Forecast · The Marketing Podcast for Consultants and Professional Service Firms

You know all those challenges you have with marketing? the lack of time to commit to marketing consistently the lack of budget to dedicate to marketing activities the struggle to figure out which marketing tactics will work It turns out you’re not alone. A recent survey on the biggest marketing challenges facing small businesses by […]

Do you bill clients by the hour? Whether you backed into that model by default, or it was the client’s expectation, or that’s just the way things are done in your industry — Jonathan Stark thinks you’re nuts (well maybe not you, but definitely the concept of hourly billing). In this interview with Jonathan Stark, […]

Do you offer a free consultation on your website? Whether you call it a free consultation, strategy session, or some other fancy name — the idea is the same. You give away advice for free in the hopes that the prospect will want to hire you as a result. It’s a compelling idea. But according […]

Every solo professional eventually has to make a decision. Do you scale up by hiring staff? Or do you stay solo and find other ways to grow? The default path used to be hiring staff. But there’s another option that’s becoming more common. Many consultants are opting to stay solo (or at least very small) […]

Too busy working IN your business to work ON your business? That’s a common complaint I hear from professional services leaders. If you run your own firm, you wear many different hats and have many competing demands against your time. It can be a challenge to find time to step back and steer the ship. […]

I love hearing stories of folks leaving their cushy corporate jobs to start their own business. You can’t help but respect the courage it takes to leave a stable high paying job for the uncertainty and risk of entrepreneurship. That’s why I really enjoyed this interview with Ali Hanif. Ali was an up and coming […]

Let’s be real for a minute. It’s not easy to get testimonials from your clients. Even if you know they’re happy with the work, you’re asking them to take time out of their busy day to do you a favour. That can be an uncomfortable request when the entire relationship is based on you helping them. […]

There’s something magical that happens when a referral is made. For your client (the referrer), it makes them look good. If they refer someone to you and that person has a good experience, they’ll be the ones to thank for it. For your prospect (the referee), it’s a shortcut. The buying process is easier and shorter when […]

I recently attended a luncheon hosted by the Legal Marketing Association’s Toronto chapter. This is an event that’s held every month for marketing professionals from law firms across the city. To be honest, ever since I started Boutique Growth, I’ve rarely attended events like these. Not because I don’t think it’s worth it. But simply […]

Convinced that video is the future? Ready to hit record and share your message with the world? That’s great. But even if you have the time and inclination to record video, it’s not going to be easy. The truth is talking into a camera is really uncomfortable. Even the most experienced video rock stars, like […]