Build A Solo Practice leads us to Small Business Trends, which has such great ‘secrets’ as:

Seth Godin, SethGodin.com – “Make promises and keep them. So obvious, it’s become a secret.”

Scott Shane, Author of “Illusions of Entrepreneurship” – “The data show that most entrepreneurs compete on price, but doing this leads companies to perform worse. New companies are better off competing on service, quality or some other dimension.”

Michael Port, Author of “Book Yourself Solid” – “All sales start with a simple conversation. It may be a conversation between you and a potential client or customer, between one of your clients and a potential referral, or between one of your colleagues and a potential referral. An effective sales cycle is based on turning these simple conversations into relationships of trust with your potential clients over time. We know that people buy from those they like and trust. But as Sir Winston Churchill once said, ‘It is a mistake to look too far ahead. Only one link in the chain of destiny can be handled at a time.’”

There’s a really interesting ‘secret’ by the editor of Search Engine Guide about using Flickr for marketing by way of its highly active community. The point there is worth generalizing: if you can find your way into an energetic community, the rewards can be tremendous, providing you with a continual stream of loyal, happy customers. Flickr’s only the beginning.