I don't know if you were present at the eclipse (it was dark). 

But it got me thinking about how the event, and life as an independent professional, don't have a whole lot in common.

Put on your protective glasses and keep reading...

Today we talk about water. And automated marketing. And when you put them together, you get ... Wautomation. Or something.

Anyway, the point is, automate your marketing and good things happen.

Routine and predictability can be comforting. Unfortunately, all the good stuff is in the opposite direction. 

Today's newsletter explains why getting out of your comfort zone is good for your business (and, maybe, your life overall).

Your marketing matters, absolutely.

But, when things are not going as you would like, it's not the first place to look.

Intrigued? I don't blame you. More down below (less up above).

Today we talk about the difference between just saying you are different and actually being so.

Standing out from the pack is important. A big part of that is how you describe yourself and your work.

But... if you make it too unusual, so that your "explanation" itself requires an explanation, you'll only confuse the marketplace (and the shoppers within).

Today's newsletter explains. I hope.

Today's newsletter is about trust and the important (those with high SAT scores might even say consequential) role it plays in growing your business easily and quickly.

This may be my last newsletter of the year (not sure), in which case, I wish you and yours all the best for the holidays and new year.

Today's newsletter looks at relationship marketing. More specifically, how consistently staying connected to the people you know is the key to making it all work.

The longer I work as a solo professional, the more I understand how subjective the whole "getting clients" game is.

If you're ignoring how it feels to work with you, you're missing a big piece of the puzzle.

Today we talk about beliefs – yours. 

Doing the work is fine and important. But what helps set you apart from the competition is your particular point of view. 

Today's newsletter takes a look at habits. 

We've all got them. Some are helpful, some less so.

Running your business effectively requires differentiating between the good and bad, and taking steps to adjust accordingly.

Today's newsletter shares three suggestions related to the marketing of your independent professional service business.

Feel free to ignore them all.

When it comes to taking care of clients, size matters - but maybe not the way you usually think.

Small professional service firms and independents, like us, have a BIG advantage ... provided we recognize it and are willing to use it. Today's podcast explains.

Today's podcast is about comedy, which may explain why it's almost entirely not funny.

But, I think useful in terms of some important things to keep in mind when creating your business content.

Today's podcast is about finding better topics for your newsletter.

Today we talk about your face and why it doesn't look like my face (lucky you).

More specifically, we look at the importance of small differences when it comes to standing out and connecting with prospective clients and others.

Today's newsletter covers two of my favorite topics: beer and breakfast.

More specifically, it's about the importance of choosing your marketing tactics deliberately, and in a way that plays to the specifics of your circumstances.

Today we talk about newsletters as a tool for promoting your professional services business.

If your lack of a large list is what's been holding you back, today's newsletter hopes to convince you that your list is plenty big enough!

Today we talk about AI. More specifically, about the opportunity it creates for all of us.

Today's podcast is about mice, crows, and newsletters.

And in case you're wondering, I just googled it, and that is the first time in recorded history that exact sentence has ever been written. 

Are you relatively new to working for yourself? If so, today's newsletter is written especially for you.

It's good to know things. 

But if nobody else understands what you are saying (or writing), you'll have a hard time communicating, let alone convincing others that you are worth knowing, referring, and hiring.

We look at four things beyond expertise that play a role in your getting noticed, shared, and hired.

If your newsletter doesn't have a deadline each month, there's a good chance you'll stop publishing.

Mentioning things that are happening right now when you write can be problematic. After all, if you're too specific, won't the things you reference feel outdated before long?

It may not seem like it, but your prospective clients are afraid of hiring you.

Your job, therefore, is to remove that fear and help them feel confident in moving ahead. The key ingredient in that equation? Trust.

f you sell a professional service (and if you don't, you're reading the wrong newsletter), content is where it's at.

Word of Mouth. It's the fuel of every small professional service firm and independent professional's marketing program.

Voicing your opinion as frequently and authentically as possible ... and letting the chips fall where they may.

Using Your Smallness to Your Advantage

Maybe you’ve heard about the new artificial intelligence thingy called ChatGPT?

For a professional service provider, word of mouth is far and away the best source of new clients. They are prescreened, cost nothing to acquire, and they come to you!

But it's not magic (sorry). It requires consistent effort on your part.

Higher fees = Better clients

Small things, big differences.

Why repetition = good marketing.

Beware the Ides of ... oh wait a second, that's not today.

Today we talk about the importance of specifying your target audience - a key element in persuasive writing.

There are a lot of t hings you can do to imporove your marketing.  Today we talk about just one.

Today's podcast discusses the power of being who you are when marketing. Specifically, the benefits of highlighting the fact that you are a solo professional and not a larger firm. 

 

Today's podcast, you'll be disappointed to learn, isn't funny. But it is, for a change, useful. 

A few months ago I made a big change to the format of my newsletter. Today, and now that I have enough experience and data with the switch, I explain why and share the results. 

There are a lot of moving parts involved in operating a solo professional business. And so it's natural to just do what everybody else does. 

Today's podcast encourages you to stop and think (frequently) about whether or not following the pack makes sense for you. 

Professional athletes get to the point where they can't play anymore. So they find other ways to earn a living. 

Most solo professionals, on the other hand, don't do work that takes a toll on their bodies. That's the good news. 

The bad news is that many of us, even after a few decades on the job, are still running up and down the court every night. Today's podcast offers an alternative. 

Today is 3/15/13 and this is issue #313. Am I frightening you? 

Anyway, today's scary topic is selling. But I have some good news for you: it need not be scary. Or confusing. Or untruthful. 

The key, I've found, is to always consider the other person's point of view - the subject of today's podcast. 

I don't know much, but I know this:

No story ever ends well when it begins with the following, panicked question, "Does that clock have the correct time??!!"

Today's story is no exception. Here's what happened...

I got a call the other day from my old college friend Rob, in Vancouver. (Long-time readers with steel trap memories and uneventful lives of their own will remember Rob as the subject of this 2005 newsletter.)

He and I spent a lot of time together in school but gradually lost touch...

My daughter Emily made the news the other day.

You probably missed it unless, like me and my fellow Hopkinton, Massachusetts residents, you frequent our town's news blog - a photo-rich, constantly updated goulash of local events, home sales, police activity, wildlife sightings and other assorted oddities.

Writing can be painful.  I think I know why.  Today's newsletter offers a simple (but dare I say, brilliant) tip on how to make your writing flow more easily.

I was driving along yesterday, almost home, minding my own business. I was on a quiet, curvy, country-ish road with no other cars in sight. Suddenly, as I went around a bend, I saw a bunch of cars in the road, all moving slowly in either direction.

Listen to this podcast to hear more!

We've all got our reasons for writing and sending newsletters. Unfortunately, your readers share none of them. Today's podcast points out the importance of writing from your reader's perspective.

Today's podcast is about becoming essential. Your readers have many options, and becoming essential is the ticket to achieving the E-Newsletter results you're looking for.