Hi everyone – In this post you’ll find some information about some upcoming changes to Credo Pro. Over the last few months I have been digging deep into the Credo business metrics and also working with a business coach to figure out how I grow up as an entrepreneur and…
I’m involved in a few different groups of consultants and agency owners online, including Credo. One question I see a bunch is agency owners or consultants asking others how often they speak with their clients. This is a very important question, but I also want to turn it around a…
Yo Credo pros! It’s been a bit since I’ve published a video for you. I got a Mac back in November and fired up iMovie today for the first time in probably 10 years, and wow. It’s really moved forward! That coupled with my new home office setup (and my…
Hey there! Happy Thursday! I hope the new year is off to a great start for you. Personally, my wife and I just moved to Denver Colorado and are in the middle of getting our lives and house here set up. I wish I was writing this from my office,…
Hey Credo pro – You’re on Credo because you want to build your business and get more clients. One of the toughest parts of any sales program is getting responses from leads, and Credo is no exception. When you are responding to an Open Lead on Credo, you’re one of…
Ahh the freelance life. Work wherever and whenever you want to, make more money and work fewer hours, retire young. At least that’s the dream, right? Unfortunately, it’s not always reality. One of the toughest realities to run into (and if you have not yet, you will) is when a…
Sometimes when doing work for clients, they ask you to do work that is outside of the scope of your project. What do you do? In this week’s video, I go deeper into some of the strategies I have devised to keep scope creep like this from happening. These include:…
When you started out freelancing or working for yourself, did you want to build a big agency? Most people I talk to didn’t, but rather started doing it when they had too many leads and wanted to start outsourcing some work. I purposefully am not building an agency, mostly because…
Happy Thursday! This video is a bit later in the day than usual (I bet many of you are seeing it on Friday) for a number of reasons, not least because I was busy trying to be wise, not smart. Watch the video and that will make sense. During a…
Today I received an email that said this: “Trying to sift through the rift raft. Any personal referrals?” This person was looking for help and when I sent him to the /inquire/ page on Credo, he came back with that answer. So I dug a bit deeper and learned that he’s been…
Running a business is hard. I’ve been working really hard lately, doing things like: the real estate guide a lot of outreach and guest posts podcasts new feature development I also haven’t had a real vacation in almost a year. I’ve had a few three days weekends (ish, because I…
When you are working with your clients, do they view you as an outsourced vendor and “solution” to their problems, or do they view you as part of their team? Over the years I’ve seen both sides of the equation. Each has their own special advantages and challenges, so which…
As a consultant myself and former agency marketer, I have had clients want to take their digital marketing inhouse after working with me for a while. This used to frustrate me because I thought that it meant that I would lose them as a client. What I’ve found, however, is…
When you’re pitching new business, do you really understand who holds the budget purse strings and ultimately decides if your project starts, continues, and ultimately is successful? One thing I really learned working inhouse was the importance of knowing who the Highest Paid Person In The Room (the HiPPO) is…
As a freelancer, consultant, or agency owner how do you know that your client is happy with the results they are getting? One area that many agencies and freelance pros need to improve upon is asking their clients for feedback so that the client can be better served and get…
When you get in a new lead and have your first sales call with them, do you have a process and set of questions you always make sure to ask? You should. And I’d like to make a suggestion for a question to add to your arsenal of information you…
In your work with clients, do you ever try to upsell them to more work after the initial engagement? Selling ongoing work is hard as an agency and even harder as a consultant since businesses often want to “try out” a provider before they are willing to commit. How many…
I’ve worked inside of and with quite a number of agencies. One of the common gripes I hear from consultants is: “Our freaking sales team sold this project and it’s not what the client needs.” Don’t you hate it when that happens? You may have sold a project and gotten…
As an agency owner, consultant, or freelancer you’ve likely worked with account managers at some point in your career. Maybe you even started as one. I’ll be honest – I often think account managers are unnecessary in agencies and think that having them does more harm than good for client…
If you’re an agency owner or consultant, you probably have challenges with client retention. Retaining clients is the holy grail of consulting, but it’s hard. You’re consistently driving results for them, working super hard on their strategies, even over-delivering on work at the expense of your company’s profitability. And then…