Does your positioning do most of the sales and marketing work for you? Or do you have to slog to get leads and then try to close them? When your positioning is doing the work for you, you have easier … Read More
training
I know what I’m supposed to be doing, I’m just not doing it…
Ever been in that situation before? (Like how I was supposed to write this post a week ago, but somehow didn’t.) I’ve noticed 2 major issues when I’m having trouble getting started on something. A lot of folks make some … Read More
Ways to define your ideal consulting client
If you don’t know who your ideal consulting clients are, how will you work with them? Not knowing your ideal client profile, and not therefore not being able to position yourself and your services to your ideal client, is the … 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
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
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
How to do sales proposals the right way
If you’ve read this blog for a while, you know there’s a lot of material on proposals. I’ve also done a lot of coaching and consulting on proposals. Each time, I tell myself I should really put this content in … Read More
Nail Your Marketing Message
Who do you help? What’s different about your approach? How can you get this message to resonate with your audience? Try this simple “Mad Libs” style marketing message generator. Just plug in values in the blanks. Play around. See if … Read More
Pricing pressure? It could be your proposal
I’ve heard a lot of people complain about how their market is getting commoditized and how there’s no way to achieve good price points. What happens when we look at the proposals the sales teams are sending out? They’re terrible. … Read More
“Raise Prices” Marc Andreessen says you should
Silicon Valley legend Marc Andreessen (@pmarca) was on Tim Ferriss’s (@TimFerriss) podcast recently, and Tim always asks his guests what they would put on a billboard. Marc said two words: “I’ve got one, I’ve actually thought about hiring a skywriter to … Read More