lead generation

Do you own your own business, or does it own you?

Most of us start our own business because we want more freedom, more control, more spaciousness to pursue our purpose. Sometimes, though, it seems like the business starts owning us– even more than the corporate jobs we left. It’s hard … Read More

easy vs hard

The Olympics, Degree-of-difficulty, and Sales

USA and France played 2 amazing basketball games this weekend– the men’s final on Saturday and the women’s on Sunday, As a basketball fan, it’s great to see the games get competitive, with amazing players from all over the world.My … Read More

The Olympics are the wrong inspiration

This weekend I finally got a chance to watch some of the Paris Olympics. (Amazing drama, especially in the men’s 100m dash.) While I enjoyed watching and listening to some of the expert commentary, I realized that it’s easy to … Read More

Sales and marketing automation vs. organization

There are lots of tools for sales and marketing automation, some quite powerful and effective, in the appropriate situation. But all of these tools will fail if you need to have real relationships and you try to “outsource” your side … Read More

Create a client referral engine for your consulting business.

If you rely on referrals, what’s your referral strategy?

For years, I relied on referrals, but I wasn’t intentional about it– I didn’t have a referral strategy. I just hoped I’d get a good referral. And even if I didn’t get a good referral, I felt obliged to pursue … Read More

Mimiran CRM-- consulting lead magnets to convert visitors to leads to conversations

Your Consulting Website Has 1 Job

To get you leads. That’s it. Everything else is just for fun. (A polite way of saying “vanity metrics” or “waste of time”.) Even if you don’t get any leads directly from your consulting website (often a self-fulfilling prophecy), people … Read More

When does a solo consultant need a CRM?

I get this question a lot, sometimes from folks just starting out as a consultant, often as a corporate refugee, and sometimes from folks who have been consulting for a while and maybe even tried a fancy CRM that felt … Read More

LinkedIn Tagline Visibility Estimator

LinkedIn gives you 220 characters for your tagline, and if someone visits your profile, they will see all of those characters. But when you post, comment, or reply to a comment, LinkedIn shows only some of those characters, especially on … Read More

Superhero supper connector

You don’t have to be superhuman to be a super connector

When I grow up, I want to be like those awesome people who always seem to be putting the right people together– super connectors. I used to think you had to be some kind of extroverted freak who actually enjoyed … Read More

No Referrals, Thanks, We’re All Full

So many consultants and other expert businesses rely on referrals for business development. But you wouldn’t know it. You’d think many of them were trying to avoid referrals. Have you seen folks do any of these: What do to instead?