6 Simple Steps to 6 Figures for the Solo Service Professional

Introduction

If you have built castles in the air, your work need not be lost; there is where they should be. Now put foundations under them. ~ Thoreau

KNOW THIS: Creating a profitable online business is as much about marketing as it is about the services, programs and products you offer.

So, before we begin, I want you to take a minute and consider how you think about marketing.

Do you:

➢ Feel overwhelmed and confused by what to do, how to do it, and/or when to do it?

➢ Think marketing is just a small part of your business development?

➢ Think ‘marketing = selling’ and feel all the negative feelings connected to feeling ‘sleazy’?

➢ Know marketing is something you have to do, but wish you didn’t have to?

➢ Get anxious just thinking about it?

If that’s how you think, well, it’s time for a serious marketing mindset shift. If you TRULY want to be successful (and I mean, really successful, like having an ABUNDANCE of clients, money, time, freedom, etc.), then you need to change your thinking about what marketing IS and what it isn’t.

So let’s address each of those negative thoughts above:

1. Marketing is not rocket science – seriously. It is common sense, consistent action, and simple systems. I know you’ve got the common sense, and I’m giving you a simple and proven system to get you started with this book. All you need to do is make the commitment to take consistent action by following the 6 Steps.

2. Marketing is NOT a small part of your business. Marketing your business is AS important as what it is that you do. You need to make marketing one of your two top priorities of each work day (the other being your work with and for your clients). You must consider marketing as just that important if you want to stay in business and be successful.

3. Marketing is a form of selling AND you can market yourself authentically, I promise. You need to find your own voice (and we’ll work on that as we craft your message) and your own story (something else we’ll work on), but you can put yourself out there as someone who has gifts to give to the world and feel really, really good about it.

My good friend and fellow super-successful entrepreneur, Marney Makridakis (www.artellaland.com), puts it this way: ‘There are loads of people out there just waiting for what it is that you have to offer. They need it and want it, and are happy to pay for it. Everyone feels good and everyone wins.’ We’ll work on marketing yourself ethically and with integrity and you’ll never have to feel ‘sleazy’ about it again.

4. If you keep yourself a secret then no one will know about you. It seems obvious but it’s amazing how many solo service professionals think that clients will just show up without them having to do much of anything to make that happen. You must market, but again – it’s not hard – especially when you have the tools and resources you need to get you on your way that I’m sharing with you in this book.

5. Put your anxiety aside and have faith. You’ve made the investment in yourself and in this book. You’ve taken the first step. Now keep reading, commit to implementing each of the steps, and you will be well on your way to enjoying your own successful and sustainable business!

I hope this helps to shift your mindset around marketing, because now I want to introduce you to the Online Business Breakthrough Formula for creating multiple leveraged streams of income, and the Online Business Breakthrough Marketing & Product Funnel – both of which will make building your business much easier, much more fun, and much more profitable!

Here’s the Online Business Breakthrough Formula:

Your Unique Message + Your Niche + Your Niche’s Problem + Your Solution Package = Your Profitable Product/Program/Service

Just a note here: You don't use the formula just once. You can use it over and over, for as many problems your niche faces, to create as many streams of income as you want. Exciting, isn’t it? I’ll be talking about the Online Business Breakthrough Formula throughout this book.

You may be familiar with the marketing and product funnel business model. It’s the model I followed when I started out and still use today, though modified, continually to meet or to stay ahead of market changes and trends.

To give you a better idea of what I’m talking about, I’d like you to picture a funnel. It's wide at the top and tapers down to a narrow opening, right? Now, when your prospects enter your Funnel through your ezine (online newsletter) or other Free Taste (freebie offering), they are in the ‘getting to know you’ level of the Funnel. Once they get to know you, like you and trust you, they likely will move down to the next level, which will include your for-fee products and services, your least expensive ones first, increasing in value and cost as they continue downwards, until they eventually get to hiring you one-on-one or to your other big ticket item. That's basically how the funnel system of marketing works.

I see a lot of solo service professionals offer a freebie at the top of their Funnel, and then their one-on-one service packages at the bottom, with nothing in between. But when you offer your products and services at different price points, you are lowering the financial and emotional risk for your prospects by giving them the option to invest in you for free or for a much smaller amount than they would if they were to hire you one-on-one. You are essentially making it impossible for them not to buy from you by offering your products and/or services in different packages at different price points.

Using the Formula and the Funnel as our foundation, let’s dive deep into each of the Steps now…