“What’s wrong with my marketing?” That’s a question I often hear from clients, students, and readers. It’s a useful query, as there frequently are areas where you could do better at marketing and sales. But while the question “what’s wrong” can uncover your marketing problems, it doesn’t always suggest answers. You may need to ask what you’re doing right. Read more

Are cold calls a good idea or a complete waste of time? What about pitching business via letters and emails – does writing to strangers pay off, or should you focus on contacting people you already know? When marketing online with a newsletter, blog, or social networking, should you reach out to folks who haven’t heard of you or stick to your existing network? Read more

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

As a business owner, you know how important it is to reach out and make new connections, and it’s likely a lot of your efforts are directed toward outreach. No doubt, you’ve also heard about the importance of following up, and have that as part of your plan, too. While I know it can be hard to do the outreach, it may be somewhat surprising to learn that follow-up seems to be as hard, if not harder, for many people. If this sounds familiar to you, read on! Read more

Never underestimate the power of a thank you. Recently, I thanked someone for helping me solve a technical problem. She replied to my note of thanks by inviting me as a guest speaker for a group she chairs. I didn’t even know she chaired this group and I had never considered speaking there. This speaking opportunity would never have occurred if I hadn’t taken a moment to say thanks. It started me thinking about how often saying thank you turns into paying business. Read more

You know you need to follow up with prospective clients, but you often find yourself putting it off. “I already called them three times,” you think. Or, “They never answer my emails anyway.” Or, “I hate hearing no.” Or, “I don’t want to bug them.” Or, “What do I say that’s new?”

It’s only natural to resist placing phone calls or sending more emails to prospects who didn’t return your last call, never seem to reply, may not be ready to buy, or might say they’re not interested. But here’s the good news. Calling and emailing prospects and asking them to hire you is not the only way to follow up!

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“I don’t have enough clients,” one of my students told me. “I’d love to put more effort into marketing, but I’m so busy, I don’t have the time.” This independent professional’s dilemma might seem humorous, but it’s no joke. I’ve heard this complaint repeatedly from professionals and small business owners. 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

The classic approach to placing follow-up calls comes with some challenges. The usual image of a follow-up call is to pick up the phone and ask your prospects, “Are you ready to hire me?” When you’re calling potential referral sources, the question may become, “Got any referrals for me? For most independent professionals, this process isn’t much fun. In fact, it’s disagreeable enough that we may avoid it entirely. Read more

The best way to get your business to grow is to plant seeds — seems obvious, right? Seeds of ideas in prospective clients’ minds, seeds of opportunity with institutions that could use your services, seeds of relationship with like-minded souls that could grow into something good for you, personally and professionally. You may be thinking, “Yes, of course, I know that,” and I know you do. And yet, I see really great business people not planting consistent seeds and suffering the consequences. Read more