Modern blogs emerged from online personal journaling.  Regular updates and general openness to discuss any subject built their popularity.  Then someone added commenting, and that’s how blogs became social. With social currency playing a big role in today’s online visibility, blogging will benefit your business from the search engines point of view: fresh content equals Read more...

Have you heard?  IRS auditors are requesting a copy of businesses QuickBooks files and issued 1100 software licenses to agents.  The revenue agents are to attend a 3 day training course on how to use the program on how to use the data files and create reports. The way the IRS conducts audits is not Read more...

There's a common misconception in the small business world that looks like this: Brand = Logo That's simply not the case--a brand is so much more! If you think your brand is the same thing as your logo, then you're missing out on your chance to harness most of your brand's power. Here are the Read more...

Ready to throw in the towel? Are you starting to think that standing on the street corner dressed up as Mr. Peanuts is preferable to running a consulting business? Don’t believe your thoughts for a second. You may be suffering from burnout. That’s a state of long-term exhaustion, physical, mental, and emotional. You feel like Read more...

Too often consultants put social media activities on the back seat of their marketing strategies. This is very understandable for those that are not "techies" and find it uncomfortable being "there". Many start, but have hard time with keeping up. Many don't see results they expected and give up trying. Social media, just like any Read more...

To execute a direct marketing campaign you need a list, you need an offer, and you need creative/messaging  – the part that lets your list know about the offer.  That’s it in its most basic form.  Many of the people I meet in networking meetings, if they are doing any type of direct marketing campaigns, Read more...

In my last post, I mentioned that pricing is tied to the value you deliver to your clients.  Understanding the value of your consulting services will help you set your prices, or consulting fees.  We hear about value-based selling techniques, value propositions and even value-based pricing but what does this all mean?  I look at Read more...

A while back, I received a parenting email from Love and Logic (great resource for you parents out there) and tucked it into my “WIC blog post” folder as a potential topic. I was struck by how the parenting tips from their Keeping Cool When Parenting Heats Up were so apropos to consulting. And so Read more...

There are so many social media tools available it can be overwhelming to choose which to use and how to allocate your time. Here are my thoughts on which tools are the best choices. The big four are Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter, and blogs. Facebook is by far the largest social media site with over 600 Read more...

As a coach, I often work with clients who consistently hang on to work that probably needs to be passed on to others.  This could range from doing their administrative work (i.e. cleaning up files), or doing their billing. 80% of the time, I hear that it just costs them too much money to hire Read more...