I am feeling so discouraged right now. I spent a lot of time over the past month trying to sign a new client. There was a proposal followed by questions, meetings, emails, conference calls and more questions. Just when I thought I had the job, I found out it went to someone else.

I was counting on this work and really put everything I had into it. I really need the money I would have made. What do I do now? I don’t have any other prospects. I feel frustrated and sad and I just want to quit.

Wow. Been there, done that. We have all had times where things didn’t go our way. Sometimes big things, like this. Rejection at any time can feel like you were punched in the stomach, and it is especially hard to take when you really need the work (and the money–mostly the money!).

Back in the early days of my business I encountered a situation very much like this. I had what seemed like a sure thing. I interviewed with the client and they liked what I proposed. I went back and met with others at the company and everyone was enthusiastic. We were discussing terms and a timeline. Then, nothing. I called a few times and finally got in touch with my contact who told me that they had hired someone else. I was devastated. Not only did I think I had the contract, business was slow right then and I really needed it.

What got me through was the promise of another opportunity. Even though I was sure the first contract was going to happen (and it would have kept me quite busy) I had other possibilities in the works. Sure enough, one of them came through within the next week, with others falling in line after that.

The lesson I learned from this was to always have more than one client in the pipeline. It can be tempting to stop marketing once you think you have enough work lined up to keep you busy for a while. But some of those clients may not come through and, even if they do, the work will run out sometime. Always have more waiting in the pipeline.

That is good advice for the future, but what about now? Let’s figure out how to take care of your immediate problem then plan for the future.

The immediate problem may be that without this client you won’t have the money to pay your bills. If that is the case, you need to deal with that NOW. Find a way to earn money. You might:

• Call past clients and see if they could use your help now.
• Put together a package of products and/or services and offer it at a special price.
• Sell your stuff on eBay or CraigsList. Or hold a garage sale.
• Offer your services through CraigsList, WarriorForum or other places where you can advertise inexpensively.
• Contact colleagues to ask if you can support them by assisting on their projects.
• Get a part-time job.

You can not effectively focus on your business if you are worried about the electricity being shut off, so do what you have to do to earn the money you need to live.

The other side of the current situation is your emotional state. You feel depressed and scared and unsure of yourself—not the strongest position to be in when you want to attract business. People do not respond positively to desperation, so do not talk about how much you need to earn money or that you don’t know what you are going to do if someone doesn’t hire you. You have just found yourself with an unexpected opening in your schedule and you are looking to fill it.

Give yourself a pep talk, put a smile on your face and get out there and look for clients. Keep smiling and you will start to believe you are happy and confident. Believe you are happy and confident and you will be.

The stuff in the previous section is the short-term strategy. The mid- to long-term strategy is not to find yourself in this situation again. Here is what you need to do so that you never find yourself at the mercy of a single client again.

Don’t put all of your eggs in one basket. Do not rely on one client to provide a large percentage of your income (What happens if you lose that client?) and do not focus on getting one client at a time. Always have many possibilities in the works. What is the worst that can happen if you are juggling several proposals and possible clients? The worst might be that you get offered more work than you can handle. At that point you can turn some of it down, hire people to help you serve your clients, or outsource some of your work. You already know the worst that can happen when you are working only one possible client.

Keep marketing even when you have plenty of business. There is always some amount of churn in any business. Clients come and go, circumstances change and your income can be affected. Make sure that when one part of your income disappears there is another opportunity waiting to take its place.

Diversify your income sources. That means not only that you should not depend on just one client to provide a large share of your income, you should look for sources of income that are not directly related to your primary business. For example, if most of your customers are in one industry actively seek customers from other sectors.

Create a base income that comes in whether you are working or not. Passive income. You want to know that you will have $300 or $700 or $1500 coming in every week no matter what. There are lots of ways to do that, more than I can address here. The short answer is to create some kind of intellectual property: write a book, create a training program, set up a website and run advertising, whatever. Start creating sources of passive income that will be there for you.

If business is slow, you need to take action right now to turn things around. Even if things are going well, you should be taking steps to keep them going well.

Based on that list, two hours were spent on actual paying work. The rest was administrative, overhead and wasted time. Although some of those other tasks are necessary (It doesn’t pay to do the work if you do not invoice and get paid for it.) it may be possible to have them done by someone other than you. Or you may be able to set up a more efficient system so you spend less time on those tasks.

Here is the really important part:

Ask yourself what you could be doing that would increase your revenues and profits. You may think you do not have the time, but somehow you find the time for the stuff that isn’t adding to your bottom line. You need to make time for the tasks that will make you more profitable.

Start scheduling one hour each day to be your “ROI Hour.” ROI stands for “return on investment” and this is where you focus on tasks with a high return on the time and money you invest in them. These tasks might include:

• Follow up on leads that will bring in new business.
• Create products to generate ongoing passive income.
• Implement an affiliate program to reward people who sell your products and  services.
• Identify and recruit affiliates who are a good fit for your program.
• Put a product or affiliate link or two on a high-traffic page.
• Create content to promote your product, service, business or website, then syndicate it through article directories and other sites.
• Set up an email list and autoresponder series to stay in touch with people who visited your site.
• List your products on a high-traffic site such as Amazon.com so more customers find-and buy-them.
• Distribute a press release about your business.
• Add upsells or product suggestions to your website or shopping cart.

These will not all be right for your business, and some will be better than others. For example, following up on leads to bring in new business may get some dollars coming in the door right now, but that is a one-time event. To earn more, you have to do it again.

Some of these will take a bit of work to set up, then just a little ongoing maintenance. To sell physical products on sites such as Amazon.com you will have to set up an account and add your product information, then ship product to them from time to time (perhaps monthly or quarterly). In return, you can receive some nice monthly paychecks.

Other ideas on the list may pay you back for months or years after you do them once. For example, by adding an affiliate link to one page of my site I generated nearly $100 a month for months. That may not sound like much, but it took all of 10 minutes to do something that has paid off with (so far) hundreds of dollars in pure profit. Does earning well over $2000 an hour sound good to you? That is what I call “high ROI.”

Also think about things that will free up your time and enable you to be more profitable in the long term. For example, you might spend time documenting how you do certain tasks so that you can easily turn those tasks over to a staff member or virtual assistant. That will give you more ROI Hours to make your business even more profitable.

How to Get Started

First, identify some high ROI tasks you can do. Look through the above list for ideas, or come up with one or more of your own. Next, block out an hour each day on your calendar to work on your high ROI tasks. Choose a time when you are at your best. Treat the appointment as seriously as you would a meeting with an important client.

Keep looking for more high ROI opportunities, then implement them. Do not limit yourself to one high ROI hour per day. Use some of your increased earnings to outsource some of your current tasks and use the time you free up for more high ROI actions.

This article originally appeared in my IdeaLady Insider newsletter. You can get ideas like this hot off the press with your free subscription. Sign up here.

Learning can take the form of reading books, researching on the web, attending seminars and workshops, completing a home study course, listening to audio books and teleseminars, watching webinars and videos, signing up for courses at colleges and other institutions, etc. There is a massive amount of information available that can help you to become more successful or enrich your life in other ways.

The danger in learning is that you can spend all of your time learning and not take the time to apply what you have learned. I know I can be guilty of this. I get excited about something new, dig in to learn all I can about it, then I want to move on to the next thing.

Learning is important, but it is more important to do something with the knowledge you acquire. Here is how you can put your knowledge to work:

Even before you tackle a new topic, ask yourself how you plan to use the information. You may not have a solid, actionable plan when you do not yet grasp the subject, but you should at least have a general idea of how the new knowledge will help you.

Choose your best way to learn. Some people learn best by reading or attending a class. Others like to listen to audio or watch video. And some simply dive in and learn by doing. I use each of these methods at times. My choice may depend on what I am trying to learn, or simply what resources are available to me. Be aware of your learning style so you can get information in the way that is best for you.

Do not wait until you know “everything” to put your new expertise to work. There will always be one more book to read, one more class to take, one more website to explore, etc. As you learn new things, put your knowledge to work right away.

Watch for actionable tips. Many times, the most valuable information I get is in the form of little steps I can take to make a difference. Sometimes these tips take only minutes to implement, but have long-lasting effects on my productivity and profits. When you discover an action you want to take, make a note and put a giant star next to it. Then put it in place as soon as you can.

Reinforce what you learn. Take notes, do a review or whatever works best for you to help you retain what you learned. Many people find that the act of taking notes helps them learn more effectively, because restating the lesson causes them to internalize the information. If you are studying with a buddy, take the time to discuss what you are learning.

Know when to quit. If as you learn you determine that what you are learning is not useful to you, quit. You do not have to finish everything you start. Find something that will work better for you.

When we stop learning, we stop growing. Follow your curiosity to discover ways to make your business and your life better.

1.More often than not when anyone complains about anything there’s an opportunity wrapped up in the complaint.

Many businesses were created in response to complaints. People complained that something they wanted was not available, or it was hard to get, or the quality wasn’t up to their standards, or…whatever the complaint, the response can be the creation of a successful new product or service.

2.Listen when other people complain about situations. Make it standard procedure to turn the coin over—see what opportunity is spelled out on the other side.

Ask yourself, “How could this complaint be addressed?” Think about solutions you could offer.

3.Listen when you yourself kick about little “personal” things that get your goat. When you act to correct these annoyances you not only get rid of the bother, but it can touch off a whole new attitude for the constructive handling of all sorts of things that bother you.

How often do you grouse about not being able to find things, or that you can’t make your computer do what you want it to do. A day spent with an organizer could solve the first problem, and a computer class at your local college could resolve your other complaint. A little time invested now could make you much more productive—and stop your complaints!

4.Remember that when we refuse to do anything but complain about things that bother us we perpetuate an endless cycle of frustration.

Are you going to continue to complain about that $#@%^# computer, or are you going to take action?

5.Get things out of your system by crabbing about things first if you must—but then ask yourself, “How can I capitalize on this?”

OK, sometimes we just want to bitch. So do a little complaining. Set a timer, and let yourself whine and moan for seven minutes. Then stop and come up with a solution. (You might find it hard to keep complaining for a full seven minutes when you realize how silly you sound and that your complaining isn’t getting you anywhere.)

6.When something about your work doesn’t suit you, be sure to turn the coin over. Here’s your chance to go to town in an area that you yourself control.

Don’t like your job? Bored with your business? Find ways to challenge yourself and make things more interesting.

7.Remember, there is not just one opportunity on the other side of the coin—there are often several.

In school, we were taught that there is one correct answer to every question. In life, there can be dozens or even hundreds of workable solutions.

The next time you hear yourself or someone else complain, stop and ask, “So what am I going to do about this? Where is the opportunity for me to do something exciting and wonderful?”

Here’s how…

First of all, start working on your visibility today. The sooner you do so, the sooner you will have a group of raving fans. In the meantime, though, you can sell your products and services by borrowing someone else’s audience. No, there is nothing illegal, immoral or fattening about this. In fact, everyone wins!

The most important part of building your fan base is to start building an email list. Only add people who have chosen to subscribe. I use Aweber to maintain this mailing list. They make it easy to add a subscription box to your web site and start signing people up. Give people a reason to subscribe–a free special report, tip sheet, audio or other goodie they will value but that costs little or nothing for you to provide.

While you are building your audience, you can find customers by borrowing audiences from other people and customers. Here are a few of my favorite ways:

Let another organization promote your event. Many years ago, I started presenting seminars in Houston through Leisure Learning Unlimited. They promote the seminars, handle registrations and payment, and provide a place. I show up and talk. We split the fees paid, and they get the lion’s share. But I get access to their audience: the hundreds of thousands of people who get their catalogs. You can also do this with non-profit organizations, colleges and others who have built-in audiences.

Let someone else sell your products. Sell your books, ebooks, audio products and more on Amazon.com and through other retailers. Get affiliates to sell your products online.

Joint venture with someone. Help them create a product that both of you will sell. When they promote it to their audience you not only get sales, you start building a larger audience for future products. Keep in mind that in exchange for borrowing their audience, you may do the bulk of the work in creating the product. The results can be worth it, though.

Get started now and create the success you want.

Although many people have seen their financial situation, and thus their spending patterns, change, there is still a lot of spending going on. And when the economy bounces back (and it will) you want to be positioned to make the most of it.

In a previous article, I talked about finding opportunities in a down economy. Here are some ways you can attract customers to what you have to offer.

Repackage your products and services to make them more affordable. One way to entice customers is with a discount. However, a better way might be to offer a basic version with few or no options at a lower price than the full-featured version.

Cater to do-it-yourselfers. Many people are taking on tasks, such as home repairs, that in the past they would have hired someone else to do. If that is the trend in your industry, sell help to the do-it-yourselfers by selling information products (e.g., books, ebooks, audio and video, etc.), teaching classes (in person, teleseminars or webinars), putting together packages of the materials they need, or otherwise helping them to do it, rather than doing it for them. This can work well for almost any service business.

Reach out to a new market. It is famously said than when asked why he robbed banks, Willie Sutton replied, “Because that’s where the money is.” Go where the money is. Is there a market that needs what you offer and can afford to pay you?

Reach out to other businesses. Are there businesses in a complementary field that you could team up with to jointly provide services? That automatically cuts your marketing costs by at least 50%, and brings your business to the attention of new customers.

Create new sources of revenue. Diversification is always good, so look for new ways to generate income. Develop a new product that serves the current needs of your clients. Include advertising on your website or blog. (Yes, advertisers are still spending money.)

Invest in the future. If you have the cash, invest in ways that will prepare you to take the lead as the economy improves (e.g., equipment, materials, space, people). If you have more time than money, use the time to position yourself: create content for your website, start blogging, update your marketing materials, fill in the gaps in your knowledge, write a long-term business plan and begin implementing it.

Times of economic upheaval are not only times of crisis, they present great opportunities, too. But if you are deep in your shell you will not see them.

The fact is that if you can help people get what they want, they will find a way to pay you in any economy. People are still spending money, but they are making different choices than they have in the past.

Keep in mind that “downsizing” spending can mean greater opportunities for some businesses. For example, fewer people are splurging on expensive restaurant meals these days. However, some grocers have reported that they are selling more of their expensive cuts of meat, such as quality steaks. People who want a good steak may choose to cook one at home rather than going out to a fine dining restaurant. Bad news for the restaurant means good news for the grocer.

How can you find new opportunities for your business?

Listen to your customers. In some businesses, you may find that the help your customers need today is different from what they wanted from you in the past. How can you adjust to help them realize their dreams?

Solve new problems. The saying is that if you keep doing what you have always done, you will get the results you have always gotten. The idea is that you have to try new things in order to move forward. However, today you may find that if you do what you have always done you will start moving backwards. Old solutions to old problems will not work. Help customers with the needs they have now.

Find a way you can provide a substitute for a more expensive option. For example, if companies are cutting their travel and training budgets, could you provide lower-cost training options such as webinars and teleseminars? Can you help companies get more for less in any area, from telecommunications to advertising to shipping, supplies and other expenses? The same idea works for consumers, too. Can you offer an option that helps them make more money or spend less?

Get outside of your shell and look for the new opportunities that exist. They are everywhere, just waiting for you to find them.