Last month I announced that I was taking a “Partial Sabbatical” from working with new clients or conducting programs. What I’m attempting is to take enough of a step back to determine what I want to do with my business for the rest of my…

Other than substance abuse, what is the most destructive habit or addiction facing American Society? Since mid 2015, I believe the top destructive addictive habit for many Amercians has been following national political news. And I’m not just throwing around the word addiction casually. According…

Gay Hendricks, in his book, The Big Leap, says one’s Genius Zone is, “the set of activities you are uniquely suited to do… that draw on your special gifts and strengths.” The formula, according to Hendricks, for discovering our own Genius Zone is to answer…

At the end of 2012, after a long string of business successes, I experienced burnout and dramatically scaled back my business. My first big success in 2000, the publishing of the InfoGuru Manual, brought me wide attention and a dramatically increased income. That led to…

I found myself saying to Keith, “OK, I’ll go to the gym 3 times a week, starting on Friday. And since that time, almost three weeks ago, I’ve gone eight times. I do a one-hour circuit using the gym’s weight machines. I’m already feeling stronger,…

I’m working with a client right now who does high-end sales training. And we’re currently working on the messaging for his website. In the course of our conversations, he mentioned that 82% of his clients got a 10:1 ROI on their training investment. That’s both…

Do you remember the early cell phones? The first one was made available to the public in 1984 (the year I started my business). It weighed an unimaginable 1.75 pounds and earned the nickname “The Brick.” It cost $4,000 and had a battery life of…

One of the most fascinating of Hollywood legends is the discovery of film actress Lana Turner at the soda fountain in Schwab’s drugstore in Hollywood, by director Mervyn Le Roy in 1936. Wikipedia tells a different story, saying that Turner was discovered by The Hollywood Reporter…

I really admire successful people. And over the years, I’ve studied many of them, read their biographies and books and tried to emulate their strategies. These books have helped me, but it wasn’t their strategies that gave me the most valuable insights. I discovered the…

I’ve just returned from a week-long vacation in Cancun Mexico (see above). And I took some time to reflect on the future of my business. I’ve had a good run – coming up on 34 years. But there won’t be another 34. Perhaps 10 if…

Roger is an independent professional creative, much like you and me. He does his own specialized version of consulting, coaching, and training. Roger is great at what he does and has had many successes, but he often feels unfulfilled and dissatisfied with the progress of…

Almost every week I’m telling a client there’s a big problem with their marketing content. It’s not the subject matter, their writing style, their grammar, or even typos. The problem is that their content is simply hard to read because of the way it’s formatted.…

Ever feel you’re making a lot of forward progress but don’t really know where you’re going? Today a client brought this concern up in an email to me. She’s been doing really well at attracting new clients but wants to get a different kind of…

Everyone has heard a thousand times that it’s easier to renew an old client than to find a new one. After all, the marketing has already been done, the relationship has been established and, if your work with the client went well, they like and…

This week I launched my brand new website: You're here! Over the last 20 years, I’ve designed and launched a total of seven different versions of my site. In the process, I’ve learned a number of things, made a lot of mistakes and gained some…

In 2005, Stephen Colbert, in his TV show, the Colbert Report, coined the word, “truthiness.” "Truthiness is the belief or assertion that a particular statement is true based on the intuition or perceptions of some individual or individuals, without regard to evidence, logic, intellectual examination,…

This is the final in a series of four articles about getting paid more money for your professional services. In recent weeks I’ve talked about money beliefs that may be holding you back, knowing what your true value is, and how to use bonuses to…

Today’s article is the third in a multi-part series on making more money in your business. In a practice known as the “baker’s dozen” a baker throws in an extra muffin or cinnamon roll when you buy 12. We all love to receive some kind…

Today’s article is the second in a multi-part series on making more money in your business. The main reason I’m writing this series on making more money is that, in my experience, most independent professionals are simply undercharging for their services. Last week I talked…

This is the final in a series of four articles about getting paid more money for your professional services. In recent weeks I’ve talked about money beliefs that may be holding you back, knowing what your true value is, and how to use bonuses to…

This article is the seventh and final in an eight-article series on the Seven Laws of attracting Clients. See the first article at this link. My seventh law of attracting clients states that “you must make a difference.” One day, many years ago, I was…

This article is the seventh in an eight-article series on the Seven Laws of attracting Clients. My sixth law of attracting clients states that “you must be able to tell a story.” On Sunday, my wife and I attended a party with about 30 family…

  This article is the sixth in an eight-article series on the Seven Laws of Attracting Clients. My fifth law of attracting clients states that “you must communicate like a human being.” Since attracting clients is 100% about communication, it really helps if you communicate…

My Fourth Law of Attracting Clients states that you must be visible. Imagine that you woke up one morning and discovered you were completely invisible. And nobody could hear you either. If you sent an email, nobody would even see it. Not such a great…

A couple days ago our refrigerator conked out. A repairman showed up today to take a look. The verdict? We’d need a new freezer coil. The cost was close to $1,000 and would take almost a week to get the parts. A new refrigerator was…

More than 29 Million people have watched this Youtube video about the Purple Mattress Protector pitched by a female Sasquatch. You can see it here. The creators of this video understand that you can’t be boring if you want to get attention for your product or service.…

This article is the second in an eight-article series on the Seven Laws of Marketing.  Law #1 – You must be very good at what you do. Once there was a consultant who was the top expert in his field. And he traveled around the country…

Recently I asked myself what was really important in attracting clients and growing a professional service business.  And what I realized is that it had nothing to do with marketing strategies and techniques. Sure, those are important but they're a moving target. They are always…

The new book, Fantasyland, by Kurt Andersen is the most interesting book I’ve read in years. It’s a 500-year history of how America went haywire through magical thinking and substituting facts with whatever we wanted to believe was true. From imaginary gold rushes promoted by Sir Walter…

If you’re a management consultant, business coach or corporate trainer, your marketing is different than other service businesses. It’s different because it needs to be more professional, more personal and more, well, serious. Your buyer is the owner of a company or a top-level executive…

Some Mondays I don’t know what to write in this weekly eZine article. Other Mondays I’m more prepared because I’ve been thinking of a topic for several days. Today is the former. No idea what to write about. I, like everyone else in the U.S., has…

Bobby Previte is a jazz drummer with a difference. He’s not cool and laid back, but a boundless ball of creative, brilliant energy. Since he started his career in 1985, he’s published close to 50 albums and played on or partnered on about 100 others. I downloaded twelve(!)…

When it comes to marketing one’s professional services, the most common emotion isn’t fear, it’s overwhelm. My friend, Jill Konrath, has an overarching description of prospective clients these days: Everyone is “crazy busy,” she points out. And this is why it can be so hard to reach…

Do you see marketing your professional services as hard, difficult, perhaps even unpleasant? If so, you’re not alone. We may see marketing as hard because we worry the worst will happen: We have a marketing message that is unclear and confusing, turning people off. We…

Alan Weiss is known as "The Million Dollar Consultant" based on his book of the same name.  In today’s More Clients I want to talk about one of Alan’s most important concepts as it touches on everything in your business and marketing. That concept is VALUE. The…

I clearly remember the earliest disappointment in my life. I was about four years old and was expecting to go to a party. But then I was informed that I was not invited. And I took it very personally. That’s all I remember, but as…

“There are no secrets to success. It is the result of preparation, hard work, and learning from failure.” – Colin Powell OK, Secretary Powell, but I think there’s a little more to it than that. Here’s what I came up with: Twenty ideas I’ve found that have worked…

We’ve all been duped about genius. We see the genius as a brilliant intellectual who comes up with ground-breaking ideas and discoveries. We think of Leonardo, Einstein, Goodall, Hawkins, Jobs, and Musk. Most of us can’t imagine ourselves being in the company of such people.…

I’ll get right to the point. I’ve developed a model for direct outreach marketing that shows you how to get more conversations and meetings with prospective clients by turning cold calls into hot calls. In marketing, there are two very important factors that get more response…

There I was in a restaurant, dishing out servings of my wife’s jasmine rice, garlic spinach and turkey curry to eager customers. My wife has recently started a part-time catering and home meal service and once a month she joins eight or nine other chefs at…

A couple weeks ago I asked one of my Clients in England (I have two) what he was doing to track his direct outreach marketing activities.  His answer both surprised and delighted me. "Well, what I'm doing is keeping track of my direct outreach activities with…

If I asked you the purpose of your marketing, what would you say? Most people I’ve talked to give answers such as: “To get more exposure for my business," "to get referrals," "to connect with the right people,” or “to build up my list of…

Imagine attending a lively business seminar where people are having animated interactions between sessions. And you overhear a conversation in a group of three business owners talking about the purpose of a business: Person 1: What do you think the purpose of a business is? Person 2: The…

 A past client of mine once mentioned that she knew of a store that needed some marketing help.  That captured my interest so I asked her about the store, the owner, and the marketing issues they were experiencing, but she had no more information. “All…

When I started marketing my business many, many years ago, I remember a response I got to a follow-up call I made:  "Robert, I have no idea what you're offering, what it can do for me or why I should talk to you. When you're clearer, you're welcome to…

Close to twenty years ago I was meeting with a client in my office in Palo Alto California. We were talking about where he was in the process of attracting a new client. I started to spontaneously draw a picture that turned out to be…

Have you ever found yourself trying to explain your business to a potential client, but you're not getting through? First, you start with concepts: "We use a proprietary process to optimize your management priorities for maximum buy-in." Well, it might mean something to you, but probably not…

One of the most frequent comments I hear from my clients is: "If I could just get a meeting with a qualified prospect, I know I could turn them into a paying client." Well, last week, I shared how to Reach Out and Touch Someone and get meetings…

Remember the old television ads for AT&T – "Reach out and touch someone." Well, the idea of reaching out is important, but it takes more than that if you want something to happen. No, your a goal is a meeting and, ultimately, a new client. Some…

There are a lot of ways to market your professional services and more of them are being promoted every day. Unfortunately, many of them are overly complex, take a huge amount of time and require a lot of technical expertise. When I work with my…

Many people wonder why marketing themselves is such a struggle. They experience marketing as hard and unpleasant. Is that simply the nature of self-marketing? Or can it be easier and more fun? I've said many times that the essence of marketing is communication – the simple but…

Here's a scenario I imagined today... It's twenty years from now, and I'm in my mid-80's. My granddaughter, Colette, now 24, is considering starting her own consulting practice.  That might be rather young to become an independent professional, you'd think, but she's brilliant, a quick learner…

Many years ago I remember applying to the Art Academy in San Francisco. I wanted to take some classes and improve my design skills.  I was already designing business identities, brochures, and fliers. I thought I was pretty good at it. My clients even paid me well.  But the…

This Saturday I called my youngest sister to wish her happy birthday.  We spent some time catching up before the conversation drifted to the topic of her art business and how she felt bad that she procrastinated a lot, didn't have goals and overall wasn't…

Everyone knows that if you throw a boomerang it will come back to you. When I was a kid I got a boomerang for a birthday present. And I remember vividly how excited I was to give it a try. I went out into a big…

A client of mine faced a conundrum after getting what should have been good news from a client of hers. Her client had found their work together very valuable and had suggested that she do some further sessions with his leadership team. But as soon…

This past week I conducted a wrap-up session for the Marketing Action Group I've been conducting for five months. We did a question and answer session where I asked the participants 20 questions about marketing and they gave the answers. We then discussed each question in some depth.…

Have you ever felt you had "everything together" in your marketing, but you still weren't getting the results you wanted – meetings with qualified prospects that turned into new paying clients? This was the case for my client, H.C.K., a brilliant Irish Leadership Consultant who lives and…

In the mid-eighties when I started my business, I literally had no clue about how to market my services. I had heard of a number of things I should do, but very little idea of how to actually do those things. "How-to" became a central word…

Did you know that Benjamin Franklin's biggest passion was playing chess? A chess-player for 50 years, he practiced even more as he grew older. And although his chess skills were way above average, he never truly became a chess master, comparable to the best European players.…

If you asked people their definition of marketing, many would answer with one word: NOISE! I often react that way as well - I'm tired of the noise.  Last year my wife and I disconnected our cable service and no longer watch TV with commercials.…

"What do you do?" is one of the most common questions someone can ask you. And if you're in business for yourself, you want to say something that grabs the attention and interest of the person you are speaking to. Almost everyone fails at this.…

A cold call is calling a stranger and trying to convince them to do business with you.  An introductory call is calling someone you have a connection with and discovering if it's worth exploring more. Many Independent Professionals don't think there's much difference between the…

This is one of my favorite stories about marketing, but I don't think I've shared it with you in this space. Several years ago I worked with a client named Carole. She and her partner, Sue, had developed a training business based on using theater and…

I recently started to do something different in my marketing.  On holidays (such as the 4th of July) and vacations, I don't write this eZine/Blog anymore. I actually take a break and relax. I used to think that I SHOULD write this thing every single week with…

I’ve noticed that some of my clients have great marketing energy. And others don't. Marketing energy is displayed when you are in the flow of marketing, making plans, creating materials, getting out there and having fun connecting with others and sharing your business. I'm working with several…

In May I took one-month vacation from writing More Clients. It was a useful break and helped me get clearer about what I want to write about in the following months (Years? Decades?) My insight was this: I’m kind of tired of how-to tips articles. I’ve written hundreds of…

One of my current clients shared a very powerful new marketing idea with me and then I passed it on to some of my clients. It's too good NOT to share it with you!  As I said in my email yesterday, marketing is 100% communication. And…

We expect perfection in everything these days. Perfection in our schools, healthcare, government and business. And, of course, in ourselves. If it's not perfect it's just not good enough. And, of course we want our marketing to be perfect, too. We want every marketing activity to work flawlessly every single time…

I just read that Apple's ad budget is more than a billion dollars. That's more than the economies of some small nations! Although they spend a lot on advertising, it's never been a secret that Apple has exceptional and successful marketing. So what do they do…

Fitz's wife is asking him to stop drinking and gambling.  And Fitz replies halfheartedly, "I'll try…" But Fitz is not your run-of-the-mill drunk gambler. He's a brilliant police psychologist from the mid '90s English drama, Cracker, starting Robbie Coltrane (Hagrid from Harry Potter). But as brilliant and insightful as Fitz is, he seems…

I guess I'm lucky, but I haven't had writer's block for a long time. When I think of something to write, I just write it. But that isn't true for many of the people I work with. A current client, "Rhonda," is really struggling with an…

Janice was upfront with me when we first talked about marketing her professional services:  "I want to market my services but I just hate hype; I don't want to seem pushy or manipulative and I definitely don't want to seem desperate when I'm marketing myself.…

Last week I wrote about how many of the processes of marketing can be boring. And when you can accept the boring tasks for what they are – and just get them done – you can produce some very good results. However, there are certain aspects…

I just started working again with a former client who has signed on as an Investment Director of a Private Equity Firm. He's looking for established businesses who want to grow through the acquisition of other companies. We figured out the best method for marketing was to approach potential clients…

The answer to this question is Yes and NO. One way to talk about this is to compare marketing to getting fit. Right now I'm doing a daily strengthening routine.   I use high-tension resistance bands instead of free weights. Every morning I do a series of…

At the end of 2012, I freaked out for about a day. I had set something in motion that could have dire financial consequences in my business and life. I had decided to stop holding my Marketing Mastery Groups for a time. I’d put so much…

Quick, what's the best marketing thing to do right now? No idea right? Well, today I'm going to share a simple "recipe plan" to help you know what marketing to work on each week. But first, a little bit about my culinary habits... For quite…

Imagine this common scenario: You are scrambling around like a mad fiend, completing that blog post, fine-tuning your website, returning a call from a potential client and sending out an email blast to your subscribers. All at the same time.  It may feel like there are…

Is marketing inherently stressful?  Given all the comments I've heard from clients over the years, you would think it was. I regularly hear comments like: Marketing is overwhelming It takes too much time It doesn't work, I'll just be rejected I can't fit it into…

You know what it's like when you're trying your best to put your marketing into action. You're calling to book speaking engagements, networking at your local Chamber of Commerce and putting together a webinar with help from a few JV partners. But haven't you found,…

Wouldn't you love to know the perfect marketing approach for your business, you know, the one that brought in droves of clients with ease? Well, of course, there isn't ONE. Then how about the most effective approach to marketing, one that at least gave consistent results? The…

In a teleclass program last week someone asked me how I create momentum in my marketing.  That's a good question because a lot of success depends on momentum. Momentum is defined as: "The impetus gained by a moving object." And the object that is moving…

When you struggle with your marketing, you know how it goes: You think about things over and over and can't decide what you should do. It's agonizing. Finally, you set your mind on getting a project done, writing that letter or setting up some speaking…

Every Monday at about 10 or 11 am, I sit down to write my weekly eZine and blog (actually the same thing, through two different channels). The question that everyone asks me is, "How do you decide what to write about?" Good question! Let me answer it…

Today, Paul Zelizer, the founder of the Awarepreneurs Facebook Group, posted about a common perception that many independent professionals complain about: "I do REALLY, REALLY deep work and therefore people don't understand my work and that's why my business isn't thriving." But this isn't just a…

A typical interaction with one of my clients: "Robert, the foundation of my marketing is solid, I know my message, and I have a website and some written materials. Now what exactly do I do to get new clients?" And I reply, "Well, there's the marketing side and the…

Thirty-one years ago this week, (August 1, 1984) I started my business in San Francisco CA.  It's been quite a ride and sometimes I can't believe I'm still at it, as committed as ever and having a blast. Over the years, other than a few assistants…

When I wrote my email newsletter last week, I gave it the headline: "What Marketing Identity is Holding You Back?"  I thought it was one of my stronger articles, but it didn't get a good open rate - about 1,000 less than usual. So asked myself: What…

I can't tell you how many times I've heard this comment from a client: Client: "I'd like to set up some passive online marketing where I earned money from a product when I wasn't working. Could we do that?" We'd all like to attract more…

"What's holding you back from marketing your consulting services?" I asked my client. After a long, in-depth conversation, we discovered it. "I believe I'm an impostor," she told me. "I really don't think of myself as an expert, despite all my credentials and experience. And as…

Ross Blake, a client of mine in New York State, is having pretty amazing results every time he gives a talk.  At the end, he asks the participants if they'd like a copy of his article as he holds it up. Hands shoot into the air…

For the past 30 years I've had problems with lower back pain. I won't go into all the gory details here, but suffice to say, it's been a real distraction in my life to be in pain most of the time. Sitting (which I do a lot of)…

A couple years ago I got the "Dreaded Email." It was from a past client who had done my 9-month marketing program, and he was asking for his money back.  My stomach sank as I read his email accusing me of not delivering what I…

As I've said a zillion times, most marketing is random. Most professionals don't have a step-by-step system for attracting clients, despite the fact that this is the only approach that works. So they just do marketing activities in a random, unplanned way. But an organized…

When I started my business, I was deathly afraid to ask. I'd get cards from prospective clients but rarely followed up with them. Because, of course, I thought I'd be rejected. Just the thought of that made me feel terrible. I was OK talking to people…

On a short vacation to Lake Tahoe last week, the weather wasn't ideal with both snow and rain, but on our last day, Saturday, we made a quick stop at Truckee and brightened our holiday measurably. Truckee was founded in 1844 and it still has the…

When I got up yesterday morning and looked at my email, I realized I'd made a marketing mistake. The night before I'd cued up my email to promote my new Next Level Marketing Courses when I looked at my email, there were very few signups.…

When I started my business many years ago, I soon realized I needed to market my services. So I started to read books on small business marketing. And I read a LOT of them – perhaps 300 or more over several years. Yes, I gained…

In a recent post on Facebook, I outlined my basic system for growing your business faster. Here it is: 1. Work on developing a really good marketing message that embodies how you help your clients. Make it clear and easy to understand and that makes them…

Tom was frozen in his marketing.  After he'd left the corporate world about three years ago and started his own consulting practice, he found it very difficult to attract enough clients. "It's not that I haven't been doing marketing activities," he told me. "It's just…

This past week I found myself in a difficult spot. Not only did my fall last week slow things down quite a bit (what with lots of naps and TV-watching), I found myself overwhelmed by all the things I had committed to do but couldn't manage.…

If you really think about it, wouldn't you love to have a marketing breakthrough?  A breakthrough might start with one good idea or insight that ultimately turned into strategies and plans that, when implemented, attracted lots of your ideal clients and a substantial increase in income.…

As I pulled my rental car into the very busy parking lot of the Hanalai Bay Beach a few days ago on my Kauai vacation, my wife remarked, "It looks like everyone in Hawaii is at this beach," to which I quipped, "Yeah, we might even find Elvis…

This weekend I was looking at something I was resisting. I had sub-contracted a website design over a year ago. I had paid the web designer, but I still have failed to bill the client. And it wasn't a tiny amount. It was $3,000. So why…

On August 1, 2014, I started the process of writing and launching an e-book, The Unstuck Process.  I thought you might be interested in everything it took to bring this idea into reality. It took 2 1/2 months of working on it between all my…

I remember clearly when I formulated my first really effective marketing message:  "I work with Independent Professionals who are struggling with their marketing." It was simple, nothing fancy, but it communicated two things very clearly: who I work with and the reason they needed me.…

Sometime soon after launching my website in 1996 I learned about the concept of giving away "free stuff" to people who visited my website. I launched my More Clients eZine in 1997 and gave away my "Marketing Plan Workbook" and grew my eZine list to 50,000+ people…

Making your marketing flow is something most Independent Professionals would welcome. We’d all like our marketing to result in a flow of new clients. But exactly what would that marketing flow look like? You’d have no resistance to marketing, no fears, no avoidance, no stuckness. You’d come up…

In Rolf Dobelli's amazing book, "The Art of Thinking Clearly" he enumerates 99 thinking mistakes we all make and how they affect our lives. But it wasn't until the Epilog that I grasped an idea that could change your marketing forever. Dobelli states: "We cannot say…

It can be a lot of work to get the attention and interest of a prospective client. It takes time and effort to put out the word about your services, to say nothing of getting a qualified lead. The purpose of all your networking, speaking, social…

Sam Harris, author, and famous atheist, has taken a firm stand against the dangers of fundamentalist religions. He asserts that they are not only delusional but harmful to both individuals and society. On the extremes, the hate-cult of Westboro Baptist Church and the suicide bombings by Islamist extremists come…

What do you do after you've met a prospective client at a networking or social event? What do you do after giving a presentation to a business group and collect several cards? And what do you do if someone suggests you call an associate about your…

I keep getting questions about how to write client-attracting articles or reports.  One of the most important marketing tools you can have is an article that you give to prospects once they are on "First Base," that is, when they have shown some interest in your services and…