Rainmaker Resources

Problems with blog feeds

Ian Brodie — Fri, 13 Nov 2009 23:49:48 +0000

Hi all,

You may have noticed that the “latest posts on business development blogs” list is rather out of date.

The reason is that the function uses Yahoo Pipes to create an aggregate list of recent blog posts. Unfortunately, a recent change by Google’s feedburner has stopped Yahoo Pipes updating when the original source is RSS feeds from feedburner (like all the business development blogs).

Apparently, Yahoo & Google are working to fix it. Until then, we’re a bit stuck.

Ian

Minor Revamp

Ian Brodie — Mon, 31 Aug 2009 14:27:38 +0000

I’ve revamped the site slitghtly to bring the headlines of the posts on the featured rainmaker blogs above the fold on the front page.

In addition, since David Maister seems to have (sadly) retired from regular blog, video and podcast posting I’ve removed his feeds. But at least that’s given me the space to add in links to great material from Alan Weiss, Andrew Sobel and Craig Weeks. Check out their blogs from the links pages.

Regards

Ian

April Updates

Ian Brodie — Fri, 10 Apr 2009 15:43:23 +0000

We’ve added two great books to the recommended reading list: the latest edition of “Let’s Get Real or Let’s Not Play” by Mahan Khalsa and Randy Illig; and “How to Win a Pitch” by Joey Asher. We’ve also added some more professional service related blogs to the RSS feed.

The latest Featured Site is Kintish – the home of UK-based business networking guru Will Kintish. Will is an ex-accountant who found he enjoyed business development and networking more than doing the accounting itself – and for years now has been teaching UK business people how to network effectively. Will is also hugely generous with his time and provided me with a lot of great advice when I first started up my own practice.

Kintish

Ian Brodie — Fri, 10 Apr 2009 14:33:38 +0000

Will Kintish is the UK’s leading speaker and expert on networking – one of the critical business development approaches for professionals.

Will’s business networking site contains a wealth of ideas and resources to help any professional grow their sales.

There are dozens of articles on networking and other topics, plus audio tips on key networking subjects – both live and online.

I particularly enjoy Will’s video tips on how to become a useless, rude and ignorant networker.

Visit www.kintish.co.uk

New Accounting Site Added – Accounting Practice Business Development

Ian Brodie — Sat, 11 Oct 2008 11:59:45 +0000

A while ago I lamented the lack of decent sites on business development for accountants. Thanks to a link on Michelle Golden’s excellent Golden Practices I’ve been reading Craig Week’s Accounting Practice Business Development blog recently.

It’s an excellent blog. The posts are all very practical, and clearly based on real-world experience of handling sales meeting, pitches, etc. Craig covers eveything from preparing for meetings and structuring them to body language and style issues.

It’s well worth a read, whether you’re an accountant or a professional in another discipline looking to pick up some rock-solid tips on business development.

Ian

Rain Today

Ian Brodie — Fri, 19 Sep 2008 23:23:20 +0000

Rain Today is the leading on-line magazine site for growing professional services firms.

The site’s content includes articles, white-papers and research reports, webinars and premium content.

There’s a ton of excellent material in the free downloads area – including recent article collections on marketing and fees.

It’s also well worth checking out the online store too – there are some really great value reports and studies. I particularly rate the “How to Set Appointments Through Cold Calling” report. It’s the best guide on effective cold calling techniques for professional services I’ve seen – moving way beyond the generalities into what specifically works for professionals.

Visit www.raintoday.com

Giant Site Update

Ian Brodie — Sat, 02 Aug 2008 19:47:27 +0000

I’ve now created the “All Sites” list with links to about 20 sites with a strong focus on Professional Services marketing & business development.

In the process I managed to find a number of sites with podcasts/audio resources which I added to the Podcast menu.

Ian

Introduction to Rainmaker Resources

Ian Brodie — Mon, 28 Jul 2008 19:37:20 +0000

Rainmaker Resources is a portal and guide to the best business development, sales and marketing resources for professional services. It features:

A guide to the best sites for professional services management and business development
Recommended resources – books, podcasts, research reports, etc.
A combined feed of the latest posts from the leading professional services business development blogs

Bookmark the site to use as a portal, or subscribe to get an email when the site is updated with new content.

Harding & Company

Ian Brodie — Sun, 27 Jul 2008 02:57:44 +0000

Ford Harding literally “wrote the book” on Rainmaking (see Recommended Books). For over a decade, Ford and his team at Harding & Company have helped some of the world’s leading professional services firms improve the way they sell – through strategy, training and coaching programmes.

The Harding & Company website serves primarily to showcase the company’s credentials and services – but particularly noteworthy is Ford’s blog. This is a regularly updated resource ranging from specific hints & tips on rainmaking techniques, lessons learned from Ford’s many years in business development, mini-case studies of successful rainmakers, through to Ford’s pointers to Rainmaker Resources (not to be confused with this site) where he highlights useful tools and other resources for rainmakers.

Visit www.hardingco.com

David Maister

Ian Brodie — Sat, 26 Jul 2008 23:55:27 +0000

Ex-Harvard professor and author of books such as “Managing the Professional Services Firm” and “True Professionalism” – David Maister is widely acknowledged as one of the world’s leading authorities on the management of professional service firms.

This site covers both David’s materials (books, videos, articles, podcasts) and the services he offers as an advisor to professional service firms. The site is one of the richest resource centres on the web – there are videos of David speaking, podcasts covering his original books and his latest “Strategy and the Fat Smoker”, pdf summaries of many of the chapters in his books, articles and notes from his seminars. In keeping with the strategy he recommends to other professional service firms, David is incredibly generous in providing “value up front” to highlight his expertise – making this site an absolute must to visit and bookmark.

Visit davidmaister.com