I was checking out our Technorati rank today and saw that Adam Brucker; Founder and Managing Director of Criterion Advisors, a training and consulting firm based in Boulder, Colorado has named our site in his list of 143 Of The Best Business Links On The Web.
I thought that was fanatasic (of course) and headed over […]

“Don’t put off for tomorrow what you can do today.” (My Mother, ever since I can remember.)
Procrastination is like a virus. It creeps up on you slowly, drains you of energy, and is difficult to get rid of if your resistance is low. Procrastination is a close relative of incompetence and a first cousin to […]

I’ll never forget the day I decided to quit my stable $50,000 a year job. Candy, the older assistant who really ran the company, had the radio on in her office. (She actually bossed me around sort of like the Meryl Streep character in “The Devil Wears Prada”. But most of the time she tolerated […]

I walked into the office of my Chiropractor/Acupuncturist and signed in. There on the desk were three pens. One looked like a syringe, another was a crooked pen and the third looked like a bone.
“What are these,” I asked, knowing full well they were pens.
“They’re pens,” the doctor replied. ” I’m trying to decide which […]

So your prospect, Mary, is sitting at the computer reading your compelling sales letter. She’s convinced she needs your product. So she clicks on the order link, with her credit card next to the mouse. She’s taken to the order page. What she sees next makes her change her mind and click away. Can you […]

How do you know which strategy will grow your business most effectively in the short and long term? Market penetration, market extension, product development or diversification are the primary strategies for building your business. You can also grow organically (growth in your own business) or by acquisition (of another business). This article […]

Managers are especially torn between trying to be both accessible and productive. They want to be modern, sensitive bosses who will hear out customer complaints and employee problems — but they also have planning to do, projects to complete, paperwork to handle, goals to meet, and higher-ups to satisfy.
Here are some techniques for striking a […]

Networking is not just about numbers, it’s about relationships. It’s quality over quantity. It’s not about meeting as many people as you can; it’s about helping as many people as you can.
We network to create mutually beneficial relationships with our peers, clients and potential clients.
So how has it come about that networking has ended […]

Okay, you know you have your product (or service) in front of you. Now it’s time to get the word out with an attention-grabbing sales letter. But where do you begin? Whether you hire someone to write your copy, pass it off to a staff member or learn to write it yourself, you need this […]

All successful marketers know the sale comes from the words or the copy. While the traditional definition of copy is “salesmanship in print” I actually take a broader approach. Copy is used in ALL your promotional sales and marketing material. That means any place there are words about your business there is copy.
So it’s EVERYWHERE. […]

No-one. How is your performance measured then? By the performance of your business. If you don’t measure this, no-one else will. It’s all up to you.
A review of your business will identify any areas which are working really well, and any which may require you to take action. As we’ve […]

During the 1980’s I had the privilege of working with an American speaker by the name of Roger Dawson. Roger is the author of a number of excellent books on negotiating and persuasion and he lives in California. I used to bring Roger to Australia to conduct his seminars and we’ve been friends for over […]

Think you have what it takes to be an consultant or a coach? I wasn’t so sure I knew when I first started in 1999. All I knew was I desperately wanted to work from home to raise my two sons after my divorce. It took a lot of trial and error to get to […]

The car ride was library-quiet despite having a 10 year-old daughter and an 8 year-old son in the back seat. The peaceful respite from the calamity that usually takes place behind me should have been my clue that something was up. But I was enjoying the rare serenity to the point that I was actually […]

When I first got into sales there were three companies that absolutely lead the field in training their sales people.
They were IBM, The National Cash Register Company (NCR) and Xerox.
At age 17, I applied to each of them for my first sales job and got “knocked back” by all three of them. However persistence finally […]

I don’t know about you, but I secretly love watching infomercials. I enjoy dissecting how they sell, how they get people excited, how they entice people to take action now and pick up the phone and order something they completely don’t need!
As you know, these programs always offer a huge bonus or multiple bonuses for […]

As marketers and businesses seek to promote themselves, their products or events, they need to think through the promotional products they use in their promotions. While they need to consider the positives, they also must explore possible negatives. A product that may seem like a sure-fire hit may actually turn into a public relations problem. […]

Did you know that marketing isn’t only about getting your clients or customers? It’s also about KEEPING them, and keeping them happy. That’s a big key to growing your business, because not only will those customers themselves keep coming back to you for more, but they’ll send their friends and colleagues as well.
Studies done by […]

Adaptability is your willingness and ability to behave in ways that are not necessarily characteristic of your style in order to deal effectively with the requirements of a situation or relationship. Adaptable people make the choice to go beyond their own comfort zones so others feel more comfortable.
With adaptability, you can treat people the way […]

When a prospect is deciding to hire you, register for your program, or buy your product online, you aren’t there in person to help convince them you’re “for real.” That means you have to go the extra mile by building credibility, so your web visitor immediately can trust you!
One of the easiest and most effective […]

“I don’t have enough time”, “I have to work late tonight”, “I have to pick up the kids”, “I have to go to the supermarket”, “I’m too tired to get out of bed that early”, “I’m too exhausted after work”, “I think I need another rest day”, “I don’t have time to take a lunch […]

As regular readers will know, in my coaching and speaking business I put considerable emphasis on who is an ‘ideal client’ for me.
It’s only by recognising who that person is and being certain that the services I have to offer are relevant and needed that I’m able to tailor my marketing messages and actions.
Soloists who […]

Self-confidence is the food that feeds our personal growth. It is an indispensable part of achievement. Self-confidence stems from the self-awareness of our intrinsic worth as individuals. We are blessed with an incredible amount of potential, most of which is untapped. George Santayana once wrote, “Man is as full of potentiality as he is of […]

Twiddling your thumbs and waiting for some business to come in? Why not use this downtime to set yourself up for greater success in the new year? Here are my 10 picks, but you don’t have to do them all. Even doing just one will get you another rung higher on your business ladder.
1. Evaluate […]

As someone once advised, “Grow antennae, not horns.” If you prejudge someone as shallow, crazy, or ill informed, you automatically cease paying attention to what they say. So a basic rule of listening is to judge only after you have heard and evaluated what they say. Do not jump to conclusions based on how they […]

Many new business owners ask me, “Should I offer a money-back guarantee? I know it will help sales, but the risk really scares me.” I offer guarantees on everything I sell, but that doesn’t mean you should too. Here are some factors to consider and some ideas to get you started.
The Pros:
A guarantee puts your […]

“The reason you don’t understand me, Edith, is because I’m talkin’ to you in English and you’re listenin’ to me in dingbat!” - Archie Bunker
Archie was right about finding a common language or wavelength, but it takes two to communicate– the speaker and the listener. Both need to make the effort to understand each other. […]

Advertisers have known for years that certain words have great psychological impact on us. These words evoke deep feelings, bring back memories and often motivate us to look at things in totally new ways. Often the result is that we decide to try something we have never tried before.
Some of the most successful […]

From past years of experience in selling information products online, I knew that December sales are generally always slow. So this year I decided to try something different - have a sale.
I was always nervous in the past about having a sale. Would it diminish the value on my information in people’s minds? Would it […]

After my third attempt to de-code the phone number from my voice mail … I gave up. Seems Frank Janson … Johnson …  Jorson or something like that from some company in Mauzoula or Missouri wants me to call him back. His number is 269-6 something, four, 36 or maybe it’s 3 zero then 6, […]

It would be lovely to think we only ever attracted dream clients to our businesses, but unfortunately we also get the occasional stinker.
Examples include those who ask us to undertake work that’s beyond (or beneath) our expertise. In these cases we have to weigh up ‘income versus annoyance’ and ensure we are mindful of the potential risk […]

Choosing a professional speaker or corporate trainer can be a daunting and risky task.  There are thousands of speakers all over the world so how do you choose?  My advice  is to engage a bureau. The reason for this is that we know who the best speakers are and have existing relationships with them.  Many bureaus have […]

“Negotiating is the
most highly paid work
you will ever do. You
are generally making
more per hour when
you negotiate than
anything else you’ll
ever do!””
Wayne Berry

This situation is NOT the negotiation. It’s the end result of the […]

A client of mine, whom I’ll call “Mary,” is a financial planner. She’d had a Web site for a few years that pretty much served as an online brochure for her. When Mary came to me, she was looking for other ways to generate income besides working directly with clients.
During our first conversation I introduced […]

Don’t Make These Mistakes!
As I work with sales people and sales managers I see some  fatal mistakes being made as they negotiate.

May I share some of these here with you now in the hope that their “learning experiences” will benefit you and remind you of the importance of not falling into these “traps”.
Indeed, you may […]

“More sales are lost by sales people who fail to get to the “real objection” than for any other reason!”
Wayne Berry

As I was saying…
A company […]

The dual purpose of asking questionsMost sales people have some understanding of asking questions to reveal their client’s needs, but most have no understanding of the other equally important reason for asking questions.
Why you’ve got to “disturb” your prospect before you offer a solution
The second purpose of asking questions is to disturb our prospect about […]

“If you ask the right questions, your prospects will become so dissatisfied with their current situation, they will want to buy from you more than you want to sell to them!”

Prospects will not buy if they are totally satisfied with their current situation.
The fact is that no matter how good a product or service is, […]

I remember when I first launched my first business as a copywriter seven years ago, I had no clue what to charge. Without putting hard thought into what type of results my work gave my clients, I started out with an hourly rate that didn’t scare ME! I would still even stutter when I said […]

“If you do it right, you should be able to make 10 calls and get 5 appointments”

Most sales people hate prospecting.
Why is that? If prospecting is such an important skill, why do so few […]

“To succeed, your business must not focus on selling, but on providing solutions to your customers. When you focus on providing solutions, something awesome happens: your business product offerings will never become obsolete. Instead, they’ll thrive toward meeting customer needs–no matter the era.”
Inspired by Theodore Levitt
The challenge is knowing what they need, on knowing that […]

Fear stops many of us from truly expressing who we are and achieving our dreams. Some of us are risk takers, all of us make mistakes and I would say all of us have experienced fear at some stage or another. In this article I am talking about the type of fear that stops us from moving […]

In the busy, noisy world of solo business it can be a challenge to be heard and get noticed. One thing is for sure - it’s far better to be heard well by one person than ignored by thousands.Our solo ventures stand the best chance of growing by word of mouth when those around us […]

Have them, carry them, never run out. Business cards are a physical reminder to others that you have had contact with them. Business cards should also contain all your contact details. This may sound extremely obvious, but it never ceases to amaze me when I run into clients or people wanting advice, who essentially have […]

I love working with businesses as they are made up of people as the main part of the mechanism to make the organisation work, but all too often companies run into negative people issues and that can mean things may not go quite as planned some times. I developed this list in response to a […]