client example: A real estate broker client of mine
has redirected her networking efforts to rub elbows with those who
have a LOT of business for her, rather than just a little business
for her. During our coaching, we realized that she could either
network with INDIVIDUALS (who sell one apartment at a time) or
DEVELOPERS (who need to sell 15 units at one time). When the light
bulb went on and after screaming EUREKA! together, we looked for
associations that she could join to create lasting relationships
with real estate developers (Professional Women In Construction is
one of them). She will now be networking there regularly and
maximizing her networking to reach Cash Cows (i.e., getting a
referral to sells 15 units rather than just 1). Next, shell be
targeting architects. If she keeps this up, she is on her way to
become an apartment selling machine! Your Assignment: Instead of
going after ONE client at a time in networking, think about those
people who have a LOT of business for you, instead of just a little
business for you. Make a list of these. Then visit the web to see
if they have an association you could belong to. If theyre local,
join the association. If theyre not, offer to write a monthly
column for their association newsletter or speak at the annual
conference. Step 20. Know where to find good networking venues in
your area. It sometimes feels overwhelming for some of my clients
to start the whole networking venue search, but actually, its very
simple. I use two main resources: 2011 Client Attraction LLC. All
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1. The local business journal 2. The internet The first place to
look is in your local business journal, if you have one. In
virtually every one of them, there is a weekly listing of events
and from my experience, most of these are networkingrelated events.
This is great because you can simply get the latest issue (or log
onto their website) and circle all the events that are coming up in
the week or two ahead and visit them. One stop shop. In New York,
its Crains New York Business, and the website is
www.CrainsNewYork.com, but just ask around or call your chamber of
commerce for the one covering your area. While youre at it and
youve got the chamber on the phone, ask them if they have a listing
of local networking groups (they just might) and ask to get a copy
of it. Again, another possible one stop shop. When certain clients
of mine live in more remote areas, I usually do a Google search
using the keywords network and then the name of their town or
county. That usually produces some results, although sometimes you
have to dig deep in the first few pages to see what comes up. (I
usually avoid using the keyword networking as it will usually
provide computer networking resources, but its not a bad
last-resort move to make.) Your Assignment: Research your local
business journal and keep on top of their events calendar (your
local regular newspaper may also provide some of this info, but its
usually not as focused on business meetings.) A great online
resource that li