By Linda Feinholz

In meetings with friends and clients this past month I asked a few people to be part of my R&D team to find out what stopped them from getting out there in a BIG way to get clients.

I also asked them to tell me the goals they set themselves being self-employed. Honestly, I was startled by the answers that rolled in, and their answers were right in line with what I hear from many other people I've talked to about this.

You see, most people have very LOW expectations and their actions match it. They decided that it was a fair exchange to liberate themselves from the constrictions of employment to gain full control over their work and their income. And they even capped their earnings expectations.

Using SYSTEMS and LEVERAGE techniques in marketing and managing your business, you can totally change that to create an income that is FAR beyond what you’ve assumed. I know it for a fact as I’ve helped my clients achieve it.

However, leverage and systems aren’t enough. Why do I say that? Because if you do the math, you need to target $300,000 a year in revenue to pay yourself and the people and services you’ll use to do marketing or service delivery, or administrative tasks, and so on.

The biggest stumbling block to reaching that next level is ‘habit’. The habit of thinking and acting like a generalist, serving anyone and everyone. I did it myself for years. It’s a commonly held belief that the wider we spread our net, the larger our likely result. I myself held that belief for years, even in the face of all evidence to the contrary.

Being a generalist means you’re constantly working on multiple ways of introducing who you are and what you do in the hope that it resonates with the person you’re talking to. All your attention is on adapting like a chameleon rather than shining like a beacon that calls people to you.

Get out of the way of your OWN High Payoff using these three Key Activities and you’ll see your results soar:

Key 1 – Select a Target Market and Stick To It
Your services may be equally productive to a wide range of clients and customers. However, when you pick a niche, a class of clients who share particular characteristics, you make yourself more memorable. The truth is you increase your identity as an expert.

Elsa Lucan, a landscaping specialist in Los Angeles, recently made the shift from taking a wide range of projects, large and small, to working with homeowners who want to create completely new outdoor spaces. She focuses on using little known planting techniques that result in astounding growth and exquisite spaces.

A second shift she’s made? No longer doing the hardscape herself. Elsa now designs and supervises its installation by specialists in their own right. Her time is planned farther out, her crew knows they’re booked, and she’s seeing a doubling in her revenues in the space of a year.

That’s what people want – specialists solving their challenges.

Key 2 – Differentiate From Others Providing Similar Services
We often think of differentiation as being about our technical resume, dress and manners. Ironically, the personal story behind our choices attracts our market to us like a magnet.

One of my clients recently realized that when she speaks of her emotional reason for providing services to parents of young children – facing the same challenges she’s come through herself – her rate of closing doubles… and in half the time.

Her clients feel she ‘knows’ them and their challenges.

Key 3 – Take 5 Paths to Connect With Your Market
It’s easy to settle into habits unconsciously. Marketing by networking is one example. It may not actually get you in front of your ideal clients. When you expand your marketing activities that let your potential client know you’re the specialist to solve their issues, you create momentum and business growth. Four additional activities that deliberately sharpen your identity include sending a newsletter to your contacts, writing articles, forming joint ventures with others who provide complimentary services to the same market, and asking clients for referrals.

Ironically, I’ve been implementing Keys 2 and 3 systematically for months. Yet I was neglecting Key 1.  For 15 years I’ve worked with financial advisors, more than half my clients every year … yet I never said so. It’s time for me to declare my niche and use the three Keys together for myself.

How about you? What is one shift you could make to be a beacon to your ideal client and grow your business further, faster and easier?

© 2008 Linda Feinholz  Management expert, consultant, and coach Linda Feinholz is "Your High Payoff Catalyst" If you're ready to focus on your High Payoff activities, boost your professional and personal results and have more fun, get her FREE audio mini-course "7 Quick & Simple Steps to Increase Your Focus, Ease Your Effort & Accelerate Your Results" and the free weekly newsletter The Spark! Visit http://www.YourHighPayoffCatalyst.com