How to be booked out in advance.

Want to know how to be booked out in advance? Maybe you are fed up with constantly worrying about having to sign new clients otherwise you won’t reach your financial targets. Or maybe you’ve been fully booked in the past but then you found yourself falling into a feast or famine situation and you are ready to consistently be booked out. If so, you are in the right place. Keep on reading to find out how to be booked out in advance.

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HOW TO BE BOOKED OUT IN ADVANCE

If you want your business to be booked out in advance then you need to focus on supply and demand. As a service-based business, the aim should always be for there to be more demand than supply. When there is more demand than supply you have the power. You’ll be in a better position to increase your prices and you’ll have the opportunity to be able to get clients to book in to work with you weeks, or even months, in advance.

 

Have established what your version of fully booked is 

Fully booked or being booked out looks different for every business. In order to be booked out in advance you need to be clear about how many clients you work with at the same time or within a certain period of time. Here are some examples:

 

Fully Booked Financial Coach 

This financial coach offers a 3-month package that involves weekly calls. They restrict their calls to 3 working days and feel the max they can work with is 3 clients per day. Therefore, 9 clients is the maximum they can work with simultaneously.

 

Fully Booked Copywriter

This copywriter offers retainer packages for ongoing blog and email writing. In addition, they offer bespoke packages for website and launch campaigns.

For stability, they like to have 4 retainer clients. Outside of retainer work they are able to work an additional 10 hours per week on project work and then they are fully booked.

 

Fully Booked Accountant

This accountant has all clients on a monthly subscription. Throughout the majority of the year they are able to easily work with 15 clients and still have free time. It would be tempting for this accountant to think her version of fully booked was 20 or 25. However, during business periods (when filing is required) 15 is a stretch. So 15 is their version of fully booked.

 

Hopefully, those examples will help you to create your version of fully booked. It is important for you to be realistic about what you can commit to in terms of the number of clients you can properly support simultaneously.

 

Also, it is important that your version of fully booked still leaves enough time in order to do other essential business activities: marketing, sales, admin, operations, finance etc.

 

Establish whether you need to improve your marketing, sales or both

Once you are clear on your version of fully booked it is easy for you to calculate how many more clients you need in order to go from where you are to fully booked, which is the first step towards being booked out in advance.

 

If you aren’t fully booked at the moment then you need to work out why that is. In some instances that will be because there isn’t enough demand for your business, which means you have a marketing problem. If you are getting enquiries or generating leads but struggling to convert them into clients then you have a sales problem.

 

Look back over your data for the last 3 months. Write down how many enquiries/leads you had and how many turned into clients. Seeing those numbers should allow you to see whether you have a marketing problem, sales problem or a problem with both.

 

Increase demand through your marketing

In most cases, in order to be booked out in advance, you’ll need to increase the demand for your services. This is achieved through marketing. When you are adjusting your marketing there are usually two areas to focus on – your messaging and your frequency. Do you have a business where every time you do marketing about your service you get enquiries, but you hardly ever market your business? That would suggest that your messaging is strong, but you need to increase the frequency.

 

If you are marketing your business multiple times a week, but not getting many leads/enquiries then this would suggest that your messaging isn’t working or your marketing isn’t reaching enough people.

 

WANT TO BE FULLY BOOKED, FOR MONTHS IN ADVANCE, AND STILL WORK WITH AMAZING CLIENTS?  I specialise in helping solo coaches, consultants and online service providers to build thriving online businesses where they are fully booked with dream clients. If you want to smash your financial goals whilst not compromising on the type of clients you work with then I can help you. To find out more about my 1:1 Business and Marketing Mentoring click here. To discuss your business and your specific needs book a call here.

 

Make it known that you are fully booked and taking bookings in advance

You improve your marketing, you create more demand, you convert your leads and hurrah you are now fully booked. This is the moment where lots of business owners make the mistake of reducing their marketing. They are fully booked and busy working with clients so don’t prioritise continuing to market their business. However, it is that behaviour that results in businesses getting stuck in a feast or famine cycle. You can read more about how to avoid the feast or famine cycle here.

 

If you want to be booked out in advance then when you become fully booked it is the time to ensure other potential clients know that you are fully booked. When potential clients think they can work with you at any time (because you are always available) there is no urgency. However, as soon as you are fully booked they’ll realise that your services are in demand and that if they want to work with you in the future they’ll need to actually take action and get booked in.

 

Some common ways to make it known you are fully booked and are now booking in clients in advance are:

• Adding a banner on the top of your website that says when you are taking bookings for
• Make announcement posts on social media that make it clear you are fully booked and now taking bookings in advance
• Change your bio on social media platforms to say when you are taking bookings from
• Inform your mailing list

 

Have a way for clients to book in advance

You’re fully booked and excited to be booked out in advance. Before that can happen you’ll need to have a process or system that will allow you to be booking clients in advance.  The right process or system will depend on your business.

 

For example, if we go back to the three business owners mentioned earlier.

 

The Financial Coach

The financial coach has a 3-month package. This is a fixed period of time so it easy to know when a client’s package will come to an end and she can take on a new client. This would make it easy for the coach to be able to book clients in advance. She’d be able to make a choice about whether the payment is upfront or whether a deposit is used to secure the place.

 

The Copywriter

The copywriter had retainer clients and offered bespoke packages. If she was fully booked with retainer clients then she won’t necessarily know when they will stop working with her. In this instance, it would be best to have a waitlist that people can sign and when a place becomes available they are notified. You can find out more about creating and using a waitlist here.

 

For the bespoke packages she’d be able at the time of having a discussion with the potential client be able to let them know when she can do the work and take a deposit at that point.

 

The Accountant

Given that all of the accountant’s clients are on retainers the best option would be to set up a waitlist so when a space is available she can notify people who are interested.

 

 

That’s it! You now know how to be booked out in advance.

Being booked out weeks or even months in advance is a great place to be in as a business owner. To wake up and know you are fully booked today, but also have clients booked in for upcoming months gives you a level of predictability. When you are confident about your level of income for the upcoming months you’ll be able to make better financial decisions in your business. You’ll be able to invest with confidence and it might allow you to increase your take-home pay.

 

Being booked out in advance also gives you the opportunity to think about increasing your prices, as well as being more choosey about the clients you decide to work with.

 

In the comments, I would love to hear what your biggest takeaway has been.

 

WANT TO GROW A THRIVING ONLINE SERVICE-BASED BUSINESS  AS A SOLOPRENEUR?  As a solopreneur, there is a lot you need to consider and juggle in order to build a thriving business. It is very different to running a business with a team, but just because you are one person doesn’t mean you need to reduce your goals – you just have to get strategic! I’m a Chartered Marketer that specialises in supporting solo coaches, consultants and online services providers to build businesses they love, and support their long-term financial wealth. I have a 1:1 business and marketing mentoring  programme where I specifically help solopreneurs to be more strategic and smash their business goals in the process. To find out more about my 1:1 business and marketing mentoring programme click here And to discuss your precise needs book a free, no-obligation, introduction call to discuss your business here.