Manage a Small Business

mbo referrals

8 Ways to Get Client Referrals

By MBO Partners

Word-of-mouth can be a powerful marketing tool for independent contractors. When potential clients hear about your qualifications directly from people they know and trust, it lends credibility to your reputation. However, there’s an art to asking for and receiving referrals. Follow these eight tips to get client referrals and recommendations in the right way. 1….

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How to Plan a Successful Client Meeting: 5 Pro Tips

By MBO Partners

Client meetings can be stressful, uncomfortable, or intimidating. But leading a successful client meeting can help you build credibility and trust while landing a new project. Rather than approaching meetings with a sense of dread, think of them as an opportunity to brainstorm, collaborate, and progress your business. Find your motivation with these five tips…

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Client Loyalty vs Client Retention: Tips to Improve Both

By MBO Partners

Client retention and client loyalty are an important part of running a small business. As an independent professional, you’ll quickly learn that a key to sustained business growth is retaining a pool of reliable, loyal clients. But finding and acquiring new clients is often a big investment of time and energy. Instead, if you can…

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7 Best Practices for Becoming a Successful Consultant

By MBO Partners

Whether you’re a new member of the independent professional workforce or a seasoned veteran, operating a successful solo business can be an ongoing challenge. In the beginning the challenge might be securing clients and generating revenues, while later down the line it might be adjusting your services to meet market changes, and, of course, securing…

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11 Tech Tools You Need as a Digital Nomad

By MBO Partners

Spring is here, and the urge to travel is upon many independent professionals. Joining the digital nomad population, even temporarily, can be exciting and adventurous. It can also be a challenge to make sure that you effectively deliver results to clients as you go. In addition to the tools and gadgets that help tourists travel…

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consultant

Pricing Your Consulting Services: Hourly, Fixed Price, or Hybrid Billing?

By MBO Partners

Figuring out your billing rate can greatly impact the ability to build your business. Ideally, you will arrive at an amount at the intersection of the income you need, the market value of your services, and the value you provide a client. Once you calculate your billing rate, you need to decide how to bill—that…

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retired consultant

How to Make Risky Business Decisions as a Small Business Owner

By MBO Partners

In the majority of traditional jobs, managers have the final word when it comes to making important business decisions and there are always coworkers to bounce ideas off of or ask for opinions. Independent professionals, on the other hand, are relatively on their own when it comes to making choices that will affect their business….

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Independent professional with long-term client

5 Best Practices for Developing Long Term Client Relationships

By MBO Partners

For many independent professionals, work can be tinged with uncertainty. The top two challenges reported by respondents to our 2022 State of Independence survey were not enough predictable income and concerns about the sales pipeline, and a big part of operating an independent services business is addressing them. In addition to these challenges, many independents…

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gifts

10 Home Office Gifts for the Independent Professional

By MBO Partners

Many freelancers, entrepreneurs, and small business owners call their home office—or wherever their workplace may be—their sanctuary. An office is a place that should generate creativity, promote health and well-being, and offer both a comfortable and efficient environment. We’ve compiled a list of our top home office gifts that are perfect for your wish list…

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consultant

4 Ways a Consultant Can Become an Industry Thought Leader

By MBO Partners

Owning your own business means taking responsibility for every aspect of running your company. That burden will likely include tasks that are not directly related to your actual expertise but are necessary for continued growth, such as personal branding and marketing. An effective way to market yourself online is to establish yourself as an industry…

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