Phil Lauterjung

A recent discussion thread on one of my LinkedIn groups posed a question that ended up being more interesting than I thought it would be. “What’s the single most important thing to remember about networking?” Now some of you ‘techies’ might be thinking about a different kind of networking, but this was directed toward personal networking. Normally I’ll pass over looking at a question like this, but there were already 13 comments in less than a week. Thinking I might find something interesting I took a look.  Read more... (318 words, 2 images, estimated 1:16 mins reading time)

Very early in my career I learned that key phrase all good managers teach – “Never assume”. You know the drill. They write the phrase on a whiteboard or flip chart and divide the word “assume” into three words. The point is to never make assumptions about what your prospect knows, or what you think you know about your prospect. Actually, it’s very good advice. It’s amazing how often we all (including me) violate this when it comes to our web sites.

Here are the assumptions – costly blunders – that I see most frequently.  Read more... (666 words, 2 images, estimated 2:40 mins reading time)

We all know the value of a referral. We all want referrals. We all want more referrals than we get. Here’s your chance to pay it forward so to speak. John Jantsch of Duct Tape Marketing started “Make a Referral Week” to highlight the value of referrals for small businesses. [Full dislosure: I am a Duct Tape Marketing Coach.]

All this week (March 8 – 12) you can participate by referring another small business that you have had a good experience working with. The goal for the week is to generate 1,000 referrals to 1,000 small businesses to highlight how a simple action can ultimately lead to millions of dollars in new business.  Read more... (198 words, 2 images, estimated 48 secs reading time)

After my post a last week about my New Grand Adventure, I have had a few people ask me why become a Duct Tape Marketing Coach? Going on the assumption that there might be a few more regular readers wondering the same thing, I thought I would explain.

As I have been blogging and twittering about sales, marketing, and social media I have become more and more interested in the plight of many small business owners. They are truly the driving force behind our economy. Many have struggled mightily during the last couple of years just to stay in business. They have watched multiple swirling events changing the way business is conducted. Marketing, in particular, has changed to the point that many old-timers hardly even recognize it today. Small businesses aren’t sure whether they should tweet, jump on facebook, get linkedin, digg, or just wait it out as a passing fad.  Read more... (479 words, 2 images, estimated 1:55 mins reading time)

Close enough for government work.  Just get it to 95%, that ought to work fine.  You don’t need to have it totally complete, just get most of it done.  Just do it.

We’ve all heard variations on some of these statements, but is less than 100% good enough? Well, maybe for some tasks it might be. But, consider what the ramifications would be if just 99.5% was acceptable.  Read more... (342 words, 2 images, estimated 1:22 mins reading time)

Some of you regular readers may have noticed my posts have been a little more erratic lately. There is a very good reason for that.  I have decided to launch my own company.  My emotions have shifted between ‘yikes!’ and ‘hooray!’ depending on which day you might have talked to me over the past couple of months.

Needless to say, I have been very busy with the planning and execution of those plans.  That has resulted in less time to write blog posts.  Now I am just days away from actually announcing this new grand adventure to the rest of the world.  But, I wanted to give you advance notice and a sneak peak at my new web site.  While the new site will have a blog I still plan to continue with this blog as well.  Read more... (352 words, 2 images, estimated 1:24 mins reading time)