Larry Bailin is a talented internet marketer and a nationally sought keynote. Larry’s in his second edition of his book, “Mommy, Where Do Customers From” and enjoys continued success at his firm Single Throw located in Wall New Jersey. Well a few weeks ago I had the pleasure of sitting down with Larry to talk shop. The two of us sat across from one another and covered all the requisite mainstays like what portion of your mix should comprise PPC, how much of your social footprint should be automated (Larry says none and incidentally, I think he’s right) and the two of us agreed that Seth Godin is a keeper. But the typical talking points of our conversation, while enlightening and entertaining in general, didn’t move the needle. Don’t get me wrong; it’s fun to talk to other internet marketers – particularly those that the industry leans on as much as it does Larry. But no. The conversation was cool, but the majority of the time largely academic. The majority that is. You see, something fascinating did happen. Something was unearthed. A fortuitously excavated idea emerged from an otherwise casually enjoyable dialogue between two passionate internet marketers. Read the rest of this entry »

I’m tellin’ yah gang, my colleagues and I are getting less and less interested in the projects. The one-offs. The, here today, gone tomorrow, gigs. I suppose until we can afford that summer place in Tuscany, we’ll still accept project work, but to tell the truth, I don’t entirely dislike them, but I will confess that they hold far less appeal now, than they once did. Let me explain. Read the rest of this entry »

This is part two of a two-part series on how to get the client focused on the relationship, not the costs they incur working with you. It was originally featured in September on http://www.successful-blog.com/. In the first installment located here, I discussed how we can calm the fearful and financially strained Mom & Pop by offering them guarantees. Promising struggling small business owners that you’ll share the risk is one of the best ways to demonstrate your investment in doing the job right, not just collecting some quick cash. In part two below, I turn our attentions toward specifically how we can discuss money so that money is no longer discussed. sounds like a riddle, but I assure you it’s not. So let’s get started.

I understand that the guarantee is among the best ways to return the risk the customer takes in hiring you and I love the idea of shouldering the burden of proof. But that is only one reason I make guarantees. The other is that I want to help. I really do and nothing says so louder than making promises that remove financial risks and potential losses from the bargaining table. See, I’m not preoccupied with the money part of the sales progression and it’s made all the difference. Yes, I need money too, but I only want it from people who were happy with the way I earned it. Everything else feels like stealing. I want to be paid because we agree that I nailed the thing. The fees I’m asking are the reward I’ve earned for adding value to your business endeavors. If my earnings aren’t my reward for doing great work, well then again it just ends up feeling like I got away with something. Read the rest of this entry »

This post originally appeared back in September on http://www.successful-blog.com/ and can be found by clicking here. This is part one of a two-part series on how to get the client focused on the relationship, not the costs they incur working with you. In the next installment, which you can look for next week, I discuss how I defuse the tough talks about money and spending and in so doing, convert the wary prospect into the lasting client.

My portfolio is comprised largely of passionate, cash-hungry small shops, boutiques, niches and nonprofits. I do work with big companies now and again too, but they’re the exception to the rule and thus, I won’t be spending time talking about them in this post. No, this post is for the small consultancy that’s servicing the small, proud brick and mortar. Read the rest of this entry »

You’re losing business because your presentation sucks, not because your fee is too high or someone else is smarter, more creative or more accomplished. You’re going in scared that you won’t compete and that same fear drove your preparedness and your crappy presentation. I’ll explain in a minute, but for now, wanna see 200 photographs of my recent business trip to Indianapolis? It’s loaded with killer shots of the thoroughly unremarkable office building I worked from. No? OK. Well what about video of surgeons removing the deceased section of my sigmoid colon? No!? Man, you’re tough to please. Oh I got it! How about I talk to you for an hour about how awesome my six-year-old son is at soccer?

Seriously. How many of you are remotely interested in any of these topics, let alone eager to view, watch or listen to me carry on about them for an hour? Read the rest of this entry »

A client recently asked me how to turn an otherwise ordinary fund raising event into an exciting happening that leaves a lasting social footprint afterward. But their question got me thinking more about how to turn an otherwise ordinary consulting job into an exciting happening that leaves a social footprint long after the gig has ended. In other words, I quickly began realizing that what makes for a resonating fund raising event, is the stuff that makes planning it resonate too. So how they make their events viral became secondary for me. What instead became step one, was how I would get them excited about solving the problem itself. After all, if I can’t make the consulting process exciting for my client, can I claim to know what will make donors excited? Read the rest of this entry »