In practice building (and getting clients) it seems to be that most self-employed people just hope for the best. They simply keep doing what theyve been doing and dont have a strategy for creating the practice theyd be truly and deeply happy with. This is a big mistake in my opinion.

I used to write down my goals each year, but it never really worked for me. I just didnt feel really excited about my new goals. They didnt seem to propel me in motion and so I kind of viewed them as being useless. I never really looked at them, probably because they seemed like shoulds rather than really-meaningful-wants.

Then I came across the concept of creating 3 year visions instead of just a list of goals for the upcoming year. This visioning wasnt just about business goals, but also family, financial, spiritual and relationship goals. It became a holistic way of looking at what you wanted in your life. All the pieces looked like they would work together, but only because you were forced to make it all work together, which was the first time Id done that in such depth.

The coolest thing about visioning 3 years out; however, came to me after I started doing this regularly. I noticed that ONE year goals were never too much of a stretch. They seemed like timid goals, goals that didnt really get me excited. But having to create a vision of what 3 years down the line would look like allowed me to REALLY think BIG. Inhibitions dropped. My creative side started going and I really took the time to see, Hey, what WOULD I want my life to look like in 3 years, if I could have time to create it? SHAZAM! I felt like Id hit the jackpot.

The 3 year vision was a way for me to create something to strive for that REALLY spoke to me. Something that made my heart beat a little faster after I read it, excited to get going, and just a little bit scared of the thought of me reaching it. Now THAT would propel me into motion the way a yearly list of goals wouldnt be able to do. (By the way, my deep down secret feeling is that I strive to reach these in 2 years, not 3 and thats usually what happens.)

So, each year, around this time, I create a 3 year vision of what I want my practice to look like. I write it in the present tense, as if it were 3 years later, that same day. For example, I wrote mine on January 3, 2006 as if it was January 3, 2009, and I talked about all the things that had happened since 2006. All the things Id accomplished in my business, with my finances, my investments, my family, my house, over the last 3 years, which obviously havent actually happened yet.

Such a cool exercise and it really gets the blood flowing when you read it back to yourself.

When you can clearly see yourself being there, you can see much more clearly how to get there. You can imagine the path to your dreams, then start to actually walk it. Play an active role in your own future. Imagine with passion and detail how you'd most like it to be. Ralph Marston

Your Assignment:

Your turn. Create a 3 year vision dated January 6, 2009. Do it today. Your 3 year vision must be one that will literally PULL you into your future, will scare you just a little bit, and make your heart beat a little faster than normal whenever you read this.

Make your 3 year vision very specific, realistic and a big STRETCH (thats whats going to move you forward quicker than you would if you didnt have it.) If youre right brained, use bullet points for categories such as these:

• Business/Clients
• Marketing
• Financial/Revenues
• Personal
• Family
• Spiritual
• Fun
• Health

If youre left-brained, then write freely, and remember to keep it all grounded in the specific, with lots of MEASURABLES and TANGIBLES thrown in there so you can keep track of your progress over the next 3 years (thats what I do).

One last thing. Make sure to write in the present tense as if it were todays date 3 years from now If it doesnt scare you or get your mind racing, then its probably not enough of a stretch.

By the way, I just looked back to last years 3 year vision and I was SHOCKED to see how many of the goals in my 3 year vision Id already achieved in just a little over a year. This stuff really works!!

Once youve done your 3 year vision, its time to get marketing in a big way for 2006. Are you ready?

2006 Fabienne Fredrickson

Fabienne Fredrickson

Using the very principles she teaches, Fabienne Fredrickson went from a mediocre private practice to a practice that was bursting at the seams, in less than 8 months! She then did it again with a second practice a year later, again filling it to capacity in less than 8 months.

Fabienne Fredrickson is the founder of ClientAttraction.com and creator of The Client Attraction System?, the most complete one-on-one Client Attraction training program for private practices and small businesses in North America.

Fabienne is also the celebrated author of the Client Attraction Home Study System? entitled ?How to attract ALL the clients you need? and ?The Secrets of Networkers".

Fabienne is known for combining a unique blend of innovative, straight-shooter, no-fluff strategies that really work, with an endless compassion for small businesses owners that are rarely seen together.

Her high-energy, cut-to-the-chase style keeps her audiences literally spellbound and taking copious notes. Fabienne?s motto about filling one?s practice quickly is, "If I can do it twice, you can do it too!" and her unique ability is getting people who?ve never had real success in attracting clients to take immediate action on a systematic basis to produce a full practice with more clients, in record time, every time.

She is a well known and respected expert on marketing for small businesses and speaks nationally to audiences whose members are looking for more clients, in record time, every time.