May, 2010 - Part 2

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Archive for May, 2010

It’s Your Thing

By Kim Sheehan | May 21, 2010

In my last blog post, I wrote about how using photographs of people and places in your online work can help generate word of mouth and engagement with your brand.

The final category of photographs is the category of ‘things’, which basically can encompass the items that your business sells. “Things” can be a little tricky, particularly in the food area. While many restaurants may be eager to photograph entrees, food is notoriously difficult to photograph, and it is possible that the food will end up looking inedible or unappetizing.

Not the image you want for your business! For food establishments, it may be better to stick with photos of either drinks or desserts, both of which tend to be more appealing in a photograph. Read More »

Change the Rules of the Game

By Jeffrey Mayer | May 20, 2010

RFPs. Requests For Proposals. What do you do when you get them?

* Get all excited because you think you’ve got a hot prospect?
* Start thinking of all the ways you can spend that big commission check?
* Figure this BIG sale will make your year, help you beat your quota and keep your boss happy?

If you picked any of the above answers, you picked the wrong answer. Read More »

15 Top Post Card Direct Mail Offers

By Jeffrey Dobkin | May 19, 2010

Post cards are excellent direct marketing vehicles. Because of their short format, they’re not great at closing sales, but they’re awesome at flushing out people who are interested, generating inquiries and making your phone ring with very warm prospects.

This is the fourth article in the series on increasing response by Jeffrey Dobkin on creating effective post cards. The first article set the goals and objectives of your post card marketing campaign. The second and third articles examined how to write and design post cards that draw maximum response and make your phone ring. Here are 15 offers you can make to get your phone to ring. Read More »

Do You Speak Your Customer’s Language?

By Rick Braddy | May 18, 2010

Product language is what we have traditionally used to describe our products to the market. It includes broad claims, comprehensive features and benefits and detailed product and technical specifications. In the marketing departments of larger corporations, this information is often organized into what’s termed a “marketing source document”. The language used is, more often than not, vendor-centric – not buyer-centric.

Unfortunately, too much corporate product language today is also often full of marketing “gobbledygook”, techno-speak and other undecipherable terminology that only the company creating it can make any sense of. Read More »

Which Are You – A Starter or a Finisher?

By Charlie Cook | May 17, 2010

I’m going to tell you a secret, so do me a favor and don’t tell anyone.

I’m not perfect, yet. I have a fatal flaw that could have sabotaged the success of my business. Of the hundreds of clients I’ve coached over the years, many have been held back by the same flaw.

It’s also the thing that derailed my gardening career. My wife and I bought our first house in Old Greenwich 25 years ago and had a back yard for the first time. I thought it’d be fun to take a 15 square foot section and see how many vegetables I could grow during a season. Read More »

The Road(s) to Success

By Michael Katz | May 16, 2010

I attended an evening business event last week, primarily because one of the featured speakers was my friend and fellow consultant, Steve. (Not his real name. His real name is Nick Miller, but I’m calling him Steve to protect his anonymity.)

Anyway, I went to see “Steve,” and as always, he was impressive. I’ve seen him speak several times over the last few years, and every time I do, I walk out of the room newly energized and eager to jump back into my own work. Read More »

How to Hire the Best People

By Tom Borg | May 15, 2010

A business owner puts an ad in the local paper for some additional help. After interviewing several applicants, she hires a young man, who appears on the surface, to be well groomed and able to do the job.

A few weeks later she starts receiving complaints from some of the other workers and the customers that this new employee is not very friendly, doesn’t smile much, and alienates the people with whom he comes into contact. Eventually, this employee is terminated and the owner realizes she wasted a substantial amount of money and time in hiring and training the wrong person. Read More »

Tips for Formatting Your Ads So They Pull In More Leads & Sales

By Mike Jezek | May 15, 2010

How your ads, sales letters and landing pages look matter. In fact, despite how well written and thought out your copy may be, if it looks too hard to read, then no one will read it. The result? No sales or leads are generated and then the marketing piece is deemed a failure. Don’t let that happen to you. Here are a few tips for making your copywriting more compelling.

First, for print ads, especially half page or full-page print ads, you want your ad to look more like an article. Use the same font and formatting style. It’s been said, by doing this, it can boost your response by 500%. Read More »

Can Your Purse Make You Sick?

By Joan Stewart | May 14, 2010

When I discovered a big splotch of dried chocolate ice cream on the bottom of my Coach purse last week, I was mortified.

How long has THAT been there, I wondered. And how many people have seen it and said nothing?

The next day, I read the first item in Marilee Tolen’s ezine, titled “Can Your Purse Make You Sick?” And suddenly the dried ice cream didn’t seem that bad.

Marilee calls herself “The Home Spa Lady” and teaches you how to turn your bedroom, bath and kitchen into a spa. Her ezine referred to an article she had read that discusses the germs, bacteria and other nasties that attach themselves to the bottoms of women’s purses– and sometimes end up on our kitchen tables, where many of us routinely routinely drop them. Read More »

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