Cleaning Teeth
Remoras are small fish which hang out with sharks and are never intentionally harmed because they clean the sharks' teeth, darting in and out to dine on unswallowed former meals. Now there's an evolutionary specialty! Today I'm experiencing people calling, texting,
One Time Only
Use hyperbole wisely: How to write a proposal that's accepted every time. Never have a product returned. Why you'll never have to provide a refund. Build your powerful brand overnight. These statements
If I’ve Never Heard of You, You Have A Problem
You're wasting your time building lists of "leads." What you need are relationships which can produce either direct or referral business. At some point, you build a brand so that people come to you.
Artificial Ignorance
Moving into the "AI Space" and focusing on your use of it doesn't make you a more appealing consultant. It just drops you into a commodity herd with no uniqueness.
Keeping It Personal
Your customers want to feel special, to be recognized and remembered. Keep notes on their habits and preferences. Don't treat any one customer as "one of many," but rather as an individual. Remember the comedy "Cheers"? Whenever Norm walked in, the
Let Me Tell You Why What You’re Proposing Is A Bad Idea
"Assertive" means to be confident in your language and actions. "Aggressive" means confrontative and ready to attack. In business relationships, it's never good to be "aggressive" but it's always good to be "assertive." Yet many people mix them up, as though telling
The Bear and the Landscaper
Our landscaper/gardener works from April through November cleaning up, mowing, collecting leaves, pruning, and so forth. He comes weekly. He doesn't bill me until late December. I've learned he does this with four or five of his largest clients, so
Thieves
I receive an email every so often, and today a message from a new Linkedin connection, that my work is being pirated and sold for a few bucks on certain websites. The offer is to remove them all for a
“Get Me Alan Weiss!”
The more initials I see after a person's name, the more suspicious I get that they're trying to prove value without having actually produced it, by "collecting" certifications instead of clients. Some people have told me that the initials are important
Being Mentioned in the Press and Podcasts
Tell a podcaster or reporter that you loved their last piece and they will read your next sentence. Then provide some significant value for their audiences.