Capturing Attention: How Your Prospect’s Mind Works

May 6, 2010

You must get your prospect’s attention before you can sell her anything, or let her know how wonderful you are. Simple enough. Sure, that makes sense, Marcia. Just like I had to get your attention — maybe with the headline, maybe with the illustration — before I could impart the wisdom of this article to [...]

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Interview with a Client: Barbara McCollough of Surrogacy Success

May 6, 2010

Sometimes, to learn a bit more about our own businesses, it helps to learn about others’ businesses, and the challenges they face. Today, my client Barbara McCollough of Surrogacy Success in Boston, Massachusetts, has agreed to an interview. Enjoy!
MH: How would you describe your business? BM: Surrogacy Success provides psychological, emotional, and relational support to [...]

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How to Get Referrals: The Two Things You Must Have First

May 5, 2010

I love referrals. Hearing my phone ring, with a pre-qualified new client on the other end of the line, asking if they can work with me, is the sweetest sound on earth. I didn’t have to convince them I was a valuable resource. I didn’t have to “sell” them anything. I didn’t have to explain [...]

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Emotional Buzz: How to Get People to Talk About You

May 4, 2010

If you want your business to grow, you need people to talk about you. So you need to give them something to talk about.
We don’t talk about companies that we “like.” We don’t talk about companies that deliver good, quality service, day in and day out, for a reasonable price. We expect that. Do you [...]

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Why Won’t They Respond? Base Your Business Positioning on Your True Offer

April 30, 2010

How can you let potential clients know you can help them if they don’t know what you do, don’t care about you, and are only interested in themselves? (And let’s face it, that’s most, if not all, of your potential clients out there.)
You’ve tried telling them about your great products and services, and they still [...]

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Small Business Strategy 101: Believe You Can Do It

April 30, 2010

When I first started my marketing communications firm in 1984, I didn’t think about whether I could do it or not, I just knew the wolf was at my door. The large corporation I worked for was leaving town and I wasn’t going with it. I needed work and I needed it fast, so I [...]

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Setting Goals and Actually Achieving Them, Even If You Question the Rules

April 28, 2010

Okay, I’ll admit it — I’m a pretty traditional gal.
Most of the stuff I talk about is pretty proven, and I try to stay on the path — because I like to know that what I’m doing works. I will question the rules, take things that have been successful in one industry and use it [...]

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How to Be a Better Leader: Be “Follow-able” Part 3

April 27, 2010

“Don’t tell people how to do things, tell them what to do and let them surprise you with their results.” — George S. Patton
This is my third post on leadership. You can read Being a Good Leader: What Does That Mean? and Are You a Good Leader? A Leadership Quiz in earlier posts.
Leaders need followers. As [...]

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Are You a Good Leader? A Leadership Quiz Part 2

April 27, 2010

“If your actions inspire others to dream more, learn more, do more, and become more, you are a leader.” — John Quincy Adams
Are you a leader?
Just because you own a business or have a team doesn’t necessarily mean you’re a leader. All of us have known someone in a leadership position who wasn’t really a leader, [...]

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