If you’re anything like me, then you are a people pleaser at heart. We always have good intentions when helping and pleasing others, but more often than not, we are hurting our business and in some cases, it affects other aspects of our lives too.
I have had to learn the hard way and I’m hoping that you can learn from my mistakes and use boundaries to gain clarity and direction in your business to attract and convert more of the right clients.
Yes, you read right… more boundaries, more clients 🙂
I know this might sound counter-intuitive … I mean how does ‘not being a people please’ help you get more clients, right?
So let me explain…
- Setting boundaries in your schedule
When last have you blocked out time for yourself and really managed your schedule? Are you keeping time open for new clients?
We often get caught up in the constant thought of “I am so busy” and if our brains believe we are busy, it also believes that we don’t have time to get new clients. This might be happening on a subconscious level.
If we make time in our schedule, we are logically showing ourselves that we have time for new clients. If you aren’t able to make time for new clients, then maybe your problem isn’t getting more clients, but pricing or something different.
Generally, managing our time better as business owners, allows us to set boundaries for ourselves, our clients and family. When we are deliberate about how we use our time, we know when we have space for new clients, we dedicate time with our family and we are able to work on our business, moving it forward and growing it, as opposed to in it as an employee.
We often think starting your own business means doing whatever, whenever… oh boy, do we get it wrong when we start a business thinking this…
What gives us freedom is tracking and scheduling your time so that you are in control of what’s happening and everyone around you knows and respects your time. (Including yourself)
So consider what’s happening with your schedule and whether you’re making time for new clients.
- Only take on ideal clients
This is a boundary that we need to set for ourselves. When we know who we are targeting we can gauge whether a potential client is a good fit or not and when we say yes to the right person we are filling our schedule with clients that will get the best results in less time. We will also keep time open for new clients who are our ideal clients.
By sticking to this boundary and saying no to non-ideal clients we give these people an opportunity to find the right person for them, the person they’ll get the best results from.
You might be worrying about niching down and that’s totally normal at first, but when we know and understand our ideal client we aren’t worried about ‘not getting clients’ because our messaging speaks directly to them and attracts them. They feel heard.
The saying goes “Niche down to blow up” and it is so true.
People want specific solutions, the more specific you can get with your marketing, the more you will attract the right clients.
So, by really digging into who your ideal client is and sticking to only serving them, gives you the confidence to market your business. Marketing with confidence means that you know new clients are a regular thing.
- Value yourself
It’s easy for someone to tell you that you must value yourself and that’s that. But from personal experience, I know that valuing yourself isn’t just an on/off switch. There is a lot of mindset work needed to manage thoughts and beliefs that are holding us back.
When you learn to value yourself you are able to set clear boundaries around your pricing and offers. It means that you don’t allow yourself to get messed around by people who don’t value what you do and offer.
People think that by being a people pleaser you are more likely to attract clients because you’re ‘keeping everyone happy’ but on the contrary, people respect you more when you have clear boundaries and stick to them.
When people don’t value what you offer, it means that either you don’t value yourself 100% or you aren’t educating and showing them the value that you offer, and therefore they make their own conclusions about whether you’re to be valued or not.
When people don’t value what you offer you hear no on discovery calls, people that think they can DIY what you’re doing or they assume how long it will take to get their desired results.
This also comes full circle to knowing your ideal client because your ideal client, when spoken to in your marketing message in a way that makes them feel like you are hearing exactly what they are currently experiencing, will value what you offer because
- They will see the value in the transformation you are offering.
- Their urgency for it will be greater
In conclusion, sticking to your boundaries and understanding your value ultimately helps you to book more clients and not only do these clients value you 100%, but they also respect you because of the boundaries that you have put in place.
I hope that this has been helpful and that you are able to really look at the boundaries you are setting in your business, not only for your clients but for yourself as well. This will ultimately get you out of your own way and into a mental state where you can attract more clients.
