You’ve heard the old adage, “if it weren’t for customers, running a business would be a lot of fun”. While this line brings a smirk to our face, it really is the wrong attitude to take if you want your customers to bring you more business. Businesses who truly have a dislike for their customers, no doubt also have a large turn over of customers. If you are in the professional industry like myself, you have to take an active interest in your customer’s businesses. You can’t just take their money and then forget about them. I regularly have customers…

How often do you toot your own horn about your business. Really think about it, besides speaking with clients one on one, have you actually shared (with permission of course) results you’ve been getting for a client with another? I think it’s human nature not to brag about yourself and your business. But I think we need to start getting used to the idea of tooting our horns and spreading the word. I’m in the process of doing this very thing myself. I’ll be sharing with you a series of interviews from clients who have worked directly with me. And…

THE Marketing Tool Small business owners who are looking for a budget-friendly way to market their business may find email marketing their perfect solution. Many of the most successful internet marketers rely on this form of marketing for the majority of their sales. But can this really work for your business? As the name implies, email marketing is a form of marketing done via email. Recipients sign up to receive emails from the business owner, usually in the form of a newsletter. In turn, the business owner sends out these emails along with some type of promotion for their business.…

Many of my peers in business are looking for ways to increase their opportunities and help others in the process. One of my fellow charter members of MOOB, (Mind Our Own Business), Marcia Hoeck has put together a telesummit featuring a dozen high profile speakers on being your own boss, throwing up that shingle and giving it a go. The fantastic thing is that they’re not charging a few thousand or even a few hundred dollars for this series of a dozen interviews. The fee is only 37 bucks USD ( a few cases of beer – at least here…

Recently, I got a very glum email from a colleague I hold dear. She informed me of her company’s potential demise. She lost major work and has had to put her location up for sale. This email hit me like a ton of bricks. This person has enjoyed year over year successes and this is their 25th anniversary. How could it just slide so quickly? But, you know as I sit here at my Mac, contemplating, I am struck by what I have always admired about her – her professionalism, her lack of fear. Her simple email told of her…

One of our strongest held beliefs at my agency is that it’s a wise marketing practice to give away what you sell.  We fight and struggle to get a prospect’s attention and when we do, the first thing we want to do is show them what we know and how we can help them. So why not reverse the process.  Why not freely share your knowledge and then the prospects are drawn to you!  No cold calling, no chasing them down.  They have already seen what you’re capable of — so they seek you out. Think of it as sampling…

Tonight is the 30th Anniversay of the Nightly Business Report, I was given the transcript just now and I asked permission to put it into a pdf for my readers. Permission was granted so here you go! To Read the PDF Transcript >> Click Here To watch tonight: >> Click Here Enjoy!

You know I’m rather quite annoyed with this RSS feed here. They say it’s good to display your RSS feed but what happens when your RSS feed falls off the map? Well that’s where mine has been for the last 5 days, I was so proud of my RSS feed getting to 3000 and now it’s nowhere near that. I’m reminded by what Alice Seba mentioned on her blog. Something to the effect of, “Focus less on the Feed and more on your business.” Sure an RSS feed is great to show social proof and that people are actually interested…

As a business owner do you spend more on office supplies than you do on marketing your company? By marketing, I mean any activity whose goal is to grow new and existing business. This “investment” is an integral component in brand building. I can’t tell you how many small businesses I’ve spoken with over the years who put more value in the decor of their offices than the quality of their brand. They had no issue purchasing the latest office equipment, and lavished up their surroundings so that they are professional in their space. When it came to their brand…

I really don’t know how I would ever live without Basecamp. I was going to put together a huge list for 2009 of all the great tools that I use like Aweber for my email list and Basecamp for all things business. As I was on Twitter tonight I mentioned how I my outsource staff and I were having another LOVE fest. Truly, I love the 3 main gals that work with me and when they get essentials back to me lickity split I usually let them know how much I love them. Here’s how it goes…. VERA: Will you…