Raising your income level by knowing your value

What is your value?

When you contact a company with the proposal that they use your nutrition services, what are you selling them? If you think you are selling them a service, it's time to reconsider!

Organizations don't buy consulting services, they buy access to your ideas, your knowledge, your expertise. They sign up to secure access to you and your company so that they can perform better, whether it's the athletes or employees or executives.

As a result of this, as a consultant, you do not want to minimize your services by giving the company a quote for the number of hours worked. You want to give them a quote for the value you are bringing to the company.

Do you know what that value is?

Think about something special that YOU spent money on in the last six months. Why did you purchase that product or service? Really think about it. Chances are, it's because it met some type of need. And the way it was presented was in such a way that you could visualize what it would cost to NOT meet that need.

Think about this:
** You ask the company these questions: What is it they want to accomplish; how will they know they have accomplished it; what will it cost them to NOT accomplish this goal; and how will it look when they've accomplished this goal? Most corporations looking at bringing in a corporate wellness consultant are doing so in order to cut costs.

Here is an example of some of what you'll say:
So, they will be able to save X% of its healthcare costs as a result of working with you. Will this interest them? Most likely.

* Previous companies who have contracted with you have been able to decrease healthcare costs by at least X%. Will this interest them more? Yea!

* You have several programs the company can choose from, so instead of choosing between contracting with you or NOT contracting with you, you can ask, "Which program would fit your needs better?" This gives the company choices that do NOT include "Yes" or "No" to working with you. Do you have a new contract, now? Probably!

How will you 'sell' your value?

Often we look at the features we are selling, not the results. As indicated above, focus on results and be clear about what your value is.

Then sign on the bottom line and smile on the way out the door.

Now your value is MORE than the dollar amount to that contract. Now you have increased confidence and are ready for the NEXT company! And the income level is rising...

Margie
Marjorie Geiser, MBA, RD, NSCA-CPT
MEG Enterprises

Time + Perception = Challenge

I’ve been asking people, “What is your biggest current challenge” and have noticed a trend. We see it on here, too; when I write about time management, people take notice.

We’re all looking for how to manage the time we have better. What people told me in reply to my question above was this:
• Having time for myself
• Balance
• Balance
• Finding time
• Learning how to say no

Do you hear yourself in any of these? Do you see a trend??

I’ve written about time management in this blog before, so I’m not going to repeat myself. If you haven’t read them, check old SCAN blogs and read them, now. What I am going to discuss, though, is our PERCEPTION of time.

What do I mean by “perception of time”, you ask?

We all have the same amount of time in a day. Often we observe very successful people and wonder “How DO they fit it all in?” Yet they have the same number of hours in a day you do!

Sure, they might have better organizational skills. And I totally believe in the value of help (we can build a small business on our own, but to take it to the next level, you do need other people). But, above it all, they all have two things in common:
- They have a clear vision and a plan for achieving that vision
- They PERCEIVE that they have the time to achieve that vision (each day, week, month, etc)

So, great, I’ve now shared with you what the most accomplished people have in common, and have basically told you that you need to change your PERCEPTION! But you’re probably now asking, “Now what?”

This is where coaching comes in! What is your belief around your time (or lack of)? Do you moan that you just have way too much to do, with school and your business and children, etc? Do you believe you can’t do something yet, because you ‘don’t have time’? What would you like your time/days to look and feel like? How would you feel if your reality was your ideal vision?

This the first place to start in looking at your perception of your time issue. And I was tempted to walk you through a great exercise that is called “The Work”, but instead decided to give you the link to the specific exercise. If this is truly an issue for you, take your belief around time into that exercise and share with us what comes up for you! (And, as an aside, if you are not familiar with Byron Katie and The Work, I also suggest you check out her videos of her DOING ‘The Work’.)

There is a way to be in control of your day, your business, your life, your time. We all strive for that control. When you have it, things couldn’t be better! And it IS possible!

It’s all in your perception.

Margie
Marjorie Geiser, MBA, RD, NSCA-CPT
MEG Enterprises

Build your Platform so they come

Generally when we discuss a “Platform” we are discussing book publishing. However, it dawned on me that it can have just as much value for “just” a business as for a book! So, let’s look at what it means to develop your platform and why you would want to do it.

Although my book, Just Jump, has been out for a couple of years, I am always looking at new ways to promote it. It really has helped change lives, which I’m extremely proud of, so I want to continue to spread the word, and expand into new audiences.

And, I DO plan to write the sequel (for ‘service professionals’) one day.
I share this because I’ve been listening to a lot of audio programs all around book writing and promoting, etc, and a constant term that keeps popping up is building a platform for the book. And, just as a side-note, apparently the key to getting an agent is to already HAVE a platform!

So why not start now??

Build the platform and they will come
Many times professionals think that if they build a website or blog or rent an office and run an ad, that people will start swamping to them. I don’t need to tell YOU that this just isn’t the case! However, once you’ve built that PLATFORM, they DO come!

But what the heck is a platform!? Is it like the stage an act will perform on? Is it for loading/unloading goods?

You can consider your platform your stage and where you will unload your goods/services from, actually. It’s the whole package of who you are to the world.

It’s the combination of attending networking events, offering workshops, presentations, creating your website and blog, it’s showing up on all the social networking sites. It’s writing articles for both online and local venues.

It’s showing up EVERYWHERE!

I like to say that the big sign that you’ve made it is when someone you have never met and you didn’t think knew you says, “Oh yea, I know who you are”. Or, I love the one where someone local says, “You are EVERYWHERE!” YES!

That’s your platform.

One of the speakers I listened to last week talked about being short on the New York best sellers list by ONE POINT! She said she had done EVERYTHING. Except one thing: She was not posting on Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn. Would it have made the difference? Probably.

Now, what is YOUR platform?
What are you NOT doing right now that you’ve been thinking you really should? What can you do to change that?

Margie
Marjorie Geiser, MBA, RD, NSCA-CPT
MEG Enterprises

Marketing Success: Tapping into the Feelings

I know that as soon as I mention ‘Marketing’, dietitians do two things: They shudder with dread, and their ears perk up, because they want to know more.

First, marketing is just speaking to the goals or aspirations that your clients want. And this is why so many RDs struggle with it! Many will put the word out there about what THEY do, and they skip the part that addresses that chronic question potential clients have, which is “What’s in it for me?”

But how do you gain success with marketing? You have to tap into their feelings! THAT will tell them what’s in it for them: What problems you’ll solve, how they’ll resolve the struggles they deal with.

Think about it: What do you see in a car commercial? For family cars, you may hear all about their safety features. For the more sporty cars, though, you don’t see any mention of car seats or TVs! No, it’s fancy ladies and handsome men, looking sexy and attractive, and flying around rural curves. They are saying, “This can be you.”

They are tapping into the feelings.

Now, because I’m a coach, I use a lot of coaching techniques, but imagine this: You are targeting active women who want to become more fit and start training for events such as marathons or tri’s. If you promote yourself that you are an RD who is an athlete and went to this school and have these degrees, etc, and can provide them with meal plans, blaw, blaw, blaw… it will get their attention.

HOWEVER, talk about the benefits they will get through working with you, such as dropping that stubborn body fat, increasing their time, feeling more energized and looking GREAT, and now you will also get their call.

One more example: A woman who wishes to lose weight but just can’t seem to find anyone who really can help her. She hates what she sees in the mirror, and feels sluggish and unsexy all the time. She avoids thinking much about what she eats because she has never been successful with each ‘diet’ she has gone on. Why bother, she thinks.

YOUR message? It’s that mirror image to her problems!
* You can help her look fantastic, and love what she sees in the mirror.

* You can help her get to where she LOVES to go clothes shopping. Afterall, after working with YOU, she’ll have to go clothes shopping!

* Not only will she feel sexy again, but she’ll be more energized.

* She’ll become more active and enjoy it, and understand the role that food plays in her health.

* She’ll learn, through working with you, that food is fuel and something to look forward to and not fear.

* She will eliminate the diet mentality and learn how to eat to live, rather than live to eat.

YOU are the solution to her problems!

What else comes to mind for you? What are your clients’ struggles? Write them down and then literally write down the mirror image of those struggles, just as I did above. See what comes up for you, and then see what develops in your business as a result.

You know what your clients' struggles are. Now you just need to tap into the feelings and focus on your marketing SPEAKING to those feelings in order to achieve marketing success.

Margie
Marjorie Geiser, MBA, RD, NSCA-CPT
MEG Enterprises

When the "easy button" doesn't work

There are periods of time when everything runs smoothly; the phone is ringing and clients are booking appointments with you, reporters are calling to quote your greatness in their papers, new teams are interested in what you can do for their players, and you are totally on a roll of success.

You have your support team of experts and advisers who have helped you accomplish more, and things couldn’t get much better!

That’s the peak of the hill.

But soon comes the valley….

In those valleys, suddenly you find yourself working harder to generate more buzz about your business. And along the way, you start hitting this wall or that, related to either a troublesome or unhappy client, or technology, or a family event requires more of your time than you feel you have at the moment, or a contract falls through.

I just collaborated with a partner on a new project, and I was just so proud of myself that in a very short period of time, with the help of my website designer and my VA, we set up the entire program and infrastructure in just a matter of about a week. I even joked that I had hit the ‘easy button’!

WHOOPS!

Suddenly, with everything, this glitch and that glitch developed. And that stinking easy button wasn’t working!

What do you do?

• First, when you hit upon glitches with your clients, it’s time to pull out “Raving Fans” and re-read it. This will calm you down and give you a new perspective on what’s important and perhaps how best to handle the situation.

• I have to remind myself of this definition: “insanity is continuing to do the same thing over and over and expecting a different result.” When you start spending too much time on an issue/project and you’re getting nowhere, contact your help. Think of the wasted time as money.

• But what if you don’t HAVE help? If you are hitting your head against a wall, that’s a screaming message that it’s time to just stop and walk away. Take a break! Our creativity and productivity requires breaks. Without them, we lose both. It’s like when a person is trying to diet and avoid a certain food. What usually happens? They eat all these other foods to avoid that particular food and THEN still eats that food, thus making the situation worse.

• So, if you walk away and take the rest of the day off when you’re working on something that’s not turning out well, all of life will not end as you know it. Yes, you do have two choices: You can keep hitting that wall (which could get quite bloody), and not get anywhere and find yourself working on it the next day. Or you could take the day off, enjoy yourself, and come back to it the next day, anyway, but renewed and refreshed.

The peak will come again. As an entrepreneur who will never give up, you know it always does. (Trust me.) When you offer a great service that you KNOW people want, and you know you’re good at what you do, it’s inevitable. What ends most businesses, though, is how they handle the valleys.

I'm stubborn, myself, and will never give up. And my business is still going well, so I don't plan on closing my doors any time soon. So, I have to take my own advice and learn how to move forward when the easy button doesn't work.

And, to be honest, I haven’t gone out and BOUGHT my easy button, yet, anyway!

Margie

Marjorie Geiser, MBA, RD, NSCA-CPT

MEG Enterprises