Money Making Advice from Misty Williams

Money Making Advice from Misty Williams

Easy money making strategies based on working and spending smart



When I’m working with speakers and consultants to develop their Marketing Gameplan, one of our key goals is finding ways they can make more money. Some of the typical ways we find to boost income include:



Charge more for the services we offer.





Provide new services or adjust existing ones so they’re aligned more closely with the results our clients are looking for (which converts more prospects to customers).





Adjust the budget so we’re spending the right amount of money on the right active marketing strategies to attract more prospects. With more prospects, you’ll have more opportunities to book business.





Identify areas where excess money is being spent on non-revenue generating activities (i.e. spending the majority of your budget on product development rather than active marketing strategies … a very common mistake!)





Even with these strategies in place, it seems that no matter how successful my clients are, managing the money side of their business—knowing what to charge, and how much to budget for office support, marketing, and sales—still proves to be challenging. Here is the advice I offer my clients on how to market themselves, set the price for their services, and how to make a realistic budget that helps them increase their income.



What is the right Marketing Mix for your Business?

A fundamental component of the Marketing Mix (product, price, promotion and distribution/delivery) is, of course, your pricing strategy. Price too low and people doubt your credibility. Price too high and you don’t get hired because you’re overvalued. There are a couple of formulas or "rules of thumb" that can help you determine the best way to structure your offerings and spend your money smart to grow your business.



Your business is about your clients, not you! Attract more prospects by positioning your offerings based upon your client’s needs and how you solve them rather than positioning yourself based on your expertise. Your customers often don’t know what expertise is needed to solve their problems, nor do they really care about your expertise. They care about their pain and getting better results!







How can your business benefit your clients?



It is so important that you get this: Your business isn’t worth anything to the customer if you aren’t solving their problems. Forget about your credentials and what you know … position yourself based upon what the customer wants and the results you can help them achieve: Where is their pain? What is frustrating them? How do they want their problem solved? What is this ongoing problem costing them? You’ll increase your close rate, get more money for your offerings, and strengthen your position in the marketplace.



Price yourself based on your ability to get results. You help your clients achieve results based upon years of study and experience. How long would it take your clients to figure those strategies for themselves, assuming they had the aptitude?







Show your clients the difference your services can make



For some independent professionals, asking for a higher hourly rate knots their throat. However, if what you’re offering truly serves people and makes a difference in their lives, if you take away their pain and help them get results beyond their current capabilities, you are worth every penny! To get around the hourly rate issue, offer a package tied to a result.







Focus on the solutions you offer



For example, "Our 5-day customer-retention training program will teach your managers how to retain more customers and turn them into raving fans! Priced at $10,000." You may also include three bullets that further elaborate on the specific results you will address. Note that you aren’t positioning yourself by the strategies you use or your credentials … you’re positioning yourself according to the solutions your prospects are looking for, music to their ears!



Determine your price based upon the result your business creates. You are a business. Don’t price yourself as an employee working x number of hours on a project. If you price yourself as an employee (projecting into the $50-$100 / hour price range), you’d likely be better off finding a job that guarantees you 40 hours per week! (See the math below.) Instead, think of yourself as a business providing a specialized, valuable service. And as a business, consider that a sound balance sheet has you taking home 50% of what your business generates (including salary, taxes, benefits, and write-offs like automobile expenses). The other 50% is split between marketing (35%) and administrative costs (15%).







Be realistic about your costs and goals



So if you want to earn $100/hour, you’ll need to price yourself at $200/hour to take care of your needs and grow the business. To get $200/hour, your offering must connect with the results your market is looking for (i.e. your positioning is attractive!) so they’ll sign up and write you a check.



Consistently budget for marketing and administrative costs. A solid marketing strategy, implemented consistently, will ensure that new business is flowing through your pipeline. A steady stream of business will improve your cashflow, and a good pricing strategy will get you more money per transaction. Spending money on your active marketing strategies isn’t something you do once a year. You need to be implementing these marketing strategies every single month. You will likely be doing something every single day to promote your business.







Invest in active marketing strategies



It’s important to note that printing a bunch of promotional materials like speaker’s kits or brochures, or redoing your website quarterly, doesn’t qualify as spending money on active marketing strategies. Creating tools has its place and an important one at that, but create your tools annually and use them throughout the year to support your active strategies, with minor tweaking as needed. Your monthly spending should be on active strategies such as attending networking events, listing your services in PR/Industry directories, running ads, and/or implementing a solid search-engine and online-marketing strategy.







Mark LeBlanc recommends that you do three high-value activities (HVAs)—measurable action items focused on finding new clients—every single day. HVAs could be writing an article, sending a note to your VIP list, putting together a 5-step Autoresponder for your website, attending a networking event, or enrolling in a marketing teleseminar. These activities are measurable by time or money, and the key is consistency.