The idea behind business development is finding a way to standing out from the rest. Today with the Internet there are many ways to do that. But just as the Internet has become the most powerful tool of this century… email has become an avalanche that we need to deal with on a daily basis.

When we look at our marketing and business development activities, we look at what we did and the results. But, we seldom look at what we were NOT able to do because we were doing that activity. That my friend is an opportunity cost. Let me explain…

  • I have a client that has been involved

When it comes to business development what comes first credibility or visibility?  It’s a bit like…what comes first… the chicken or the egg

I was coaching a client who has been consistent with her blogging and has been seeing potential clients for consultations. In the past six weeks she’s seen six prospects that can be

Continuing on the subject of trust… let’s be honest: You can’t trust what you don’t see. And in the age of Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn, face-to-face contact sets you apart and builds… yep, trust. Are you more likely to refer business to a LinkedIn contact or the person you had breakfast with last week? That’s

As with our business card discussion at the beginning of this series, when it comes to joining organizations more is sometimes simply…more? It may look great on a resume to list 25 organizations to which you’re a member, but for business development purposes it isn’t doing much. Now look over the list of professional and

One of my absolute favorite movies of all time is Cool Hand Luke starring Paul Newman and George Kennedy. A favorite line from that classic was spoken by the captain of the prison camp (played by Strother Martin) after Newman’s (Luke’s) umpteenth failed attempt at escape and subsequent punishment. His said “what we have here

Networking and relationships are an integral part of any marketing and business development initiative. Let’s face it… without those relationships most of our marketing efforts would be at a stand still. But, as I often tell my clients, the key to SMART networking and relationship building is to focus on a core group of people