Much of the popular wisdom about how to succeed as an independent professional seems to center around saying yes. You’ll hear that you’re supposed to market yourself constantly in as many different ways as possible, network with everyone you can find, and take as many clients as possible in order to increase your earnings. The implication is that you should say yes to every opportunity. Read more

For years, I heard that if you want to get something done, ask a busy person to do it. Implication: busy people are successful. I’m sure some people still subscribe to this philosophy. I don’t any more, especially when it comes to successful business ownership. Read more

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

If you’d like to fill out your GET CLIENTS NOW! Action Worksheet on your computer instead of on paper, you’ll find this Word version of the worksheet handy. You can download the file, fill in your action plan, and update as often as you’d like. Read more

In my early years as an entrepreneur, a wise mentor taught me about the “just enough” principle. “An entrepreneur’s to-do list is endless,” she said. “If you ever want to be able to work less than 60 hours a week, you need to figure out how much of anything is just enough.” Read more

Have you had a talk with your business lately? It’s easy to think of your business as something you thought up and that you control. Turns out, that’s not the whole story. 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

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

This sample consulting agreement is designed to cover one or more projects for the same client over a one year period. It includes definition of the consultant’s independent contractor status, payment terms, expense reimbursement, termination, confidentiality, 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