7 Steps to Fanatical Customer Service

coffee_artOn Super Bowl Sunday my wife and I were getting the house ready to host a Super Bowl party.  One of my tasks was to de-scale the Keurig coffee maker and get it ready for our guests.  I went thru the cleaning procedures, let it sit for 4 hours, I rinsed as instructed and was moving on to the next task.  I turned it off, unplugged it, moved it back to it’s spot, plugged it in and…yep, no power.  None, nada, zip… Continue reading

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10 Key Words for Inbound Marketing Defined

Inbound Marketing Terminology

HubSpot has produced a new ebook, written by Magdalena Georgieva, to help us all better understand the terminology involved with this whole idea of Inbound Marketing.  For those of you unfamiliar with the term, Inbound Marketing is defined as  a Continue reading

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Tips to Increase Direct Mail Response Rates

Postcard ImageLet’s talk about some quick tips and tricks for getting your direct mail message read and for increasing the overall effectiveness of your next campaign. Now just in case you are wondering if I practice what I preach, our 2 companies mailed over 30 times last year.  That’s how much I believe in direct mail. If you are not quite ready to start your next direct mail campaign, you may want to archive this link so you have the information at your fingertips when it’s needed.

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3 Surefire Ways to Kill Your Business

Hamburger PhotoWe wanted to try a new restaurant the other day but I didn’t want to wait 30-40 minutes for a burger.  We decided to head down the road to a small family owned restaurant that we frequent. Usually when we go to this particular place there is standing room only. Luckily the service is quick so we rarely have to wait more than 10 minutes…the food is really good enough to wait for.  We walked in and were shocked to find that there were only 6 other people eating dinner at 6:30 on a Saturday night.
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4 steps to Effective Trade Show Follow Up

trade show follow up photoWe talked last time about preparing for and actually working the trade show. Now we need to discuss the most important piece of the 3 points of the triangle of trade show marketing (Pre-show preparation, at show performance, after show follow up) Without any one of the points, the triangle cannot be connected.

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3 Phases of Marketing at Events

Reaching prospects is the #1 task for sales and marketing. Direct mail using post cards and brochures takes your message to prospects in their offices. Likewise, your Inbound Marketing and Social Media Marketing Initiatives afford you an opportunity to promote to and interact with potential prospects and generate leads. But when there is an opportunity to reach a group of prospects at a meeting, seminar, conference or trade show, you need to put your best foot forward. Here’s how to do it! Continue reading

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5 steps to a successful QR Code launch

Minuteman Web LinkI wasn’t going to write a blog about QR codes because I thought everyone would be sick of hearing about them by now..After all I’ve been telling my clients (and anyone else who would listen) about QR codes for almost 2 years.  I realized though that many people that I speak to about them still are unsure of a) what they are and b) what you do with them.

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 Networking -Like with real people…in person.

So you think that the virtual world is now the real world?  Do you ever get out of your business networkingoffice and just meet with folks?  Talk about their business and what makes it tick…figure out how you can help them succeed? That’s real honest to goodness networking at it’s best.  BNI calls it Givers Gain.   Bob Burg, author of The Go-Giver, Go-Givers Sell More and Endless Referrals says, “All things being equal, people will do business with, and refer business to, those people they know, like and trust.” Continue reading

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How Mobile is Your Website . . Really??

Big Daddy Marketing MobileOk so as promised, this post deals with mobile websites.  Now I’m not talking about a website that is “mobile optimized”. By that I mean that you can actually see the whole site on a mobile phone screen, that’s what some folks think that a mobile website is.  I’m talking about a website designed and built to be viewed on a mobile device without having to scroll and zoom to get around the screen to see the text and photos. Some call them Mobile Touch Websites.

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How does the world see YOU on the web?

Photo of typewriterWhen was your company’s web site first launched, or last updated ? Was it in the dawn of the Internet age when we were still debating whether e-mail and web sites were even necessary to conduct business? Or was it more recent, after we realized that web sites needed to be more than digital display ads? Did you build the site yourself with one of those free template site builders or turn to your talented teenaged nephew or the kid down the street who spends all his time on Facebook?    Continue reading

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