Tip for August 1, 2006

Top 5 magazines ranked by ad revenue: Parade, People, TV Guide, Sports Illustrated, Time. Top 5 magazines ranked by paid circulation: Parade, Modern Maturity, USA Weekend, Reader's Digest, TV Guide.

Tip for August 2, 2006

Check subject lines in replies Don't fire off an e-mail reply without checking the subject line on your outgoing message. When you reply to e-mail, your program uses the same subject line as the message you're replying to, except it adds RE: in front of the original subject line. But if the message you're replying to didn't have a subject line, or it had a subject line that didn't explain the purpose of the message, then adding RE: in front of it won't make things any better. Using effective subject lines in your e-mail is part of being a net marketing professional, so make sure you do it every time.

Tip for August 3, 2006

Believe in yourself and your company Transfer your belief to your prospect with enthusiasm!Also, take advantage of sales ideas that have been developed outside your industry. Read, listen to tapes, go to seminars. Your knowledge will give you confidence

Tip for August 4, 2006

Top 10 advertising categories: Automotive, Direct Response, Toiletries & Cosmetics, Business & Consumer Services, Apparel/Footwear & Accessories, Foods & Food Products, Drugs & Remedies, Travel/Hotels/Resorts, Computers & Office Equipment, Cigarettes & Tobacco.

Tip for August 5, 2006

Language adds personality to your web site Whether or not you use fancy graphics or other audiovisual aids on your web site, you can give your site a lot of personality by using evocative language. You can convey a regional dialect, an attitude about your products or services, or evoke a tone ranging from serious to spiritual to sassy. For two examples of sites that use language to convey a mood, check out www.cartalk.com or www.eat.com.

Tip for August 6, 2006

Shush - Quiet - Silence Most salespeople mistake silence for surrender. "Most sales are lost by talking, when all the salesperson has to do is quit! Shut up! Wait! Listen!" Often a salesperson has received agreement from the prospect and simply ignores the fact that the prospect is waiting to be asked to buy. Instead of asking for a job order, the salesperson continues to sell and in some instances never does ask for an order. In order to be an active listener, you must concentrate on what the prospect is saying, paraphrase a statement if you do not understand what the prospect means and then show the solution, the benefit your company offers

Tip for August 7, 2006

Top 5 spenders: General Motors, Philip Morris, Ford Motor Co., Procter & Gamble, Roll International Corp.

Tip for August 8, 2006

Don't plan publicity at the last minute It takes weeks or months to prepare magazine feature articles, yet many electronic marketers don't bother to think about publicity until their site is ready to roll. If you wait until you launch your marketing program to start sending out press releases or pitching article ideas in magazines or newspapers, you're guaranteeing that any publicity you get will arrive weeks or months after your other marketing weapons have gone to work. Plan ahead! As soon as you have a tentative start date for your online marketing campaign, start sending your story ideas or announcements to newspapers and magazines. This way, you'll have a much better chance of timing publicity so it hits in synch with your other marketing weapons.

Tip for August 9, 2006

Promises - Promises There are many different claims of superior service, but a major problem is that salespeople do not always follow through. When you promise something to a prospect or customer - keep your promise. Honesty is still the best policy. No - it's not a trite statement - it is the truth. If you don't know the answer, say so and indicate when you will be able to provide the information to the prospect and then make good on your promise

Tip for August 10, 2006

Graphic Don'ts: In graphic designs, don't let the art overpower the ideas. Don't let the art overpower the headline. Finally, don't let the art overpower the copy.

Tip for August 11, 2006

Proofread! You'll rarely find a typo, weird formatting, or poor language in marketing materials produced by big companies, because they usually take the time to have several people review whatever they send out to make sure it's perfect. Guerrillas often write their own marketing material, and it's often not possible to pay a pro to review your work. But that doesn't mean you can't get it right! Before you send out anything, have at least two other people read it for accuracy. Any time you spend making your copy perfect is worth it, because it makes the difference between looking like a pro and looking like an amateur.

Tip for August 12, 2006

Guerrilla Vince Furlong, with Micro Computer Solutions in Chicago, sells computer training but doesn't do Mac's. Instead he refers all Macintosh training requests to a competitor. In return, the competitor refers training requests for a course they don't do to Vince. So, even though they compete on many courses, they have niches where they can cooperate. Most customers respect their attitude and the word gets around.

Tip for August 13, 2006

What qualities count most with employers? In order: Attitude, Communication skills, Previous work experience, recommendations from current employees, recommendation from previous employer, industry-based credentials certifying skills, years of schooling completed, scores on tests given as part of interview.

Tip for August 14, 2006

How to reinforce what you've told the prospect Use visual aids on your sales calls. How about showing something? In this age of information, your prospects are accustomed to the reinforcement of the spoken word with visuals. Give your prospects what they need to know to choose your company for their staffing needs

Tip for August 15, 2006

What do men enjoy most during leisure time? In order: The outdoors, Music, TV, Eating out, Barbecuing or cooking, Going out for entertainment, Exercising or playing sports, traveling, reading, napping, home repairs, entertaining.

Tip for August 16, 2006

A good resource for web-watchers For a one-stop look at what dozens of major Web marketers are up to, check out the Web Digest for Marketers at http://www.wdfm.com. This site has reviewed hundreds of marketing-related web sites since it began in April, 1995, and you can browse its archive for links to and brief descriptions of sites in a number of categories, including consumer products, entertainment, business-to-business, law, entertainment, and the media. It also offers a bi-weekly newsletter reviewing the latest sites. This is one site you should have on your browser's hot list for an up-to-date look at what other companies are doing on the Web.

Tip for August 17, 2006

Leave competition in the dust It's easy to get stuck in the office in the morning involved in meaningless conversation that doesn't put money in your pocket. Make an early A.M. appointment! Breakfast appointments are great! What you accomplish before 12 noon helps make the rest of your day a success. And remember this - your work week should not end at noon or 2 P.M. on Friday. Keep selling on Friday afternoons while your competition is back in the office and you'll leave them in the dust

Tip for August 18, 2006

A classified ad for an apartment building was circled and had arrows pointing to it, said circle and arrows being part of the ad. Very attention-getting.

Tip for August 19, 2006

What do your customers want? The Gartner Group recently reported that 90% of corporations it surveyed anecdotally had created their web sites *without ever asking their customers what they wanted on those sites.*

Tip for August 20, 2006

Ways to upgrade Selling skills Study the habits of the top sales producers and emulate them. Don't be afraid to fail. Nothing ventured - nothing gained! Periodically make some sales calls with your boss or with a peer. You'll be surprised what you might hear to add to your sales bag. Why should customers buy from you? List three reasons and don't include lower price. Write down your five most positive selling attributes. Then write down five selling attributes that need improvement. Now write down when and what you will regularly do to improve these attributes over the next thirty days.

Tip for August 21, 2006

There are presently 261 million Americans , 13% are 65 or older and 3.5 million are 85 or older, this is interesting considering that life expectancy is estimated at 76.3 years,

Tip for August 22, 2006

How to refine a search Eric Ward mentioned the article in IW about search engines... I read it too, and came away with a totally different conclusion! The article was basically a rule-based approach to deciding which searcher to use for certain applications. While that's fine if you remember the rules, it's a little short on practicality. Let me suggest a simple 3-step for getting what you want from the search engines: 1) Pick an engine, any engine and enter a single search word. 2) If you get way too many hits, refine your search with another keyword. 3) If you don't find what you're looking for, return to step 1. This will find it if it's out there, and is a good hedge against the inevitable changing of the rules. Search engines will be in constant churn and competition for some time to come.

Tip for August 23, 2006

How to get the ammunition you need, ask: "Did you read...?" "What is your opinion...?" "What are your thoughts...?" "How many ...?" What are your plans? Have you heard of? How would you describe? Have you considered? Have you given any thought to? How have you approached the problem of? Questions - Questions-Questions will help you find the prospects' hot buttons. Questions will give you the ammunition you need to open more new accounts. Are you talking too much in a sales interview? Concentrate on questioning and listening and you'll open more new accounts

Tip for August 24, 2006

Three guerrilla tips for getting maximum attention in minimum space: 1) Use a unique border 2) Use large type and few words 3) Reverse the ad, which means using white type against a black background.

Tip for August 25, 2006

Are you a professional? "Professionals are reliable; you can trust them to fulfill their promises." "They act quickly to put literature in the mail, to follow-up on the set time and are never late for appointments." Are you a professional? Professionals respect people's time, and people appreciate that. Professionals hold their head high and take responsibility for the services they provide or fail to provide. Are you a professional?

Tip for August 26, 2006

Sales & Marketing magazine reports that advertising produced 31% of a business marketers leads, PR produced 23%, trade shows 12%, telemarketing 8%, direct mail 5.7%, and postcard decks 5.2%.

Tip for August 27, 2006

Use the Net for answers Think about what you need to know to do business. Chances are, you can learn more about it on the Net. From prices to names of prospective suppliers to manufacturing or customer service techniques to details about new markets, there's a wealth of info on the Net that's available whenever you're ready. Use Web search engines to look for information sites.

Tip for August 28, 2006

Norway's largest transport company, Tollpiost Globe, will install free hotline telephones on the desks of Norway's top 500 managers according to Euromarketing. That's micro-marketing, Scandinavian style.

Tip for August 29, 2006

Should you have a hospitality suite at your next trade show? When 150 executives were asked if their visit to a hospitality suite would increase their business with the supplier, 32% said that it would.

Tip for August 30, 2006

The proof is in the product When choosing a Web site designer or Internet consultant, look for the end results and work backwards. Find Web sites you like and find out who designed them. Look for businesses that have a strong presence on the Net, and find out who's promoting them. Anyone can hang out a shingle and profess to be a Net expert, but the best way to find a good consultant is to locate Net successes and then learn who's behind them.

Tip for August 31, 2006

PaperDirect of New Jersey sells computer paper via catalogs. They also run quarterly contests for new product ideas from customers, netting about 500 suggestions each time. Sales have jumped from $1.1 million in l990 to $17 million in l993. I wonder how much of that came from customer ideas?

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