In Hiring & Retention, It's the Little Things That Count

Improve Your Linking Strategy to Get Better Rankings

Hello Brainy Marketer,

I'm back from vacation, trying to catch up. Isn't it always that way? You work really hard to get everything possible done ahead of time, go on vacation, and then you come back
and still have to work double time to catch up. But I wouldn't have the experience of seeing my older kids for Mother's Day if I didn't take the vacation, so it was worth it. Read more about our trip and other good things in "Smell the Coffee" below.

But I'm tired...z z z z z z z z z z z z z z z z z z z z.

~Lois

See this related information:

In this Issue

1. It's the Little Things That Count
2. Help This Brainy Marketer
3. I Need Your Help, Please
4. An Easy Way to Get a Better Website Ranking
5. Quote of the Week
6. People Are Starting to Talk
7. A Little Fun
8. Smell the Coffee

PLEASE SEND THIS TO OTHERS!
Please forward this to anyone who wants to attract more customers, close more sales, get more website traffic, and find resources to help them compete more successfully in today's market.

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1. It's the Little Things That Count

I met with a prospective marketing consulting client this week. He said one of his biggest problems is recruiting and retaining volunteers for the volunteer rescue squad he's involved with.

Lots of people write to me asking how to hire and retain good paid employees, too. The problem is basically the same, wouldn't you agree? Except that when it's volunteers instead of paid staff, it's quite a bit tougher.

You can:

Give them apparel with your logo to wear whenever they want. This not only makes them proud of your company, it works as a walking billboard for your business, too.

Do something special for their birthday. You could give them a half day or whole day off, give them extra privileges on their birthday, give them a small gift—like candy, flowers, a special pen, or just make sure everyone sings "Happy Birthday" to them.

Make sure you recognize all the good things they do...and put it in writing. Remember, when they do something wrong, it's best to talk to them privately, but if they do something RIGHT, put it in writing for all to see!

Think of ways to make working or volunteering fun. If people enjoy coming in, they will be with your organization longer.

Try to stop gossip in its tracks. Be open and honest with your employees, and they will respect you for it. Deal with the problem employees directly so gossip doesn't have a
chance to fester.

And you can also use the media to solve this problem, according to Joan Stewart, The Publicity Hound. Here a few tips to get you started:

==> Compile your company's "good stuff" list—all the reasons why people should work for you. If you're not sure, ask your own employees why they stay. Then start pitching the "good stuff" items as individual story ideas to the media.

Pitch story ideas to the local and national media about your company's fun events—things like chili cook—offs and theme parties. A direct marketing firm in Wisconsin got fabulous publicity—and dozens of job applications—after it gave away a free trip to Disney World to every employee at the annual company Christmas party. The story ran on the front page of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, and a local TV station aired a 6-minute segment on the trip.

Let the media know about innovative training programs for employees. Today's job-hunters want to work for companies that will train them for their NEXT job.

Target your trade publications for story ideas about unique things your company is doing to attract and keep employees. Job-hunters and new graduates frequently read the
trades to find companies that are great places to work.

Write articles about innovative things your company is doing and pitch them to the big job boards and electronic magazines.

On the homepage at your web site, let visitors know "Why You Should Work for Us." Reporters—not just job-hunters— frequently peruse web sites, and they too might find this
list enticing enough to write an article about you.

More great tips on how to use the media to attract and keep workers can be found in "Creative Recruitment & Retention Strategies," a two audio-cassette-tape program featuring Joan Stewart, a.k.a. The Publicity Hound, and Joan Lloyd, workplace consultant and syndicated columnist. In addition to more of Joan Stewart's great tips like those above, Joan Lloyd discusses:

Recruiting secrets the smartest companies use
What the best managers do to keep employees happy
Innovative perks that don't cost a cent

Read more about the tapes and what you'll learn here, and order the tapes..

Or check out Joan Stewart’s handy little tips booklets on how to find and keep employees.

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2. Help This Brainy Marketer

This week we have two subscribers asking vastly different questions that can both be answered—at least in part—with the same solution. Can you guess what it is?

Subscriber Althea Francis writes, "I have just started offering my administrative skills after being laid off and would like to know the best way to market my services to potential clients. I now resort to word of mouth, website, business cards and am presently working on a brochure. But what are the best techniques to attract new customers?"

Patti Pokor of Down to Earth Gardens asks, "We're a little off the beaten path.......so people get lost finding us. Plus we're a seasonal business so it's a bit stressful and too hectic at times. Do you have any ideas for us?"

But before we put this out for our readers to consider, I want to remind everyone that there is great benefit to YOU to include your website address when you send in questions. Because I PUBLISH them in my newsletter if I have them, and I (and my readers) go to your websites to check them out so I could have much better, specific ideas for you if you include your website
address in your emails to me. Why does this help? Read #4 below.

So, can any of you brainy readers figure out the solution? What can both Althea and Patti do? Send your ideas to me by Friday, May 20, and if you have the most creative ideas or know the answer I'm thinking of, you can be the lucky winner of a FREE copy of one of my excellent, informative teleseminar transcripts (value $9.95)—your choice.

Send ideas here.

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3. I Need Your Help, Please

I'm thinking of starting another website this summer. I already have the domain name, and I'm wondering what you think about it. It's http://www.recipeideashop.com—but don't go there now because there's nothing there.

If you've been a subscriber for awhile, you know that I like to cook and bake. I especially enjoy delicious, healthful food. And I enjoy many of the full-of-fat-and-sugar old time dishes that my mom used to make.

I have two spilling-out-everywhere binders of recipes I have collected, modified, or made up over the years. So I was thinking about giving my youngest child the task of typing them into a website template over the summer. She'll earn some money. I'll get my recipes typed nice and neat, and we'll all be able to search the website for whatever recipe we want to make.

How would I make money on it? With affiliate sales of cookware, cookbooks, and other kitchen stuff, and with AdSense revenue.

What do you think about this? Send me your thoughts. Is this something you'd use? Can you see other ways to make money on a site like this?

Email your ideas.

And for a FREE, delicious recipe—Pumpkin Squares (low fat and only 1 point on the Weight Watcher's system)—send a blank email here.

And don't forget that May is "Eat Dessert First Month!"

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4. An Easy Way to Get Better Website Ranking

One of the best ways to improve your website ranking is to get quality, incoming links to your website. The links should be from sites that are relevant to yours.

Google gives you "extra points" in your ranking if the links come from websites and blogs that make sense. If your website sells shoes, then links from running magazines, fitness centers and shoe manufacturers would be a good fit, as would those from blogs that discuss the value of a good shoe.

How do you get these links into your site? Lots of ways. But one good way is to write to the webmasters of relevant sites and ask them to exchange links with you. Of course, you would put a link on your site FIRST for their site, offering the opportunity to change the wording or anchor text you used, and then request that they also link to you.

This is just one technique described by John Reese in his "Traffic Secrets" course. John's course has been tremendously successful for tons of website owners. You can read more about this extensive home-study course and the successes people have achieved with the Traffic Secrets course here.

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5. Quote of the Week

"I've never sought success in order to get fame and money; it's the talent and the passion that count in success."

~ Ingrid Bergman, film star

What's your definition of success? Email your comments to me.

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6. People are Starting to Talk

Normally, this would be a bad thing--people talking about you. Remember when you were in high school and people "started to talk" about you? It meant you had flubbed up somehow, or--if you were a girl--that your "reputation" had been tarnished. And I, for one, never wanted to be THAT girl.

I've always been a do-the-right-thing kinda gal. So I tried to avoid being the focus of any "talk" during high school. It was years later that I finally realized that sometimes it's GOOD to have people talk about you.

In business, that's called "word of mouth advertising." On forums, like our Success Secrets Forum, it's great to have people talking. And now they are!

Recently, several new folks have joined the forum and people are beginning to help one another. It's a great way to get your questions answered quickly.

Join now while it's still FREE! Be one of the first 100 people to sign up for our Success Secrets Forum and win a F*REE LIFETIME MEMBERSHIP. With your membership, you'll get:

• 9 terrific bonuses valued at $491.00
• Attendance at all our teleseminars at half off. ($449.00 value)
• The ability to network with successful women entrepreneurs. (priceless!)
• The ability to post classified ads F*REE. (priceless!)
• Free access to my large library of audio seminars (priceless!)

Read more about it and subscribe to Success Secrets Forum now.

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7. A Little Fun

Comebacks for telemarketers who bother you at home at inopportune times:

• Tell them you're under house arrest and ask if they could bring you a case of beer and some chips.
• After they have introduced themselves, cry out in surprise and ask them how they have been. This will set them back a few moments while they try to figure out where you know each other from.
• Ask them to speak very slowly as you are busy writing down every word they say.
• Tell the telemarketer that you are busy at the moment, but if they'll leave you their home phone number, you'll call them back.
  

Be sure to visit our past jokes and trivia at:

Marketing Jokes and Trivia and Fun Stuff

Take a look. You'll have fun!

Help keep the smiles coming...please send me your marketing, PR or sales jokes. I'll be happy to give you credit and list your website! Email me.

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8. Smell the Coffee...

It was a terrific week. As I expected, Abbi (our oldest) and Brian's (her husband) concert was excellent. Abbi had a few solos; Brian was the conductor and also sang with the group several times because they needed another baritone. They both have marvelous voices and fabulous stage presence.

It was fun to see Erin, too. Although she doesn't like to drive, she drove the four hours to Battle Creek from Milwaukee so she could be with me for Mother's Day. (I gave her a guild trip to get her there, but she was glad she came.) And she gave me a couple of lovely new pictures of herself and her sweetie. We really needed those! It's been awhile since we have gotten new photos.

Little Madeline has finally learned to say "Granny Lois" instead of "Granny Lolis" (which I actually liked because it was so cute). She was as busy as ever, playing on her plastic gym outside, sliding down the slide lickety split, and then saying, "I do it again, Granny Lois!" over and over. She also really likes to spin, but that's one I can't do. I get dizzy VERY easily, so there's no spinning for me.

The drive up and back was pleasant. I read Rick Bragg's memoir, All Over But the Shoutin' aloud during the drive. Rick is a terrific writer. He's a Pulitzer Prize winning New York Times reporter (at least he was there at the time he wrote the memoir) who grew up dirt poor in Alabama. His phrasing and wording is exceptionally descriptive. Having grown up quite poor myself, I could really identify with this book.

And the best news came when I got home. My former roommate, Wendy Jungbluth, had left me a message saying that her husband, Tony Wilinski, received his new liver on Saturday
and was recovering exceptionally fast! Remember I asked you to hold Wendy and Tony in the Light because they found out Tony was allergic to copper and consequently needed a new
liver? Thankfully, he made it through the wait and the surgery. But he was only 145 pounds (down from 200—he's 6 ft. tall) when he had the surgery. I'd appreciate it if you would continue to hold these friends in the Light. They can use all the prayers you can send right now.

Peace & Light,
Lois

P.S. Don't forget to join our Success Forum while it's still F*REE.

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