Oct
05
In the past year, have you:
• Pursued and landed a piece of business that you knew—deep down—would make you miserable?
• Stayed in a business relationship in which the other person had all the power and used it at your expense?
• Agreed to do work for a client who was a bad risk for paying you in a timely manner?
• Decided to provide services that you knew would not deliver high value to a client?
Sep
28
This column was written by Jim Sheard, Ph.D., co-creator with Larry Keltto of the multimedia home-study course Relationship Marketing for Solopreneurs: A Path to Success for People Who Hate to Sell.
My first lessons in relationship marketing came early in life. Fifty-five years ago my first work was as a solopreneur; I was a paperboy in Greeley, Colorado. I delivered the Rocky Mountain News, which was the morning paper in our region. My route was about 60 papers in my middle-class neighborhood, and the route later extended into another part of town, for a total of about 100 customers. The lessons I learned provided a framework for my education in business and psychology and for my career as an executive and consultant. These are just a few of those memories and lasting lessons.
Aug
24
Guys, if you are striking out in your attempts to take fine prospective clients from the first meeting to the signed contract, then this article if for you. It is free advice, but it is extremely valuable, so pay attention!
(Gals, you can read it for the entertainment value.)
To begin with, you must remember that this is your first meeting with a potentially EXCELLENT client. You are meeting her for lunch.
She loved your Web site and she was impressed with your e-mail manner, but the only thing she cares about at this lunch meeting is what you can do to help her wobbly business.
Aug
16
Highrise is a cloud-based project-management and contact-management software that is designed for small businesses. Highrise comes from 37signals, which also created Basecamp, the highly regarded collaboration software. I began using Highrise in May and I love it.
The Benefits: I have one place where I can manage projects, tasks, and my contacts. All of the information that I keep can be woven together in ways that make sense to me.
My Favorite Feature: The “Dropboxes,” which make it possible to forward e-mails quickly to specific contacts and projects. You can even make a to-do task from an e-mail. Dropboxes are an enormous time-saver and efficiency-booster for me.
Jul
21
Last week I went in search of an online scheduling application. I thought I would find the perfect scheduling app for my business within an hour or two. Sigh. That was not nearly the case.
I needed a more efficient method for my solopreneur coaching clients to book appointments, because I didn’t think my “system” of setting up appointments via e-mail was adequate anymore. Plus, I wanted to give clients the ability to book online without leaving my Web site.
Jul
15
I am a fan of the AMC TV series “Mad Men”—the dialogue, the clothing, the sets, the music. My wife and I watch the episodes on DVD; we are almost finished with Season Two, which means we are one season behind the episodes being shown on TV.
“Mad Men” is many things, including a morality play that speaks to relationships and business. If you don’t watch “Mad Men,” the program is set in the early 1960s. The mad men in “Mad Men” work in advertising at Sterling Cooper, a thriving Madison Avenue agency. Marketing and business are primary subjects on the program.
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