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How to Use Humor to Increase Sales
Using cartoons can help brand your marketing and drive home important messages. Although surprisingly inexpensive to acquire, humor can be one of your most powerful marketing tools.
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Top 10 Tips for Terminating Telephone Terror
What can strike terror into the heart of even the most successful sales professional or entrepreneur? What can crush self-confidence, destroy self-esteem and leave even the most seasoned sales professional quivering with humiliation and defeat? The terror of cold calling. Here are 10 tips that can help.

10 Steps to Create a Successful Promotion
A promotion for your retail store or other business can be expensive and time consuming. Don't let those resources go to waste. Follow these 10 steps and your event will be a sure success.

Know Your Objective
What is the objective of your advertising? Getting someone to call you? Building name recognition? Promoting a particular product - or your entire business? Here's why defining your advertising goals is important to its success.

Developing a Marketing Mix
Any one marketing method alone isn't going to work. It's coming up with the right mix of multiple marketing methods that will lead to success. And, the mix has to be right for your individual business. Read more >>

Telemarketing Made Simple
If you open the telephone book at random and simply start dialing and stay at it long enough, eventually, you will reach someone who will say "yes." It's very inefficient, but it would work. Here's a better approach >>

Know Your Competition
Sometimes it’s easy to identify and combat your competition, but not always. You may not have considered these scenarios when sizing up your competitors and formulating your strategy.
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10 Ways to Get Prospects to Return Your Calls
If you're making phone calls to prospective customers on a regular basis, you are probably used to hearing "I'll call you back." But do they ever actually do it? Here are 10 ways you can increase the likelihood that they will.

5 Retail Sales Mistakes to Avoid
Everyone who deals with customers in a retail environment has learned ways to help close more sales. Many of them were even learned in sales training or from seasoned professionals. But could you be costing yourself sales instead? Here are five retail sales mistakes you should avoid >>

11 Powerful Marketing Tips
Each of these 11 marketing tips is based on a marketing strategy or tactic proven to boost sales. How many are you using? Read more >>

Communicating with Case Studies
Case studies aren't just a tool of medical students or university professors. You can use them in business to more powerfully demonstrate your product's or service's usefulness to your customers. Read more >>

Why Should I Buy from You?
Virtually every person who enters your business has this question in their mind. To truly maximize your revenues you need give people a reason to buy from you versus a competitor. These strategies can help you differentiate yourself from your competition.

How to Never Make a Major Marketing Mistake Again
Advertising decisions based on what you think will work rather than what the marketplace wants are the main reason advertisements fail. Here's how you can definitively know which ads will work and which won't.

Expand Your Vocabulary and Your Client List
Being able to speak the same language as your prospects and clients will help you relate to them better and, as a result, close more sales. Learn the lingo of your clientele with these simple steps.

Increase Sales Without Lowering Price
Smart buyers will always ask for a better price. But reducing your price is probably not the best way to respond to this request. Get better results, and greater profits, by following these tips for negotiating the sales process. Details >>

10 Secrets for Effective Brochures
Planning to send out a brochure to drum up sales or announce a new product? You don't want it to cost a fortune or, worse, to leave the wrong impression. To be sure your next brochure is a winner, learn these 10 secrets of successful brochures.

12 Tips for Successful Networking
Whether you're trying to promote your business or find a new job, networking is sure to help you achieve your goals. Here are 12 tools and techniques you can use to make networking easier and more successful.

Uncover Your Hidden Markets
Want a simple, low-cost way to boost your sales? Just uncover the narrowly defined sub-markets hidden in your main market. Then create special versions of your advertising to focus on the specific needs of prospects in these hidden market segments.
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The Magic of Keep-in-Touch Marketing
When was the last time the people in your contact manager heard from you? Nurturing the relationships you already have is crucial to growing a successful business. Here's how you can put the "magic" of keep-in-touch marketing to work for you.

How to Recover Your "Almost Customers"
You'll always need to find new prospects for your business. But don't overlook the prospects you already attracted. Many are close to buying. Use these four simple procedures to convert those "almost customers" into paying customers. Read more >>

Fast and Easy Marketing with Postcards
Postcards may be one of the best kept secrets of modern marketing. They produce even better results now than in the past. That's probably because postcards deliver information the way people want to get it today... fast and with little or no effort. Read more >>

Finding More Business
Every business needs more business, but most don't use all the opportunities available that will bring them additional business. Here's how you can maximize your profits by maximizing sales to existing customers.

Know Your Target Market
No matter how you advertise, there are going to be some percentage of people who see it or hear it who will NOT be prospects for what you're selling. You need to make sure that your message is directed for and targeted only to those who are qualified prospects. Here's why >>

Marketing Your Business with Free Articles
Using free articles to market your business can be very effective, but coming up with fresh topics for those articles isn't always easy. These sources and techniques can help you get your creative juices flowing.

Are Your Business Cards Hurting or Helping You?
Very few business cards have an effective message that describes the business clearly. If a prospective customer views the business image as unprofessional or confusing they will simply walk away. Use this checklist to rate and improve your marketing materials.

How to Tell if an Ad Costs Too Much
How much should you be spending for advertising? Is $5000 too much for an ad? What about $1000? How about $50? How do you know? Get the answer here.

Giveaway Techniques That Really Work
It seems easy -- give something away free, gain customers and media placements. But before you start shipping free fruit to customers and the media, read what really works and what doesn’t. Details >>

Invite Questions to Boost Sales
Do you invite your prospective customers to ask questions ...or do you try to avoid getting questions from them? You're walking away from many easy sales if you don't encourage prospects to ask questions. Read more >>

Using Emotion for Persuasion
Whether you are writing copy for sales letters or internal memos, most of us underestimate the power of emotion in getting the response we want from our messages. Read more >>

8 Reasons Why Direct Mail Is So Powerful
Direct mail is perhaps one of the most powerful marketing mediums in use today. Few other marketing tools can deliver your message with exact precision at such a low cost. Here are 8 reasons why direct mail is still the king of the marketing mediums.

How to Seal the Deal in 7 Seconds
Can you close a sale in just seven seconds? If you make a great first impression, you can do it even faster. Seven seconds is the average length of time you have to make a first impression. If yours is not good, you won’t get another chance with that potential client. Read more >>

Take the Fear Out of Cold Calling
What can strike terror into the heart of even the most successful businessperson? What can crush self-confidence, destroy self-esteem and leave even the most seasoned sales professional quivering with defeat? Cold calling. Find out why and learn to overcome the fear.

How to Eliminate Objections
Customers who have an objection about your product or service are functionally unable to listen to you. While you're busy asking them questions or sharing information, their attention is focused elsewhere. Read more >>

Radio Interview 101
In Part 1 of this article, we explored the steps you should take before a radio interview to help make it a success. Now, in Part 2, learn what you can do after the interview is over to maximize your results. Read more >>

Get Good Results from Radio Interviews
Some parts of giving a radio interview are directly under your control and others aren't, but you should be aware of all of them if you want your interview to be a success. In the first installment of this two-part series, learn what you should do to prepare before your interview.

Retail Business Miracles: Science and Psychology
Psychology and science are innovative forces taking the retail business marketplace by storm. And you can benefit enormously from these forgotten secrets to retail success by touching your customers' emotions. Read more >>

Boost Profits by Marketing to the Gay Community
Research shows that the gay and lesbian market is worth cultivating, no matter what your product or service. Despite the cultural changes during the past fifty years the gay and lesbian market is still relatively untapped. Read more >>

12 Steps to Improve Sales
Use the following steps to improve your retail sales and you'll simplify your efforts, multiply profits, and increase the odds of success. Read more >>

Where to Find Good Salespeople
There is not one personality type that insures great selling, nor is there one resource for finding good salespeople. Here are nine different sources you can tap, along with their positives and negatives, to find good salespeople for your business.

Low Cost Marketing Ideas For Retailers
Running a retail storefront is an expensive endeavor, but promoting it doesn't have to be. Here are seven low cost marketing ideas for retail businesses, including examples of how you can put them to work today. Read more >>

Increase Profits with Gift Certificates
Often people would like to give your products as gifts, but are hesitant to choose a specific item for someone. Offering and promoting gift certificates is an excellent way to make sure you don't lose those sales. Read more >>

Make Networking Work
You‘re at a gathering and you come across someone who would be a perfect client for your business. How you position yourself is the difference between getting that “deer stuck in the headlight” look from your prospect or having someone ask you for more information. Read more >>

What Problems Do You Solve for Your Customers?
Selling is about solving customer problems, whether those are problems customers are currently facing, or problems they will face as their marketplace evolves and their needs change. Read more in this excerpt from The 10 Immutable Laws of Power Selling.

Ten Tips for Choosing a Logo
One of the many decisions you'll have to make as a new business owner is what image or design to use to represent your company. Excerpted from the new book, The Girls Guide to Starting Your Own Business, here are ten tips for choosing a logo.

Make Your Product or Service Worth More
People buy based on value, not on price. That’s what you’ve always heard marketers say, right? Well, its true. People do buy based on value so if you want to sell more you have to understand what value is. Read more >>

Customer Satisfaction Is Your Business
Regardless of what business you are in - you are really in the business of satisfying customers. The degree of customer satisfaction you deliver determines the level of long-term success you will achieve in business. Read more >>

Selling Myths Debunked
Learning to hear what your prospect is actually saying versus what you think they are saying will result in hearing fewer and fewer "no's" and feeling less and less rejection. This does take some work and practice, like learning any new skill, but it can be done. Here are some examples.

Kick-Butt Marketing Plans Made Easy
Have you ever sat down to write a marketing plan and your mind goes as blank as the white sheet of paper sitting in front of you. In this article you’ll learn how write an effective marketing plan that’s simple to create and that will get you results. Read more >>

Lack of Business Isn't Always the Problem
When you're just starting out in business, it's a safe bet that you need more clients. But what if you have been up and running for a while, and you're still not making as much money as you would like? Read more >>

Low Cost, High Impact Marketing Weapon
The humble postcard can be one of your most powerful yet inexpensive marketing weapons. Here are 4 reasons why they work so well, and 4 tips to make your postcard campaign a success.

10 Important Marketing Tips
Each of the following ten marketing tips is based on a highly effective but often overlooked marketing tactic. How many are you using? How many have you overlooked? Read more >>

Breaking the Voicemail Barrier
Even if you never place a cold call, you still have to reach people by phone. That customer who was so interested last month never called you back, and now you must call her. You call once, twice, three times, but you can't get her in person. How can you manage to close a sale if all you ever get is voicemail? Read more >>

Third Party Testimonials Are Powerful!
Third party endorsements are so effective that in many cases, they will actually increase your sales figures more than a sales letter, advertisement or website ever could. Read more >>

What's the Best Marketing Method?
Most small business owners struggle with how to allocate their precious few marketing dollars amongst the many media choices available today. Here are 5 questions to ask yourself to determine your best marketing mix.

Are You Losing Holiday Sales?
The holiday shopping season is nearly in full swing, but are you losing sales? Find out if you are, and what you can do about it. Read more >>

How to Multiply Your Marketing Results
How would you like to multiply your marketing results with less effort? It’s simple to do by implementing systems in your business. Read more >>

Be an Agent of Hope in a Fearful World
An appeal to fear gets an immediate reaction, which is why it's used so often in marketing. But instead of appealing to your prospects' fears, appeal to their hopes and your business will profit. Read more >>

Marketing Stoppers
Do you sabotage your marketing efforts before they even begin? Is negative self-talk getting in the way of increased sales? Here are tips for getting back on track.

8 Ways to Become Shopper Friendly
Have you wondered what causes some people to open their wallets and what factors cause them to walk out the door never to return? Your business could increase profits by becoming "shopper friendly." Here are eight points to keep in mind.

The Right Way to Reach Your Market
What's the best way to reach your market? Does it matter whether you sell to businesses or consumers? Here are one consultant's views.

Turn Tire-Kickers Into Customers
You'll always need to find new prospects for your business. But don't overlook the prospects you already attracted. Many are close to buying. Use these four simple procedures to convert those "almost customers" into paying customers.

Does your business pass the sniff test?
First impressions count as much in business as anything else. If your physical or virtual business causes customer to wrinkle their nose or raise an eyebrow you're losing sales that could be yours. Here's how to evaluate your business.

Use Giveaways to Gain Clients
Offering free giveaways to prospects and clients is a powerful business building strategy that can result in a flood of new and repeat coaching and consulting customers. Read more >>

5 Secrets to Saving Marketing Dollars
When business is slow, it may be tempting to cut back on your marketing to save money. The catch is that the less you market today, the fewer customers you'll have tomorrow. Here are five secrets to getting more out of your marketing while spending less.

Increase Profits with Database Marketing
One of the most effective and cost-efficient ways to add profits to the bottom line is the use of database marketing, which uses information collected at the point-of-sale. Use this 4-step process to put database marketing to work for your business.

Top 10 Marketing Strategies for a Slow Economy
The economy is finally showing signs of improvement, but full recovery may take a while yet. Here are ten sales and marketing strategies you can use now, or anytime your business experiences a slow-down. Details >>

Boost Your Business Image
Your business image is like a symphony orchestra. No single instrument determines an orchestra’s success or failure. Likewise, the image you project is not based on a single business card, brochure, or display, but on the total impression created by all these things and more. Read more >>

Who Should You Call?
If you open the telephone book at random and simply start dialing and stay at it long enough, eventually, you will reach someone who will say "yes." It's very inefficient, but it would work. Here's a better approach >>

Get More Sales with Less Effort
If you’re only doing one or two follow-ups imagine all the business you’re losing. Not following up with your prospects and customers is the same as filling up your bathtub without first putting the stopper in the drain! Read more >>

High Response, Low-Cost Marketing
Postcards can drive a huge amount of traffic to your web site, generate a flood of new sales leads or produce a surge in any business activity you want. And you don't have to spend a lot of time or money on them, if you apply these four little-known postcard marketing secrets. Read more >>

How to Make Business Come to You
There is a misconception in small businesses that marketing's most important function is to promote products and services. In fact, the most important function of your marketing should be to establish that you are knowledgeable and can be trusted. Read more >>

When You Lose the Big One
That account you have been courting for months has fallen to someone else. The best thing to do is forget about them and move on, right? Definitely not! Find out how you can salvage the account even after you've been told "so long."

How to Write Short Ads That Really Work
Do you struggle with how to fit your whole sales pitch in a small amount of space, such as in a postcard mailing, pay-per-click search engine listing, or even a yellow pages ad? Making short copy produce results is easier than you think. Read more >>

Reach vs. Frequency
Which marketing campaign do you think would get better results: the one that contacts 100 customers one time, or the one that contacts 25 customers four times? Your expenses are nearly identical for both campaigns, but the results aren't. Read more >>

Selling and Poker
In the movie Forest Gump, his mother always said, “life is like a box of chocolates.” Well, in business, selling is like playing poker. Here's why >>

Your Telephone as an Investment Plan
You'll have far greater success with your telephone marketing if you compare your phone activities to an investment fund. Consider these six similarities.

Catch More Clients with Strategic Networking
If you are like most small business owners, you put hard work into getting your name out there and distribute your business card wherever you go. And like most people, your time and effort isn’t generating a steady stream of new business. Here's how to make networking really work for your business.

The Dangers of Out of Focus Advertising
Are your ads costing you customers? If you are spending money on advertising that doesn't make it easy for your customers to find you and buy, then they probably are. Here's how to fix the problem.

5 Marketing Mistakes You Can't Afford to Make
In virtually every area of business there will be pitfalls along the way. Marketing is no exception. By knowing how to avoid these mistakes, you will save energy, disappointment, and money. Details >>

Get More Clients Using Pull Then Push Marketing
Marketing is like rowing. You pull hard on the oars to go forward, then lift them out of the water and push them back to finish the stroke. If you push when you should be pulling, the boat goes backwards, or, even worse, you lose your balance and fall into the bottom of the boat. Read more >>

Marketing the Real You
Do you feel uncomfortable marketing your business? If so, it might be because you are trying to be something you're not. Put yourself at ease and get better results by learning how to market the real you. Read more >>

6 Ways to Increase Your Income
There are only so many hours you can actually bill to clients. So, if you want to increase your income without raising your rates, you'll need to get creative. These six ideas will get you started.

5 Keys to Selling to Big Corporations
Selling your services to corporations is an attractive proposition. The contracts are larger than with small businesses and individuals, and often longer-term. Here are five important keys to working with the corporate buyer.

Better Presentations Equal More Sales
Your PowerPoint presentations can have the same effect on your viewers as TV commercials. How? By using these strategies -- the same ones employed by big TV ad agencies -- to WOW your audience. Read more >>

How to Attract and Keep Customers
The only way to stay in business is with customers, and Jack Mitchell knows how to attract them, and how to keep them. Want to learn his secret? Read an excerpt from his new book, Hug Your Customers, here.

Building Blocks of Successful Marketing
Whether you’re a Fortune 500 company or a one person shop, to be successful, you need a marketing strategy that you implement consistently. Thankfully, it doesn’t have to cost a fortune and you don’t have to be a creative genius. Read more >>

10 Beer Budget Marketing Event Tips
Are you planning an event or participating in a trade show any time soon? If so, consider the following 10 low-cost marketing tactics before mailing your payment.

The Definition of Marketing
Just what is marketing? Here is a breakdown of the elements of marketing and how they can be used together to create a marketing campaign with pizzazz. Read more >>

The Power of Why
Getting customers to buy from you is as simple as answering one small question: Why. Here's why "WHY" is such a profit-making marketing trigger.

Stop Sending Quotes and Proposals
Are you providing good customer service by sending out quotes to everyone who asks for one, or are you wasting your time? Here are five strategies that can help you spend less time preparing proposals and more time closing sales.

Lead Generation
Every small business owner would like to have more high quality prospects but most either don't have the time or just don't know how. There are a myriad of ways to generate leads and each has its own merits. Read more >>

How to Lose the Sale
Today’s business world is more challenging and competitive than ever before. That means you need to ensure that your approach with prospective customers is more effective than that of your competitors. Here are four sure-fire ways to guarantee you won’t get the sale.

4 Highly Effective Selling Tactics
Many businesses overlook these 4 simple but highly effective selling tactics. How many are you using? Details >>

10 Commandments of Highly Profitable Sales Letter Writing
A skillfully crafted sales letter can be all you need to turn a substantial profit or pull in a large number of high-quality leads. With that in mind, heed these ten commandments (plus five) of highly profitable sales letter writing.

Business Success is Rooted in Sales
Money management skills and a substantial product are both critical to a successful business, but they aren't the most important things. The one necessary ingredient for creating a thriving business is sales. Read more >>

Salesmanship, Repetition and Direct Mail
Any salesperson worth his commission check will tell you that landing new business takes a repeated and concerted effort. This is all the more true with salesmanship in print. Read more >>

6 Steps to Get Slightly Famous
Some business owners attract clients and customers like magic. Everyone knows their name, and they get all the business they can handle. How do they do it? Find out here >>

Little Things Do Mean a Lot
Marketing your business can be time consuming and costly, but it's not always the big ad campaigns that brings in the customers. Sometimes, it's the small things you do in everyday life that have the biggest impact. Read more >>

How to Spend Less and Sell More
Everyone knows it costs much more to find a new customer than to keep an existing one. With a customer aftercare plan in place, you can keep those customers coming back again and again.
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11 Monstrous Small Business Marketing Mistakes
Small business owners and self-employed professionals can increase marketing success by avoiding these business-sabotaging errors. Details >>

Don't Overlook the Easy Sales
Are you so busy chasing down new customers that you completely overlooked these two prime sources for easy sales? Read more >>

Moving into the Global Market
Marketing and selling only in the US is more challenging than ever. Going global is one sure way to find new markets and customers, but you have to prepare in advance to ensure success.
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How to Get a Flood of Referrals -- Without Asking
Do you hate asking your customers for referrals? Most people do. Fortunately, there are many ways to get a continued stream of qualified referrals without having to go through the painful process of asking for them face-to-face. Read more >>

Are You in Business to Help Customers?
Customers don't mind if you make a profit by helping them, but they won't buy from you if they believe you are only in business to get their money. Here are 4 ways you can assure customers that you are in business to help them.

Spring Growth Tactics
Now that Old Man Winter has hit the road, small businesses can increase cash flow this spring and summer by implementing four affordable marketing tactics while spending very little.
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Understand the Buying Process to Increase Sales
Lending due attention to the buying process can have a dramatic effect on your sales. Take a look at the decisions customers must make before deciding to buy.

10 Tips to Overcome Your Fear of Selling
Even though we all know we need to "sell" our products and services, many of us feel fearful or anxious about actually doing so. These 10 tips are designed to help you shift out of your fear, and into excitement, about sharing your product or service.

Company Brand vs. Individual Brand
The practice of keeping a multitude of individual brands, as well as sticking to the company brand to identify products of diverse range of categories, have long defined branding strategies in marketing history. But is that always the best approach? Read more >>

10 Tips for Winning Sales
Ready to take your business to the next level? If so, heed these 10 tips. They're sure to help you win more sales. Details >>

How to Survive "No, Thanks"
Sometimes people just aren't interested in your product or service, no matter how much time or money you've spent trying to convince them otherwise. Here are 10 tips to minimize the impact that "no thanks" has on you and your business.

Partnering Sales and Marketing
Marketing can’t survive without sales and sales can’t sell without marketing. Unfortunately, many businesses view them as two different departments. Details >>

Outsourcing Your Marketing Department
Where do you turn when marketing is necessary, but resources, expertise, focus, and funds are scarce? The answer can often be found in outsourcing. Read more >>

Low-Cost Marketing with Postcards
Modern, low-cost business postcards can drive a high volume of traffic to your web site, generate a flood of new sales leads, or promote any other business activity you want. They are easy to use, cost very little and produce results almost immediately. Details >>

Avoiding Partnership Pitfalls
Partnerships, alliances, strategic networks…whatever you call them, on the surface, they’re nothing more than two companies coming together to find ways to leverage each other’s products and/or services. Before you decide to go headfirst into finding the next great partnership opportunity, think about a these points.