When it comes to marketing your services, two facts hold true. One is, when things are important to people, they buy -- or at least attempt to buy -- from a recognized expert. The other is, to be most profitable, you must differentiate yourself from your ...

“Can I take your order please?” When I look at the waiter who is happily asking me that question, I’m immediately drawn to his professional appearance & the smart-looking name badge that is pinned to his uniform shirt - it reads: John. “Thanks J...

Why exactly do certain advertisements appeal to certain people? The most obvious solution would be a matter of interests. Men who enjoy home improvement will be drawn in by a home improvement advertisement. You play up the interests that you know they ...

…I can’t imagine! A recent article on the state of television said “Surely a fine of £6 million isn’t going to prevent ITV from cheating and lying to viewers” It went on to say “But nothing will change, TV by its very nature is deceptive a...

For the small business owner, advertising can be a major expense. When you add that to the cost of commercial printing costs it an seem as though advertising costs go above and beyond any potential profit that one may incur because of advertising efforts....

Direct marketing guru Ed Mayer famously said that the mailing list you use accounts for 40% of the responses from your mailings. With that much of your revenue riding on the result, it's important to make sure that you use a high-quality list. The trou...

If you're new to direct mail, it may seem like a bewildering array of strange jargon and mathematical formulas. However, it's relatively cheap (compared to a full-blown branding and general advertising campaign). And, it can all be tracked and measured, s...

If you're worried about your marketing message getting lost in a deluge of e-mail or stuck in a spam filter, try a postcard instead. It won't get filtered out, and your message gets directly to your prospect. In fact, a marketer at a Web domain registrati...

The sales gurus teach a “questioning technique” in cold calling that’s designed to get potential clients interested in your solution. It seems like a good idea. But to your prospects it can feel staged. I’ve seen countless cold calls shut dow...

We rarely think about our prospect’s problems before we make our cold calls. So to make this process easy for you, let’s look at three specific examples of how to help clarify the problems matched with specific products or services. I think you’ll s...

All the sales gurus have been teaching for years that you must be enthusiastic and aggressive in cold calling tactics. You’ve been trained to focus on the sale and move cold calling conversations toward a sales conclusion. What would you think if I ...

Sales growth will come from (1) existing customers; (2) old or lost customers; (3) new customers; (4) existing products or service; and/or (5) new products/ services. Based on the options above, the chances of success for making more sales are: • ...

The moment you use the old-school cold calling approach -- the traditional pitch about who you are and what you have to offer -- you trigger the negative "salesperson" stereotype. And that means instant defense or rejection. I call it "The Wall." The...

If you follow the old traditional cold calling approach, as soon as you dial the telephone your focus is on acquiring a sale. And you’re probably using different techniques and strategies to guide your conversation towards that goal. But I’m sugge...

All the sales gurus have been teaching for years that we must be enthusiastic and aggressive in our cold calling tactics. We’ve been trained to focus on the sale and move our cold calling conversations toward a sales conclusion. What would you thin...