One of the drawbacks of becoming more visible on the web is that you may start to receive much more unwanted email. Most of us use mail filters provided by our ISP or installed as an add-on service, but we still get far too many bulk emails. We want our customers to be able to reach us, but not the spammers. What can we do? Read more

Is it human nature to keep making the same choices over and over again? Perhaps with the wisdom collected over years of experience we weed out what doesn’t appeal to us and choose to stick to what we know works. There’s comfort and safety in routine and the familiar. But boxing ourselves into a limited repertoire may begin to wear thin. Read more

You’ve heard it many times before: you need to sell benefits to your clients, not features. Whether you are writing copy, talking about what you do, or engaged in a sales presentation, it’s the benefits and results of the service you provide that you should emphasize, rather than its features or how it works. But it’s not always easy to get this right. Read more

You’ll often see the advice that you should make a profit and loss forecast for your business, so you can set appropriate prices for your products and services, and accurately predict your expenses. But what does such a forecast look like for an independent professional? Read more

The GET CLIENTS NOW! book was written with action groups and reading groups in mind. The 28-day program outlined in the book is ideal for use by a group of independent professionals working together, and the book has been adopted as a text by entrepreneurial support groups Read more

I talk with a lot of marketing strategists who extol the importance of branding for a company’s success but it’s like pulling teeth to drag most of them down from the conceptual clouds and get specific about exactly what they mean. Read more

One of the most powerful ways to gain more exposure for your business is to offer your services as a public speaker. Public speaking can help grow your business quickly by building your visibility and credibility at the same time. Read more

Killer copy frightens me. Some days I think if I see one more hype-laden email, web page, or direct mail piece promising to solve all my problems for only a small investment with a value of ten times its price, I’m going to run away screaming. Read more

Evaluating a new business concept is one of the least glamorous aspects of launching a new product, service, or enterprise. When you are excited about a new idea, you may not want to take the time to stop and examine it critically. New business ideas sometimes seem Read more

A good friend of mine is an information technology consultant. He’s been an independent contractor for the twenty-plus years I have known him, and gets all his consulting contracts through agencies. Even when he works a year or two for the same client, the agency takes 20-25% of what the client is paying for his services. I once asked him why Read more