Recently, two women in one of my Get Clients Now! classes reported that prospects responded to their follow-up calls by saying, “I’m so glad you called.” These women realized that they probably would have lost the business if they waited for these prospects to call them. Read more

When business is slow, every lead has to count. If there may be fewer opportunities for you to pursue, you need to take maximum advantage of every one. When you pursue a prospective client all the way through the sales cycle, but in the end they choose someone else, the rejection can be painful. “Why wasn’t it me?” you keep asking yourself. Read more

Remember the old “pop quiz” when you were in school? Wasn’t it a great feeling when you were prepared with all the answers? On the other hand, it was a real drag when you were caught off guard and didn’t have a clue. Read more

Have you ever stopped to notice what habits you’ve gotten into, especially around work? Habits have been on my mind lately, in particular how to develop good habits. My fascination began when I read The Power of Habit by Charles Duhigg, and I recently learned more about habits when a colleague introduced me to the work of B.J. Fogg, a teacher at Stanford and an expert in business innovation and habit formation. 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

Several years ago, when Starbucks used to run quotes on their cups, I received this message on my cup one day:

The Way I See It #76: The irony of commitment is that it’s deeply liberating – in work, in play, in love. The act frees you from the tyranny of your internal critic, from the fear that likes to dress itself up and parade around as rational hesitation. To commit is to remove your head as the barrier to your life.
~ Anne Morriss (Starbucks customer from NYC)

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Once you know what you might want to delegate (see my article Dare to Delegate for an introduction to effective delegation), it’s time to start to think about whom to delegate it to. Depending on what the task, project or area of responsibility is, Read more

Let’s call the client Sandy. She was first referred to me by an instructor in the professional training program she was taking. (Hint #1: Develop referral partnerships with other businesses and professionals who serve your clients.) Read more

Many magazines, newsletters, and websites ask that you query them before submitting an article. When a publication’s submission guidelines request queries, don’t try to skip this step by sending a completed article. Instead, compose a query letter like Read more

This is not your typical fishing story. This is about fishing for a whale, and not the kind that lives in the sea. A whale is the kind of client that can make a significant positive impact on your bottom line. There are three strategies that can hook you a whale: Read more