In this post I am sharing 3 ideas that can help you earn more money when you are working hard to get more clients.

These simple, powerful reframes can set you up to earn an extra $10k in a few months, and then fill your first waiting list. Needless to say, you have to take action on what you learn to get there, but action is a given in any business.

1 – Selling should feel good.

I used to think that selling was manipulative, conniving, and otherwise ingenuine. I was afraid that if I learned sales skills, it meant that I would be tricking my prospects into giving me money so, of course, I ran away from anyone who wanted to teach me about sales.

But over time, as my consults were growing in number but not converting into paying clients as frequently as I thought they should, I realized that sales skills were something I needed to learn.

I learned the basics of consults and follow ups. My consult conversion rate skyrocketed to nearly 90 percent almost immediately. More than just skyrocketing my consult conversion rates, I was also helping people make the decision to not hire me when that felt most appropriate. And that clarity felt really good.

All of this made me realize that selling didn’t just put money in my pocket. It also helped my prospects make smart decisions for their own lives and businesses. This all felt so good. And if sales consults and follow-ups could feel good, where else could I learn and implement sales concepts that felt good and helped people? The short answer? Every single area of my business.

2 – Sales is essential in every aspect of your business.

After learning to use sales skills in consults and follow-up emails, I slowly saw how sales infiltrated every part of my business. And I’m not just talking about the obvious things such as sales pages, offer copy, sales emails, webinars, etc. I’m talking about every area of business. For example:

• Email subject lines need to sell people on opening them.
• Teasers to a blog post in a weekly email newsletter need to sell people on clicking through.
• Social media posts need to sell people on engaging.
• Customer service emails need to sell the person on the other end of the email into a place of satisfaction, specifically if they were frustrated by something.

… just to name a few.

Once I realized that selling is pervasive in business -- from managing a team to communicating with readers and prospects -- I saw how to leverage what I learned to make everything simply work and sell better. Business and life became easier once I realized it’s all about sales. Again, not in the manipulative kind of way but in the “help people make the best decision for themselves kind of way.”

3 – The average sale takes 7 touches with a customer

Nothing was more discouraging to my early business self than people who would reach out and ask about my services and then disappear. It was so frustrating. I needed a mindset shift. 

You see, 50 to 80 percent of all sales require SEVEN (or more) touches with a customer before they say "yes". Once I realized this, I no longer saw a disappearing prospect as a sign that I was business owner who was doomed. I learned to see this as a trigger for following up with them. In fact, I started a simple spreadsheet where I tracked email and social media inquiries about my services and I used it diligently. Some prospects warmed up quickly and others were nurtured on and off for a few years before saying yes. (Yes, years. And that’s still the case today.) The cool thing was that this list was powerful for me to have and use. Because week after week I had growing interest in my work and that meant a growing group of people who may hire me one day.

Learning to write follow-up emails and connect with these prospects (genuinely and authentically but also using some well-honed sales skills) became a skill I was excited to cultivate and hone further. Even better, as my packages grew in price, follow-ups became a more important part of the sales process. By then, I had nearly mastered them. Talk about a win-win, for my clients and for my business.

All in all, sales has been one of the most important skills I’ve ever learned in my business. Simply put, you can’t make money if you don’t know how to sell. And there is always more to learn.

If any of the three above ideas gave you an a-ha about selling and you have decided to learn more, I’m excited for you. Because when you infuse sales knowledge to everything you’ve already learned about serving your clients, marketing your business, showing up on social media, etc, you wil see (more) money start coming in the door!

The truth is, marketing doesn't work without selling.

You can “spread the word” and “put yourself out there” all you want, but if you don’t know how to invite customers to work with you, you won’t reach your income goals.