by Julia D. Stege, MFA

The other day I had a melt down.

In hind-sight what happened was that my mind convinced me I had to do something for a client that didn't feel right in the moment with the hopes it would help me build my business.

Do you ever do that, overspend your time and energy trying to help someone who ultimately is not a match for you and your business?

If I dissect what happened into small pieces, I can easily see where my intuition was giving me warnings that I ignored in favor of what my mind was telling me about the potential boost for my business.  This client was full of promises that I heard time and again over a period of several weeks. But they never materialized because the client ultimately refused to take any of my advice.

That's a good sign this person is not a perfect customer right? But I didn't see it. (Or I chose not to see what was staring me in the face)

My business coach, Cynthia Riggs The Biz Diva, has pointed out to me on a number of occasions that I tend to go for the "Shiny Bright Object" which is usually an illusion.  So after giving me a bear hug and helping me wipe away a few tears , she asked me, "In what way is this person a match for your Ideal Client?"

Deer in headlights. The only thing I could think of was, "He has money." 

Now as someone who teaches the Attraction Plan and advises my customers to specify who is perfect for them, it's ironic that I didn't see it.  Unfortunately the cost of ignoring my intuition was rather dear.  I wasted about 10 hours that I could have used on other marketing and/or product development activities and the emotional cost was pretty high.  It feels bad to be disrespected that way.  Perfect customers just don't do that!

I cannot get back that 10 hours of my life, that's for sure. But I can move forward with new conviction to recognize and serve my perfect customers, and to refer the others to service providers who might be a better match for them.  I have taken the time to clarify the qualities, characteristics and attributese of my perfect customers again, and one of the qualities I'm emphasizing now is that my perfect customers really get me, they value my time and advice, and they make decisions quickly.

If you have noticed yourself serving some not-so-perfect customers or prospects lately, I suggest you get out your attraction plan or create a new one.

Make sure to enter the opposite qualities to the person who is not a fit.  It may take some effort, but after focusing on what you want for even a little while, you'll start feeling better, moving back toward your center, and attracting the customers who are a perfect match for you!

by Julia D. Stege, MFA
@magicalmarketer

Let’s face it. Sometimes reality bites. It’s just inevitable that stuff shows up that makes you feel rotten. It can ruin you day, especially when you have work to do, clients to attract, and a business to grow. When reality bites, it’s almost impossible to move forward. It could be a person who seems bent on making you miserable, or a health challenge took you by surprise, or something is amiss with your finances. You know what I’m talking about. It just feels totally wrong.

The first question you have to ask yourself is do you really want to keep feeling rotten, or do you want to move out of it?

Sometimes it feels like you don’t have a choice, but we always do! I have noticed that when I make an effort in the right direction, I can always transform my experiences and experience life as a happy fulfillment of my aspirations.

So what can we do when reality bites? Here is some sage advice:

1) Stop Thinking About It! I’m giving you permission to be a Pollyanna! If thinking about the problem is stressing you out, then turn away from it. We have been convinced that focusing on our problems will solve them, but our focus expands them! Have you ever noticed that the best solutions come to you when you are not trying? It’s that old, “it came to me in the shower,” scenario. You turn away from the problem, start feeling good again, then poof, the solution comes to you.

2) Turn Your Attention Toward Something that Feels Good: Sometimes this takes a certain amount of will when your attention seems to be magnetically drawn to the offending memory. Remember, what you focus on expands. Take a few minutes and close your eyes if you can and direct your attention to what you want. Imagine the situations you want, the people and what they’re doing or saying. Think about them smiling and saying what you want to hear. If you can manage to focus for longer than a minute, you are on your way to attracting the new situations you imagine.

3) Get Inspired: If I feel stuck in a rut, I listen to uplifting CD’s. Works every time. I have a wide selection of topics to choose from so I can select what works for my current state of mind. Maybe I’ll get into a guided meditation, or Abraham-Hicks talking about Law of Attraction, or Deepak Chopra musing over the power of the mind. These folks always remind me of what I came here to do and how to move beyond my perceived limitations to experience what I’ve wanted and deserved. You may find some of my recordings helpful and uplifting. Get them here: http://www.magicalmarketingtoolkit.com

4) Do Something Fun. There’s nothing better for keeping your mind off your troubles than to do something fun. It could be as simple as getting a quick coffee at your favorite cafe, or a walk for a few minutes out in nature, catching a movie, or taking a nap in the middle of the afternoon. You deserve a break and the fun will uplift you. If you’re at work and need to stay there, turn your focus toward an aspect of work you love and get productive there.

You’ll be feeling better in no time! And soon you’ll start attracting what you want again. Go forth and attract!

WANT TO USE THIS ARTICLE IN YOUR EZINE OR WEB SITE? You can, as long as you include this complete blurb with it: Magical Marketer Julia D. Stege, MFA helps people attract their perfect customers with a unique combination of Law of Attraction, wildly attractive logos and websites, and smart Social Networking techniques. If you’re ready to start attracting your perfect customers now, get Julia’s free Magical Marketing Toolkit at http://www.magicalmarketingtoolkit.com/

Updated for 2009 from 5/24/08
by Julia D. Stege, MFA
@magicalmarketer

One of the greatest benefits of living in the technical age is that we can do all sorts of things from home just by going on the internet. We can shop, learn, be entertained and connect with others without even getting dressed! As a social being, I like to go out in the world once in a while to network with friends and colleagues, but there’s nothing quite like connecting with peeps from all over the world without leaving my ergonomic comfy chair.

Back in 1998 I started actively networking online using sites like craigslist.org, care2.com, yahoogroups.com and ryze.com to meet people, share passions, and make business connections. Now, with the addition of sites like Facebook and Twitter I can build my contact list by dozens per day, and on Squidoo and Hub Pages I can get to page one of Google almost instantly! This activity combined with a stellar website makes for easy online attraction, no matter what my hair looks like that day!

And it’s fun.

Often I sit at home in my PJ’s (guess what I’m wearing now!) and share my passions, illuminate with tips, offer help and advice, check out the brilliant sharing of others, and most importantly promote other people for free by writing on thier walls or retweeting them (see RT article). All this activity helps me to attract perfect customers. Sometimes I even do this while watching my favorite soap (recorded on TiVo). It’s a really fun way to market and make friends. I cannot recommend this enough.

Remember that feeling good about your marketing is vital if you want to become a magnet for your perfect customers. They will sense who you are and as Dale Carnegie wrote back 100 years ago, people will buy from you when they know you, like you, and trust you. That’s way more important than what you are actually offering (though that’s hard to really grok at first.)

Here are some tips on networking online:

1) Find social networks that you really like and that reflect your personality. The two biggies now are Twitter and Facebook, and you can find almost any flavor of community there. Twitter is growing by 40% per month and Facebook is pushing 200 million users now. Interesting to note that the average Facebook user spends 20 minutes a day there. That’s a lot of time for them to see your shares!

There are other social networks you can check out:

• care2.com is for folks who like to contribute to causes,
• ryze.com is for entrepreneurs,
• theWell.com around since ’85 is a “literate watering hole for some articulate and unpretentious thinkers”
• Waccobb.net is for the West Sonoma County, CA community though Barry is expanding it to the whole Bay Area and beyond. (do you have an online bulletin in your community?)
• YahooGroups.com has thousands of bulletins by category, many of which allow advertising from members.

2) Join the networks you like best and set up your profile. Make sure to include your picture (Jill Lublin says make sure your picture is no more than 2 years old), a description of what you do for biz, your personal passions, your mission, and your service/product list. Don’t forget to include links to your website/s, blogs, and other social network pages.

3) Search your network for folks of like mind and heart and introduce yourself. You can find them through your friends or through groups by topic. Invite interesting people to join your network. Join their network. Re-Tweet their stuff. Contribute. Visit your network often and spend at least 1/2 hour per day. .

4) Respond quickly to inquiries from others on your social network. Timing is everything. Let people know you appreciate their desire to connect and make efforts to really get to know them. See if you can get involved in their network of friends.

5) Create a blog ~ blogger.com is the easiest to learn which is why I teach it in my 10 week Social Networking class This will be a great place to post your latest interests, info, tips and queries so folks can keep up with you, your discoveries, and your offerings.

6) HAVE FUN! Magical Marketing is all about doing what you love to do and being open to receiving all you desire!

WANT TO USE THIS ARTICLE IN YOUR EZINE OR WEB SITE? You can, as long as you include this complete blurb with it: Magical Marketer Julia D. Stege, MFA helps people attract their perfect customers with a unique combination of Law of Attraction, wildly attractive logos and websites, and smart Social Networking techniques. If you’re ready to start attracting your perfect customers now, get Julia’s free Magical Marketing Toolkit at http://www.magicalmarketingtoolkit.com/