There is one thing I often hear from health professionals, which is they feel they just need a plan, and then they know they can turn their business into a great success.

But they don’t create that plan! Why? Let’s look at 3 biggest reasons why you don’t, and give one tip for each reason that can turn things around:

1. Usually you are too close to what you do to be able to really SEE what you have to offer!

   If this is you, sit down and write out every service and product you have to offer. Then determine when you would like to sell that product or service. Even I work with a company who can help me not only see the services I have to offer, but also helps me plan when I will offer them, and then helps me create the promotional plan to fill my programs.

2. Sitting back and putting a comprehensive plan together feels like too big a project.

   It’s really not; it just takes some time and a methodical process to turn what you have to offer into a plan to FILL your services or sell your products. Once you have all your products and services written down from above, print up calendars for the period you’d like to plan (each month for the rest of the year would be ideal) and, in pencil, play around with how many of each product or service you would like to sell.

3. You don’t know HOW to plan!

   Again, by just taking it one step at a time, the “HOW” really resolves itself rather quickly. If you have identified all of your products and services, and you have written down when you’d like to sell each on the calendars, from above, you actually have started your plan! The next step is to plan your PROMOTIONS!

Often it’s just a matter of getting started. As a successful person, though, once you’re given the right door to open, you can excel! You just have to “JUST JUMP”!

Margie
MEG Enterprises

Do you struggle with taking your business to the next level? Imagine if you could create your plan for the rest of the year in just half a day! You can do this with the MEG Enterprises half-day intensive coaching session in Marketing Plan in a Day. To learn more, click here.

So many of my clients, who are dietitians, are in the stage where they could grow their businesses to the next level IF they would let go of their fears and hire help.

The biggest protest, however, is that they can’t afford it. Yea, you’re probably thinking the same thing. However, what if hiring help helped you make more money??? What if it freed you up so not only could you do more of what YOU do, but also freed you up so you can spend more time with family and friends?

It always hurts at first, so saying that it’s best to wait until it’s ‘time’ is like saying you’re waiting to have children until it’s ‘time’…

We can either “just do it” or we can keep putting it off, because we never feel ready.

Here’s what you must do if you are feeling overwhelmed and with too much on your to-do list each day:

1 – Create a list of all the activities you perform every day. This includes reading emails, writing blogs, posting on Facebook and Twitter, and creating newsletters. This also includes tracking your revenues and expenses, plus much more. Write it all down.

2 – Now look at your list. If you could turn just three of those things over to someone else, which three would they be?

3 – Write down who that ‘ideal’ person would be who you would turn those three things over to. What strengths or special abilities must they have? what talents? What type of personality would you like them to have? Can they work for you virtually, or do you need to work with them in person? On paper, write out a description as if you were describing someone sitting in front of you.

You now have what’s necessary to hire your first person! So, take a breath, a big gulp, and take that first BIG step in hiring someone to help you build your empire!

Margie

Are you struggling with taking your business to the next level? Come join us in the 4-week teleseminar series “Niche Breakthrough Secrets for Ultimate Client Attraction” and grow YOUR business this year! Imagine feeling confident about your niche AND excited about your own personal brand! Don’t wait! Registration is almost closed.

As I work with more and more dietitians and health professionals who want to build a thriving business, I realize that many might have a website, but most don’t know how to really make it work for them. So today I’d like to just address a few essentials you have to have in place in order to build a compelling online presence.

1 – First, yea, you have to have a website. However, make SURE your website home page isn’t all about you! It has to address the problems your ideal clients have, the solutions they’d LIKE to have, and it has to ensure them that you know what those problems are and that you are the solution for them.

2 – Just because you have a website doesn’t mean people are going to contact you or buy what you have to offer. They don’t know you! So, in order for them to get to know you, you next have to have some way to stay in touch with them. And today it’s NOT by saying you have a free e-newsletter. Your visitors want something really cool from you: Maybe a tip sheet, maybe a free report. Think about what all of your clients ask you or say they struggle with and offer/create that.

3 – You must also have a presence in the social media sites. Facebook, Twitter, blogs. Yep, you need them all! AND, to take it to the next level, also submit articles to the article-submission sites! All of these draw traffic to your website, which means they could then sign up for your free tip sheet and learn about what you have to offer so they can solve their problems!

If you do nothing else but set up these three steps, you’re on your way to building a thriving business! The more followers you have on your mailing list, the more potential clients you have. The more “potential” clients you have, the more “actual” clients you end up with.

Naturally, this is the just the beginning, but everyone has to start somewhere!

Margie

Want to learn how to grow YOUR list? Then you’ll want to join us for the interview with Wendy Lynn of www.thelistgrowers.com in my Unlimited Success Interview Series. To learn more, go here.

If you are dreaming of taking your business to the next stage, but you find yourself JUST dreaming and not growing, then it’s probably time to find yourself a mentor!

If you are an RD, ADA has a mentor program. The Nutrition Entrepreneurs Dietetic Practice Group of the ADA also has a mentor program, which I highly recommend.

But what if you need the NEXT stage of help? Then follow these 4 tips to help you choose a mentor who will challenge you to create the business of your dreams:

Tip 1: Find someone who is more than just a figurehead. It has to be someone who lives the life you imagine living and models what you would like to be doing. How do they live their life? What things are important to them? Do THEY invest in a coach for themselves? You don’t want to find someone who talks about the importance of mentoring/coaching yet doesn’t invest in that help for themselves.

Tip 2: Look for someone who can provide done-for-you templates. We’re all so extremely busy! Wouldn’t it be nice if you could find someone who understood your business and could provide you with templates and scripts for how to write your website text, how to write promotional emails and even how to have an assessment or strategy conversation with a potential client!?

Tip 3: Choose someone who shares your values. Are you looking for someone who believes that the path to success is making a difference in the world? Or would you prefer to find someone who can just show you how to make a lot of money, no matter how you do it? I suspect you would rather work with someone who strives to empower others, since if you’re reading this, that’s YOUR goal, too.

Tip 4: Choose a mentor who is a real coach. Anyone can call themselves a coach. But I have to share that I’ve heard MANY horror stories from people who THOUGHT they were hiring a coach, only to find out that they were really hiring a consultant. Coaches don’t scold you. Coaches don’t get angry when you don’t follow their advice. Coaches don’t give advice! Granted, it’s nice to find a coach who can both provide amazing coaching AND give you advice on how to move forward, but a qualified, educated coach will ultimately hold you as knowledgeable and the person in charge of your choices.

Although I believe that all of us can create whatever we can imagine, I also believe that if we invest in ourselves by investing in a powerful mentor, we will create it MUCH faster! And, life is too short: I want to create my dream business today and then have the rest of my life to enjoy it. What about you?

Margie

If you are serious about taking your business to the next level this year, the 6-month group Platinum program is for you! Click here for more information.

Are you struggling to turn your dream nutrition business into reality? Do you suffer from periods of feast or famine with your revenue? Yes, there are very specific strategies that can help you turn all of this around, so you flow freely towards your business dreams, but first you have to stop giving away your power!

Let’s look at the three ways you are probably giving away your power that prevents you from creating the fulfilling, successful, thriving business that you know you’re capable of creating.

#1 – You’re not charging enough! Yea, it’s as simple as that. As a registered dietitian and personal trainer myself, I see it all the time with other RDs and trainers: We look around at what others are charging (which isn’t enough, either) and think we have to either charge what they charge, or less! When clients don’t hire us, we continue to drop our rates… and see business drop lower and lower and lower…

Try something daring: RAISE your rates! But just raising your rates isn’t enough. Sit back and clarify for yourself how you transform the lives of the people you work with. And the next time you have a conversation with someone interested in your services, come back to that transformation you help with before that conversation, and then, at the end of the conversation (I can help you with that), boldly and confidently state your new rates! Then celebrate your new-found business AND confidence.

#2 – You give away services. It’s either doing things for free or offering WAY too much with a service. Two things are coming up here: Either you’re trying to justify your services, or you don’t value what you have to offer. I hear this all the time “People can get what I offer for FREE, so why would they hire me?” Yes, people can get just about anything for free… except you and YOUR expertise! So, when I hear this ‘excuse’, I know it has nothing to do with the information/material, and EVERYTHING to do with that person’s own view of their own self-worth.

How do you counter this? Imagine that you are the solution to the problem your ideal clients want! Imagine that they want YOU! You may have to literally ‘pretend’ you know this, before you really start to embrace this belief.

#3 – Ignoring the money coming in and the money going out. I was good with this one. I would tend to ignore bills, especially if not enough revenue was coming in! If I ignored them, maybe they’d go away!? Yea, right.

However, instead of trying to ignore your revenue and expenses, start embracing them as if they were a child! Track every dollar that comes into your business for the next month. And when a bill comes in, pay it immediately. By the end of the month, check in with yourself to see how much more empowered you feel as a confident, successful business owner. ESPECIALLY since you will have also implemented #1 and #2 above!

Often we believe that our success is out of our hands. Yet, this is NOT entirely true! How we embrace our power, or not, determines how successful our business is. It’s time for you to embrace YOUR power and create the thriving private practice that you KNOW you’re capable of creating!

Margie

Are you ready to create/recreate your niche so you can attract more clients? Come join us for the Niche Breakthrough Secrets for Unlimited Client Attraction 4-part teleseminar starting on August 23. To learn more, click here.