When you think about what you do for your clients, is bringing their awareness to things they normally ignore high on your list?
It certainly was at the top of my list… I can remember countless times when my client thought I was working magic, simply because I could see things they couldn’t see.
I’m sure it’s like that for you. Your training gave you the ability to see with different eyes than most people have and it allows you to make differences that most people would never dream of being able to make without your help.
What’s so intriguing to me about that is that even now, when my practice has turned toward helping practitioners build their practices, I’m still doing the same thing.
If you’re struggling, you may be ignoring very basic, very common problems that can be addressed and overcome… with the right pair of eyes on the problem.
My mom used to love this joke
At 5 minutes to midnight, a man is down on his hands and knees on the sidewalk under a street lamp, looking for something and frantically running his hand over the pavement. A policeman comes along and asks him what’s up.
The man says he dropped his keys, but even from a distance, the policeman can see there’s nothing on the ground… so he asks, “You lost them here?”
“No, I lost them in that dark alley over there.”
“Why are you looking here, then?”
“Because it’s easier to look where the light is.”
I know. It’s really corny. But it’s true, and it’s how most practitioners approach getting clients and building a business. Even me.
When I needed to learn how to get more clients, I really wanted an instant download of universal truths about practice-building. I tried to get one by scouring the Internet.
And it didn’t happen.
All alone, sitting behind a closed door, cobbling together free on-line resources with ideas gleaned from tip-lists, books and my own inadequate experience… what I knew and where I knew to look couldn’t solve the problem I had.
Finally, I hit Rock Bottom and realized I needed to learn something that wasn’t in the glow of my particular street lamp.
That was the start of a journey
I spent a long time and a lot of money learning from experts in marketing, client attraction, speaking from the stage, branding and other relevant areas.
Over more time, I took it all further by working on my own with the relevant background I was acquiring.
More time passed as I discovered how to turn what I was being taught—that doesn’t work so well for hands-on practitioners—into something that does work reliably and predictably for people who make a living touching their clients.
And then I spent yet another long time refining what I teach so that you can get personalized results that always feel like a good fit.
But that was only after I figured out that I was never going to figure it out without help.
Are you like most hands-on practitioners?
Like a lot of hands-on practitioners, I was sure I could figure it out all on my own — the same way I had figured out so many things before I became a hands-on practitioner.
But years of struggle proved me wrong… just as I’ve seen happen with many of my clients.
- Like me, they had great training.
- Like me, they had deeo desire.
- Like me, they were really accomplished at learning on their own.
And like me, they were looking under a street lamp for answers that lay elsewhere—directing their attention at what they already knew, instead of getting the help they needed to look in the places that weren’t showing up on their personal radar.
We’re just like our clients
What’s really ironic is that as a hands-on practitioner, you already know exactly this same thing about your clients: almost none of them would figure out how to get the help they need without you, because they’re not aware of what they need to pay attention to.
Having the intention to learn is essential, but intention doesn’t get you very far if you don’t know where to focus.
You already have the innate strengths you need to build your practice. Develop them, and you’ll find that you can build exactly the practice you want.
And I know that you very well might think that you can do that on your own.
But statistics are against you.
The numbers are revealing…
The numbers show that more than 80% of hands-on practitioners are not aware of the precise skills and strengths they need to develop in order to build a sustainable practice.
That means that no matter how good you are at teaching yourself how to do anything, you are not likely to be able to teach yourself how to build your practice because you aren’t looking in the right place.
For example, here are some of the things you may be focusing on — all low-level concerns from the standpoint of getting more clients:
- Developing the perfect website, fliers, logo and business cards.
- Getting referrals from other hands-on practitioners.
- Taking more training, getting more credentials, putting more letter after your name
- Convincing people they need your work.
- Trying to figure out how to talk about your work so you feel comfortable networking.
Even more important, here are some of the critical things you may be ignoring:
- Getting past the obstacles that stop you from becoming the practitioner who has the practice you want.
- Finding out how to ask clients what they really need to hear you talk about, so they can understand why they should commit to working with you.
- Developing ONE introductory talk you can give over and over to build your reputation as an expert.
- Doing the work necessary for YOU to believe you ARE an expert.
- Becoming a competent self-employed person.
- Learning how to get great referrals from your clients.
- Dealing with your money issues and learning to talk about money with clients, so that it doesn’t scare the pants off you.
The sad truth is that years after graduation, the vast majority of hands-on practitioners are mired in struggle, disillusionment, and poverty—not at all what they took their training to bring into their lives.
The tragedy is that the more dedicated you are, the more persistent you are likely be, and the more disillusioned and impoverished you’ll find yourself as years go by.
What’s your trajectory?
Think for a moment about where you are and where you’d like to be, a year or two from now.
Then think about how “getting there” is currently going. What are you doing and what results are you getting?
Now project those results into the future… do you see yourself hitting your mark, surpassing it or falling short?
If you’re falling short, when do you predict you’ll hit Rock Bottom?
If you can see now that you’re headed to Rock Bottom, now is the time to do change your trajectory.
Otherwise, you are caught in another corny joke: the one about continuing to do exactly what you’re doing and hope for a miracle that will get the result you want.
If you’d like to avoid Rock Bottom altogether, let’s talk. There’s nothing like a new light and a fresh pair of eyes on your practice.
Talking with me is complimentary and it’s how we’ll discover what would help you most! Click here.
~~
Get another pair of eyes on your practice!
Click here to talk with me (free) about how to do it and feel exactly like YOU!
~~~
Did this article make you think? Subscribe so you don’t miss anything including invitations to free events!
