One of the most difficult aspects of being an independent service professional is being seen as credible and as a viable expert in your industry. Until recently, that process often took years and required an investment of much blood, sweat and tears. Ultimately, it wasn’t until you paid your dues that anyone of influence in [...]

Many online solo service professionals wonder how they will ever become known in their industry, given the easy access to the abundance of information found online. Almost everyone claims to be an expert, so it stands to reason that some percentage of that group are charlatans. How do you create trust and authenticity with your [...]

One of the quickest ways to build your email marketing list is by creating an ethical bribe, or what I refer to as a client attraction device. This free giveaway serves to entice visitors to your site to sign up for your email list because they want to access your solution to their problem proffered [...]

About a year ago I fired Internet Explorer as my primary browser. Why? Because it crashed on me constantly and took forever at times to transition from one site to another. I’ve found the Firefox browser much more user friendly, especially given the number of plugins that have been developed for the browser. The ability [...]

Many times, when you sign up for a free giveaway or purchase an item, you are taken to an OTO (One Time Offer) page, where you’ll be given the opportunity to purchase a “never to be seen again, one time offer,” which is a product that has been discounted for one time only during this [...]

I’m in the process of completely rethinking my business model, and that will be my primary focus as I plan this year’s business retreat for myself. Your business model doesn’t have to be at all complex, but should provide the guiding force for all that you do, like guiding you to the opportunities to accept [...]

I often get asked the question, “How do I get more followers on Twitter?” Many of my clients want to pay a sum of money for the latest scheme to get them 10,000 new followers in 24 hours or some such nonsense as that. As in all marketing strategies, it’s not the number that counts. [...]

Twitter, as a popular social networking platform, is a viral marketing strategy all on its own, especially if your followers like your tweets and retweet them to their followers. However, I’ve recently noticed another trend in Twitter usage that increases its viral marketing capabilities through the use of hashtags. What’s a hashtag, anyway? Also called [...]

Client testimonials can make or break a web site. They are a vital factor in establishing a relationship of trust with new visitors to your site. Visitors want to see that others just like them have hired you or purchased your products and have successfully overcome some hurdle or some issue. Better yet, when the [...]

I see the well-known Internet marketing gurus do this all the time — they begin to try and sell to me when I first opt into their list. This has worked quite well for them over the years, but I think the tide is turning and people are generally becoming more marketing-savvy. Your list members [...]