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
Blog
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
The professional services sales trap
Professional services people can be great at sales (and marketing), but we often struggle. Why is that? I think it has to do with the “professional services sales trap”, which actually sets your own expertise against you. In the last … Read More
Shhh… here’s a secret
Every great company is built on a secret. At least that’s what Peter Thiel writes in his book Zero to One: Notes on Startups or How to Build the Future. So here’s the secret at the heart of what I do … Read More
Who is the competition and what are the rules of the game?
How often have you been in the end stages of a sales cycle, you think you’ve laid out a great case against the competition, only to find the prospect goes dark? The first step to beating the competition is to … Read More
Things I’ve Learned This Decade
Being angry or mean (to others of yourself) rarely makes things better. But anger and other emotions are telling us something– listen and then decide what to do. When other people are angry or mean to you, it often has … Read More
Marketing Planning for 2020 (and the 2020s)
All set with your marketing planning for next year? (And since we’re rolling into a new decade, for the 20s, as well?) No? Here are some links to get you started: Understand that you run a media company, whether you … Read More
Finding the Soul of Your Brand with Justin Foster
What does your brand mean? Does it have a soul? And how does finding the soul of your brand improve your results, in business and in life? Planning your sales and marketing for 2020? Don’t miss the forest for the … Read More
The red/yellow/green copy critique: improve your copy in 15 minutes
Writing copy can be hard and frustrating. Like anything else, getting good takes practice. But here’s a simple exercise you can do in 15 minutes that will have a dramatic impact on your copywriting. I call it the “red-yellow-green” copy … Read More
Why Sales Training Doesn’t Work (for You)
What do you do when you start your own business and realize that you have actually do sales (and marketing)? That being invited on technical sales calls or the occasional account review is not the same thing as running the … Read More