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This weekend I had a special house guest... my mom came up to stay with me. Here we're eating lunch on the patio in this unsually warm weather. I assure you that wine glass was a normal size, although it looks huge in this picture!
 
My mom is an avid photographer and I enjoyed looking at the pictures of her 'kids.' No, not of my siblings, but her daycare kids. She has been a day care provider for 20 years! Although her clients are very different in terms of their finances, backgrounds and cultures one thing I've always admired is how my mom attracts her 'ideal' clients.

It reminded me of a class I taught last year. I was teaching a group of Practitioners  that came from a variety of backgrounds- hypnotherapy, EFT and conventional medicine to name a few. Apparently I said something during the class that offended one of the participants. About an hour after the teleclass I received an email.
 
"AnaMaria, you said on the teleclass that you only serve 'ideal' clients. It bothered me to hear you say that. Aren't we in the helping profession? Shouldn't we be open to assist whomever comes to us, even if they are less than 'ideal'?
 
Boy, was I glad this participant shared his concern! Firstly, because I always welcome feedback from my clients and participants so I can learn from their comments. But also so I could clarify what I mean when I say 'ideal,' in terms of our clients.
 
Often when we hear the word ideal we think perfect. Unblemished. Without problems or challenges. I know that is what I originally thought when I took a class from Michael Losier, the Law of Attraction guy, and he challenged the participants to only have 'ideal' clients.
 
"If I say I only want 'ideal' clients doesn't that mean I only take 'perfect' clients?" You might be wondering this, like I did. Hold that thought, I'll come back to it in a minute.
 
Most Holistic Practitioners have what I call a 'huge heart.' A desire to serve, to assist and to empower others in their healing and growing process. It doesn't matter what modality you're trained with, I've found that this desire to serve and connect is often a common factor in our field.
 
But with this passion to help can be the desire to serve whomever comes across our path, without discretion.  Here is what I often hear:
 
'She/he could so use my sessions'
'I know I could help them, if they would just come to me!'
'I love doing what I do, I'm happy to treat anyone'
 
The challenge with this willingness to 'serve anyone and everyone' is that Practitoners have not FIRST specified what inner qualities they require their clients to have BEFORE working with them. By inner qualities, I mean traits such as:

Being respectful (IE: by being on time for each session)

Honoring my policies (for example, if they need to re-schedule they give plenty of notice)

Valuing what I offer by paying me fees

Following through with any recommendations I've given

Open to refer other clients

Commit to a session package, rather than expect to solve all their problems in one session

Do you see how these inner qualities are describing a certain standard, no matter what the issue or challenge they are coming to you for? Wouldn't you be so excited to work with your client if they had the above 'ideal' traits? Of course you would!

Yes, they still have their problem or challenge that they are seeking our professional help for (food cravings, need nutritional guidance, back pain, phobias, unresolved grief, anxiety, etc.) but they also have ideal traits that make working with them a pleasure.
 
Here is your Success Assignment: Get Clear on the Traits of Your Ideal Client 
Write down all inner qualities that you desire your clients to have, see my list above to get ideas. You can also do a "Clarity through Contrast" exercise that I learned from Michael Losier. Write down all the traits you DON'T want in your clients and turn it into what you DO want. For example:

Don't Want/ Do Want                            
Clients that Quibble about my fees             Gladly pay my fees     
Patients or Clients that Blame Others         Takes responsibly      
Ungrateful and Complaining Clients           Appreciative and respecful
            
You CAN attract ideal clients, but you first have to get clear on the traits of these clients. When you do get clear you activate Law of Attraction to bring these clients to you. You also begin to place a higher value on yourself and what you offer and you become very 'client attractive.'
 
If you need assistance to getting clear on your ideal clients and attracting them consistently, join our Success Circle where I'll show you exactly how. Visit this site for more info: http://www.practicebuildinginstitute.com/successcircle.html 
  
 (c) 2009 AnaMaria Herrera, EFT Practitioner, Classical Homeopath and Expert Marketer
 
WANT TO USE THIS ARTICLE IN YOUR E-ZINE OR WEB SITE? You can, as long as you include this complete blurb with it: AnaMaria Herrera, Online Marketer and Director of Practice Building Institute publishes 'Practice Building Success' teaching Holistic Practitioners how to get clients and build their practice. For a f*ree audio and resources go to: www.PracticeBuildingInstitute.com
 


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