December 2010 – Page 2 – Getentrepreneurial.com: Resources for Small Business Entrepreneurs in 2024

Article Contributed by Lisa Cherney

If you were trying to find your soul mate through a dating site, a description such as, “Looking for someone 35-45 in Seattle who drives a red car” isn’t going to find you your Prince or Princess Charming.

The same is true with your marketing materials. Generic marketing will only attract generic clients.

To find those people who get you excited about your business and what you’re doing, you have to laser in on what I call your “ideal client.” You have to be very conscious about what you are saying so you can attract the clients who get the best from you and get the best results from your unique services.

“Well, Lisa, I do that by marketing to my target audience,” you might say. That’s great, but it’s not enough. And it’s not enough to market to your niche – you have to go further!

Picture a pyramid. The bottom or widest part is your target audience – let’s say women, age 35-45, living in Seattle. The niche is the next part of the pyramid, such as women going through divorce. Many people stop right there in defining their clients, but not everyone fitting that niche is ready to invest in your services. You need to reach the ones who are ready – your ideal clients who are at the sharpest point of the pyramid.

A great way to start pinpointing your ideal client is to ask yourself the following questions: Which clients are my favorites (you’d want to clone them, that’s how much you love them) and why?

Once you start creating this profile, you’ll start thinking of the words your ideal clients need to hear. If your favorite client is super ready for change, then which do you think will resonate more with them?
1. “Are you going through a divorce?”
2. “Are you going through a divorce and ready for that life transition to catapult you on a new journey?”
I’m guessing you’ll agree with me that it’s number two.

The next step is to channel your ideal client into your marketing. You should know them so well that it should be as easy as writing to your best friend. You’ll be amazed how your marketing will be transformed when you connect with your ideal clients.

About the Author:

Lisa Cherney is a Marketing Intuitive and President & Founder of Conscious Marketing™. Lisa has helped thousands of business owners tap into their intuition and market their businesses from the ‘Inside Out’. For 15 years she worked at Fortune 500 companies and top advertising agencies.

Lisa tells her story in her co-authored book “Inspiration to Realization,” available at www.ConsciousMarketing.com. Conscious Marketing also offers workshops and coaching. Visit her website for more details or call 887-771-0156.

Article Contributed by Dr. Patty Ann Tublin

Few issues bring out the worst in relationships and couples like money. Whether you’re rolling in the dough or struggling to make ends met, money is the number one reason couples fight.

When people enter into a romantic relationship, they bring a portfolio of emotions, hopes, fears, strengths and weakness – all of which have been shaped by our past. But it’s very seldom that we address the portfolio of emotions we bring to money and finances, and so it usually becomes the 600-pound gorilla in the relationship.

Here are a few tips to help you address your 600-pound gorilla:

1. Love and money have absolutely nothing to do with each other. Money is an emotionally-loaded issue for couples because each person brings their own set of values, beliefs and attitudes about money to their relationship – most of which have been formed by the time we are 12 years old. Conflicting values and attitudes about money are at the core of financial conflict in relationships. (Notice I didn’t mention a word about love).

2. Most people don’t really know how their views about money have been shaped. We tend to know we are either a “spender” or a “saver” – but most people couldn’t tell you for sure how they got that way. So it becomes quite a daunting task to build a financial life that blends both partner’s hopes and dreams for today and the future!

3. Money fights are rooted in what money symbolizes for each person in the relationship. Does money represent emotional security, control or power for you? Do you know what money symbolizes for your partner? You must know this information so you can begin to bridge the difference between what money symbolizes for you as a couple. And there will be plenty of differences to bridge since you grew up in two different homes, which, in all likelihood, valued money differently. Doing this will go an incredibly long way in helping to end, or at the very least de-fuse, your money fights.

4. Money fights have to do with each partner’s perception that the other does not respect their feelings when it comes to financial decision-making. In other words, you or your partner feel disrespected or ignored by the other when a financial decision is made that you either disagree with or would not make.

The key to reducing or eliminating money fights is to shift your mindset about money. Once you have done that, you are now in a position to shift your view of money as an emotion or power tool and treat it for what it really is – a commodity. If you can take all the emotions away from money and view it as any other commodity, (which it is) you
will no longer view money in relation to power and control in your relationship. Once you have done this, you will be well on your way to stopping the money fights in your relationship!

About the Author:

During the past 25 years, renowned relationship expert Dr. Patty Ann Tublin has helped hundreds of people rekindle romance and reignite passion in their relationships. The solutions in her Relationship Toolbox™ help couples re-build romance so intimacy inside and outside the bedroom can flourish. Through her successful 25-year marriage and her experience of raising 4 children, Dr. Patty Ann has earned an international reputation for saving relationships. To reignite your flames of passion, visit her site at www.drpattyann.com.