Accountants, Interior Designers, Architects, Engineers, Naturopaths, Nutritionists, Chiropractors and other Complementary and Alternative Medical practitioners struggle with how to hire a marketing consultant. Professionals have unique responsibilities and sensibilities that impact the style and method by which they need to engage in marketing activities. How can you hire a marketing consultant well suited to the […]
Qualifying Before Selling Delivers Enormous Time Savings
One step of the sales process is critical to minimizing the time spent selling a prospect that is not going to buy. Qualifying. There are many different ways to qualify prospects including online inquiry submission forms and assessment questions for first phone calls, email messages and meetings. Any of these methods will work, as […]
The Risky Business of Marketing Your Point of Difference
Why do you think marketers talk about point of difference until they are blue in the face? Let’s face it, marketing your point of difference feels risky. It is associated with giving up income. If you claim expertise in one specific area of your profession then you must be walking away from business in another […]
Planning a Website – Key Considerations
For better or for worse, a website will influence prospective clients, referral networks and job candidates. How can you leverage this ability for the betterment of your practice? To begin with, you will need to define success. Does success mean heavy traffic and if so by whom? Does success mean more inquiries? If so, how […]
Are You Still a Generalist?
Discovering a specialty or niche in the market, is a critical planning stage to all marketing services offered by my Toronto marketing firm. Why? Marketing for engineers, architects, accountants, alternative health care providers and all other professional service firms, benefits from having a niche market. As Seth Godin so eloquently and humorously put it: When […]
Can You Measure Return on Investment (ROI) for Branding?
Branding has recently become a subject of enormous interest to professionals. By way of recent example are the new streams of marketing and branding courses I have been engaged to teach to architects, chiropodists and naturopathic doctors. Which brings us to a natural question that professionals considering a branding initiative may be grappling with: Can […]
Market Your Firm with a 30-Second Elevator Pitch
How do you introduce yourself when you unexpectedly run into a prospective client? Most professionals either broadly categorize the type of work that they do “I’m an architect and my firm specializes in residential architecture” or they describe their firm with a level of detail that is confusing, difficult to remember and exceeds the listener’s […]
Assessing the Online Opportunity
Do you ever wonder if you left money on the ‘virtual’ table because your firm does not have an online presence? If so, you are not alone. Some professionals are still speculating whether or not their firms would benefit from a website, a blog or a search engine optimization strategy. Rest assured that at this […]
Inspiring Employee Loyalty
Some professionals (architects and engineers in particular) are currently experiencing a serious labour shortage. This means that employees are mindful of alternate options, competitors are doing their best to poach your best and openings are that much harder to fill. How can you inspire your employees to be loyal to your professional practice? Loyal employees […]
Recession-Proof Your Professional Practice
Despite all the doom and gloom about the economy, there are steps you can take to recession-proof your professional practice. The key is to proactively juggle the need to weather the storm while also considering the big picture. Your practice will benefit from these changes even if the recession never materializes. The strategic plan that […]
