Years ago when I was a trainer for Stephen Covey and teaching The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People, the questions most commonly asked by managers of the Fortune 100 companies was "How can I free up my time, while still building the business?"

Believe it or not, it took 3 days for these very bright executives to realize the answer was not in working harder, but rather in working from a carefully chosen set of priorities around what is most important in their life at large.

Successful marketing is a process of building a relationship of value and trust through a series of sequenced-steps.

Think of it like dating. You would never ask someone to marry you on the first date, would you? Please, I hope not!

Marketing is like dating. You go on several dates to explore the possibility of starting a relationship.

Several weeks ago, there was a knock on the door and I opened it to find a young man beaming from ear to ear. He was so enthusiastic as he politely asked me how my day was going, that I couldn't help but laugh and engage in conversation with him.

He asked me a very powerful question, "Miss, do you believe in second chances?" (If he only knew my work, I thought to myself.

In our business if we are not continually growing and learning - we're slowly dying. Unless we grow, learn, change and act, the world will pass us by.

The same is true when it comes to marketing our business. Since marketing is the life-force of our business, we must be consistent and continuous with marketing.

Tip #1 Find Out Your Prospect's Deepest Pain

Remember a time when you couldn't sleep for worrying about something? Do you know what keeps your prospects and clients awake at night? Find out and target your solutions around these concerns.

Then you must get their attention and arouse their emotions!

As I've said many times: "Marketing costs the same whether it works or not." So the question becomes, how do you get your marketing to work effectively? Here's a proven, 5-step formula to marketing success:

1. Grab their attention!
2. Arouse their interest and emotions.

I just returned from LA and speaking at Mark Victor Hansen's Mega Speaking Event. It was a weekend packed full of bright speakers influencing a crowd of 400 some experts who want to learn how to get their information out in the world.

I always enjoy listening to these speakers delivering their message on stage and their "strategies for influencing an audience.

We all know the definition of insanity--doing the same thing over and over, expecting different results. Are you wondering how to get different results in your business, while continuing to do what you've always done? If so, we need to talk.

You see, for results to change, the steps leading to them must change. We must change what we do! Ok you're saying: "Like I don't know that already?"

Over simplified yes, but I have to tell you, my experience coaching thousands of professionals for the past 15 years has shown me this is a global problem.

Suppose you own a bakery. Every day you hit the floor running at 4 am to bake pastries, desserts and cookies. Your pastries and desserts are the best tasting in town.

Each customer walks in, buys one or two of your delectable goodies, raves how good they taste and drops down a $5 bill. It takes A LOT of customers coming to your bakery to make a good living with this business model.

In your role as a businessperson providing products and services, there are only 3 reasons for anyone to do business with you:

1. To identify if your product or service meets their needs (then they will buy from you).
2. To benefit from your products and services (then they will return again).
3. To feel inspired by your products and services (then they will refer others to you).

When talking to prospects or new clients, I always ask the question, "Can you give me the three minute version of your business?" That question can get someone talking for hours--literally--about their business, expertise and products.

No doubt your business is very exciting to you, or you wouldn't be doing it. However, when I pose this question, I am listening for whether they are speaking the language of marketing or the language of their business.