Small Business Owner

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

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

Pipeline Planning

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

Closed for business

Reasons you don’t have a Lead Magnet on your site

After I published a 3,000 word article on using a Lead Magnet to generate leads for your professional services business, responses ranged from “hey, this is exactly what I needed”, to “this would never work for me.” Within the “never … Read More

How to Generate More Leads from Your Professional Services Website

When Bob Davis started his sales consulting business, Simple Sales Strategy, his business came from word-of-mouth. That’s great, but it’s not predictable. Naturally, Bob looked to his website to generate leads. He even invested in SEO to get better rankings … Read More

Real and imaginary barriers

Running a business is hard. There are so many barriers to success. Sales, financing, delivery, marketing, recruiting, just balancing everything, knowing what to focus on next, etc. Yet we often make it harder on ourselves by creating imaginary barriers in … Read More

Don’t “Market”, “Teach” — marketing for consultants

Last week, I discussed how to “help” instead of “sell”. This is a powerful paradigm shift, especially if you find “selling” uncomfortable, unnatural, and/or unethical. But what about marketing? What about lead generation and business development? Another paradigm shift can … Read More

“Help”, Don’t “Sell”

Yesterday I met with a very smart, conscientious guy who takes great pride in helping his clients. He said, “I know I have to get better at sales, but I hate it!” So I recalled my journey. “Selling” is not … Read More

The Sales for Nerds Signed Bookshelf Giveway

I’ve been lucky enough to have a bunch of awesome authors come on Sales for Nerds, and Aaron Ross recently recorded his 2nd interview, for the new edition of From Impossible to Inevitable. I asked if he had any signed … Read More

Create a Weekly Calendar

If you feel really busy, but by the end of the week you haven’t done the main thing you set out to do on Monday, you may need a weekly calendar. I have to admit, I only started doing this … Read More