My wife and I met with our financial advisor Karl earlier this week.  We spent an hour reviewing the performance of our portfolio, re-clarifying our personal investment goals, and discussing our estate-planning situation. Karl is thorough.  We have the utmost confidence in his work and the firm he is associated with.  In addition to the “business” part of the meeting, Renee, Karl, and I talked about our children and their interests.  The time went by quickly. As we were finishing up, Karl thanked us again for a past referral we had sent his way and also asked us if there…

I was in the backyard playing with my two youngest daughters.  It was late in the day, and the sun was low on the horizon.  The night air was cool and our shadows were long on the driveway.  My youngest daughter, Allison, walked up and stood right at the end of my shadow and said,  “Look how big you are daddy.” When you added Allison’s shadow to mine I did look very tall.  I certainly covered more ground.  Building your center of influence is quite the same thing.  You as an individual can only cover so much ground.  You can…

There are many ways to grow your business. You can increase sales to existing clients, you can add additional products and services to your offering, and you can even merge with another organization. The easiest and fasted way to grow your business is through referrals. Cold calling is a proven way to develop business. The only problem is that it can be slow and tedious. And, although there is a time and place for cold calling, other ways of building your business may work more effectively for you. Certainly advertising can pay off, but you had better have significant funds…