How Healthcare Systems Waste Money

It’s outrageous. People are losing jobs. Families are losing homes and health insurance. Yet this healthcare company is sending out 100 page coffee table books. Read more

How Clients De-value Expertise

I always try to establish myself as a “marketing partner.” I can’t stand being referred to as a “vendor.” It takes a lot of effort to move that perception of value in the minds of some people.

This parody video just made me sick to my stomach…. because it’s spot on. I’ve heard every one of these excuses so many times during my career. It’s incredibly frustrating and demoralizing how some people undervalue the expertise of others.

• “I want the highlights. But can only pay for the trim.”
• “I don’t want you to work for free. It’s just a test. You can roll the cost over next time.”
• “I’m not making any money either. You gotta work with me.”
• “We’ll make it up on the next one.”
• “I can cover your hard costs. But that’s as far as I can go.”
• “We need you to show us how you make it so we can do it in-house next time.”

My advice is to stick firmly to your position and don’t give it all away. Sure there are times you may want to barter or there could be some tangible benefit. But there’s no reason to be bullied into giving your skills away especially to someone who obviously has no respect for you.

What are your thoughts? How do you combat this behavior in your day-to-day business relationships?

How to brand yourself and your small business online

This 12 minute presentation covers immediate steps you can follow to start your business and personal branding online.

It covers how to define what you want want to be known for, evaluating the competition, planning, where to create your online profiles, building your professional networks, participating in online conversations.

This was originally presented to a small business networking group on 04/24/2009.

Did you like this presentation? Was it helpful to you? Have additional tips to share? Then please leave a brief comment on this blog post. Thanks in advance!
-Roland

Worthwhile Reading — Brands Imposing Their Will

Here are some topics of interest I’ve read recently. Definitely worth your time to read. Read more

Content Producers: Respect Your Audience

As a content producer, you will quickly learn to respect your audience in terms of what content you publish, the quality and tactics for consumption. Read more

Social Media Burnout

I like to dabble. But I am getting soooo burned out on all the microblogging and social connection tools. Read more

Podcamp NYC Session- Securing a sponsor in the New Media Space

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (38.6MB)

Podcamp NYC
April 25, 2008
Securing a sponsor in the New Media Space

Listen to this podcast:

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