While “cutting your losses early” can be a powerful policy, among the most common tactical errors is “pulling the plug way too early.” No one can deny the frustration professionals may feel when their investments into new technologies, or marketing campaigns, or people, or whatever, fail to turn an expected, easy, immediate “profit.” Yet, upon careful analysis, the frustration is often rooted ...…
Here’s a terrific networking event secret. Go with a friend who will endorse you and whom you will endorse. Nothing sells someone like a sincere third party endorsement. When someone talks about themselves, praises themselves, and goes on and on, it starts to feel very fake. Like a tall tale. Too tall. And if they ...…
We train them. We mentor them. And they still moan. I was asked to help out a firm that had training and mentoring systems in place for its people but was not satisfied with the results. Leadership, rainmaking, sales, and call training swirled into the mix. Yet, upper management couldn’t figure put why, despite all these offerings, ...…
A would-be client shows up and your reception area is unkempt and messy. Once someone starts looking for something, they often find more than they ever bargained for. A bit of peeling wallpaper becomes a cascade. A stack of shoddy magazines becomes a dump. Their mind starts extrapolating. If all this mess, which clearly is under your control, is acceptable ...…
When I wrote “A Brand is a Promise” my premise was that once you strip away all of the fluff and confusion that surrounds “branding,” you are left with one perpetual truth – that a brand is simply a promise -a promise to a consumer that your brand will deliver a certain experience in a ...…
When I wrote “A Brand is a Promise” my premise was that once you strip away all of the fluff and confusion that surrounds “branding,” you are left with one perpetual truth – that a brand is simply a promise -a promise to a consumer that your brand will deliver a certain experience in a ...…
Here’s another interesting but little discussed aspect of branding - left to their own devices (without clear and strong messaging from you), consumers will actually start defining your brand in their own way regardless of what your advertising tries to portray - especially if the advertising isn’t anywhere close to their real or even perceived experiences. Break enough promises, and ...…
Based on my many years of award winning product and major brand experience, I am often asked how to apply those Madison Avenue secrets to creating a personal brand. Well, first of all, whether you realize it or not, you already have a personal brand. So, the question really is, how do you make the most of ...…
Years ago I presented a popular seminar titled “To Catch More Fish – Fish Where the Fish Are.” Here is the executive summary - as obvious as my advice seems, many people are spending tremendous amounts of money, time, and effort gearing up to go fishing in empty streams and lakes. This business development lesson actually comes from my ...…
What’s your voice? What do people “hear” when they see your brand? What do they experience? What do they sense? What does your advertising say about you? All of these questions, while sometimes hard to narrow down, lead to one important fact – to make an impact, your brand needs to have one voice. Further, ...…
Some professionals are quid pro quo- ers. Inside their heads, they have a huge tally sheet of favors given and received. They literally dole out leads based on reciprocation. Or, more accurately, on perceived reciprocation. It is not uncommon to find out that after analysis, your perceived ”great lead sources” may be sorely lacking. Actual generators for your business ...…
Spoiler Alert >>> While there is an endless stream of pundits that are only too happy to opine on loose dress codes, I believe that professionals should look like, well, professionals! In certain situations, loose can be fine – casual Fridays, fishing, play dates, golfing, raking the lawn. In certain situations, we can all agree that a ...…
If you’ve ever taken any of my training classes or attended any of my seminars, one of my top themes has always been to “leave your firm a better place.” While this simple phrase is easy to understand on a surface level, it literally has volumes and layers of benefits that may not be so apparent. While ...…
In Manhattan, a common early morning sight involves window washers who clean the ground floor windows of retail stores. Using buckets, towels, and squeegees on extendable arms, they lift off the layer of dust or grime that settled the day before. Several of the store managers or owners that I’ve spoken to all felt that the ritual was essential for a variety ...…
Encouraging web surfing is probably NOT what anyone would expect me to advocate. And, no, I don’t champion the mindless pursuit of wacky web content. However, I am encouraging you to set aside a quarter hour a day to choose one client or one industry which you serve, or even one service offering you provide, and to surf ...…
A common feeling that professionals have about “marketing” is that somehow it encroaches on their ”serious” time. It is seen as an annoyance and even a disruption to getting billable work done. If you see “marketing” as an unrelated task for which you need to stop your world to plow through… then yes, marketing is all the bad things ...…
Here are 7 keys to building solid relationships with vendors that will serve your firm well: 1. Approach every relationship as a partnership, with equal respect for all. Demand a reasonable degree of respect from the vendor, and show the same respect for the vendor as well. Treat them as professionals and expect the same. ...…
My favorite message from David Maister was his brilliant talk on quitting smoking. You can find it expanded in his book, Strategy and the Fat Smoker. Maister concludes that you won’t do something or stop doing something until you are ready to do what it takes to get the results you want. He also drives ...…
Action is king. So many firms get bogged down in writing endless lengthy business plans that go nowhere. You can write all the words you can muster. Labor endlessly over every comma and period. Consult your stupid dictionary a million times. If your actions are self-serving, if you don’t live up to the promises, implied and ...…
I’ve said it many times before – Marketing is everyone’s business. From the mailroom to the managing partner, from the receptionist to the HR manager, everyone at the firm needs to adapt and believe in marketing. But what is Marketing? Like the old story about several blind men describing an elephant based on the part ...…