There are three types of people: givers, takers, and matchers. Givers are the people you look forward to connecting with. They always seem to have your best interests in mind and never fail to go beyond what’s expected of them. They don’t keep score, they just give. Takers are leeches. It’s obvious that they’re only […]
MARKETING INSIGHTS FOR PROFESSIONAL SERVICE PROVIDERS
How to Embrace Discomfort and Grow Your Business
Call it whatever you want — fear, self-doubt, resistance, or the lizard brain — human beings are hardwired to avoid discomfort at all costs. That’s a good feature to have when you’re in real danger. If you’re walking through the forest and you spot a bear — by all means, run for your life (or […]
How to Build Trust Before the Sale
Dr. Glenn Gorab — an oral surgeon in New Jersey — does something that no doctor ever does. He personally calls his patients before they come in for surgery to see if they have any questions. Every Friday his office gives him a call sheet of all the patients who are coming in the following […]
The Floyd Mayweather Guide to Becoming Unstoppable
You don’t have to like it, but Floyd Mayweather Jr. is the undisputed welterweight champion of the world. Dubbed by many as the most important fight in boxing history, Mayweather went head to head against underdog Manny Pacquiao on Saturday night. Everyone but Mayweather himself hoped that Pacquiao’s power and aggressive style would finally put […]
Why Email Beats Social Media Everytime
When most professional services firms wake up to the potential of online marketing — what’s the first thing they do? After throwing up a simple website — they quickly move to ‘getting the word out’ by creating a LinkedIn page, Facebook page, or a Twitter account. They unknowingly assume social media will generate, nurture, and […]
Seth Godin on the Difference Between a Freelancer and an Entrepreneur
Seth Godin says that making the distinction between freelancer and entrepreneur is critical to the success of your business. Freelance professionals get paid when they work. Clients hire them and expect to work directly with them. They have a hard time scaling because they’re the ones doing the work (sound familiar?). Entrepreneurs build businesses bigger […]
How to Be Your Most Fascinating Self
I remember listening to Sally Hogshead talk about the 7 triggers of fascination at The Art of Marketing in Toronto way back in 2010. 5 years later, she’s still talking about fascination, but now with a new book and a whole set of fancy tools to go with it. Sally’s research over the last two […]
How Word of Mouth Marketing Works
In an interview on the Duct Tape Marketing podcast, Ted Wright — CEO of word of mouth marketing firm Fizz — discusses the 3 elements of a talkable brand story.
How to Get More Done in Less Time
Haven’t set your goals yet for 2015? Good, you don’t have to. Brian Moran, author of The 12 Week Year, argues that “annual planning” is a great way to waste a lot of time. Twelve months is too long of a time horizon to produce a meaningful plan. Not only is there far too much […]
The Only 3 Ways to Grow Your Business
Wouldn’t you rather read something along the lines of “101 Ways to Grow Your Business”? I would too. But the truth is, while there are hundreds of tactics and strategies you can try, they’re only going help grow your business if they can successfully do one of three things: Increase the number of customers. Increase […]