"Hi, my name's Brad, and I'm a doomscroller." It started with the pandemic. I wasn’t much of a social media consumer before that, but I wanted to stay on top of the news when the virus hit. Things were changing all the time, so I kept checking back. Then it was the protests, then the political news…I know I need to stop. Before long, my wife was doomscrolling along with me. Instead of catching up with one another at the end of the day, we’re staring at our phones, sending links back and forth. I resolved at the start of the year – I’m leaving my phone in my office. I don’t have to bring it out at night! That lasted 6 days. I need to get sober. The thing is looking at the … [Read more...]

As I talked with one of my clients last week, he said something that blew my mind. 🤯 Mike went to law school as a mid-career switcher. His background is in product development and engineering, but now he owns a law firm. We talked about how things have changed for him during the last few years that we’ve been working together. “I’m not even a lawyer anymore,” he said, “or at least I don’t do what lawyers do!” Mike had found a way to use outreach to gain new clients consistently. By sending just a few hundred direct mail letters each week, he could keep the phone ringing steadily with clients looking for his services. But to stay focused on the new clients, he knew that he couldn’t … [Read more...]

When it comes to your sales pipeline, there’s just one thing you are in complete control over. You can’t control when people buy or who will buy, but you have complete control over the top of your funnel. And unless you’ve got something seriously wrong, the more qualified leads you put into the top of your funnel, the more sales come out the bottom. So the equation is simple, generate more leads, and you’ll get more sales. So why don’t we generate more leads? A consistent lead generation process requires two things: A clear idea of who your ideal client is and where to find them. Consistent, daily effort to find and engage with those clients. Most of my clients have the … [Read more...]

I’ve been trying to make an argument this week that it’s easier to grow your firm by narrowing your focus than by taking on a broad range of work from the clients that come your way. I wanted to end the week by talking about an example, a client who actually did this! Meet Robin I started working with a web design company that was doing well, but the owner wanted to see more growth. There was a lot of variability in the clients and projects coming in, so she needed to have a wide range of talent to deliver on all those various projects. When we kicked off the engagement, she crystallized the problem, “I want to grow my business, but I don’t want to grow the number of employees. I … [Read more...]

When I talk to growing agencies and creative services firms, their top concern is lead generation. They are confident that they can deliver value, but everyone struggles to get in front of the right potential buyers. Because their pipeline is skinny, and they’re anxious about that, I see folks relaxing their qualification. Instead of focusing on their ideal customer, they tend to start talking to folks who might be “less ideal.” Then, to close deals with those “less ideal” clients, they stretch their service offerings to match what those clients “want,” and they end up working on things that they “can” do instead of what they are best at. The solution isn’t to open up the top of your … [Read more...]

2021, I want to have a serious conversation about your performance. As you know, we brought you in to replace someone who had severe performance issues. 2020 started off on the wrong foot, then just a few weeks later, their decisions had a major impact on the whole organization. I’m a believer in second chances, and so I let them stay. Things were rocky, but through the summer they secured us some government support, which did help. I was hopeful that things would work out. Unfortunately, all hell broke loose, and we had to let them go. I don’t want to see that happen to you 2021. Here’s what we need for you to stay a part of our organization: First, and this is important to … [Read more...]

Welcome back! I’m hopeful that you’ve gotten a good break at the end of a long year and are back at it, ready to take on 2021 with new vigor and enthusiasm. I had some great downtime this holiday season. My business partner gave us a back yard fire pit! We were grateful for the opportunity it provided for some socially distanced visits with family and friends. It was the perfect #2020 holiday gift! One thing that’s sure to come when I take some good time off is that I return full of new ideas, fresh insights, and renewed energy to conquer the world! This year, before I launch into new things, I’m feeling a draw to examine all I’m doing with the idea of paring back to … [Read more...]