Have you ever thought about calling someone to offer them your services, or invite them to coffee, or some other business-y thing, only to put the phone down and get distracted doing something else? When I think about drawing a straight line from my activities to making money, direct contact is the #1 thing that comes to mind. Which leads the question, what is direct contact, why is it sometimes so hard to do, and why does it strike fear into the hearts of so many of us? Read more

One day, the phone just stopped ringing. At first, you may not have noticed it. You were busy serving your clients, keeping up in your field, and getting the bills paid, like all good professionals do. But then a project ended or a client quit, and you didn’t have a replacement waiting in the pipeline. Suddenly you realized that it had been quite some time since any new prospects were referred to you. Yikes, what’s going on? Read more

One of the most persistent barriers to success for self-employed professionals is fear of rejection. Sometimes this fear is quite conscious. You know that you are avoiding marketing and sales because you’re afraid your prospects will say no.

Other times the fear is lurking in the background, making an impact you’re not always aware of. You may find yourself procrastinating about making a phone call or setting up a sales appointment, and blame it on laziness or poor time management. Or you may avoid following up because you “don’t want to bug people.” Or perhaps it feels pushy to ask directly for a sale. Read more

The most powerful marketing technique available may cost you nothing. Getting other people to promote your business is not only the least expensive marketing you can find, it’s often the most effective. When people begin telling their friends about you, Read more

Have you developed a profile for who your best clients may be in the business-to-business marketplace? Do you know what kind of organizations need your service the most? Or what their biggest challenges are? Does your marketing strategy address these Read more

When you’re just starting out in business, it’s a safe bet that you need more clients. But what if you have been up and running for a while, and you’re still not making as much money as you would like? You may be in the habit of thinking that attracting new clients is the answer, but this isn’t always the case. Read more

Clients and students often ask me, “C.J., you always seem to have a million things going on. How do you keep track of it all?” Their questions imply that they believe I am more organized, focused, or productive than the average bear. Personally, I’m not so sure that’s true. You should see my desk, for example! But I do have a system, and in honor of New Year’s resolution-makers everywhere, I’m going to share it with y’all. 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

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

To increase your chances of getting your ezine or marketing emails past spam filters, it’s a good idea to ask your subscribers to “whitelist” your address with their email provider or spam filter. But many of your subscribers won’t know how to do this. Read more