How many of you made as much money as you wanted to last year? Don’t be shy; raise your hands. Hmm, I don’t see too many hands out there. What would you say is the cause of this gap between your goals and your earnings? Read more

Wouldn’t it be great to get your business in the news? Of course, you’d like to make sure it’s portrayed positively. How can you ensure that the media coverage you get showcases your business in the way that you want? Read more

This sample letter of agreement for paid speaking engagements covers payment arrangements, an advance deposit, cancellation and force majeure clauses, handouts, A/V requirements, and back-of-the-room sales. Read more

The best way to go about choosing your market niche depends a lot on the products and services you are selling. For self-employed professionals who market their own services, the formula for a solid niche is: target market + specialty + desire + affinity. Read more

Jan is a graphic designer who was always struggling to find good clients. “I could find plenty of people who needed my services,” she recalls, “but they thought my rates were too high. I either ended up agreeing to work for less, or they found someone else. And then when I did get the job, they took forever to pay me.”

Like many graphic designers, Jan’s marketing emphasized her business identity work — creating a company’s logo, business cards, and other collateral, with matching design elements. Her primary audience was new businesses who were just getting started. But then Jan had a brainstorm.

“I realized that the clients I was marketing to were people who didn’t have enough money to pay me,” says Jan. “They were startups with tight budgets. And since they hadn’t been in business long, they didn’t place much value on working with an experienced, high-quality designer. They were just looking for the lowest price.”

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If you’re answering calls, replying to emails and notes, responding to invitations, and receiving referrals and leads, it probably feels like you’re taking a lot of action to market your business. But it may be that a good deal of what you’re engaged in is actually RE-action. Read more

The Simple Yearly Planning Worksheet is a great way to organize your thoughts around your goals and planned actions for the coming year. If you start the process by reviewing your progress for the past year (for example, what you accomplished, Read more

Reading this article’s title, you might be saying to yourself right now: “I’m not a salesperson,” “I hate selling,” or “Why do I need to learn about what makes a salesperson great?” But let’s take a look at what it really means to be a salesperson Read more

Believe it or not, there are only five possible outcomes to any sales conversation. When one person (the salesperson) attempts to influence another person (the prospect) to make a purchase of any type, knowing there are only five outcomes that can happen should help you increase your sales. Read more

The end of each quarter is the perfect time to review what you’ve accomplished so far this year, what you have learned, and where you would like to go next. Set aside some time each quarter to conduct a review of your life, career, or business with this thoughtful exercise. Read more