You want to be profitable, to attract the right and perfect clients / customers who will benefit from and be grateful for your products and services.

You want clients / customers who feel drawn to work with and buy from you. Your products and services speak to them. There is an affinity. They resonate with what you are offering and are drawn to you. They find you because what you say and do; what you put out to the world attracts them to you.

Here’s something to ponder:   If you want to be more profitable, if you want more of the right people to find you, look at yourself honestly with a focus of letting go of what’s not working.

Your biases may be getting in the way of generating and expanding your success. Everyone has biases. You may not see them in yourself. But I bet you see them in other people.  Biases that block you can run unconsciously; they are so ingrained that you don’t even notice them.

Triggers can be someone’s weight, how they dress, if they smoke, their religion, their ethnicity, the color of their skin or their sexual orientation. Other, perhaps more-subtle triggers are someone’s mannerisms, accent, makeup, and shoes.

I am not saying to disregard your intuition. Always listen to your inner knowing, that still small voice that guides you when you stop and pay attention. What I am saying is to notice when you move away from someone who could be a client or customer because of their packaging on the outside.

People feel when you back away from them - when you discount or judge them. It’s palatable.

There are some great videos about bias. One is of a critically acclaimed violinist playing unnoticed in the New York subway. He is wearing common clothes and looks like a nobody.  His music is amazing and almost no one stops to listen.  People rush by him as if he does not exist, speaking volumes of how we are programmed to be.

This is about helping you not walk away from business opportunities because of your biases, making your unconscious biases conscious!  Choose to be aware, and ask yourself, 'What am I thinking when I see someone on the street? In the news? At an event? What are my first thoughts? 

Notice when you use all or never when referring to a someone, a group or organization. Notice if you put people or whole groups of people in box. Notice how it feels if someone does this to you.

Be open to new possibilities. Drop the judgment and look for similarities instead of differences: 'I wonder what we have in common?'  You might be really surprised to find people you thought you had nothing in common with have a genuine connection, simply because you engaged in a conversation and asked open questions with a genuine desire to learn.

You may notice new kinds of people streaming into your business, and how cool that would be!

How do you feel about marketing, walking into an event where you barely know anyone, calling someone you barely know?

Marketing makes a lot of people anxious and physically tense.  And what's strange is that many of us tend to have the skills of connecting with people on a personal level, listening to their concerns, talking about their day, asking to see photos of their personal life, travels, experiences.

So remember, connecting with people is one of your strengths.  And remember, you can use this strength, build rapport, get and keep clients and close deals during the times that suit you.

Marketing does not have to interfere with your family, friends, or personal time. You can be successful without engaging in activities that have been essential to rainmaking for others, like golf, sports, and drinks after work.  You can create a marketing plan that works with who you are.

With all of this in mind, here are 6 tips for attracting clients.

No 1: Target the Top 20 in a New Way

Don’t focus on everyone or just anybody. 

Consider:

Who are my top 5 prospects -- the people that would love to work with me now or sometime in the future? 

Who are my top 5 connectors – the people who can refer prospects to me?

There are lots of people in our circle of connections who are happy to help us and we to help them, they just need to know who our ideal client is.  So, tell your friends and colleagues about your target market and let them share theirs with you. Make notes, so you will remember. 

Cultivate business friends and networks that work for you.  Be intentional and selective.

And give what you would like to receive -- no strings attached. That’s the clearest, brightest, way to create what you want in life. 

If you want to get leads, be generous in giving them. Be generous in helping others succeed with no expectation of getting anything back in return. That’s part of the heart-felt law of attraction: give what you would love to receive; teach what you most need to learn. 

Generosity and kindness go a long way in creating prosperity and abundance.

Consider where you most feel to invest your time and energy:  organizations? like-minded people? groups in your trade, business, or industry? Neighborhood or community associations or gatherings? Go with your intuition or gut instinct; follow your heart.

Find some quiet time to slow down and listen. Meditate. Breathe. Ask for guidance: Where to from here? Where can I best focus my energies for the highest good of all concerned?  Listen.  The inspiration you receive will not be loud and booming like the conversations in your mind.  Inspiration comes as a whisper, a feeling or knowing.

Relax and be open to guidance and be patient; guidance may come when least expected - while you are watching a movie, from a random comment by a friend, from a passage in a book, while taking a shower, in a dream.  The universe will respond to you.  It's up to you to be aware and discerning; there's a lot of negativity out there; just be open to inspiration.

Once you are clear, your mind may come up with lots of reasons why not.  Don't listen.  That's counter intention or your own ego trying to keep you small.    Be like the stern yet loving parent with an unruly child. Just say no, let go of all the reasons why not; drop all doubts, and love the child, that part of you that's afraid and feels abandoned and alone.   

No 2: Open Doors with Authenticity

You probably don't like it when someone calls you just to sell you something, even if you've done business with them before. So, don't do it to anybody else.

If you don’t have a good reason to contact someone, don't; that's the Golden Rule!

Good reasons are:

Invitations

Introductions

Information 

Intimacy (e.g., kindness and compassion)

You might send an invite to attend a social, political, or educational event as your guest.  The purpose could be to introduce your potential client to someone who can help their career.  You could send her information about a product or service that could help him/her (not yours!).  You could tell them about a class or seminar that feels timely.  You could send them a breaking news story or information about a piece of legislation or a new law that affects them.  You could contact them because something major just happened in their life - a death, birth or surgery; a trip or something fun and exciting. Or it may be something light and fun, like you are both following a television series and you text them about something funny.

It’s important to set clear and appropriate boundaries with the people we contact and interact with in our day-to-day life.  

How do you set boundaries? Do you set boundaries based on how you are feeling? 

For example, you are feeling really great and happy and loving, so your boundaries are wide open because you are feeling great.  This is a big mistake.  If you set your boundaries based upon how you feel, then someone can come along who is angry, upset, in reaction, projecting and knock you over with their energy.  Then you will tell yourself that it’s not safe to be open and shut down. 

The masterful way to set your boundaries, the way to set your boundaries that involves the most self-love and self-care, is to set your boundaries based upon how the other person is. That’s right, you set your boundaries based upon how loving the other person is. 

If the other person is open and loving, then you can allow your boundaries to relax a little bit and be genuinely more open with this person.  If the other person is not in love, but in some kind of fear, is anxious, frustrated, angry or upset, then you toughen up your boundaries, so your system is not polluted by their fear.  

So, the other person is holding a space of love, one of kindness and/or compassion, you can open up more; the other person is holding a space of anger and frustration, self-righteousness and superiority, you strengthen your boundaries and keep the less than love energies out. 

Our boundaries that we set for ourselves are porous.  The love comes in and touches our heart, the less than love is lovingly mirrored back to its source. Thanks, but no thank you to that energy.  We have enough to deal with without taking on the negative energies of others; and you will feel markedly better, more solid, confident and in your heart, when you are not dealing with the negativity and energy pollution of others!

Keep on loving and respecting yourself, as this will make you more fit for service, more able to share your gifts, talents, and abilities with the world!