Last week I had one client apologize that they weren’t going to meet a deadline (that we created), and another client say that they were avoiding emailing me because they hadn’t replied to another email I sent.

So, that makes a girl feel good…Actually, it was a good reminder that I need to be clearer with my clients about expectations and timelines that we make up.

I find that setting goals and timelines is helpful to create some structure with sales and marketing efforts. The reason people usually hire me is that they’re tired of saying “we should do that, we should try that” they want to START doing and trying new marketing efforts. But these are timelines and goals that we have setup and decided on together, I’m just the reminder and maybe enforcer (see Nagging Wife)

You want any consultant you are working with to help push you forward but don’t hide from them, it won’t do anyone any good. If a client is taking a lot of your time right now that’s OK!  Be clear with the person you’re paying that you need to push a project out a week. Don’t avoid them.