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MarketingIdeaShop BRAINY Tidbits

The ezine with brainy marketing ideas
and resources for small businesses

Brought to you each Tuesday by
Lois Carter Fay & The Marketing Idea Shop
http://www.marketingideashop.com
mailto:lcf@marketingideashop.com

Issue 2 - July 8, 2003
Reading time: 10 minutes

Don't be stingy...share this with your friends.
PLEASE FORWARD ~~~ WITHOUT CUTTING ~~~

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IN THIS ISSUE

1. Quick Tip: Reversing
2. Quote of the Week
3. 5 Things to Include on Your Website
4. News Releases Aren't That Hard
5. Thoughtful Replies
6. What's New?
7. Resources for Entrepreneurs
8. Marketing Fun
9. Smell the Coffee

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1. Quick Tip -- Getting More Sales Using Reversing

Reversing is the strategy of answering a question with a question.
Often the question the prospect asks is not the real question, or
it might even be a smoke screen. For example, if the prospect
asks, "What will it cost?" you might do a reverse and ask, "Is
price an important factor in your decision?" And your prospect
might say, "Well, it's only one of the factors, but my boss is
very cost-conscious." Now, you just found out that your prospect
may not be the decision maker!

Only answer questions when it is in your best interest to do so.
The sales professional is not interested in educating the
prospect but probing beneath the surface to uncover the real
needs. QUESTION your prospects. EDUCATE your customers.

For more sales tips like this watch for Marketing Idea Shop's
new ebook, by Jim Wilson of Selling Strategies Inc. and me,
52 READY-TO-GO SALES MEETINGS...52 WAYS TO HELP YOUR
SALESPEOPLE (AND YOURSELF) WIN AT THE GAME OF SALES
coming July 15!

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2. Quote of the Week

The temptation when the path to success gets too bumpy is
to leap back into the comfort zone. Don't. Keep pushing
forward, always forward. The comfort zone is the land of
dreams and wishes. Success is the land of results, where
all those dreams come true.

--Mark Burnett, Founder of the Eco-Challenge


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3. 5 Things to Include on Your Website

If your company is like most firms today, you either have a
company website or you are working to put one up. Today's web
surfers are a sophisticated and impatient lot. This is the
"ADD Generation," willing to wait all of about 8 seconds for
you to grab their attention. Here are 5 quick tips to keep
visitors on your site:

--
Design an easy-to-navigate toolbar.
The specific location and design of your website's toolbar
is not as important as the ability to quickly understand what
information is available on the site. But put it in the same
place on every page.

--
Tell your visitors how to get in touch with you.
Nothing is more frustrating than visiting a website and not
being able to find a name, email address and phone number.
Include this or run the risk of looking like a scam artist.

--
Explain who you are and what you do for your customers.
It's not "me, me, me" on a website. It's "you, you, you."
Make your words active. Discuss problems and solutions...
and focus on BENEFITS.

--
Show why your clients/customers work with you.
You want your website visitors to not only understand what
you do, but pick up the phone and hire you to create the
same miracles for them as you do for others.

--
Keep them coming back.
Put something cool on your site, or give away free
information. For example, Peninsula Software of Virginia
-- http://www.pensoft.com/taxcalc.asp -- a payroll software
company, has a neat little tax calculator on their site. It
makes people want to come back.

Remember that a website is a work-in-progress and should not
remain static. Just as your business grows and develops, so
does your website.

This is an excerpt of a F*REE article I wrote. To
read the complete article, "The 5 Most Important Things to
Include on Your Website," send an email with the subject
"Website Tips" to me at mailto:lcf@marketingideashop.com and
I'll send it to you.

Or, get personalized help through my "Words for Websites(TM)"
consulting service. Web writing and strategies to grow your
business. Call me toll free at 1-800-203-8660 or email me
about your needs at mailto:lcf@marketingideashop.com .


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4. News Releases Really Aren't That Hard

Okay, you need to write and distribute news releases
regularly to keep your name in front of your prospects and
customers. You know you have the ability to put a sentence
together properly and can communicate so that others
understand you. You could hire a publicist to help you out,
but you'd rather see what you can do on your own.

Unfortunately, you don't have a clue how to write a
news release.

Well, you're in luck. For just $9 you can learn the 15 easy
steps to writing and distributing a news release. To order
"Special Report #1: How to Write a News Release to Generate
Positive Publicity for Your Company or Product,"

Send $9 to:
Special Report #1, Marketing Idea Shop,
411 Rainier Road, Massanutten, Va. 22840

Or call me at 1-800-203-8660 and pay by credit card.


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5. Thoughtful Replies: CREATIVITY

Last week I wrote about creativity and asked you to send in
your methods for generating new ideas. I'm still taking ideas
and you can email them to me with the subject line "creativity"
at mailto:lcf@marketingideashop.com . I'll include them in a
future issue of this ezine.

One technique that I didn't mention last week in "BRAINY Tidbits"
is "mindmapping." This is a visual representation of your
creative process. And I just found out that Joyce Wycoff,
publisher of the InnovationNetwork weekly creativity ezine at
http://www.thinksmart.com , has a book called MINDMAPPING,
YOUR PERSONAL GUIDE TO EXPLORING CREATIVITY AND PROBLEM-SOLVING.
$10.36 from Amazon:

http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/redirect-home/marketingidea-20

One reader wrote to me about his creativity generators.
Dick Cook, owner of Norfolk Wholesale Floral at
http://www.norfolkwholesalefloral.com and the publisher
of several entertaining daily ezines wrote:

My creative process is simple...

--
I start with just a glimmer of what I'm going to do next,
so I'm always as surprised as you are. I have fun!

--
I remember this adage, "The Secret of Success is Getting
Started." So I get started. Deadlines are great motivators.

--
I have committed to producing a new home page and two
specialty pages for our website every Monday morning.

--
This is unheard of for the majority of websites, so it's
a special entre for permission marketing subscribers to see
the latest in living COLOR as they are directed from their
daily morning newsletter to a URL which they trust from
previous pleasant experiences.

--
What color? COLOR PICTURES. I gather outrageous .jpg and
.gif pictures and file them for future use with AMUSING
CAPTIONS befitting that webpage.

--
I ask my 34-member editorial board to critique EVERYTHING
and suggest NEW THINGS.

--
I forgive myself for my mistakes and do better the next
time.

--
I love my work.

[Editor's Note: I especially like Dick's "Ahh, there you are!"
ezine. Check it out for yourself by subscribing to it through
his home page.]


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6. What's New?

--
New Ebook Coming: 52 READY-TO-GO SALES MEETINGS

Ever have to run a weekly sales meeting for your team?
It's tough coming up with topics and ideas, isn't it? Here's
your opportunity to get 52 ideas without a struggle!

Marketing Idea Shop's brand-new ebook, 52 READY-TO-GO SALES
MEETINGS...52 WAYS TO HELP YOUR SALESPEOPLE (AND YOURSELF)
WIN AT THE GAME OF SALES, is for you!

It is co-written by sales guru Jim Wilson of Selling
Strategies Inc. and yours truly, and jam-packed with ideas,
questions to discuss with your team and strategies
to keep your meetings productive. Don't miss this one!

For less than $1 per week (and much less than one hour
of Jim's or my time!), you can plan your entire year.
Just $47. Available through my website starting
July 15.

To order offline call 1-800-203-8660 and have your credit
card ready.


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7. Resources for Entrepreneurs

--
Here's an amazing ebook! It's filled with hundreds of links
to resources for entrepreneurs, especially those who are using
the Internet to do business. Written by Paul Galloway, the
BUSINESS TOOLCHEST gives you an AMAZING 899 F*REE and
LOW-COST resources! I can safely say it is the BEST BOOK
about doing business online that I have ever read. You can't
go wrong at the phenomenal price of $29.99!

http://www.businesstoolchest.com/?10007

--
What makes a successful business? Excellent customer service!
In the new ebook, THE EXTRA MILE, you'll find 15 totally true
stories of businesses that give their customers extra-mile
service. Different industries but just one goal: to cement
customer loyalty. Deb Schmidt, aka "The Loyalty Builder," really
helps you understand how to treat your customers. $37

http://www.marketerschoice.com/app/aftrack.asp?AFID=86477

--
Do you do business with companies in Europe, Asia and
elsewhere? Planning to travel to Cannes for the film
festival (don't you wish??)? Perhaps this little currency
conversion utility is just what you need.

http://www.xe.com

--
Ever wonder how some companies get such great publicity?
Find out why in B.L. Ochman's highly-acclaimed ebook, SECRETS
OF EFFECTIVE PRESS RELEASE DISTRIBUTION. Detailed reviews
of the 7 best media database services; 8 top electronic
release distribution services; 5 most useful web tracking
services. Bonus release writing tutorial. 52-pgs. $69

http://www.whatsnextonline.com/release/index.cfm?AffiliateID=2003055525


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8. A Little Marketing Fun

Setting time for marketing can be a bit elusive for some
entrepreneurs. But we have to do it. Here's a link to a cool
little clock to remind you to be persistent and find time to
market your company.

http://www.suite101.com/files/mysites/AskAlice/Clock.htm


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9. Smell the Coffee...

Well, one child is off at camp and the other one is visiting
relatives in Wisconsin. So my husband and I were able to
celebrate our first anniversary sans kids. Not only that, but
the date fell on the weekend and the weather in the mountains
was perfect. Now, that's what I call GREAT! :-
)))

I promised you that my new website would be up and running
by the end of last week. Guess I was a bit optimistic.
Mea culpa. Here it is Tuesday, and my webmaster is still
tweaking it. Maybe soon... All the more reason to learn
how to make changes and add products to my shopping cart
myself, aina hey?

Okay...so you ask, what the heck is "aina hey"? I just
thought I'd throw in a little fun colloquial cultural
education. I'm originally from Wisconsin and "aina"--
pronounced ay-nah--is a little saying in the Milwaukee area
that means "isn't it so?" It was probably originally derived
from "ain't it." And the "hey" is often added to the end to
say, "don't you agree?" (And you thought marketing
communications was so easy...)


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THE FINE PRINT

THANK YOU!
We appreciate your business.

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you signed up for it at the Marketing Idea Shop website --
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ISSN 1545-035X

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Reprinted from the "MarketingIdeaShop BRAINY Tidbits," a
F*REE ezine featuring brainy ideas and resources for small
businesses. Subscribe today at http://www.marketingideashop.com
and receive F*REE by email "67 Ways to Promote Your Business."


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Published by:
Lois Carter Fay, APR
Founder, Marketing Idea Shop
and President, Strategic Business Partners

Lois Carter Fay is a writing and marketing expert with a
bunch of gray hairs (no, not from worrying...it's just what
comes with experience). Strategic Business Partners is a
marketing consulting firm with ideas and strategies to grow
your business. The Marketing Idea Shop is an online resource
for small businesses.

411 Rainier Road, Massanutten, VA USA 22840
Voice 540.289.3840 / Fax 540.289.3839 / Toll Free 800.203.8660


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