Years ago, in order to be successful, we had to figure out how to get past the gatekeepers. Whether that was having someone “on the inside,” bribing someone for their influence, or simply badgering them until we finally wore them down and they helped us just to be rid of us, there was no success without being picked. Even though …

Big Brain Syndrome. We all suffer from it at one point or another. It causes us to think that we know everything. We think that just because we thought of something, it must be the right thing to do. I don’t need input from anyone else, I know what I’m doing! Then we’re puzzled when our great idea doesn’t pan …

We often get so caught up in telling potential customers why we’re better than our competitors, and why they should use us, that we forget the real reason people spend money. People don’t really care how great you think you and your product are. People care about themselves. Does your product align with their needs? Is there something in it …

We have many problems in this life, but one of the worst is the frustration that comes from things are outside of our control. Some of us get that we can’t control these things, and some of us don’t, but that doesn’t mean that we still don’t get frustrated. We’re all guilty, at one time or another, of blowing the …

Mass marketing is everywhere. It takes us two minutes to compose an email that gets sent to hundreds (thousands?) of potential customers. It takes them longer to read what we’ve sent than it took us to create and send it. We’re stealing time from our target market; taking instead of giving. What if we did things differently? What if, instead …

One of the problems with the home inspection business is that we are often making a “one-and-done” sale. We inspect the house; people buy the house; end of transaction. Yes, we may occasionally get a referral from them or, if we’re in business long enough, see them again when they buy another house. But, for the most part, we really …

A child seldom needs a good talking to as a good listening to. Robert Brault Stay in business long enough, and we’re all bound to have problems. Not every customer will be happy. Not everything will break our way. Not every transaction will go off seamlessly. Eventually, we’ll have to deal with problems. Our first inclination is always to defend …

Our lives are full of things that frustrate us: friends, family, clients, coworkers, government, entities that hold sway over our professions. We often find ourselves angry about these things, wanting so badly to change the way things work, hoping to make things better for ourselves (and everyone else) in the process. We’ve got to remember that we can’t make our …

One of the main goals of any business is to make money. We need money to live: food, clothing, shelter, etc. Without making money, there’s no business. But we can’t make money the entire focus of our venture. If we only drive all the time, and never stop to take care of the engine, our car will soon stop running. …

Competition. Our business would be king of the hill if it wasn’t for all those other guys. So, what do we have to do to ensure that our clients choose us over all our competitors? This process goes by many names: lead generation, customer acquisition, seeding, getting them into the funnel, but it all boils down to one thing: marketing. …