Todays gem is from
“Book Yourself Solid : The Fastest, Easiest, and Most Reliable System for Getting More Clients Than You Can Handle Even if You Hate Marketing and Selling” by Michael Port. This book is primarily for service professionals, looking to get more business than they can handle. With a little mental wrangling, most of the book is extremely relevant to any sort of marketing.

This quote is from one of the earlier chapters in the book, and I wanted to share it because I think it says very plainly a rule of thumb that so many companies ignore to their own detriment. For example, my last employer, Via Training. They never turned down a job. They tried to be everything to anyone, never focusing, and certainly never even think of dumping a paying client. They should have. If they had, I’m absolutely certain they wouldn’t have had to trim the company by the 30% they did last month.

Why have clients, or anyone else for that matter, in your life who zap your energy and leave you feeling empty? In the first year of being in business on my own, I cut 10 clients in one week. It wasn’t easy. It required a major leap of faith, but the emotional and financial rewards were astonishing. Within three months I had replaced all 10 and added 6 more. Not only did I increase my revenue, I felt more peaceful and calm that I ever had before, and I enjoyed my clients and my work more.
[…]
If you’re struggling with the idea of pruning your client list, keep in mind that it’s for your client’s benefit as much as it is yours. If you’re feeling empty and drained, or frustrated and dreading the interaction with the client, you’re giving that client far less than your best, and it’s both of you who are suffering for it. You owe it to these clients to refer them to someone who can, and will, do their best work with them. If you are working with people with whom you do not do your best work, you are out of integrity.
pp. 5-6

Technorati Tags: Michael Port, marketing

OK, I admit it, I chose todays gem because I love the title. Once again I am drawing from the wisdom found in The Wizard of Ads by Roy H. Williams.

This one is from the chapter "The Song of the Weasel" and it talks about something all people trying to make money online have faced. The subtitle of this site is "Making money online with Style and Ethics" because I need reminding of this from time to time. The world has enough seedy money-grubbers. I don’t need to be one to make a great living.

Well, the truth of the matter is, there’s a little weasel in all of us, and that weasel needs to be slapped. When your ears hear your lips start to sing the song of the weasel, you must learn to immediately slap the weasel within.

Everyone admires teh hardy individual who can look into the mirror of his soul and give the weasel within the cold, hard slap known as "remembrance of obligation." If the first slap doesn’t subdue the weasel, a second slap "loyalty," will get him every time.
[…]
Everybody loves a weasel slapper, but nobody likes a weasel.

Technorati Tags: advertising, ethics