Did you know there's a super-simple way to leverage your gifts, talent and know-how into lucrative, highly leveraged income streams?
It's your Signature System, and it's your step-by-step formula for multiple streams success.
So, what exactly is a Signature System? Its the work youre ALREADY doing with clients, packaged into a highly marketable, step-by-step system theyll want to buy.
If youre thinking you cant create a system because every client is different, think again. EVERY service can be transformed into a simple, repeatable system clients will happily say YES to yes, even yours!
Once I figured this out and finally moved away from solely working one-on-one with clients and started adding other revenue streams, I knew I'd found the right system that was going to help me create the kind of income I desired.
Specifically, here are the top 10 reasons why having a Signature System is a MUST to quickly transition out of 1-on-1 work fast
1. Your clients LOVE systems.
Theyre so overloaded, they cant even stop to think. Your system tells them Ive done the work so you dont have to.
2. Your clients can practically predict their success.
When they see the results others have achieved, clients feel very reassured
and start to picture the results for themselves.
3. Your Signature System sets you apart.
Its as unique as your signature, after all nobody else has it!
4. Instant credibility.
Without a system, your services can appear all over the place. A system instantly elevates you to expert status.
5. Quicker, easier sales.
Your clients get what you offer much quicker and are ready to buy much sooner.
6. Your clients get better results…
…when they follow given steps in a given order, instead of blundering around trying to find their way.
7. Your clients get results faster…
… because theyre not wasting time on needless stuff.
8. Your clients come back again and again…
…because theyve had such success with you the first time!
9. Youll help more people…
…because your Signature System (or key elements of it) can be bottled and sold at different investment and commitment points.
And best of all, you'll see just how easy it is to create 3, 4 or even more lucrative income streams that will deliver a steady and predictable flow of cash into your business. And you know what that means? Peace of mind. Priceless.
Once you've figured out your target market (or you've at least narrowed it down significantly), it's time to figure out what problems they are struggling with, and what they want by way of solutions.
Remember, if you will only ask your market, it wants to help you create the products it wants to buy!
How do you find out what your target market wants? There are several ways to get this information and use it to help you create an offering that will solve your market's problems and make a profit for you at the same time.
The best way is to do your research. The most critical research to do is to join the conversations that your market is having:
Here are two ways to do this:
1. Simple: Ask them!
Ask your prospects a simple, open-ended question, like "What's your biggest challenge with building your business online?" or "What's the one thing you'd like to learn more about that relates to balancing your work and family life?" Tailor the question to your target market and use the information you receive to help spark ideas for new products and services.
2. Almost as Simple: Do a simple survey…
… that asks 1-10 questions using a survey tool Survey Monkey. This allows you to ask more specific questions to elicit more specific responses. Doing a survey like this really helps you to NOT waste your time creating offerings your target market simply doesn't want.
Once you've figure out what your niche's problems are, you can create or find the solutions to solve those problems. Your solution can be packaged in a variety of ways: an ecourse, a PDF manual, an ebook, an audio download and/or CD, group programs, teleseminars, e-manuals, etc.
3-Step Process to Creating Products:
Here's a very simple process to follow to create a product to add to your offerings quickly:
1. Do a free or paid live class on your product
Once you've done your research and you've chosen a topic your target market is interested in knowing more about, offer a 1-hour teleclass on that topic. Cover three points and offer your solutions. Most important is to make sure you record the teleseminar, as this is what leads to a product for you.
As you're designing your outline for the class, do so in a way that creates notes for your participant. As the end of your live teleclass, you'll have the recording and notes to then…
2. Package it virtually.
Now you have the audio recording and notes to offer as a bundled product and…
3. Package it into a tangible product.
You can then take it up a notch and turn it into a physical product, which instantly creates another income stream for you.
And here are some of my other favorite tips for simple product creation:
– If you don't have a list or access to a list, you can offer a free class on a topic and then charge people for the product down the road, or afterwards.
– Another option is to have someone interview you on your topic to create your product. You can offer the questions along with the interviewee's questions. This is a good strategy if you don't think you can get enough people on a call.
– You can record any live classes or workshops you're holding as well, and re-package those presentations virtually or tangibly.
– Try to record everything so you always have the option to offer it at some level down the road.
– Promote your teleclass to your list, via colleagues who are willing to spread the word (especially if it's free) and at teleclass listing services.
– Promote on the discussion lists and groups that you're a part of, promote it there with permission and on the appropriate day.
– Pricing: If this is a new process for you, if you're offering your topic for the first time and sort of feeling out your market, go with the lower end. If you're putting together a 90-minute class with lots of comprehensive step-by-step information, charge more.
– When it comes to creating your big-ticket item, they can be created from all these little products along the way. So, if you were creating a product a month or every other month, that gives you 6-12 products at the end of the year that can be packaged together into your big ticket item.
(c) 2009 Alicia Forest
If you're following the marketing & product funnel business model that I teach, you're likely getting good sales from every offer you're making to your market. If you'd like to increase those sales numbers, however, there are several strategies you can implement to do so, starting with before you even put your product, program, or service out there.
So, if you want to increase your sales BEFORE you launch your product or service, the following are some of the most effective ways to do just that:
1. Use Social Proof
What is "social proof"? Simply put, we are all conditioned to watch what others are doing and follow along (think teenagers). Using social proof in your marketing helps you to influence your customers to purchase your products/services, get new prospects to sign-up for your list, and get people talking about you and your offering – and that's just the start.
So, how do you use this psychological trigger in your marketing? One way is to use results-based testimonials. Ask your current customers or clients to give you results-based testimonials. They literally say, "I used this product and these are the results I got." Having celebrities give these to you is great, but make sure you have testimonials from REAL people (see #2). Those are the ones that are really going to cement the idea in your potential buyer's mind that they can do it, too.
2. Answer your prospects #1 objection
To take "social proof" to a deeper lever, anyone who is buying anything almost always has this #1 objection: "Sure, you can do it, but can I do it?"
In addition to using yourself as an example (if appropriate) as evidence that what you are offering does what you say it will, it's also important to make sure you get "social proof" from people in your client/customer's peer group. Then your potential buyer sees people like themself and understands that "Hey, it worked for them, it can work for me, too."
3. Use a time limit
Creating a sense of urgency around your product or service will make it that much more enticing to potential buyers. For example, when you first release a product, offer it at a discount for one week only. This creates a sense of urgency for your potential customers.
4. Use a limited quantity
If you are selling a physical product and you are only having 100 produced, then use that information to create the same sense of urgency you would with a time limit. Use a countdown on your website to further create the feeling that if your potential buyers don't buy now, they may miss out.
5. Use a time or quantity limit on bonuses
Additionally, you could offer bonuses for a certain length of time (first week only) or for a certain number of products sold. For example, the first 30 buyers would get an additional special report (valued at $XX).
The last three strategies also help your buyers feel like they are part of your "club" when they join by purchasing your product or service.
Obviously, you can use these tactics unscrupulously, and I'm sure you've seen it or experienced it yourself. But if you want your business to truly be successful, in all the ways that are important and meaningful to you, then you must only use these strategies with integrity and honesty.
If you really are only going to print 100 copies of a physical product, then only print 100 copies. That doesn't mean that you can't do another print run. It just means that you tell your market that you're only going to print 100 now, and if you do decide to do another run, then they will have to wait another two or three weeks before they can get their copy.
If you really are going to raise your price after a certain date, or after a certain number of items are sold, then you must follow through. You can give your current base a chance to buy at the "original" price before you raise it, but you still must raise your price if you say you will.
Your integrity using these strategies will create more sales for you than ever before. But use them to manipulate your prospects and it will come back to haunt you… guaranteed.
Basically, there are two things that must be in place before any of your offerings can be successful (read: profitable). One is that it must be designed for a target market. So, there must be a group of people who you are targeting to offer your product/program/service toward.
The other is that is must solve a problem that your target market wants solved. Sounds obvious, yes? But many times, we create what we think our target market NEEDS instead of what it WANTS. It's critical to know the difference and to use that knowledge to create your offerings.
There are many ways you can find out what it is that your target market wants most so you can create it and offer it to them. One of those ways is to hold a teleseminar that both delivers value to your participants as well as provides you with market research to use to inform your product line.
The best thing is that these types of teleseminars can be easy to fill and fun to host. Here are the steps:
1. Decide on the topic
Your best bet is to choose a topic that's broad in scope, meaning that it discusses a problem that the majority of your target market struggles with and would like help in solving. This will get you more people on the call as well as give you a more diverse group from which to learn from for your own market research purposes.
2. Use a mini-application
When people register for your teleseminar, ask them to fill out a short questionnaire. This really begins your market research because you'll be asking them what it is that they are struggling with specifically in relation to the bigger topic.
For example, if your topic is "How to Balance My Business and My Family and Still Have Time for a Great Life", one question you may ask in your questionnaire is, "What's the ONE thing you struggle with most when it comes to balancing your business and your family? Please be as specific as possible so I can give you some specific strategies to help!"
You could also ask the question in another way: "What two questions do you have that I must answer on this teleseminar for you to feel it was of value to you?" You may also want to ask where your participant is at present with regard to your topic and where they'd like to be.
Tell them you'll be answering as many questions as you can on the teleseminar itself, to engage people right from the start when they are registering for the call, as well as encourage them to show up in the first place (this is particularly helpful if this is a fre*e call).
Also, don't be shy about telling your participants that you'll be using their comments and feedback as part of growing your own business. For example, if you're writing a book and you need some more content for a certain section, hold a teleseminar on that topic and share with your teleseminar participants that they may be featured in the book if their comments, suggestions or examples are used. People will jump to sign up for your call!
3. Ask questions
At this point, you have an outline for the call itself, and now you've filled it in with more content with the answers to the questions that were submitted when people registered.
The next step is to weave those questions and answers into the conversation on the call itself, and ask if there are MORE questions or comments around them. This will give you more in-depth and insightful information for your purposes, as well as be valuable to those on the call. This is when you really want to give the space and the time for your participants to talk (count 5 Mississippi's if you have to to stop yourself from filling any silence while people are thinking).
Be sure to record the call so you can listen carefully to the conversation again and take notes about what you hear that your participants are looking for in terms of solutions to their problems.
4. Send a follow-up email
As soon as possible after the call, send a follow-up email thanking your attendees for their time and participation. Include notes from the call that you've cleaned up and converted to a neat PDF file for them as well for added value.
What you've done with this is type of 'Open House' teleseminar is invited your attendees to ask you anything they want about your area of expertise. With the information you glean, you can easily tailor your next product around the things they most want, which equals a successful offering for you!
© 2009 Alicia M Forest and Client Abundance
Alicia M Forest, MBA, Multiple Streams Queen & Coach, founder of http://www.ClientAbundance.com and creator of 21 Easy & Essential Steps to Online Success System, teaches coaches, consultants, online entrepreneurs, and self-employed professionals how to attract more clients, create profit-making products and services, make more sales, and ultimately live the life they desire and deserve. For FREE tips on how to create abundance in your business, visit http://www.ClientAbundance.com.
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