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PLEASE TELL OTHERS!
Please tell all your business associates and friends who wants to attract more customers, close more sales, earn more revenue, boost their bottom line, and drive their competitors crazy to sign up for Brainy Tidbits.

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IN THIS ISSUE

1. 7 Tips for Improving Customer Service
2. There's Still Time to Join Us
3. Book Catalogue Marketing Help
4. Help This Brainy Marketer
5. Request!
6. Quote of the Week
7. Resources for Marketers & Entrepreneurs
8. A Little Fun
9. Smell the Coffee

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1. 7 Tips for Improving Customer Service

If you are a business owner, you know that repeat business is critical to your success. It also makes your life much easier because you can count on ongoing business without having to continuously find new prospects and convince them to hire you.

Here are seven ways to keep your customers coming back:

• Take time to build a relationship

Learn to "visit" instead of being so professional that you appear rude. Pay attention when you meet with your customers. Learn about them and their lives. It will pay off every day of your relationship.

• Set realistic deadlines and either meet or beat them.

Nothing impresses a client more than when you follow through with what you say you will do. Do it fast. Do your best. And do it right. Clients always want it "yesterday," but if you know it can't be done that quickly, or it won't be done correctly because there's not enough time, then speak up right at the beginning. It's better to set a realistic deadline and then beat it by a day or two, than accept an unrealistic one and make the client wait.

• Make it easy to work with you.

Extend your service hours to cover when your customers want to talk to you. If your business is tech support or Internet marketing, remember that peak Net usage is 10 pm. If you're a night person, you can impress your customers by being available during their "off" hours.

• Offer credit card payment options to make it easy for your clients (and the government!) to pay you.

Today, businesses need payment options. If you're able to allow them to pay with credit cards, you'll have more clients. And if you're interested in government business, this is an easy way to get some of it since most government agencies are now using credit cards for purchases valued at less than $2,500.

• Be flexible--offer to meet for breakfast.

Just like you, your clients are very busy. They have meetings all day and often during lunch, so it's hard to find a time to get together. Offer to meet for breakfast
when you and your client are both fresh.

• Provide added-value service at no charge.

If you go the extra mile, your customers will notice. You'll soon be the one they turn to when they need a problem solved.

• Refer business to your customers.

If you send business to your customers, it shows how much value them. Connect one customer with another, if possible. It's the ultimate thank you.

You can also learn lots of ways to build your relationship with your customers by reading the ebook I wrote with Jim Wilson, "52 Ready-to-Go Sales Meetings." Read more about it or download it and be learning new ideas in just minutes.

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SUBSCRIBE TO SUCCESS EZINE

If you want the inside secrets of how women business owners just like you propelled their companies to levels they never dreamed possible, sign up for our twice-monthly "Success Secrets of Women Business Owners" ezine. It's F~REE! Each issue profiles one successful woman business owner and includes her top five (or more) tips for creating a successful business. (No, you don't have to be a woman to subscribe.)

When you subscribe to "Success Secrets of Women Business Owners Ezine," I'll give you a free special report, "Build Website Traffic by Writing Articles: Top 10 Sites to Publish Your Articles" ($9 Value)! Subscribe here.

Read the back issues of Success Secrets of Women Business Owners.

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2. There's Still Time to Join Us

TOMORROW!
Learn more practical and revenue-generating ideas from the king of networking, Adam Urbanski, The Marketing Mentor, during our February 23 teleseminar --"Secrets of Successful Networking: Proven Methods To Meet More Qualified Prospects, Generate Referrals & Get New Business from EVERY Meeting You Attend!" RUSH HERE to read more about it and sign up.

MARCH 2
If you'd like to learn 7 easy ways to generate ongoing passive income, then you should sign up for our March 2 teleseminar with Lynn Terry, an expert in passive income generation!

And, when you sign up for the premium package (which is ONLY $47), you'll receive a FREE copy of her hot-off-the-press "Passive Income Guide" (Lynn will sell this after the seminar for $37)!

In it, Lynn will show you exactly how she CUT HER HOURS by 2/3 last year, and still DOUBLED HER INC0ME! Her step-by-step guide can help you do the same thing in 2005.

Read all about the seminar and sign up here.

THE BEST VALUE
And here's an option with an incredible value. Become a paid member of our Success Secrets of Women
Entrepreneurs Forum for a very low monthly fee and attend ALL of our teleseminars FREE for the next year!

AND... you can NETWORK online with informative, thought-provoking successful women business owners, create a mastermind group, and learn from each other and our moderators.

[By the way, Lynn Terry is one of our moderators. She covers e-business issues.]

Read all about Success Secrets of Women Entrepreneurs Forum and subscribe here.

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3. Book Catalogue Marketing Help

Last week, Toni from Beaconhill Books Catalogue, asked for this help:

"I circulate a book catalogue by mail displaying ads from self- and small-press published authors and writer-related businesses. These same ads are also published FREE on my website. I have trouble getting enough authors/advertisers signed up to finance the mailing. I would love some tips on how to achieve this. I have been on list-servs for self-published authors for the last couple of years. Thanks for whatever advice you can share."

Joan Stewart, The Publicity Hound writes:

You must explain the benefits of advertising with you. Here are ways to do that:

• In your catalogue, include testimonials from ad buyers who have gotten great results from their ads. Tell them to be specific when offering testimonials. How much more did they sell as a result of the ad? And be sure to use their real names and where they're from. Anonymous testimonials are worthless.
  
• Include a sales page at your website listing all the benefits of advertising in your catalogue. How many people does it reach? Are they decision-makers? What kinds of products and services do they buy?
  
• What's the benefit of the catalogue? Does it simply list books for sale? Or does it also include great free content that will help the catalogue readers solve a particular problem? Once the catalogue becomes more valuable to the
  readers, they will start paying more attention to the ads.
  

And Lois offers this...

• Authors and publishers often have little money to spend on advertising, but they are willing to do it if the return looks like it will be worth it. I have a few ideas for you.
  
• Create a contest with the grand prize a high-value advertising package. Publicize it to your in-house list, through other ezines, and on PRWeb.
  
• Get to know other companies whose target market is the same as yours. Create a creative, joint marketing effort.
  
• Start doing a one-topic (therefore, not too burdensome) ezine (opt-in, of course) and promote your book catalogue in each issue.
  
• Create an announcement of your soon-to-be published catalogue and submit it to Dan Poynter for inclusion in his newsletter.
  
• Advertise in ezines that have a similar target market.
  
• Get to know Annie Jennings and other PR consultants who work specifically with authors and publishers.
  
• Create a compelling direct-mail postcard campaign and send it to small publishers.
  
• Attend tradeshows that small publishers and authors attend. Get on a speaking panel, if possible.

You can also learn lots of ways to help you improve your selling by reading the ebook I wrote with Jim Wilson, "Sales Success! Strategies for Women." Read more about it or download it and be learning new ideas in just minutes.

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4. Help This Brainy Marketer

Subscriber Kay Johnson-Suglia, a creative services rep for agencies in the NYC area, writes:

"For about the last 10 years I've been enmeshed in production, account direction and business development for agencies in the interactive /internet industry. As of April 3, 2005, I am going out on my own and focusing solely on business development. I've taken this route to establish a work-from-home business and to have more control over what I do day-to-day and over my earnings (I had pretty much hit a dead end at the agency I'm currently working for in terms of position and income potential). So I'm looking forward to all the advice and expertise you can share. My biggest challenge is securing clients (big brands, particularly those located in NYC area) for my clients (creative agencies)."

Having worked for advertising agencies, I found this
intriguing since most agencies in the past have done all of their business development in-house. What ideas do you have for Kay? How can she secure clients for multiple agencies? How can she interest the agencies in working with her? And, working from home, how does she keep her ear to the ground for potential new business and stay connected with the professional agency scene in New York?

How about it, readers? Can you help Kay with these problems? Send me your ideas and I'll print them next week.

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FREE Sales Course

Subscribe to Marketing Idea Shop's 3-Day Sales
Course...totally FREE. You'll get one email each day for 3 days in a row. It's quick, full of great ideas to help you become a better salesperson, and takes just 5 minutes to read. (Note: you will be taken to the shopping cart. Although you must fill in your name and address, there is no need to include your credit card information for a FREE product. Just skip that part.) Click on the link above to get your FREE sales course

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5. Request!

"I'm looking for testimonials. If you send me testimonials about my newsletters, websites or products, I'll put the best ones on my site. It's a great linking strategy for you. And don't forget to send me your 72 dpi photo!"

Thanks to Rob Grede and Nancy Hightshoe, who sent in testimonials.

You can get good linking like this, too. Send yours in.

Lois Carter Fay
Success Secrets of Women Entrepreneurs
Marketing Idea Shop

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6. Quote of the Week

Here's a good one for February: "Life is not measured by the number of breaths we take but by the moments that take our breath away."

~Anonymous

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AND NOW, A MESSAGE FROM OUR SPONSORS...

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

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7. Resources for Marketers & Entrepreneurs

Bunnyslipper Boot Camp Preview Audios

You've probably heard about the Bunnyslipper Boot Camp. As a way to sell the seminar, the organizers have been doing free teleseminars about a variety of topics. You can download the MP3 files here.

Legal Aspects of Blogging

For all you bloggers out there, you might be interested in this article about the legal aspects of blogging.

Want to Add Audio to Your Website and Emails?

It's very easy to do with AudioGenerator. You just call in
on the phone, record the clip and AudioGenerator will send you an email with the code for your website or email. Then you just paste it in. And you can try it for only $1 a day with unlimited use for an entire week!

Want to Know How the Search Engines Relate to One Another?

Here's a cool chart that shows you.

Need to Check to See if Your HTML Code Has Errors?

Visit NetMechanic: Power Tools for Your Web Site.

Here's a huge list of marketing and PR blogs.

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8. A Little Fun

Thanks to Biz Community for this:

THE YEAR'S BEST [ACTUAL] HEADLINES OF 2003

1.. Crack Found on Governor's Daughter
2.. Something Went Wrong in Jet Crash, Expert Says
3.. Police Begin Campaign to Run Down Jaywalkers
4.. Iraqi Head Seeks Arms
5.. Is There a Ring of Debris around Uranus?
6.. Prostitutes Appeal to Pope
7.. Panda Mating Fails; Veterinarian Takes Over
8.. Teacher Strikes Idle Kids
9.. Miners Refuse to Work after Death
10.. Juvenile Court to Try Shooting Defendant
11.. War Dims Hope for Peace
12.. Cold Wave Linked to Temperatures
13.. Enfield (London) Couple Slain; Police Suspect Homicide
14.. Red Tape Holds Up New Bridges
15.. Man Struck By Lightning Faces Battery Charge
16.. New Study of Obesity Looks for Larger Test Group
17.. Astronaut Takes Blame for Gas in Spacecraft
18.. Kids Make Nutritious Snacks
19.. Chef Throws His Heart into Helping Feed Needy
20.. Local High School Dropouts Cut in Half
21.. Hospitals are Sued by 7 Foot Doctors

And the winner is....

22. Typhoon Rips Through Cemetery; Hundreds Dead

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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9. Smell the Coffee...

It's a beautiful day here in the mountains. After dreary, dark and cold weather for what feels like weeks now, it's starting to seem like spring--51 degrees!

Remember I told you my daughter, Erin, passed the Patent Bar? She got her official certificate and sent me an email copy. I printed it out and it's hanging on my refrigerator, just like when she was little. We're so proud of her!

Peace & Light,
Lois

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