The Bar Test

passing the bar test for positioning

What do you say when people ask what you do? In person? On your website? On LinkedIn? When you’re talking to your friends? What do your clients say you do for them? Is your answer consistent and authentic? For many … Read More

competing against larger firms

Competing against bigger firms

If you run a small firm, or perhaps your firm is you, you’ll sometimes find yourself competing against bigger firms. This can feel intimidating. These firms have more people, bigger budgets, slicker marketing, and often dedicated sales people. If you … Read More

Barley, VP of HR at Mimiran

Meet the new VP of HR

I like to think I’m pretty mentally strong, but I have to admit that morale hasn’t always been great during this pandemic. My board has been pushing for a VP of HR for over a year, and I finally decided … Read More

Small Business Weekly Planning Calendar

As a small business owner, it’s hard to juggle everything, but having a weekly planning calendar helps. It’s easy to feel busy without making progress on what’s most important. You can get to the end of the week and wonder … Read More

Living in the Zoo

When I was a very young child, I loved going to the zoo. I wanted to see the animals in real life. It didn’t take long for me to realize that the animals in the zoo seemed bored, depressed, and … Read More

always-be-closing beliefs are the biggest sales obstacle

Our own beliefs are the biggest sales obstacle

Sales is hard for anyone, but especially when you start your own professional services business, your own beliefs are often the biggest obstacle to sales. I started with some strange, self-limited beliefs about sales. Over time, I realized that I … Read More

Call Scripts for People Who Hate “Selling”

Call scripts get a bad rap, because they can be terrible, especially if you use them wrong. But call scripts can be really useful to: Give you a game plan for a call, instead of struggling over what to say. … Read More

Simple Video Call Tips

Now that we’re all stuck inside thanks to the coronavirus, video calls are the next best option, but most of us hate how we look on video (or so I’m told) and don’t know how to make the most of … Read More

How to Keep Your Professional Services Practice Going (without going “viral”): tips for coronavirus

With SXSW down for the coronavirus count, along with the NBA, NHL, NCAA, MLB, and innumerable smaller events, how do you handle lead generation for your professional services firm? How do you replace the networking opportunities? The in-person meetings that … Read More

LinkedIn Automation request

LinkedIn Automation Gone Wrong Stories?

LinkedIn is a great place to curate a your professional network, keep track of people changing jobs, launching new venture, and sharing interesting content, but LinkedIn automation has filled our inboxes with spam. Some recent connection requests in my “inbox” … Read More