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Have you ever read a bio or "about me" page that made you think "Ugh... I feel like I'm reading an encyclopedia. You were founded in that town, you've been in business for that many years, wheeee..." Or maybe you found yourself wondering, "What do the three other jobs you've worked in, your fishing hobby, and your cats have to do with everything else on this website? I mean, I guess they give us a thing or two in common, but they don't really tell me why you're qualified to do what you're doing now." And have you ever wondered... o ... Read More

When you make promises in your marketing, or talk about the problems you solve for your clients, it's important to be both clear and compelling. If your promises or "problem I solve" statements are too vague, your potential clients will be left thinking things like... "That kind of sounds good in theory, but I'm not sure exactly what I'm going to get out of this, and I don't feel like taking a lot of time to find out." "I don't think I have the problem she's talking about. Or maybe I do a little, but I don't think it's causing... Read More

Happy New Year! As we start 2020, one way to set yourself up for success is to make sure you're marketing to the right people - and that you aren't marketing to people who will be justifiably angry with you if you sell them your product or services. When I talk about marketing to the right people, I don't just mean picking a niche by age, gender, marital status, and whether or not they have kids. In this blog post, I'm going to share an example of how bad audience selection left me ticked off at a coach who'd enrolled me into his program,... Read More

Sometimes when I watch other business owners describe their product or service, the descriptionleaves me thinking, "Wow... not only does that NOT make me want your product, but it actually makes me feel LESS inclined to explore your offer." Other times, I can see how it might be useful, or why the product is of high quality, but I'm not really convinced that I need it. Why? Often, it's because their marketing failed a simple yet powerful litmus test that determines whether they're speaking about the right things to get their potential... Read More

How many hours have you spent attending networking events, giving elevator speeches, and following up with people, only to get few or no clients as a result? And how many clients have you referred to other business owners, only to get no payment or reciprocal referrals in return - or, even worse, to lose the client entirely? The old ways of networking just aren't as effective anymore. If you want to get more referrals, and get paid for the referrals you make when the rules of your industry allow, you need to use a different strategy. In... Read More

I was planning to write this on Tuesday, but I decided to share it a bit early, becauseI'm celebrating a new accomplishment: I just published a class on SkillShare, called Low-Cost Marketing for Small Businesses and Freelancers ... and for a limited time, you can get it for FREE. In this 68-minute class, you'll discover how small businesses and freelancers can attract leads while spending little or no money on advertising, and convert them into clients without feeling guilty, pushy or salesy. You can access this class, and thousands of... Read More

If your clients are primarily businesspeople, you might have trouble getting satisfied customers to send you referrals, because they don't want their competitors to have the same success you helped them create. This is an understandable concern on their part, but it can be frustrating when it hampers your ability to get clients! The good news is, it IS possible to persuade people to send you referrals, if you can help them understand why it benefits them as well. Here are 3 ways giving you referrals can benefit your clients: ... Read More

Today's blog post is bySamantha Brannon. Unfortunately, no one in online business can be perfect at all times. We make mistakes, and get negative customer reviews in return. For online businesses, they are quite a challenge because they can convince prospective customers to buy from competitors instead of us. For example, here are some of the key stats that demonstrate the importance of online reviews for making or breaking your business (source: Local Consumer Review Survey 2017 ): - 85 percent of online shoppers trust... Read More

When you go to networking events, there are three essential components you need to have in place in order to get results. In a recent FacebookLive, I shared three reasons why people often don't get referrals from their networking efforts, and three strategies you can use to create consistent streams of referrals. I also answered a question about what to do if you get a negative review that could hinder your attempts to get clients and referrals. Click the player below to watch the replay. For those who prefer to read... Read More

If you use networking events as a way to meet potential clients and referral sources, you've probably found that you spend a lot of time talking to people who don't follow up, sending follow-up calls and emails that go unanswered, and giving out business cards that vanish intoother people's shoeboxes, never to be seen again. The unfortunate truth is, most people go to networking events to try to promote their own business, not to hire or send clients to other businesses. On top of that, even if they have the intention to send you clients,... Read More