For the Holistic Health Practitioner

For the Holistic Health Practitioner - Ask your clients to take three five-minute "breathing" breaks at the same time each day for one month. The prize? An extra session with you!

For the Career Coach - Create a two-week challenge that motivates your clients to complete their personal assessments and new career investigation assignments in record time. The prize? Dinner for two at an exclusive restaurant.

For the Professional Organizer - Challenge your women entrepreneur clients to clean out the clutter in five areas of their office in five days. The prize? A one-day trip to a local day spa.

The trick to making your contest or challenge work is to set the bar at a specific number or dollar amount, making it high enough so that reaching it feels like a stretch. Be sure to keep the timeframe 60 days or less (or people will lose motivation), and make the prize a coveted item, even if it is one they could buy it for themselves (because that's not the point).

Another small business marketing tip: Although you are supplying the prize you don't have to pay for it out of your own pocket. You can easily get another business to donate the prize, especially if you offer that business publicity by mentioning them in your newsletter, writing a press release or giving them a glowing testimonial they can use on their website.

It's human nature to want to "best" ourselves, so why not take advantage of this innate quality through contests? Use contests to help your client create accountability, break through perceived limits, and create extraordinary results for themselves, thanks to your creative inspiration!