Customer Reviews

Get Clients Now!(TM): A 28-Day Marketing Program for Professionals and Consultants

5 star:		(52)
4 star:		(11)
3 star:		(5)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

If you have recently started your own small business and are wondering how you can ramp up on your knowledge of sales & marketing, this book gives you a fantastic start. Most entrepreneurs are experts at something that has a need in the market (and hence they start a company to fill that need profitably), but are typically beginners at everything else that a successful startup business demands. After struggling for more than two years trying to make my own startup business successful, I hired a business coach to help me fill the void in knowledge with regards to sales & marketing. She recommended this book right off the bat.

The book starts by explaining the 6 different marketing strategies that are available to most businesses and their effectiveness. These six strategies are - 1. Direct contact and follow up, 2. Networking and referral building, 3. Public Speaking, 4. Writing and Publicity, 5. Promotional Events, and 6. Advertising in that order. The next two chapters focus on the marketing/sales cycle and setting your own goals. The book then launches into outlining 'The System' - their 28 day marketing program that is geared towards increasing your bottom line. The last part of the book focuses on strategies for specific problems you may be running into with implementing the system. The whole book is just 10 chapters in about 200 pages. Very efficient and effective in getting results.

There are a lot of worksheets throughout the book that the reader can use. This book is most effective when you use it with the help of a business coach. There is a lot more to becoming successful in sales & marketing than just understanding the basic theory. Even though the book does a great job of arming you with detailed knowledge and incredible confidence, you still need someone with experience to guide you through this process to get the best results.

This 28 day program will be slightly different for everyone who follows it because of the unique situation you may be in. But if repeated several times, you will see better and better results. The best part about the book is that it demystefies sales & marketing and gives you a systematic approach that you can follow. It is as simple as that. And, you will know quickly if the system works for you (it's only a 28 day commitment). When I read the book, I was a bit taken aback thinking 'Is this it? Is it that simple?'. I spent a little time trying to compare the book to the recognized text books in the field and finally decided to just put it to the test myself. I tried a few things that the book recommended and saw instant results!

Sure, there is more to sales & marketing and you will discover it over time with experience (as it applies to your specific business). But no other book gives you this much information in such a short time. Good luck with your business and definitely seek the assistance of a business coach!

I hate marketing. I can write a marketing plan that is as good as they come, but when it comes to doing the marketing, I absolutely can't stand it. It scares me. This book avoids all the fluff of the marketing plans that the MBA books teach you to write. Instead, Hayden gets down to the basics of creating an action plan that will take you from where you are right now to one giant step closer to closing a big sale in 30 days.

The process is simple: 1) Decide where you are stuck. You may be stuck getting prospects or following up, for example. 2) Decide which marketing strategies you will use. THE STRATEGIES YOU CHOOSE WILL DEPEND ON WHERE YOU ARE STUCK IN YOUR MARKETING PROCESS AND ON YOUR OWN TALENTS AND INTERESTS. You may, for instance, pursue a strategy of public speaking, if your goal is to build your contact list. 3) Set your long-term and 30-day goals. 4) Create a list of daily actions for the 30 days.

I was so enthused to have something so simple (1 page) yet more concrete than any 20-page plan I'd ever written that I couldn't help but dive in.

C.J. Hayden provides an efficient, user-friendly, step-by-step program that anyone can customize and follow. It leaves postulating and theorizing to those who want to simply talk about self-promotion and marketing, and pragmatically zeros in on creating the action plan needed to materialize success. I know, because I tried the program to increase my own client base and it worked. I also introduced the program to a number of my small business clients, and we all want to thank C.J. for this significant contribution to courageous entrepreneurs everywhere!

I like models and charts but I shy away from set formulas or programs.  So, I was pleasantly surprised to find that Get Clients Now! offers something for everyone. It seems a little bit like the new Weight Watchers Program with the concept of arranging your points in a manner that best suits your current goals. In fact, C. J. Haden uses the concept of a daily meal plan as part of the 280 day marketing plan.

First, Hayden identifies the six key strategies for marketing and then lists about 20 specific actions under each of the six strategies. These actions represent the various activities you select to develop your own marketing plan. The plan itself has three sections: Appetizers - one or two activities to help create success. Main Course - seven or eight activities to focus on getting business. Dessert - one activity to take care of yourself.

Is this a simplistic formula? Perhaps. But you get to pick what you want to do and accomplish in a straight forward way. It is easy to track by using the worksheets. What I really like is that when you complete the cycle, you can go back, set new targets or areas to work on and begin the 28 day program again.

Am I going to do it? Well, I borrowed this book and then ordered it on-line. By the time you are reading this, I am filling in the worksheets and beginning my own program.

As a self-employed service professional, I've read and bought numerous books on marketing. Get Clients NOW! is, by far, the one that's helped me the most. Back in 2000 when I launched my coaching business, I needed direction in how to best put myself out there to attract prospective clients. This book helped me focus on consistently implementing a few marketing strategies and a handful of effective actions instead of scattering myself thin, trying to do everything. As my schedule filled with clients, my challenge then became how to follow-up with prospects and potential referral partners. My needs changed as my business grew, but because Get Clients NOW! offers a flexible approach--you create a customized marketing plan based on your present goals and challenges--it's been able to support me in every stage.

Reading this book will give you hundreds of great ideas to help you market a service business. For best results, however, don't just read the book--commit to fully working the program. Fill out the action worksheet with your choice of marketing strategies, success ingredients and daily actions. Use the tracking worksheet and daily readings to help you stay in action. This is one book that, if followed, really delivers what it promises. You will Get Clients NOW!

I'm not fan of business and marketing books, but I picked this one up and started reading it this weekend. It immediately has inspired me to begin the program. Hayden doesn't introduce any radically different marketing strategies. If you've been trying to build a business and if you've read other books or articles on marketing, you know how important it is to gain prospects, do follow-up, network, and advertise. She covers all those traditional marketing strategies. But what makes this book different is that she provides a program approach that will help you get focused and measure your growth and results.

Get Clients Now! is very accessiable and useful for those who don't like marketing their business but know they need to in order for their business to survive. Her 28-day plan puts in you control. It's not about doing things her way, but about doing things that are unique to your particular strengths and needs for marketing your business.

I'm just starting the program today, but already I can see that I will reach my goals or part of them by the end of the program. And even if I don't reach my ultimate goals, I know that I'll be doing 75% dmore for my business in terms of marketing than I've done in the past year or so. Get Clients Now! is about getting focused and getting results.

C.J. Hayden has taken the mystery out of marketing. She has written a book that is easy to read, easy to understand and most importantly easy to follow. The gold in this book is the worksheets. They take the theory to practice and create a step by step process that leads to profits. In the first 28 days, I added $5000.00 to my bottom line! The focus and clarity this program creates is amazing. Anyone trying to grow a business without this book is doing it the hard way.

Get Clients Now is without a doubt a book worth purchasing. The author is clear in presenting a step-by-step set of guidelines for effective marketing. Marketing methods are broken down and evaluated as to not only the part each has in the global marketing plan, but also the degree of effectiveness one might expect from each and how to best approach the various marketing methods.

In addition this book is also thought provoking. Long before I finished reading it as a whole I had been introduced to ideas, which were not so hidden but had never occurred to me as approaches. As a result of the information I have now gained I am seeing very positive results I would not otherwise have had.

It is not that what is presented is so deeply profound or secret, but rather that like the pieces of a puzzle after it is assembled the author takes the confusion out of marketing and provides fuel for success. I highly recommend this book to those seeking an intelligent marketing plan.

Anyone who has read a marketing book already knows about the strategies of direct contact, networking, referrals, public speaking, writing, publicity, promotional events, and advertising. But this book totally changed my thinking about how to choose a strategy, based on my need at the moment: filling the pipeline, following up, or getting appointments (and sales). Each marketing strategy has a different value in terms of effective outreach, visibility, and credibility. CJ Hayden details lots of ideas for taking action to help you get unstuck. Whether you use the 28-day action plan or simply redirect your focus, you will benefit from reading this book.

If your looking for a marketing book that is going to guide you by the hand and tell you what to do for 28 days then this is for you. However if you have purchased any other similar marketing books you'll find the advice in the here to be the bare minimum and nothing really mind blowing.

The book works like this. Each day you'll mark a score from 1-10 on Mind and Body on a worksheet that is inside the book. Underneath the mind and body are 3 goals your business needs to achieve in days, weeks, months, years these are marked with percentages. Underneath that is your daily/weekly routine which gives you tasks to accomplish daily/weekly. This is the point where the book falls flat.

Anyone who is not getting clients get ready to be amazed! Here is the secret honestly. If you cold/warm call prospects, write letters, go to Network Events chances are you'll eventually run into a client or two. That is what this book relies on.

The strategies are less than helpful and her yahoo board is just another place where she spews her additional material for you to buy or pay for.

Point being if you've never read a marketing book this might be the one for you. I got half way through 28 day and received NO CALLS! Her material misses the point of good advertising and getting a good solid plan! It also doesn't help when you don't have any good networking events that happen near you or any trade organizations. The advice in here is bland and I've leave it at that.

Recommended: Duct Tape Marketing (much better section about what works and what does not!), Guerrilla Marketing in 30 days (doesn't have nice worksheets but by the time you get done your business will be complete!)