Tuesday, June 22, 2004 - Volume 2 Issue 10
Colin Evans, Editor (mailto:
)
In this issue
- From the Editor
- Featured Success Article - The Best Gift to Give Yourself and Others - By Jim Rohn
- Featured Online Marketing Article - 11 Powerful Marketing Tips - By Bob Leduc
- Motivational Quotes
- Take A Break - The Goldfish...
- Tell Me what You Think
From the Editor - Colin Evans
Hi Everyone 
Welcome to this edition of Cols-A-To-Z.
This week my sisters set up their Yahoo Messenger services and
we've spent hours chatting, so I decided that I should talk about
one of the biggest "time wasters" that we set up in our business
lives.
Idle chatting...
My sisters have very different lifestyles, so the chances of us
all being online, at the same time, are quite slim.
This means that if I don't control the conversation and the time
we chat, I could end up spending two to three hours of my
business day just chatting.
Don't get me wrong, there's nothing wrong with spending some time
every day chatting with family and friends, the problems come
when it gets in the way of your daily work.
It is not only friends and family that you will end up chatting
with, you will also end up chatting with people who are part of
your business, be they prospects, customers or associates.
The trick is to allocate a certain amount of time to business
communication where your discussion is entirely business related,
and a certain amount of time to general chatting.
Now that you only have a limited amount of time to communicate,
you need to control the conversation so that you discuss all the
"urgent" topics first, then you can spend the rest of the time
chatting about anything you like.
For the rest of the day, make yourself unavailable. Turn off your
mobile phone, take your phone off the hook and make yourself
invisible on your online messenger service.
This will leave you free to devote the rest of your business day
to accomplishing the tasks on your business plan for that day.
Until the next time...
Featured Success Article - The Best Gift to Give Yourself and Others by Jim Rohn
I'm often asked the question, "How can I best help my children,
spouse, family member, staff member, friend etc. improve/change?"
In fact that might be the most frequently asked question I
receive, "How can I help change someone else?"
My answer often comes as a surprise and here it is. The key to
helping others is to help yourself first. In other words, the
best contribution I can make to someone else is my own personal
development. If I become 10 times wiser, 10 times stronger, think
of what that will do for my adventure as a father... as a
grandfather... as a business colleague.
The best gift I can give to you, really, is my ongoing personal
development. Getting better, getting stronger, becoming wiser.
I think parents should pick this valuable philosophy up. If the
parents are okay, the kids have an excellent chance of being
okay. Work on your personal development as parents; that's the
best gift you can give to your children.
If you have ever ridden in an airplane, then you might have
noticed the oxygen compartment located above every seat. There
are explicit instructions that say "In case of an emergency,
first secure your own oxygen mask and then if you have children
with you then secure their masks." Take care of yourself first...
then assist your children. If we use that same philosophy
throughout our whole parental life, it would be so valuable.
If I learn to create happiness for myself, my children now have
an excellent chance to be happy. If I create a unique lifestyle
for myself and my spouse, that will be a great example to serve
my children.
Self-development enables you to serve, to be more valuable to
those around you; for your child... your business... your
colleague... your community... your church.
That's why I teach development skills. If you keep refining all
the parts of your character, yourself, your health, etc. so that
you become an attractive person to the marketplace - you'll
attract opportunity. Opportunity will then begin to seek you out.
Your reputation will begin to precede you and people will want to
do business with you. All of that possibility is created by
working on the philosophy that success is something you attract
by continually working on your own personal development.
To Your Success,
Jim Rohn
This article was submitted by Jim Rohn, America's Foremost Business Philosopher. To subscribe to the Free Jim Rohn Weekly E-zine go to
http://www.jimrohn.com
Copyright © 2000-2004 Jim Rohn International. All rights reserved worldwide.
Featured Online Marketing Article - 11 Powerful Marketing Tips - By Bob Leduc
11 Powerful Marketing Tips - Copyright 2004 Bob Leduc
http://BobLeduc.com
Each of these 11 marketing tips is based on a marketing strategy
or tactic proven to boost sales. How many are you using?
Tip 1:
Your customers buy your product or service to feel a certain way
after their purchase. Keep this in mind as you develop your ads,
web pages and other sales tools. Use vivid word pictures to
dramatize the pleasant feelings your customers experience when
they use what you are selling. It intensifies their desire to
have it and motivates them to buy now.
Tip 2:
Continually test new advertising and marketing methods ...and old
methods you never tried before. A good guideline to follow is to
allocate 80 percent of your budget to proven promotions and 20
percent to testing new things. Most businesses using this formula
keep growing regardless of changing market conditions and intense
competition.
Tip 3:
Reduce the size of your ads so you can run more ads for the same
cost. Don't be surprised if your short ads generate a higher
response than long ads - giving you a bigger return for your
expense. One of the most effective ads I ever used was only 11
words.
Tip 4:
Print your best small ad on a postcard and mail it to prospects
in your targeted market. People read postcards when the message
is brief. A small ad on a postcard can drive a high volume of
traffic to your web site and generate a flood of sales leads for
a very small cost.
Tip 5:
Active, stimulating words and phrases keep prospects interested
in reading your sales copy. Look for dull passive words and
phrases and replace them with active ones. For example, change
a phrase like "...it's practical and inexpensive" to "...it's
fast, easy and you save $99".
Tip 6:
After telling prospects what they gain when they buy your product
or service, tell them what they lose if they do not buy it. Most
people fear loss more than they desire gain. Customers want your
product or service so they can enjoy the benefits it provides.
But they will want it even more if you remind them of what they
lose by not buying it.
Tip 7:
You can eliminate any last minute hesitation prospective
customers may have by announcing a pleasant surprise near the
end of every selling procedure. For example, add an unexpected
bonus to each transaction immediately before the final action
that completes the sale.
Tip 8:
You can boost your total sales volume and your average size sale
at the same time by combining 2 or more related products or
services into a Special Combination Package. Set the price lower
than the cost of buying each item separately. This "special deal"
will motivate both procrastinators and bargain hunters to buy now.
Tip 9:
You always need to find new customers. But don't overlook the
sales you can easily get from your existing customers. It's
easier to get more business from them than it is to get any
business from new prospects. Follow up with your existing
customers to get more sales of the same product or to offer
them additional products and services.
Tip 10:
How would you react if you got a personal "thank you" from a
business several days after you spent money with them? You'd
feel good and probably want to do more business with them. Give
that same feeling to your customers. They will reward you with
more business - and a flood of referrals.
Tip 11:
Convert your customers into publicity agents. Develop an
incentive for them to tell associates and friends about the
value of your products or services. An endorsement from them
can produce sales you would never get with any amount of
advertising.
How many of these 11 marketing tactics are you using? How many
have you overlooked? You are losing sales if you don't use all
of them.
Bob Leduc spent 20 years helping businesses like yours find
new customers and increase sales. He just released a New
Edition of his manual, How To Build Your Small Business Fast
With Simple Postcards ...and launched *BizTips from Bob*, a
newsletter to help small businesses grow and prosper. You'll
find his low-cost marketing methods at: http://BobLeduc.com
Motivational Quotes
People will sit up and take notice of you if you will sit up and
take notice of what makes them sit up and take notice.
- Frank Romer
If you really want something, and really work hard, and take
advantage of opportunities, and never give up, you will find a
way.
- Jane Goodall
Take A Break - The Goldfish...
Little Lucy was in the garden filling in a hole when her neighbor
peered over the fence.
Interested in what the cheeky-faced youngster was doing, he
politely asked, "What are you up to there, Lucy?"
"My goldfish died," replied Lucy tearfully, without looking up,
"and I've just buried him."
The neighbor was concerned. "That's an awfully big hole for a
goldfish, isn't it?"
Lucy patted down the last heap of earth then replied, "That's
because he's inside your darn cat!"
Tell Me What You Think
I would love to hear what you think of this issue of the "Cols-A-To-Z" Newsletter.
And of course, if you have any suggestions for upcoming issues that you'd like to
share with me, please send those, too!
Just e-mail me at:
To subscribe to my "Cols-A-To-Z" Newsletter, go to the following URL:
http://www.cols-a-to-z.com/join.html
Written by Colin Evans
Editor, Cols-A-To-Z.com
88 Central Parade
Herne Bay
Kent
United Kingdom
CT6 5JJ
+01227 740171
© copyright 2004 Cols-A-To-Z.com
