Successful entrepreneurs know who they are, what they’re good at, and who they want to serve. Even if you really, really want to serve anyone who asks for your assistance, you simply don’t have time to, especially if you’re good at what you do and your service is in demand. Read more (members only)

We’re an impatient society these days. The blazing speed of transmission we experience daily for news and communications has raised our expectations for how fast everything should happen. So when someone tells us our marketing will take time to pay off, we don’t have a lot of patience for it. Read more (members only)

If you’ve ever wondered why more people don’t respond to your sales attempts and marketing messages, the first question to ask may be — are you selling something that people are willing to spend money on? Read more (members only)

Browse the Internet, read the newspaper, or thumb through a magazine, and you’re bound to see an article advising you to use your network to help you grow your business. But how exactly do you do that? Read more (members only)

In any professional services business, you typically begin by serving clients one-to-one. As you improve your skills at marketing yourself and begin filling your practice, eventually you discover there are only so many hours in the day. You want to keep growing your business, but you have no more time available for additional clients. What can you do? Read more (members only)

The 3 D’s for greater productivity are defer, delay, and delegate. I read, with great glee, these words in Brian Tracy’s Time Power. My work is all about getting focused on your priorities so you can stop, doing, doing, doing — the other 3 D’s. Now I’m happy; Brian Tracy is saying it too. Read more (members only)

Sometimes you may just have to prospect. While it’s true that networking, referrals, and other relationship-oriented marketing strategies are superior ways to build a professional services business in the long run, the problem can lie in that word “long.” It takes time to build a network and generate referrals. Read more (members only)

Happy holidays to everyone. I can’t tell you how many folks I’ve talked to over the past few weeks who said, “Boy, am I glad this year is over!” More than ever, people are wanting to move forward, take stock of themselves, and look to the future. It’s a a terrific time to “stock your shelves” with an inventory of your unique skills. Read more (members only)

What made you decide to go into business for yourself? Did you want to make more money, gain more freedom, enjoy yourself more, or make more of an impact on the world? For many independent professionals, the desire to help others as well as themselves plays a significant role Read more (members only)

Recently, a client of mine asked, “I do a lot of public speaking — talks at association meetings, presentations at conferences, even workshops. My talks seem to be well-received, but I don’t get many clients from them. Read more (members only)