All reasonable recommendations, Chip ... but why do I feel like your wife sat you down for a serious talking to sometime recently?

I've seen very few consulting types who are able to pull off these kinds of things ... it's just beyond their scope and not in their nature; the sales guys & gals are another whole story; they live this stuff every day of their lives

It might not be a bad idea for indy consultants to get a little sales training; programs like the basic 12 week Dale Carnegie course are actually pretty effective; they're not cheap but most people consider the money well spent