Inside the Envelope

Everyone likes to feel appreciated. That's especially true when it comes to your customers. Appreciation marketing can help you develop lasting relationships and make customers think of you the next time they're ready to purchase. Here are a few ways to show customers your appreciation: Send a hand-written thank you card every time someone does business with you. Reward repeat customers with special deals, exclusive discounts, and coupons. Send holiday, birthday, or anniversary cards. These simple, pressure-free greetings will help increase top-of-mind awareness throughout the year. Offer useful information and helpful tips to educate customers and promote your expertise via blogs, newsletters, social media, and the like. Invite customers to an exclusive appreciation event designed for existing customers. Collaborate with non-competitive local businesses to create a coupon book or discount program across a range of industries. Create a customer loyalty program, ...

When you're in any kind of selling situation, getting objections from your prospect is actually a very positive sign. Many will see the objection as a "no" when that really isn't the case at all. When your prospect objects, what they're really saying is that some issue is causing them to pause and hesitate. The mere fact that they're giving voice to their objection offers a great opportunity to address those areas of concern. If they were truly not interested, you would receive little or no response at all to your proposal. Objections are like an open door -- an invitation for you to convince the prospect that your solution is the best fit for their need. One of the most popular objections is the price objection, especially in today's economic cycle. Most people are willing to spend more, but they must be given valid reasons why your price is higher. You must be able to show them the benefits and advantages of agreeing to your proposal. In ...

After all your work hard and marketing efforts enticing prospects to visit your website, it can be frustrating to see high bounce rates. Bounce rate is an Internet marketing term that represents the percentage of visitors who enter your website and bounce -- or leave the site -- rather than continuing to view other pages within your site or complete a desired action. Here are a few common website mistakes that are often responsible for driving away potential customers: The basics. An unattractive design, spelling errors, broken links, images that take forever to load, and other annoyances will quickly cause visitors to lose trust and confidence in your business. Poor navigation. If visitors can't tell where they are, where to click next, or how to get back to your homepage, they will likely just exit. Complicated, lengthy web pages. Instead, provide information that is brief and organized with headlines and sub-headings, bulleted lists, and short paragraphs. Too many dist...

Poster marketing has been a popular way to spread the word for more than 200 years, dating back to posters for everything from World's Fairs, recruitment, and war propaganda to bicycles and bullfights. Today, posters continue as a flexible marketing tool for publicizing upcoming events, promoting ideas, and advertising new products and services. Here are a few benefits of poster marketing: Versatility. Posters can be printed on a variety of surfaces, protected with UV coating or laminating, and mounted or framed. As a result, they can be used either indoors or outdoors in any number of ways. Simplicity. Because posters are created for viewers on the move, some of the best posters don't say much. Effective posters capture the viewer's attention immediately -- often with large, eye-catching graphics, a catchy headline, and a web address that is easy to remember. You can then provide more detailed information on your website and entice readers to join your mailing list for a...

Do you ever find yourself playing the "what if" game? What if you had made a different choice with something in your past, whether a life decision or in business? Sure you have. We all do. When you're evaluating these "what if" scenarios in your head, do you ever wonder how close you came to achieving some of the goals you set but for whatever reason never did? It's true that we shouldn't dwell on the past, but it's also worth mentioning that we all want to live a life that leaves little regret at the end of the day. So learning from our past mistakes (and victories) is an important part of our growth process. When you want to reach anything worthwhile, you set goals. You put some effort into reaching your target. The higher the target and bigger the goal, the more effort it takes to reach it. Simple concept, right? 1 + 2 = 3 Then if it's so simple, why is it that we sometimes don't reach the goals we set for ourselves...

While the holiday season is still a few months away, now is the ideal early time to start planning festive marketing campaigns to promote your business. Here are a few creative ideas to consider: Give your business a seasonal twist. For example, a grocery store could offer tips on how to eat healthy during the holidays. A financial institution could provide a tip sheet on controlling holiday spending. Consider special pricing on gift certificates, such as buy $40 and get $10 free or buy two gift certificates and get one free. Rather than risk having your holiday card get lost in the shuffle at Christmas, consider sending a greeting focused on Halloween, Thanksgiving, or even New Year's. Give loyal customers something that keeps on giving. Consider a bonus for referring a friend, a holiday coupon, a discount for subscribing to your e-newsletter, or other fun promotions. Offer a "Coming Soon" report for the upcoming year. For example, offer a sneak peek at a new pro...

Skills can be learned. Read a book. Attend a course. Learn from someone who has achieved what you seek. Teachers and mentors are plentiful. The paths to your desired outcome are endless. The kind of success you seek can be achieved with effort. That part is something you can learn. But there's something you can't find in a book, learn in a course, or download into your brain. That one thing is....desire. It's something you can't buy at any price and no one can teach you. Some call it the "why." Why do you want what you're seeking? Answer that question first, and the path will become much clearer.

Business cards are an inexpensive, yet valuable way to introduce yourself and your business. Here are a few etiquette tips to keep in mind the next time you exchange business cards: Be prepared by having business cards on you at all times, including weekends. Never distribute tattered business cards that show wear from being stuffed in your wallet. Instead, use a hard business card case to keep your cards clean and crisp. Offer your card during informal conversations if the person you're talking to expresses interest in your products or services. Distribute only one card to each new contact (unless more are requested), rather than expecting them to distribute your cards for you. Exchange cards at the beginning of meetings to have the names and titles/rank of everyone involved readily available. Show respect when receiving a business card by briefly looking it over (front and back) and placing it in a portfolio, notebook, or card case. Never fold or crumple the card, and d...

The amount of information (images, videos, blogs, etc.) available to businesspeople is increasing at dizzying speeds. This can be a problem. A big and messy problem. You see, there's a lot of junk out there. Yet amid that trash valuable information exists that can help you and your customers achieve exactly what you're looking for. As with any problem, there are opportunities to be had. Can you become the go to source for your top customers to help them find the gold? If you can manage that, you'll become their trusted ally and vendor of choice. That in essence is what "content curation" is all about. You can send your customers and prospects copies of articles and links to important information -- basically any resource you think will help them grow in their personal and business life. Some think that content curation is a brand-new concept, but it's been around for many years. Where the information comes from has evolved, but the esse...