In my last article, Act Like a Salesperson and Sell Something Already, I quoted legendary consultant and author Peter Ducker: Because the purpose of business is to create a customer, the business enterprise has two—and only two—basic functions: marketing and innovation. Marketing and innovation produce results; all the rest are costs. Let’s talk about each…
Unlike many “natural-born salespeople,” I never had the childhood epiphany of, after selling newspaper subscriptions door-to-door, gloriously realizing that I loved to sell things. I never imagined myself in a position that would require selling, much less that I’d be blogging about it and teaching others how to do it. I learned to sell out…
In my last article, I talked about five reasons why you lose a sale. Each of those can be avoided by asking a few simple questions. But these last three reasons are a bit more complex. For starters, what do you do if the prospect refuses to answer your questions? Read more at SitePoint >>…
They say there are three types of people in this world: those who make things happen, those who watch things happen, and those who wonder what happened. If you’ve ever lost a big sale and wondered, “What happened?” then, in no particular order, here are the top five reasons why. Read more at SitePoint >>…
Once you decided to freelance or start a web business, you gained a new job description: Business Owner. So what’s the purpose of this enterprise you’ve undertaken? Most people think it’s “to make money”—but that’s not a purpose, it’s a result. According to the renowned Peter Drucker, the purpose of business is “to create a…
When I was 14 years old, when the Internet was still ARPANET and “Amazon” was a female warrior from Greek mythology, I discovered science fiction. Satisfying my craving for new and exciting stories each week meant riding my bike to the nearest bookstore, which was just over three miles away, but felt more like ten.…
Marketing—especially web marketing—is much like building a house, because a successful outcome depends on many disciplines, much more than a single person possesses. And this is becoming even truer as web marketing fragments and becomes more social and more mobile. Read more at SitePoint >> Image credit
Depending on who’s talking, the hottest item that should be a top marketing priority for businesses in 2012 is … [drumroll, please] Social media Mobile marketing QR codes Video marketing Location-based services (LBS) marketing Did I miss anything? When I quit my web business in 2005, none of these existed. What will the next five or…
I love dark chocolate, and I can justify my indulgence because it’s the healthiest of all chocolates. Vegetables, on the other hand, are not nearly as sexy; and at the risk of offending any vegans out there, I’d go so far as to say that vegetables are downright boring. Yet, there’s no doubt that eating…
There are two different types of prospecting, and which you choose depends on how hungry you are. Hunting When hunting, you eat what you kill. Hunter prospecting methods involve doing things that get you business immediately. The downside is, you’ll soon be hungry again and need to spend time hunting down new clients. As any…