Most business people would rather have customers seek us out based on a strong personal referral from a satisfied customer, than go to the expense of mass advertising. It's called marketing through attraction. It's about offering phenomenal value. It's about being liked, about being respected, about having potential customers wanting to do business with us! It's very efficient, and it's very cool! The problem is that for most business leaders the specifics are often vague or confusing. Here are ten practical steps:

1. Have a Strong Personal Foundation. People who are stressed, worried, tired or not having fun are very unattractive. Keep yourself rested and have some fun every day. Laugh, enjoy your life, and fix or eliminate the things that get in your way. It doesn't cost, it pays!

2. Do Stuff You Enjoy. A huge key to attracting clients is to be in a business you love. If you love it enough, you'll get very good at it. You'll talk about it, connect with other people, and things will happen. Enjoy skiing? Run a ski resort! I've never met a business owner who works as hard as some people do on their golf game. Work with passion!

3. Superb Personal Boundaries. It's very hard to attract flies when you're swatting mosquitoes! Be sure the people in your personal and professional life know what you need in terms of space, privacy, respect and honesty. It makes life easier, and living easy is very attractive!

4. Extraordinary Personal Standards. Understand how you want to live, and settle for nothing less. Even in business, we are attracted to individuals who have chosen their path and are proceeding boldly. Your life is your own; live well, be bold.

5. Extreme Service. Good enough, never is! Even excellent performance is probably not enough to attract the clients you really want. Only extraordinary performance will draw the world to you! Give valuable extras, provide service before your clients ask. Learn from every mistake. Your customers, especially the unhappy ones, are your best R&D team! That attitude will draw the world to your door!

6. Delight in the Details. Both heaven and hell are in the details. Even a fabulous gourmet meal, thrown on a paper plate and tossed at the customer would not be attractive. Pay attention to the presentation, the packaging, the delivery. Track the details! Little things count.

7. Avoid the cost of delay. Arrange your business and your life so that you can respond to a great idea immediately! Having reserves of space, time, money, energy and creativity allows you to make that call, sign a contract, form a partnership or start a new venture literally over-night. To attract the world to you door, answer promptly when opportunity knocks!

8. Risk nothing! Or, to put it another way, take no significant risks, and always control the down-side. Having a reserve allows you to launch a website in a few hours' time with a tiny investment. If it doesn't work or you simply change your mind, you walk away with no significant loss. Arrange your business (and your life) so that when a great idea happens, you can respond quickly and easily. And if it goes sour, you simply smile and move forward.

9. Understand the Capillary System. The old way was to network with a hundred people and advertise to as many as you could reach. Now, you can give away thousands of newsletters, a hundred free T-shirts, sponsor a contest or let 100,000 people visit your website! Some will try only the free stuff, some will buy a book or tape or take a class, and some will go for the whole deal. Understand about free samples, introductory specials, and first class presentation!

10. Understand the law of large numbers. It costs no more to have thousands of people see your website every day than to have 6 visitors a month. A great website costs no more than a few newspaper ads, but a billion people can see it! No matter what you're selling, only about 1% of the population is going to buy. But now, that one percent can still add up to millions of people! Understand the "law of large numbers" and use it to attract the customers you want!

You can build a business by selling stuff, or by serving people's needs. Both will work in the short-run, but the really great fortunes, and the really great opportunities have always favored those who serve people. Build a "better mousetrap", and let the world beat a path to your door!

? Copyright 2003 by Philip E. Humbert. All Rights Reserved. This article may be copied and used in your own newsletter or on your website as long as you include the following information: "Written by Dr. Philip E. Humbert, writer, speaker and success coach. Dr. Humbert has over 300 free articles, tools and resources for your success, including a great newsletter! It's all on his website at: http://www.philiphumbert.com