When looking at how to sell their services, most entrepreneurs and business owners think that they either have to pound relentlessly or wait patiently. Either they send out tons of emails, spend lots of marketing dollars, and attend every networking event in their area in an attempt to find business, or they "work by word of mouth" and take a passive approach, hoping that an existing client will email with a hot lead for them. And in both cases, they find themselves struggling. Guiding Prospects These days the sales process has changed. Access to online content has put most of the buying process firmly in the hands of prospects and … [Read more...]
Networking in the 21st Century…For Solopreneurs and Freelancers Is Now Available!
Networking in the 21st Century... For Solopreneurs and Freelancers: Why Your Network Sucks and What to Do About It is out now! It will be available FREE on Amazon Kindle between 12:01 am November 17th and 11:59 pm November 19th If any of my work has helped you in the past, here’s an easy way to return the favor. Every single mention or download of the book on the launch day helps this new book find its way in the world. How to help TODAY: Get the book for free on launch day :) on Kindle Post on Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn with the link: http://amzn.to/1N9dzmd Email your friends and family who might find it valuable Post an Amazon.com … [Read more...]
Entrepreneurs – Stop Waiting for Clients to Come!
"Is this Heaven?" "No, it's Iowa." Every time another baseball postseason ends, I'm reminded of the quiet corn field in Iowa that becomes a baseball diamond in Field of Dreams. In the beginning of the movie, Ray hears the famous line, "If you build it, he (his father) will come". Ignoring mounting debt and the doubt of those around him, Ray builds the baseball field. And at the end of the movie, it switches from "he will come" to "they will come" as cars line the road to pay a few dollars to visit the field... and take care of Ray's money problems. Oh, Hollywood. They Won't Come Just Because You Built It! Too many new … [Read more...]
To Stay or Go? How American Professionals are Like Scottish Voters
Like many Americans, I watched the reporting on Scotland's independence referendum last week with fascination. What fascinated me, though, was how close the election was. With a final vote tally of approximately 55%/45%, the decision to stay in the UK was hardly a landslide (although David Cameron, in a post right here on LinkedIn, said that the results were "clear". Clear, yes, but hardly a mandate - you have to love how politicians spin things). There wasn't an overwhelmingly answer to the question of whether Scotland should remain part of the larger entity or go its own way. The response was decidedly mixed. There wasn't a strong … [Read more...]
Someone in my Network is Talking Smack about Me!
"Don't wrestle with a pig. You both get dirty and the pig enjoys it." - Mark Twain I was talking with my massage therapist the other day, and as often happens, our conversation turned toward business development. At one point (right when she was working on the knot in my right shoulder), she shares, "Someone in my networking is bad-mouthing me, and I don't know what to do!" This is a big problem for her, because as a solo practitioner, she gets all of her clients on her own. She has built up a robust business solely on relationships in our community - both through client referrals and from the recommendations of various centers of … [Read more...]
Create a 19,900% Advertising Bump in 67 Seconds
A few months ago, I went to a birthday dinner for a friend at an Italian restaurant in Chicago's Lincoln Park neighborhood. It was a fun night - great conversation, delicious food, and pretty tasty wine. I'd never been to Saporia Trattoria before, but I had a good experience and I said to my girlfriend as we were leaving, "Hey, we should come back here sometime." Now, Chicago has a lot of great restaurants. So even though we enjoyed ourselves, it wasn't necessarily on the top of our list to get back. But I had signed up for their mailing list when we were paying the bill (I get excited when small businesses do marketing right so it's … [Read more...]
3 Questions to Ask Before Solving ANY Problem
A while back, I heard a stand-up comedian talk about the 3 questions you should always ask before you tell your significant other anything: Does this need to be said? Does this need to be said right now? Does this need to be said right now by me? The joke works because many of us don't think before we speak and act. (These questions are also great to ask in professional relationships, but that's for another article.) Solve Business Problems Intentionally A place you can see this lack of forethought in the business world is the rapid-fire manner in which entrepreneurs and business owners solve problems. For those … [Read more...]