k – Page 567 – client k

Getting Paid

I bought a mattress yesterday
from an HVAC installer.

How did an HVAC installer
become a mattress salesman?

He installed an HVAC unit in a hotel.
That hotel was then sold.
The former owner was declaring bankruptcy.
Before that happened,
the HVAC installer
was given a choice.
He could receive nothing
(as he was way down the list of creditors)
or he could take 30 brand new mattress sets
as payment.
He took the mattress sets.

If you think
your customers will never pay,
you may wish
to work out a deal
for payment in kind.

Something is always better than nothing.

Getting Your Email Marketing Read

When I first set up my email for
http://businessromance.com/
I made a classic junior jammer mistake.
I used info@
Then I tested the address
by mailing from it
to a Yahoo! account.
The test failed.
Yahoo! automatically sends emails
from info@ accounts to trash.

I then set up another account
using kimber@
No problems.

At Forbes.com,
Gene Marks, owner of the Marks Group,
shares their top tips on getting emails read.
“First, avoid using generic addresses
like sales@ or info@ in the “from” line;
second, keep the “from” name consistent
and recognizable in all e-mails;
third, be clear and specific
as to what’s being offered in the subject line”

Achieving YOUR Goals

One clear message
the Jon And Kate Plus 8 drama
has reinforced
is that no one,
not the client (viewers or the networks)
or the media,
has your best interests first,
not unless they align with theirs.

The average person
(myself included)
is selfish.
They will try to convince you
to support their goals first
(In the Jon and Kate situation,
the viewers, network, and media
want drama and family strife).

How to ensure your goals get met?
First, have goals, clear goals.
Then review them.
With each decision,
ask ‘does this bring me closer to my goal?’
If it does, say yes.
If it doesn’t, say no.

It sounds very easy
but sticking to goals is, in reality, challenging.
Ask Jon and Kate.

And yes, I know I’ve talked about this before
but since I need reminding,
I figured you might benefit from a reminder also.

How To Market During A Recession

According to a LinkedIn survey
conducted for AdWeekMedia,
the code word for marketing during a recession
is
value.

No big surprise there.
Except that the word is value,
not price.

Value does not have to
mean the cheapest product
(though it could).
It does not have to mean
to-the-death price wars
(though, again, it could).

Value can mean quality
and innovation
and speed
and great customer service.

It completely depends on your customers
and what they, yes, value.

Loud Is Not Always Better

U.S. Secretary of Homeland Security
Janet Napolitano
announced Wednesday
she now knew
the 9/11 terrorists
did not enter the U.S. from Canada.

Ummm…
if your job was to keep a nation safe,
would you,
in a press conference,
volunteer that
it took almost 8 YEARS
to figure this information out?

There are loud ways to
spread information
and quiet ways to
spread information.

If the information is not flattering
(or so delayed that it isn’t flattering),
choose the quiet way.

Last Minute Tweaks

Your product will never be perfect.
Never, ever, ever.

But most people can’t accept that.
They tweak, and tweak, and tweak.
They’d tweak the second
before the product goes live
if you allow them.

This messes up
government approvals,
production schedules,
marketing material,
sales pitches,
and ultimately the entire launch.

The solution?
You don’t let last minute tweaks happen.
You give a drop dead date
for product changes.
(Save any additional changes for the next edition.)

Trying To Impress

I’m guest blogging on a certain site.
I offered a selection of topics
I could cover.
None of them were acceptable
to the host.

No problem.
I obviously didn’t understand
what the site’s goals were.

But then she quoted her readership numbers.
Low.
Very low.
Lower than the site I was promoting.

Of course, I’ll still guest blog
(I made a commitment)
but now,
I’m a little less anxious to please.

If you want to impress someone
with your numbers,
make sure those numbers are impressive.

The Assistant’s Name

Everyone likes to hear (or read)
their own name
and this rule holds true for assistants.

Tony Parinello and David Mattson,
authors of
Five Minutes With VITO,
(Very Important Top Officer)
says
“The first thing you want to do,
in any correspondence,
is you want to salute
the uniform of the private assistant.
The private assistant’s name
has to be in any correspondence
you send to VITO.”

And by any correspondence,
that includes email.
Acknowledge the gatekeeper
and you will be more likely
to get past.

Drag Me To Hell

In the upcoming horror flick
Drag Me To Hell,
the heroine is billed as
‘a nice girl.’
She may be a nice girl
(I don’t know,
I haven’t seen the movie)
but her customer service skills suck.

First
she ‘fires’ a customer publicly
(were there no private meeting rooms vacant?).
Then she fails to provide
that customer with alternatives.

There are ALWAYS alternatives.
To simply cut a customer off
without providing them
with other sources
IS cruel.
(Here’s a hint…
If you have to call security
when you fire a customer,
you’re doing it wrong.)

Is it cruel enough
to warrant spending an eternity in hell?
I don’t know…

The Cost Of A Holiday

Four weeks ago,
Invisible, my second novel,
was number 18
in sales for my publisher.

I then took 3 weeks off,
during which time
I didn’t do any promotion
or fan response.
It sunk to number 43.

A week after I came back
(back to promoting
and back to talking to readers),
Invisible is number 21 on the list.

Promotion works.
Selling works.
Responding to customers (readers) works.
Stop doing all that
and your sales will stop also.