- Lower your prices in an attempt to capture more business. You will devalue your expertise and, very likely, turn off the ideal clients you are trying to attract.

- Spend a lot of time, money, and effort in general marketing and advertising activities. As an individual practitioner you cannot compete with Monster.com, e-resumes, or other high-volume services.

- Allow your clients to dictate or control the process. Know what works for you, set clear expectations, and establish yourself as the professional and the expert.

- Turn out work that is less than excellent. You cannot build referrals for so-so resumes.

DO

- Establish a niche and clearly communicate that niche in all of your marketing materials - including your website, email signature, phone recording, and general response to queries.

- Build a network of complementary services to whom you can refer clients who aren't a good fit for you  . . . and who can refer back to you. Find writers who serve other niches.

- Conduct your own pricing survey to find out what other services charge and what is provided for that fee.

- Clarify what it is that makes you different (better) and, if appropriate, set premium fees because of the premium level of service or expertise that you provide.

- Be sure you are communicating your unique value in your sales message.

- Set clear expectations with your clients and then strive to exceed them!

When you have established your niche and have a clear value proposition that you can offer your clients, you can begin to market yourself as the expert you truly are. All of your marketing activities should be designed to attract your ideal client. Be as visible as possible within your target audiences, always with the goal of sharing your knowledge and positioning yourself as the expert. Look for opportunities to write articles, contribute to blogs, give presentations, and otherwise show your potential clients just a glimpse of your vast knowledge.

Over time, you will continuously draw prospects who understand and value your expertise. You'll find that the "word gets around," and you'll get referrals from people you don't even know. You'll be able to command premium pricing for your services. Best of all, you won't have to spend much (if any) of your hard-earned revenue on advertising and paid marketing.

Perhaps you're worried that "passive marketing" won't solve your business-building problems today. That's true; it does take time for your messages to get out there and your efforts to attract a steady stream of prospects. But if you don't get started now, where will you be a year from now? Struggling to attract clients who argue about price and don't value your expertise . . . working 50 or 60 hours a week for little more than minimum wage . . . hoping you can afford to attend the conference next year . . . telling yourself you just need a little more time to build up the volume of your business. There is a better way! It values quality over quantity, niche over generalist, expert positioning over high-cost advertising. Start today, and by this time next year you'll be happier, wealthier, and more confident of your professional value.

I look forward to sharing more specifics about value marketing at the CDI conference in Seattle!

Louise Kursmark is President of Best Impression Career Services, Inc. in Reading, MA. She can be contacted at lk@yourbestimpression.com.