One of the articles I've circulated over the years is an article about the power of thank-you notes. One subscriber, Duncan Shaw, recently sent me an email relating how this article had impacted his business. In recent years I have observed an increasing reliance on auto-responders, aWeber tools and other means for small business owners and marketers to try to leverage their … [Read more...] about The Power of a Thank You
What to Do When You’re Stuck and Need to Get Back on Track
In my Marketing Action Groups, a participant would often set a goal to perform a marketing activity such as writing an article or setting up a speaking engagement. And frequently they would get stuck or go off track. When this happened I often used my "bet your car" strategy: "You've said you'd do this for several weeks and you haven't. I realize you're stuck. But I also … [Read more...] about What to Do When You’re Stuck and Need to Get Back on Track
Using Call-to-Actions to Leverage Your Website
Ever go to a web site and find that after poking around a few pages you just click off and go to another site? Of course. It happens millions of times a day on the web. Why? Good question! If you can't get people to stick around your site and eventually contact you, your website is just taking up cyberspace. What does a results-producing website need? Let's start with … [Read more...] about Using Call-to-Actions to Leverage Your Website
How to Combat Skepticism
People are more skeptical than ever. They are skeptical about the government, business, professional sports, medicine, entertainment, media, religion and technology (to name just a few institutions that impact our lives daily). In the middle of all of that skepticism you attempt to market your services - you try to tell the world (or those in your market niche) how wonderful … [Read more...] about How to Combat Skepticism
How to Answer the “What do you do?” Question from Prospective Clients
One of the greatest confusions in talking about and marketing professional services is that we tend to answer the questions about our services at face value. This is a big mistake because what people ask and what they really want to know are two quite different things. So, if you answer the question they ask, they don't get the answers they want. Confusing? … [Read more...] about How to Answer the “What do you do?” Question from Prospective Clients
How to Do Follow-Up Calls
Whether you are selling software, services or other products, marketing often converges into one crucial action step: The Follow-Up Call. You can follow up at any stage of the marketing process: If you meet someone through networking and they show some interest, you can give them a call to explore that interest. If you forward some information to a prospect, such as an … [Read more...] about How to Do Follow-Up Calls
How to Charge Higher Fees: Secrets of Value Pricing
Why is it that some service business owners, freelancers and independent professionals charge (and receive) much higher fees than others? Is it their expertise and professionalism? Is it their education and track record? Is it the value they offer? Or it is a combination of all of these? And is there a secret to charging more? Yes, the secret is called "Value … [Read more...] about How to Charge Higher Fees: Secrets of Value Pricing
How to Turn Leads Into Appointments
One of the most frequent questions I get is, "How do I turn leads into appointments... how do I connect with or follow up with prospective clients and get a meeting with them where they are sincerely interested in exploring how I can help them?" If you knew the answer to this, marketing would be a whole lot easier, wouldn't it? When you're actually meeting with a prospective … [Read more...] about How to Turn Leads Into Appointments
What Separates the Good Marketers from the Great Ones?
If you go to work every day, you might as well go all the way and shoot for the pinnacle of your profession. It's a competitive world, so set your sights high. If you're going to take the risk and invest the time, strive for greatness. Ever since Jim Collins wrote his best-selling book, Good to Great: Why Some Companies Make the Leap...And Others Don't in 2001, business … [Read more...] about What Separates the Good Marketers from the Great Ones?
A Seven-Step Model for Marketing Professional Services
If we look at the big picture of how a prospect actually becomes a client, the following seven-step model is very useful. Each step involves specific tactics. 1 - Strangers You want to approach a prospect, but you don't know them and they don't know you. Marketing to strangers usually means struggle and rejection. That's why the first set of marketing tactics are to form … [Read more...] about A Seven-Step Model for Marketing Professional Services
