Information is now coming at you from all angles: e-mail, phone, regular mail, cell phone, pager, fax machine, the Internet, you name it. If you’re an information-junkie like me, then this can be a good thing … but only if you know how to manage it.
If you’re not careful, information overload, which is an inevitable byproduct of the digital age that we live in, can lead to unnecessary stress, an irritable mood, and a general feeling that you can never quite keep up.
Fortunately, Lifehack shared some excellent tips to help you take control of the constant influx of data.
1. Email: Ruthlessly eliminate all the non-relevant stuff that sits in your inbox. Be strict with the time you devote to your email.
2. TV: Although you probably watch TV to relax, it is actually counterproductive.
3. Mobile Phones: You can turn them off (and you probably should for the sake of your health).
4. Meditate: Even if it is just for 5 minutes, meditation can stop that ever-constant chatter in your head.
5. RSS Feeds: Clean out your RSS feeds at least once a month, and get rid of those that you don’t really like.
For those of you who want to be exceptionally productive at dealing with the information coming into your life, David Allen’s Getting Things Done is filled with some of the best advice out there.
Before I got this book years ago, I actually thought I had a pretty good handle on getting things done in my life. But I realized I had a lot of room for improvement, and I would guess that you do too.
Ultimately, the more you learn about how to sort through information, weeding out what’s really important to your life, and ignoring or skimming over the rest, the happier, and more at peace, you’ll be.
Sources:
Lifehack.org January 31, 2008
Courtesy: Dr. Mercola.com
Sunday, April 20, 2008
Saturday, April 19, 2008
How To head off a heart attack.
Power Up!
By Nancy Christie
MediZine's Healthy Living First Quarter 2008
Think of your heart as a fist-size engine that keeps your body moving along. Fail to fuel it properly or let it sit around for weeks on end, and you may well wind up with a sluggish system. Enough poor lifestyle habits can lead to heart disease, even heart attack.
While certain heart disease risk factors (age, sex and genes) can’t be avoided, others, such as smoking, obesity, high blood pressure and inactivity, are under your control.
When it comes to nutrition, picking the right mix of protein, carbs and fat ensures that your system is getting what it needs. But how do you choose wisely?
“There are a lot of terms being tossed around out there: phytochemicals, antioxidants, flavonoids and polyphenols,” says Beth Thayer, R.D., spokesperson for the American Dietetic Association. “But each fruit and vegetable has its own special properties. The important part is to eat the fruits and vegetables. It’s the same with grains: Choose whole grains rather than processed or refined grains.”
Legumes and beans are also heart-boosters, Thayer adds: “They are a great source of soluble fiber, which binds up cholesterol in your gut.” They also provide folic acid. That’s key, because a deficiency can lead to elevated homocysteine—a risk factor for heart disease. Aim for at least 25 grams of total fiber and 400 micrograms of folic acid daily.
For protein, it’s beans and legumes again, along with oily fish such as salmon, trout and herring, which are full of heart-healthy omega-3 fatty acids. Add at least two 3-ounce servings of oily fish per week to your diet.
Reduce your intake of saturated fats (found in butter, solid shortening, lard) and trans fats (vegetable shortening, some margarines, crackers, cookies, snack foods). Both can raise LDL (bad) cholesterol levels; trans fat also decreases HDL (good) cholesterol levels.
How much is too much? The American Heart Association suggests that saturated fat be less than 7 percent and trans fat less than 1 percent of your daily calories.
Movement Musts
Exercising can combat stress, high blood pressure, obesity and other risks to your heart. But before you head to the gym, get your doctor’s okay. Then aim for least 30 minutes—continuous or incremental—of moderate-intensity activity five to seven days a week. (That’s what the surgeon general recommends.) A well-balanced routine will include cardiovascular exercise and resistance training.
Skimp on Salt
Too much sodium may increase your blood pressure. So forgo the salt shaker and read nutrition labels carefully--especially when purchasing processed, canned or frozen foods.
Courtesy: Health & Wellness REMEDY life.
HAPPY PASSOVER to all my Jewish Friends and Readers! Enjoy in Good Health! :o)
Jacques
By Nancy Christie
MediZine's Healthy Living First Quarter 2008
Think of your heart as a fist-size engine that keeps your body moving along. Fail to fuel it properly or let it sit around for weeks on end, and you may well wind up with a sluggish system. Enough poor lifestyle habits can lead to heart disease, even heart attack.
While certain heart disease risk factors (age, sex and genes) can’t be avoided, others, such as smoking, obesity, high blood pressure and inactivity, are under your control.
When it comes to nutrition, picking the right mix of protein, carbs and fat ensures that your system is getting what it needs. But how do you choose wisely?
“There are a lot of terms being tossed around out there: phytochemicals, antioxidants, flavonoids and polyphenols,” says Beth Thayer, R.D., spokesperson for the American Dietetic Association. “But each fruit and vegetable has its own special properties. The important part is to eat the fruits and vegetables. It’s the same with grains: Choose whole grains rather than processed or refined grains.”
Legumes and beans are also heart-boosters, Thayer adds: “They are a great source of soluble fiber, which binds up cholesterol in your gut.” They also provide folic acid. That’s key, because a deficiency can lead to elevated homocysteine—a risk factor for heart disease. Aim for at least 25 grams of total fiber and 400 micrograms of folic acid daily.
For protein, it’s beans and legumes again, along with oily fish such as salmon, trout and herring, which are full of heart-healthy omega-3 fatty acids. Add at least two 3-ounce servings of oily fish per week to your diet.
Reduce your intake of saturated fats (found in butter, solid shortening, lard) and trans fats (vegetable shortening, some margarines, crackers, cookies, snack foods). Both can raise LDL (bad) cholesterol levels; trans fat also decreases HDL (good) cholesterol levels.
How much is too much? The American Heart Association suggests that saturated fat be less than 7 percent and trans fat less than 1 percent of your daily calories.
Movement Musts
Exercising can combat stress, high blood pressure, obesity and other risks to your heart. But before you head to the gym, get your doctor’s okay. Then aim for least 30 minutes—continuous or incremental—of moderate-intensity activity five to seven days a week. (That’s what the surgeon general recommends.) A well-balanced routine will include cardiovascular exercise and resistance training.
Skimp on Salt
Too much sodium may increase your blood pressure. So forgo the salt shaker and read nutrition labels carefully--especially when purchasing processed, canned or frozen foods.
Courtesy: Health & Wellness REMEDY life.
HAPPY PASSOVER to all my Jewish Friends and Readers! Enjoy in Good Health! :o)
Jacques
Friday, April 11, 2008
New Information on the Science of Sleep
Human beings sleep through one-third of their lives, yet why we sleep is one of the biggest unanswered questions of science. In the fascinating article from 60 Minutes, linked below, Lesley Stahl explores all of the latest scientific findings about the reasons for -- and functions of -- sleep.
Here is a sampling of what she found after talking with sleep researchers from across the United States:
You can die from sleep deprivation, just like you can die from being deprived of food.
Sleep can actually enhance your memories.
A single night of sleeping just four, five or even six hours can impact your ability to think clearly.
Sleep deprivation can cause changes in your brain activity similar to those experienced by people with psychiatric disorders.
Sleep deprivation puts your body into a pre-diabetic state, and makes you feel hungry, even if you’ve already eaten.
Sources:
CBS News March 16, 2008
Courtesy: Dr. Mercola.com
Here is a sampling of what she found after talking with sleep researchers from across the United States:
You can die from sleep deprivation, just like you can die from being deprived of food.
Sleep can actually enhance your memories.
A single night of sleeping just four, five or even six hours can impact your ability to think clearly.
Sleep deprivation can cause changes in your brain activity similar to those experienced by people with psychiatric disorders.
Sleep deprivation puts your body into a pre-diabetic state, and makes you feel hungry, even if you’ve already eaten.
Sources:
CBS News March 16, 2008
Courtesy: Dr. Mercola.com
Vitamin E Linked to Lung Cancer
Taking high doses of vitamin E supplements can actually increase the risk of lung cancer.
A study of 77,000 people found consuming 400 milligrams of vitamin E per day increased cancer risk by 28 percent. Smokers were at particular risk.
An expert writing in the American Journal of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine said that people should get their vitamins from fruit and vegetables rather than supplements.
Vitamin E is known to be an antioxidant that protects cells from molecules called free radicals. But in high doses, it may also act as a pro-oxidant, causing oxidation and damage to cells.
Sources:
BBC News February 29, 2008
American Journal of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine March 1, 2008; 177(5):524-30
Courtesy: Dr. Mercola.com
A study of 77,000 people found consuming 400 milligrams of vitamin E per day increased cancer risk by 28 percent. Smokers were at particular risk.
An expert writing in the American Journal of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine said that people should get their vitamins from fruit and vegetables rather than supplements.
Vitamin E is known to be an antioxidant that protects cells from molecules called free radicals. But in high doses, it may also act as a pro-oxidant, causing oxidation and damage to cells.
Sources:
BBC News February 29, 2008
American Journal of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine March 1, 2008; 177(5):524-30
Courtesy: Dr. Mercola.com
Friday, April 4, 2008
Linking Best Practices: Beware of Bad Neighborhoods
"It's a beautiful day in this neighborhood,/ A beautiful day for a neighbor./ Would you be mine?/ Could you be mine?"(Fred M. Rogers)
By Alexis Siemon
Get 1,000+ directory submissions for $50! Guaranteed results! Buy links for your website!
To a new website owner, that kind of offer can seem irresistible. The idea of all those submissions, all that potential website traffic, and all that potential new business, for a relatively low price, can sound like a great deal. But what price is your website paying in the long run?
I've talked before about the important role link building plays in getting increased Web traffic. Links to your site act like endorsements in the eyes of the search engines. They help validate your website content - leading to high rankings.
Submitting your site to trusted and relevant directories (human-edited catalogs of websites) is one way to build those links. So it would seem that signing up for 1,000+ directory submissions would be a quick and easy way to start building lots of links right away. However, it's important to be aware that there IS such a thing as a bad link.
My advice? Make this (from an article at SearchEngineLand.com) your mantra: "My link sources must be relevant, consistent, reputable, and from the right link neighborhood."
Right about now, you're probably thinking, "Relevant, consistent, and reputable. Okay. That makes sense. But... what is a link neighborhood? What's the difference between a good link and a bad link? What will a bad link do to my website?"Link Neighborhoods Defined
In the simplest terms, a link neighborhood is a group of related, complementary, or like-minded sites on the Internet, each linked to other relevant sites. They could be niche sites focused on health, finance, sports, pets, movies, etc. Pretty much any niche you can think of has its own neighborhood. For example, Early to Rise, The Warrior Forum, and CopyBlogger would all be part of the same link neighborhood because they are related to Internet marketing and copywriting in some way.
The best link-building practice is to link to and acquire links from your own neighborhood. Niche directories, respected organizations, and well-known bloggers in your field are all examples of good links that will associate your site with good link neighborhoods. For instance, if you ran a women's health website, a link from the National Breast Cancer Foundation website to your site would be a great one! Acquiring that link would be the first step in building a pattern of good linking behavior. The search engines would then associate your site with an outstanding and relevant link neighborhood.
Similarly, if ETR, The Warrior Forum, and CopyBlogger linked to each other, it would have a positive effect on their search engine rankings.
The Wrong Side of the Tracks
Now that you understand what a good link neighborhood is, you can see that almost anything that doesn't fit within those guidelines would qualify as a bad link neighborhood - particularly those 1,000+ no-name directories.
Bad link neighborhoods typically include:
Sites penalized or banned by the search engines (typically any site not following Google's Webmaster Guidelines)
Sites hosting spyware
Sites promoting phishing
Link farms and free-for-all links pages (large pages full of unrelated links)
Any site that offers no value or unique content to visitors and that could potentially be viewed as dangerous
Being linked to a website that isn't related to your website would also put you in a bad neighborhood.
Google is notorious for being the harshest judge of bad links, and will punish your site for linking to, or being linked from, a bad link neighborhood
A number of sites in the real estate industry suffered severe drops in Google rankings in the past year due to bad link practices. It seems that real estate agents in several states were linking to each other - and, by doing so, built a large volume of links very quickly. But because real estate is such a localized industry, Google determined that an Arizona real estate agent linking to an agent in Connecticut didn't provide any value to the Web user. That, combined with the sheer speed and volume of this reciprocal link tactic, set off a red flag at Google. This prompted them to fire a "shot across the bow" of those real estate sites - dropping their rankings.
If you have friends or colleagues who are linking to bad neighborhoods - or are acquiring links from free-for-all links pages - and they want to link with you as well, think twice. They might be on their way to getting penalized themselves. And you don't want your site to be part of their bad link neighborhood.
If you're a beginner, what I'm telling you today may sound alarming - especially if you've always heard that linking is good for search engine rankings. Don't panic. Google and the other search engines aren't going to penalize you for a couple of bad links you didn't know about. They are typically looking for patterns of bad linking behavior: acquiring hundreds of links from unrelated spammy sites quickly.
The Takeaways
Let's go back to our mantra: "My link sources must be relevant, consistent, reputable, and from the right link neighborhood." With that in mind, follow these rules when starting a link-building effort...
Always be sure you are getting links from legitimate websites in your niche. If you run a website about stock investing, linking to sites about pet care won't help your Google ranking. Instead, try to exchange links with other financial sites.
If you are offered a link from a website that requires you to link back to them, first verify that the website is relevant to your niche and is not participating in any bad link practices.
Resist the temptation to pay for thousands of directory submissions. There are only a handful of directories that are worth the trouble of submitting to, and one of them is Yahoo. Start there.
These link building best practices may seem like a lot of slow, hard work - especially when it looks like there's an easy way out. But you will be rewarded for your hard work with increased search engine rankings, more targeted traffic, and, eventually, more sales.
[Ed. Note: Alexis Siemon is ETR's resident Search Engine Marketing Specialist. Get step-by-step instructions for starting your own Internet business with ETR's Magic Button program.]
Courtesuy: Early To Rise Newsletter.
Make this a Great weekend!
Your Friend,
Jacques
By Alexis Siemon
Get 1,000+ directory submissions for $50! Guaranteed results! Buy links for your website!
To a new website owner, that kind of offer can seem irresistible. The idea of all those submissions, all that potential website traffic, and all that potential new business, for a relatively low price, can sound like a great deal. But what price is your website paying in the long run?
I've talked before about the important role link building plays in getting increased Web traffic. Links to your site act like endorsements in the eyes of the search engines. They help validate your website content - leading to high rankings.
Submitting your site to trusted and relevant directories (human-edited catalogs of websites) is one way to build those links. So it would seem that signing up for 1,000+ directory submissions would be a quick and easy way to start building lots of links right away. However, it's important to be aware that there IS such a thing as a bad link.
My advice? Make this (from an article at SearchEngineLand.com) your mantra: "My link sources must be relevant, consistent, reputable, and from the right link neighborhood."
Right about now, you're probably thinking, "Relevant, consistent, and reputable. Okay. That makes sense. But... what is a link neighborhood? What's the difference between a good link and a bad link? What will a bad link do to my website?"Link Neighborhoods Defined
In the simplest terms, a link neighborhood is a group of related, complementary, or like-minded sites on the Internet, each linked to other relevant sites. They could be niche sites focused on health, finance, sports, pets, movies, etc. Pretty much any niche you can think of has its own neighborhood. For example, Early to Rise, The Warrior Forum, and CopyBlogger would all be part of the same link neighborhood because they are related to Internet marketing and copywriting in some way.
The best link-building practice is to link to and acquire links from your own neighborhood. Niche directories, respected organizations, and well-known bloggers in your field are all examples of good links that will associate your site with good link neighborhoods. For instance, if you ran a women's health website, a link from the National Breast Cancer Foundation website to your site would be a great one! Acquiring that link would be the first step in building a pattern of good linking behavior. The search engines would then associate your site with an outstanding and relevant link neighborhood.
Similarly, if ETR, The Warrior Forum, and CopyBlogger linked to each other, it would have a positive effect on their search engine rankings.
The Wrong Side of the Tracks
Now that you understand what a good link neighborhood is, you can see that almost anything that doesn't fit within those guidelines would qualify as a bad link neighborhood - particularly those 1,000+ no-name directories.
Bad link neighborhoods typically include:
Sites penalized or banned by the search engines (typically any site not following Google's Webmaster Guidelines)
Sites hosting spyware
Sites promoting phishing
Link farms and free-for-all links pages (large pages full of unrelated links)
Any site that offers no value or unique content to visitors and that could potentially be viewed as dangerous
Being linked to a website that isn't related to your website would also put you in a bad neighborhood.
Google is notorious for being the harshest judge of bad links, and will punish your site for linking to, or being linked from, a bad link neighborhood
A number of sites in the real estate industry suffered severe drops in Google rankings in the past year due to bad link practices. It seems that real estate agents in several states were linking to each other - and, by doing so, built a large volume of links very quickly. But because real estate is such a localized industry, Google determined that an Arizona real estate agent linking to an agent in Connecticut didn't provide any value to the Web user. That, combined with the sheer speed and volume of this reciprocal link tactic, set off a red flag at Google. This prompted them to fire a "shot across the bow" of those real estate sites - dropping their rankings.
If you have friends or colleagues who are linking to bad neighborhoods - or are acquiring links from free-for-all links pages - and they want to link with you as well, think twice. They might be on their way to getting penalized themselves. And you don't want your site to be part of their bad link neighborhood.
If you're a beginner, what I'm telling you today may sound alarming - especially if you've always heard that linking is good for search engine rankings. Don't panic. Google and the other search engines aren't going to penalize you for a couple of bad links you didn't know about. They are typically looking for patterns of bad linking behavior: acquiring hundreds of links from unrelated spammy sites quickly.
The Takeaways
Let's go back to our mantra: "My link sources must be relevant, consistent, reputable, and from the right link neighborhood." With that in mind, follow these rules when starting a link-building effort...
Always be sure you are getting links from legitimate websites in your niche. If you run a website about stock investing, linking to sites about pet care won't help your Google ranking. Instead, try to exchange links with other financial sites.
If you are offered a link from a website that requires you to link back to them, first verify that the website is relevant to your niche and is not participating in any bad link practices.
Resist the temptation to pay for thousands of directory submissions. There are only a handful of directories that are worth the trouble of submitting to, and one of them is Yahoo. Start there.
These link building best practices may seem like a lot of slow, hard work - especially when it looks like there's an easy way out. But you will be rewarded for your hard work with increased search engine rankings, more targeted traffic, and, eventually, more sales.
[Ed. Note: Alexis Siemon is ETR's resident Search Engine Marketing Specialist. Get step-by-step instructions for starting your own Internet business with ETR's Magic Button program.]
Courtesuy: Early To Rise Newsletter.
Make this a Great weekend!
Your Friend,
Jacques
Wednesday, April 2, 2008
7 Commandments for Creating Explosive Growth
By Clayton Makepeace
"Marketing is not an event, but a process.... It has a beginning, a middle, but never an end, for it is a process. You improve it, perfect it, change it, even pause it. But you never stop it completely." (Jay Conrad Levinson)
I don't have to tell you that the U.S. economy is slowing precipitously... unemployment is rising... and consumers are spending less on the discretionary products and services most of us sell. But you can create explosive growth in your business - even in the face of these economic realities.
I learned the following principles the hard way: through nearly four decades in the trenches. They have served me very, very well - and if you abide by them, they'll do the same for you...
I. Everything can be improved.
The three most idiotic things any marketer can say to a new idea are:
"But this is how we've always done it. Why change now?"
"That's how our competitors do it, and it works great for them."
"We tested that once. It didn't work."
Ignore the idiots: Test everything. Let your prospects and customers give you the right answers.
II. A dollar delayed is a dollar forfeited FOREVER.
Every week, day, or hour a sales promotion is delayed during the year pushes more money OUT of the year. Those dollars will never be recovered. They're gone forever.
Look at it this way: Let's say your mission is to send 12 promotions to your customer file in 2008 - one at the end of every month. But your January promotion is a week late. It doesn't go out until the first week of February. February's promotion is a week late, too. It goes out March 15. And every other promotion takes just one week longer than you planned.
By the end of the year, those delays add up to 12 weeks. Which means three of the promotions you planned to send to customers in 2008 won't happen. That's 25 percent of your revenues and profits gone with the wind.
Creating procedures that move promotions through conception to creation to execution as quickly and as efficiently as possible is absolutely critical.
III. "Optimal" response and "maximum" response are two different things.
Marketing strategies, sales copy, and offers that compel prospects to buy - but leave them annoyed with or distrustful of your company or your spokesperson - only produce new customers who will avoid your future promotions like the plague.
And using overly aggressive or coercive or deceptive tactics with existing customers is the best way to destroy the bond you're trying to build between them and your company.
A great rule of thumb: Think about every promotion - whether to prospects or to customers - first and foremost as a bonding tool.
Then, do whatever you can short of weakening the good will you're creating to get the sale and maximize the size of the purchase.
IV. Every customer contact is an opportunity to make a sale and increase customer lifetime value.
Take a long hard look at every scrap of virtual or actual paper your customers get from you. Every order form... every thank-you page or letter... every package insert... every renewal or customer retention letter... and every telephone conversation they have with your customer service people.
At the very least, every one of these events gives you a great opportunity to strengthen the bond with your customers. At the most, it may offer you the opportunity to introduce a complementary product in a way that makes customers feel special.
V. Every sale is an opportunity to make another sale.
The simple fact is, customers are most likely to make another purchase immediately after they've made a purchase.
You offered them a product they're excited about. Ordering was quick, easy, hassle free. The order confirmation/thank-you letter or e-mail answered every question about the delivery of the product and reminded them of your guarantee. The product was delivered in far less time than the customers expected. The product itself surpassed their wildest expectations. And, of course, you threw in an unadvertised freebie or two as icing on the cake.
You now have some very happy customers on your hands. So wouldn't this be a great time for a follow-up mailing to every customer who ordered this month? Wouldn't this be the ideal moment to send them a customer satisfaction survey along with a discount coupon for a complementary product?
VI. Every customer complaint is an opportunity to engender lifetime loyalty.
Something went wrong. Your customer is dissatisfied. And his experience tells him that setting things right is going to take forever and be a royal pain in the neck. So before you even hear from him, he's already ticked off.
And then, you surprise him! You apologize abjectly and issue an immediate refund. You give him a discount coupon for a future purchase. You have the head of your customer service department (better yet, the owner himself) CALL the customer to ask for his help in trying to figure out what went wrong. And you send him a nice letter with a questionnaire to make sure the matter was handled fairly and efficiently.
RULE OF THUMB: Be willing to spend at least as much to keep a customer as you spend to create one. Better yet, be willing to spend double, triple, even quadruple if the customer has a long buying history with you.
It's what you do at a time like this that proves your company's character... and proves that he can trust you implicitly. Your customer will never forget how you handled his problem, and will never cease being grateful for making this easy for him.
VII. Never shoot in the dark.
Direct response is all about measuring and reacting to results. But you can't do that if your IT department is doing a half-fast job of capturing or reporting the response, average sale, and ROI (return on investment) for every promotion.
Other numbers matter, too. Like who's on your customer list. Where each customer came from. How long each has been with you. How many times each one orders per year. The average and largest purchase each one has made from you - and the cumulative value of those purchases. How long each customer continues buying from you. And, of course, average customer lifetime value.
Study your promotional history. Look for messaging/product/offer/price combinations that typically yield the highest ROIs for each segment of your file. Determine how the timing of the promotion and the delivery mode (e-mail, snail mail, overnight mail, etc.) affected results.
Think about the best ways to handle each file segment in order to progressively increase recency of purchase, frequency of purchase, and average sale - and to retain each customer longer. Then, determine how you can best stratify - carve up - your customer file in order to extract optimum response, average sale, and ROI from each segment.
If you can internalize these seven simple commandments, you'll have the power to transform yourself into a world-class business builder.
[Ed. Note: As a direct-marketing consultant and copywriter, Clayton Makepeace has helped four major direct-marketing firms at least quadruple sales and profits to well over $100 million per year each. Clayton publishes the highly acclaimed e-zine The Total Package (www.makepeacetotalpackage.com) to help business owners and copywriters accelerate their sales and profits. Check it out.
For dozens of proven strategies that can help you achieve your marketing, personal, and health goals, sign up for ETR's Total Success Achievement program. Learn more here.]
Courtesy: ETR (Early To Rise): http://www.supportatetr.com/helpdesk
"Marketing is not an event, but a process.... It has a beginning, a middle, but never an end, for it is a process. You improve it, perfect it, change it, even pause it. But you never stop it completely." (Jay Conrad Levinson)
I don't have to tell you that the U.S. economy is slowing precipitously... unemployment is rising... and consumers are spending less on the discretionary products and services most of us sell. But you can create explosive growth in your business - even in the face of these economic realities.
I learned the following principles the hard way: through nearly four decades in the trenches. They have served me very, very well - and if you abide by them, they'll do the same for you...
I. Everything can be improved.
The three most idiotic things any marketer can say to a new idea are:
"But this is how we've always done it. Why change now?"
"That's how our competitors do it, and it works great for them."
"We tested that once. It didn't work."
Ignore the idiots: Test everything. Let your prospects and customers give you the right answers.
II. A dollar delayed is a dollar forfeited FOREVER.
Every week, day, or hour a sales promotion is delayed during the year pushes more money OUT of the year. Those dollars will never be recovered. They're gone forever.
Look at it this way: Let's say your mission is to send 12 promotions to your customer file in 2008 - one at the end of every month. But your January promotion is a week late. It doesn't go out until the first week of February. February's promotion is a week late, too. It goes out March 15. And every other promotion takes just one week longer than you planned.
By the end of the year, those delays add up to 12 weeks. Which means three of the promotions you planned to send to customers in 2008 won't happen. That's 25 percent of your revenues and profits gone with the wind.
Creating procedures that move promotions through conception to creation to execution as quickly and as efficiently as possible is absolutely critical.
III. "Optimal" response and "maximum" response are two different things.
Marketing strategies, sales copy, and offers that compel prospects to buy - but leave them annoyed with or distrustful of your company or your spokesperson - only produce new customers who will avoid your future promotions like the plague.
And using overly aggressive or coercive or deceptive tactics with existing customers is the best way to destroy the bond you're trying to build between them and your company.
A great rule of thumb: Think about every promotion - whether to prospects or to customers - first and foremost as a bonding tool.
Then, do whatever you can short of weakening the good will you're creating to get the sale and maximize the size of the purchase.
IV. Every customer contact is an opportunity to make a sale and increase customer lifetime value.
Take a long hard look at every scrap of virtual or actual paper your customers get from you. Every order form... every thank-you page or letter... every package insert... every renewal or customer retention letter... and every telephone conversation they have with your customer service people.
At the very least, every one of these events gives you a great opportunity to strengthen the bond with your customers. At the most, it may offer you the opportunity to introduce a complementary product in a way that makes customers feel special.
V. Every sale is an opportunity to make another sale.
The simple fact is, customers are most likely to make another purchase immediately after they've made a purchase.
You offered them a product they're excited about. Ordering was quick, easy, hassle free. The order confirmation/thank-you letter or e-mail answered every question about the delivery of the product and reminded them of your guarantee. The product was delivered in far less time than the customers expected. The product itself surpassed their wildest expectations. And, of course, you threw in an unadvertised freebie or two as icing on the cake.
You now have some very happy customers on your hands. So wouldn't this be a great time for a follow-up mailing to every customer who ordered this month? Wouldn't this be the ideal moment to send them a customer satisfaction survey along with a discount coupon for a complementary product?
VI. Every customer complaint is an opportunity to engender lifetime loyalty.
Something went wrong. Your customer is dissatisfied. And his experience tells him that setting things right is going to take forever and be a royal pain in the neck. So before you even hear from him, he's already ticked off.
And then, you surprise him! You apologize abjectly and issue an immediate refund. You give him a discount coupon for a future purchase. You have the head of your customer service department (better yet, the owner himself) CALL the customer to ask for his help in trying to figure out what went wrong. And you send him a nice letter with a questionnaire to make sure the matter was handled fairly and efficiently.
RULE OF THUMB: Be willing to spend at least as much to keep a customer as you spend to create one. Better yet, be willing to spend double, triple, even quadruple if the customer has a long buying history with you.
It's what you do at a time like this that proves your company's character... and proves that he can trust you implicitly. Your customer will never forget how you handled his problem, and will never cease being grateful for making this easy for him.
VII. Never shoot in the dark.
Direct response is all about measuring and reacting to results. But you can't do that if your IT department is doing a half-fast job of capturing or reporting the response, average sale, and ROI (return on investment) for every promotion.
Other numbers matter, too. Like who's on your customer list. Where each customer came from. How long each has been with you. How many times each one orders per year. The average and largest purchase each one has made from you - and the cumulative value of those purchases. How long each customer continues buying from you. And, of course, average customer lifetime value.
Study your promotional history. Look for messaging/product/offer/price combinations that typically yield the highest ROIs for each segment of your file. Determine how the timing of the promotion and the delivery mode (e-mail, snail mail, overnight mail, etc.) affected results.
Think about the best ways to handle each file segment in order to progressively increase recency of purchase, frequency of purchase, and average sale - and to retain each customer longer. Then, determine how you can best stratify - carve up - your customer file in order to extract optimum response, average sale, and ROI from each segment.
If you can internalize these seven simple commandments, you'll have the power to transform yourself into a world-class business builder.
[Ed. Note: As a direct-marketing consultant and copywriter, Clayton Makepeace has helped four major direct-marketing firms at least quadruple sales and profits to well over $100 million per year each. Clayton publishes the highly acclaimed e-zine The Total Package (www.makepeacetotalpackage.com) to help business owners and copywriters accelerate their sales and profits. Check it out.
For dozens of proven strategies that can help you achieve your marketing, personal, and health goals, sign up for ETR's Total Success Achievement program. Learn more here.]
Courtesy: ETR (Early To Rise): http://www.supportatetr.com/helpdesk
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