Remember my list of ways to make more money? The one that the most folks told me they wanted to hear more about was focusing on higher value clients (and firing your lower value clients). I can see why this idea is attractive — it’s conservative and low risk — but also has the potential…
I have more ideas than time! My team is so frustrated. We are loaded with good ideas—ideas that will make us money! But we can’t even get the work done to execute on the services we already have going! When my team sees me roll in with another “great idea” their eyes shoot daggers at…
“I’ve tried that, it didn’t work…” I was having a discussion with an owner of a B2B creative services firm about his business development process. He had a strong business that he’d built by leveraging his personal network, but he wanted to see more growth. This is a business owner who’s aggressive and isn’t afraid…
As I write this, it’s the first day of summer in Chicago, and I’m thinking about taking some time off. But not the whole summer! There’s still work to be done, even though some of my clients, partners and prospects may be away or moving at a slower pace right now. The summer months always give…
How is Hooters different from other restaurants that serve wings? Do Hooters’ wings taste better? Do they have low prices? No? Then why do people go there for wings? Hooters built a whole business around the one thing they know their target market – twenty-something men – likes. (And, it’s really not wings, is it?)…
Marketing isn’t always a high priority for some business owners because they can feel intimidated, even defeated, by it. They understand sales – but marketing? What’s it for? Why do you do it? And when you only turn to marketing to pull you out of a slump and then it doesn’t deliver, we can see how you could feel…
The creative services business requires managing and selling a rather unpredictable product – people. But, this doesn’t mean your business and its success must be equally unpredictable. Creative services companies can realize steady growth and success – even with the uncertainty and variability that accompanies managing and selling people’s services. Here are four key strategies…