The Business Growth Blog by Rob Cuesta

19 Who are you really?

I just uploaded a new video I think you'll enjoy http://robcuesta.com/6figureblueprint In another of these videos I talk about stories that tell your reader or your listener about how you got to be where you are and do what you do. They are your "how I got here" stories, your legend. But I also said that they're not the only story you need to have in your little arsenal of teaching tools. The second type of story I want to tell you about is what I call a "who I am" story, or a VIA story. I call them VIA stories because they are how you get to be where you are; the route you took. And because they are about V.I.A. -- Values In Action. Stories can serve all sorts of purposes in the context of training or consulting or speaking.

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18 Have you been telling tales?

I just uploaded a new video I think you'll enjoy http://robcuesta.com/6figureblueprint As I write this, I'm just about over jetlag from a big trip to LA. While I was there I was reflecting on the importance of storytelling in what we do as Natural Experts. As I tell the delegates in my Six-Figure Blueprint Intensive, your "Legend"--the tale of how you got to be in the business you are in--and why you started, is one of the key elements of a powerful Expert Presence. And there are six other tales that you need to be ready to tell, whether you're on stage, on video or writing. So I thought I'd start a little story arc in these emails, with 7 emails all about the power of story.

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17 What's the 6-Figure Blueprint REALLY about?

I just uploaded a new video I think you'll enjoy http://robcuesta.com/6figureblueprint I had an interesting conversation just now with a coach about The Six-Figure Blueprint. "Intellectually," he told me, "all this marketing stuff leaves me cold. It's not really for me." Now I'm not even going to go into the whys and wherefores of whether a business owner has to get comfortable with marketing--you've stayed with me this far, so I'm guessing you know you need to do it. But if you think the Six-Figure Blueprint is just about marketing then you've missed the trick. OK, so it's all "Six-figure this", "Six-figure that". But it's not about the money. It's not event really about marketing.

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16 How big is your business card?

I just uploaded a new video I think you'll enjoy http://robcuesta.com/6figureblueprint Success as a coach, consultant, trainer, or indeed in any profession where you are selling your knowledge, experience and advice, comes from your ability to position yourself at the top of your field. One of the key ways to do this is by writing. Even though society as a whole seems to be leaving the book behind, when it comes to choosing our "experts" we still hold authors in awe. So one of the key things I encourage all my clients to do is to write a book; a physical book, not an ebook. It doesn't have to be War and Peace. I see a role for two kinds of books in building your business. I call them your "Expert Manifestos" (or should that be Manifestoes? anyway, I digress!)

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15 Who is your marketing for?

I just uploaded a new video I think you'll enjoy http://robcuesta.com/6figureblueprint The mistake a lot of professional coaches, consultants and trainers make is that their marketing is for them. In other words, their marketing is all about how great their product is, and why you should buy it. Their key measure of success--and therefore their focus--is the sales that come out of the marketing. Remember, though, that in previous emails I've said that Money follows Value, and that your conversations need to create value for your audience.

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14 Video killed the radio star, but who killed the informat

I just uploaded a new video I think you'll enjoy http://robcuesta.com/6figureblueprint I want to talk to you about one of the changes that has done more than anything else to devalue generic "life" and "business" coaching. I've often heard it said that as coaches we live in the Information Economy, and we need to become information marketers, selling Information Products. Here's the thing though. People think the internet created the information economy. It didn't. People were selling information in books and newspapers and audio programmes and video programmes long before the Internet came on the scene. In fact, like most economies, the Information Economy relied on scarcity to keep prices high. Put simply, access to information was controlled by a few big publishing and media companies, and if you wanted that information you had to pay them for it. Then along comes the Internet, and suddenly everyone has access to information on demand, and the ability to publish their own information at will, all at zero/minimal cost. The value of information became zero overnight. In other words... THE INTERNET ***KILLED*** THE INFORMATION ECONOMY So what is the new economy REALLY based on?

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13 How are you growing your business?

I just uploaded a new video I think you'll enjoy http://robcuesta.com/6figureblueprint How are you building your practice? You see, the coaching, consulting and professional advice industries have traditionally been built on two ways of getting clients. And I think BOTH of those models are broken. The first is what I call the "Journeyman" model. In mediaeval England a "journeyman" was a craftsman who was just starting out on their career and wanted to become a member of a guild. So the guild told them "study hard, practice - for free if necessary - take our exams and one day you can be qualified (accredited, or certified, or chartered, or whatever the guild wanted to call it) THEN clients will hire you because we've told them you are worthy to be a member of the profession". So the journeyman worked hard, practiced (often doing work for free just to get the experience), sat the many professional tests, and one day they got their professional certificate, complete with gold letters, a wax seal, and letters to put after their name. But no clients came. So the newly qualified journeyman went back to the school that trained them to find out how to get clients. "Get some business cards, and put the letters after your name. Then get some brochures printed with our crest on. THEN clients will come." So the journeyman got business cards, and brochures, and went to network breakfasts. And lunches. And conferences. They asked craftsmen in other trades if they would put their brochures and business cards on display in their shop. And they did MORE free work, in the hope that people would be overcome with gratitude and hire them, or else send them more clients. With little variation, it's the model still recommended by about 90% of training schools, whether you're training to be a coach, therapist, accountant or lawyer.

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12 Are you pre-eminent?

I just uploaded a new video I think you'll enjoy http://thenaturalexpert.com One of the things I discovered in reflecting on how I grew my coaching and consulting business is that I had unwittingly stumbled on what Jay Abraham--one of the most respected marketers in the world--calls the "Strategy of Pre-eminence". At the heart of everything I do is the simple principle of creating massive amounts of real value for your audience. That, more than anything else, is the key to creating a tribe around yourself and building a relationship with them. Traditional marketers say "find people who want whatever it is you do or make, get them to pay you and then deliver huge amounts of value so they'll come back and they'll send their freinds." My business took off when I started to take a very different attitude towards value. Put very simply, find all the people you want to do business with, and commit to the idea that you're not going to wait for money to change hands before you start to deliver value. (I suggest you re-read that last paragraph a couple of times, to make sure it really sinks in) Everyone in your audience is your client, regardless of whether they happen to have paid you yet. If you go out, find your audience, and contribute, guide, counsel, advise and protect them, the people who value what you are doing the most will come to you eager to do business with you. Everything I do in business has been based on that simple philosophy since 2005--and "coincidentally" that was the year my income went from almost zero to six figures in a matter of months. That's the way of the natural expert and that's it for this video; I look forward to seeing you in the others.

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11. How do I get the clients I want and do the work I enjoy

I just uploaded a new video I think you'll enjoy http://thenaturalexpert.com Today I want to talk about conversations. One of the key things I discovered while I was building my business was that the quality of the conversations you have will dictate the quality of your business results. To put it another way "clients = conversations" Think about it like this. Most of the coaches, consultants and trainers I speak to who are still struggling face one of four problems. 1. I can't get enough clients 2. I have enough clients, but I can't charge enough 3. I have enough clients, my fees are good, but they're not the "right" clients 4. I have good clients, paying good money, but I feel like my business is out of control, like it's taking over my life and there aren't enough hours in the day any more In this video I take each of those in turn

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10 I'm feeling overwhelmed. Where do I start?

I just uploaded a new video I think you'll enjoy http://thenaturalexpert.com With everything that there is to do in building a strong platform and marketing your services, it's no surprise that one question I get asked a lot is "where do I start? I'm overwhelmed and I don't know what to do first." So where do you start?

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