You can’t make it through a day—or even a few hours—without hearing something about social media. A social media policy for your employees is essential. A social media strategy for your company is equally—if not more—important. Do you have one? Keep these issues in mind when developing your social media strategy: • Begin with [...]
Do you know who is receiving your text messages? Early this morning, I received a text from a client wishing me a happy Mother's Day. Yes, that's odd from a number of perspectives, but this is a quirky client and I appreciated the thought. Before I could respond, I heard another text come in. It [...]
Last November, I went to small claims court and sued a lawyer for non-payment. After some wrangling, we settled with both of us feeling ripped off. In retrospect, we could have avoided all the ugliness – and perhaps even still be working together – if we had written and both signed a contract that [...]
Sticks and stones may break my bones, but words can never hurt me. You probably learned this rhyme as a child and maybe chanted it to a playmate who was teasing you. It would be nice if it were true, but it's not. Words can hurt. They can also help. However words are used, they're [...]
If you use the "social media shares" feature of Constant Contact, here's a tip: Edit the announcement that will go out on your social media channels. The basic default message promotes Constant Contact (example: with a hash tag for Twitter and "check out my latest Constant Contact campaign" for Facebook). You can edit that language [...]
A while back I posted a blog about "camel mail," which is a direct mail technique of making your piece lumpy so recipients are curious enough to open it and find out what's in it. Recently I received a piece that took a slightly different spin on that concept: The "envelope" was a brown paper [...]
Recently a friend asked me to review her resume before she sent it to a prospective employer. As part of her contact information, she included the url for her blog and her LinkedIn profile. A good idea -- but one that could be taken a step further. Consider these two job hunting tips before you send [...]
Ever had a customer whose nuisance value exceeded his profit potential? Or who demanded champagne service at beer prices? The fact is that some customers just aren't worth it -- but how do you deal with such a situation? The first step is recognizing that the relationship needs to end. Some of the signs [...]
The last few years have seen a lot of business reorganization driven by the recession and an economy that is still struggling. An instinctive reaction to tough times is to cut, and to grow when times are good. But that may not be the best strategy for your company. If your organization is not [...]
Sales professionals know that a gatekeeper is anyone they must go through to get to the decision-maker -- and it can be a challenge to get past the gatekeeper. Gatekeepers are typically receptionists, secretaries and assistants, but they could also be first-line managers, other decision-influencers, outside consultants or even your competitors. Many sales reps view [...]
