Last week I was in Greenfield, CT, attending my business mastermind meeting. Once a quarter, I meet with 12-16 other entrepreneurs and business owners working in a variety of fields, and we spend time working on our businesses. These meetings have helped me to look beyond the day-to-day work and have prompted the development of […]
High Altitude Leadership: What the World’s Most Forbidding Peaks Teach Us About Success (J-B US non-Franchise Leadership) by Chris Warner and Don Schmingke Hardcover High Altitude Leadership, published late last year, seems to have hit the market at precisely the right moment. Drawing on observations made during mountaineering expeditions (including Mount Everest ascents, the authors […]
Before you agree to speak or to write an article, you must ensure that your time will be well invested. Ask yourself the following questions: Am I writing for the right audience? Writing for the wrong audience (meaning, an audience composed of people whom you do not serve) will not bring enough benefit to justify […]
The holidays are just around the corner, and today’s WRA calls for you to begin planning ahead. Do you send cards or gifts to your clients to mark the holidays? As you no doubt know, current clients and referral sources are your most immediate route to more business. Because business development is all about growing […]
Back in April, a much-respected lawyer in Washington, DC committed suicide after being laid off. I didn’t post the story at the time because, quite simply, I couldn’t figure out what to say. Friends and colleagues remember Mark Levy as a true professional who had little use for the business of law. The article suggests […]
Today’s rainmaker activity is a quick one. You are on LinkedIn, right? If not, your activity is obvious: get your profile up right away. LinkedIn has over 38 million users, most of whom are professionals of some sort, and because of the site’s popularity, there’s a decent chance that your LinkedIn profile could land at or near […]
One-on-one meetings with individuals offers one of the best opportunities for business development, and attending organizational meetings and networking opportunities gives you the chance to meet a lot of people in a short time. That’s ideal — if you’re meeting the right people. How can you identify the right organizations for your purposes? First, refresh your […]
Before engaging in any rainmaking activity, you must determine the investment to payoff ratio. Simply put, what results will your investment of time and energy buy you? Is there another activity that likely has a better yield? Your goal is to determine whether a given activity is likely to move you closer to your rainmaking […]
One of the comments to last week’s WRA post about checking written materials for client-centric language requested an example of a “good” paragraph and a “bad” paragraph. Because of my travel schedule, I knew I wouldn’t be able to respond until today, so today’s WRA offers the requested examples. Please note: these examples are drawn […]
I’m always delighted to find a new resource that makes my life easier, and so this week I’m offering you a few of my favorites. I’ve used each of these myself, and I hope at least one will prove handy for you. Mozy.com online computer back-up system: A couple of years ago, I suffered through […]