Free Consulting, Coaching and Copywriting Tips and Articles

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Previously Published Articles:

Generating Traffic- For the Small Business

‘Click and order’ is a business that conducts itself almost entirely via the internet.

Both types of business require building a relationship with the consumer... Read More

Corporate Training Best Practice 

What you can do to be sure your training is on target and the lessons stick with your people with a little planning ahead and hardly any expense.

In twenty years of corporate selling-- 10 years in IT and outsourcing sales-- training sessions ran the spectrum. I’ve attended sessions ranging from corporate policy and administration to sales technique and product technical features.

Every session had a ‘how was it’ questionnaire at the end.  Most had a test.  You passed. You walked out.

Read More 

One Typically Overlooked Reason You Might Not be Winning More Business

Paying Attention to the colors you wear, and the colors others wear can change the way you are perceived and how you should sell.

What's your customer's favorite color?  What's yours?  By the end of this article you will be paying closer attention and gain insight into how your wardrobe influences your ability to quickly close more business.

Read More 

The President of the United States Has a “Tell”

If you didn’t know about this from his senate seat web-site… During a scheduled, but unannounced visit to a local Washington D.C. charter school the president let slip a seemingly innocent answer to an innocent question that tells the world exactly how he sees himself, his management style, and how others can successfully relate to him or anyone they are selling to.

When you’re done reading this you will know what I mean and how to use it to your advantage.   Read More

Routine, Leadership and Problem-solving

The Importance of a Routine

I had a call from my son’s little league manager last night about 10pm.  I help out on the team coaching so had just seen him earlier in the evening.  As it happens when baseball dads get together the conversation moved on to other things pretty quickly and we ended up speaking for an hour.

Coach has an itinerary and agenda we try to follow each practice that emphasizes the basics, reinforces the skills taught in earlier practices and introduces new skills.  Even though the kids are young, this method has been very effective.  Read More

Ensure successful speeches, events and campaigns by Avoiding these communication issues…

Three things you can do with just a little bit of preparation….

A few weeks ago, I had the opportunity to hear a speech by a likeable, intelligent and respected person in their very specific area of subject matter expertise.

Based on the feedback after the event, it could have been more successful.  Read More

Alarm Sirens Went Off In My Head.

Is this Small Business Saboteur Preventing You from Succeeding?

I walked away from a meeting with a small business owner this past Tuesday with alarm sirens going off in my head. You know, the kind of sirens you hear coming up behind you in the car that make the hair stand up on the back of your neck. It was ambulance sirens... with a police escort.

We just finished a 4 hour meeting as a follow up to a one hour meeting the previous week. The first one-hour meeting was high-level goal setting, analysis and brainstorming and went very well.   Read More

Are you Throwing Darts at a Board and Too Much Money Down the Drain Hoping Something Sticks?

Or are you implementing a practical, targeted, cost-effective and sustainable marketing strategy?

It’s not unusual for a person in business to be crystal clear when speaking about the product or service you provide.  However, to use your marketing dollars more effectively, sometimes you need a little help being just as clear about:

• Who your customer is.

• The benefits of your product or service to your customer.

• What your real value to your customer is.

• What’s important to your customer.

• Your customer’s other interests.

Read More 

A Little Known Weapon in The Business Sales Arsenal Revealed.

Learn how you can take advantage of Sales Outsourcing during any economy to reduce your cost of sales and increase your win rate.

Here's the bottom line.  Business is on an expense cutting spree and technology is changing the way every business acquires customers.  The cut-back binge includes reducing staff, training, expense budgets, etc. And full-time sales people are an expense- a BIG one.  That's good news for smart businesses.  Read More

The #1 mistake salespeople make and the #1 thing you can do starting today to move from being a totally stressed out quota-slave to a totally relaxed revenue generating machine.

The single biggest mistake salespeople make is thinking, and acting like they are 'sales' people.

The weekly meeting is over.

If you're a salesperson, sales manager or corporate executive and find yourself shaking your head in disbelief, rubbing that high point on the bridge of your nose with eyes closed (even though you don't wear glasses), rubbing the back of your neck or rushing off to the restroom to splash some cold water on your face... you need help.

A quick search on keywords shows that sales performance ranks higher in Google and Yahoo searches than sales training or coaching—a serious reversal from just two years ago.   Read More

Plan B Selling?

Why Preparing Two Presentations is Better for Your Career than Preparing Just One, and When to Walk Away.

Has this ever happened to you during a sales presentation meeting?  Maybe the traffic didn’t cooperate, meetings were running late, people called in sick, people you didn’t expect to be there are in the room, or the equipment didn’t work.

Now, if you want to immediately lower your chances of a successful presentation you can try to cram your entire presentation into the time remaining to you, or spend countless wasted minutes playing with equipment. 

Or, you can be ready with your backup plans, be prepared with options on how to proceed, and be confident enough to stick with the decision and move forward.   Read More

Are you discounting just because your prospect or customer asked you to? 

Negotiation Tactics You Can Learn from Your Food Server.

Let’s have a little fun.

When is the last time you went to a franchise fast-food place or a diner to grab a bite?

I’ll bet the person taking your order asked you one of two questions after you ordered...  Read More

Three things you have to know before you even think about public speaking or selling a product, service, idea or cause…

And One thing you need to know before you can get anyone to buy what you’re selling….

There are THREE types of buyers and buying situations to consider when creating your sales marketing plan.  First, a buyer is your audience-- an individual, a group, a business and the volunteer or donor to your cause-- so this holds true for B2B, B2C, Not-For-Profit and even public speaking!

I know, I know.  I hate being put that easily into a category, too.  But in 25 years selling and marketing it really does all boil down to the three.  The trick is to know what the three are and then understand the one thing you need know to deal with them.  Read More