Hot off the presses. I received an advance copy of the RSW/US 2024 Agency New Business Outlook Report. The agency sample came from the RSW/US database of over 7,000 marketing services, advertising, and PR firms in the U.S. and Canada, ranging in size from under $3M in capitalized billings to over $75M.The report has a ton of great information and strong conclusions, but a couple of tidbits jumped out at me—specifically, the change in why marketers initiate agency reviews AND how those same marketers are finding agencies. By all accounts, the 2023 business development landscape was challenging for ad ...

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I’m a voracious reader. I always have been. The best Christmas gift I ever received was a Kindle Unlimited Subscription. I mean, books are the cheapest, highest ROI investment you can make in your future and career. So with that in mind… here is my Christmas gift to you this year. My 12 favorite books of 2023.  And if you want a few more great books, check out my 12 favorite books of 2022 or my 12 favorite books of 2021.  On the first day of Christmas, my Kindle gave to me: Whoever Tells the Best Story Wins AUTHOR: ...

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You've spent untold hours crafting the perfect high-ticket item, a comprehensive agency business development course, a point-and-click easy agency pricing template, and then building remarkable landing pages. You launch, promote, and advertise, hoping traffic shows up. And it does... only there is one HUGE problem. As soon as your visitors see the price tag BAM, they bolt — shopping cart abandonment strikes again.  It's the final barrier between interest and conversion, where many high-ticket offers falter. I know because I'm writing this article because I, too, suffered from this unfortunate fate and went on a vision quest to find ...

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Trust sits at the cornerstone of any successful sales relationship. But that trust can be elusive in today’s digital age, especially regarding B2B gated content marketing. So how can you ensure your gated content builds trust rather than erodes it? Simple. For starters, don't commit these seven deadly sins that undermine your gated content marketing efforts, and follow my tips instead. Gated Content Sin #1: The Generic Swamp  We live in a content-shock world. A 2023 DemandGen report found that 54% of respondents felt overwhelmed by the amount of content available and that quality of all of that content ...

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In the high-stakes business development arena, your success hinges on evaluating, pursuing, and, when necessary, knowing when to stop pursuing a lead. While I'm not much of a gambler, the professional poker players' wisdom of "optimal quitting" offers a strategic lens through which you can view your business development efforts. A recent article from Wharton pointed out that "expert players abandon about 80% of their hands in the popular variant of Texas Hold’em, for example, while amateurs stick with their starting cards over half the time." That's a lot of quitting. But the results speak for themselves. Today, let's ...

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One of the biggest challenges facing solopreneurs and freelancers is developing their freelancer pricing strategy. Statistics from Freelancers Union and Upwork indicate that about 25% of freelancers find setting and negotiating their rates challenging. Based on my conversations over the last few years, I'd place that percentage even higher.  And if you're one of those freelancers (and I'd include you, consultants, and coaches, too) who finds it difficult to price your services or earn what you feel you're truly worth, chances are you don't realize that pricing isn't just an economic consideration—it's a psychological strategy. It’s about understanding the ...

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