It is understandable that as a small business, one of your main concerns is to make sure that you have functional marketing collaterals. Of course, you would not be able to afford the same collaterals as used by Fortune 500 companies.

What you can afford must be as effective as the ads of big companies even if they are cheap custom brochures or cheap business cards. You surely can produce trifold brochures that come with a cost efficient price. The only thing you must make sure is these are as effective as the big budget ones.

Nevertheless, cheap brochures do not have to have cheap results though. Even if you spent only a miniscule amount of what your competition has done, your custom brochures for one can have the same results, if not better, as that of its more costly counterpart. You just have to know how to work your collaterals such as your trifold brochures to get the outcome you need to grow your business.

First things first, you have to treat your cheap custom brochures the way you do with expensive collaterals. This means that you have to maximize your distribution if you want your message conveyed to as many target clients as possible.

Do not be afraid that your collaterals may just become fodder to your target clients’ garbage cans. With cheap collaterals, you will have more than your usual amount for distribution because you can print as many as you want even with a limited budget. With its cheaper costs, you will be able to send out a big number of brochures to your target market. The easier it is to relay your message to your target clients.

Second, if you print cheap then compensate with an excellent design for your trifold brochures. Your target market will see your design first anyway. Even before they can qualify your collaterals as quality material, they would be distracted by your stunning design, enough to make them ignore the poor quality stock and inks used. They will definitely not notice the less-than-ideal material of your collateral if they can be entertained by your design from the very beginning. So if you know that you cannot afford those expensive paper and inks, might as well invest on your design and layout to impress your target audience.

Third, do not stop marketing until you got your last collateral sent to your target clients. Mail them as often as you can, and send them out as quickly as possible. In addition, since they are cheap, you can afford to print batches of your collaterals without thinking about the amount you have to shell out. It takes out the pressure of limiting yourself with the amount of collaterals you should have, as you do not worry about the costs of printing it again and again. You can have as many repeat mails until your target clients recognize and remember you from your message.

You do not have to be embarrassed with your cheap marketing tools. Even with their cost-efficient price, it does not mean that they can have fewer results. They can work as well with the more expensive print jobs. You just have to determine how you work them well so they can give you better results for your business.

Kaye Z. Marks is an avid writer and follower of the developments in custom brochures or trifold brochures.

Popularity: 1% [?]

Do you want to know what the secret to great marketing is? What is the formula to having success in marketing your business? What makes one business more successful than the other does? What can help build and increase sales that you almost will not be able to know what to do with it?Is it in your color posters or color poster printing? On the other hand, is it in your TV and radio ad that you paid for dearly?

Actually, even if there are a lot of marketing guru or experts out there who claims that they could tell you all about the most effective tips and strategies to increase your sales, there is only one ultimate formula that can really get you where you want to be. There is no secret as some marketers would say. According to some of these so-called experts, there is no such thing as a secret formula to having a business where you get higher and higher sales every time.

It is true. You are what you have become because of you. It is where you want to be because that is where you took your business. Is it difficult to understand? According to the expert, what this means is that wherever you are right now or whatever has become of your business is entirely your fault. Where you are right now is precisely your doing, no one else’s.

Your color posters for example have been very effective for so long now because you have made it the way it is. On the other hand, if you are not getting any positive results from your color poster printing then it is entirely your responsibility. Except for the fact that you asked for help from a color poster printing company to reproduce your color posters, the fact remains that the overall appearance and content of your collateral is still entirely in your hands. No one else made the decision for you.

Therefore, this expert marketer held that if you want to ask for help, do not wait until it is too late to do anything else. Do not wait too long that any expert or marketing guru will not be able to help you anymore. Even if you pay all your gold and silver, you will not be able to reverse your fate, all because you have waited too long to do something about it.

Remember that marketing may be a solution to your business woes; but it is not entirely the miracle drug that can work overnight. It takes time and patience before you can have the results you want. It is something that you just have to do not just once or twice or even three times. You need to market every day.

So do not wait before it is too late to do anything for your business. There are plenty of experts to help you. Make sure to get their skills so you can achieve the goals you have set out to do.

Know more about color posters or color poster printing.

Katie Marcus writes information about online printing and commercial printing technologies.

Popularity: 1% [?]

Most businesses commit mistakes when it comes to campaign strategies for the simple reason that there is no one fool proof formula to developing advertising strategies. Most of the strategies have been developed through trial and error and most have been tested through many years of business experience. For instance, printing brochures is not like what it was two decades ago. However, the techniques have been refined to fit current trends.

Marketing is the key to having a successful business. No business would ever survive without a good marketing strategy. However, there are common mistakes that business commit. Learn about them and be sure to avoid them in future undertakings.

A. Do not be just one among many

Often this mistake is committed by businesses, which are just contented with their customer base. These businesses are what you might call ‘fence sitters’ for they do not explore other means to become different from their competitors. If their business is thriving with their existing customer base, they do not find it necessary to invest in marketing strategies to attract more.

Well, put it this way, these types of businesses should be measured against the profit they do not earn because of their failure to attract more clients. The tip here is to aspire to be different. For instance, your print brochure should highlight your business’ characteristics that is uniquely your own. Customers would be interested in you if you are not just one among the many products or services.

B. Do not forget to simplify business processes

As a customer, how many times have you left a particular company or office just because of cumbersome procedures? I have and I have done it a lot of times. I often walk away if the services are appalling. I often shift to another provider if a particular company’s procedure for ordering would inconvenience me.

There is so much competition out there today that you would not have second thoughts about leaving or getting another one. That is the beauty of it all. However, for companies, they should watch out for this pitfall. Cumbersome procedures equal client loss. The trick here is to simplify. Be it in your printing brochures, procedures, etc. always make it a point to make it easier for your customers to do business with you.

C. Do not neglect to explain why your prices are lower

Customers have doubts when your prices are lower than most competition. Often, they would think that they are buying something sub-standard. I mean, they would ask themselves why you are selling at a lower cost than most of your competitors. If a business fails to answer this question, customers become suspicious. If they had only been given an explanation through various means of communication such as your print brochure, they are more likely to trust. Always remember that trust is the key to making a lasting business partnership with clients or customers when printing brochures.

There are more not to do’s but these are the most common mistakes that business make. Apply the lessons from these to avoid the common marketing pitfalls.

Learn about the developments in print brochure and printing brochures.

Kaye Z. Marks is an avid writer and follower of the developments in online printing and color printing industry.

Popularity: 1% [?]

One overlooked or misused form of advertising is free advertising. However, this can be a very important means of growing your business.

There are innumerable free classified advertising sites on the internet
One immediately visible advantage of free advertising is the adjective, “free”. Many people starting internet businesses simply do not have the funds to buy advertising.

By the same token, a disadvantage to free advertising is that since it is free, everybody floods it with all kinds of ads, and it is easy for your message to get lost in the flood of advertisements.

Another disadvantage is that unlike people who look through newspaper classifieds or advertising papers such as are found at the local convenience store, few people on the Internet actually visit online classified sites in hopes of finding a car or piece of stereo equipment. Even if they do, they are not likely to see your ad if you are trying to interest someone in an internet income opportunity.

So, how can you turn free advertising to your advantage?

First, as mentioned, some sites will have the potential for improving your business in one way or another, and some will be totally worthless. Since the advertisement itself may or may not be effective, or may or may not be effective at a certain website, testing is necessary. Different ads must be tried, and they must be tried on different sites.

A difficulty in determining the value of a given free advertising site is the fact that with the advent of automatic advertising submitters, many sites are hardly ever visited by humans any more. Only the automatic programs drop by and leave off their ads and move on to the next site. Therefore, one of the first criteria to look for might be whether or not ads must be manually posted. At least in that case, humans will visit and may actually see your ad.

By the way, even a site which can be posted to automatically may be of value in the area of linking and search engine optimization. Most of these links will be fleeting or of little value to a search engine spider, but you may be able to build a little stable of sites which will help search engines find your site. I know of several sites where I regularly post ads exactly for this purpose.  (which requires manual submission) for example is regularly visited by search engine spiders, and if I place an ad there, the page I have linked to will soon show up in search engine listings.

Second, free advertising is most effective if it is not used to sell anything. In fact, it will operate best when you use the free advertising to give something of value away in order to establish a condition of trust between yourself and a prospective customer. In the heyday of mail order advertising, this was often referred to as the “two step” method.

It worked, and still works, like this. The seller offers a free report, such as “How to Make Money from Your Kitchen Table”.  The ad simply makes the offer, and often would request the reader to send a “free, self-addressed, stamped envelope” for the free report. In this way, the seller was able to get his materials in the hands of several interested parties for only the cost of the report and the ad. The seller was saved the postage by the reader who provided the envelope and postage. Enclosed with the report were materials offering other items, often more reports, which were sold by the seller.

If the seller had provided a report of value on the first mailing, it was possible that the reader would purchase one of the items. If not, the name and address was still on the seller’s records (mailing list) and the reader would receive more mailings and/or a collection of such names and addresses would be sold to others who had not built their own lists as yet.

The same thing is done on the internet, and many successful advertisements offer free advertising, software, reports, or services in order to entice the online reader to respond, thus placing his or her contact information at the disposal of the advertiser.

This sort of advertising on the internet has spawned two distinct “advertising” methods which, while free, are not actually advertisements. These two methods are the writing of articles and the creation of lead capture pages.

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Popularity: 8% [?]

Internet arcade games, like flash games have developed immensely over the past decade. This has been further encouraged by the advancement of the internet which allows the web community to participate in game development. Fast connections with larger bandwidths also allow the rapid distribution of games, enabling flash games to reach a wider market. Children, teenagers and bored employees often take advantage of these free flash games offered by online arcades.

One of the many attractions of Internet arcade games is that they are usually free. These flash games are usually played online, or you can download them on to your computer. And unless your computer has a virus, it would be pretty hard to lose or break them! Internet arcade games are not as graphically pleasing or as elaborately designed as traditional platform games. There are arrays of games to choose from, so it should not be a problem picking a game that suits you!

Certain Internet arcade games may be hard on the eyes, because of the flashy ads and pop ups that tends to decorate the site. Some people may be turned off by these ads, but these ads are essential in keeping the games free. Website owners need to generate income to keep the sites running, hence the need to rent out advertisement space to retailers and businesses. Installing a pop up blocker should help you deal with this particular problem.

Many companies that produce these Internet arcade games are creating more elaborates games for online play. Due to the amount of work that goes into these games, manufacturers will charge a fee. You can also log on to www.free-ad-system.com. In short, these types of games do not come free. Fortunately, makers of these games often provide a free trial demo allowing the user to decide whether it is worth shelling out the money. A simple Google search can bring you to a lot of website that offer these online games that you can join in on the fun. Most of these games have free trials that you can try before committing to the service.

MMORPG, which stands for Massively Multiplayer Online Role Playing Games, are the most advanced form of flash games. These games allow the game to be played by many users at one time. You will be required to pay a monthly subscription fee to enjoy the perks of this type of game. But for new users, there is usually a demo or trial version available. Some games allow free users to participate, however free users only get the most basic package. MMORPGs creators are continuously working on the game, adding new features and new story plots to keep the game interesting and its players content.

Many online arcades let you register for free. Once registered, you gain access to a range of functions. You automatically become a member of that particular online arcade community. Other users can view your profile, look at your profile picture or avatar and see how many games you have played and your high scores. You can communicate with others using forums or the PM (private message) feature.

With numerous websites available filled with countless fun, exciting free games, it is no wonder flash games are becoming increasingly popular and gaining much attention amongst internet users. All you need to join the fun is yourself, a computer and an internet connection. So lets get playing today!

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Popularity: 9% [?]

A company can’t use the exact same marketing strategies day after day and still manage to stay on top of things. If you aren’t keeping things new and if you aren’t being sure to add variety to your marketing you might find your message getting stale, and your customers drifting away to other companies.

People want to have something new and they want to see something they never have before. You just can’t use the same message forever. The same goes for the way you deliver that message to people. If you’ve been using nothing but brochure for two years or more than you might find people losing interest in you because they want to see something different.

It’s always best to add variety to your marketing anyways because it helps to make sure that you’re grabbing the attention of as many people as possible. Some people just aren’t going to have interest in reading through a long brochure, but if you hand them a postcard you’ll immediately be able to grab their eye.

Something to watch out for though is what you’re doing when you’re changing your marketing around. If you decided to go for something new you’re going to need more time to get things ready because you aren’t as acquainted with that particular marketing style.

One thing you can do to make sure that you still keep a strong presence in the marketplace is by having other smaller methods of marketing you can still make good use of while you’re changing around your larger marketing campaigns.

Take something like folder printing for an example. Folders with your company name and logo on them aren’t exactly the most active forms of marketing. They’re good at getting your brand name out there, but little else. Sometimes that’s all you need to do. If your company is already established than the main thing you might need to do is maintain a strong presence in the marketplace.

Of course, folder printing alone won’t accomplish that, but it can hold you over while you’re working on other larger things. Make sure you keep a steady supply of them on hand for just such occasions so that you won’t have your name dropping off the market while you’re working on new things.

There are other smaller methods of marketing to consider as well, and my point isn’t to name them all. What I’m trying to point out is that you can still keep your name out there if you have a few basic, cost effective forms of promoting yourself.

These won’t always be major forms of marketing, but they can still be plenty useful for when moments like this. You might not have a lot of active marketing out there during your transitional period, but that doesn’t mean you can’t keep up a strong passive marketing presence.

Kaye Z. Marks is an avid writer and follower of the developments in the folder printing industry and how these improvements benefit small to medium scale businesses.

Popularity: 9% [?]

When trying to generate traffic to your website, article marketing is a great method to use to get targeted traffic to visit your site. Article marketing is all about readers finding your place of business on the Internet.Many Internet marketers will use article marketing as their main key ingredient for promotional purposes because it is very cost effective and efficient.

Are you ready to make a lot of money? Well, so are a few other Internet marketers. With article marketing, you can make some serious money but like anything else, this will take some work and patience. There are a few things that need to be in place and considered before taking your plunge into article writing.

1. Find a product or service you feel is worth promoting. There are several thousand products you can affiliate yourself with. Choose something you like, a product you can get excited about marketing.

2. Create a squeeze page, a promotional web-page for your product. Sometimes a company will give you a pre-made squeeze page for you to use. If possible, make your own that is unique. You don’t really want your page to look generic like all the other squeeze pages if you don’t have to. If you can’t do this, then it is alright to work with what you have.

3. Your articles should be around 500 words per article or more. Keep your articles informative about your product or service you are marketing. If you don’t know much about the product, then you will need to take some time and research it to death.

Ideally, you should know almost everything about any product you will be promoting because when you write your articles, you will be that expert providing your reading audience with the information they needed.

4. Every article you write needs to have unique content. You cannot submit the same article to many different article directories. There are a few reasons for this. The main reason is that search engines will not pick up your article if it has been submitted to more than one article directory.

5. Try to average at least 20 unique articles a week. Google is in love with a few of these article directories. Ezine Articles is one of them. Google indexes these site often. Sometimes you can submit an article in the morning and find it on Google that afternoon.

By submitting unique content to article directories several times a week, you are increasing your article marketing odds to get more readers that will turn into more targeted traffic for you.

6. Time is money! Write your articles quickly, then edit later. After awhile, you will acquire more speed and be knocking them out. It takes a little time to work up to this, but this will happen soon enough.

7. Be patient and stay at it. Article marketing does not explode over night. There is a waiting period of a few weeks or more to really begin seeing good results coming into your squeeze page.
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Popularity: 16% [?]

Article marketing is a powerful way to build traffic to your web site. Yet many people give up on article marketing after just a few articles because they are become stuck on what to write next.

There are two ways to quickly come up with new articles. One is to brainstorm new topics. The other is to diversify by writing different types of articles. Pick up any of your favorite magazines and you will see that they publish a variety of types of article.

Here are four popular types of article you can write.
The List Article

This is one of the easiest types of article to write and that is one reason why it is among most common types of article published online. A list article lists several related pieces of information. Here are a few examples of a list articles:

“10 Energy Saving Tips for Winter”
“5 Fruits to Boost Your Body’s Resistance”
“Asia’s Top 10 Honeymoon Destinations”
“Natural Remedies for Insomnia”

List articles need to have:

- An introduction.
- The list with a paragraph or two for each item.
- A conclusion.
The ‘How To’ Article

A “How to” article explains to your reader how to do something. Examples of “How to” articles include:

“How to Drive Traffic to Any Web Site for Free”
“How to Keep Your Tomatoes Alive”
“How to Install a New Hard Drive”
“How to Download Unlimited Music Files Legally”

This type of article is popular because people just love to learn how to do something new.
The Review Article

What is one of the main ways that people find out about which new products to buy, and which to avoid? They read review articles. A review article is the result of someone reviewing a particular product or service and then writing a review about it.

There are several slightly different approaches you can use for review articles but here are the essential items that must be included:
- What does the product promise?
- How well does it deliver on that promise?
- Is it good value and if so, who should buy it?
The Roundup Article

In a roundup article you provide a summary or roundup of information from a variety of sources. It can be a combination of general facts, statements, and opinions. For this type of article a writer will usually interview several experts, then round up the answers, something like this:

“Michael Wetherby, Managing Director at Becketts Consulting, is confident his company will be able to cut three months off the project timeline as a result of using Picadilly’s new software. “There is no doubt that it is going to reduce our development time by fifty percent”, he predicted. But Bill Petersen, at Drone Associates, is not so certain about the software’s efficiency. He explains why…”
So, the next time you are struggling over what you could write next, take a fresh look at these different types of articles. I bet you could write some new types of articles on topics with which you are already familiar. By diversifying the types of articles you write your writing will develop a greater depth and there will be even more demand for your articles.

Popularity: 16% [?]

This strategy is currently been used by most businesses but it can still do a lot of magic is applied with new ideas.
Gifts are loved by one and all. Gifts are a way of expressing gratitude and marketing gifts are given to customer to thank them and most of the customers are more than happy to receive gifts from companies they pay patronage. The thank you gifts cannot only be presented to existing customers but also to potential customers when they try a new product of the company. This would encourage them to buy other products, which will increase the company sales. This practice can be made more advantageous by making it as marketing and branding strategy, which helps in expanding business along with earning customer goodwill. To make it marketing oriented, a lot of planning should be put it in so as to not to loose its essence.

Sending promotional gifts is a means of rewarding clients to appreciate their kind cooperation through out the years; they will make customers feel that they are valued. Flyers are discarded the moment they are received, and are seldom read. But when a person is gifted with something that he/she can use, there is a probability that they will not only enjoy it, but they will also keep it for sometime, might be for several years and until the time they have it, they will remember the company. One of the better methods is to print the name of the company on the gift. This doesn’t involve any strategy and can be implemented even if there is lack of imagination. Name and brand recognition can be established by getting the logo of the company or information of the company printed on the gift. This also helps build recognition among potential customers.

Also give the customers the gifts that last long. The longer the gift lasts the longer the customer will remember your company. Gifts like pen, key chain, coffee mug, calendar, refrigerator magnets, etc. which not only lasts forever but are something that is observed and used many times a day. There are certain gifts, which can fit the budget, promote marketing and at the same time serve the purpose of gift.

Calendars are one of the most opted gifts by small companies as promotional products. They aren’t expensive and are used year round. Following them are office supplies. Stationary tub, embedded pens, sticky pads and diaries containing the logo of the company are very good gift ideas too. Desktop accessories are the next best things. Things like pen stands, paperweight are hot giveaways.

For home gifts like fridge magnets, coffee mugs and thermo-flask make ideal gifts. They, too, get noticed many times a day. The good thing about them is they can be modeled in different colors, shapes and styles and can be unique when compared to other’s promotional products. And hence, they are more like collectible items. Innovation can increase the interest of the user in this regard.

Key chains are also something which is carried everywhere and they don’t even cost too much. Usually people use the promotional ones to store spare keys. T-shirts and cap are a bit expensive, but are worth the investment. They are usually worn outside and people around can easily sight the company’s name and logo and they function like a walking billboard.

Creativity is the key to selecting a right gift to market your and so is the money. The more the money invested, the better the gift, but the gift should be selected such that it earns maximum returns.
You can add some tweak to this technique and i will see you at the top.

Popularity: 18% [?]

Are you looking to write quality articles? Would you like to sharpen the skills you have already developed? One of the best ways to express yourself is through the written word, and by following the tips in tips listed below, you will take your writing abilities to the next level.

- First thing is to become a distinct writer and exaggerate your qualities.

- Thereafter you need to do some research on an article and add something new as per the research work. Then you need to enclose this work in an attractive style of writing and presentation.

- If you are a beginner and are not sure where to begin, remember this key principle: focus on product marketing. Continue in your writing endeavors and allow experience to be your guide. Promoting products on the web depends on presentation, so keep back links and web traffic generation in mind

- Many of web users are looking for information on websites. With practice, you can develop skill of writing articles. Start writing articles right now and get the expected traffics at your website. Internet will provide you all of the required information needed for the respective article.

- Gather data, analysis, and survey information in order to write articles about unfamiliar topics.

- Your articles will not be publish immediately. They will first be checked for quality, content, and originality. If you have written an excellent article, rich with information, your article will certainly be accepted.

Article directories are used by Webmasters to filter appropriate content on their blogs, websites, newsletters, or blogs. Webmasters use appropriate contents on their own websites, newsletter, ezine, or blogs by browsing the article directories. Increasing your knowledge about this is beneficial for your success.

- If you are writing articles for other websites, be sure to submit quality material to those sites. You are able to add your own link in a small resource box on those sites. Promote your best work.

Benefits of article writing skills:

- The most effective marketing tool for website promotion is article writing. If you want to market your product online, you need online articles. Research the many ezines in the market for more information.

- If readers like your writing on a site, they follow your links and visit your product profile. Excellent articles promote your other products and lead to more sales.

- Readers on the internet are looking for good information, and if they believe your article, they will trust your product. And if they trust your product, they will recommend your product to friends, family, and neighbors.

- Write about your product with confidence. Earn the trust of your readers. People buy products from experts. Know what you are writing about.

- Selection of your article by potential publisher all depends on, how well you have written the article.

- Be consistent in your writing.

Thus enjoy writing dynamic and quality articles on various topics.

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Popularity: 14% [?]

Is it possible to make a quick profit on the internet? I hesitate about mentioning this method as it needs to be done with care, but if followed with a good understanding of the principles involved, it is certainly capable of paying well to those who know how to “play the game”.

Normally, this marketing strategy would be done in conjunction with article submission, free SEO traffic, etc, but these take time to build up. A speedier method of generating Adsense income is to use Pay Per Click (PPC).

Using a form of traffic arbitrage, low cost keywords are bid for on Google and a few of the other PPC search engines. They are directed to higher paying Adsense pages. Of course, the pages receiving the traffic need to be carefully set up so that they attract the higher paying Adsense ads.

The downside is that you have to pay for PPC traffic but it can be tested as you go and closely monitored. Google allows a budget to be set.

Several key factors in particular need to be considered at the outset:

1. High Paying Keywords.
Although you might have a burning interest in South American Parrots, that doesn’t mean the internet browsing population shares this interest – at least to the extent of being willing to click on ads which offer products and services on this topic. So be sure to check whether your interest is likely to produce Adsense ads that pay well for each click. For instance, if you are paying 5 cents per click to receive visitors and you’re receiving only, say, 10 cents per click on an Adsense ad, it isn’t likely you’ll do well financially. Only a small percentage of visitors – say 5% – to your site will click on an ad.

2. Relevance.
The keywords recognized by Google as most relevant to your web page influence the selection of the ad which actually appears there. So it’s wise to choose content with high paying keywords if you wish to display high paying ads.

You also have to be sure that BOTH the ads and the content are relevant to your visitors. This is worth careful consideration. Your PPC promotion might be aimed at, say, those interested in dog training. This doesn’t means ads for dog breeding will be of interest to those visitors – they would probably be more concerned with the every day behavior of the dog. For instance, obedience training, house training, how to stop barking, fighting, digging, etc.

Essentially, you are optimizing for Adsense – choosing keywords with a fairly high level of competition – rather than for the free traffic from search engines (which usually require a lot less competition if you are to attract them), although the two work together. When bidding for keywords with PPC – in effect, buying your traffic – you’ll be choosing keywords (including synonyms and related words) that will attract the sort of traffic you’d expect to be interested in the Adsense ads that will appear on your web page. If the connection is too remote, they’ll just move on.

Your web page needs to be relevant to BOTH the visitors and the Adsense program that selects the ads that will appear. Don’t underestimate the importance of this factor.

3. Low Cost Keywords.
If you are paying the same price for keywords that you receive from the clicks on Adsense, then you are losing, not making a profit. Only about 5% of visitors can be expected to click on one of the ads on your webpage, so you will need to attract a lot of inexpensive traffic. Using Pay Per Click (PPC), such as Adwords (Google) you may be able to find related terms. For instance, instead of “dog”, have a look at “pooch”, “puppy”, or specific animals, such as “Labrador”.

As well, Google is not the only store in town. A number of other search engines exist that will charge a lot less for closely related keywords. They don’t have the same volume of traffic, but it all helps. Alternatives include Find What, Ah-Ha, and Brain fox for starters.

4. Tracking Advertising.
When you are using multiple sources of advertising to attract website traffic, some will prove to be more useful – profitable – than others. It’s crucial that you know which sources are working for you and which are merely costing you money. There are a number of commercial Ad Tracking services available. There are also some free scripts that are offered from time to time with the major giveaway joint ventures.

Another way of keeping track of your traffic sources is to have a separate landing page for each source. If you have good website reporting, statistics provided by your web host will indicate which search engines are sending you traffic.

Usually, if set up without time pressures, by combining with free traffic from feeder pages (articles) average cost per visitor will be reduced, allowing room for a profit margin.

It has to be done carefully though. For instance, you have to be sure that the pages with Adsense attract high paying ads. You can’t just put up websites willy-nilly without checking ahead of time whether this is likely to happen.

Remember, if you are setting up niche websites that are optimized for the search engines, aiming for free traffic, naturally you will be looking for “undiscovered” niches that are relatively less competitive so that you can rank well with the search engines.

However, if you are using PPC, you actually WANT a fair (but not excessive) amount of competition for your keywords in the hope that the Adsense ads will pay well when visitors click on them. Much of your time will be spent searching for low cost alternative keywords and sources that you can use to drive traffic to your web pages.
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Popularity: 14% [?]

There are so many advertising products on the market that it may be difficult to decide which one is best suited for the need of your business’s specific promotion. With nearly every item under the sun available for promotion, the question looms, which advertising product is right for me? This is a valid question. To make it easier, here is a breakdown of advertising products that were used for promotion in the year of 2006{1}:

Wearables-Wearable items topped the chart for branded advertising products with nearly 31% of the share of total products in 2006. Wearable items generally refer to clothing, such as shorts, pants, shirts (tee shirts, casual collared shirts, button down), and hats (baseball, golf, fishing). But it can also refer to items such as belts, socks, and jackets. The benefit of using an advertising product that is wearable is the exposure. A cap or a shirt will likely be seen by more people than any other item available.

Writing Instruments-Writing instruments captured merely 1/10 of the entire share (9.95%) and placed second on the list. Writing instruments include pens, pencils, and markers. Being an item that is eternally practical and inexpensive to purchase in bulk, the writing instrument offers a viable tool for advertising.

Calendars-Capturing 6.47% of the market share of personalized advertising products, calendars placed third. A calendar can offer a business name high visibility if placed in a proper area. Calendars are practical and inexpensive, which make them valuable to a business to use as an advertising product.

Desk/Office/Business Accessories-With 6.28% of the share, desk/office/ business accessories placed fourth. There are many items that this category encompasses: Folders, pads (memo, legal, etc.), staplers, scissors, etc. These advertising products are usually kept in areas of high visibility and are inexpensive.

Bags-Bags were a close fifth (5.81%) with drinkware right behind with a share of 5.64%. The appeal of bags is the practicality of the item, as well as its exposure to the public. With more and more individuals becoming environmentally aware, a reusable bag makes perfect sense.

With so many products available, the choices are endless when it comes to choosing an advertising product. The items mentioned are obvious choices for maximum exposure, though there are others that can create exposure too. What is important is that the name of the business is passed from one individual to another. That is what makes promotional items such a great investment tool.

Chris Miller is the owner of www.promopunch.com which specializes in custom imprinted products for promotions, marketing, giveaways, corporate gifts and tradeshows.

To learn more, visit www.promopunch.com and contact Chris for expert advice and support with your current marketing campaign.

Popularity: 18% [?]

OzFree have stood firm to it’s philosophy of being easy to use, accessible and free. The site is spanking ready to solidify it’s force as Australia’s leading classifieds with three additional features.

1. OzFreeOnline Classifieds now includes EBay listings.

You can now find everything on one site! The site’s battle cry stands that “the best things in life should be FREE”. Why pay if OzFree can simplify things, all you need is to register to avail membership to the site then you can post your free ads or browse to other listings with guaranteed free exposure to every inch of Australia. And now with the inclusion of Ebay listings, the choices on classified ads gets more diverse. More…

2. OzFreeOnline.com AD Alerts

To make it easy to find the listings you’re searching for, you can subscribe to AD alerts and the site will email you when listings matching your keyword are posted on OzFreeOnline.com.

Just enter your EMAIL address and KEYWORDS below for the section you’re searching. You don’t have to be a member to join, you won’t receive spam, and you can stop your ad alerts at any time.

Each time you create a new alert, you will be sent an email with a link you must click to ACTIVATE the alert.

3. Verified Seller Registration.

By becoming a verified seller you can have an extra recognition by showing customers that your identity has been verified by OzFreeOnline. You can receive the Verified Seller logo on all your listings, providing buyers with increased confidence in dealing with you.

To become a Verified seller, if you are already a member, then just apply using the online VS registration form. If you are not yet a member, register and then visit back again and apply for VS status.

You can register using three easy options:

1. Online Registration – To register online, you need a current credit card then fill in the application form below which is hosted on a secure server and fill in the information required. You will then be charged a non refundable fee of $1 to your CREDIT CARD (Debit Cards not accepted) and on complete verification from OzFreeOnline Admin, you will have the Verified Seller logo added to all your listings.

2. Email Application – You can also become a verified seller by emailing a scanned copy of your drivers license, copy of a bill relating to the address on your license to mary@ozfreeonline.com.

If you are a business, send a scanned copy of your company registration. Do include your OzFreeOnline username with your application then a staff will contact you about VS status.

3. Postal Application – Another way is through sending a photocopy of your drivers license, as well as a bill relating to the address on your license. Or if you are a business, send a photocopy of your company registration. Just download the postal application form for Individuals or Business on the website.

Sign up for free now because your ads don’t sit idle here. It’s not called OzFreeOnline for nothing.

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Mei recommends Oz Free Online Classifieds site for your online resource of best buy sell trade deals and Smart Online Shopping Blog for latest news.

Popularity: 25% [?]

Advertising flyers are one of the most effective marketing vehicles that one’s company can utilize to generate leads to increase sales. Whether you’re promoting a product or service, or an event, that one club flyers printing piece for example can definitely help you get the word out.

In fact, many marketers would argue that these pieces of paper, whether full color or printed on glossy stock can provide you with the result you expect – an increased turn out of revenue.

And not only is it an effective way to reach out to your target audience, your flyers are so cost effective that you will be able to save your budget as well as your time.

But others believe otherwise. According to them, flyers don’t really provide the opportunity you need to successfully run your advertising campaign. For one thing, these pieces of paper cost anywhere between $100 to $200 on the average when printed. This is especially true if you’re just looking at a few club flyers printing pieces to announce your special event.

Second, your print ad has an expiration date that links to your event or product and service. This would mean that you would eventually have a stack of useless flyers lying around if you haven’t been able to distribute all of them.

Third, some would even argue that flyer printing using CMYK inks can be detrimental to the environment because flyers are being littered all over, especially those that have not been able to get in the hands of potential customers.

Nevertheless, despite all of these arguments, I still believe that flyers do work their magic when it comes to promoting your business to your target audience. Its effectiveness however, depends on the quality and value you provide in your print ad. And don’t forget too the importance of where you’re distributing them.

When you are able to get them in the hands of your target market, then your flyers will work their hardest to promote your business. Let’s face it, any type of print ad, be it brochures or posters, if they don’t go to where they should be will not be effective at all. The key is to hand them out to the right people, and not just to everybody that comes your way. The more you focus your distribution, the better it is for the right prospects to respond accordingly and take action on your message.

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For more information, you can visit this page on http://www.printplace.com/printing/printing-flyers.aspx and http://www.printplace.com/printing/club-flyer-printing.aspx

Popularity: 25% [?]

I remember it well. I was 12 years old when I heard Eric Clapton’s first solo album. I can tell you where I was. I can tell you the first song I listened to. (It wasn’t the first track.) I can tell you that I was an instant fan and have been ever since —- so much so that my oldest child, Erika, is named after him.

Mr. Clapton has had his ups and down in life — battling alcohol and drug addiction as well as depression. Sometimes these battles led to inspired works; sometimes they led to songs and albums that caused some fans to determine that “Slowhand” had lost it.

I, however, am not your average fan. For whatever reason, the sound that emanates from his guitars captures me … inspires me. Sure, I know when he has produced a clunker. It happens. But as a true fan, I know he will be back with something that touches me in the same way “Let It Rain” did all those years ago.

How would your business be affected if your clients thought about you in the same way as I do about Eric Clapton? Would it increase the number of clients you have? Would you get more referrals? Would you be able to increase your fees and your profits? Then you have to convert the people who hire you from clients to fans. How do you do that? It’s not as difficult as you may think.

First, determine who your most profitable clients are. Once you have that information, ask those particular people why it is they do business with you. Then ask them what else you could possibly do for them to make their lives or businesses better?

Before you go any further, realize that you now have to take the information you got from your best clients and interpret it to determine what it is that they actually meant. For instance, one of the most popular answers you may get is to make it easier to get in contact with you. Does that mean they want you to answer the phone more often, instead of your voice mail answering? Does it mean that they want to be able to reach you by e-mail and be assured that you will respond within 24 hours? If necessary, contact those clients again and ask probing questions until you know exactly what it is they want.

Now you need to create a plan that not only addresses what it is that your clients want, but also one that blows them away. If it is important that you get back to them within 24 hours, perhaps you can devise a way to get back to them within six hours. Just be sure that you can consistently provide whatever it is you decide upon.

When I owned a publishing company, we sold the magazines and books directly to our target audience. We also sold products that pertained to the subjects discussed in the magazines and books. When customers ordered the publications or products, they could count on the items being shipped within 24 hours … without fail. I could count on one hand how many times we missed this promise over the course of 15 years. We also promised that we would not be out of stock, and if we were, the customer received a discount.

Another promise we made and consistently delivered on was that if a customer did not receive an issue of a magazine — for whatever reason, such as getting lost in the mail — then we shipped another one to them by first-class mail on the same day that they notified us. And … we added another issue to the length of their subscription just because they had to go out of their way to contact us.

So what did all this do for us? It turned our customers into fans. The positive word-of-mouth advertising and referrals we received was astounding, and what might at first blush appear to be unprofitable practices were actually very profitable.

You see, our customers knew we cared about them. There was a real connection, and they realized that they could count on us. And in the few instances when they were disappointed, they knew we would not only make it up to them, but that we would also go beyond what anyone else would do.

That’s what Eric Clapton does for me and has been doing so for almost four decades. If his next release isn’t up to my expectations, I’ll eagerly await the one after that. Why? Because I know that in the long run, he is going to provide me with something that others simply do not.

That is exactly how you want your clients to feel about you. Then you no longer have a list of clients, you have a list of fans — fans who look forward to working with you … fans who know that you care about them and are there for them. Then the referrals and the profits will roll in in numbers you previously had only wished for.

One more thing. Think about how your prospects will feel when they look at your web site or marketing materials and see “Our Fans,” as opposed to “Our Clients.”

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Peter George is the marketing coach and trusted advisor to self-employed professionals. Get his FREE “How to Get More Clients and Make More Profits” at http://MoreClientsMoreProfits.com

Popularity: 100% [?]

Brochures are virtually the brand ambassadors of your business. Right from depicting what your business stands for, to sending out the correct brand attributes there is a lot a brochure can do for your business. If you want to accelerate sales statistics and stay ahead of the competition then it is time you took advantage of brochure printing services.

A touch of sophistication via brochure printing services

Instead of sending out emails that might most likely go out as spam in your recipient’s inbox, it is time you took a classier route! You can add more professionalism and sophistication with the help of high quality brochure printing services. You can employ the usage of good quality graphic designers as well as printing staff in order to create a stunning set of brochures. This will not only place your business in a good light but will also enable you to stand apart from the crowd.

Brochure printing services can create a winning impression!

With high quality and stunning brochure printing services you can really create a positive impression on a customer. Right from the correct usage of colors (in accordance with your brand identity and attributes) to the unique designs that you use in the brochure, all of these aspects can certainly help customers in recognizing your brand better. On the whole, brochures are a fantastic way to ensure brand recall in customers.

Quick turnarounds with quality brochure printing services

The great thing about high quality brochure printing services providers is that they never compromise on deadlines. They know your business is important to you and that product launches are crucial. Hence, they take extra care in ensuring that your brochures are delivered in time to be in sync with product launches. That way as soon as your product is released to the market, you also have a ready set of brochures and literature to send to customers!

Convenient online searches for Brochure printing services

With the advent of the Internet today, you can easily obtain very high quality brochure printing services without any effort at all! All you need to do is to perform a search in one of the many popular search engines in order to arrive at a list of providers. You can even check out their ratings and reviews online to see if they are reputed sites or not. Then once you have decided on any service provider, you can commence the work. You will be happy to note that all correspondence is via email and chat. That means it saves you the hassle of searching for a local shop for printing.

Holistic marketing campaigns with brochure printing services

You can actually create an entire marketing campaign that centers around your brochures. When you leverage high quality brochure printing services, it is only natural that everything from web copy and design to emails are centered on the theme of the brochures. This helps your organization create a marketing campaign which is truly harmonious and is in accordance with brand attributes.

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John Mahoney is a freelance author who writes about various technology related subjects. For more information about John visit his website:
www.techstore.ie

Popularity: 23% [?]

It is not usual for one to come around a used car that is sold with an original manufacturer’s warranty. This is where certified used cars come into play. For those who do not know, certified used vehicles tend to come with a comprehensive coverage that goes further than what the dealership characteristically offers you. Manufacturer’s certified car programs have now gained much popularity and can be found at many used auto dealers.
The biggest benefit that comes into mind about certified used cars is that you are getting a used car that has been meticulously examined and has been found to be so good in condition that they have received an extended warranty. In order to receive certified used cars warranty, the car needs to meet outstandingly high standards by the manufacturer of the automobile. What is interesting is that after attaining a certified used car, you have 3 days or 3000 miles to verify if the car is right for you. If during this time you find that the car is not the right one for you, you can always go back to the dealership and pick a better one. Also, a certified used car has a label on the window stating that the car has passed the stringent guidelines to become certified used, together with the market price evidently noticeable to avoid confusion.
Along with the warranty that is given, there are other benefits to attaining certified used cars. Certified used cars give buyers supplementary benefits that they usually only get when they buy a new car. These are inclusive of getting roadside assistance, lower loan rates, loaner’s cars throughout repairs, free of charge maintenance together with oil changes and inspections and also shuttle services.
Nevertheless, the most significant benefit is the warranty that you receive. When you acquire a certified used car you get a wide-ranging, long-term warranty that is also low cost which helps you save hundreds of dollars on your vehicle every single year. The enticement of free oil changes and examinations also play a role in making this deal a more appealing one.
But, when you look around for a certified used car, make sure you find a local dealership that has an extensive assortment of genuine certified used cars. After that, look for a sales person who knows what he is talking about when it comes to the car that you have chosen. Eventually, getting a certified used car is perhaps the best choice you can make!

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In search of Used Car Dealers near home? Try our searchable database of over 70,000 used and pre-owned car dealers from all locations across the United States.

Popularity: 23% [?]

When you establish a relationship with a customer, you want that relationship to have many levels, not just one layer from one sale.

We all have our sales goals to meet on a weekly, monthly, or quarterly basis. This doesn’t mean that once we get a sale out of our customer, that we hurry them out the door and move onto the next one.

Build a relationship with your customer. As you close the deal on your sale, talk to your customer, find out what it is they need and can use that you can provide them with.

People love to talk about themselves, so it shouldn’t be too hard to get them talking.

Ask about their job, their family, their pets, their hobbies, etc.

For instance, when I was in banking, working within the branch network and someone came in to open a checking account, I would sit them down at my desk and profile them.

How would I profile them?

I would take down their information and put it into my computer. By doing this I was able to see if this customer was new to our bank or an existing customer.

Now, if they were a new customer, and came in to open a checking account, I could safely assume that their savings account, investments, and loans were at another bank.

This is about the time I would start my profiling. I would ask about the other institutions that he did business with and compare the benefits and features of our products to the ones he had.

I also knew that there was a reason that he decided to open an account with me, perhaps he just wasn’t happy with his existing bank.

Remember, I only told him about our products and services, I did not push them on him. However, I did make notes of everything we discussed, so I could follow up at a later time. I would also leave my customer with a welcome packet consisting of a brochure for each of our products and several of my business cards.

The customer is in the door. You have some of their business. That is fine for the time being. You don’t want to overwhelm them. Build the relationship with them, gradually find out what their needs are by prospecting, than when the time is right, go over a product with them that you believe is ideal to their needs.

If I had an existing customer in front of me, I had the ability to se what they did and did not have, and again, I would go over the benefits and features of our products, taking notes, and following up at a later time.

The next time you have a customer in front of you, prospect them. Find out what they do and do not have with you. Once you have figured this out, offer to explain the benefits and features of products you have that you believe would be good for them. Make notes of the conversations you have with your customers, than follow up with them to talk about the products you had discussed.

Prospecting is simply finding out what a customer needs that they don’t have. Once you have established what their needs are, the rest will come relatively easy. Good luck.

This article may be reproduced by anyone at any time, as long as the authors name and reference links are kept in tact and active.

bio = Jay Conners has more than fifteen years of experience in the banking and Mortgage Industry, He is the owner of http://www.jconners.com, a mortgage resource site, he is also the owner of http://www.callprospect.com, a mortgage lead company.

Popularity: 24% [?]

When a customer walks into your office, you want to make sure they feel welcome, you want to treat your customer as though they are a piece of gold, and not as a statistic.

Have you ever been standing in a line, and when it comes to your turn to be waited on, the sales associate yells out “next?”

Just thinking about that scenario makes me cringe. It is hardly a way to build a relationship with your customer.

I have been working in sales for more than fifteen years, and I have literally had customers tell me that the most important thing to them is to be appreciated and not treated as a statistic.

Keep this in mind the next time you wait on a customer, instead of yelling “next,” you can politely say, “may I help you Ms. Jones.”

We all have our daily, weekly, and monthly goals that we must meet. And with this pressure applied to our daily work day, it is easy to lose sight of the fact that it is the customer who is the most important thing when it comes to our company’s existence. They are the backbone. Without customers, we cease to exist.

Here are a few tips to ensure that your customer is appreciated by you and your company, and not viewed as just another number in line.

1. Address Your Customer by Name

When addressing your customer, make sure you call them by name. This will put your relationship with your customer on a personal level, and customers like to know that they are remembered. It gives them a felling of importance with you, and your company.

2. Don’t Hurry Them Out the Door

The last thing the customer wants is to be hurried out the door. Remember. You are running a business, where people are your greatest asset. You are not on an assembly line manufacturing cars, so don’t treat your customer as though you are.

When you are finished with your customer’s transaction, ask if there is anything else you can do for them, or if they have any questions for you. You could even use this opportunity to ask if you could go over some of your companies products with them, which you feel could benefit them.

The last thing you want to do is get them in and get them out.

3. Discuss Non-Business Topics

There is more beneath the surface of your customers than just the business that they do with you. People love to talk about themselves, such as their family, their job’s, their pets, their hobbies, etc.
So ask your customer about one of the topics mentioned above, I guarantee they will be delighted to tell you all about it.

This is also a great way to get to know your customer, and build a strong relationship with them.

A strong business relationship is a great opportunity to obtain all of your customer’s business as well as the business of all of their friends and relatives through referrals.

So remember, don’t treat your customer like a statistic, treat them as you would treat one of your friends.

This article may be reproduced by anyone at any time, as long as the authors name and reference links are kept in tact and active.

bio = Jay Conners has more than fifteen years of experience in the banking and Mortgage Industry, He is the owner of http://www.jconners.com, a mortgage resource site, he is also the owner of http://www.callprospect.com, a mortgage lead company.

Popularity: 23% [?]

You’ve heard the saying a gazillion times:

“Charity begins at home.”

But in this age of mass media, charity that begins at
home can also proceed straight to your bottom line–by
generating publicity for your web site or your business.

And best of all, the mass media–especially the news
media–are ready, willing, and more than able to
partner with you and give you plenty of free publicity.

Charity events and stories about community involvement
result in publicity from the the media for a couple of
reasons.

1. People in the media are sensitive to criticism that “You
only want to show bad news,” and will make every effort to
show uplifting, positive stories whenever possible.

2. It’s in the media’s best interest to build goodwill by
taking part in community events and giving publicity to
them.

3. In the case of radio and TV stations, they MUST show
that they’re serving the community. Otherwise, their
FCC license would be in jeopardy.

4. For the most part (there are exceptions), media people
good-hearted people who WANT to help others and are happy to
give an event publicity–if it’s a worthwhile event.

So, when you want to generate media publicity that results
in new traffic or more traffic to your business or web site,
consider hosting a fundraiser for a charity or community
organization. Let the media know you’re involved through a
press release. It’s often a good idea to ask a high profile
person from the media to be your honorary chairperson.

Also, if possible, offer the media a story about
someone who has benefited from the charity. If you can
“humanize” the work the charity is doing, “put a human
face on it” so to speak, your chances of getting
coverage (that is, publicity), will skyrocket.

And don’t forget to look for opportunities to get media
publicity prior to your event, especially on radio talk
shows.

Fundraisers and events that benefit the community
amount to a win-win-win situation. Obviously, the
charity gets money and attention to their cause, the
media get points for its community spirit, and you get
publicity that would have cost you thousands of dollars if
you had to pay for it.

Early in my radio career, one of my friends used to
sign off his show every day by telling his listeners this:

“Remember, do good and you’ll always do well.”

It’s true in life. It’s especially true when you want
to get free publicity in the media.

To see an expanded, more detailed edition of this
article, including tips on how to get media publicty for a
charity fundraiser of community event, see

http://www.publicity-pro.com/charityevents.htm

bio = Former TV anchor and radio talk show host George McKenzie
offers a free 7-day “Publicity Crash Course” to anyone who subscribes to
his free weekly ezine. Register at

http://www.publicity-pro.com.

Popularity: 24% [?]

Professional copywriters do not simply write or select one headline and then hope for the best. They create a number of different headlines; often times as many as a hundred before selecting the headline they think will perform the best.
But they don’t stop there! Professional copywriters know that their choice will often not be the choice of the public and therefore they test their headlines in the market place.
Believe it or not, even professional copywriters find that half or more of their ads, sales letters, or campaigns fail to become winners. But, by testing, they are able to cut their losses early and maximize their successes.
The method of testing most commonly used is known as split testing. With headlines, split testing involves the exposing of two different alternating headlines to prospects. This can be done both online and offline, but online is much easier and the testing process is quicker.
Here is the way headline split testing works online. Visitor A comes to your website and sees headline #1 while visitor B comes to your website and sees headline # 2. When visitor C comes to your website, headline # 1 is shown again and the alternating process continues for the length of the test.
After a number of actions have been recorded for each headline, such as clicking through to the order page, the results are compared to determine which headline resulted in the largest number of desired responses (the click through to the order page, in this example).
The larger the number of total responses recorded, the greater the accuracy of the test to determine the headline winner. Once a winner is chosen, that headline becomes the new control. A control is the current best performing item being tested, in this case, a headline.
Now that a control has been established, a new headline is tested against the control to see if the response can be improved. This process continues on until a given headline has been the control for a large number of tests.
Initially the two headlines that are being tested can be quite different. What you are looking for in the early test is what general kind of headline seems to work for the target market. Once a general kind of headline appears to be a winner over competing types of headlines, then you begin to tweak and split variations of the winning headline itself.
Let’s take a look at an example.
This headline example comes from Jimmy D. Brown, a very successful Internet marketer. The following two headlines were split tested to determine a winner.
Headline # 1: “The Power of Viral eBooks”
Headline # 2: “How to Create Automated Profit Generators”
The Result? Headline # 2 out pulled headline # 1 by multiple times.
Now to simplify this process, let’s assume for the sake of this example that Headline # 2 proved to be the winner, not only of this test, but a number of follow on test against a number of other headlines. So, you have determined the type of headline that seems to work well for your particular target market. Now, it is time to tweak the headline by split testing variations of this particular headline.
When you split test variations of a headline, you want to only change one thing at a time. Perhaps you will change only one word in the headline, or the color of the headline, or the using of quote marks around the headline, etc. But you only test one item at a time. Each item you test is called a variable; it is the thing that varies between the headlines in the test.
Everything in the headline can make a difference in the headline response rate. Things that make a difference in response are called response modifiers. In addition to the items mentioned above, other response modifiers in a headline might include the font used, the size of the font, the capitalization of the first letters of each word, etc. Everything in your headline can and should be tested.
For an example of how a very minor change can make a difference in your headline response, take a look at these two headlines:
Headline # 1: “Put Music In Your Life”
Headline # 2: “Puts Music In Your Life”
The only difference between the headlines is the addition of the letter “s” to the first word. Again the second headline greatly out pulled the first headline. Some copywriters assume that this is because the first headline implies some work on the part of the reader, while the second headline implies that something or someone else does the work. But the reason is not important, only the results matter.
Each tweak of your headline that results in a new control improves the desired response rate of your headline leading to a maximization of profits, if your headline involves the selling of a product or service.
You can never know for sure why one headline out pulls another, but while you can guess, the reason is not important. What is important is the results, no matter what the reason.
Jim and Audri Lanford of www.netrageous.com, now www.scambusters.org, once made a change of color to a sub headline on one of their online sales pages and orders almost dropped to zero. When they changed the headline color back, their normal order rate returned. They guessed that this was because the color change may have caused the headline to look more like hype, but as noted above, the reason is not important. What are important are the results.
Are you testing your headlines? If not, you should be. Every little positive change continues to increase your profits and it all adds up in the end. While some changes may only increase your desired response by a fraction of one percent, some people have seen changes of as much as 1,500% with a single headline change while the rest of their copy remained the same.
How would you like to see either a single or cumulative improvement over time of 1,500% in your desired response rate? I thought so! Then go forth and test, test, and test some more!

bio = George Dodge is owner of the Headline Creator Pro Website at
http://www.Headline-Creator-Pro.com where you can
download software that saves you time and effort by allowing
you to quickly and easily create headlines with push button
ease.

Popularity: 23% [?]

When you are selling your products to clients, you don’t want to be pushy about it, you want to be persuasive.

Have you ever been around a sales person who seems to have everything going for him?

He has no problem talking to people, people like him, he seems to meet all of his sales goals so effortlessly.

This is not because he is lucky, or he was born with a natural gift when it came to selling. It is because he took the time and effort to make sure he went into the field well trained with the appropriate sales skills and product knowledge to make his sales seem as though they come without any effort.

This sales person, through hard work and sales training, has given himself the power of persuasion because he has the ability to find out what it is that his customers need.

When a sales person is being pushy with their product, it is a turn off to the customer. The last thing a customer wants, is somebody they just met up in their face who won’t stop talking. Pushy sales people come off rude, unprofessional and unknowledgeable.

From a customers point of view, a pushy sales person comes off as someone who just arrived from a one day sales training course on one particular product. Who is then sent out into the world to sell that product to anyone that will listen.

Most consumers can see right through this.

Persuasion takes subtlety. In fact, it is much easier to persuade someone to buy your product than to actually sell it.

Persuasion involves getting your customer to “buy in” to your product, or to see things from your point of view.

You must first get to know your customer. Take some time to ask a few personal questions. Such as where they live, what their occupation is, do they have any pets, etc.

People love to talk about themselves, so ask questions.

Once you get to know your customer, find out what their needs are. You can than match up your products to their needs.

Explain the benefits of your product, and give them a visual in their mind of themselves using your product. If you are selling baseball bats, give them the visual of using the bat to hit a home run in the bottom of the ninth too win the ball game.

Don’t do all the talking, listen to your customer. Listening is perhaps one of the most important sales skills you can posses. You can find out so much about your customer just by listening.

To persuade your customer to buy your product is to find a common ground with your customer. Smile, be courteous, answer their questions, learn what their needs are, listen to their concerns and try to alleviate them.

Once you have established what their needs are, tell them about the products you have that could satisfy their needs. Remember, don’t sell the product, tell them about the product, and what it can do for them.

Don’t think of it as selling, think of it as a normal conversation that you would have with one of your friends. Your sales will become more enjoyable, and they will also increase. Good luck.

This article may be reproduced by anyone at any time, as long as the authors name and reference links are kept in tact and active.

bio = Jay Conners has more than fifteen years of experience in the banking and Mortgage Industry, He is the owner of http://www.jconners.com, a mortgage resource site, he is also the owner of http://www.callprospect.com, a mortgage lead company.

Popularity: 23% [?]

An exercise for defining what prospects you are attracting.

Fly fishing — it doesn’t work, does it? When I first
watched someone fly-fishing, I saw them release the line
that went out far in the water. No sooner had the fly hit
the water it was being jerked back and reeled in. Even
today, I still don’t understand how this method catches any
fish. Yet it does, so I am told. See, I have never been
fly-fishing.

It looks like so much more work too. I’m used to the worm,
bobber, sitting on a short foldable chair, having some great
conversation ever once in a while, sipping on a beer (okay
root beer so we don’t X factor this article), relaxing and
waiting for the nibble. Or, is it praying for that nibble.
Okay, either one.

If you talk to a fly-fisherman, he says his method is the
best. And the same is uttered from a by-the-seat-of-the-
pants fisherman as well (cute description huh, I thought so
too).

What makes the difference than? Is it technique? Is it the
water type — salt or fresh? Is it the type of fish you are
going after? Is it the equipment or supplies? Is it the
bait offered?

Okay, back to the first question — what is the difference?
The right answer is “all of the above.” You can also throw
in the temperature, weather and time of day you are fishing
as well. The right answer still is, “all of the above.”
And it all depends on the right combination of all these
items performed in a step-by-order method too. You don’t
want to toss out the fly without the line. Well, I guess
you can but the chances of seeing that fly again is next to
nil for sure.

Marketing is not any different from fishing. If you are
tossing out the wrong hook to the right fish, they are not
going to bite. If you have the right fish and hook, and the
wrong technique — fly-fishing instead of butt, wait and
pray fishing. This too will not get many results.

This is why so much emphasis is placed on your needing to
know your target market. Because if you don’t you are
forever going to be trying what different lures, hooks and
techniques that wear you down as well as your resources
trying to figure out what is the right combination. You
can’t catch flounder in a fresh water or blue gill in salt
water.

Many times, and without knowing it because you are just glad
for the business, the fish pick you. So, what are you
attracting? Let’s take 15 minutes today and begin an
exercise that answers that question.

Okay, where were we. Getting late in the day. Oh, yes,
what are you attracting? Since I write mostly for service
professionals, let me present the “how-tos” for you. If you
own a retail store or have a much larger client base, you
can do the same by calculating just the top “A” list by
revenue generated.

I recommend starting this process by hand to get the “feel”
of it and then you can move it over to Excel or a similar
software as it grows. Yes, you have my permission to allow
this fish to get bigger in this “fish tale.”

On a new sheet of paper, turned sideways or landscaped, in
the far left hand side create the first column. Now write
down the first name of you client (or last name or both).
If you don’t remember their name and you had given them a
nickname, use that. It doesn’t matter as long as you know
who they are.

In the second column, title it “M/F.” You guessed it, “male
or female.” I knew I didn’t have a “dah” market reading
this. Now, go down the column and write in the answers next
to each name.

Next column, title “M/S/D/U” = married, single, divorced,
unknown. Go down the column and complete again.

Remember, before you move onto a new column you want to
complete the previous column as much as possible — there is
a subconscious reason for this I don’t want to go off topic
to explain, so I’m asking you just trust me on this.
Please.

Here is a list of other demographic type of information you
want to continue in this same format: Age, time zone,
number of children (if any), how long a client, marketing
resource (how did they find you or you them), fee, and
service type.

As you continue to go through and complete each column you
will begin to see some patterns on the type of client you
are attraction as well as how they became your client (the
source).

Continue with this project by adding more distinctions over
the next week. As you complete each column, another
important fact will emerge for you that you will want to
review. If you are missing some information, you might want
to pick up the phone and call that past client and ask – a
great reason to get back in touch with them and renew your
name in their mind.

When you begin seeing the patterns emerge, like you work
mainly with 90% males, or everyone lives in a certain area,
or all are divorced, etc. Some of these patterns are going
to be obvious and some aren’t. This is why this exercise is
good to complete at least once a year. I do this even
though I now have software that does it for me. There is
nothing like ink and paper to open my outside-the-box
thinking that doesn’t emerge when reviewing a printed
report.

When you get to a slowing down place, pull out the
description again of your ideal client. Now, see the
averages for this measurement chart in comparison to your
ideal client. How is it different? Were there any ideal
clients on the list — put a star next to them or highlight
them?

Is there a gap between the two? Can you see what the gap
is? Is it obvious? Do you need to build a bridge of things
to evolve with that moves from the island to the mainland?
If yes, what is it?

Okay, you’ve got your work cut out for yourself. I agree.
Then again, this exercise is the top one I recommend to all
my clients, workshop participants, and teleclass attendees.
I have even had seasoned professionals resist completing the
exercise because they felt they knew everything there was to
know on this already. If you feel this same way, it’s okay.
Let it evolve and see if something grows.

Much to their surprise after they completed the exercise.
In fact, Jim, an insurance agent from Arizona wrote me an e-
mail after a recent teleclass that did the assignment, yes,
with that same reluctance, saying,

“Damn, Catherine, you’re good. The exercise eat at me until
this morning when I gave in and did the exercise even though
last night I convinced myself that I already knew all the
answers. I discovered way too many holes in our marketing.
My whole staff is excited. After I introduced it to them in
this morning’s staff meeting, we had to cut the meeting
short because everyone couldn’t wait to get back to their
office and do the exercise.”

bio = Catherine Franz, veteran entrepreneur and CEO of Eagle
Communications, is a syndicated marketing columnist,
radio host, International speaker, and master life and
business coach. http://www.abundancecenter.com

Popularity: 23% [?]

We all know the feeling of going out to make our cold calls, only to be shot down by the person at the front desk who looks at us as nothing more than a solicitor.

These front desk people would be otherwise known as the gate keepers.

Lets face it, getting passed the gate keeper can be tough, we are on their turf, what they say goes. Any slight resistance could end up with them making a call to security.

Here are few really good tips on getting passed the gate keeper that have been proven to work.

1. Ask to speak with someone in the sales department.

The next time you are out cold calling, the last thing you want to do is walk into an office building, approach the front desk, and immediately try to sell your product.

Instead, try this approach. Walk up to the receptionist counter, introduce yourself verbally and with a business card, and ask if you may speak with someone in their sales or retail department.

By asking to speak with someone in a specialized department, the receptionist will believe you are there on official business and put you in contact with that department.

Now that you are in front of someone in the same area of work as yourself, they will most assuredly be sensitive to your needs, and understand your situation.

These are the people in the company that will point you in the direction you want to go, and in the direction of the people you want to speak with about your products and services.

2. Call ahead before you go.

Before you go out to make your calls, place a telephone call to the companies you plan on visiting to let them know that you will be stopping by.

Tell them something like this.

Hello, my name is Jim Smith and I will be in your neighborhood this afternoon. I just wanted to let you know that I will be stopping by between the hours of twelve and two to introduce myself. That’s it, stop right there.

Do not ask for permission to stop by. This will give them the opportunity to say no.

Once you arrive at their office, you can than reintroduce yourself as the person that had called earlier in the day.

This technique makes the transition from gate keeper to decision maker much smoother.

Getting passed the gate keeper can be very tricky, but it can be done. By following the two examples I described above, you should find yourself talking with more decision makers. Good luck.

This article may be reproduced by anyone at any time, as long as the authors name and reference links are kept in tact and active.

bio = Jay Conners has more than fifteen years of experience in the banking and Mortgage Industry, He is the owner of http://www.jconners.com, a mortgage resource site, he is also the owner of http://www.callprospect.com, a mortgage lead company.

Popularity: 23% [?]

Write a marketing plan in five easy steps. Give yourself and your business an edge over your competitors. Reduce your marketing and advertising budgets by delivering targetted leads for your sales team.

If you want to succeed in any type of business then the business needs to be marketed to its target consumers in an effective manner. In order to do this effectively rather than in an ad hoc, probably expensive, manner I propose the construction of a marketing plan.
Writing a marketing plan is something you can do yourself quite simply, but it will need some time for research and thought if it is to be worthwhile and achieve results.

So, have read this far and not run away yet you will be wondering how to write a marketing plan. I see it as a very simple 5 step process as follows:

1) Get your information together and analyze it.
Find out all you can about the industry you are in, its sales channels, anticipated growth, products etc. Look at who your competitors are, who you expect your customers to be and your wholesalers. Look at pricing, distribution channels and product ranges.
Next complete some SWOT analyses. This is a simple analysis of your Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats which will be of great help in clarifying your thoughts and putting them and the information into some order.

2) Write down your main challenges.
The SWOT analysis should have helped you to see what they are e.g. one of my weaknesses is in how to drive traffic to my website. After all we need site visitors in order to sell to them.

3) Decide your objectives
following on from the example above I have decided to set an objective for myself of increasing awareness of my website. Increased awareness should in turn lead to more visitors.

4) Devise strategies
Strategies need to support the objectives you have set yourself and define the approaches you will take to achieve the objectives set earlier. It is sometimes useful to brainstorm ideas with a few friends at this time as you can bounce ideas off each other but if you are on your own don’t worry just write down all of your ideas on a large sheet of paper Following on from our example I decide that one of my strategies should be to communicate the existence of the site to my existing customers.

5) Select your tactics
this is where the action is. You should now have some firm ideas in your mind and on paper as to what your objectives and strategies should be. You should now be thinking in more practical terms as to what you can do to achieve those goals. You may also need to think at this point about any costs involved with some of your ideas. Set yourself a budget to spend on marketing your site. This is not the time to penny pinch. You have already invested a great deal of time and money into setting up your site and that money will be wasted if you expect people to simply queue up just because it is there. The web is huge and yours is just one site among millions and is unlikely to be stumbled across by chance. Few of us have the marketing budget of MacDonald’s but a few well spent pounds on targeted marketing in the right areas will reap dividends.

So that’s it. How to develop and write a simple marketing plan. One final thing though. Treat your plan as a continuing, living document. Revisit it regularly, update it and change it as your goals change. If you treat your marketing plan as something to work with then it will become a time and money saver for your business.

So that’s it. How to develop a simple marketing plan. One

final thing though. Treat your plan as a continuing, living

document. Revisit it regularly, update it and change it as

your goals change.
bio = Jean Morgan is a lecturer in business and management with a particular interest in helping women to succeed in the business world. For more business articles please visit www.ukwomeninbusiness.co.uk

Popularity: 28% [?]

Many businesses in today’s competitive markets have gained an
edge by using fax broadcasting to get their sales messages to
important customers before the competition does.

In fax broadcasting, volume is the key to success. Once a company
has a successful fax broadcasting program underway, they can
supercharge their sales results by bumping up the volume of their
fax broadcasts. High volume fax broadcasting takes their sales to
a new level, and gets their marketing messages to a much larger
audience.

High Volume Fax Broadcasting Makes Your Message More Cost-
Effective One advantage of high volume fax broadcasting is access
to volume discounts. Fax broadcasting is just like other forms of
marketing communication when it comes to price. The more you do,
the cheaper it is per unit. Fax broadcasting can run a company in
the neighborhood of about 20 cents per fax in some cases, where
the fax recipients number in the thousands. But if that same
company jumps up their fax broadcasting efforts to a new, larger
high-volume fax broadcasting program, targeting hundreds of
thousands, or even millions, the cost per contact can drop
dramatically.

High volume fax broadcasting can sometimes result in a cost per
fax of 3 cents or lower.

With a lower cost per fax, a high volume fax broadcasting
strategy can actually reach a larger audience with the same
dollars that may have been previously spent on multiple fax
transmissions, each with smaller volumes.

Logic would seem to indicate that your budget is better served by
generating smaller fax broadcasts, one at a time. But the reality
is actually the reverse. With the volume discounts available
through high volume fax broadcasting, the goal should be to do
the biggest fax broadcast to the largest audience you can afford
all at one time.

The discounts will mean that your same annual advertising budget
will make it possible to reach a much greater number of customers
with your fax advertisements, compared to the company’s fax
broadcast results prior to instigating a high volume fax
broadcast strategy.

The bottom line for fax advertising is – bigger is better. If
you’ve been a little timed about bumping up the volume of your
fax broadcasts, thinking that you were conserving and stretching
your budget with smaller, repetitive fax broadcasts, guess again.
You need to take your fax advertising to a new level with high
volume fax broadcasting.

Only then will you begin to really stretch your fax advertising
budget dollars. You’ll get the best bang for your buck, and land
your message in the hands of a much larger audience, too.

bio = Chris Bradley is V.P. of 3Cent Fax Broadcast.com, where they help business save money and increase profits with their do it all fax service, where they do all the work and you can concentrate on your business. To learn more about their money and time saving service by clicking here … broadcastfax.

Popularity: 24% [?]

If you are in the mortgage business, the very first thing you need before you can get anywhere, is an application.

I spent years working in the mortgage industry, and my goal was to close one loan per week.

Monday through Friday I would find myself a spot in the back of the office where I could pound out my phone calls from 5:30pm until 8pm every night. My daily goal was to take at least three applications per evening, resulting in fifteen applications per week.

This is how I obtained my applications.

1. I was always prepared. Every thing that I could possibly need was at my desk. If a customer had a question about monthly payments, my mortgage calculator was right there. If a customer had a question about a particular loan program, I had my literature right there. When a customer commented on their needs and situation, my stationary was right there to take notes.

It is very important to have all of your resources at your finger tips, otherwise you will be fumbling around looking for things, or putting your customer on hold, while you find what it is you need.

2. Take the edge off

When you are speaking with a potential customer, the conversation doesn’t have to be 100% business all of the time. You can take the edge off by finding something in common with your customer. If you hear a dog barking or a baby crying, make a comment about it. People love to talk about their pets and baby’s. This will relax your customer, making it easier for you to get the appropriate information from them to complete your application.

3. Overcome objections

During the application process you will be hit with many objections. This is perfectly natural, most people don’t jump at the chance to fill out applications for mortgages and refi’s.

Here are some of the more common objections;

A) I have to speak with my spouse.

A good response to this would be; Is your spouse available to go over it with me right now? I would be more than happy to discuss it with him/her.

Another objection . . .

B) I have to think about it.

A good response to this would be;

Is there something that I didn’t explain clearly enough? Or, is there anything you would like me to go over with you again.

The above objections are probably the most common you will come across. If the responses I recommended don’t get your customer talking again, than politely thank them and ask their permission to send them some literature.

4. Purchasing Leads

I often found purchasing leads from a reliable lead source to be beneficial when it came to taking applications. The reason is obvious, these people are making it very clear that they want somebody to call them so they can apply for a mortgage, and most likely they are waiting by the phone. So its worth a shot.

These are only a few of the activities I practiced during my time as a loan officer, and it was rare that I didn’t meet my weekly goal of fifteen applications per week.

I’m sure if you practice these same activities you will experience the same success that I did! Good luck!

This article may be reproduced by anyone at any time, as long as the authors name and reference links are kept in tact and active.

bio = Jay Conners has more than fifteen years of experience in the banking and Mortgage Industry, He is the owner of http://www.jconners.com, a mortgage resource site, he is also the owner of http://www.callprospect.com, a mortgage lead company.

Popularity: 23% [?]

I know you’ve heard this a thousand times, but from the looks of things few businesses are following the advice.

Far too many businesses (online or offline) define their target market as “anyone with a pulse and a wallet.” (Not always in that order.)

You read their sales copy and it’s the same old, walking on eggshells “corporate speak”, devoid of personality, writing to a group style, as everyone else in their industry.

Sure. They’re not going to eliminate any “potential buyers”. But there’re not going to stand out from the crowd and get their message noticed either!

You need to define your target customer as specifically as possible. You should describe your customer in exacting detail. Not as a group, but as an individual. Get a laser focused, clear and precise image in your mind of one specific person. Know that persons sex, age, marital status, wants, needs, educational background, psychographics, demographics, geographics, technographics (level of technological sophistication), understand their psychological motivations, hopes, fears. Everything!

And then (and only then) write your copy directly to that person. Craft your message to your target customer in a one-on-one, person to person style, keeping this focused image of who you are talking to clear in your mind.

So. You’ve clearly defined your target customer. Great. Now you’re ahead of 95% of the business in your market.

Do you want to know how to jump ahead of the other 5%?

(This next tip is something that very few top marketers talk about. But it just may be one of the most important activities you ever do for your business.)

Clearly define who your customer IS NOT! Spell it out. Write it down. Let the world know, exactly who you REFUSE to do business with.

Eliminate the freebie seekers, bargain hunters, complainers, whiners, price shoppers, deadbeats and time leaches (Michel Fortin calls them “Vampires”. I love that.)

The first step in face to face selling is to qualify the prospect. So I’ve never understood why so many businesses are afraid to do the same thing when selling in print or on the computer screen. Cowards!

Guess what? An amazing thing happens when you “take something away”. By stating (unapologetically) in your copy that “This offer IS NOT for everybody.”, “.only a select, elite few will qualify.”, “.unless you meet the following qualifications, you can’t beg us to let you buy this.”, something magical takes place in the sales process.

The dynamic changes, from YOU trying to convince the PROSPECT that they need your product. to the PROSPECT trying to convince YOU that they are qualified to buy what you are offering.

So, stop worrying about eliminating part of your potential market by only focusing on your “ideal customer”, the ones you eliminate wouldn’t have bought from you anyway. And by adding a bit of “posture” to your copy, your conversion rates with your REAL market will skyrocket.

Just remember this.

If you try to be “everything to everybody”, you will end up being “nothing to nobody”.
bio = Want to improve your conversion rates? Get a FREE website evaluation from one of the worlds top eCommerce and traffic conversion experts. Visit http://www.web-site-evaluations.com/free today for your free, no-obligation website evaluation today!

Popularity: 22% [?]

You are welcome to use this article on your website or in your newsletter as long as you reprint it as is, including the contact information at the end. Website URLs must be active links. You are welcome to use this article with an affiliate link, http://www.freeplants.com/resellers.htm

HOW TO MAKE $1148 IN ONE DAY WORKING WITH PLANTS
This article is actually an example of a simple yet, excellent marketing plan. Pay close attention to how I went out and found new business at a time of the year when things are normally slow, and not only did I make $1,148.00, my friend Franky also made $1,060.00.

Because I chose to keep myself out of the rat race of landscaping new homes, I went after a market that was more of an impulsive type market. New home landscaping is almost a necessity, since new homes don’t have any shrubs or grass. Not only that, many housing developments actually require people to have their landscaping done within a certain number of months from the time they move into their new homes. Therefore, when the house is done, people are anxious to get it landscaped.

Since I wasn’t in that market, and most impulsive gardening decisions are made in the spring, my business typically slowed down during the very hot summer months. So one year I decided to do a little test marketing, to see if I could muster up some work during the summer.

I decided to do a test mailing to 350 homeowners in an area where I knew the people could afford landscaping services, but were not extremely rich. I mailed a letter to these 350 homes, and the letter basically said I could help them with any landscaping project that needed done, and because my business was slow during the summer I could give them a really fair price.

Of the 350 people that received the letter 3 called me. I immediately sold two jobs, and the third job was still open for discussion. On one of the first two jobs I made about $350. and on the other I made about $700. That’s net profit. That’s how much I got to keep. Since the mailing cost less than $175., my immediate profit on the mailing was $875. Not bad at all considering this was only a part-time business for me. But don’t forget about that third caller. I had not even met this person yet.

The reason he called is because he happened to own a 60 unit apartment building in the Cleveland area, and he needed some trees or shrubs planted around the parking lot. The architect that he had been working with suggested Taxus Hicksi, which is an evergreen that is easily trimmed and maintained to a certain size. However, all the
landscapers he had spoken with in Cleveland wanted about $44.00 each to install these plants.
Although a fair price, that amounted to $4,664.00 because he needed 106 plants.

He contacted me because he was hoping I could find a less expensive plant to use. After visiting the job site I realized that Taxus Hicksi actually was about the best choice for this situation, so I told him I would see if I could get a better price on the plants. I showed in a wholesale catalog that the wholesale price was $22.00 per plant, but mentioned that I might be able to find another source.

I knew that my friend Franky did at one time grow this particular plant, so I gave him a call. Turns out he did have 106 plants available, and was anxious to move some of them, he quoted me $10.00 each, balled in burlap. I called my customer and told him that I found good plants at a lower price, and that I could actually deliver and plant them for $22.00 per plant, which is exactly half of what others had quoted him. He was delighted, and I did the job. As a matter of fact he actually asked me to install some additional plants while I was there.

I hired 3 guys to help me do the job, and we had it done in one day. After I paid for the plants, and paid my help, I actually made $1,148.00 on that one day job. My customer was so happy with the work we did that he asked me to come back the following week and do about another $700.00 worth of work. I made another $350.00 The following spring he hired me to re-landscape an older home that he had purchased, and I made another $600.00.

Remember the $175.00 that I spent to mail those 350 letters? The net profit on that mailing turned out to be about $2,973.00!!! And my friend Franky picked up $1,060.00 for the plants I bought from him. Were these 350 people I selected special? No they weren’t. Every town in America has at least 350 people just like them, probably thousands more.

There are many different ways to make money with plants, this is just one of them, I can show you plenty more. I’ve been making money with plants for over 25 years.

bio = Michael J. McGroarty is the author of this article. Visit his most interesting website, http://www.freeplants.com and sign up for his excellent gardening newsletter.ÿ

Popularity: 22% [?]

Just because we receive a referral, it doesn’t mean that the sale is ours and the deal is closed even before we make contact.

For all you know, the person being referred to you may have also been referred to someone else, so don’t take your referrals for granted.

Treat your referral as though it is someone that you have never heard of before, make believe you were cold calling and came across this name on your list, and when you called them, they showed interest in your product.

Now, you would never treat your very own hard earned customer with anything but the best customer service, would you?

Of course you wouldn’t, you found this customer on your own through hard work and you want to keep them.

Think of your referral in the same light.

Far to many times I have seen referrals that have been given to people that just let them sit around for days. The assumption is, I believe, that because this customer was referred to them, that it is a done deal and they can take their time with it. This is not the case.

The minute you get a referral, you should be calling that customer, the simple fact that you believe a referral to be a done deal, should be all the reason in the world to call them immediately.

The customers point of view . . .

If a customer is looking for a particular product or service, and they put the word out on the street, they will be expecting a phone call very soon.

Lets suppose you were looking to have your bathroom updated, and a friend of yours referred you to a guy who installs kitchens and bathrooms, and you never heard from the guy, and if you did it was many days after the guy received your referral. You probably wouldn’t be too thrilled about doing business with him now, would you? I doubt it.

So the next time you get a referral, make it count, call that customer immediately, they are sitting by the phone, waiting on your call.

When it comes to referrals, don’t hesitate for a second, because if you do, your referral could end up in the hands of your competition. Best of Luck

This article may be reproduced by anyone at any time, as long as the authors name and reference links are kept in tact and active.

bio = Jay Conners has more than fifteen years of experience in the banking and Mortgage Industry, He is the owner of http://www.jconners.com, a mortgage resource site, he is also the owner of http://www.callprospect.com, a mortgage lead company.

Popularity: 23% [?]