There’s a lot of talk from Internet marketing gurus about how to drive more traffic to your website. Some will suggest you try to get a higher page rank on Google by optimizing your site for search engines. Others preach using pay-per-click advertising like Google AdWords to attract streams of new visitors. Read more (members only)

What do you do when a networking acquaintance invites you to meet for coffee? Do you find yourself saying yes, because you’ve been told that networking is about building relationships and getting to know people? At the same time, do you find yourself wondering if this is the most effective use of your time? Read more (members only)

An often overlooked place to network and find referral partners is professional associations. These associations serve people working in a particular industry or profession and can provide you with many resources, as well as valuable connections. You may not think that networking within your profession will provide any client leads, but you’d be surprised! Read more (members only)

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)

In order to get booked as a speaker, an essential tool is a one-page description of your speaking topic, and a capsule bio describing your expertise. The example below will give you a model to follow. Read more (members only)

C.J. Hayden speaks to a live audience of career services professionals, including coaches, counselors, and resume writers. Does it seem like your marketing gets “stuck” somewhere and doesn’t produce the results you think it should? Here’s what you’ll learn 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)

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)

I often speak to groups of independent professionals about what works and what doesn’t in marketing. We talk about the effectiveness of active, relationship-oriented strategies like networking, building referral partnerships, public speaking to groups of potential clients, Read more (members only)