How many ways can your customers communicate with you? Recently a friend of mine was evaluating two companies who were vying to provide a service to her church. One had a product with a pricing and service package that was clearly superior. But that salesperson would only communicate by phone -- he didn’t use email [...]
Recently a Florida high school teacher was suspended for controversial comments he made about same-sex marriage on his personal Facebook page. Pro golfer and ESPN analyst Paul Azingercaught some flak from ESPN for comments he made on Twitter about President Obama’s performance. The high school teacher was reinstated and ESPN is handling the Azinger [...]
If you’re in business today, you have a website. In fact, there’s an excellent chance you have multiple websites, or at least multiple domain names pointing to your primary website. Choosing those domain names must be done with care. You can use different domain names as tracking devices to test your various advertising and promotion [...]
Have you considered camel mail? No, I'm not talking about an alternative to the postal service; I'm talking about the design of your direct mail pieces. Camel mail is an envelope with a hump that indicates there is something unusual inside. The hump sparks curiosity and most people won't be able to resist opening the [...]
The highest quality e-mail database you can build is one where your subscribers have purchased from you and have opted-in to your list. These people are ripe to become repeat customers—as long as you don’t chase them away. I do a lot of online shopping and I like getting e-mails with specials, discounts and new [...]
Recently I discussed the possibility of ghostwriting a book for someone who might have been (but will not be) a new client. The story illustrates everything you should not do when you’re looking for a writer for any project, but especially for one as important and comprehensive as a book. I was introduced to this [...]
A judge in a Florida case has ruled that debt collectors may not use social networking sites to contact debtors, their family or their friends. I found this case interesting in part because I used to write a column for Commercial Law Bulletin (published by the Commercial Law League, an organization of collection, creditors’ rights [...]
All the buzz about social media has made some business owners question the value of email marketing. The fact is that email remains a powerful marketing tool—but like any marketing tool, it must be done well to produce results. Email is the workhorse that can drive other campaigns. For some great stats on why you [...]
Should your business have a Facebook page? That's a question you have to decide based on the type of business and your particular market. Most companies can benefit from a Facebook page, but you need to set it up right. A Facebook basic: Your profile is you as an individual; your page is your company. [...]
I grew up listening to and singing along with James Taylor and Carly Simon. In an interview, their son, Ben Taylor (who was on tour with his talented father at the time), said this about getting into the music/entertainment business: “My dad let me know that it’s a blue-collar job, that the glamour of it [...]
