The Savvy Entrepreneur

I have to admit… I’ve been in a marketing slump lately. It feels like everything I read or hear about marketing a service-based business has been said and hashed over. I’m bored with it. So, I took a break from reading or listening to anything related to marketing. Then this cold that has been hanging [...]

Last week, I posted a call for help to a few VA online groups I’m on. I needed assistance with an important, detailed, last minute and complicated RFP for a client. Most replies were professional. There were those who offered advice and even provided outlines and templates, while others submitted formal service quotes. A few [...]

Last week, Liz Strauss over at Successful and Outstanding Blog(gers) (SOB) honored The Savvy Entrepreneur with an official SOB badge of achievement. I modestly accept her nomination and am proud to be part of the SOB Directory! Here’s Liz’s introduction to the award: They take the conversation to their readers, contribute great ideas, challenge us, [...]

Do you find out what your client needs before you start servicing him? For example, if you were contracted for your letter writing services, would you get to work right away? Or would you conduct a preliminary interview with your client to find out: What style and voice does he want you to use? Who [...]

Do you want to get out there and market yourself in more public ways, like leading teleclasses or accepting speaking invitations? Do you have a bunch of topics you’d someday like to develop, but aren’t sure which one to pick first? If so, Alicia Forest’s Client Abundance blog article, Pick a Topic, Pick a Date, [...]

It ain’t bragging if you can back it up. — Dizzy Dean Never be so modest as to deny your audience the chance to hear about your successes and accomplishments. Testimonials are a powerful marketing tool, since prospects can read how you helped real people with tangible results, in your clients’ own words. Also, be [...]

I’m back from vacation and I’m feeling rested and ready to rock!! The very first thing I want to share is an ad I saw in Rhode Island, while driving back home. It wasn’t your run-of-the-mill billboard; It was a beautifully crafted wood sign, painted in plain white, strategically placed on a busy corner on [...]

Wendy Piersall (I love reading both her blogs) shares with us how being completely honest and transparent on her blog actually helped build her business and credibility when overcoming technical issues and her own mistakes. I particularly liked this illustration: Probably the best analogy is one in a [marriage] – if you owed an apology [...]

Being a speaker instantly supercharges your status as an expert; it boosts your visibility and credibility; you become a sought-after skilled professional. So how do you get started? It’s different for everyone. For service professionals, one of the best ways is by authoring a decent number of quality articles (online or print). Once you do, [...]

How can reading improve your status as an expert (listening fits under this category as well)? In 2 ways, reading helps you to be: Reactive: Keeping up-to-the minute with what’s been and is being said in your field keeps you fresh. Then you can readily prepare, participate and communicate (react) to what’s happening as it’s [...]

I’m discussing writing as an effective method to gaining expert status first, since it’s one of the fastest ways of getting the word out. It’s strange but true: Your expert status will immediately increase when people see your name published. Most writing venues cost little to nothing. Some of these venues are: articles newsletters press [...]

This comment was recently posted on an online networking group: In my naivety I had the idea that I was so well known in the local real estate industry that I could just go out there, hand out my new business cards and BOOM… I’d be in business! I am learning that this is much [...]