The toughest aspect of entrepreneurialism is marketing, which means creating need and attracting buyers to your ability to fill that need. (In organizational jobs, it’s about getting promoted, recommendations accepted, attractive job assignments, and so forth.)
In my global coaching practice, one of the most common refrains about not being able to close business is that the buyer “has the attention span of a gnat.” In fact, people generally talk about society today, or generations, or readers, or attendees, or members, or subscribers, as “not having the attentions span of a gnat.”
In the first place, there is no such thing as a “gnat.” The term is used generically for the order Diptera which includes a variety of families of small flies, both biting and non-biting. Some fly, some can’t. Most walk or jump.
But most importantly, the Diptera order has an average attention span of four seconds. The average adult today has an attention span of eight seconds. “Focused attention” can be up to 45 minutes, but is quickly lowered by distractions and “screen time.” Short attention spans are an evolutionary adaption to a proliferation of stimuli, interruptions, and information sources.
The problem for my coaching clients is not the client’s attention span, it’s their ability to command it with their value. I admit to walking out of a play, stopping my reading of an article, and quickly ending boring conversations by claiming my shoes are on fire or King Charles was on the other line. (I’ve fallen asleep during two Zoom coaching calls, one time disguising it, but one time falling out of my chair, off the screen, and onto the floor. This is why I’m always paid in advance.)
If you take control and provide value—in person, in writing, in video, on audio, on a stage—you will command the room, real or virtual. That means you have to create compelling need and the clarity that only you can fill it.
Oh, and by the way: If humans had the strength of a gnat we’d be able to lift a small car over our heads. So lay off the gnats.
2026 Zoom Workshops
January 6 Maximizing the coaching/advisory dynamic
February 3 Maximizing speaking spin-off business
March 3 Role-playing tough conversations
April 7 Maximizing workshop effectiveness spin-off
May 5 Maximizing current events potential
June 9 Role-playing tougher conversations
July 7 Maximizing low project labor practices
August 13 Maximizing panels—participant/moderator
September 8 Role-playing toughest conversations
October 6 Maximizing publishing potential
November 2 Maximizing lifestyle potential
December 8 Maximizing 2027 personally and professionally
All sessions are approximately 90 minutes beginning at 10:30 US eastern time. These sessions are $450 each, or the entire year for $5,000. Add three months of weekly 30-minute coaching for $2,500, a total of $7,500. (My cards are accepted for the full-year, and for the full-year and coaching options, not for individual sessions.) All sessions will include video recording, visual photos, and Zoom Companion summary.
Register before December 1 and receive a fourth month of weekly, 30-minute calls.
Register here: https://alanweiss.com/store/quick-pay/
The Fishbowl: In January I’ll be starting a year-long, monthly, “live” coaching session whereby one member of the group will be coached by me for 45 minutes on a current issue of theirs, we’ll deconstruct what happened, and then have 45 minutes of Q&A. This is a variation of the very popular “fishbowl” technique I ran a few years ago.
You may volunteer to be the person coached or simply watch. You needn’t attend every session and I will provide video to everyone afterwards along with written commentary. This should build your coaching prowess considerably.
This will be $500 for the year and I’m offering it to you, here, first, because I’ll obviously have limited participation. My offer to you is $400. (An hour of my “situational coaching” on my site is $2,500, so this is a hell of a deal if you choose to be coached or even just observe.)
You can register here: https://alanweiss.com/store/quick-pay/
I can only accept a few more and I’ll cut off registration on December 1, but if you wait and we’re filled, I can only put you on a waiting list.
AI: Alan Intelligence
My unique AI resource which will direct you to the relevant aspects of my entire body of work to answer your “real time” questions about proposals, value based fees, conceptual agreement, avoiding “ghosting,” and thousands of other issues with text, audio, and video resources, all of which you can download. Please go here to gain lifelong, constantly growing access to my work, including referral to specific pages in my books which you can access online: https://alanweiss.com/ai-alan-intelligence/ If you decide at any time to engage in one of my two elite, personal coaching relationships, I'll deduct the full fee you've paid for this resource.
Million Dollar Consulting® for the World: I’ve provided 14 modules with videos from me, from your colleagues globally, slides, and text. They include everything from launch to self-esteem, proposals to fees, closing business to creating a brand. No upsells! It’s only $115. What do you think about a 10,000:1 ROI? We have over 500 people from 47 countries. https://milliondollarconsultingcourse.com
Million Dollar Consulting® for the World ADVANCED: The new program contains over 60 videos and has 15 modules focusing on what to do in the buyer’s office, overcoming crises, financial planning, and much, much more. https://alanweiss.com/growth-experiences/advanced-global-learning-program/
Million Dollar Consulting® for the World GRADUATE: Another 12 modules with videos by me and your peers on contemporary issues such as Raising Fees Aggressively, How to Be Consistently Interviewed, Maximizing Happiness, and Managing Multiple projects. Join the people from 57 countries who are availing themselves of this inexpensive way to dramatically grow their businesses in any economic times. How does 100:1 ROI sound? https://milliondollarconsultingcourse.com/graduate-learning-program/
London: For those of you who read down here, a special offer. I'm planning to be in London in late May offering a 1.5-day program based on my new book The Seven-Figure Consultant (which will be released in February and which I'll send for free to registrants at that time). The program is about the philosophy, leverage, and opportunity acquisition you need to make seven figures annually and sustain it. It is a brand new offering (it is not “Six Figures to Seven”). If you're interested: The fee will be $4,500, which includes a reception evening, a light breakfast and lunch. If you register in November the fee is $3,500. Write me at alan@summitconsulting.com or register here: https://alanweiss.com/store/quick-pay/ Read this far? It's May 18-19.