What do you do when a networking acquaintance invites you to meet for coffee? Do you find yourself saying yes, because you’ve been told that networking is about building relationships and getting to know people? At the same time, do you find yourself wondering if this is the most effective use of your time? Read more

“I’ll have a grande, no foam, non-fat, six-pump, caramel, extra hot, latte macchiato.” This is what I actually heard someone order at a local famous-name-brand coffee shop. What has the world come to? In order to make it through the day, we have to order Read more

One of the worst marketing mistakes an independent professional can make is creating a marketing plan that consists of activities you don’t enjoy and aren’t good at. There’s no boss looking over your shoulder, so who’s going to make you do things you don’t want to? It’s much more likely that a plan you find distasteful and difficult simply won’t be executed.

Professionals often tell me they don’t like marketing or selling, but many times I find that what they truly dislike is the tactics they’ve been trying to use. A simple change of technique can frequently do wonders to turn around an anti-marketing attitude. The best marketing and sales tactics are the ones you will actually perform instead of avoiding. If a marketing activity makes use of your natural talents and preferences, you’ll be much more likely to find it enjoyable, and therefore easy to do.

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Offering free samples to prospective clients is a powerful method of increasing the know, like, and trust factor that makes people buy. When you are selling a professional service, potential clients have no way to see, feel, or taste what you will actually deliver. Read more

In order to get booked as a speaker, an essential tool is a one-page description of your speaking topic, and a capsule bio describing your expertise. The example below will give you a model to follow. Read more

Why is it that some people seem to be naturals at selling, while others struggle to close every sale or even fail completely in a role that requires them to sell? In 1982, psychologist Martin Seligman, PhD, set out to answer that question for the Metropolitan Life Insurance Company. Seligman had been studying optimism and pessimism in the laboratory for almost 20 years when Met Life heard about his research. Could Seligman help them learn how to hire more effective salespeople, they asked? Read more

Entrepreneurs and consultants who fail to appropriately allocate their time and delegate tasks spend hours on activities and projects that drain their energy. They lose their creative edge; they can become frustrated and downright grouchy. Ultimately, by hanging on to tasks, Read more

What does nearly every independent professional wish for when marketing for new clients? They wish they could see results faster. Time is the worst enemy of a small business owner. I’m convinced that the day I chose to open my business, the clock started Read more

A helpful tool for presenting your services to prospective clients is a repertoire of success stories about the results your clients get from your work. Here’s a template and example for composing some success stories of your own. Read more

The classic approach to placing follow-up calls comes with some challenges. The usual image of a follow-up call is to pick up the phone and ask your prospects, “Are you ready to hire me?” When you’re calling potential referral sources, the question may become, “Got any referrals for me? For most independent professionals, this process isn’t much fun. In fact, it’s disagreeable enough that we may avoid it entirely. Read more