Growing Your Business - With Marketing & Sales

There are no "secrets" per se to writing online press releases that grab attention -- it's all about following a step-by-step strategy. It's a matter of identifying the different piece of a press release and then knowing how to most effectively execute each part.

In many ways, a press release is similar to your car. There are several parts under the hood, and each must do its job effectively to propel your vehicle forward. The same is true with press release marketing. Your headline, summary, press release body, and call to action must each perform well to attract journalists, bloggers, customers, and the search engine spiders. With this in mind, we'll share 6 strategies for writing successful press releases below.

#1 - Write An Enticing Title

Your title has two main jobs. First, it should improve the ranking ability of your press release in Google and the other major search engines. This is done by placing your primary keyword in the title, preferably as close to the beginning as possible.

The title's second job is pull the reader into your press release. It should encourage her to read more about your company and products.

Be brief. Be direct. Resist the temptation to be too clever at the cost of being ambiguous.

#2 - Create A Summary That Leads The Reader

Don't underestimate the influence of your summary. It functions like the onramp to a freeway. If it is written well, it will help your reader to gain momentum into the body of your press release.

Provide the most salient points of your news angle. Give the reader the key details of your story, your company's role, and the reason the story is relevant. Your summary should continue the excitement created by your title.

#3 - Frontload The Body

One of the key writing tactics newspaper journalists learn early in their careers is to frontload their pieces. Rather than saving their best material for the end of their stories, they include it in the beginning. They realize readers' attention is fleeting. It's better to capture it upfront and keep it than to lose it and spend the rest of the piece hoping to regain it.

Even if your title and summary are perfect, you can still lose readers in the first paragraph of your press release's body. Make the beginning strong by storing the "good stuff" upfront.

#4 - Edit And Condense

Editing makes your press releases easier to read. It removes the unnecessary details, sharpening your PRs and improving their clarity.

Few business owners can create a tightly written press release on their first attempt. The first draft may pour out easily, but contain bulky passages, semi-relevant quotes, and clunky phrasing. Editing shortens the piece and cleans it up, making it more appealing to journalists and bloggers.

#5 - Sell Your Company In The "About" Section

Consider the person who reads your press releases. If he or she is a journalist, there's a good chance they read (or skim) several a day. If that's the case, the content may begin to blur - similar to smelling a dozen perfumes, one after the other, during a single shopping visit.

Your PR's "About" section is where you can stand apart from other businesses. Explain what your company sells and the unique position you occupy in your niche. Mention rewards or recognition you've received in the past. While you want to avoid sounding like a used car salesman, you do want to be clear about what your company does, and the brand you represent.

#6 - Focus On Facts, Not Hype

We mentioned earlier that many of the tactics used in other marketing efforts can be used successfully in your press releases. The principles are similar. This does not mean you should write your PRs in the same way you would write a sales letter. Both carry completely different tones.

Avoid hype, and rely on accurate information. Use comparisons to drive points home in new ways for your reader. For example, suppose you wanted to focus on the incidence rate of vehicular deaths in the U.S. Rather than saying 45,000 people die each year in automobile accidents, reword the statistic by comparing the number to a plane full of people dying each day.

Again, there are no secrets to writing engaging press releases. Focus on the individual parts of your PRs, and make each one as effective as possible.

About the Author:
Online PR Media is the press release distribution site that supercharges traditional media press releases with multimedia, social media, and SEO. Claim your free copy of "The Results-Driven Press Release Formula" written by SEO copywriting experts and learn how to write press releases that generate publicity and visibility.

Article Source: ArticlesBase.com

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4 Keys to Using Trade Shows In Your Marketing Mix

By Ely Delaney

Trade Shows are a great way to capture leads for your business. Remember that getting the lead is the most important part of any marketing plan. You are building a list of hot prospects that are interested in your product. The best kind of lead out there.

1. Don't sit behind the booth!

This is one of the biggest mistakes I see people at trade shows do. You spent a lot of money to be there. Don't waste it by sitting behind your booth like a bump on a log. Stand in front of your booth and be interactive with the people walking by. Catch their attention. Talk to them and invite them over to look at your materials. Answer questions related to your products. Don't just let them look and walk away.

Ask people that do come up to your booth if they have any questions. Ask them if they are familiar with your services or products. Engage the audience. Think about the carnies at the fair midway. You are similar to them. You don't get paid if people don't play. Now you don't have to as annoying or pushy as them but you do need to stand out and engage people so they don't just walk past your booth without talking to you. They may not even know they need your product but after you talk to them they might see a whole new light and really be interested in talking more. Guess what... That's a lead!

2. Get their name and phone number!

So what are you really at the trade show for? To get leads. If anyone tells you trade shows are just great name awareness, walk away and try not to laugh at them. Yes, that is one reason to be there but it's not the main reason. Just because they saw your booth, doesn't mean they will remember you once they've gone through two more rows of booths. You need to collect their information. If it's a Business to Business trade show, collect business cards from everyone you meet. If it's Business to consumer, have a simple form to fill out so you can follow up with them after the show.

One of the best things you can do it have a Free Report or Consumer Awareness Guide that you can mail or email to them after the show. Offer to send it to them the next day if they give you their name, email address and physical address. Now you are building your list. You now have someone specific to market to!

Offer a free giveaway item. Everyone has seen the fishbowl drawings at trade show booths. They don't do this just to get you to stop by their booth. They do it because you now have given them your contact information so they can follow up and market to you in the future. You should be doing the same. It doesn't have to be something big like a free vacation if that's not in your budget. It can be for a gift basket of your products or even as simple as a gift card to your local coffee shop. People always like the opportunity to get something for free. They will go out of their way and fill out your registration form in order to get something for free!

3. Stay to the end

It always amazes me how many vendors at trade shows stay for an hour or so and then pack up because they're bored or tired. Guess what! You paid to be there. Stick it out to the end. I've personally made more connections in the last 30 minutes of trade shows I've attended than in the entire three or four hours I've been there. This is especially important if you are in a Business to Business trade show. You can make more connections with the other vendors than the walk through traffic so don't discard the value of visiting the other vendors there also. It might be the best connection you make. You will never know if you leave after the first hour.

4. Follow up after the show

So many people I see at trade shows collect business cards or names on a list and never do anything with them. They expect that just because someone saw them at the trade show that they will call the vendor to buy something. It's your responsibility to follow up and get the sale. Not their's. This is your chance to make a great impression on them and follow up as soon as you can to set up a meeting, send them more information about you or just to ask them if they are ready to buy. Offer them a free estimate.

You just need to follow up as soon as you can and keep them in your database for future promotions.

This is how you can build a list quickly and use trade shows to build your list of prospects quickly and get the most out of any trade show you are part of.

About the Author:

I would like to invite you to claim your FREE Quickstart Guide "Step By Step: Writing Ads That Actually Work!" when you subscribe at http://www.MaximumProfitsBook.com to learn more about the book Maximum Profits Marketing.

Article Source: Upublish.info

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B2B Telemarketing: An Effective Tool For Increasing Revenue

By Belinda Summers

Several businesses are using telemarketing services to increase profitability and save on costs. This is because sales lead telemarketing saves effort, time and money for businesses as well as their customers.

Among the marketing tools available today, the telephone is one of the most accessible and inexpensive means to contact prospects and customers. Over a hundred prospects can be contacted each day at an affordable cost from a business' premises or an outside location. Other marketing methods such as direct mail can be very expensive and time consuming, and it can even be more expensive meeting the prospect or customer in person.

Using the phone can not only save time, but cost per sale is also reduced considerably. Furthermore, while companies are saving time with this method, customers do too. A person, no matter how busy he/she is, can always spend a few minutes on a phone call compared to discussing a product or service face-to-face.

If a company is trying to market any type of service or product, business-to-business Telemarketing can be a smart option. But what about products or services that require face-to-face meetings in order to be demonstrated better? The telephone is also a great instrument in pre-qualifying prospects and setting appointments with them.

Telemarketing enables businesses to increase revenue, and should be a key element in a n organization's overall marketing efforts and sales activities. Cold-calling is a great business-to-business marketing strategy. It takes just a short time to have a list of targeted prospects, call them and inform them about the benefits of the offer.

Used methodically, the telephone is a great tool to identify or qualify a prospect. There are three things to consider when qualifying a prospect. Budget, buying authority and the need for a product or service. If these things are present in a prospecting call, a telemarketer can steer the conversation towards the benefits of having the service or product. In many instances, no matter how skillfully telemarketing is conducted, if the service or product offers no value to the prospect, a sale or an appointment cannot be produced.

Business to business telemarketing can be an intimidating task especially if companies expect customers or prospects to be receptive all the time. It is important to understand that most people today are very suspicious about telemarketing calls. In order to take the edge off the cold-calling task, telemarketers should accept the fact that not all prospects they contact will buy or have the authority to do so. It is also vital to consider timing and other factors that can affect the buying process. If prospects say they are not ready to buy, telemarketers must follow up with them after a couple of months or so just to make sure that the leads are not wasted.

Business to business telemarketing has been proven effective in generating leads and increasing sales. Companies considering this method of marketing should plan accordingly and set realistic expectations in order to reduce risk and achieve success.

About the Author:

Belinda Summers works as a professional consultant. She helps businesses increase their revenue by lead generation and appointment setting services through Telemarketing. To know more about this visit: http://www.callboxinc.com/

Article Source: ArticleRich.com

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Business Cards as an Advertising Tool

By Marc Levack

Today’s business environment is ever changing. The way we advertise, the way we network even the way we communicate updates at a daily pace. What remains the same within this growing environment is the importance and effectiveness of meeting face-to-face and building relationships. The best and most common tool to facilitate this interaction remains to be a company’s business card. This article describes the business card’s significance in our developing advertising, networking and marketing environment.

The present business advertising scenarios offer the latest marketing and promotional techniques that playa vital role in the development of businesses. Today, business advertising is changing its shape and going beyond common practice from years past. What continues to remain the same is the importance and impacts of business cards. They are the face of any business and portray brand image for market visibility.

Business cards portray products, service and brand image of a business; therefore making it important to be sure the card grabs the attention of the recipient. Nowadays, there are countless options of creative business cards in the market that can help to define and represent products and services effectively. Having the business card that stands out as clear and unique is often the goal for any business professional.

Every business that is engaged in offering products or services should know the significance of creative and unique business card designs and finishes. They play a role in everything from networking, manufacturing, supply, distribution and selling process. Having creative and attractive business cards can effectively advertise and make a difference between being tossed aside and closing a deal.

No matter how quickly our business environment changes the importance of business cards in marketing, advertising and sales for a company remains the same. Creating strong, memorable business cards with unique features therefore plays an important role in retaining consumer’s attention long after the initial interaction.

About the Author:

The Author is associated with UV Cards. UV Cards offers high quality and unique business cards, brochures, door hangers, envelopes, greeting cards, letterhead, magnets, notepads, plastic cards, postcards, posters, presentation folders, stickers, sell sheets, table tents, vinyl banners, etc at competitive prices.

Article Source: ArticleRich.com

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Mastering The Art Of Press Release Marketing

by CACL

Press release marketing is a great way to get the word out about your products and services. Writing a press release, and using it to market your business, is a little varying from article marketing. In this article let's talk about a few things you can do to master the art of press release marketing.

1. One error many Internet marketers make with press releases is they do not offer influential content. The best time to utilize a press release is when you have something of value to offer in the form of communication about your business.

This could contain things such as a new product, a joint venture, something note worthy your business has accomplished, and so on. As long as you have something to offer that is influential, and pertinent, then a press release is a great way to market it.

2. Offer complete information on the facts you are announcing. Your press release should answer all questions that your reader has utilizing the, who, what, why, when, and how, questions as barometers to formulate it from.

3. As in article marketing and email marketing titles are very noteworthy. Unless your press release is read it really will not do your business any good. Therefore, you want to offer information that is intriguing, keyword rich, and gets your point across.

4. Write your press release so it is simple to read. You want your message to be simple, yet complete, and offer as much information in as few of effectual sentences as possible. You do this by writing simple and short content concentrating on facts and not on fancy text. You may want to read this part again!

5. Be sure to leave your contact information in your press release so people can get a hold of you should they want more information.

6. Once you have a press release ready to market it is now time to dispense it. You want to make sure that you release it to as many publishing sites online as you possibly can. If your information is time sensitive it will be crucial you do this promptly, and you may want to utilize a press release service to assist you get it out to the public.

This is six tips to assist you master the art of press release marketing. This is one form of Internet marketing that many businesses do not take advantage of. A properly timed, and well written press release, can have a massive impact on your business and it is worth mastering this form of online marketing.

About the Author:

Cherie Ang is the owner and webmaster of http://www.sgprofitsite.com, the site for simple work from home opportunity. Let see what opportunities are offered here: http://www.sgprofitsite.com/pips.html

Get 6 FREE Home Business Ebooks Worth Over $100: http://www.sgprofitsite.com/newsletter-signup.html

Article Source: ArticleRich.com

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Outsource Your Lead Generation Services for IT Leads

By Phillip Mckenzie

IT leads are usually more difficult to convince when it comes to qualifying them. These

leads are more specific when it comes to what they want and what they need. Hence, it is

very important to do ample research first before even thinking about contacting these leads,

let alone trying to qualify them. However, if you are still new to IT lead generation, it is

better to outsource the service instead, preferably to a telemarketing company.

One of the reasons why gathering leads for the IT industry is so complex is because they do

not want anything that have some sort of chance that would endanger the business in any way.

If a product or a service would still have flaws then they would immediately feel very skeptical about a company's wares.

When you outsource your IT lead generation services, you are already hiring the services of

skilled professionals who have been thoroughly trained to convince these leads into forming

quality business transactions with your company. These professional telemarketers already

have a vast amount of experience at their disposal so they would know the right words to say

when they sell your product or service towards other businesses.

There are a lot of other benefits that you can get once you outsource your IT lead generation services. Here are some of those benefits that would provide your business with a lot of good results.

1. Gain immediate expertise

As we have already known, once you outsource your lead generation services you would gain

the aid of highly skilled professionals. These representatives would be thoroughly trained

in the IT industry as well as in the arts of convincing your prospects to make a business

deal with your firm.

2. Add additional resources to your company instead of using it all up

If a business would generate leads on their own then that would mean that they would have to

spend a lot, if not most of their resources to keep the campaign alive. Therefore when you

outsource the services towards a lead generation company you would directly add up to your

business' resources.

3. Gain more time in a day

You cannot gain more time in a day in a literal point of view. Let's take a look at an example as to how you can achieve this. If you have your own two man team of sales representatives to bring in leads for your business and each of them would have eight working hours in a day, then you would have sixteen working days in a day to find and qualify leads for your business. Now, imagine if you outsource to a whole team of representatives and each of them would have an extra eight hours of work in a day then you would increase your total working hours in a day to get more leads.

4. They would handle their own employee turn-over and staff training

It does not mean that if you hire the services of another company that you would also take

care of their employees; they can do that for you. This would save you a lot of money and

time when it comes to searching for more employees and training them.

5. Concentrate more on closing sales

If in case that you do not have a team of IT lead generation experts in your own company, then when you outsource the service you would only need to concentrate on closing the sales rather than spending more time in searching for these leads.

About the Author:

Phillip Mckenzie is a successful lead generation and appointment setting consultant specializing in IT Telemarketing. To know more about IT Telemarketing, Phillip recommends you to visit http://www.it-sales-leads.com

Article Source: ArticleRich.com

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How To Write A Marketing Plan In Just One Day

By: Jason Fadien

Do you have your marketing plan ready yet?

If not, you are not alone. The majority of business owners don't even know how to put one together.

To say this is not the ideal, is an understatement - because a marketing plan could determine the success or failure of your business.

As a matter of fact, statistically, business owners who have a marketing plan are 80% more successful than those without one.

If you would like to learn how to put a marketing plan together in one day, I have provided some tips of the most important parts of a marketing plan - that can easily be put together in one sitting.

Will it be equivalent to a having a 40 page marketing plan, and doing extensive market research? No. But it will give you an edge that will result in much more money in your pocket.

1. Evaluate last years results. First of all, you need to see what worked and what did not work last year. Only then can you make the best marketing decisions for the year to come.

The key is to calculate your return on investment (ROI) for each marketing effort you made. It is

as simple as dividing how much money you made by what you spent.

2. Dump your losers, scale your winners. Whatever did really well - take to the next level. Whatever did not do well - get rid of fast or fix it fast.

And take all the resources from your losers and put it toward your winners.

3. Pick 5 - 10 marketing tools you will use - and stick with it. Decided on what marketing methods (referrals, ads, online, etc.) will work for you and what you can afford. Pour all your attention and resources into it.

The key is to stay focused on fulfilling your plan - and not letting yourself get distracted by the new marketing "fads" that come out.

4. Make goals and action steps to reach those goals. Set your lead and sales goals - and aim to reach those goals every month.

Make goals for each marketing method you will use so that they add up to the total amount of leads and sales you need monthly.

Set up action steps for each method that will lead you to reaching your goals.

For example, if you have a goal of getting 10 new referrals a month - the action step would be "Ask 30-50 customers for referrals this month."

Then do everything that it takes to accomplish your action steps.

5. Track and evaluate a lot. Have a system for tracking where your leads and customers are coming from.

This is by far the most important key of effective marketing - because it will tell you if what you are doing is successful or not.

Evaluate what is going well, and what is not going well on a weekly and monthly basis- so that you can make quick changes where needed.

Now, all of the steps above will give you a marketing plan that will provide you a whole lot more customers.

Yet having a marketing plan is not enough. The key to your success lies in taking action and putting your plan to practice. Therefore the last tip is:

6. Write down 2-3 action steps that you can do every week.

Make sure that you are using the marketing plan as a guide - to not only help you stay focused, but also to tell you week by week what you need to be doing.

As you complete your weekly "To Dos" you will see more and more results - as time goes on.

In conclusion, successful business owners have a plan. Unsuccessful people, just stand by and watch the successful people prosper.

Its time that you sit down one day to write your marketing plan - and by doing so you will write your success story as well.

About the Author:
By the way, do you want to learn more about creating a money making marketing plan? If so, download my new guide "The Ultimate Marketing Plan Developer here: http://eepurl.com/JBG5 . William Pena is the founder of a small business consulting company specializing in helping small businesses to get more customers, close more sales and make more money in as little as 30 days.

Article Source: ArticlesBase.com

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Shoestring Marketing for Small and Startup Businesses

By Steve Perkins

With the tough economy, a lot of people are encouraged to go into business thinking that life would be much easier when they are their own boss only to find out in the end that they are living in a nightmare. With a limited budget, they can’t get their business known to their target customers much less get customers at their doors. If you are among these people who braved the business industry and opened your own small business, there’s no time to turn back. What you can simply do is find the best way to grow your business without breaking the bank.

For a struggling business like you, business cards are a must. Although some people think that business card printing is obsolete, they still very much used in the business industry today. Of course, with everyone else creating their own cards, it is important that you make your cards unique and stand out. They should contain your complete contact details and your logo. Make sure that the information you place in your cards are correct and updated; otherwise, people will have a hard time contacting you.

No matter how many cards you have printed, make sure to hand them out. Don’t keep them in a box and let it gather dust in the corner. You need people to know about you and your business, so better get those cards distributed now. You can give two or three cards to each person you meet. Ask them to give out the extra card to someone they know who might need your products or services. It would help to set a goal on how many cards you send each day. This will ensure that you get your cards in the hands of your prospects.

You can also create post cards and send them to your customers. What’s great with these cards is that only your customers will know about your latest offerings and leave your competitions in the dust. It doesn’t really cost a lot to produce post cards. You just have to make sure that your message is clear, complete, and compelling so people will be encourage to take action at once.

Flyers are also a good option. You can leave them on bulletin boards or pass them out on the street. This is actually among the easiest and most affordable marketing materials that you can ever use in your business.

Of course, the Internet is a good option. You can do email marketing or promote through social networking sites such as Facebook. With a lot of people using the Internet these days, this is the best medium to let techie people know about your business. You can also create your own web site to help people learn more about you and your business.

These are just some of the inexpensive means of marketing on a frugal budget. If you use your imagination and creativity, your inexpensive materials will surely look lavish and compelling. Just be sure to create samples of your materials first such as post card or business card samples to ensure that your materials look as catchy and impressive as possible. Use every resource and skill you have and you will surely get your business running successfully.

About the Author:

Steve J. Perkins is a specialist of printing and is also a graphic designer. He is dedicated in the printing industry and continues to support the developments in the field of marketing. For comments and inquiries about the article visit: Business Card Printing and Business Card Samples.

Article Source: ArticleRich.com

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Independent Computer Consultant - How to Sell Clients on Managed Services

By Robert Peretson

To be a successful Independent Computer Consultant in today's economy, you need to be giving your small business clients more of what they want, which is:

- Greater reliability from their systems

- Higher productivity

- Faster response when they have a problem

- Minimal unexpected downtime

- Predictable and affordable support costs

If you're in the habit of charging hourly rates to support your customers, you probably know by now that it's a very inefficient way to meet the above needs, and a very difficult way for you to be generating a reliable, steady income.

The best way to ensure that you give your small business client everything they want, and maximize your own profitability at the same time is through offering a Managed Service Plan at a flat, monthly rate. Your plan should include round the clock system monitoring and remote computer support, both which can be provided through very low cost or even free support utilities.

With system monitoring, you can get instantly alerted 24x7 via email or SMS when potential problems arise, such as:

- Failed backups

- Failed AntiVirus updates

- Hard Disks running low on space

- Windows System Service failures

- Overutilization of system processes

- Firewall hack attempts or multiple unauthorized login attempts

- Event Log errors or alerts

- and more...

By monitoring for these types of events, you'll be able to catch potential problems early, or prevent them all together and therefore better satisfy all of the needs that your customers have. And because you provide these services for a flat-monthly fee, you'll be able to create a stable income that you can rely on month after month.

But when so many small businesses have become completely accustomed to paying hourly rates to have their computer consultant come running whenever a problem arises, how do you convince them to switch to your Managed Service model, which on the surface might appear to cost more than they're currently paying.

It's easy enough to show a business owner that just one major issue over the course of a year can easily wipe out any savings they thought they were getting by paying low, hourly rates. A single hard drive crash (which might have been caught early and prevented through monitoring) and discovering that the backup hasn't worked in days (again, could have been caught early), can cost a small business customer very substantial fees to repair, on top of potentially devastating financial and productivity losses due to lost and unrecoverable data.

A single incident like this can easily cost far more than a full year of your low cost, managed services.

But the reality is, unless a problem is actually occurring now, or unless one had occurred recently and is still fresh in the customer's memory, then they might have a hard time accepting that a truly serious problem is very likely to occur in their future unless they take steps to prevent it.

So how do you convince them to move to your managed service?

You offer them a free 30-day trial to your monitoring service! "Let's see just how healthy your network really is."

Very simply, offer to install your monitoring software on their server for 30 days. There are several very inexpensive monitoring applications available to you that will take up very little server processing overhead and provide you with many great options, such as a web-based monitoring dashboard that can easily identify at a glance any problems on the system.

Give your potential customer full access to their dashboard so they can see for themselves on a daily basis where their problems might be. I can assure you that unless a qualified computer consultant maintains the system regularly (which almost never occurs on the hourly-support model), that the monitoring dashboard will identify multiple problems that require attention, and should continue to identify new problems throughout the course of the month.

By providing this simple proof that their network is not nearly as healthy as they might have hoped or expected is generally evidence enough that regular monitoring is a necessary and valuable support option.

Once your 30-day trial completes, you will not find a better opportunity to continue maintaining this business as a new Managed Service customer for your computer consulting business. It's at this point that your prospective customer is primed and ready for you to reel them in and turn them into one of your loyal, long-term satisfied customers.

To ensure that you make the most of this opportunity, you're going to want to use proven, tried and true sales techniques that can essentially guarantee that the sale is made... IF presented properly. To learn these techniques, and to obtain proven marketing materials to help you make the sale, visit the author's website.

About the Author:

Robert Peretson invites you to discover the massive rewards that await you when you start your own highly successful computer consulting business. Give yourself the ultimate advantage by arming yourself with the exact same tools, materials and personalized training that have helped hundreds of Independent Computer Consultants to fire their bosses and create a life of personal and financial freedom. Get FREE instant access to 9 of our most powerful training videos... and for a very limited time, receive a massively effective Sales Prospecting Letter written by one of the industry's top copywriters, valued at $597... just for visiting http://SuccessfulComputerConsulting.com .

Article Source: EzineArticles.com

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Enhance Your Company's Reputation Using Corporate Gifts

By Michael Rey

The value in offering gifts gives a good feeling for both the receiver and the giver. Gifts play an important role in businesses. Corporate gifts are those given by businesses for asserting the relationship and improving the contact between the receiver and the provider. Often, these formal gifts are given for firms, clients, and employees for promoting healthy relationships.

Necessity of giving corporate gifts

It is essential for an organization to enhance the business by promoting its products and services. In order to ensure this, a good relationship has to be maintained with the clients as well as employees. The relation is promoted by offering corporate gifts for the employees, and existing and prospective clients. The gifts are presented as an indication of an honest deal of gratitude and appreciation. They enhance the image, goodwill and brand awareness of a business which reach a large number of people.

To whom are corporate gifts given?

Corporate gifts can be given to clients and employees under different situations. They are presented to clients as a show of appreciation or as a symbol of a part of marketing strategy of the company. The business partners of the company are given with the gifts to give a value that they are the hard core for the business. A long-term relationship with clients can be enhanced by this custom of giving corporate gifts.

Employees of a company are given corporate gifts as a token of appreciation of their hard work. They feel really happy for recognition of their work and try to perform much better. The companies provide a feeling that they are an integral part of the organization.

Corporate gifts are given to employees during their promotion and retirement. Promotional gifts of various types are offered as a mark of appreciation. The formal gifts are also offered to retiring employees as an expression of thanks for their help and involvement throughout the service period in the organization. The most important benefit of giving corporate gifts for employees is that it improves the overall environment of the office. It also enhances the morale of the employees. This promotes a healthier atmosphere which boosts the business activities through much efficiency.

Different items that can be given as corporate gifts

Based on the situation or person to whom the gift is given, you can select a specific type of item. Some of the common items which are given to employees and clients by an organization are listed here.

Corporate gift baskets are given for providing a lasting impression on the clients or employees.

Desktop accessories including the company logo are the most common business gifts. Notepads, pen-stands, and business card holders can be given.

You can provide designer and fashionable time-pieces.

It is better to give useful items like leather bags, quilts or blankets for employees in festival seasons.

The most ideal gifts given for employees are mementos including trophies and awards. The valuable contribution of employees to the organization can be felt by these corporate gifts.

Companies can offer signature pens for employees and clients which help in representation of the brand name of the company.

Laptops and note books having a logo of the company can be given to the clients.

When outstanding performance of an employee is recognized, the organization can offer bonuses in the form of gift cheques.

These days, business organizations prefer to offer computer related applications such as screen savers and wallpapers to their clients. These are one of the best ways for promoting the company.

Some companies offer useful software.

The popular gifts given these days are eCalendars which can be loaded on computer desktops.

In addition, T-shirts, telephone diaries, coffee mugs, pens and crystal products printed or engraved with brand of the company are given for employees.

Choosing corporate gifts for clients is a very important task. One can take the help of the personal assistant of a client to know his or her interests and hobbies. This can provide an idea for giving a gift. Offering corporate gifts is a great technique for reaching the hearts of employees as well as clients.

About the Author:

Big-topics.com cover important topics on several categories including home, recreation, health, and business. It focuses on providing unbiased and functional information on significant topics to understand things easily and quickly.

Article Source: uPublish.info

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You need a marketing plan - period!

By Jody Gabourie

No matter what your profession or business, you need a marketing plan! A marketing plan makes your marketing more effective which means your business is more successful.

Most small business owners do not have marketing plans. This means that their marketing tends to be inconsistent, ineffective and inefficient.

Below are all the good reasons you need to have a marketing plan. As you read these reasons, you'll probably think to yourself, "I know this, this is common sense" or "I've heard this before". And you're right, but I would like you to REALLY see yourself and your business enjoying these benefits and reaping these rewards of having a marketing plan - and implementing it.

- easy for you take action

A marketing plan makes it easier to do your marketing because it helps you market consistently. Anything we do on a regular basis becomes much simpler and faster to do. You also get into action because a plan will break your marketing tasks down into smaller steps or chunks. You feel less overwhelmed about tackling each task and therefore, can reduce your procrastination too!

- save you time and money

Taking the time to sit down and create a marketing plan will save you time and money in the long run. That's because you don't have to waste time scrambling around every time you try a new marketing activity - your marketing plan lays out the steps you need to take.

A plan also helps you be more focused which means you work smarter and faster. Being focused also means that you don't get distracted and waste time and money on tactics that seem like a good opportunity but don't really fit your marketing goals outlined in your marketing plan.

- help you keep customers

Because your plan keeps you focused and saves time, you don't have to sacrifice client relationships due to inability to make time to follow-up with customers or create new products and services that would appeal to your clients.

- bring in more prospects and clients

Having a marketing plan ensures that you constantly are attracting new leads and clients, because you're actually marketing your business! There is no way around it - marketing is how you grow your business.

- help you run a successful and profitable business

A marketing plan will give you time, money, freedom and focus - all necessary ingredients to a successful business. It will also save your sanity and reduce your stress - so you can enjoy your work and your business!

About the Author:

Jody Gabourie, The Small Business Marketing Coach, teaches small business owners and entrepreneurs how to take action with their marketing in order to get more results and more profits. To learn all about her unique "done-for-you" ebooks called Ready Made Marketing Plans™ and to sign up for her FREE special report, ezine and articles, visit her site at http://www.JodyGabourieMarketingCoach.com

Article Source: ArticleRich.com

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5 Tips To Increase Service Sales

By Leonard G. Buchholz

If you believe that price is the only reason that your Customers don't buy, then you need to adjust your thinking. It's this kind of thinking that gets the Service Advisor off track. If he or she starts believing that all of your prices are too high, the next thing you know, they can't sell.

In fact, if they start off most of their Additional Service Request calls with an apology followed by a discount, then you need to get them back on track as quick as possible! If this sounds like you or your Service Advisors, here are 5 Tips to Increase Service Sales.

1st, Consider Sales Training. Take out a sheet of paper. Write down the names of all of your Service Advisors. If you are the Service Advisor you can do this too. Now write down the date your Advisors last attended any Sales Training and the expected daily Sales Parts and Labor you expect your Advisors to achieve each day. If you are expecting a certain dollar amount in Sales and you cannot name the date that any of your Advisors completed Sales Training, then it has now become obvious to you that you need to schedule Training right away.

2nd, Ask yourself this question. "Have I made it a daily habit to measure performance?" If the answer is no, then in the next 5 Business Working Days, you need to decide what Key Performance Indicators are most important to you and the Success of your Dealerships Fixed Operations and start measuring them. Make sure that you announce to your staff what you are measuring and your expectations or standards. That way they won't be surprised.

3rd, Start holding daily accountability meetings. These are meeting to go over the previous days results and handle any pressing business that would prevent you or your Advisors from making Sales. Focus on what you can control, make them positive and make them timely. If you are terrible at holding good meetings, read Patrick Lencioni's "Death by Meeting" for starters.

4th, Monitor what you are expecting. In other words, if your Advisors are not doing well on the phone, start monitoring their phone calls. Get in the game! If they have difficulty selling in the service drive, get in the service drive with them and find out what's going on!

5th, Get a Plan. The old saying "Prior Planning Prevents Poor Performance" is just as true today as the day it was written. If you don't have a plan, you will end up spinning your wheels and spinning your Advisors. Once they see that you don't know where you are going, they will quit doing what they need to do to be successful and your Sales will stop as well.

Making more Service Sales starts with you deciding to do something about it. Follow these 5 tips and you will be on your way to Selling more Service!

About the Author:

Read more articles on Service Absorption and Profit Building at http://www.dealerproblog.com or check out the website at http://www.dealerprotraining.com. Need more Profit? Send an email to lbuchholz@dealerprotraining.com with "Evaluation" in the subject line.

Article Source: EzineArticles.com

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All About Trade Shows

By Edwina Trevino

Trade fairs sometimes require a lot of investment by the company. Costs to the company to have trade show booths include space rental, trade show displays design, set up, networking, travel, accommodations and literature to hand out to fair attendees. Types of trade shows include computer, agriculture, horses, food and beverages and consumer electronics.

When buying and designing a booth, there are some things to take into consideration such as if you need a floor model, pop-up display or tabletop model. There are several types of booths for you to choose from: Tabletop, pop-up display, panel style, modular style, custom island and custom style. The one you choose will depend on several factors such as the functioning, aesthetic, marketing needs and budget. Do you need shelves for video capacity or books? Does your booth require a pop-up display? Do the trade show displays need movement or backlit for illustration? Prices for trade show booths will vary greatly depending on the size and can run from $1,000 to a basic tabletop to $15,000 or more for a larger booth.

Now that you have an idea of the trade show displays you want, you need to make it happen. The first thing you want to do is check with booth vendors in your area. You don't want to be part of a trade show that is three states away. You should have local access to your office or showroom for easy access to additional products, supplies or parts. Ask the vendor for references from previous vendors and talk with them to see if they are happy with their booth and the service they received from the vendor. Or attend one in your local area to see how things are run and how many people show up.

The most grueling part of any trade show is the paperwork. There are tons of forms to fill out. The first thing you will need is an exhibitor application that can be obtained through the shows' management office. You will want to get an application as soon as possible because they are on a first-come first-serve basis. On the application you will choose your booth location. You will want to select a location where there is a good amount of traffic such as near the front of the building, near the food vendors or near the bathrooms.

Once you turn in the application, you will get an exhibitor packet. There is a lot of information in this packet so take the time to read everything carefully. There will also be more forms to fill out such as booth cleaning, advertising and promotion opportunities. There are deadlines with each of these forms so it is important to make note of them. There will also be paperwork about how many people will be staffed at your booth so decide how many and which sales reps you want to send.

Your staffers will need items when they are working your booth so be sure to send them with everything they need such as packing tape, scissors, first aid kit, extensions cords (several), light bulbs (several), business cards, paper, pens, pencils, stapler, highlighter and a camera. You may need additional items depending on your business and trade show displays. Be sure to have plenty of brochures and giveaway items on hand. These are things you don't want to run out of.

These handy tips on trade shows will help you make the best of your time and effort. Trade shows can increase clients for your business and help you develop great leads.

About the Author:

Find out more about trade show displays. Get more information on trade show booths and pop-up display.

Article Source: ArticleRich.com

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Marketing Your Computer Repair Business

By Nick Hatton

Like any business, you can't run a successful computer repair business without any customers. So just how do we go about that? Well there are a number of ways to Market any business, each method success can vary depending on your industry and location. We can break our marketing efforts down into two categories, online and offline.

Online marketing includes creating a website to develop an online presence and promoting the business using social networking sites. Offline marketing consists of printed promotional material and use the most powerful method of all - word of mouth.

Creating a website that delivers results

There is no point in having a website if it isn't getting any enquiries and potential customers either a) can't find the site or b) can't use the site. Therefore to create a successful website we must create a site that is user-friendly, and can be found by potential customers through search engines.

Most PC repair businesses have two target markets - home users and business customers and a PC repair website should be broken down into two clear sections accordingly. It is important to have a clean and uncluttered homepage which quickly tells the user exactly what you can offer them. Remember, users decide if they ate going to continue browsing a site within the first few seconds so be sure to make a good first impression.

It is important to have easy-to-find contact information on each page to allow the user to get in touch if they would like to speak to you about your services. Be sure to include your address, telephone number and email address. Too add to this, embed stylish contact forms on each page next to your service details to allow the user to quickly submit an enquiry relating to the service they are interested in. Your contact form should have fields for their name, number, email screws and a message.

Be sociable

Just about everyone who uses the Internet uses some sort of social media which makes them one of the most powerful marketing platforms available to your PC repair business. Most popular platforms are easily Facebook and twitter and businesses use both with significant success. Use Facebook to create a page for your business. Complete the page with details of all of your services and of course your contact information.

You should also signup to twitter, creating a username relevant to your business and try to include keywords in your username too. You can link your twitter account to your Facebook page so that any tweets you post on Twitter will automatically be posted onto your Facebook page. You can also embed your Twitter feed onto your website, as well as a badge for your Facebook page to allow website visitors to interact with your social profiles.

Print and Distribute Flyers

Online marketing has become the focus for most businesses nowadays, but that is not to say that tangible marketing efforts should not be neglected. Flyers are a great way together your message out there - especially small but eye-catching flyers such as a5 or a6 flyers. It may be suitable to have 2000-5000 flyers printed with home users in mind, then a smaller number done of a flyer aimed at business customers.

Consider the most likely place your target Market will reside. If you operate in the city centre you may want to consider distributing flyers into apartment complex where are usually home to young professionals who are likely to be good potential customers.

Network to Build Your Contacts

Networking events are a great way to meet potential business customers and meet potential affiliates who may be able to recommend you to potential customers or put you in touch with other people who may be able to help you. You will need to get yourself some business cards printed, be sure to take plenty with you. Be sure to include all of your contact information and you may wish to include a list of services on the back of your card.

About the Author:

Advice has been provided by Nicholas Hatton of L1 Computers, providing Liverpool PC repairs and Liverpool laptop repairs as well as providing IT support to local Liverpool businesses.

Article Source: GoArticles.com

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The Power and Influence of Press Release Marketing to Promote Your Brand

By: Julie Weishaar

What is a press release? It is the dissemination of information or the communication of something newsworthy to the press. At least that was the traditional definition of a press release. Today, we have the ability to reach a huge audience via the Internet. Would it be beneficial for a member of the press to help promote our product or service? There is no question that it would be. But while we wait for someone from CNN to knock on our door, we can create our own press and distribute it widely on the web for maximum brand exposure.

Has your company done anything “newsworthy” lately? Have you improved or added a product line to your business? Have you moved to larger more accessible headquarters? Have you added a noteworthy member to your staff? Are you just starting out and want to announce the launching of your brand and/or website?

If the answer to any of these questions is “yes,” then you are in a position to benefit from writing and distributing a press release.

It is now the year 2010 and surely everyone has heard of or knows – at least to some extent - what Search Engine Optimization (SEO) is and recognizes the value of driving traffic to your website. Increasing search engine rankings can be a very valuable marketing tool to a small business and press release marketing offers a cost-effective (how does free sound?) vehicle for such a marketing initiative. Below is a list of just a few of the free sites that accept and distribute press releases. PR Log and Online Pr News are two examples of free sites.

Marty Weintraub, President of aimClear (an Internet-focused advertising agency, based in Duluth, Minnesota) was recently interviewed by WebProNews. In his interview, he talks about the importance and power of the press and its relationship to SEO. He points out that PR and social media are about relationships thereby making them intertwined and how important it is to be in the places on the web where the press is and where information is being indexed. It would definitely be worth your while to check out Marty’s interview at Videos WebProNews.

For maximum SEO, tweet a link to your press release on one of the sites it appears on, post a link on the social networking sites you belong to, and be sure to post a link from your own website and blog. Your press release will also be picked up by others which will get you even more exposure.

You can write another press release when you have something additional of interest to report. Be careful not to write a press release about something mundane or of interest to only you and your family. Manage your reputation and earn your credibility online by controlling the content you choose to share.

The Internet opens up an enormous arena to help you promote your brand; take advantage of it and write a press release.

About the Author:

Julie Weishaar is a highly qualified marketing professional with 10+ years in marketing communications, branding, event planning, public relations and Internet marketing.

New Horizons 123
New Internet Horizons for Small Businesses

Article Source: ArticlesBase.com

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Small Businesses Turn Leads into Sales by Responding Quickly

by Doug Staneart

The key for a small business to turn leads into sales is speed. When people look for information, products, or solutions on the internet, they want instant gratification. If they have to wait for you to send back an email or wait for a phone call from you, you’ve probably already lost them. If they have to wait for you to send them something in the postal mail, you never had a shot anyway.

The first time that I realized just how critical this was, I had been in business for a few years, and my company was a preferred vendor for a training website. Every day, people would visit this website, and because it was so comprehensive, it was very difficult to navigate. As a result, a lot of people would just fill out the form on the website requesting whatever type of training that they were looking for. As soon as someone filled out the form, it automatically got posted on the secure side, so if you were one of these preferred businesses, you could login at any time and see what had been posted.

To help us all out, though, the owner of the website would send out a summary at the end of the day, so every evening about 8:00 PM or so, we’d all get an email with a list of all of the leads that came in that day.

I responded to hundreds of these leads without any turning any of those leads into sales. Then, one evening, there was a lead from someone wanting a public speaking class in Dallas. I thought, “Oh, I got this one.” And I responded to it. The next morning, I called the person and introduced myself, and she was the most cold and distant prospect I think I have ever talked to. She just said, “We’ve already chosen someone else,” and hung up. I was totally confused.

So I thought about what I should do to try and close some of these leads, and I figured that I really needed to know what everyone else was doing. I went onto the site and created a posting of my own. It was about 10:30 AM, and I put into the posting that I would only accept email proposals.

By 11:00 AM, I had already received three proposals. The first was just a generic email with a HUGE attachment that took quite a while to download. It was about 20 MB of brochures in eight separate attachments that I never really went through. The second was just a simple email saying, “If you still need help, call me.” (Okay it was a little more involved than that, but not much.) The third, though, was a beautiful, professional looking proposal. After glancing at it, I had pretty much decided that if I had really been buying a public speaking class, I would have hired that company.

By 3:00 PM, I had about 25 proposals.

By 6:30 PM, I had received almost 50 proposals.

By 8:00 PM, the time that I was typically receiving the summary email from the website, I had received over 72 proposals.

The next morning when I woke up, I had received 143 proposals. After the first 20 or so, I didn’t look at any of them – not even out of curiosity.

When new proposals kept coming in the morning (less than 24 hours since I posted the listing,) they just ticked me off. I was thinking, “What a loser! You’re number 150 on the list.” But remember, that less than 24 hours prior, I was consistently number 73 or 74 on these lists every single time. (I was the late guy that was ticking everyone off.)

I met with my team that day to share what I found out. We made a commitment to be the first to respond to every request. We only had six people working for the company, but we decided to assign one person every day just to wait for the phone to ring, one person just to wait for individual email leads to come in, and another just to wait for corporate contract requests to come in.

Our goal was to call any email inquiry back in less than five minutes. The most common comment that we started getting when we made those phone calls was, “Wow! I just hit send. You guys are really fast.”

That year we went from a small half-million dollar company to almost one and a half million dollars in sales. The next year we doubled sales again. The only thing that really changed was the speed at which we were following up with potential clients.

Typical Web Surfer

Typical web surfers will usually do something like this. They have a question and quickly do a Google search. They will scan the first page that pops up looking for a listing summary that most closely relates to what they are looking for. If they find one, they will click the link to see if an answer can be found.

Not finding the answer right away, they might fill out a web form requesting additional information.

Then they will go back to Google and look at the next listing. This one has an FAQ page, and they read a few of them and feel comfortable enough to fill out another form to get a second opinion.

Then they will go back to Google and look one more time. This time, the website has a blog with dozens of helpful articles and a few videos that look really nice. They now pick up the phone and end up getting a voicemail.

They might look at a few more listings, but most will not likely to fill out any more forms. No one wants to be bombarded with spam from a lot of websites, so they will probably be cautious about filling out more forms. They will probably only call additional listings from here on out and only if the website is very compelling.

So here is the big question…

Who is most likely to get the business?

If the owner of the third website had answered the phone instead of having the call go over to voicemail, then that person would have had a tremendous advantage over the other two companies. In fact, if the person replies to the voicemail right away, that owner still has an advantage.

In reality, the person who makes contact with the prospect first and builds rapport with the prospect is always in the driver’s seat.

However, if you respond to the email the next day, the person will answer the phone saying, “Huh? Who are you again?” The web surfer typically forgets entirely that he/she requested the information in the first place within 24 hours or less.

If the person gets a brochure in the mail a week after sending the email, well… you get the picture.

Speed is your friend in online sales. If you can’t personally follow up on the requests, then hire someone. If you can’t hire someone, then at least invest in a good email follow up system.

Don’t make your good prospects wait for you.

Move quickly. Move nimbly. And make a ton of people happy and a ton of money in the process!

About the Author:

Doug Staneart is the founder of The Leader’s Institute® and the creator of the Entrepreneur Boot Camp that helps small business owners grow their companies by sharing little-known secrets of successful entrepreneurs with new business owners. This article is one in a series of helpful small business lead generation tips, and you can read all of them for free on his Entrepreneur Boot Camp blog.

Article Source: ArticleRich.com

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Ways To Improve Your Telephone Sales Skills

By Silas Reed

Though it might sound as if the role of the telephone sales skills in the marketing of your business is pretty trivial, in reality it is not so. The way you answer your customers' calls has a great deal to do with the reputation of your company and product. It is an important part of management training. Every time a customer calls you he should get the feeling that he is wanted.

You should answer the phone in a way that suggests that you were waiting for the call. You can do this successfully if you develop a positive attitude towards the caller. Do not answer the telephone immediately on the first ring. Get yourself prepared for the first two rings and answer on the third ring. Take a deep breath before you answer so that you sound fresh and energetic.

Your customer would not like to hear a tired, lazy, boring voice on the other side. You can also try smiling before picking up the phone to avoid any negative feeling. When you answer the call, greet your customer properly and then introduce yourself by mentioning your name and company. Give a little gap between mentioning your first and last name, so that the caller does not face any difficulty in understanding it.

Next, try to know why he has called by asking him something like "how can I help you, sir/madam?" Till this step, it is going to be pretty much the similar for every phone call and it is likely that you would know every line by heart in a few days. But you must be conscious, not to sound like a machine when you answer the call.

And remember to go slow when you are talking. If your customer is unable to follow you, he will soon get irritated and your customer service sales will go down in no time! Also, you should be extremely attentive and sincere and an excellent listener when your customer is putting forward a question.
A person usually calls the customer service to get some question answered and so you should give all your effort to make sure that it is answered sincerely, promptly and politely.

Put aside all other work when you answer the call and pay full attention to whatever the caller has to say. You can keep a pen and notepad near the telephone to jot down anything important that the caller has said.

Finally, when everything is done, thank your customer for calling and always remember to be the last one to hang up! If you make telephone sales skills a part of your sales management program and master all these techniques, your customers will be contented with your service and your business sales will soar high up!

About the Author:

Silas Reed, Writer for EmploymentCrossing writes articles that inform and teach about different career advice and tips. Please visit http://www.Employmentcrossing.com/lcjobtypelisting.php and sign up for a FREE trial to gain access to some of the many exclusive job listings we feature!

Article Source: ArticlesBase.com

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Get More Referrals: How Newsletter Marketing Creates a Constant Stream of Referrals

By David Gruttadaurio

What would happen if you increased referrals by 20%, 40% or even 100% or more?

What would your business be like?

Could you expand your company?

Could you increase your rates?

Could you retire earlier and perhaps enjoy more of the good life?

Absolutely!

But, most businesses (online of offline) will never experience any of these benefits of increasing their referrals.

Why Referrals Dry Up After a Month

Most businesses are simply out of sight and out of mind. They allow their customers to forget about them.

I know, it’s so unfair, especially after doing such a great job for them. But it’s a universal truth.

Life today moves at the speed of light. If you don’t consistently work to remain in the awareness path of your clients, you can be certain they will never remember you or your company.

The GOOD NEWS is this problem can be easily fixed by a customer newsletter.

The REALLY GOOD NEWS is that a monthly customer newsletter will also create massive referral action by your clients.

4 Ways to Get More Referrals with Newsletters

Educate clients and prospects. Most people who engage in newsletter marketing make the mistake of trying to pitch on every page. That’s the fastest way to get your newsletter in the trash can. If you want more referrals, build a trusting relationship by offering real content with high informational value.

Write newsletters that get passed around. Boring content doesn’t get read, much less passed on to anyone. That means your content must be interesting and engaging and that means it shouldn’t be all about you. You may love your business, but don’t expect your customers to feel the same way. Your newsletter should include articles that inspire, inform and are fun to read. This is the ONLY WAY your newsletters will get passed around bringing you more referrals.

Get your newsletter out to as many as possible. If you follow my newsletter marketing system, people will read your newsletters as a publication. They will not see it as a marketing piece even though it really is. This makes a quality newsletter a great way to tell your story in all kinds of situations. So, hand out copies at sales calls, trade shows and seminars. Drop them off at realtors and doctors offices. Put them in envelopes when you pay bills. And make sure people can download a copy on your website, after they give you their contact information.

Thank referrers in your newsletters. A standard feature in every newsletter should be a thank you to the clients that have referred you to others. Realizing how important referrals are to your business will motivate other customers to refer you too.

The Bottom Line

You will not get referrals if you do not manage your existing customers properly.

Your existing customers are your best sales people. They already know the quality of your products and services. They will continue to call you and REFER you if they are reminded to do so. A monthly client newsletter provides this friendly reminder in an interesting and non-intrusive way.

Follow this advice and you’ll be light years ahead of the competition and enjoy a constant stream of referrals.

About the Author:

When Print Newsletter Expert David Gruttadaurio discovered the power of consistently writing and distributing print newsletters to attract and retain clients, he instantly tripled the sales of his service business. Now, he is revealing his bullet-proof plan to survive the new, emerging economy at his Profit Exploding Newsletter Secrets Website: http://www.NewslettersMadeForYou.com Go there to claim your 3 FREE Real Gifts NOW!

Article Source: ArticleRich.com

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Effective Marketing in 2011 - Direct Mail Vs Email Marketing

By J A Green

Reaching out to maximum customers in the shortest possible time is the basis of marketing. Direct mail marketing for your business is the age-old strategy of promoting your products and services by mailing newsletters, printed ads, catalogs, letters and other business mails to the targeted market. Over the time as technology developed, and internet came to the fore, the marketing strategies also took a complete turn. Enabling instant communication to a vast number of individuals, email marketing was seen as the new revolution in the marketing world.

The traditional form of direct mail marketing for your business including collecting customer addresses, preparing advertisement leaflets, applying postage and mailing them, all took a backseat. Instead email marketing with its extremely low operation cost, instant gratification and the ability to connect with a large number of consumers at the same time emerged as a far more preferable alternative. Thus, leaving the traditional marketing style of physically posting newsletters, direct mail marketing for your business took the form of sending advertising communication through emails. With information being sent from one corner of the world to another within seconds, the speed of the new system was its biggest advantage. Email marketing allowed entrepreneurs to reach out to consumers with personalized and dynamic messages. Advertisers too could connect with email subscribers who had opted-in to receive email communication from them. But as with any overused system, flaws emerged in email marketing too.

The biggest problem associated with email marketing is the possibility of being viewed as spam emails. Everyday internet users receive a large number of unsolicited emails posing as genuine business communication. The increasing number of spam emails has led to the development of stronger spam filters, spam laws and users being more cautious about the mails they receive. Emails with subject line resembling spam emails are now automatically sent to the spam folder or are deleted without even opening, which ultimately costs the marketer.

With the development of newer applications like blogging, article writing, affiliate marketing and social networking, the dimensions of online marketing are undergoing further change. However, email marketing still occupies a major position in the marketing world. The latest trend is to combine the positive aspects of both traditional marketing and online marketing to create a form of blended marketing.

With this type of marketing strategy email marketing can be combined with direct mail marketing for your business to achieve greater results. Emails can be used to introduce an advertising campaign which would create awareness among the customers about your product or service, which can then be followed up by direct mails. Alternatively, a direct mail campaign can also be followed up by emails containing purchase links which would enable the customers to land up directly on the shopping page. Hence, despite certain disadvantages, email marketing continues to be an effective form of marketing.

About the Author:

Joel Green is head of Internet Marketing for The Graham Marketing Group and assists businesses with building their brand through article, email, social media, and video marketing. If you are looking to increase your brand on line then contact him for a free on line video consultation. Have a http://www.thegrahammarketinggroup.com Social Media Marketing Strategy is becoming more and more important to small and medium businesses. Do you have a strategy in place to dominate Google and Social Media for 2011?

Article Source: EzineArticles.com

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Sales Training 101 - 86 Questions That Will Double Your Sales

By William Pena, MBA

Most of us purchase to resolve a problem (pain) or fulfill a desire (pleasure). But we sometimes don't want to feel the extent of how bad the problem really is.

If you are able to help your customer get in touch with how much pain this problem is causing them, you will motivate them to take action. Also, if you help them clearly see a vision of their desires being fulfilled - you will create enough value to have a sale.

Here are a list of questions that you can use to help your customers truly get in touch with their pain, and have a vision for a happier future.

Intro Questions

Do you mind if I ask you a few questions so that I can understand your needs better?

How can I help you?

Problem Questions

What seems to be the problem?

What is the biggest challenge you are currently facing?

What is your greatest limiting factor right now?

If you could magically erase your biggest challenge right now, what would it be?

What's bothering you?

What is your biggest obstacle in reaching your vision right now?

In a scale of 1 - 10 how satisfied are you with the way things are?

What would you say is your greatest headache right now?

How bad is the problem?

Why is this such a problem for you?

Why is this problem causing you so much stress?

Why do you feel this is such a problem?

How does having this problem make you feel? (or How do you feel about this problem?)

How long have you had this problem?

How bad is it, really?

When this meeting is over - how will you deal with this problem?

What is your biggest regret in having this problem?

What have you tried in the past to help you get rid of this problem? What happened? (or how come it didn't work?).

What else have you tried to help resolve this problem?

Consequence Questions

How is this problem affecting the rest of your business/ revenue/ profit?

If you could put a dollar figure to how much this problem is costing you, what would it be? (have them write it down).

What have been the (biggest) consequences caused by this problem?

What have you had to do in response to this problem?

What is the extent that this problem has affected the rest of the business?

What is the extent of damage that this problem has caused?

If you could name all of the consequences you have endured because of this problem, what would they be?

What are the 3 biggest challenges you have faced because of this problem?

How has this problem affected you personally?

How has your staff/spouse/children responded to this problem?

Have you lost any customers/sleep/ because of this problem?

How many customers have you lost because of this problem?

How much time/money/resources have you spent trying to deal with this problem?

If this problem does not get resolved, what do you think will happen?

How much longer can your business survive without dealing with this problem?

If you do not resolve this problem, what are your options?

If you do not get this problem resolved, what do you think will happen?

If this problem does not get resolved, what are you going to do (or what is going to happen with the business)?

A year from now, if you are still struggling with this, what will you say to yourself?

Criteria Questions

What are the most important criteria that you are looking for in a solution?

If you could have any solution for this problem - what would you like it to be (or look like)?

What would you say are the most important criteria that you have for ____________________?

You mentioned __________, what about that makes it important to you?

What are the three most important things you look for in a product/service like this?

So that I can better understand, why is that (criteria) so important to you?

How would you rank those criteria in order of importance?

Reward Questions

If we are able to resolve this problem, how will that benefit you (or what will be the greatest benefit to you)?

Why is it so important to you that we resolve this problem?

How will the business benefit most from resolving this problem?

In what other ways will the business (or you) benefit from taking care of this problem?

Why is that important to you?

Could you tell me more how this solution could help you?

How would it help you to ____________?

Would you explain how having ________ would help you?

Is ________ important because of __________?

How much could you __________, if we could ____________?

If we could __________, how much more __________ could you accomplish?

Could the new _________, help you to __________?

Is there any other way this would help you?

Is there any other way that using __________ would help you?

What other benefits could you foresee from using this solution?

Couldn't ____________ also _____________?

What other ways could this help you?

Vision Questions

Imagine you were to resolve this issue once and for all - what will your business look like (or what will you be able to do with your business)?

Once the problem is gone, what will you be able to do?

How will you feel once this problem is resolved once and for all?

Let's say we remove this obstacle - then what will you be able to do?

What would you do with the time/money/resources that you would save?

What could you do with the _____________ our solution would provide you?

What other things could you accomplish if you didn't have to ___________anymore?

If you could ___________ what would you do with the money you would save?

What would it be worth if you could ___________?

Urgency Questions

How important is it to you, to resolve this problem?

When do you want to get this problem resolved?

How much longer do you want to wait until this problem is resolved?

If it was up to you, how quickly would you like to get rid of this problem?

How much does it mean to you to resolve this problem as quick as possible?

If you do not deal with this problem immediately, what do you think will happen? (or - what will happen in the next few weeks or months?)

How quickly do you want to resolve this problem?

If money was not a problem, how quickly would you resolve this problem?

How much more money will it cost you to not deal with this problem immediately?

Every day that you do not resolve this problem, how much is it costing you?

When would you like to get started?

Decision Questions

Now that you have a solution to your problem, do you have any reason not to get this resolved and out of your way as soon as possible?

If you do not get this resolved there will be serious consequences, right? Yes. If you get this out of your way you will be able to have less problems, achieve more, make more, and get closer to your vision? Yes. Once the problem is resolved, you will be no longer hindered from seeing your vision a reality, right? Yes. And, the quicker we get started the better results you will get, correct? Yes. Then when would you like to get started?

Just try these out in all your sales meetings - and see the results you get...And don't be surprised if your sales triple instead of double.

About the Author:

Will Pena, MBA is the founder of a small business consulting company, Sapient Business Solutions Inc http://www.sapientbizsolutions.com - specializing in helping small businesses to get more customers, close more sales and make more money in as little as 30 days.

Article Source: ArticleRich.com

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The Independent Computer Consultant - What's Your USP (Unique Selling Proposition)?

By Robert Peretson

If you're an independent computer consultant, for you to compete against the larger MSPs and IT Service Providers for your target small business customers, you need to offer something that sets you apart. Something that makes you unique that the other guys simply can't or don't provide. This "something" is called your Unique Selling Proposition, or USP.

The Managed Service Model works and is the only way to operate an IT Support Company profitably and successfully. Eventually, all support providers will move away from hourly support and onto the Managed Service Model. But when everyone is offering essentially the same thing... 24x7 monitoring, remote helpdesk support, flat-fee billing... what can you as an Independent Computer Consultant offer that's different?

Well, it's the fact that you're an Independent Computer Consultant that will set you apart and give you a very distinct advantage over your larger competition. I get calls all the time from small businesses owners inquiring about my service because they're unhappy with their current provider and looking to make a change. What do you think is the #1 reason usually given for wanting someone new?

Their current provider isn't responsive enough! The client often feels like they're being treated as a lower priority than some of their IT Provider's larger clients. Or their consultant is continually late or reschedules on-site appointments. Or they simply don't receive the level of communication they would appreciate and believe they deserve.

Why is this such a problem for so many larger Support Providers to address? Because there's typically a large amount of overhead needed to support a large IT Support Firm. To remain profitable, they must maintain a large client base, while keeping expensive internal staff members to a minimum. It's a difficult balance to achieve and often the consultants are simply spread too thin.

But an Independent Computer Consultant operating under a Managed Service Model only needs to maintain a very small client base to remain profitable. In fact, I've proven time and again how a single computer consultant can generate a full-time income while supporting only 4 small business clients and working a total average of about 10 hours a week, a large portion of which is performed remotely.

Because as an Independent Computer Consultant you now only need a few clients to thrive as a successful business, and you can maintain these clients on such a flexible schedule, it's very easy to provide a level of dedication and attention to your customers that your larger competition simply can't match.

You can approach a potential new client and state, "I currently maintain a client base of "(number of)" clients, all of which will be glad to provide a glowing recommendation. I never maintain a base of any more than (number of) clients at any one time, so that I can be sure to give each and every one of my loyal customers the level of dedication and attention they deserve."

You can easily show that you can provide the same level of monitoring and remote support that any large provider can offer. But it's this level of personalized support that the small business owner craves, and knowing that they will have an expert IT Support Person who's dedicated to them is what will help you win the contracts and beat out your competitors every time.

Of course, your clients will want to know how you intend to support them when you're sick or on vacation. This is easily accomplished by creating a partnership with another consultant or support provider. We discuss this, and many more topics on starting a successful computer consulting business at http://SuccessfulComputerConsulting.com .

Article Source: EzineArticles.com

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How To Handle Rejection

By Jim Klein

This sales prospecting technique isn’t specifically about how to prospect. It’s a technique for dealing with the ill effects of prospecting, how to handle rejection. Being able to overcome the ill effects of rejection is vital to success in sales.

I can’t take credit for this technique. This technique for handling rejection comes from one of my mentors, Tom Hopkins.

If you focus on this sales prospecting technique when you get rejected you’ll turn the bad feelings into good feelings. If you’re constantly risking rejection, finding it, overcoming it and closing sales you may not need to use this technique. If you’re not doing all these things, you need this technique. It will increase your sales your confidence if you do.

The first step to using this sales prospecting technique is to determine the cash value of each rejection you receive.

How do you do that?

Let’s say for instance, every sale you close you are paid $500. Then 1 sale would equal $500.

The next part requires that you’re tracking your contacts-to-closings ratio. The top sales people track this and other information daily. What I mean by tracking is, you should always be keeping track of the number of contacts, appointments, presentations and closes you make. Tracking requires little effort and yields valuable information. For example, when you see negative changes in your tracking information, you become aware of challenges you need to address before they affect your sales.

Now let’s say you contact ten people to make a sale. This means your contact-to-closing ratio is ten to one. The top sales people are always striving to improve their closing ratios; however, the ten to one ratio is a reasonable average. Now, 1 sale equals $500. 10 contacts equals 1 sale, therefore, 1 contact equals $50.

If you look at getting paid for each contact instead of each sale you’ll see rejection in a whole new way. Aren’t you paid by the contact and not the sale? After all, if you don’t make contacts, you don’t make sales.

Top sales people look at the value of the activity as well as the result.

Using this sales prospecting technique, making contacts and handling rejection becomes fun. Every time a contact results in a rejection of your product or service you can view the rejection as making money. In the above example you would make $50 for every rejection and be one contact closer to making a sale.

It changes the way you look at things, doesn’t it?

If you place a dollar value on prospecting and rejection as an activity, you will look forward to these activities. You will view the activity as making money and be inclined to do it more often.

About the Author: Jim Klein provides salespeople with effective strategies that attract new clients, build customer relationships, and increase sales, GUARANTEED.

Get free sales training by subscribing to our free newsletter "The Sales Advisor".

Article Source: ArticleRich.com

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Mastering The Art Of Press Release Marketing

by CACL

5. Be sure to leave your contact information in your press release so people can get a hold of you should they want more information.

Cherie Ang is the owner and webmaster of SGProfitsite.com, the site for simple work from home opportunity. Let see what opportunities are offered here: http://www.sgprofitsite.com/pips.html

Get 6 FREE Home Business Ebooks Worth Over $100: http://www.sgprofitsite.com/newsletter-signup.html

Article Source: ArticelRich.com

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Stationary design-Art of Marketing Your Business

by Bobby Sherman

A well made stationary designs can play a pivotal role in promoting your business; this is something that makes a professional company distinctive from an amateur ones. A professionally made stationary design magnetizes more business and enhances the presence of your small business in the global market.

Stationary design communicates your business agenda to your potential customers, some of the most common business stationary design are, business cards, envelopes, letterheads etc.

Today, small businesses are incomplete without having business cards, it creates first impression on the minds of your potential customers and obviously you don’t want to leave a bad impression on them otherwise you will lose them in seconds. Just imagine, if you will give your contact information to your prospects on paper, what would your customer think about you?

Thus, your business card is your corporate identity and this is how your prospect will get an idea about you, so it is crucial that it is both simple and unique.

Next most important business stationery design is your company’s letter head. This small piece of paper can do wonders for your business so don’t undervalue it anytime. Today, it is considered to be one of the major parts of overall business marketing strategy.

Small business owner should understand the significance of stationary design for their business otherwise in such a competitive crowd of businesses one will eventually lose the credibility of their company.

We have seen that many small businesses underestimate the importance of stationary design for their business. There are many possible causes for this; most of the companies who have just jump into the pool of business often find stationary design as a very cost expensive thing. These types of businesses are totally incognizant of their business mileage which is so easily loosed by them and also they are very ignorant of this.

It is also not necessary that your stationary design will always do miracles for your business, because sometimes small business owners hire cheap and unprofessional stationary design companies that eventually undermine the total impression of your business.

Thereby, you cannot dismiss the importance of a well made stationary design for your business. In order to have a competitive advantage over others; one must know how important it is for the businesses.

Bobby Sherman is Senior Design Consultant at Logo Design Consultant, a business logo design, Custom Website Design, stationary design and cost effective premium quality Banner Design service provider. She has a vast professional experience in providing solutions to Small and Start up Businesses.

Article Source: ArticleRich.com

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Few Ways Your Chamber of Commerce Can Help Your Business Grow

by Gurudwara Baba

Joining your area's Chamber of Commerce can be a smart move for your home business. Because businesses that participate in this group promote each other and work together, your own business can grow and prosper quickly. Here are just a few ways you can benefit by joining your local Chamber of Commerce:

- If you make it known that your product or service makes great client or employee gifts, you could wind up with a very nice flow of business from your fellow Chamber members.

- You may be able to line up some lunchtime sales or parties featuring your products at local businesses to help employees with gift shopping (especially at Christmas, Valentine's Day and Mother's Day).

- You may qualify for less-expensive health insurance and business insurance available to Chamber of Commerce members.

- You can find out about local events where you might set up a booth and promote your business.

- You'll meet good, reliable sources for products and services like accounting, printing, computer support, etc.

- You'll be referred to other Chamber members' contacts.

- You have a good chance of meeting local retailers who may be interested in carrying your products.

- You'll have an opportunity to do joint ventures with other local businesses, such as cooperative advertising or trunk shows.

- Your business name can be associated with improving your community, since Chambers of Commerce generally work on civic improvement, legislation favoring local businesses, and economic development.

- You may have access to mentors who can help you develop your business; or you may be able to serve as a mentor to someone else.

These are just a few of the many ways your area's Chamber of Commerce can give you access to a valuable networking and marketing system. You can find your local Chamber of Commerce in the business listings of your phone book.

- If you make it known that your product or service makes great client or employee gifts, you could wind up with a very nice flow of business from your fellow Chamber members.

- You may qualify for less-expensive health insurance and business insurance available to Chamber of Commerce members.

- You can find out about local events where you might set up a booth and promote your business.

- You'll meet good, reliable sources for products and services like accounting, printing, computer support, etc.

- You'll be referred to other Chamber members' contacts.

- You have a good chance of meeting local retailers who may be interested in carrying your products.

- You'll have an opportunity to do joint ventures with other local businesses, such as cooperative advertising or trunk shows.

- Your business name can be associated with improving your community, since Chambers of Commerce generally work on civic improvement, legislation favoring local businesses, and economic development.

- You may have access to mentors who can help you develop your business; or you may be able to serve as a mentor to someone else.

http://www.jointventures.reprintarticlesite.com

Article Source: ArticleRich.com

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How to Make your Business Cards Sell for you

by Robert Johnston

Did you know that the business card is one key ingredient of a successful marketing plan? It is what your business contacts should primarily get hold of. Your other marketing materials may disappear or be forgotten, but your business card where your contact details are found is most likely to be kept. Therefore, your business card isn’t just a worthless piece of paper with your name, address and contact numbers in it. It can be a potent tool to make your product sell. And because of its worth, it should be designed and made to fully serve its purpose.

So what is the importance of a business card? Before you think of the design of your business card, you should know and understand first its functions to make your marketing plan work. An impressive business card has at least four functions that you should bear in mind:

First, your business card should help you convey what your company is about. Think of it as an instrument that could help you open endless doors of opportunity. For instance, handing out your business card during a meeting or social event would make other people know that you and your company exist. Introducing yourself through handing a business card has proven to be a professional and presentable way of reaching out to possible business colleagues. Your aim is not to push your card to people who might not need it but to establish new connections. Hence, handing out your card should also be accompanied by a polite opening statement.

Second, your business card contains pertinent information about you and your company. Therefore, before you even think of giving out your card, consider the details you would want to be in it. Essentially, it should convey major information about your company. The basic details would include your name, the name of your company, business address and your contact information. You might also want not to include your cellphone number first. When you have already handed out your business card to a potential client, you can then tell him/her that you can write down your cellphone number in case he/she wants to reach you through that line. This will give your potential client the impression that you’re giving him/her special attention.

Third, your business card contains the most important sales message that you want your recipients to know. This is even more important than your contact information. Thus, if you don’t have a sales message yet, make your own. This should essentially contain a brief statement about the business nature of your company which is more like a five-word slogan. As brief and concise as it should be, you must never forget to make it catchy and memorable.

Lastly, make sure that your business card upholds the company’s image. It should be consistent with your other marketing paraphernalia. Apart from including the company logo, see to it that your font style, color and lay-out are consistent with all your other materials. You can also add a photo of your product. Even with all these, it is still very important to give attention to your sales message as it will establish how your company will be perceived by your clients.

So there you have it, some things to keep in mind about the use of your business card. Now that you know what it should ideally be, start creating that business card that would sell for you.

Visit this page for more information on business card

This article is provided by Amazines.com

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5 Small Business Marketing Campaign Tips
by Chris Woodward

What are the best ways to be seen? What are the small business marketing campaign strategies that you need to implement immediately to start attracting your target audience?

Follow these 5 small business marketing campaign tips and you’ll be well on your way to building your brand and selling more of your products and services:

Web site: Every business needs a Web site that is a compelling representation of who they are, what they do, why they’re different from their competitors, and ultimately how their customers will benefit from their products and services. While a great Web site is the backbone of your online small business marketing campaign, it’s only the beginning.

Get on and stay on your customers’ radar screens: This is how you will drive traffic to your Web site and continue to increase the reach of your small business marketing campaign. Use article marketing, blogs, and email marketing to educate your target audience, demonstrate your expertise, and ultimately drive more traffic to your Web site.

Social networking: One of the easiest (and free) small business marketing campaign strategies is to take advantage of social networking sites like LinkedIn, Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube. Join in the conversation as a “person” rather than a “business owner,” and you’ll eventually see other people and business owners want to join in your conversation. Social networking is all about giving. Shamelessly promote yourself at your peril.

In-person networking: It’s not all about online small business marketing. Attend Chamber of Commerce events, Meetup.com events in your industry, and the many other “live” networking opportunities in your area. But don’t show up trying to sell. Picture yourself online. Would you immediately start selling to a stranger on LinkedIn? Approach every conversation with the simple goal of making a connection with another business owner you can help or who can help you and your clients.

Hold your own events: Another successful small business marketing campaign strategy is to hold your own event. Consider hosting panels, seminars or workshops to highlight your expertise. Hold a “customer appreciation day” or tie your event to a holiday. You can even get sponsors, hold a raffle, and give prizes. Small business branding works best on a personal level, so giving out promotional items like pens, notepads, and shirts bearing your company’s logo is always effective. This makes people “ambassadors” of your company when they wear or use the promotional material at work or play.

Whatever you do, be consistent. The success of a small business marketing campaign depends on your ability to clearly, compellingly, and consistently deliver a message that resonates with your target audience.

If you want more small business marketing campaign tips to grow your business, visit www.MyPRTools.com or call 310.546.2926.

Chris Woodward is the founder of My PR Tools. She has spent more than two decades creating successful marketing and public relations campaigns for companies across the Western United States. My PR Tools brings the benefits of Chris Woodward’s expertise to those who are not in the marketing and PR fields. Her step-by-step marketing and PR guides and personalized coaching packages are the culmination of her years of experience in the industry. Visit www.MyPRTools.com or call 310.546.2926.

Article Source: ArticleRich.com

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Increase your Profits through a Simple Business Card

by Joann Snell

With this digital age group where information is usually easily obtained within seconds, simple business cards even now have retained their importance in the achievement of better business exposure in addition to business revenue. If your company already has a bunch of printed cards circulated to various potential potential customers and yet you don't set eyes on any upturn with your market reach, therefore it's high time to revamp your old simple business card.

Take out your simple business card and look at it in an objective point of view. If you're the purchaser, would you need to keep the card, or chuck it away? Are the fonts on the card too tiny for comprehensible analysis? Or is your plan reflective of what your organization is in business for?

A large amount company individuals have their company cards printed based on their particular subjective preferences, in no way genuinely considering if the simple business cards send the required idea for max small business impression in such a minimum room.

Web-based connectivity has made it feasible for corporations and clients to communicate without trouble, up till now it truly is the simple business cards which bolster the authority of the small business even at the absence of the World wide web. Therefore, yet when your consumers are vacationing in a deserted island, or have gone camping on a mountain side where Internet access link is hard to come near, they continue to be capable of gain access to your company information through the simple business card, and perhaps better to give your card to a potential customer.

Postcards are viable ways to come up with increased connection for your corporation but as simple business cards are handier as well as convenient to fit right into a billfold or a business file organizer, they're more bound to be carried everywhere and anytime. In addition, what's written on the card is as important regarding how the information is printed. A simple business card must have the person's name as well as the emblem of this company or industry, the slogan or motto of this company, the contact person, contact numbers or mobile phone numbers, the small business website, and if feasible, a physical address.

Similar to every venture, you need to give your card blueprint a last review. If feasible print out a scale experiment card before you send the final file to the printer. Effects appear altered when printed out compared to what is on your notebook screen.

Any industry should in no way underestimate the power of simple business cards. It is able to provide swift information, is easy to keep, and if optimized to the fullest, can produce extraordinary income increase. Even the vacant area in the rear of a card can even be utilized to hold added information like a map or a gorgeous free sample. Simple Business cards can definitely benefit any small business to be more well-known and rewarding in the long run.

The look of your small business card is only restricted by your mind's eye. Keep in mind, effective simple business cards will make a huge change in your daily interaction through leads. While you are able to do business card printing yourself via a number of business card templates, it's sensible to pay a little money and get a efficiently planned business card.

About the Author:

Joann Snell is a freelance Graphic Designer. She specializes in studio logo design, simple business cards, cool stationery, media billboards, and web design items for small businesses. For a free ebook visit Jo's Graphic Designs at http://www.josgraphicdesigns.com

Article Source: GOArticles.com

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Selling to Purchasing Departments

By Mark Hunter

One of the most difficult parts of a salesperson's job is dealing with purchasing departments. Whether you are a new salesperson or a seasoned veteran, you likely will agree that dealing with a purchasing department can create a tremendous amount of stress for a salesperson. Unless you are truly unprepared, there's no reason for anyone to fear dealing with a purchasing department.

A purchasing department is nothing more than a group of individuals assembled for the sole purpose of trying to save money for their company. The key for you as the salesperson to remember is that even though the purchasing department's number one objective is to save money, this doesn't mean they are out to attack you on price.

Purchasing departments view their role as the supply-chain managers. It is their job to ensure the company does what it is supposed to do in an efficient manner that requires as little capital as possible. What this means is very simple: The purchasing department's job is much more than beating up salespeople. Granted, many purchasing agents do enjoy the thrill of securing a lower price, but that's no different than you. As a salesperson, you enjoy the thrill of securing a new sale. Accept the fact that the purchasing agent is doing nothing more than what they are supposed to do.

A few vital points to keep in mind when dealing with a purchasing department:

• Low price may appear to be what they are after, but if they buy something that's cheap but doesn't work, then it's suddenly anything but a "cheap" item. If it doesn't work, they now have to replace it. In doing so, they are stuck with a double-cost. Low price is really secondary to the performance of the item they are buying.

• Rarely does the purchasing department have huge amounts of power in a company. This means they're not at the top of the food-chain. As a result, they can't afford to upset those above them. Although they may harass you to lower your price, the last thing they want to do is be harassed by others in the company for not buying what those people wanted them to buy in the first place. In other words, purchasing agents will put up a good fight on the surface, but in the end, they can't afford to upset anyone in the company – regardless of how much money they think they can save.

• Purchasing agents may say they must have a lower price, but in reality their goal is really to save "x" amount of money – and it doesn't necessarily have to come from you. Purchasing agents will always pick on the salespeople who appear to be the weakest and most vulnerable. This only makes sense, as they are simply trying to manage their time. Therefore, they will secure the savings they need from whomever they believe will give it to them with the least amount of hassle.

Don't hesitate to call a purchasing agent's bluff. Purchasing agents love to posture themselves with salespeople as if they control the salesperson's career. All they are really doing is seeing how far they can push you. Until you stand up to them and push back, they'll keep pushing you to get additional benefits and lower prices. When a purchasing agent demands a lower price, the only thing they're doing is going with the demand they know works the best since they know there is almost always flexibility in pricing. It's the strength and confidence of you the salesperson that is going to be the best indicator as to whether or not they'll be successful in pushing you to lower your price.

Purchasing agents love to bluff people by saying they will buy from one of your competitors if you don't lower your price. This actually happens far less than salespeople realize. Upon hearing the threat of going to another supplier, most salespeople will cower and give the purchasing agent what they are after. Too bad the only thing the salesperson has done is give up profit. It's this type of a response that gives salespeople a bad reputation. The entire time the purchasing manager is demanding you lower the price or they will switch, they know full well how expensive switching to a new supplier can be.

Mark Hunter, "The Sales Hunter," is a sales expert who speaks to thousands each year on how to increase their sales profitability. For more information, to receive a free weekly email sales tip, or to read his Sales Motivation Blog, visit http://www.TheSalesHunter.com. You can also follow him on http://www.Twitter.com (TheSalesHunter), on www.LinkedIn.com (Mark Hunter), and on his Facebook Fan Page, http://www.facebook.com (The Sales Hunter).

Article Source: Free-Articles-Zone.com

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Find the Right Balance in Logo Creation

by Kaye Marks

In a business, logo creation is as crucial as setting up a business plan. It is not as easy as going to a designer and having him create a cool, modern symbol with a ripped off tagline. Unfortunately, it goes beyond “cool”. It goes beyond what you think is the hype. Instead, it requires a deeper understanding of your business, how it can be best represented, the overall impression it leaves on its viewers and if it is sticky enough to be retained in the minds of your market.

Your logo’s every curve and color must exist for a reason. All elements should come together to contribute to an overall powerful and clear message easily conveyed to anyone who sees it.

Color Selection Let us start with color. Colors mean something. Some colors make you mad, some make you calm and some make you agitated and so on. Every color has a psychological impact on people and a good mastery of such knowledge will prove to be very useful in creating your logo.

Composition of Elements Selecting the right images shapes for your logo and arranging them also requires a good amount of thought. Overdone logos with a lot of curves and circles might leave you confused and overwhelmed. At the same time, some are too simple that it leaves you unimpressed with no clear idea what the business behind that logo wants to say. Investing time and effort on trial-and-error tests on your logo might seem a tedious task, but once overcome, you will reap the rewards with more response and more results from your viewers.

Getting It All Together Before we think of what color or shape, at the base of our minds is what your logo should symbolize. The “what” comes first before the “how”. From the base sketch, to the colors, to the shapes, always check if every addition gives more value to your logo in association with your brand. In addition to the value of the parts of your logo, another thing you should keep a keen eye out for is the overall balance of your design. You must think about how to balance your logo design well enough that each stroke is where it should be and everything taken in its totality equates to a clear message so that people can understand:

- What your business does and what it believes in

- The products and services you provide

- The advantage of choosing your products and services over others

Going over some popular logos very familiar to us, we notice the use of small fonts, use of the color red and arches. Let us dissect these elements for a minute.

Big companies use small fonts to convey that despite the enormous size and spread of their organization, people from all walks of life, even the less prestigious, can still make business with them. A small type makes people less daunted and rather more at ease in approaching the company.

The color red, not only grabs our attention, but it also communicates a sense of professionalism, passion and stability. That’s why it‘s no surprise that several financial or banking companies make use of this shade like Mastercard, WellsFargo, and HSBC.

Now let us go to the use of arches. Arches can be used in a variety of ways and in conjunction other elements or letters in your logo. When used overhead, the arch can represent an umbrella to convey protection.

Alternatively, in the same sense, when used under the text, an arch can convey reliability like a net catches circus acrobats when they fall. With lines arched in different directions, it is very possible that you can communicate a sense of protection, confidence and trust.

It goes to show that there is no need for too much incorporation of lines and shapes to convey a message to the people. Going overboard with symbols and colors in a logo can create too many elements that people will only add fuss instead of value.

Double check your designs and before you have your professional color printing company work on your logo, make sure that you have created it properly and have thought it out well. You must achieved the proper balance of using symbols that mean something akin to your company and keep them as simple and neat enough as possible. Balanced and uncluttered, remember that.

Kaye Z. Marks is an avid writer and follower of developments in commercial color printing industry and how these improvements can benefit small to medium-scale business.

Article Source: Amazines.com

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Improving Sales Results, Success in making Sales Appointments

by Kate Tammemagi

Making sales appointments is an essential part of the sales process in all direct selling situations. You need a sales appointment to give us a platform where you can apply your excellent consultative sales skills to the advantage of both parties. But making those awful sales appointment calls! Who wants that much rejection? They do not even give you a chance!

Secret Number 1 - Use Active MotivatorsYou do not like making sales appointments? No-one does, and you never will! Do not even TRY to like making sales appointments. Appointment selling will never give you the pleasure that a good sales meeting can generate. You will never get that satisfying buzz of sales skills well used. Even a successful sales appointment call, where the prospect is happy to see you, will be a brief and an unsatisfying telephone call. This means that a successful sales appointment call is not in itself a motivator. You must look for other ways to motivate yourself to make these calls.

Plan each batch of appointment calls carefully. Make a list of prospects, and make sure it is long enough to allow for the multitude of no answer or voice mails. Set yourself very clear goals for each session, and vary the goals from one session to the next. Variety in goal focus is more motivating than always having the same target. For example you might set a target of 60 dials in one session, 20 contacts in the next and 3 appointments in the third. Work efficiently and effectively until you achieve your target, and then give yourself a nice reward! Again vary the reward, a different reward for each day or each week. The idea is to really work at giving you active motivators to foster success.

Secret Number 2 - Sell the Appointment, not the ProductMost direct sales people work on a consultative sales type approach, where you are doing a thorough fact find and offering which of your products or services will add value to your client's needs. There are lots of questions, and a good deal of selling the value of your products. In direct selling, this is good. In selling an appointment, this is NOT good.

Remember that when the phone rings at your prospect's desk, you will drop in unannounced. It would be totally inappropriate, therefore, to begin the conversation with a load of questions. This will trigger a justifiable negative reaction. Equally, if you try to sell the benefits of your products on the telephone call, why should the prospect bother seeing you? Remember your skills lie in the direct sales meeting, and you really need that sales appointment to perform. What this means is, do not attempt to sell your products. Sell the appointment. The value statements you will make are the benefits to the prospect of YOU sitting in front of him.

To prepare for your batch of calls, prepare a list of benefits of the APPOINTMENT. Why is it good for the prospect to spend 30 minutes of his time with you? What will he gain? Why will he be better off? Practice each one of these aloud, using strong positive benefit language. Then choose the right ones to use on your calls today.

Secret Number 3 - This is a Short Focussed Call. The successful sales appointment call is short. By that we do not mean rushed. On the contrary, the beginning of the call, as you introduce yourself, should be confident and gently paced. Your typical call structure should be something like –

1. Who you are, your name

2. Who your Company is, your Company name together with a one line promotion statement. Here we are impressing the prospect, giving them a positive reason why they should bother taking the call from that Company.

3. Your reason for calling today. You have wonderful products, or you are in the neighbourhood, are NOT good reasons why a busy person should see you. You want to present a one line teaser that will be of benefit to this Customer. It could be as simple as, we have just launched a new range of products, or, we have revised our pricing schedule to offer more cost effective solutions. The reason you are calling today, HAS to be a definite reason.

4. Engaging question. You have done all the talking up to now, so it is time for the prospect to be involved. You want one question open question that will illicit some information, but will not allow the prospect to shut down the call. This must be a very specific question for your line of business, and you really only want to get the prospect to say a one line response.

5. Sell the benefits of the Meeting. Here we ask for 30 minutes of their time, and give 2 to 3 benefits of this meeting.

6. Go straight to gain agreement. Move immediately to a close, offering a range of times and days

Practice your sales appointment calls until you get the timing right. Remember it is short, driving towards the close very quickly. When you get it right, record it so that you can capture the language and feel of the successful appointment call.

Kate Tammemagi provides Making Sales Appointments training. She has extensive experience designing and delivering customized Telephone Sales Courses and Customer Service Courses .

Article Source: ArticleRich.com

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Defining Guerilla Marketing

by Bernie Wiemers

If you’ve never heard of guerilla marketing , the term might sound a little extreme. Perhaps it brings to mind images of camouflage-clad rebels forcing unsuspecting consumers to buy products at gunpoint, or small bands of rogue salespeople wandering Corporate America and chanting about liberation.

Fortunately, guerilla marketing is not as threatening as it sounds. In fact, when used properly, this tactic is one of the most effective methods available to today’s entrepreneur to cultivate a business and increase sales.

So, what’s all the fuss about?

The Definition

Guerilla Marketing: Any unconventional marketing technique that is designed to produce maximum results using minimal resources (money and materials).

This definition is broad at best. There are as many types of guerilla marketing as there are businesses and entrepreneurs attempting to use it. From the home business to huge mega-corporations, guerilla marketing strategies cover an enormous spectrum that includes a little of everything.

However, there are a few aspects that remain common to all guerilla tactics:

	They are inexpensive, and sometimes free, to implement.
	They involve a commitment of time and effort in place of money and resources.
	They are unexpected, and sometimes shocking, to the consumer.
	They concentrate on cooperation and relationship-building, rather than competition and strong-arm sales tactics.
	They promote brand awareness and customer loyalty.

The best approach to creating an effective guerilla marketing campaign is to determine where your target customers are, and find a unique way to reach them.

My book will help you accomplish that goal.

The History

The term "guerilla marketing" was coined in the 1980’s by Jay Conrad Levinson. Considered the "father of Guerilla Marketing," Levinson published his first book on the subject in 1984 (Guerilla Marketing, Houghton Mifflin), and since then has become living proof that the tactics work.

Levinson has since written over a dozen books on Guerilla Marketing.

One of the earliest and most well-known examples of effective guerilla marketing is the Marlboro Man.

Regardless of your opinion on tobacco, the evidence of Marlboro’s success can’t be ignored. The company skyrocketed from near the bottom of the cigarette brand list to the top slot almost instantly with the introduction of their weathered mascot, and the guerilla marketing campaign that brought the icon to the attention of the public.

Coincidentally, one of the creators of the Marlboro Man and his campaign was the now-legendary Jay Conrad Levinson.

Article Source: ArticleRich.com

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Sales Tactics To Close Sales On The First Visit

by Carl Davidson

Don't you hate it when the customer says, "No?" Well we have to accept it because almost all serious buyers say "No" at some point. The key to success is to have good sales tactics ready that will get past those objections.

There are two main reasons objections come up in selling and there are sales tactics you need to successfully deal with them. One reason is a knee-jerk reaction on the part of the customer to realizing the close is imminent. They bring up an objection to slow down the process. These objections are the ones you can get past easily by just acknowledging them and carrying on with the close. Let's assume you are starting to write an order and the customer says, "Hold it, that's a lot of money for a computer system." Some salespeople stop here and leave. Did the customer say he wasn't buying? All he said was it was a lot of money and he is probably right. Try using a sales tactic like, "I understand" or "Yes it is" and keep writing the order. About 40% of the time, the objection won't come up again because it was just a delaying reaction to the close. But, in 60% of the cases, you still have work to do. That's when the following sales tactics can help.

Anything Else?

Before you use any sales tactics other than the bypass explained above, you should always ask if there is anything else. "Other than that, is there anything else preventing you from going ahead now?" Never deal with objections until you know if it is the final objection or just one in a series of objections.

Drop A Name, Add Information

One successful sales tactic is to drop a name for assurance and add information. It's like telling a story. Let's say the objection is not knowing if the warranty is reliable. You might say, "You know, that is just what your neighbor Sam Brown wondered about as well. He did have a service problem two weeks ago and he emailed to tell me how pleased he was with our response. I know you will enjoy our warranty and service as well, I'll get the paperwork started." Always end by going right back to the close.

Get Input From The Customer

Another good sales tactic is to get more information from the customer. For example, if the customer says your price is too high, ask them how much they had budgeted for the purchase. Notice this is not asking how much they wanted to spend but how much they had budgeted for the purchase. With that information, you may be able to lower the payments by extending the term, you may be able to switch to a different model or you may be able to use a "take away' by asking what features they would give up to get the item for that price.

How's That Working For You?

When customers say they are keeping what they have now, a good question is "how is that working for you?" If you did a good job asking questions in the interview stage of the sale, you should have got them to tell you what they don't like about what they have and why they are thinking of changing or getting a new one. In the objections stage you use this information to ask how they like what they are doing (or not doing) to solve these issues. For example if they say decide to put off their purchase for 6 months, you might say, "You did say your present equipment is wasting $700.00 per month compared to our new efficient machine. How do you think putting it off will work out for you?"

There are many sales tactics to handle objections. The important thing is to have several ways ready to handle each objection and to practice, drill and rehearse until you are smooth and confident with your sales rebuttals.

Get sales tactics that will overcome objections by ordering our online course on closing sales and overcoming objections with Carl Davidson. It's fully guaranteed for 60 days. You will close more sales and overcome more objections immediately with these powerful sales tactics. Visit our sales tactics blog at www.sales-solutions-now.com.

Article Source: ArticleRich.com

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Connecting emotionally:

A vital way to build deeper, meaningful business relationships

By Colleen Francis

It's no secret that lasting success in sales, no matter what kind of market you're working in, relies on building and maintaining long-term business relationships with your clients. Indeed, most of us get plenty of advice on activities we can do to help make that happen-from follow-up calls to thank-you notes. As a sales trainer, I've noticed that what's often missing from that advice is a recognition of what needs to come first…the missing element that is at the root of all great communications.

If you want your efforts to be meaningful and memorable, you must connect emotionally with people. Without that element being present in how you interact with others, no amount of hard work will help boost your sales performance…and no amount of ambition will get you to where you want to be in your organization.

Consider the compelling results of recent market research on the subject. A 2003 Gallup study suggests that no matter how high a company's customer satisfaction levels may appear to be, "satisfying customers without creating an emotional connection with them has no real value. None at all." But when Gallup looked at customers who credited emotional connection as part of their deep satisfaction and loyalty to a store, they also found that those customers visited that business more often and spent more.

It's important to not lose sight of what it means to connect emotionally with someone. It's not enough to just pick up the phone and call clients and talk about yourself, or tell them all the great things that your product or service you can do.

Connecting emotionally with someone starts with understanding that it's not all about you...it's about them. When we engage in open, honest communications, we connect with others with empathy. We listen first. And we demonstrate that we understand what it's like to be in another's shoes. Indeed, empathy is an important skill and one I discuss in further detail in the book I co-wrote with Steven Gaffney, entitled "Honesty Sells." (Available May 11 from John Wiley and sons)

Let's look at four things you can do today to improve the way your connect emotionally with people...

Sharpen your listening skills

There's no better way to understand the needs of your customers than by listening carefully to what they have to say. As a sales professional, learn to be less preoccupied with the need to force your opinion on others. Instead, make it your job to listen to their opinions and feelings, ask questions, and then find tailor-made solutions to fit those opinions and feelings.

Tell stories

Human beings are hard-wired to be receptive to the power of compelling stories. As one writer recently quipped to me: storytelling is a lens through which we can catch a glimpse of the lives of others as well as mirror of our own. When you share with your customers your own stories of challenges you've encountered in business-even mistakes you might have made in the past-it humanizes who you are. It helps remind others that you're not all that different in terms of your aspirations, goals, as well as in terms of what you worry about.

Be thankful

Whether it's people in your personal or professional life, you can never say thank-you enough. People love it when they are recognized, appreciated and made to feel special. So take every opportunity you can to demonstrate how thankful you are by way of thank-you cards, modest gifts, treating a customer to lunch…your choices are endless. What's most important is that your gesture demonstrates how much you value that person and not their money.

Be thoughtful

As I've noted in a previous newsletter article, being thoughtful is where your creativity and attention to detail can help you really stand out. That goes a long way in an effort to connect emotionally with others. I was once told a great story about a top salesperson that was asked what set him apart from everyone else in his business. "I genuinely love people and I like showing how much I appreciate them," he explained. "There are plenty who remember to send out a birthday card to a friend or client, but I'll bet I'm the only one who thinks to also send out a birthday card to that person's beloved dog!"

Colleen Francis, Sales Expert, is Founder and President of Engage Selling Solutions. Armed with skills developed from years of experience, Colleen helps clients realize immediate results, achieve lasting success and permanently raise their bottom line.

Start improving your results today with Engage's online Newsletter Engaging Ideas AND 10 weeks of free sales tips:

Article Source: ArticlesZone.com

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Marketing Techniques for a PC Repair Business
By Jim Shutes

Following are techniques that I tried, how they failed or succeeded, what works and what doesn’t and why. I show many different ways of advertising your new PC Repair Business, and what to avoid. I also show several unique types of advertising that get good results, which you may have never heard of before, but they work! There is a lot here to read, but you won’t regret learning everything that I have to show you. Don’t make the same mistake I did, with trial and error. Let me show you what works. Enjoy!

NEWSPAPER ADS

I knew quite a bit about graphic design (being a graphic designer for many years), so I would put an appetizing ad, no, in fact, a COUPON, in the local newspaper. People are always looking for a discount. And EVERYONE has computer problems. So I should just get swamped with business just off this one ad. NOPE! I got one phone call from my ad. I had placed the ad in the local newspaper (our city’s main newspaper) which went to 33,000 homes, and I had it come out on the biggest readership day: Sunday. The ad I placed was a professionally-designed Computer Tune-up ad that I had done, giving them a discount from the regular price of $69, to $49. They were saving $20! It was an incredible deal! But I only had one response. Why? What did I do wrong?

Unfortunately, I was forced to use a horrible, red border. It is HUGE! In order to get the deal I was getting for this ad, my ad had to be put in with a couple of other ads (not related to the computer business) and have an ice cream-looking coupon border around it.

The ad had all of the elements of a good coupon. It was a GREAT deal! They were saving $20 off the regular price (this is the next best thing to FREE – a dollar value of savings). They had to act now (call to action) because it was for a limited time and expired in two weeks. People are graphic in nature and the picture of the computer and the words, “Computer Help!” in the screen would identify with people having computer problems. The headline was bold and heavy, it stood out from the rest – so that it don’t have a paragraph of information that people won’t read, and it spoke directly to people having a slow computer (everyone has a slow computer). Then it went on to explain the headline in more detail with a subhead. Plus, there was a GUARANTEE of a speed increase. You CAN’T go wrong with an ad like this, can you? Well, I did. I don’t believe that the ad was evil and won’t work. I believe that I had the ad where people didn’t look.

Whenever you get ready to do any type of advertisement, you should test-market it, first. Whether it is an ad, a website (or page), direct marketing (such as mailers, mailed brochures or ads), etc., you should test it on different types of people to see how they will respond, and record their responses. In the case of the ad, I should have passed this ad out to several people and got their responses of the ad. I should have then placed this ad on a page with several other similar ads and got responses from different people looking at the entire page of ads, had them put down the page, and asked them to tell me what stood out. Could they remember any good deals? This would tell me if my ad would stand out in a newspaper, among other similar ads.

In my particular instance of only getting one response from my “great” ad, it was literally buried in with other ads that looked similar to mine. In fact, my ad was not even on a page with other services, but “hidden” on a series of pages that had nothing at all to do with what I was offering, or computers, or even a story about a computer… nothing! People who would be looking for my type of service were not going to look where my ad was, and that is the lesson: PUT YOUR AD WHERE YOUR POTENTIAL CUSTOMERS WILL LOOK, NOT WHERE YOU GET A GOOD DEAL ON ADVERTISING ! and DO TEST MARKETING.

After my ad came out, I gave my wife the newspaper and asked her to find my ad (test marketing after the advertising came out… too little, too late). It took her TWO TIMES of going through the newspaper, page-by-page (and this is a small city newspaper) to find my ad (and she knew what to look for and what the ad looked like). So how are potential customers going to find my ad if they don’t even know that they need to look for it??? They won’t!

Think of it like this… if you want to sell motorcycle parts, put your ad in a motorcycle magazine. You have to think like the customer. A customer wants motorcycle parts, so where should they go? They start looking at places that sell motorcycles and accessories, groups that are associated with motorcycles, magazines that cater to the motorcycle crowd, message boards and websites that are all about motorcycles. You may or may not go to the newspaper and look through every page and see if someone is selling motorcycle parts. In fact, it is probably safe to say that a person looking for motorcycle parts won’t leaf through pages of articles in a newspaper, looking for motorcycle parts. They may look through the only place in the newspaper that they think might list places that sell motorcycle parts, and that would be the business section of the newspaper and/or the classifieds. So, if you were in the business of selling motorcycle parts, you would want to have an ad right where your potential customer expects to find an ad for motorcycle parts. Place the ad in those sections ONLY. Do not place it where I did (in the middle of a bunch of articles) because I got a good deal.

So, in case your eyes just rolled back in your head, here is the gist of what I just said… when placing an ad for PC Repair in your local newspaper, either place it in the Business Listing for Services in your area, or place it in the proper classified sections, where people will look for your type of service. Do a test: ask a few people you know where they would look in your local newspaper if they needed PC Repair Help. Let’s say that their computer was running extremely slow and they needed help before they pulled out the rest of their hair, where in the newspaper would they look. Ask at least 10 people. And whatever the majority is, that is where you should place the ad (no matter how much it costs). If not, you are just wasting your money. Remember to always think like your customer.

WORD OF MOUTH ADVERTISING

Once I started getting customers, because I always did a little extra for the customers, I received really good word-of-mouth advertising and referrals. Referrals are gold! When you can call or stop by and see someone about computer problems that you already know that are having (from their friend or relative) and you can drop a name of someone they know who sent you, you are as good as IN THE DOOR! If your service was good for their friend, it will be good for them. And when you have the name of their friend, it is like you are their friend as well.

One way to get referrals from your customers is before you are completely done with the job you are doing for them, and they can see a definite improvement, give them a piece of paper and a pencil and ask them to write down 3 friends or relatives of theirs who could benefit just like they did. Most of the time they will be happy to give you the names, if you have made them happy. If you do this at every job, your business will snowball! This is the best way to build a business: by doing a good job and having a good reputation, with a network of people who sent you to the next customers, stamped with their seal of approval. It doesn’t get any better than that!

YELLOW PAGES ADS

A Yellow Pages ad is a good thing, but you don’t need to spend the big bucks and get the biggest, most colorful ad, with ALL of your possible services, mother’s maiden name, the history of your business, etc. on it. You need something a little more than the listing (just to stand out from the other guys a little). Your ad should list your company name, address, phone, and some services. One thing that has helped me get business over my competition is that I offer FREE Computer Pickup. People either don’t like to, or don’t know how to, unhook the web of tangled cables to their computer, for fear that they will never get them hooked back up. I offer a FREE Computer Pickup, where I come by and work on their computer right there, or I unhook it for them and take it back to my shop to work on it. And when I return, I don’t just drop it off at the front door, I go in and hook it all back up for them. This is not only a HUGE benefit of them going with me over my competition (who is standing behind a pretty glass case, waiting for business to come through the door), but also shows that I really did fix their computer and it now works and works better. It is a reassurance factor and builds credibility.

In a Yellow Pages Ad, you can get carried away by trying to do a long sales pitch, when, in fact, you can just list a few important things you do, and tell them to visit your website for the full details. This gets them to your website and there you can give them the full scoop and exactly how you can help them. Just don’t spend $100 or $500 every month to tell a story that you can do for free on a website.

Here is my Yellow Pages Ad. I spend $50 per month.

(my logo)

• Computer Tune-Ups

• Small Business Networking

• Wireless Networking

• PC Troubleshooting & Repair

• Custom-Built Computers

• Computer Upgrades

• OnSite Support

• Microsoft-Certified Techs

• Website Design & Hosting

• FREE Computer Pickup

(website address)

(address)

(phone)

BROCHURES & BUSINESS CARDS

Of course, you definitely need something to leave with potential and current customers. You absolutely MUST have a brochure and business card, and NOT the peel-off or perforated card stock you get from your local office supply store, and print them off on your ink jet printer! Your brochures and business cards are sometimes the only thing that a potential customer will see that represents your company. Now, you may work out of your home, but you don’t want it to look like you do. You want to appear as if you are a HUGE computer company, capable of handling any of their computer needs. A basement business card job doesn’t say that. If you want to gain good credibility, spend a little money and get commercially-printed brochures and business cards.

You will want a good image design (designed by a professional) with raised ink on the business cards and some kind of color (no black and white business cards or brochures). If you can afford it, get matching business cards and brochures, with the brochures on a white or ivory, gloss stock (like a 70# gloss text). You don’t want it to look like you photocopied the brochures. And it is proven that by adding some color to your marketing pieces, your responses are MUCH higher, than with black and white.

And by having matching business cards and brochures (the same color stock and printing), you show your potential customers that you have it together and this isn’t some basement operation (although it might be). Appearance and perception is everything. And your marketing material represents how you appear to your customers. Don’t skip corners here; you will regret it and it will cost you more money doing it the hard way. Trust me!

If you would like to have the rest of this article, in the form of a 15-page “Marketing Techniques… What Works and What Doesn’t For a PC Repair Business”, along with accounting forms for a PC Repair Business, a PC Repair Business Website FULL of Content, Step-by-Step How-to’s and much, much more, visit http://www.LapeerTechGroup.com/businessplan.asp for all of the details.

If you would like to use this article for any publication, you may do so if you do NOT change any of the content, and the tag lines remain intact.

I have worked in the IT field since 1989 and hold several Microsoft certifications. I am a network administrator and owner and operator of Lapeer Tech Group, located in Columbiaville, Michigan (just outside of Lapeer). During these years, I have supported both Macs and PCs, am an accomplished graphic and web designer, and have had the opportunity to support 2nd and 3rd level enterprise networks

Article Source: Free-Articles-Zone.com

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Sales Training Tip - 10 reasons why hard sales tactics never work

by Sean

Hard selling is when you go straight to the point and start to try to sell your product without any finesse. It is simply telling your prospective buyer that he should buy your product. Now this hard-core approach may work in some instances but the majority of your prospective buyers will be put off the sale by this approach. Here are 10 good reasons to change your sales tactics.

1. People hate being sold to: hard sell will bring out the worst in people. When aggressive sales techniques are used this will prompt the prospective buyer to be aggressive as well and act negatively to the sales person. Pretty soon they are ready to argue with you and you know the sale is completely lost.

2. Hard sell will intimidate your prospective buyer: This sales tactic will intimidate some buyers and again cause them to have less interest in the sale. Intimidation will again give your prospective buyer negative feelings towards the sale. They will not have a very good feeling about your company when they see the sort of sales people you hire. This is another factor that will cause you to lose the sales

3. Hard sell makes you sound desperate to sell and this will always put off your buyer. The buyer can sense when the sales person is desperate to sell a product to them. The buyer wonders why the seller is so desperate and is immediately suspicious. This suspicion will turn into mistrust of the truth in what the sales person is saying. The buyer will very likely not buy the product.

4. Hard sell in sales copy will often use hype and prospective buyers can see right through this. Prospective buyers are savvier than they were and will not put up with hype. They want the facts not some pie in the sky promise. If sales copy tries to push the sale with this type of tactic there will be no sale.

5. Prospects need a reason to buy: hard sell does not allow time to explain benefits and what the prospective buyer can expect from the product. Hard sell usually uses features rather than benefits. Benefits are the reason for a customer to buy. You must answer the quest on every prospective buyers mind “What’s in it for me?”

6. You need to build rapport with prospective buyers: building a relationship with your potential buyer is a very important part of selling. You will not only make a sale on the initial product you will build confidence in your buyer. When the buyer has confidence, they will very likely purchase another related product from your company. If you use hard sell you cannot build this all-important relationship. Ultimately you will lose not only the initial sale but also a valuable long-term customer.

7. Soft sell will allow the reader to make his own decision without being pushed into a sale. As mentioned people do not like to be sold to, they do not want to feel that someone is dictating to them and telling them that they have to buy something. Most people want to feel that they are making their own decisions and soft sell will do this for them.

8. Soft sell always outsells hard sell: it is a proven fact that soft sell always outsells soft sell. This is because people can be persuaded but do not like to be forced into a sale. Hard sell is literally pushing your product at your prospective customer and not giving them a chance to say no. Soft sell on the other hand is offering your prospective buyer a product and allowing them to make the decision to buy.

9. It is easier and more enjoyable to use soft sell tactics: soft sell will allow you to use more sales strategies. It is a more enjoyable way to sell because you can talk to the customer, demonstrate benefits and build up a good rapport with your prospective buyer. It is more enjoyable to talk with your buyer and get to know him rather than pushing a sale on him.

10. Soft sell is a powerful way of pre selling products and warming your customer for the sale. When you warm your prospective buyer for the sale, you will be far more successful in selling your product or service. People like to know more about products before they buy and pre selling will allow you to do this for them.

Hard sell rarely works because of the above reasons. Additionally there is a stereotype of the pushy sales person using hard sell tactics. When hard sell is used this image comes into the prospects mind and prevents them from accepting the sale. In this way you will lose many sales.

Sean McPheat provides sales training across the UK, Europe, US and the Middle East. Visit his sales blog for free information about how to increase your sales and close more deals.

Article Source: BylamoArticles.com

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Business Contact Information - What To Track
by Joshua Feinberg

Business contact information is a necessary requirement for pre qualifying potential clients. There are certain attributes that you want to look for in business contacts so you need to capture and track that information.

Every prospect’s file should have a list of his/her business contact information. It doesn’t matter how you get the information, it simply matters that you get it. Two common sources for acquiring the necessary business contact are through phone calls and through web site information request forms. These forms can be printed out and faxed to you or sent via pdf.

The important issue to remember when gathering business contact information is that you get the information back before you go on the sales call. The type of information you need to know about your business contacts include these items:

Contact information

Web site URL

The business industry

Number of employees

Number of locations

How many computer users

How many people are on the LAN

How many desktops

How many laptops

How many servers

Brand of PCs they have

Most important software application

Windows and Office versions

Do they use NetWare, Linux, Unix

Do they use a host based system

Define their top 5 computer related problems (list in descending order)

Who supports their PCs and technology today

What is their revenue

How did they first hear about your company

Bottom Line on Business Contact Information

All of this type of information about your business contacts will help you understand the business. You will be able to analyze whether the business is part of your sweet spot. With this type of business contact information you can make sure the company is the right size for your business and that they use hardware and software systems that you feel comfortable supporting.

Copyright MMI-MMVII, Computer Consultants Secrets. All Worldwide Rights Reserved. {Attention Publishers: Live hyperlink in author resource box required for copyright compliance}

Joshua Feinberg helps computer consultants get more steady, high-paying clients. Learn how you can too. Sign-up now for Joshua’s free Computer Consultants Secrets audio training at http://www.ComputerConsultantsSecrets.com

Article Source: ArticleRich.com

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Making Your Business Card

by Kaye Marks

Business cards are an essential part of every businessperson’s arsenal. You have to have a business card ready to hand to anyone who might be a potential customer. Ideally, each business card will bring you an extra sale (or ten). However, that will only happen if your business card is effective, and it can only be effective if you make it better than the zillions of others out there.

Let us go through the process of designing your business card, step by step.

1. Determine the goal of your business card

Are you simply trying to introduce yourself and your business? Are you trying to gain an advantage in a competitive market? Are you re-establishing yourself after a tough period or an embarrassing moment? Whatever your goal is to make your new business card, always remember to stick with it. Business cards do not have to be just your name and contact information anymore. Be bold when you are thinking of your goals.

2. Decide what your business card will say

Once you know your overall strategy, now you will have to be a bit more specific. Decide exactly what content you will include on your business card. Remember that you can include more than your name and number. Write your slogan on the card. If you are offering incentives to new customers, put the incentive right there on your business card! You can even put special offers or coupons on them. It is really up to you, but has a clear plan in mind at this point.

3. Decide how your business card will look

Let me give you a hint right away: you do not want the same old, black and white business card that you have seen thousands of times. You will want to go with color business cards, which are significantly more effective. Moreover, do not worry about the extra cost. Business card printing is not that expensive anymore, even for color business cards, and the increased profits you will see make it well worth the expense.

So now that you know what you are going to say on your business card, and you know you want to have color on your business card, decide how you want to put it all together. Do you want it to look formal and professional? On the other hand, do you want it to be more lively and spontaneous? As long as your design strategy fits with your type of business, then the sky is the limit. Just do not put colorful clowns and balloons on your card if you run a funeral home or anything like that.

4. Look around, and rethink

You now have a complete design for your business card, but you are not done. The worst thing you can do is take this design straight to the business card printing company you have chosen and have it done up. You might not like the results. First, look around at some sample cards or at the cards of your competitors. You want to make sure that your cards are unique. At the same time, you want to make sure that your cards are not so “out there” that they will distract the customer.

So evaluate your design for a few days before you commit to it. You will be happy you did.

5. Get ‘em done!

If you have taken some time to think over your design, you have most likely made a few changes to it. That is good; that means you are even happier with your card now. So now, if you are comfortable, get your business cards printed! In addition, start enjoying the increased revenue!

Kaye Z. Marks is an avid writer and follower of developments in business card printing and color business cards printing industry and how these improvements can benefit small to medium-scale business.

Article Source: Amazines.com

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Sell smarter, not harder

by Danny Austin

There are many ways entrepreneurs sabotage their own efficiency. Here are three of the biggest time-wasters to steer clear of:

Dealing with people who can't make the buying decision. All too often, we try making our pitch to anybody who'll listen-without finding out if we're speaking to the right person.

Don't be afraid to call to the highest levels--even if that means the president of your target company. He or she may not get involved directly, but will refer you to the appropriate contact. Then, you've opened the door to building a relationship at the highest level.

Working without a priority list. The best use of your time is focusing on the people who already generate the most income for you, as well as those with the most potential for generating more income. Make a top 20 list naming your 10 biggest accounts and top 10 prospects. Look at the list every day and ask yourself "What do I need to do today to get more business from this person?" or "What do I have to do today to move this sale to the next step?" Your top 20 list will keep you focused so you can spend your energy on getting the best return on investment. Always keep the list handy, whether it's on your Palm Pilot or in your wallet.

Relying on technology rather than on relationships. We all use technology. It's a great tool--but while it can help you with your business, it doesn't close the sale for you. Sales are made from relationships, and it's difficult to establish relationships on a computer screen. Keep your e-mails short. They're great for passing information, but they'll never take the place of the face-to-face (or even voice-to-voice) communication.

The biggest time-waster of all is trying to sell fast without selling smart. Never trade speed for knowledge. Don't go through the motions of what you're "supposed" to do--asking all the right questions, giving your pitch and going for the close--without taking time to get to the know your customers.

If you want to learn some Power Principles of Maximizing Your Business Success for FREE, subscribe to my FREE Newsletter by visiting http://www.ministryofbiz.com/eproducts.html

Article Source: ArticleRich.com

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Direct Mail Marketing for Computer Repair Services

By Lance Winslow

We have all heard of companies like the Geek Squad, they will come to your home and fix your computers or they will come to your office and help you set up your network because you are too stupid to know and do it yourself. If in doubt call the geeks, because they know how to do things that we can't do. We know it and they know it.

The question then is how do these types of computer repair services advertise and market their business? Well, one great method of advertising for a computer repair service would be direct mail marketing advertising like you see in those little coupon packages that come in the mail. The computer repair service can send out these coupons to zip codes that are within a 20-mile radius of their shop and get plenty of business.

How often should these direct mail marketing pieces for the computer repair services be sent out? I believe it makes sense to send them out once per month or every other month, because it does not cost that much and it is a much-needed service. You just never know when someone is get have a problem with their computer. Let's face it sooner or later we will all need computer repair services and we need to know how to get a hold of these folks. I hope you will please consider all this in 2006.

"Lance Winslow" - Online Think Tank forum board. If you have innovative thoughts and unique perspectives, come think with Lance. Lance is a guest writer for Our Spokane Magazine in Spokane, Washington

Article Source: EzineArticles.com

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Common reasons for sales reluctance

by Kaloyan Banev

Almost anyone in sales has some form of sales reluctance, whether it is a total reluctance to have anything to do with sales, a reluctance to call on certain prospects, or even to sell certain products or services. Sales reluctance can become an obstacle to achieving higher sales performance and in most cases it can be overcome. Here are 10 common underlying reasons for sales reluctance and a brief overview of what to do about it. It is not an exhaustive list but most other areas are connected in some way to these.

Lack of motivation

Self motivation acts as a driving force in sales and also as an anesthetic. Its common for sales people who have a success early in the day to show little signs of reluctance but if they have a bad start to the day their reluctance just increases. Having motivating goals and a plan to obtain them is one aspect of overcoming sales reluctance. The other is how to stay motivated and recover from disappointments and rejection. Success breeds success in sales and motivation fuels the activity needed to achieve success. If you focus on your motivation levels you will find that you are able to be more consistent. ‘Take a check up from the neck up’ as Zig Zigglar says.

Lack of clarity

You can be highly motivated but if you do not know what you are doing or the direction in which you should be focusing then that can lead to reluctance. Your energy will be sapped and you will not know why. It’s because you are confused and need more clarity. The way to get more clarity is to seek it and ask better questions.

Lack of confidence

There are many areas of confidence that could impact sales performance including self confidence, confidence about your services, confidence about the market, even confidence in undertaking a new task. In sales, confidence becomes a ‘chicken and egg’ situation. The more you do something and the more you get it wrong, the more likely you are to start getting it right. Being able to control the feeling of confidence whilst developing competence is a learnable skill.

Incorrect Attitude/Mindset

Everything looks different depending on how you look at it. Preconceived notions about what selling is or isn’t and what people may or may not be thinking all adds to the sales reluctance mix. Learning to see things the way sales people do will help to put things into perspective and can help with sales reluctance. Seek mentoring from someone who is already achieving the sales success you want and learn how they think. Over time and with proper application you will begin to think just like them and have the same levels of success.

Limiting Beliefs

There are certain beliefs that we will have developed as we grew up such as ‘Its rude to talk about money’ or ‘People do not like me’ or even ‘All salespeople are crooks!’. These get experienced as self talk at a very subtle level whenever in situations that invoke them. Becoming aware of them is the first stage of overcoming them. Then you need to find counter examples and develop you own self talk and activities to develop new self talk. Working with an NLP practitioner could help you accelerate the process.

Insufficient strategies

If you have only learnt one way to sell and you are selling in a different market or to different prospects you may find that your sales results begin to suffer and you begin to lose confidence and develop a level of sales reluctance. Find someone who is achieving success in your new situation so that you can learn and apply their strategies. Read books, attend seminars, listen to audio programmes. Just make sure you are looking at new answers.

Need for approval

This is a very common issue in sales and one of the harder to resolve quickly. It is a good thing in terms of relationship building but if the sales person does not have control over their need for approval then it can lead to extreme reluctance in certain sales situations. At the extremes it will lead to total sales avoidance of anything to do with sales or anything that risks damaging the relationship between the sales person and the client. Conventional training will not resolve this. It takes a change in mindset in order to resolve or strategies to reinterpret rejection as something else. It is best to screen out people with an extreme need for approval at the recruitment stage. Personal mentoring and coaching can be effective and training that focuses on mindset rather than technique.

Poor self image

People live according to their self concept. If they do not see themselves as someone who can be successful in sales then they will feel uncomfortable with selling. Also they could not see themselves as someone who could talk confidently with a senior decision maker. It is possible to use visualization and affirmations to help work on self image. NLP contains many techniques an individual can use to improve self image and working with an NLP practitioner can help accelerate the process.

Underdeveloped people skills

The individual may actually have a reluctance to something much more fundamental. They may feel uncomfortable in inter-personal situations such as meeting new people or even making eye contact. It is something you can screen for with sales people but business owners and partners, it needs attention. As relationships are at least 50% of any sale, it is better to begin with developing inter-personal skills before worrying about sales technique.

Lack of Activity

Just as success breeds an upward spiral of success, lack of activity can breed a downward spiral of lack of activity. Just like an electric fan that has been unplugged, the activity slowly slows. Even top sales people can fall into this trap. They may have a personal situation that takes their eye off the ball and slowly their performance diminishes. Before you know it they start becoming reluctant to do any activity. This is the easiest to fix. It takes getting the person focused back on all the things they were doing to make them successful in the first place.

Sales coaching :: Business development consultant

Article Source: ArticleRich.com

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Advertising Campaigns And Craigslist

by Kevin Sinclair

Craigslist provides a worthwhile media for an advertising campaign for any business offering their services and products. Any business owner can appreciate the financial gains of advertising on Craigslist, whether their services and products are available through real stores or e commerce websites.

There is little risk involved in advertising on Craigslist, unlike other forms of advertising media. Advertising is free on Craigslist, with the exception of posting for housing and jobs in in specific markets. Users must agree with the terms of service for Craigslist and must follow their specific guidelines while placing advertisements; however, it is free to use. This means you do not have to concern yourself financially to place your business advertisements or meeting potentials in terms of sales generated.

Reach Potential Consumers on Craigslist

You can reach a multitude of potential consumers when placing advertisements for services and products on Craigslist, as it is worthwhile. Craigslist provides a fact sheet for review that reveals significant information concerning the websites flow of internet traffic. Craigslist enjoys nearly four billion page views each month, while ten million people a month use Craigslist. These statistics clearly show that advertisements placed on Craigslist receive some attention by potential consumers.

The advertising possibilities are limitless with so many people visiting Craigslist each month, however there is no guarantee any of those visitors will find interest in your service or product. As with any marketing campaign, your advertisements must be informative and appealing while being placed in the best location on Craigslist so that you reach your target viewers.

Locating your Craigslist Target Viewers

It is essential that your advertising have the proper structure to reach your target viewers as opposed to a large audience of internet users who hold not interest in your services or products. It is in your best interest to reach a small audience of those individuals who do find interest in your services and products, since those with an interest are your target viewers.

To reach your target viewers on Craigslist you must place your advertisements in the most appropriate locations. There are specific sections for businesses to place their advertisements on Craigslist. There are a number of categories in this section. A computer repair business would be wise to place advertisements in the computer section rather than the automotive section since anyone looking for help with computers will naturally look there first. Sometimes it is appropriate to place advertisements in other sections as well. As long as it does not cross the line into spamming the section, it is acceptable to do so.

You have a couple of options when there is no specific section for your advertisements. You could place your advertisement in the small business section where it is easy find while doing a search of this section. On the other hand, feel free to contact Craigslist to make suggestions of additional categories. If they believe the category warrants an addition, they may be willing to accommodate the section.

Advertising and Spamming There is a Difference

Craigslist provides for advertising, but not for spamming. Placing an advertisement in the correct section on Craigslist is fine, however you cannot place the same advertisement in every section of Craigslist as this is spamming, no matter the geographical region. There are numerous reasons why spamming is unproductive.

When potential consumers see spam, they know what it is and will more than likely not patronize your business. When Craigslist finds someone practicing the technique of spamming, all the advertisements are deleted and they may very well ban that individual for their website. This means spamming is really a big waste of your valuable time and not worthwhile in the least.

Discover Kevin Sinclair's system for making profits regardless of whether anyone joins your network marketing business.

Article Source: Bylamo Articles.com

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How to Attract All the Clients You Can Handle
by Jan Marie Dore

There is a myth among self-employed professionals that if you are really good at what you do, clients will automatically contact you.

It's just not so!

Ongoing marketing is an important aspect of any business. If you can 'systematize' your marketing, this will leverage your time more effectively, so that you can focus on what you do best, and still get the word out.

Here are eight marketing strategies that when applied correctly will help you attract all the clients and opportunities you can handle:

1. Have a Full Practice Attitude

Having the right attitude is the secret to success in building any business. Right from day one, act as if your practice is full - however you define full. Taking this attitude will help you feel more confident when you speak to prospects about your services. Your motto should be: be visible, make connections, deliver value, and have fun.

2. Get Really Clear on your Ideal Practice

If you don't know where you're going, how will you know when you get there? It's up to you to define what you want your professional practice to look like. The clearer you are on what you want to have happen and the way you want your practice to be, the more likely it will happen. Write out how many clients you want, who they are, where they work, and how many talks or workshops you want to give this year, how often you will send your newsletter out, and any other aspects of your business you don't now have clarity on.

3. Master Your Craft

Focus on gaining experience and being the best at what you do rather than building a practice. Plan to work with as many people as you can until you feel very confident and self-assured in your skills. Your practice will start to fill naturally as word gets around how good you are at what you do and the results you can help people achieve.

4. Make Marketing a Top Priority

Often we get so busy with the daily routine that marketing activities tend to fall to the bottom of the to-do list. A technique that top marketers use is to schedule a single, daily marketing action. What would be the one thing that if you were to do it consistently every day, or at a minimum three times a week, would move your practice forward? Take a moment to describe what your single, daily marketing action (or three times weekly if that suits you better) will be.

5. Improve Your Skills to Promote Your Business More Effectively

Marketing and self-promotion are based on natural abilities, but there are also some skills to learn in order to be an effective marketer. Some of the skills include speaking, writing, networking, marketing, selling, coaching, and training & facilitating groups. You don't need to learn all of these skills - perhaps just a few. Choose the ones that come most easily to you, and create a plan to really master them by reading, studying, or taking a course.

6. Use an Information Marketing Approach

Deliver valuable information to your ideal prospects, and you won't ever have to sell again. Look for opportunities to give your information away. Demonstrate how you can solve the problems of your perfect prospects. Taking the information marketing approach, rather than promoting yourself, you would give away your articles, newsletters, white papers, short talks, teleseminars, or interviews that would position you as the authority in your topic area.

7. Aim to be a Specialist in Your Topic Area

People will be drawn to you like a magnet as the subject matter expert in your field. And, they will pay a premium price for your valuable services. Aim to demonstrate your expertise in your specialty in everything that you do, and every contact you make. Share success stories about the results that people who work with you are able to achieve.

8. Position Yourself as THE Expert in a Very Narrow Niche

You want people to think of you, and only you, when they have a problem they need to solve. Positioning yourself as the go-to person in a very narrow niche is an extremely effective marketing strategy to attract more clients. It's a tactic used by the most successful professionals. People want to work with the best specialists, the subject matter experts, and the industry leaders.

The service professions are evolving, the competition is greater than ever, and marketing tactics that worked well before no longer produce results. Apply any one of these strategies to stand out in a crowded marketplace, come out on top, and attract all the clients and opportunities you can handle, and all the income you want.

Jan Marie Dore teaches women business owners secrets to success. Sign up for her savvy and smart FREE e-zine and receive a 30 page Bonus Workbook 'The 7 Critical Small Business Marketing Mistakes Women Make. . . and Solutions to Easily Fix Them' by visiting www.femalepreneurs.com

Article Source: BylamoArticles.com

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Why You Should Get a Toll Free Number for Your Business
by Jason Kay

In today's world of cell phones and digital media, many business owners - particularly small business owners - no longer consider an 800 number a necessity to running a successful business. After all, many cell phone plans offer free long distance; and in any case, many customers choose to get in touch for free via email.

Having an 800 number can still benefit a business immensely, however. Although a toll-free number is no longer a necessity for allowing customers to get in touch with you, it definitely makes your business appear more credible. A small business without a toll-free number gives an impression of being run out of someone's garage - whereas when customers see an 800 number, they imagine a brick-and-mortar business with a storefront, dedicated phone lines, and phone book ads.

Whether or not your business fits the latter example, it is obviously in your best interests to give your customers the impression that it does. Getting an 800 number can be a little intimidating, but it isn't as difficult as you might think. Here is what you need to know in order to get a toll-free number for your business.

How Does an 800 Number Work?

Years ago, the expense of setting up a toll-free number prevented many small and mid-size businesses from getting their own 800 numbers. Even today, most people think of a toll-free number as unattainable for most small businesses - which is probably why it impresses customers so much. On the contrary, though, an 800 number is relatively easy to acquire - in most cases, all you need is an existing phone, even a cell phone.

Toll-Free Forwarding Versus a Dedicated Line

For the typical small or mid-sized business, the toll-free service provider simply forwards calls to the designated number. Depending on your business setup, that could be your office phone, your home line, or even a cell phone. Some providers will even forward the call to multiple lines at once, allowing you to answer the call wherever you are at the time.

Businesses with higher volumes of incoming calls might want to consider a designated line instead. Basically, you will need to have a new phone line installed, which will be used solely for incoming toll-free calls. Although you will need to pay for the installation and setup, you will get a better per-minute rate on incoming calls, which will more than make up for the initial expense.

The Toll-Free Prefix

It used to be that an 800 number was the only kind of toll-free number. However, as these numbers became more popular for businesses, other prefixes were added in order to increase availability. The benefit is that if an 800 number you want - such as one that is similar to your local number, or one that spells something out - is already taken, you can get it using another toll-free prefix.

The prefixes for toll-free numbers are:

* 800 * 888 * 877 * 866

Finding a Toll-Free Service Provider

There are many toll-free service providers to choose from: the big, well-known providers such as AT&T and MCI, as well as many smaller providers. Contrary to common belief, large providers cannot offer you a greater choice of numbers. Although each provider typically has a pool of available numbers under their name, you can choose any toll-free number that is not already in use. Since the availability of numbers is the same for every provider, you are free to choose your provider according to the rates and features they can offer.

Finding the Best Rates

Rates can vary widely between toll-free service providers. Although many people believe that large service providers will be able to offer the best rates, in fact the opposite is often true. Your best bet is to shop around, comparing the rates and features offered by different providers.

There are two basic types of rates you will need to compare:

* Monthly rates - Most toll-free service providers will charge you a base fee every month, regardless of whether you receive any incoming calls. Monthly fees may be as much as $20, or you may not need to pay any at all.

* Per-minute rates - On top of the monthly fees, you will need to consider how much you are charged per minute for incoming calls. In general, these rates range from 7 cents to 30 cents per minute, although smaller businesses will pay more per minute than those that receive a higher volume of calls. You should
also compare billing increments between plans - the smaller the increment, the better - and avoid plans that require you to meet a minimum number of minutes every month.

Deciding What Features You Want

There are a number of features available for toll-free numbers. You will need to decide which features you would like to have, and then compare the availability and price of these features between different providers.

Some of the features offered on 800 numbers include:

* Call blocking - Block callers who fall outside your coverage (and would therefore cost you more than other callers), such as calls originating from pay phones.

* Account codes - By requiring employees and/or customers to enter an access code, you can ensure that only authorized callers get through.

* ANI - Just like caller ID on your home line, ANI tells you who is calling. This feature can also be set up to display the caller's information on a computer.

* Dialed Number Identification Service (DNIS) - If you have more than one 800 number, DNIS lets you know which number was called. This is particularly useful if you are running multiple marketing campaigns, and would like to know which is the most successful.

Choosing a Toll-Free Number

As already noted, your choice of a toll-free service provider will not limit the variety of 800 numbers available to you. You can either choose a number from the provider's pool, or a "vanity number."

Choosing from the Provider's Pool

Service providers generally have a pool of toll-free numbers that have been set aside for them. Because these numbers are already in the provider's system, your 800 number can be set up much more quickly than if you choose a number from outside the provider's pool.

Selecting a Vanity Number

A toll-free number that you choose yourself, either because it is similar to your office number or because the corresponding letters spell out something memorable, is known as a vanity number. As long as the number is not being used by another business, you will be able to claim it. However, if it is not already in your provider's pool of numbers, you will need to wait about a week for the number to be transferred and your account to be activated. The good news is that once you have claimed an 800 number, it is yours: Even if you decide to change providers, you can take your number with you.

Using Your Toll-Free Number

Once you have selected an 800 number and a provider, you need only to wait for your account to be set up. Before you start giving your toll-free number out to customers, you should test it with the help of family and friends in various locations. After you have ensured that the number works and the sound quality is acceptable, you are ready to benefit from the added credibility an 800 number gives to your business!

About the author:
Jason Kay is a regular contributor to business related websites such as Best Toll Free 800 Numbers, which provides customer reviews and ratings of toll-free number services.

Article Source: GoArticles.com

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Computer Repair Services: Four Steps to Customer Decisions
by Joshua Feinberg

When deciding to go with your computer repair services, a customer cycles through four steps: awareness; interest; evaluation; adoption. The strategies you use at each phase will encourage the prospect to take the steps to the end.

Step One: Awareness

Prospects you encounter might know about your computer repair services, but might not know much information about them beyond that. Your strategy in this initial stage should be to educate the consumer about the details of your business using flyers, brochures or websites. Providing a description of your services that is both exciting and informative will help bring you closer to a sale.

Step Two: Interest

This is the next level of customer curiosity. At this stage, a customer has already heard your commercials, seen ads or heard about you from friends. But he still needs more information about your services, so you should at this point provide more specific information about your computer repair services.

Step Three: Evaluation

At this stage, the potential client has complete information and has to evaluate whether your computer repair services are right for him. You can make this decision simple with the right strategy. One of these strategies is to offer a guarantee for services that will give him peace of mind in case he is not satisfied with any of the work you do.

Step Four: Adoption

The moment a customer decides to use your computer repair services you need to use strategies that will make him a long-term client. You need to create customer loyalty by providing superior service and the building blocks for a trusting relationship.

You have to understand the behavior of your customers in order to offer the best computer repair services. If you know the four steps of the decision-making process and implement strategies that will be appealing to prospects, you will get repeat business and optimize customer satisfaction.

Copyright MMI-MMVII, Small Biz Tech Talk. All Worldwide Rights Reserved. {Attention Publishers: Live hyperlink in author resource box required for copyright compliance}

Joshua Feinberg helps computer consultant business owners get steady, high-paying clients. Sign-up now for Joshua’s free audio training that shows you how to use field-tested, proven Small Biz Tech Talk tools at http://www.SmallBizTechTalk.com/blog

Article Source: http://www.articlerich.com

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10 Business Card Blunders That Hurt Business

by Laurie Hayes

You don't have to be a Fortune 500 company to have an effective business card that captures attention and inspires someone to want to know more about you and what you offer. By being aware of these ten common blunders and making sure you avoid them, you'll have a business card that gets noticed and increases your number of referrals and customers.

1. Miniscule print. Have you ever received a card that has a huge graphic taking up half the card and print so small you can't read the phone number? Well, I have. Too many in fact. And after straining my eyes and holding the cards under bright lights, trying to "crack the code," I eventually pitched them into the trash.

Make your name, phone number, web site and address easy to read. Business people are busy and won't spend more than a few seconds trying to decipher your information. Most don't carry magnifying glasses in their back pocket either.

2. No physical address. Perhaps you don't want to give your physical address because you work from home.

Unfortunately, holding back on contact information is harmful and hints that your business is not well established or reputable. Consider getting a post office box or asking a colleague if you may use her business address for your mail. Create a suite number to create an image of professionalism and longstanding.

3. Slick texture. It is often recommended to have a business card that "feels" different from everyone else's so it stands out. The problem that arises with this practice is some of these cards cannot be written on.

Last week at an event, a gentleman gave me his card and struggled to write some additional information onto it because it was made of slippery plastic. He did his best, but by the time I got home, the information was gone.

4. Blank back. The back of your business card is prime real estate. Something that very few people use. Use this valuable space to print a coupon, offer a special report or complementary consult.

Create an offer that inspires action such as, "Present this card for a 25% discount on your first visit." or "Bring this in with you and get a free oil change."

This gives people an added reason to hold onto it.

5. No photo. Placing your picture on your card makes you more memorable and instills a stronger sense of connection. As people look at your card time and again, they begin to feel like they know you and are more apt to get in touch with you. Imagine collecting 50 to 100 cards at an event then trying to remember who's who. Your picture creates instant recall while others may be quickly forgotten.

6. Incongruence. If you offer a web design service and don't have a web site of your own listed, your card will raise red flags in people's minds. I recall meeting a gentleman who introduced himself as a web designer and gave me his card. When I asked him why he didn't have his web site listed, he said he didn't have one.

If you want to sell a Ford, drive a Ford. If you want to sell cell phones, have one and make your number available. If you want to sell toll-free service, make sure you have your toll-free number on your card.

You have to walk your talk and demonstrate that you live, eat, breathe and firmly believe that what you offer is of tremendous value to others, starting with yourself.

7. No benefits. A graphic, your name and contact details don't do a whole lot to create a memorable impression, and by the time new contacts get home with your card, they may have forgotten what it is you do. Create a tagline or something memorable that expresses a benefit and states exactly what business you're in.

For example, a local delivery rep may have "Your important business packages delivered same day or get twice your money back!" That's grabs a person by the eyeballs and makes it very clear what the business does.

8. Not unique. Ninety percent of the cards you collect look the same. After all, how creative can you really get? Well, you'd be surprised ...

- crop a corner or have a stencil cut out - attach a magnet to the back so it's displayed on a fridge or file cabinet - include contact details in Braille - make the back a scratch ticket for a discount

- place a mini map to your location on the back

- make it 3D

- make it look like the product you're selling, ie. a cell phone

- place it in a protective sleeve

- have a picture of a satisfied client on the front with a testimonial

- if you're a lawn care company, make your card a packet with a few seeds inside

The creative possibilities are endless.

9. Challenging sizes. Although creatively shaped cards and over-sized cards do stand out, they can pose challenges for those who use scanning software to import the cards into electronic storage devices.

And, oversize cards don't make it into the standard business card albums or card holders. Your card may stand out and stand alone, but it might also become lost or overlooked because it's not stored with others.

10. Home jobs. No matter how hard you try, a home-made business card simply can't compete with professionally printed cards. Perforated and light-weight cards scream "cheap" and "amateur" and will lessen your ability to make an impact.

Professional business cards can be printed inexpensively and go a long way to create an image of professionalism and quality for both you and your business.

Simple, inexpensive changes to your card can make the difference between boom or bust in the number of referrals and new prospects you attract. Invest in creating an effective, professional card and you will be rewarded many times over.

Laurie Hayes, founder of The HBB Source, and creator of The Complete 12-Step Guide To Starting A Home-Based Business, helps entrepreneurs build loyal client relationships and attract more quality referrals. Get her free ezine packed with helpful resources at http://www.thehbbsource.com and learn how to build your business through customer appreciation at http://www.hbbsourcecards.com

Article Source: GoArticles.com

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Public Relations, Small Businesses & Viral Marketing

by Naz Daud

Most business owners do not realize that they are an expert in their field. The media always require expert opinion when collating data for a story. How can you bridge the gap and get your business in the papers?

To do this affectively you need to keep a look out for any breaking story that is in the same line of business as yours. As an example say you are in the computer repair business and a story breaks out about a new virus doing the rounds. Contact the reporter or media organization that broke the story and offer them your expert opinion.

At this point, do not talk about your business but rather focus on the story, possible solutions and problems if this virus is not controlled quickly. If you are lucky the newspaper will publish your expert opinion and next time a story requires further information they will get in touch.

Many people do not realize that the media organizations have an insatiable urge for new material. How can you fill this requirement? One way of helping the media is by writing articles. I sell franchises, so I write many articles about the franchise industry. I am careful that within these articles I never talk about my business but rather focus on the franchise industry.

I write about anything and everything to do with the franchise industry apart from the field I am in. The reason for this is that the media hates self promotion articles.

These articles have been published on many franchise websites, newsletters and magazines around the world. The only reference that the article was written by me is the signature at the bottom of the article which they are obliged to publish if they want to use my work. I call this viral marketing.

It is even better when the stories are published on the medias website as then you have live links back to your website. One article I wrote "Business Cultures Old and New" has been published in many different websites and publications around the world. It has been translated in many different languages.

I am actually amazed at which articles have worked for me. An article that I might have spent a week working on might never catch on whilst one that was written in ten minutes could really catch on. The secret is to write many articles and leave it the media to decide which ones they like.

One area I really struggle in is in creating a catchy headline. By chance I manage to get it right some of the times. I have noticed that the headline can make the difference between the article being successful or not.

Another useful bit of information is that negative articles tend to do much better then positive ones. People are much more eager to read about scams operating in your industry than they are about the opportunities.

I will leave you with on final thought. Never ever make up anything in your article and always research any facts that you include within. If you do quote any statistics, keep a record of where these came from just in case you are asked to substantiate your research. Your words will come back to haunt you if you have any half truths and your article does well.

Naz Daud is the founder of CityLocal Franchise Opportunity. This business franchise is for people who would like to work from home and be their own boss UK Business Directory & Franchise Opportunity Franchise Business Opportunity Business Franchise Opportunity

This article is provided by Amazines.com

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Efficient Marketing Strategies with CRM
By karthic karthic

CRM and Marketing Strategies

It is true that customer is king. If you want to make them feel that way, then you need to ensure that you have the right set of tools to make this possible. Implementing CRM software has become the core to the success of a business today.

Most CRM models today focus on marketing matrices. In CRM, the matrix is a sequential marketing plan that will help you to generate several new customers whilst focusing on retaining the old ones.

It lets you create annual strategies for your complete customer database by creating a matrix. The matrix only needs minimum adjustments each month.

Steps:

In marketing matrices, the target segment is identified and plans are sketched out accordingly. Usually, it relates with creation of mailing lists, specifying the frequency of contact etc.

The target market is then approached with custom plans that suit them. Further classification of the target market according to demographics is also possible with a matrix.

Once a potential customer is turned into a customer, then the matrix automatically removes them from the list.

There is a separate set of strategies for existing customers who will be targeted with newer offers and plans. The proper design of the matrix is crucial for the success of the matrices.

Questions:

There are several questions that you need to ask yourself before you plan, design and execute a matrix.

When you have the answers to these questions, the planning and implementation will become a lot easier.

• What are the segments that I am looking to target?

• What kind of products and services am I looking to market here?

• What is my unique selling point that places me at an advantage over my competitors?

• What is the frequency with which I wish to contact my potential customers?

• Have I defined the separate set of strategies for customers who are at the fag end of the customer life cycle?

For more information visit : http://www.officeinteractive.com

Article Source: http://www.free-articles-zone.com

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Creating Brochures That Speak For You

by Kaye Marks

Many times, when potential clients look at your brochure, they do not know you very well. This is their first impression of your company and your products or services. They are looking for information on how you can help them. Therefore, your business brochures should speak for you.

Most people will not read every word of your brochure. You need to get the benefits of your product in the most-read areas of the brochure: headlines, subheads and captions. Think about what you want the client to take away after reading your brochure. Put these ideas or calls to action in these spotlight areas.

Make sure your calls to action are concrete and clear – do not be shy! Invite the client to attend a seminar, visit your Web site or call to place an order. Of course, you cannot rely on your brochure to sell your product for you; it is really an informative invite to find out more information. A key phrase you might use is “To find out more…” with your call to action. You want your brochure to draw the client in so that you can sell your product soon after they see the brochure.

The feel of the brochure is also important. This refers to how the brochures actually feel to the hand, not the emotional feel! Be sure to do some trial run brochure printing — print drafts on the actual paper you are planning to use for all of them, and try a few different thicknesses and qualities.

If you are going to fold your brochure, these drafts will help you see if the brochure will stay folded, or if you can see through the first layer to what is inside. This will help you to decide on the thickness and quality of the paper. It will also show you what the ink quality and the color scheme would look like on this kind of paper. Believe it or not, in brochure printing, you can pick from many, many shades of white paper.

Another way a brochure can speak for you is to point the readers to another marketing material — for instance, to your Web site or a newsletter. You could include a free offer to one or more editions of a newsletter that has more detailed information on your product or your industry.

To create winning business brochures, you need to appeal to potentially two types of customers — those that want to scrutinize every word and those that are more visual and will gather your message from your graphics. You need to have professional, yet easy-to-read copy, partnered with graphics that are in pleasing colors that also inform.

In addition, the last and most important part of brochure printing — get those brochures out to the public! Fan out a display of them at your receptionist’s desk, or take them with you to trade shows. Some businesses will allow you to leave brochures at their cash registers, and if your product or service closely aligns one of these businesses, you will target the customers that are most likely to need your product.

Kaye Z. Marks is an avid writer and follower of developments in brochure printing and the production of business brochures and their benefits to businesses.

Article Source: Amazines.com

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How to Market Your Small Business

by Kaye Marks

The first step to small business marketing is to identify and exploit the differences between you and your competitors. Once you do that, you need to communicate these differences and the benefits of customers choosing you over the competition with your marketing materials.

These materials, such as brochures, newsletters and even full color business cards, will really help you to market your business. These materials can save you a lot of time and energy that you would have spent talking to clients and explaining your business to potential customers. Not to say that talking directly to your customers is not important; it is. However, you can reach a lot more people in a shorter amount of time by mailing out brochures rather than going door to door to sell your product.

There are six steps for creating most marketing material, according to the Microsoft Small Business Council:

1. Set a goal.

2. Select the medium (brochure, flyer, etc.).

3. Compose your message and decide on how to illustrate it.

4. Create a design.

5. Prepare, proof and print your work.

6. Duplicate the final project in large quantities.

Along the way, you should keep in mind the following tips:

Look Everywhere for Ideas (especially your competition) Now, this is not to say steal your competition’s ideas, but think about the message they are trying to convey, and if they are getting that message across to you. If so, what makes their materials work? Why are you receiving that message? Is it a catchy slogan? Great color scheme? What about their business card printing quality? Did they use thick or thin cardstock and what does each option convey to you? Question why they did what they did and put that same thought into your materials. You should have a good reason for each decision you make, from color scheme to your logo.

Show the Customer How Your Product Benefits Them Your company may be made up of wonderful, top-notch employees, but will the customer care? Focus your message on the customer and how your product will help that person with whatever problem they have. Show them how much easier or happier life would be with your product.

Don’t Be Afraid of Drafts Rarely will your first idea be your final one. It is okay to have many rough ideas —no one has to know how many ideas you rejected before you found the perfect marketing strategy. Brainstorm with other employees, or pay a consultant to help you come up with ideas. Also, do not be afraid to leave your ideas for a while. Work on your materials, put them away for a day, and then come back to them with a fresh mind to determine which ideas will work and which will not.

Get Some Reactions Show your ideas to people who know nothing about your business or product. Share your thoughts with professionals in other realms, like graphic designers or writers. Try to get people that match your target audience to look at your materials and give you their honest feedback.

Get Help If you do not feel comfortable with your writing, designing or production skills, ask for (or pay for) help from professionals. A lot of print and design companies do business card printing so you can have a streamlined look across the board, from brochures to full color business cards. Professional-looking materials will show your customers that you are serious about winning their business.

Kaye Z. Marks is an avid writer and follower of developments in business card printing and the production of full color business cards and their benefits to businesses.

Article Source: Amazines.com

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Turning Everyday Conversations into Networking Opportunities

by Robert Johnston

Did you know that you can close almost every conversation with a chance to hand out your business card? As long as your business or the business of the person you are speaking with is introduced somewhere in the conversation, handing out your business card is perfectly natural. Learning this skill simply requires you to learn a “catch phrase” that you can use after every conversation.

First, thank the people you speak with for taking the time to talk to you, but do so in a way that makes them feel important. You can say something positive, such as “I really enjoyed talking to you today.” This shows them that you are appreciative of their time and interested in what they had to say. By making this personal, the people you speak with are more apt to remember the conversation in the future.

Next, ask them for their business card. Again, this shows that you have taken a personal interest in them and their businesses. You can say, “Do you have a card?” This is easy to do, yet many new business owners forget to ask.

When you receive the card, resist the temptation to simply stick it in your pocket or purse. Remember, the person you are talking to spent as much money on business card printing as you did, and they want the chance to network as much as you do. Consider getting a business card folder that you can carry with you in your purse or briefcase. Slip the card into this folder. If you do not have a folder, carry a business card case that you can put the card into to protect it. By treating a business card with care, you are showing the individual that their contact information is important to you.

Remember to use the business cards in your business card folder when you need professional services. Remind the people you call where and when you met, and chances are they will return the favor at some point. Not only is this a great networking tool, but this folder will also become an important resource when you need professional services for your business or personal life.

Now is the chance to give out your business card. Simply say, “Here is mine,” and hand it to the individual. Because you took the time to ask for the other person’s card and treat it with care, your card will likely be accepted and also treated with care. Whether or not the conversation develops into more business for you in the future, you have taken the opportunity to get your name out there.

Finally, tell the person you will email them. This is the final step in closing the conversation, and it is the first step towards a potential future business relationship. Of course, you do need to email the person as soon as you possibly can, using the contact information on the business card you received. In your email you will again state that you enjoyed the conversation and provide the person with your contact information. Keep it short and sweet, but follow through.

If you close every possible conversation with these four phrases, you will be able to give out your business card effectively. As a side benefit, you will not appear pushy when you do present your card to those you meet. Soon you will see these efforts resulting in new business contacts and more income for your business.

Visit this site for more information on business card printing.

Article Source: Amazines.com

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