What are the ultimate wisest sayings? Sayings that when fully understood can transform our lives? Good question. Let’s see... Wise sayings, aphorisms, proverbs, adages, or maxims have been around for a very long time. If you do a little research, you’ll…

In working with clients over the years, we often explored core beliefs that held them back. One of the most common (but least recognized) was, “I am not enough.” This belief can lead to a wide range of behaviors that tend…

These days there seems to be more and more friction between the major political divides in our country. This division is characterized by the World Famous ABCs: Accusation, Blame, and Criticism. These days a lot of people seem to be focused…

I love quotations. When I started my business, I compiled a hundred or more quotes about success and read them frequently. I own books of quotations and look up quotations online almost every day. Quotations are condensed wisdom. Read a few…

As you may have noticed, in my leisurely retirement, I am spending way too much time on ChatGPT. :–) Despite this descent into talking to a computer AI, I’m discovering many amazing uses for it, and, of course… I’d like to…

Last week, I shared a simple idea that emerged from a ChatGPT conversation: “If each individual were to cultivate a consistent practice of empathy – the ability to understand and share the feelings of others – it could potentially bring about a…

I recently found a book in my Kindle Library called “How Clients Buy” by Tom McMakin and Doug  Fletcher. I had bought and downloaded the book in 2020 but neglected to get around to reading it. Well, I‘m glad I…

If we want to grow our businesses and attract new clients, we need to learn how to persuade people. But how do we do that ethically, without manipulation? I’ve worked with many clients who have struggled with this issue. Nobody…

I always emphasize to my clients that the most reliable method of determining the effectiveness of a marketing strategy or approach is through one thing and one thing only: RESPONSE. If your strategy generates a positive response, it's working. This…

Have you noticed that there seems to be a lot of conflict, blame, and anger going around these days? And those feelings, states of mind, and actions are all working against our productivity, contribution, and thriving as individuals and as…

In speaking to my Getting Out There Group last week, I told them that next month we would be working on creating an email newsletter for their business. As much as I talk about Proactive Marketing – I.e., getting out…

In the early days of my business in the late ‘80s (making me a certified dinosaur) I know I had to make new connections with business owners through networking and outreach. It was a matter of survival. So, I read…

I have worked with clients for almost 39 years, and I have always done my best to help them. Sometimes, I have felt like my efforts were not enough, but I have come to realize that I was often wrong…

This weekend I bought an excellent book I wanted to recommend to anyone who is working to get out there as a self-employed professional. It’s called “Stillness is The Key” by Ryan Holiday. Holiday has achieved something very rare: becoming…

Today, I’m going to write about one of the most important skills any of us can possess as self-employed professionals: The power of Authentic Persuasion. Ultimately, If you can’t persuade, you won’t attract many clients. But first, let’s get very…

Once upon a time, there was a young woman who wanted to be an Olympic diver more than anything else. She read books and watched videos about Olympic divers as it was the most exciting thing in the world for…

The most important skill in attracting new clients? Getting more meetings and conversations with your existing network of contacts. Remember the 80/20 principle? When it comes to attracting new clients as a self-employed professional, getting meetings is 80% of the…

How do you get more meetings with prospective clients? This is a topic I’ve written about a lot, but I want to emphasize one key to getting meetings that makes all the difference. Affiliations. Also known as connections, similarities, relationships,…

Are you getting tired of consuming media information? You know, email, articles, videos, social media, TV, streaming, news, podcasts, advertising… endlessly. All of this stuff is coming to us point blank every minute of every day. We all sit at…

OK, let’s say you know exactly what you want in your business. For instance, to attract a certain number of clients and make a certain amount of money. Well, what is the fastest, simplest way to get from where you…

When I work with clients, we go through four main stages. 1. Clarification of their marketing message. 2. Development of their written materials about their services. 3. Prospecting to get meetings with connections and prospects. 4. Engaging in the selling…

Last week, in my new Open Sessions Program, I asked the following question: “What is your biggest challenge in attracting new clients? (and what is the Source of that challenge?)” Well, it’s easy to come up with a challenge; it’s…

Article #7 of the 12 Ps Series. Read #6 on “Your Step-by-Step Marketing Plan.” One of my favorite metaphors for successful marketing is putting on a play, let’s say Hamlet. OK, you land the part of Hamlet. Congratulations. So, what…

Article #6 of the 12 Ps Series. Read #5 on “Preparation – Another word for Learning.” Since the words “Action and Plan” are in my business name, I obviously think planning is important! Planning is defined as, “the process of…

One of the marketing practices I strongly encourage my clients to implement is to reach out to people, make connections, get meetings, and have conversations.  If you can learn how to do that, you can attract as many clients as…

Article #5 of the 12 Ps Series. Read #4 on How Aware Presence Can Transform Your Life. “Good luck is when opportunity meets preparation, while bad luck is when lack of preparation meets reality.” – Eliyahu Goldratt It’s tough finding…

When you first meet with a new prospective client, what do you say? Some talk all about their services and their unique process. Others talk about their outcomes and results. But my colleague, Mark Thompson, always first talks about his…

Article #4 of the 12 P’s Series. Read #3 on Picturing  What You Want. Living in the moment, at its essence, could be expressed as "Aware Presence, Here, and Now."  In my opinion, it’s the most important trait to develop…

Article #3 of the 12 Ps Series. Read #2 here. This weekend I watched the amazing movie, Everything Everywhere, All at Once. Three times! (It’s now on Amazon.) Yeah, I can be obsessive about some things! The movie was a…

Article #2 of the 12 Ps Series. Read #1 here. When you know what you want, you know your purpose. Last week I wrote about passion. And when you are clear about your passion, your purpose isn’t far behind. In…

What are you really passionate about? I mean excited about, turned on by, fascinated with? Do you know? A couple of weeks ago I wrote about the 10 Ps of Success and Fulfillment (now expanded to 12 Ps) and in…

Do you love your clients? I mean do you really like, appreciate, and cherish them? I do, and not just because they pay me and are the source of my livelihood. I love them because I really get to know…

On Friday, I watched a great new movie on Netflix: Hustle, featuring Adam Sandler. Not the goofy-type Adam Sandler movie, but an inspirational (and funny) masterpiece about getting out there and making it happen in the world of basketball. I…

This little weekly newsletter is 25 years old this summer, and I’m making a few changes. First the name. The first name of the newsletter was The Marketing Flash. That lasted a couple of years and then I thought it…

Many people write very long to-do lists every day. And they pride themselves on checking off a whole lot of items. And this makes them feel productive. Maybe you? I used to do exactly that for many years and then…

Have you noticed that there’s a whole lot of blame going around these days? People blaming other people, blaming companies, blaming politicians, blaming celebrities, blaming strangers, blaming anything and everything. Well, I have a little personal project called the No-Blame…

You’ve probably heard about the need to build what’s called the “Know-Like-Trust Factor” if you want to attract great clients. But how, exactly, do you do that? Well, first of all, marketing professional services is very different than marketing most…

Today, I’m posting a guest article by Matt Furey who sends out one of my favorite email newsletters. He’s the owner of Psycho-Cybernetics.com. All of his articles are thought-provoking and motivating. This one on reading I found particularly interesting. You…

Whenever you read about selling these days, it’s all about messaging, story-telling, and pitching. Thing is, those are wicked tough skills to learn. They take a lot of work and time. They take a ton of preparation and practice. They…

This New Rules video from Bill Maher was not only funny, but it was also very wise. Ageism: The Last Acceptable Prejudice in America I’ll give you the link after you read this: Why this rang such a bell with…

In last week’s newsletter, I talked about what needed to be in place before you conducted a successful Strategy Session (or selling conversation). Today, I’ll give you an overview of the Strategy Session Itself which leads to landing a new…

I spoke to someone on the phone last week who told me he never sold. But yet he was quite good at getting new clients, so how is that possible? Well, it’s because selling has some terrible baggage attached to…

It’s fascinating how many people love horror movies. It’s never been my favorite movie genre, but I can see the appeal. These movies trigger strong emotions – but you are ultimately not going to be harmed. If you gave people…

While I was preparing the video for “Lots and Lots of Meetings” I remembered a conversation I had with a colleague years ago. I came across Andrea Nierenberg, a business relationship expert, in a newsletter where we had both published…

Let’s say you belong to a chamber of commerce or a professional organization and you believe some of the members may be good prospective clients. You’ve been to some gatherings (or these days, virtual zoom meetings) but you really don’t…

Two weeks ago I wrote about how to get more meetings with past clients. Link here. Today, I want to share my favorite strategy and most effective approach to get more meetings with another kind of prospective client. Remember, first…

For many of the clients I’ve worked with over the years, the most dreaded activity is reaching out to someone to speak with. The horrors of cold-calling loom large and it literally terrifies people to reach out and connect with…

There are two things that make us struggle with marketing. One is relatively easy to solve and the other is more difficult. The first thing is all the strategies and skills needed to market ourselves effectively. You know, writing good…

There comes a time in everyone’s business when they run out of ideas. You are working on a problem and have tried a number of things but none of them work and no new ideas are coming. Since this has…

A large percentage of self-employed professionals don’t like selling. But what about it don’t they like? – They don’t like to be seen as a manipulator. – They don’t like to try so hard to convince someone of something. –…

A lot of marketing is like throwing a bunch of balls in the air and hoping they land exactly where you want. Your balls may include: Your marketing message, email promotions, online services information, qualifying phone calls, social media, online…

Every week for 25 years I've written this newsletter, The Fearless Marketer (used to be More Clients). I write about 50 articles a Year. But in the past few months, I’ve written what I think are some of my most…

About 30 years ago I worked with a client – an executive recruiter – who was having trouble closing new clients. The problem seemed to be that her service was very much the same as other executive recruiters and she…

Gauging from last week’s article on Color-Coded Persuasion, I was reminded once again that the topic of communication and persuasion is central to attracting new clients. My definition of marketing for self-employed professionals is simple: “Clearly communicating the value of…

Persuasion is a language art. That is, words and ideas are what persuade, more than anything else. The problem is, we communicate without noticing if we are expressing features or benefits in our messages. Features are what WE DO. Benefits…

We all want to succeed and nobody wants to fail. Most of us can agree on that, right? But there are some really big problems with our ideas of both success and failure. And if you don’t get straight on…

On a phone call with my youngest sister Sandy yesterday, we talked about her knee problems. Three of my sisters, between them, have had five knee surgeries. All three sisters did a lot of exercising in their lives – sports,…

Does is make sense to ask for client testimonials? And if so, how exactly do you do it? Well, yes, client testimonials are a good thing. Here are some ways to think about testimonials and a number of ways to…

I have been thinking of ideas my whole life about how to make the world a better place. Naive of me, right? But I can and do have an impact in my business. And the way I approach and conduct…

When it comes to writing about your professional services, there’s a good chance you don’t know what exactly to write about and how to structure your writing. Essentially, what you write should answer 10 key questions a prospective client has…

Many people think of selling as a talent you were born with. Is there any truth to that? Well, yes. In fact, everyone was born with the talent to sell from day one. You were born to ask for what…

We all procrastinate. And in many cases, it’s not a big thing – finally, we get around to doing what we were putting off. You know, things like tidying up your office, replying to your emails, or giving your dog…

What is the biggest struggle you have with marketing your professional services? Is it your marketing message, creating your services/programs, clearly communicating your value, getting in front of prospective clients, the selling process, or something else? We all have different…

As a self-employed professional, what is the most valuable commodity that your clients pay you for? Is it your experience, your ideas, your insights, your expertise, or your time? Well, yes, but those are actually the building blocks of your…

You may have seen this famous quote at some point in your life: “Nothing in the world can take the place of persistence. Talent will not; nothing is more common than unsuccessful men with talent. Genius will not; unrewarded genius…

Your marketing message is one of the most important tools in your marketing toolkit. But in my experience of working with clients on their messages for years, most self-employed professionals don’t have effective messages. What is an effective message? One…

I have a question for you. Do you imagine that if you do good, effective marketing, that prospective clients will call you ready to do business with you? Well, that has never been my experience. Marketing for self-employed professionals is…

Well, you could want a lot of things in your life, right? But, in your business, don’t you ultimately want to make a difference with the people you work with? And to make a difference you need to take action,…

I've been tweaking my new free/low-cost monthly program to make it simpler and more valuable.  Here’s my update on the Fearless Marketing Mastermind: First of all, who is this for? Self-employed professionals offering consulting, coaching, or training services and programs (or…

Every day I take my dogs to a local park near my home. And tomorrow I’m going to my first live networking event since before the pandemic. What do these things have in common and what does it have to…

Why is it so hard to find the right prospective clients? Well, it really depends on how you look at it. If you think, “The only people worth meeting with are perfect prospects who can spend $X with me on…

The term, “Ready, Aim, Fire” comes from the military, going way, way back. And then it gained popular usage in business and marketing. Ready: Get your marketing campaign in order. Aim: Clearly choose your target audience. Fire: Launch your campaign.…

Recently, when I took a close look at the marketing that has worked best for me over the past 35 years, two things popped out. First, my approach was always Proactive. That is, I reached out in some way to…

My favorite definition of effortless is “achieved with admirable ease.” And wouldn’t it be cool if all your marketing could be (relatively) effortless? What would that look like? Is it even possible? And is this just more marketing hype? Well,…

This morning, as I was preparing to write my newsletter article, I got my weekly copy of Matt Furey’s newsletter and I thought, “I can’t do much better than this today!” So, I decided to send it out to you.…

This past week I discovered that I was living inside the Matrix. Well, not the computer-generated Matrix from the famous movie, but inside a particular Mind-Made-Matrix (MMM) that was shaping my perceptions, feelings, and actions. Living inside this MMM dragged…

Did you ever notice that you tend to avoid or struggle with certain marketing activities? Two big ones that come to mind are developing marketing materials of any kind and getting meetings with prospective clients. If you could move forward…

I know you survived the pandemic this past year. You wouldn’t be reading this if you hadn’t. But did you thrive? But now, as we are slowly but surely coming out of the pandemic, I started an inventory of all…

Someone in my current Marketing Action Group shared this: “I believe that bringing all my marketing into alignment is critical at this point. Would this be correct?” Marketing alignment would be having a marketing message, marketing materials, website, presentation, etc.…

This little question seems to have puzzled self-employed professionals since the beginning of time. Somebody asks you what you do and you make the terrible mistake of actually telling them. Like this: “What do I do? So glad you asked!…

Last week, I sent an email asking what your biggest issue was in attracting more of your ideal, high-end clients. I wasn’t surprised to see that the issue mentioned most often was “Getting in front of qualified prospective clients.” It’s…

I don’t think I’ve seen a tougher environment for attracting new clients than in the past year. The pandemic has definitely made things harder. Companies are tightening their belts, and clients are in a reactive, not creative mindset. Even in…

Do you have goals for your business and your marketing? Do you have a list of to-do items aligned with those goals? If so, great, but today I’d like you to think about intentions. An intention is defined as “an…

I woke up last night thinking about the following question. (look, let me know if this makes sense to you OK?) “Who would I be if I couldn’t believe the thought(s) that stop me from reaching out in my marketing?”…

It's my 69th birthday today (March 9). And I’ve been thinking about what to write for a few hours. The topic of security and insecurity came up. Last week in my Marketing Action Group we were talking about how insecure…

It's easy for our marketing to get stuck in a rut. We don't know why people aren't responding, let alone buying. Look, the pandemic, the economy, right-wing insurrectionists, vaccines, and God knows what else, has made marketing a little harder…

When we think about marketing our professional services, we usually think about all the things we need to DO to get clients. But that is usually very limited because marketing has numerous components and also processes. Plus, marketing has outer…

I had a dream last night where I was working out the core marketing message or “ultimate outcome” of a product of some kind. As I woke up, I pulled out my iPad and wrote down the five “ultimate outcomes”…

When I was intensively studying marketing in the “early days” of Action Plan Marketing, I read Scientific Advertising by Claude Hopkins. Perhaps the best marketing book ever written, published in 1923. Hopkins was the father of modern advertising and his…

Nothing will kill your forward movement in life and in business more than a feeling of worthlessness. You know the feeling… You just don’t feel that what you are offering is worthy, good enough, or valuable. And when that happens…

Marketing is very simple. At its essence, marketing is communicating the value of whatever it is you’re offering. When people who need what you’re offering truly get what your value is, some of them engage you and work with you.…

I’ve been publishing an email newsletter each Tuesday for almost 24 years. Has it worked out for me? Well, let me count the ways… First of all, virtually ALL of my clients were first subscribers to my email newsletter. Second,…

A famous sports quote is “Winning isn’t everything. It’s the ONLY thing.” I’m rather ashamed to say that I’ve shared this quote many times. But this quote is not only wrong, it is malignant. In so many ways, winning has…

In the new Disney movie, Soul, the hero, Joe, has just achieved his dream, playing in Dorothea Williams’ jazz band, and he says, “I’ve been waiting on this day my entire life… I just thought it would feel different.” And…