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Ezine of Moving Ahead Communications                                    August 2002


Business has only two basic functions-marketing and innovation.


- Peter Drucker, US writer, educator, management consultant

Welcome!

Here are more affordable ideas to help with your Marketing and Public Relations!

Have a nice day,

Diana Barnum, Editor

Contents - For quick scanning, click on the headings below or simply scroll down the page. Click your "Back" button to return to the top of the page.





10 STEPS TO SUCCESS IN DIRECT MARKETING
by Shelley Lowery http://www.web-source.net

If you're looking for a lucrative business, direct marketing may be just what you've been looking for, offering you the possibilities of making your dreams come true.

WHAT IS DIRECT MARKETING?

Direct marketing is offering a product or service directly to the consumer via mail order, Internet sales, personal sales, etc., with no middleman involved. Many direct marketing companies are now being operated right out of the home. Home based business is the wave of the future and can offer you a wonderful opportunity to actually be able to compete with the large, well established companies with large bank accounts. That's what is so wonderful about the Internet. You don't have to have a large bank account to succeed. You just have to have a little "know how."

10 Steps to insure your success

1. SET YOUR GOALS

What do you want to accomplish? Do you want a new home? Do you want to save for your children's college education? A new car? You can have whatever you want, but you must want it enough to do the things that have to be done in order to get it. Set your goals, write them down and set a target date for reaching them. Set short-term reachable goals and long-term higher goals, yet don't set them too high. This will cause you to become discouraged if you don't achieve them. Work consistently towards accomplishing your goals each day, each week and each month until you reach your short- term goals. When you have attained your short-term goals, set them a little higher each time. Ultimately you will achieve your long-term goals. Goal-setting is a must in every area of life.

2. BE SELF DISCIPLINED

Get up early each day. Get ready for your job. Have a list of all the things you want to accomplish during the day. This will give you an organized approach to each day. It's amazing how much you can get done using a "To Do" list.

3. BE SELF MOTIVATED

Set up a schedule and stick to it. Be Enthusiastic. Enthusiasm generates its own energy. Energy and good health are synonymous with motivated, happy people. Achievers.

4. BE ENTHUSIASTIC

Positive thinking will literally be your key to success. You have to convince yourself that you can succeed at whatever you desire, because you can.

5. DO NOT ALLOW YOURSELF TO BECOME DISCOURAGED

Remember... The more "NO's" you get, the closer to a "YES" you become.

6. SCHEDULE YOUR TIME WISELY

A schedule is your road map to success. If you have no direction, you'll travel in circles and ultimately never reach your goals. Plan your work then work your plan.

7. HAVE A POSITIVE ATTITUDE

Success is 90 percent attitude and 10 percent aptitude. Learn the art of positive thinking. You can do whatever you put your mind to. It's mind over matter. Your attitude will either guarantee your success or guarantee your failure. You're only a failure if you give up.

8. SET UP AN OFFICE AREA

Many direct marketers work from their own homes, but it is still essential to set up a specified work area. Take pride in your business to insure your success.

9. HANDLE YOUR MONEY WISELY

Set up a written budget. Set aside a percentage of your business income to put back into your business. This is a must. Failure to reinvest your money will result in the failure of your business.

10. TAKE CARE OF YOURSELF

Get plenty of sleep, eat right and take some time to stop and smell the roses... Be Persistent... Persistence Pays Off... Don't Give Up... Most Businesses fail Just At The Moment They Are About To Succeed...

Sales is one of the highest paid of all professions. "Give a man a fish and he'll eat for a day. Teach a man to fish and he'll eat for a lifetime."



Shelley Lowery is the publisher of Article Announce - A Writer & Publisher Connection & Marketing Adzine - Marketing, Advertising & Promotional solutions for the entrepreneur. Visit her site to subscribe. She offers customized e-books with your logo, & a free ebook compilation service. Pick up some FREE E-books! Web-Source.net http://www.web-source.net

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3 SIMPLE MARKETING STRATEGIES
Copyright 2002 Bob Leduc

These 3 simple marketing strategies work for any business. You can implement them quickly and produce immediate results. They won't cost you much money. And the sales growth they generate continues as long as you continue using them.

1. CREATE A SPECIAL COMBINATION OFFER

Combine several of your products or services into a Special Combination Package with a price lower than the total cost of buying each item separately. Promote it as a Special Offer for a limited time. When you pass the expiration date, replace it with another Special Combination Offer using a different selection of products or services.

Special Combination Offers increase your total sales by motivating hesitant customers to buy now so they can get your "good deal". Special Combination Offers also increase the size of your average sale. And bigger average sales generate more total profit for you.

TIP: After you develop 3 or 4 different combinations you can continuously recycle through the same series of offers. This enables you to continue promoting Special Combination Offers without taking the time to create new ones.

2. SINGLE OUT A SMALL CUSTOMER SEGMENT

Look for a narrowly defined niche within your targeted market. Identify a specific group of potential customers with a strong need (or desire) for the benefits provided by your product or service.

Create a special version of your advertising catering to the specific concerns and needs of prospects in this new market. Customize your sales message so each prospect perceives your product or service as the perfect solution to their unique needs.

For example, one person selling a lead service to small businesses noticed that many of her clients were network marketers or real estate agents. She created a customized web site for each of these 2 niche markets. The sites looked similar. But the content was different. A visitor to either site could assume the lead service applied exclusively to their industry.

BONUS: A highly defined, small niche market also insulates you from competition. Other small businesses are likely to overlook it. And large businesses completely ignore small market segments.

3. ESTABLISH A SUBTLE REFERRAL PROGRAM

Referrals from customers are easier to sell than cold prospects. And they don't cost you anything. It's too bad you get so few of them.

You can generate a continuous flow of referrals with a simple but subtle Customer Survey. Send it to your customers by postal mail, email, fax or post it on your web site. The survey I use asks only 3 questions:

1. What did you like best about our (product or service)?

2. What can we do to improve the value of our (product or service) for you?

3. Who else do you know that wants to (state the benefit provided by your product or service)?

The first 2 questions focus attention on the benefits you provide. Your customers are more likely to volunteer referrals at the 3rd question when they are already thinking about the value of those benefits.

BONUS: You also gain something from the answers you get to the first 2 questions. The first question often generates a response you can use as a testimonial (with your customer's permission). The second question may provide an early warning of a problem you need to correct ...or it may alert you to an opportunity you can exploit.

Select one of these simple marketing strategies and start using it in your business. It won't take much time or effort and you'll see results almost immediately. Then repeat the process with each of the other 2 strategies until all 3 are part of your marketing system. You'll enjoy a permanent increase in your sales volume for a very small increase in your expenses.



Bob Leduc is a Sales Consultant with 30 years experience in building successful businesses. He just released a revised and completely updated New Edition of his manual, "How To Build Your Small Business Fast With Simple Postcards", and several other publications to help small businesses grow and prosper. Email: BobLeduc@aol.com Subject: "Postcards" Phone: 702-658-1707 after 10 AM Pacific Time/Las Vegas, NV

Internet News Bureau

Moving Ahead Communications

Visit http://movingaheadcommunications.com for help with your marketing and public relations. Or contact Diana Barnum, President, Moving Ahead Communications, 3288 Darby Glen Blvd., Hilliard, Ohio 43026. Phone:(614)529-9459 / Fax:(561)760-3295 / Pager:(614)241-0274. Thank you. d@movingaheadcommunications.com

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