Fred Berns

Fred Berns coaches, writes promotional copy for and speaks to business professionals worldwide. He's the author of the book "Sell Yourself! 501 Ways to Get Them to Buy from YOU." For more information, visit WhatsYourOnly.com, email Fred@Whatsyouronly.com or call 303-589-3013.

Articles by Fred Berns

• The power of personal promotion

  Wednesday, April 03, 2019

  If you've been in business for a while, you're probably pretty good at what you do. And, chances are, you're committed to becoming better. Great! But if you're like many business professionals, you're not as good at telling others how good you are. You may, in fact, be your own best kept secret. Not so great. The problem with that is this: it doesn’t matter how good you are if you're the only one who knows. The most important sale you'll ever make is the personal one.

• Looking to land classier clients? Follow the formula

  Wednesday, March 27, 2019

  In their quest to work with higher caliber clients, many small businesses play "follow the leader." They'd be much better off playing "follow the formula." You're unlikely to succeed if you copy the leaders in your field in your efforts to connect with more affluent clients. Marketing and networking exactly like other companies won’t help you get the results you want. That's because you make a great you, but a lousy somebody else. You'll have a far better chance of establishing long-term relationships with blue chip buyers if you implement this five-step formula.

• Don’t let these ‘terrible 10’ mistakes sabotage your success

  Tuesday, March 05, 2019

  In today's competitive business environment, it's vital for business owners to recognize the most common roadblocks to their success. Every year, these obstacles derail too many small to mid-sized companies too often. At best, these issues create temporary detours. At worst, they can be career killers. Here's a "terrible 10" list of success saboteurs, and some tips on how to overcome them.

• ‘Fail’ your way to the top in 2019

  Wednesday, January 09, 2019

  Make 2019 the year you really get to know "no." Make it the year that you get turned down by more prospects, try and fail to "upsell" more clients, lose out on more bids, miss out on more opportunities, come up short on more proposals, and attempt unsuccessfully to close more deals than ever before. In short, make it the year that you "fail" more. Why? Because only when you put yourself out there more, can you fail more. And only when you put yourself out there more can you succeed more.

• Personal marketing makes you money

  Wednesday, January 24, 2018

  How much you earn in 2018 may have less to do with your industry expertise than your marketing skill. Many of the most financially successful business professionals are less knowledgeable about their industry than competitors who earn considerably less. They're just better marketers.

• A personal touch makes for a happier holiday season

  Monday, December 04, 2017

  While your competitors scramble to get out their holiday cards, why not do something this season that most of them don't do? Get personal. Share your seasonal sentiments face to face if you can, or by phone if you can't.

• In tough times, what you learn matters more than what you lose

  Tuesday, November 28, 2017

  This is the time that many business professionals review the results of the year gone by. But what if looking back is a bummer? What if those lofty goals and resolutions you set months ago feel like distant and daunting dreams? How do you deal with the disappointment of a record year that wasn't, of sales numbers that didn't add up, of outstanding outcomes that didn't materialize?

• A niche can make you rich, so start specializing now

  Tuesday, October 10, 2017

  You may not be well-known in the business community, but that doesn't mean you can't be a business celebrity, and a wealthy one at that. Your shortcut to fame and fortune may be as simple as identifying a niche market, and becoming a specialist in it. Niche marketing entails targeting and focusing on a specific segment of an industry, one that is overlooked by other companies. That oversight leaves you with an opportunity to provide products and services that are otherwise unavailable.

• Market smart by following the champion’s checklist

  Friday, August 25, 2017

  If you're looking to propel your profits this fall, add some power to your promotion. You don't need to spend a lot of time and money to attract much more recognition — and business — in the months ahead. Simply think big, communicate with confidence, and build and reach out to your base — just like the marketing champions do.

• You have what the media needs: expertise

  Monday, July 10, 2017

  As a business professional, you have information and insights about your industry that writers and broadcasters are looking for all the time. You can — and will — get quoted and promoted in online and conventional trade media if you connect with the right people, the right way.

• If it’s time for a business reboot, it’s time for a letter

  Tuesday, June 20, 2017

  One of the best ways to recharge your business this summer is to reintroduce yourself. Reach out by email or in a letter to anyone and everyone you need to know — and who needs to know you — and bring them up to date about what’s new and noteworthy about your business and yourself. Traditionally, business owners used a reintroduction letter when they reinvented themselves, shifted their focus or changed their business model. But the letter also serves to revive sagging sales and boost the bottom line.

• No question about it: Ask, and you can receive

  Monday, May 22, 2017

  ​If you're not making enough sales, you're not asking enough questions. You can't get the business unless you ask for it. You can't solve a prospect's problems until you find out what they are. You can't upsell clients until you ask what they need. To whom should you ask questions? Begin with your existing customers. Focus on the future by asking them about Phase II of the project, or about what additional products and services they might need in coming months.

• Your focus can boost or block you in 2017

  Wednesday, January 04, 2017

  "I don't watch the wall," race car driver Mario Andretti supposedly said when asked for his secret of success. Wise words. It's wisdom based on a simple truth: what you think about, you bring about. Drivers who constantly watch and worry and fret about the wall too often end up crashing into it.

• Bounceback strategies on the road to recovery

  Wednesday, November 16, 2016

  Bedrest has its benefits. Convalescence gives you clarity. Those are a couple of positive lessons that business owners can learn from what otherwise might seem like a negative situation: recovering from major surgery. Thousands of business professionals face some kind of surgery every year. For many, the recovery can be rocky, filled with doubts and anxieties about rebuilding the business from which they had to walk — or limp — away.

• Use your bio to build your business

  Tuesday, September 06, 2016

  In competitive times like these, the most important sale business professionals can make is the personal one. And the best "sell yourself" tool is your online bio. No marketing piece does a better job of spelling out your "special-ness" than an effective personal promotion profile on your website, in social media and elsewhere.

• Get your site right and turn your website woes into wows

  Thursday, July 21, 2016

  ​If your company's website isn't attracting the traffic and business it could be and should be, consider the content. Is your website copy captivating and compelling? Or, in contrast, is it wordy and weak? That's a pivotal issue, considering that yours is one of a billion websites vying for attention at a time when the attention span is limited. The average visit to a website today is estimated to be only four seconds and two clicks.

• Keys to connecting: How to make your ‘net’ work

  Tuesday, May 03, 2016

  Who you know has become as important as what you know, and more business professionals are attending more networking events than ever before. So what's it take to get a maximum return for your investment of networking time and money? For starters, it takes the ability to present yourself with pizzazz, communicate with confidence and sell yourself — quickly.

• Your ‘revenue roster’ could bring you riches

  Thursday, January 14, 2016

  January is the best month for business professionals to create their "revenue roster." It's the time of year they should develop a list of all those individuals who can help them generate the most sales and income for the year ahead. The next step is to plan how and when to reach out to those individuals. There is strength in numbers, and you can add to yours by reaching out for help.

• Take a ‘long’ look at your customer relationships

  Wednesday, October 07, 2015

  What's it take to develop long-term customer relationships? How can you turn contacts into ongoing contracts? How can you convert current clients into continuing ones? Those are critical questions, considering that increasing your repeat business by 40 percent can help you double your income in a year.

• Market smart: Make a big splash for little cash

  Thursday, September 17, 2015

  If you're spending big money on marketing, you're probably wasting it. Some of the best marketing that business professionals can do costs the least. Some of the most powerful promotion costs nothing at all. You can take the "price" out of your promotion and make a maximum impact for a minimal investment.

• The dangerous dozen: 12 marketing miscues by new companies

  Thursday, August 13, 2015

  Why is that 50 percent of small businesses fail within their first five years? Insufficient capital is one reason behind that Small Business Administration statistic. Poor management plays a role, as does a lack of planning and a bad location.

• Use the 4C formula to double your closing ratio

  Wednesday, July 08, 2015

  Business professionals who struggle to close sales need only follow the 4C formula. Determine the conflicts — the biggest challenges and pains a prospect faces that your product or service may resolve. Then communicate your ability to help him or her overcame that discomfort.

• Use a ‘winner’s workbook’ to account for your accomplishments

  Wednesday, April 29, 2015

  It may not say so on your website, social media sites or business card, but you're a sales and marketing specialist. You are, in fact, the sales and marketing director of your own personal corporation. The sooner you acknowledge that — and polish your skills in that capacity — the sooner you'll close more sales, seal more deals and earn the income you want and deserve.

• Follow the program to work less, earn more

  Tuesday, April 14, 2015

  Working fewer hours and making more money isn't a pipe dream. It's a program. It's a program followed by many of the most financially successful small business professionals. These individuals are based worldwide. Their products and services vary. So do their expertise and experience levels. And they run their businesses in a wide variety of ways.

• Personal marketing: Are you a ‘pro’ or ‘no’?

  Tuesday, March 17, 2015

  How good a self-salesperson are you? How effective are you at attaching value to who you are and what you do? Those are critical questions, considering the power of the personal sale. In today's competitive marketplace, you can't do the best job of selling your stuff until you do the best job of selling yourself.

• Words can boost or block your business

  Thursday, February 05, 2015

  "To be successful, you have to be unique," Walt Disney once said. "You have to be so different that, if people want what you have, they have to come to you to get it." Establishing your uniqueness, and differentiating your company depends a lot on the words you choose to use. How you describe your services and yourselves may well determine the quality and quantity of clients you attract.

• ‘Buy local’ marketing can yield big results for small retailers

  Tuesday, December 16, 2014

  ​The holidays are an especially important time for independent business owners, given that 30 percent of retail sales occur in November and December. This is the time of year that local retailers introduce everything from holiday shopping events and special seasonal "impulse" items at the checkout counter to same-day delivery and expanded payment options.

• Overcoming price objections: How to turn bellyachers into believers

  Monday, November 10, 2014

  ​What do you say when they say you're too expensive? That's a vexing question for those who fear and fight the idea of price objections. For all too many business professionals, questions about their price cause anxiety at best, and a conviction that they have to cave in and slash their fees at worst.

• Your promotional bio: Is it a boon or a bust?

  Thursday, October 09, 2014

  ​Many of the people who need to know you, don't. Your prospects don't. Your website visitors don't. Even your clients don't. That's because, if you're like most business professionals, your promotional bio undersells you and fails to give credit where credit is due. Problem is, you can't effectively sell your services and products unless and until you can sell yourself. The personal sale is the most important sale you ever make.