Direct Mail

The 3 M’s of successful mail marketing:

The Market – the number of people who need or desire the product or service enough to be willing to make a purchase.

The Message – The words and images and special offers used to get attention and get customers to take action now.

The Mailing List – The people who receive a mailing and how closely these people match up to the types of people who are known to have a need or desire for the product or service.

To get good results from a mailing, you need to send a compelling message to a carefully selected list of people who need or desire your product or service AND have the means to acquire it now.

Voice Mail

You can increase the likelihood of your voice mail being returned by remembering these basic tips:

• Speak slowly and clearly.
• Give your name, company name and complete phone number at the beginning of the message.
• Briefly and slowly explain the reason for your call. Voice mail is not the place to launch into a lengthy sales pitch or long, detailed explanation of a problem you are having.
• Ask for a callback.
• Leave an alternate method of contacting you such as email or evening phone number.
• Repeat your name and phone number slowly at the end of the message so the recipient can write it down to return your call.

*Carol’s Confident Comment: “A thing does not go wrong because of some perverse fate. It is more than likely that you lack the proper approach.” - Norman Vincent Peale

February 15, 2008 – Don’t give up

When you think you should give up on your business idea or the business itself, think about these people who overcame serious handicaps!!

*Beethoven handled the violin awkwardly and preferred playing his own compositions instead of improving his technique. His teacher called him hopeless.

*Walt Disney was fired by a newspaper editor for lack of ideas. Walt Disney also went bankrupt several times before he built Disneyland.

*Inventor Thomas Edison’s teachers said he was too stupid to learn anything. When Edison invented the light bulb, he tried over 2,000 experiments. A young reporter asked him how it felt to fail so many times. He said, “I never failed once. I invented the light bulb. It just happened to be a 2,000-step process.”

*Louisa May Alcott, the author of Little Women, was encouraged to find work as a servant or seamstress by her family.

******Before you give up on your dream or business, call for an appointment and get some direction.

Use your energy cycles.

We all have times in our day when we feel productive and other times when we feel sluggish. Use these highs and lows to your advantage. Get complex and mentally challenging tasks done during your energy highs. During the lows, take care of low priority, routine or non-challenging tasks.

Carol’s Confident Comment – “The bad news is time flies. The good news is you’re the pilot” – Michael Althsuler

Keep your eye on the hidden costs of purchases…..

The actual cost for supplies you buy for your business isn’t the only expense you incur in purchasing them. For instance, if you bill your services at $75 per hour and spend 2 hours in driving to and from office supply stores, the cost of your time is $150!!! Yikes!Instead, select an office supply store you like and sign up for their rewards program. Watch for their coupons and buy all your supplies from the same store.

Carol’s Confident Comment – “The definition of insanity: Doing the same thing over and over again and expecting a different result”.

Visit CarolBirkey.com for more information and tips!

Customer Database

If you don’t have a customer database, start creating one. Collect your customer’s names, addresses, birthdays, anniversaries and email addresses even if you have no clue what you’re going to do with them.

Contact me and let me help you start your database and show you how to use it effectively.

CarolBirkey.com

The Telephone

* Your voice mail greeting should be professional and brief. Eliminate any favorite music excepts. Remove your child’s precious message. Don’t include any religious or motivational phrases.

* Put your wireless to use and walk around when you talk on the phone so that you give proper breath support for your voice. You’ll sound more energetic and confident, too.

* Don’t let the pitch of your voice fall too low when it’s tired. Sit or stand up straight when you talk. Hum often to keep your voice warm.

* When you leave a voice mail message, say your name and spell it if necessary then say your phone number twice – slowly and distinctly.

* Call yourself and listen to your own greeting. Do you sound inviting or monotonous?

Organizing your Desk

1. Start at the beginning. Remove everything from your desktop. Put back only the necessities and keep large clean space for current projects. What are the necessities? Phone, notepad, calendar, step-file organizer — keep the cutesy items in sight but off your desk.

2. Place your phone on the left side of your desk if you are right handed and on the right if you are left handed.

3. Keep a spiral notebook by the phone for messages. Start with the date each day. By doing this, you will have reference info when you need it.

4. Keep or delete? If you use something every day, leave it in your desk. If you use something once a week, you should be able to reach it from your chair. If you use something once a month, keep it in your office or work area. If you use something less than once a month, keep it elsewhere.

5. Keep your office supplies in one drawer. Keep only the supplies you use frequently in your desk. Do you really need 25 pens and 15 packages of salt?

6. Look around - End each day (or at least each week) by tidying up your desk and returning everything to its place (Yes, everything should have a place).

***Quote for the month: “Nothing is particularly hard if you divide it into small jobs.” - Henry Ford***

“With personal coaching, I assist you in making more money, saving more time and networking more effectively.” Carol Birkey, Personal Business Coach and Mompreneur