Like me, you were probably shocked at seeing the impact of the Tsunami last week.

Every time I checked the news things seemed to get worse and worse. We still don’t know the full human cost of the disaster.

Since then I’ve been thinking, how can I help?

I found myself thinking “if only I had a book or something I could donate the proceeds from to Tsunami charities”. Unfortunately, my big, exciting best-selling book is still in the planning stage.

But yesterday I realised I did have something that might be able to help. I spent last night converting my Client Breakthrough ebook into Kindle format.

It’s now on sale at Amazon.com here and Amazon.co.uk here.

It’s $4.99 in the US and £3.10 in the UK. Every penny I get from it (roughly $3 a copy – the rest goes in tax and Amazon’s fees) will go to Tsunami charities.

Now it’s not new content. Just a more convenient format. You’ll be able to read it on a Kindle, iPhone, iPad or any device with a Kindle reader including PCs and Macs.

You can still get a copy for free by subscribing to my newsletter.

But I hope you won’t. I hope instead you’ll buy the Kindle version and do a little bit to help. Maybe even if you already have the PDF.

Or if you already have it and you found it helpful, why not write a quick review on Amazon here or perhaps Tweet this blog post or share it on Facebook to encourage others to buy it and help out.

In the grand scheme of things it’s just a small gesture. But small gestures add up.

Thanks

2010 was a great year for me. And it was one where thanks to a lot of factors but particularly my regular email newsletter and free Client Breakthrough course, I got to know an awful lot of solo professionals and small firms.

I met, spoke to and swapped emails with a huge number of extremely talented people with an incredibly diverse range of businesses.

And it reconfirmed my belief that there is just such a vast, untapped talent pool of professionals out there. People who are great at what they do, but who don’t yet have the confidence, the knowledge or the skills to find and win all the clients they deserve.

Week in, week out I see clients playing it safe by hiring big firms with well known brands, when they could get access to much deeper capabilities and experience – if only they knew where to find it and how to recognise it.

It’s my firm belief that if small firms and solo professionals could learn how to market themselves better. To get their expertise and experience known by their ideal clients. To get hired more often and at better rates. Then not only will it benefit the professionals themselves – but it’ll make a huge difference to the success of their clients too.

If you’re an independent consultant or coach, or a small firm of professionals, and you’re the “best kept secret” in your field – then not only are you not reaching your own potential but you’re doing a huge disservice to your potential clients too.

You could be out there doing brilliant work for them – but instead they’re having to settle for second best because they don’t know about you and what you can do.

It’s not just in your own interests to learn to market your business effectively – in many ways it’s your duty.

And in 2011, that’s going to be my primary focus: evening the playing field. Helping the little guy compete against the big firms. It’s going to be my mission to share the strategies and tactics that will help solo professionals and small firms break away from being the “best kept secret” and get the success they deserve.

Not that I have anything against large professional firms – I spent over a decade working for large consulting firms and it’s where I learnt the basics of how to market and sell effectively. And if you work for a large firm I’m sure you’ll find lots of the ideas I share to be helpful.

But my main focus is going to be on what works for the little guy. What will help small firms and independents get a real breakthough and start to compete and win against the big firms.

I’d like to invite you to join me on that journey.

I’ll be sharing what’s worked for me personally. Some of my successes as a sole practitioner competing head to head against big firms. And some of my failures too.

I’ll be interviewing independents and small firms that have punched above their weight. Businesses who’ve successfully played David to the big firms’ Goliath. I’ll be sharing what’s made them successful and how you can replicate their success.

I’ll be particularly focusing on what I’ve labelled Authority Marketing. The strategies and tactics you can use to establish yourself as the “go to” person in your field – even if you don’t start out as a well known big business.

So stay tuned for an exciting and busy year. And if you’ve not done so already, sign up for my free Client Breakthrough video training course by filling in the form over on the right of the screen.

Here’s a Great Way to Kick-Start Your Breakthrough Year

if you’re a consultant or coach, here’s somthing you should take a look at.

Mike Schultz and the Raintoday team have produced a new, free report on The New Rules of Selling Consulting Services in 2011. The report covers the big changes in how clients buy consulting and coaching services – and what you can do to transform the way you sell in 2011 to thrive in the new environment. You can download the report for free by clicking here.

The report is a precursor to Mike opening up enrollment to his online Selling Consulting Services program. As you’ll know if you’re a regular reader of this blog – this is a program I’m a member of myself and it’s the only sales training program for consultants (other than mine) which I endorse.

If you download the report by clicking from this site, and you eventually decide to sign up for the program, i’ll get paid a commission. But commission or not, and whether you access it from my link or not, I thoroughly endorse it. It’s the very best training program for consultants who want to learn how to sell effectively. Well, outside of getting personal coaching from me, of course!!

Once again, you can download the report on The New Rules of Selling Consulting Services in 2011 for free by clicking here

I was honoured recently to find out I’d been nominated for the “Top Sales Blog of 2010″ award.

And I do mean honoured. The awards are run by Jonathan Farrington who I have the utmost respect for. In the field of sales, Jonathan is one of the elder statesmen. A gentleman and a hugely knowledgeable authority.

And the nominations were based on an entirely objective formula – looking at the popularity and google ranking of the blogs (I think I came in at #6 globally).

But here’s the thing: the final decision is made by internet voting.

*** UPDATE *** Jonathan’s just told me that the vote only counts for 50% of the result. The rest comes from a panel of judges

We do all know that anything decided by internet voting is bullshit, don’t we?

Who wins in an internet vote?

Either someone who’s popular, or someone who knows how to game the system.

It’s incredibly easy to fix internet voting. If you have lots of website visitors or social media followers – ask them to vote for you.

If you’re smart and you think the PR will help, hire some folks in a third world country to vote for you. Or do it yourself through an IP proxy, if you’ve got too much time on your hands.

Currently I’m at #2 in the voting for Sales Blog of 2010. Is it because I have the best or second best sales blog?

No. It’s because I’m popular. I have a lot of Twitter followers and I shamelessly asked them to vote for me here.

Anthony Iannorino is number one. I guess he did something similar. We’re miles ahead of anyone else.

So here what I’m going to ask you to do. I’m going to break with years of tradition and buck all the “rules”.

What I’d like you to do is go to the site with the list of all the blogs here.

And I’d like you to actually read them all.

Rather than voting for me ‘cos you like me, I’d like you to actually read the blogs. They’re all excellent. They’re all full of great ideas and tips which could really help you.

Rather than treating this as an opportunity to vote for someone you like (that would be me) – I’d like you to treat this as an opportunity to explore the best of the best. Learn something valuable. Then vote for the one you think is the best – not the person you’re the most friendly with.

Now, of course, here’s the $50,000 question: who would I vote for? And who do I reccomend you vote for?

Well, personally, I’d vote for Charlie Green’s blog.

You may know Charlie as the author of the Trusted Advisor and Trust Based Selling.

Here’s the thing: all the rest of us write great stuff. Really valuable hints and tips. Articles that can radically improve your results at selling.

But Charlie writes the only blog that can change your life. He writes about trust and what it means to us, our clients, our families, our life.

Out of all of us, it’s Charlie who’s really making a difference – not just helping people get a bit better.

Out of all of us, it’s Charlie who’s driving for that deeper understanding and meaning.

Out of all of us, he’s the one who’s going to change the world for the better.

Vote for Charlie.

*** UPDATE *** Hey, judges – you vote for Charlie too.

One of the biggest business development challenges for many professional firms and individuals is that their marketing communications just don’t connect with their clients and prospects.

Whether it’s letters, adverts, publications or their website – many struggle to write in ways that resonate with their target audience.

Sometimes the language is full of jargon. But more often it’s that the writing feels stiff and formal. Not at all the way their clients speak – or the way they would speak once they’ve got home from the office, taken their suit off and popped their slippers on.

Somehow we seem to have all been trained – lawyers, consultants, architects, accountants alike – to write weak, wishy-washy sentences. We write in third person. We don’t use contractions (see what I did there?). We use the passive voice. We use long, complex words when short simple ones will do.

And we write huge, long, multi-clause sentences. I’m terribly guilty of that one.

My friend Ali Turnbull of Fit to Print has spent many long hours detoxifying some of the things I’ve written and turning them into plain English. And they’ve come out much better and more compelling from a marketing perspective as a result.

Now you have a chance to improve your communications – and win £2,000 into the bargain. Well, you do if you’re a UK business.

I’m a featured blogger on the t-mobile business site. And right now they’re running a competition to promote straight talking.

All you have to do is tell them what’s great about your business in 140 characters or less. The entries will be judged by TV “Hotel Inspector” and renowned straight talker Alex Polizzi.

Just head over to the t-mobile site by clicking here to enter the competition (UK businesses only I’m afraid).

My advice to help you win: put yourself in your customer’s shoes. Think about what keeps them up at night and how you help with that. Then use the same sort of words they’d use to describe it. Would they really say “improve profitability and ROI” – or would they say “make more money” for example?