Seeing Patterns

Still away from the computer, but I did want to talk a little about the monthly assessments. By now you who have shared your progress each month have done something besides just giving yourself a snapshot of what you’ve done that month. In every monthly post right here, you’ve created a picture of your entire year. It’s all here. Just open up another window, click over “monthly assessments” there on the left menu, and you’ll see:

Things that worked. Remember those times it was going right for you? What was working? Why do you think it worked? Who was your client?

Things that didn’t work. Those frustrating clients you chased and acquiesced to – remember them? What about those relationships or those communications fell flat for you? For the clients? What approach were you using and has it worked with other clients? If not, it may be time to retire it.

Your marketing frequency. This is a biggie. Look at how often you’ve said you sent out queries, called clients, sent emails, etc. Now look ahead a month. Are you seeing any correlation between the frequency of your marketing and the increase in business a month or two later?

Your excuses. How many excuses did you make for not marketing, not reassessing your approach, not earning enough money? How many appear in your previous comments? Did you say anything like “My marketing was light because I had company/a cold/a sick child/a sick dog/a class/a trip to take”? We all have valid reasons for not getting to marketing or communicating with clients. How many of them are valid for you? Really?

Clients you’ve lost touch with. Some clients have one-and-done projects because we fail to follow up. That client you were talking about in March – have you reached out since then to see if they need anything else?

What else are you seeing on your monthly assessments? What seem to be the biggest obstacles for you?