Category: business strategy

Can’t make time for marketing? 10 tips to get you started

Are you struggling to find the right balance between your responsibilities helping clients and running and marketing your business? There is no magic to finding time for marketing. You have to make the commitment and then prioritize and plan ruthlessly to make it happen. But, to help you get started, check out these tips: (more…)

What do you do? 9 mistakes you are making answering that question

“What do you do?” That’s the first question at every networking event. But it’s also the question implicitly asked when people look at your bio and social media pages. People are interested in what you do for a living but you can quickly lose them if you do a bad job explaining, give them a generic description, or make other mistakes in communicating your value. (more…)

How to get out of your marketing rut

Does this sound familiar? You haven’t significantly updated your website or social media profiles in years. You keep sponsoring the same events even though you don’t get any new leads from them. At networking events, you spend the bulk of your time with people you already know. You supposedly commit to writing more articles or doing more presentations but a year later nothing has changed. Your firm’s income is relatively stable but much of your new business is coming from existing referral sources, not fresh ones. (more…)

8 tips to help with your biggest networking challenges

Some people are naturally good networkers. They like to meet and get to know people and build strong relationships. Others find networking difficult and need help developing the right skills. One of the best ways to learn is by talking to others about how they address their biggest networking challenges. Recently, I led a discussion on Women and Networking for a local chamber of commerce. The group approached me about doing a program on how networking can be different and more challenging for women. We decided to do a group discussion so we could all share insights and tips with each other. (more…)

Do you sound just like your competitors?

It’s one of the biggest marketing challenges professionals face – how to distinguish themselves from competitors. How many ways can you say that you advocate for your client’s best interests or help them minimize liability, reduce taxes, increase revenue, be more efficient, etc.? What do you do that is really so different from other lawyers, accountants, financial advisors or others in your field? (more…)

10 ways a summer intern can help with your marketing

College is almost out so this is the time to be looking for summer interns if you haven’t already done so. Students want experience in their chosen profession. Businesses need assistance at a reasonable cost. Internships serve both these purposes and more. Marketing interns are particularly useful because they can help with both administrative and creative tasks that are essential to effectively promoting your firm. Below are some suggestions for how a marketing intern can assist you, but explore other options depending on your hire’s education, work experience, strengths and weaknesses and your firm’s needs. (more…)

How women can strengthen their personal brand

In honor of Women’s History Month, I am dedicating this post to helping women with their personal brand. That’s not to imply that men don’t also need a strong brand and these tips work well for them too. However, I think that women need to pay extra attention to shaping and promoting an effective brand. The reality is that even in professions where women are well-represented, as you go up the food chain into senior management there are fewer and fewer women. (more…)

6 big marketing mistakes to avoid in 2022

In January, I presented a program on How to Successfully Market Your Firm in 2022. The reality is that what it takes to be successful doesn’t change that much from year to year. Thanks to COVID, some firms have put a new focus on marketing, but even as they spend more money, they keep making the same mistakes. So, the bulk of my program and this blog post is focused on identifying those problem areas and giving advice on how to fix them. (more…)

Marketing 101 for introverts

Years ago, I read the book Quiet: The Power of Introverts in a World That Can’t Stop Talking. I recognized myself in the book and gained a new appreciation for the benefits of being an introvert. While the book talks about the value that introverts bring to any situation, it is tough to be an introvert and market yourself. When I started my own business, I realized I had to get out of my comfort zone because I needed to make lots of new connections. (more…)