You know about the 80/20 rule, right? It’s the guideline that 80% of your return comes from 20% of your investment. For example, 80% of your referrals come from 20% of the people in your network. 80% of your new business comes from 20% of your prospects. 80% of your new contacts come from 20% of the networking activities you engage in. And so on. Read more

Do you find sales and marketing to be a constant struggle? It doesn’t have to be that way. The most successful professionals make it look easy because they have found a way to market themselves that is effortless. Perhaps you have tried to copy what those successful people were doing, and it didn’t work for you. Here’s why. Read more

In this audio interview hosted by Dave Summers of the American Management Association, C.J. talks about the biggest marketing mistakes most entrepreneurs make, building an effective marketing system, how to overcome your fears of self-promotion, Read more

Have you ever considered using public speaking as a way to get noticed and get clients? Does the idea of standing up in front of a group, even a small one, strike fear into your heart? Or maybe you love it, yet haven’t explored using it in your business. And what is public speaking, anyway? Read more

Many independent professionals believe cold calling is a complete waste of time, while others claim their cold calls produce plenty of sales. Why is there so much disagreement about the effectiveness of this approach to selling professional services? 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

I am not a sales and marketing guru. I’ve written two books on marketing and taught thousands of people how to sell themselves, but really, I don’t know more about sales and marketing than most of you. Read more

It’s only natural to emulate successful people. You’d like to copy their success, so it seems it would make sense to copy their approach to sales and marketing. But modeling your marketing after the gurus in your field may not get you where they are. Read more

A new client who is starting a business mentioned that while she was putting a lot of time and effort into her online marketing and networking, she had yet to see any tangible results (i.e. clients). She asked if she needed to add some offline activities, such as attending networking events Read more

Have you ever considered that prospective clients who are referred to you are much more likely to become your customers than those who come to you in any other way? The endorsement of a referral carries so much weight that referred prospects ask fewer questions about your qualifications, are less likely to shop for the lowest price, and typically make their buying decisions much more quickly. Read more