Having just completed another Profit Program Workshop in the mid-atlantic – some thoughts…

• Market Strategy – what is it you are marketing?  Look at your collateral, your website, your events, webinars…is there a focus or are you just putting stuff out there?  Focus!  Focus on who you are targeting (your buyer), focus using media they’ll receive, and know what they’ll want to see and how often.
• Marketing is building a brand.  Seth Goden talks about permission – gaining permission to market first, then providing content they care about and will agree to receive.  From there you increase permission levels as you provide more value.  Dan and Chip Heath add the need to “Make it Stick”.  One idea they offer is to target through success stories.  People like stories; can you tell the story in a compelling manner?
• Pricing is always an issue.  Profit or non-profit – your projects go either way depending on how you price it.  If you’re losing money fixed pricing, you don’t know how to price.  If you offer T&M your selling like an amateur (You’re leaving money on the table or taking a loss on the project).  You take all the risk.
• Sales people don’t call high, mostly because they lack self esteem.  This isn’t uncommon…and executives will keep you in your place as long as you allow them to.  “Power buys from Power”, comments Michael Bosworth.  Present a powerful (knowledgeable) presence and you’ll gain the relationships you need to sell.
• You can’t advise if you don’t know what business leaders need you to know.  Read, study, get passionate about helping and consulting with clients.  Product sellers are yesterday’s breed – you can’t make it in this world (this economy) with another widget that promises faster throughputs or higher processing speeds.  Who cares?  Someone else’s widget will beat yours tomorrow.