Business Tips Blog
Enjoy Evan’s easy-to-use advice for your business.
How to Get Awesome Testimonials
Wish more people would hire you with less questioning and fuss? Get stronger testimonials. When potential clients are balking about price, stalling, or otherwise skeptical, it’s because they’re not 100% convinced you can deliver incredible results. You can (and probably already have) told them everything you can think of about why you’re awesome. But it’s way stronger when it comes from an unbiased third party. Enter the testimonial. When it comes to testimonials, I see small businesses making a couple of big mistakes. First, not having any testimonials! Too often people just “haven’t gotten around to it.” And second, a lot of businesses have long or unfocused testimonials. These are a bore to read…so they don’t get read. Here, I share first what makes a testimonial awesome. And second, how to elicit awesome testimonials. Do this well, and before a prospective client ever talks to you, they will already be …
How to Get Clients to Behave (and Still Love You)
You love your clients…most of the time. Sometimes they are really aggravating! They can be late, uncooperative, or unresponsive. They can be overly demanding (like when they ask for the moon and budget for marbles). I want to share strategies to keep your clients in line, so you both end up thrilled with the results. [margin30] [div style=”float:left;margin-right:20px”] 1 [/div] [div style=”overflow:hidden”] Set Clear Expectations Upfront The number one way to stay out of trouble is to set clear expectations with your clients upfront. When you’re both on the same page from the outset, you avoid the surprises which create conflict. When you begin with a new client, lay out the “rules of engagement.” You’ll find that most clients like to follow your rules. Rules provide us with a sense of predictability and security. They also create confidence in your process: if the client does X, Y, and Z, they …
How to Take High Road & Still Make More Money
It’s election season here in New York City, and a lot of candidates’ marketing is designed to highlight the flaws of their opponents. I’ve received many mailings that basically say, “My opponent is a liar,” or, “My opponent is evil.” It made me think how in business, sometimes we are tempted to put down our competition. But I passionately believe that taking the high road is better for you, your business, and your soul. Try it, and over time you’ll get better results. My very first marketing job was as a tour guide while I was an undergrad at Stanford. Stanford has a healthy rivalry with the nearby University of California at Berkeley. (At football games, we referred to Berkeley students as “weenies.”) When prospective students would ask about the differences between the schools, I was careful to only discuss Stanford and its virtues, making no comments about our cross-town …
7 Reasons to Turn Down a Project
Most of us feel pressure to take whatever work we can get. One of my clients used to live by the mantra, “a job is better than no job.” But in fact, we’ll be happier–and probably make more money!–if we are more selective. Here’s seven situations when you’re better off saying no. You’ll get a better ROI on your time if you spent it on marketing, going out and finding exciting work. [margin30] [div style=”float:left;margin-right:20px”] 1 [/div] [div style=”overflow:hidden”] Lowball Price If a client is only willing to pay a low fee for your work, first read How to Keep Prices High and Still Close the Sale. If you can’t get a reasonable rate, pass. If you don’t absolutely need the cash NOW, your time is better spent marketing for better projects. [/div] [margin30] [div style=”float:left;margin-right:20px”] 2 [/div] [div style=”overflow:hidden”] Unrealistic Client Expectations The client wants the moon…and they want …
Stop Trying to Be Everything to Everyone
You probably have the desire and the ability to help lots of people with lots of different challenges. Your business may have become known as a jack of all trades. While a diverse group of happy customers is something to be proud of, being all things to all people is slowing down your business growth. The Challenge: We Want to (and Can) Help Everyone! Most businesses I work with end up covering very broad territory in two dimensions: [fancy_list style=”arrow_list” variation=”blue”] Serving a lot of different types of customers Offering a wide variety of services or products [/fancy_list] For example, a law firm I work with has a broad client base, spanning startups to Fortune 1000 companies. And they are multi-talented, so they work on issues from employment to financing to intellectual property. We don’t want to limit ourselves. We like the variety. And we never want to close the …