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Over the past week or so, I’ve had more than a few people tell me that, although prospecting can get good results, it can also be uncomfortable, embarrassing, and undignified to say the least.

As one Marketing Memo reader put it, “Let’s face it. Prospecting basically sucks. But if you have to do it, you have to do it. Right?”

Well, if you have that attitude, prospecting will suck. And no matter how much you may need to reach out to new prospects, you probably won’t make very many of those calls or send those emails.

But if you change your thinking around a bit, and look at prospecting in a different way, you’ll find that it really can be simple and easy. Continue reading →

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Since starting this series on prospecting, I’ve received a lot of questions from readers, and also some great tips.

Thank you!

As I said in my last Marketing Memo, prospecting is simply the process of introducing yourself to people who have a likelihood – and that’s key – of being interested in your services. There are many ways you can do that. You can make a call, send an email, use social media, get introduced somehow, meet at a networking event, etc.

One email I received yesterday asked, “I’m using email as my main prospecting method. How many emails should I send each week?”

I understand why she asked that. But her question concerned me a little. It implied that, when you get right down to it, prospecting is really just a numbers game. If you make enough calls, send enough emails, or reel off your elevator speech to enough people at a conference – you’ll eventually land some clients.

But that’s not what prospecting is really about. Continue reading →

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Let’s face it. No one likes to cold call, warm call, or do any type of prospecting. Even if you don’t use the phone and, instead, reach out to new potential clients via email, the process can be intimidating.

But sometimes you just have to do it. Especially when you need to land some new clients fairly quickly.

The good news is, there are ways to make prospecting calls – or send prospecting emails – that are easy-to-do and get very good results.

Here are just a few of those ways: Continue reading →

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I’m guessing this is the umpteenth article you’ve seen this week on setting goals. After all, it’s the start of the new year. Just about everyone has something important they want to achieve in 2012. And we’re all hungry for tips on how to achieve it.

So what are your business goals this year? Is it to break into a new niche market? Land five better and higher-paying clients? Transform your website into a client-attracting machine?

I’m no expert on achieving goals. (I leave that to the Tony Robbins’ of the world.) But I have accomplished some big things over the years. And, yes, I’ve also failed – sometimes spectacularly – to achieve other goals I’ve set for my business.

So I guess you can say I have lots of experience with both success and failure!

What have I learnt? Continue reading →

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A friend called me this morning and asked, “So, what are your plans for the holidays?”

“The holidays?” I replied. Then I casually glanced at the calendar. Uh oh. The holidays are next week. How did I miss that coming so fast?

For most people, planning for the holidays concerns family, gifts and travel.

But for us business owners, it may also involve landing a new client (or two) before the new year begins.

So let’s take a look at some proven strategies for landing clients quickly… strategies that can work within just a few days. Continue reading →

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Last week, I was a guest on Jane Atkinson’s teleclass series for professional speakers. The topic was copywriting, and Jane did a great job of picking my brain on how to craft effective web pages, emails, “one sheets”, and other marketing pieces speakers need.

For the most part, this was a group of non-copywriters. So, to prepare for the teleclass, I made a list of tips and techniques that would be easy for them to learn and use.

And that got me wondering…

What is the absolute easiest way for anyone to write great copy, quickly and painlessly?

And the answer was no surprise. At least to me. Continue reading →

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Chances are, there are a handful of key publications in your target market that just about everyone reads – or at least scans – on a regular basis.

In one of the niche markets I focus on, for example, there is a print magazine, two well-read online magazines, and three popular blogs. Together, they reach at least 90% of my target audience.

Wouldn’t it be great if an article I wrote was featured on one of those publications, along with a nice blurb about my services and a link to my website?

Of course it would!

That’s why I’ve had five articles placed in all but one of those publications… so far. And the exposure and leads I’ve generated as a result have been substantial.

Now, I realize there are many, many ways to use articles to market your services. You can post articles on your blog. You can spread the word through social media. You can even sign up for an article syndication service, like ezinearticles.com, to get your articles peppered throughout the internet.

But nothing beats having an article placed in a major publication that hundreds, perhaps thousands, of people in your target market read and respect.

So how do you do that? Continue reading →

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I received an email yesterday from a representative of a PR consulting firm. He was obviously trying to solicit my business. But instead of sending me a “real” email message, he instead cut and pasted this awful, “salesy” form letter that he has probably used a hundred times before.

It began with “Dear sir”, because he didn’t know my name.

It made some vague reference to having visited my website, although it was doubtful that he did.

And then his email proceeded to pitch me on scheduling a free consulting session with his firm, which I had better book right away because “There are only a few spots available.”

I felt spammed. And, in fact, I was.

The only reason why I didn’t push the delete button is that I wanted to keep his prospecting email as an example of what NOT to do!

Now, in fairness to him, his firm may very well provide an excellent service. Maybe I should be speaking to him. But his email did nothing to convince me of that.

So how do you write an effective prospecting email? One that actually makes a good impression and really works? Continue reading →

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Last week I decided to finally hang a picture in my office that I had purchased – dare I say it? – a couple of years ago. It had been leaning next to my desk all that time. I was even sticking Post-It notes on it.

Now I’m not the handiest man on the planet. So I was having trouble getting the picture level.

I measured carefully before screwing in the anchors, but the thing still was crooked. Then, while digging through my toolkit, I discovered that I had
one of those laser beam leveling tools!

Using that tool, I was able to hang the picture straight in less than five minutes.

So what does all this have to do with LinkedIn?

Well, you might think of LinkedIn as a social media site, but I see it more as a toolkit… with lots of handy implements for finding and connecting with potential clients. Continue reading →