I’ve spent some time on this blog dispelling the myth that all clients are good clients. The truth is that not all customers are good for your business. A bad client can cost you time, resources, energy, sanity, and most importantly, money. That’s why I advocate firing your bad clients. Let them go. Think you can’t survive without their money? Fire them and spend that extra time working up a plan to attract A-list clients. Trust me, it will be worth it in the long run.

But how exactly do you fire a bad client? I’ve fired more than a few clients in my day, so I’ll share some tips with you based on my personal experiences.

• Stay calm and professional—There’s a good chance you might be pretty upset with your client. Maybe they’re way behind on paying you, or maybe they talk down to you and you’re tired of it. No matter what the situation, you have to be the professional. You can’t control how others behave, but you can control your behavior. You’re running a business, so you can’t treat this like a nasty breakup with a significant other. Professionalism is your main goal.
• Blame yourself—Ever heard the classic breakup line “It’s not you, it’s me”? You can use this approach when firing a client. Take the blame if you feel it will help diffuse the situation. Tell them you’re not the right person for the job. Tell them you’re booked up. You can find any number of ways to use the “it’s not you, it’s me” approach to firing a client.
• Suggest another service provider—One way to soften the blow of your breakup with the client is to refer them to someone else who can provide them with the services they need. This shows that you’re not holding a grudge and that you care about their future success and satisfaction.
• Raise your prices—A lot of bad clients are clients who don’t want to pay you what you’re worth. They’re constantly trying to haggle with you to get your prices down. You can usually get rid of price shoppers simply by raising your prices.
• Take care of any remaining loose ends—Before severing the relationship with your bad client, make sure you’ve taken care of any loose ends. If you still owe them work that they’ve paid for, finish the project.

Have you fired any bad clients? How did you do it? Share your experiences by leaving a comment below.

You’re never going to please everybody, and at some point, somebody is going to post something online about your company that makes you look bad. In some cases, the information will be flat out incorrect. In others, it will be a matter of opinion. Regardless of the circumstance, it’s important that you act fast to minimize the damage to your brand.

So, what should you do when a blogger lets loose on your company?

• Leave a comment—Show the blogger and the readers that you care about making things right. Leave a comment on the blog addressing the statements made about your company. If there is any misleading or false information, point it out in a professional, polite manner.
• Don’t be defensive or hostile—No company ever looks good when being defensive. The internet is a tough place, and the more defensive you get, the harsher the criticism will become. Stay professional.
• Contact the blogger directly—Most bloggers will post their contact information on their website, or you can find them on Facebook or Twitter. Get in touch with the blogger directly to try to smooth over the situation. If there are any inaccuracies in the article, let them know. If you made a mistake, try to see what you can do to correct it.
• Stick around to monitor the ensuing conversation—After you leave your initial comment addressing the blogger’s criticism of your company, you can bet that others will probably respond to what you have to say. Stick around, and if you feel the need to jump in again on the conversation, do so. But stay professional and don’t get into spats with other commenters.
• Know when it’s time to move on—Eventually, there may come a point where you’re not going to change the blogger’s opinion and you just have to move on. Bad press happens, and one article isn’t going to kill your reputation. You just have to continue to actively monitor your reputation online.

Have you ever been ripped by a blogger? How did you handle it?

If you’ve been in business for any extended period of time, you know that you’re not going to satisfy every customer. Occasionally, a customer is going to get ticked off at you. They might threaten to stop doing business with you, or they may go online and say some nasty things about your company. The situation might have been caused by a mistake you or someone at your company made. Or it could have been caused by something that was totally out of your control.

While I don’t subscribe to the theory that the customer is always right, I do believe there are many instances where your best play is to apologize and try to smooth things over with the customer. And because you only get one chance to apologize (and you can’t apologize for a bad apology, Larry David), you have to make sure you get the apology right.

Here are some helpful tips for apologizing to a customer.

• Don’t blame others—Customers hate it when companies try to pass the buck. Even if you’re not directly responsible for the mistake, you need to take full responsibility and give a sincere apology. Playing the blame game will only upset the customer more.
• Don’t add a “but”—You can’t say “We apologize, but…” and expect the customer to accept your apology. Swallow your pride, apologize, and move forward. A half-hearted apology is often worse than no apology at all.
• Be prompt—Don’t wait until it’s too late to apologize. You have to take swift action when a customer is angry at your company. The longer you wait, the angrier they get and the harder it gets to win the customer back.
• Make sure you actually apologize—Apologizing means using words like “sorry” and “apologize.” Too many times, people are afraid to fully apologize because they think that admitting guilt will harm their reputation. But the reality is that you have to fully apologize in order for the customer to get over their anger and resentment toward your brand. An effective apology can restore that relationship.

Have you ever had to apologize to a customer? How did you handle it?

No company is immune to the risk of a PR crisis. From BP to Toyota, we’ve seen some major brands take huge blows to their reputations over the past few years. While you might not find yourself facing a crisis that garners as much attention as those previously mentioned, your brand’s reputation could still take a serious blow that puts your company’s future at risk.

Here’s what you need to do when the worst happens.

• Act swiftly—The longer you wait to respond to the crisis at hand, the worse it will get. You can’t just bury your head in the sand and pretend nothing is wrong. You have to jump on the problem immediately to minimize the damage and gain control of the situation.
• Admit fault—Why do so many people hate corporations? It’s because corporations rarely take responsibility for their actions. They point fingers at others any time a problem arises, killing any goodwill they might have had with their customers. There comes a time where you just have to swallow your pride, step up to the plate, and admit you made a mistake. A sincere apology can go a long way to recovering your reputation.
• Correct the problem and take measures to prevent it from happening again—Just saying your sorry isn’t going to cut it if you make the same mistake again and again. You have to identify the source of the problem and take major steps to correct it and keep it from ever happening again.
• Go above and beyond to make things right—It’s important that you take the necessary steps to make things right with anyone you may have wronged. But rather than doing just enough to make it right, go above and beyond what’s expected to show your commitment to rebuilding the relationship.
• Don’t give up—Repairing your reputation is going to take time. Think about it like this. When someone you know does something horrible to you, do you repair that relationship overnight? Not usually. It takes time for them to win back your trust. The same goes for when your company gets caught in a scandal. You have to keep working to win back the trust of your customers. Just look at BP. They’re still running ads trying to recover from damage done to their brand after the oil spill disaster.

What other tips would you add? Share your thoughts by leaving a comment below.

When you have a blog, you’ll attract all different types of readers, from those who just pass through one time to casual readers who come by occasionally to dedicated readers who subscribe to your blog and read every post. Clearly, your goal is to attract as many dedicated readers as possible, but that doesn’t happen instantly. Typically, you have to work on turning casual readers into dedicated readers over time.

Here are 5 ways you can transform a casual reader into a dedicate reader.

1. Focus on creating a great reader experience—The quality of your content isn’t the only thing that matters. It’s the overall experience that keeps readers engaged and coming back. Your blog needs to have a clean, compelling design. You don’t want to annoy readers with pop-up ads, complicated registration processes, spammy comment section, etc. Focus on creating the best possible experience for your visitors.
2. Make it easy for readers to subscribe and participate—The easier it is for someone to subscribe to your blog, the likelier it is that they’ll do so. Make sure your subscribe button is clear to see, and you can even include a call to action at the end of each post encouraging readers to subscribe. Also, make it easy for your readers to comment and share your posts on social networks. Don’t require them to register or complete a CAPTCHA to leave a comment. It’s annoying and kills their drive to participate.
3. Interact with your readers—If you want readers to stick around and keep coming back, one of the best things you can do is interact with them. Respond to them whenever they leave a comment. Connect with them on Twitter and Facebook. This builds relationships and increases their loyalty to your blog.
4. Give your readers a sense of ownership in your blog—Make your readers feel invested in your blog so they’ll keep coming back. Allow them to submit guest posts. Highlight the best comments. Ask them to submit ideas for topics they want to see you write about. Hold a contest. All of these things will create a community and make your readers feel like they own a piece of your blog.
5. Be real—It’s the easiest blogging advice you’ll ever receive. Just be yourself. Write like you talk and let your personality shine through in every aspect of your blog. That’s how you’ll build a personal connection with your readers that keeps them coming back for more.

What’s your best tip for turning casual readers into dedicated readers? Share it by leaving a comment.

Growing a blog takes time, patience, and a lot of focus. You can’t just set it and forget it. You have to work on building your blog every single day. Of course, this can be much easier said than done. That’s why so many blogs fail. The blogger starts off with great enthusiasm, but over time, he loses focus and the blog begins to die a slow, painful death.

Here are 3 tips that will help you stay focused on your blog.

1. Create a posting schedule—It’s important to have fun while blogging, but you also have to treat it seriously if you want to get results. One way to do this is to create a posting schedule and stick to it. You don’t have to publish new content every single day, but you do need to create a consistent publishing schedule that works for you. Whether that’s daily, 3 times a week, or weekly is up to you.
2. Make a list of essential daily blog management tasks—What are the things you need to do to maintain and grow your blog? You need to write content, schedule it to publish at the right times, manage your comments, interact with readers, and drive traffic to your blog. Spend some time each day focusing on these essential tasks. Make it part of your daily schedule so that you don’t neglect it.
3. Set milestones—If you’re blogging without any goals, you have no direction and subsequently you’ll lose focus. You need to have something to shoot for so you can stay focused each day on inching toward your milestones. Set goals for the number of subscribers you want to get, the amount of daily traffic you want to average, etc.

What do you do to keep your blogging focus? Share your best tips by leaving a comment below.

You can’t have a blog without having content, and if you want to grow your blog over time, you have to keep publishing fresh, interesting content on a regular basis. This content isn’t going to appear out of thin air. Someone has to create it, and while you might be thinking of tackling this task all on your own, you may wish to consider the benefits of hiring a freelance blogger to help.

Here’s a look at just some of the benefits you can enjoy when you hire a well-qualified freelance blogger.

• Better quality content—Are you a professional writer? Probably not. The truth is that most people aren’t great writers. While you might think that the informal nature of blogging means you don’t have to be a good writer, that’s not the case. Good writing has nothing to do with formality; it has to do with the writer’s ability to connect with the reader in a meaningful way. A professional freelance blogger will be able to create better content than you’re able to.
• Frees up your time—Do you really have time to write blog content on a regular basis? You’re probably already wearing enough hats as it is, so there’s no need to don the blogger hat as well. Save yourself some time by letting a freelance blogger shoulder the content creation load.
• Only pay for the work you need—Thinking of hiring an in-house writer? You’ll have to pay a full-time salary, benefits, and everything else that goes with having an employee. By outsourcing your blog writing to a freelancer, you only pay for the amount of content you need…nothing else. It’s a cost-effective way to get new content.
• Fresh perspective—Sometimes, you can be too close to your subject matter. You’re so close that your perspective is greatly narrowed. By hiring a freelance writer, you can get a fresh perspective to tired topics.
• Avoid blogger’s burnout—Let’s face it, when you’re the only one writing on your blog day in and day out, it can get tiring quickly. If you’re all on your own, there’s a good chance you’ll get burned out and eventually give up on your blog. By hiring a freelancer to help carry the load, you can keep your blog going strong.

Do you have any experience hiring freelance bloggers? Tell us about it by leaving a comment below.

Not a week goes by that I don’t talk to someone about how they’ve been ripped off by a freelance copywriter or freelance designer. I’ve been a freelancer myself for several years, and while I always take a professional approach to handling my business, I’m very well aware that not all freelancers are on the up and up.

Fortunately, hiring a good freelancer isn’t all that difficult. You just have to take these steps to make sure you don’t get ripped off.

• Avoid the job boards—I know that many of you are going to disagree with this, but I don’t think that the best way to find a freelancer is to post an ad on Craigslist, a freelance writing job board, or one of this websites where freelancers bid on jobs. Why? Let’s be honest—any freelancer who is truly skilled at his or her craft isn’t going to spend time trolling around on job boards. That freelancer’s services will be in demand. In other words, you need to find the freelancer. A simple Google search for the type of freelancer you need (e.g. “freelance copywriter” or “freelance web designer”) will get you pointed in the right direction.
• Always ask for samples—Never hire a freelancer without seeing samples of their work first. It doesn’t matter what services you need, you must see a portfolio before hiring. This will prove that the freelancer is capable of handling the job, and it helps to make sure you hire someone whose style and approach meets your needs.
• Be willing to pay a competitive rate—There’s something to be said for the old adage “you get what you pay for.” If you’re offering super cheap compensation, guess what type of freelancer you’re going to attract? A low quality one. You need to be willing to pay a competitive rate if you want to get the best talent.
• Pick up the phone—Spend a few minutes talking to the freelancer on the phone. Tell them about your project, ask them about their experience, find out about their working process, and try to get a feel for whether or not the freelancer will be a good fit on your project.
• Never pay the full amount up front—You should never pay in full for the project before it has been completed. In most situations, the freelancer will request a deposit before starting work, usually up to 50% of the total price. Paying a deposit is totally acceptable. Paying the full amount up front is not.
• Get it in writing—Draft up a basic agreement that outlines the details of your project, the freelancer’s responsibilities, rates, deadlines, and other relevant information. Sign it, have the freelancer sign it, and keep it on file.

Have you ever been burned by a freelancer? Tell us about it by leaving a comment below.

At some point, you may find yourself needing the services of a freelance writer. Maybe you need someone to create sales copy for your website or brochure. Or maybe you need a blogger to create a few posts each week. Or you could even need an article writer if you’re still relying on article distribution as an internet marketing strategy.

Whatever the case may be, one of the first things you’ll need to do is decide how much you’re going to pay a freelance writer for the project. Now, if you’re like a lot of people, you may want to know just how little you can get away with paying to get the job done. After all, the less you have to pay, the better, right?

Wrong.

Here are 5 reasons you shouldn’t hire a cheap writer.

1. Quality will almost always suffer—There’s an old saying that applies perfectly—“You get what you pay for.” If you’re going to hire a cheap writer at rates far below the industry average, you’re almost certainly going to get work that’s well below the industry average in terms of quality. If you want good work, you have to pay competitive prices. It’s that simple.
2. You may not get original work—How are some writers able to produce content for just a few bucks a pop? It might be because they’re actually stealing the content from somebody else. That’s right. Many companies have been burned by cheap writers who simply stole content off the web, maybe spun it a little bit, and passed it off as fresh and original.
3. Cheap writers often lack experience—Think about this. If a freelance writer was good and experienced at their job, would they be scouring the job boards looking for work at dirt cheap rates? I didn’t think so.
4. Cheap writers may also lack professionalism—If you’ve ever dealt with a bad freelance writer, you know how much of a nightmare it can be. They promise to deliver the work by a certain date, and then miss the deadline. They drop off the face of the earth and stop responding to emails for days or weeks at a time. They come up with insane excuses about why they’re behind on their work. Spend a little more money so you can hire a true professional.
5. Good writing takes time—Writing anything takes time. It takes time to do the research, outline a plan, create a draft, edit the draft, and rewrite the content until it’s just right. When you’re paying someone a dirt cheap rate to write something, they’re not going to spend as much time on it as they should. Time is money.

Have you ever hired a cheap writer? How did things turn out for you?

Guest blogging is a topic I’ve spent quite a bit of time writing about. I think it’s an important thing to talk about, because many people are finally starting to realize the benefits guest blogging has to offer, and they’re jumping aboard the bandwagon. That’s great, but you have to make sure you’re approaching guest blogging in the right way if you want to get the most out of it. More simply stated, you have to make sure you’re not a bad guest blogger.

How can you tell if you’re a bad guest blogger? Here are a few warning signs.

• You act like the blogger owes you something in your pitch—I’ve received pitches from guest bloggers who come across as alarmingly entitled. They pump themselves up and try to bully me into accepting their guest posts. It’s insane just how clueless some of these guest bloggers are. News flash: nobody owes you anything. You don’t deserve any guest blogging opportunities.
• You don’t take time to learn about the blog—A good guest blogger spends time researching the blog, reading old posts, learning about the blogger, and interacting with the readers in the comments before making a pitch. The better you understand the blog, the more able you’ll be to pitch a topic that’s a good fit.
• You write your guest posts as quickly as you can—If you’re just interested in cranking out as many guest posts as you can so you can build tons of links, you’re in this for the wrong reasons. It’s your duty as a guest blogger to provide the very best content you’re capable of creating. You owe it to the blogger who’s publishing your content, the readers, and yourself (your reputation is on the line!).
• You change the topic you agreed to write about—If you tell the blog owner that you’re going to write a guest post about a certain topic, that’s what you need to write the post about. You can’t change your mind without notifying the blogger and turn in a post on an entirely different subject.
• You don’t respond to comments—Don’t be the guest blogger who turns in a post and disappears. Part of being a guest blogger is interacting with the readers who respond by leaving comments. You need to stick around after your post is published and create meaningful conversations with the readers. And while you’re at it, help promote your guest post too.
• You don’t thank the blogger for letting your guest post—It’s common courtesy. Send over an email thanking the blogger for publishing your guest post.

Are you a bad guest blogger?